pets Archives - Forever In Mom Genes

When Your Child’s First Pet Dies

Aug 18 2019

There are many life changing things about including a pet in your family. When you have a child with disabilities, pets can make a marked difference to their quality of life. Pets are more work in a “get off the couch and walk these ding dongs and change that litter and fill that food bowl…” sort of way, but I can’t imagine life without an animal by my side or under the covers. (Even though they should be in their crate. I know, I know…) The only true downside to pets, aside from mild annoyances like the occasional whining to go out for a pee at 5am, or fur on your favourite black yoga pants, is the ultimate downside which is of course the death of your best fur friend. That’s the part that almost makes me never want to love an animal again. We become attached and they become family. Watching them go is hard. If you’re a pet person, you understand this completely. Some losses are harder than others. When our guinea pig Ernie died from a seizure we were sad, but we’d had him less than a year and our connection wasn’t as deep as it was with other[…]

Dec 26 2017

Before you say it, I know. And I fully agree. Puppies are not usually an appropriate Christmas gift. But, when you’re already planning on adding a pet to the family, being able to coordinate it with Santa is a parenting coup. Our daughter Avery adores animals. She lives and breathes fur. I also breathe fur, hence my weekly allergy shots. But that’s a story for another time. Avery’s first pet was our rescue dog, a terrier/chihuahua Roger. We got him when Avery was a toddler and her physical therapist suggested a dog as motivation to get her walking. It worked. We also had a guinea pig. Sadly, he’s in pet heaven now. RIP Ernie. And if you are familiar with my Instagram account, you’re painfully aware that we have a big orange tabby named Kevin. He just so darn photogenic that I can’t help but share pics and videos of him. A lot. Like, a “crazy cat lady” amount. Now that Avery is eleven and is responsible enough to start caring for a puppy—learning to feed and train her very own dog, we were happy to make this wish come true. Though she asked Santa for a puppy (she actually[…]

Oct 21 2015

If you switch around the letters in the word PETS you get PEST. Granted, I’m writing this after getting up with the dog no less than four times last night. In his defence, he had an upset stomach. Treating the cat’s litter box like an all-u-can-eat buffet will do that. By the way, how purrrfect is this t-shirt my daughter is wearing? I saw it and had to buy it. It’s basically our cat wearing glasses with our exact dogs reflected in the lenses. What are the odds? After five cups of coffee I have decided to forgive Roger. This lovable dog has brought so much joy to our family, it’s hard to stay mad at him for long. In fact, as I’m watching him right now curled up at my feet I feel somewhat guilty for going all alpha on him at 4AM. I’m not my best self when I’m sleep deprived. The other robber of sleep this week is our cat. Kevin has been embracing his nocturnal side and waking me up at all hours of the night to ‘suggest’ I feed him or to just lie on my face. We’ve never had a[…]

Dec 04 2014

I’ve never had a cat, so I’m reaching out to any cat people out there for some clarification. Is it normal for a cat to stand boldly on a stove-top…repeatedly, even after sauteing his paws several times?! You know how toddlers think if they can’t see you, you can’t see them? I can totally see you Kevin. Though he has a beautiful plush bed equip with a dangly toy and cushy pillow, he prefers to stuff himself into baskets. Normal, right? Orange fuzzy kitten scarf!!! One size fits all! Order yours on Etsy. Do all cats have such a lax work ethic? On his application he said he’s interested in computers. Liar, liar, paws on fire. He doesn’t know a CPU from a CPmew. He’s only interested in playing with the mouse! Ask him to take a message and he writes, “Dec. 4th: catnipcatnipcatnipcatnipcatnipcatnipcatnip” Cheeky cat. Lazy or just really, really, really relaxed?? I was told to keep a cat off the counter, spray him with water. We tried it. He seemed to enjoy the light misting. Then I tried splashing him with water from this yellow bowl. Here’s Kevin ON THE COUNTER drinking from the “scary” yellow bowl. Know[…]

Nov 18 2014

^What people said when I told them we were getting a cat ^ A) We have reasons. B) Correct, I’m a dog person. Cats are pretty weird. C) You can never have too many pets, can you? Wait. Cat horders. I suppose you can. D) I am a little allergic—hives, scratchy throat, red eyes swollen eyes, sneezy allergic. So WHY get a cat??!! Because. Her. Our girl likes loves animals. Dogs, cats, anything with fur. Or without fur even. RIP Ernie. We miss you tremendously. When she grows up I imagine she’ll choose a vocation involving animals. Perhaps she’ll work as a vet tech? Or at a vet clinic or animal shelter in some capacity—greeting clients, feeding and grooming the animals. How perfect would that be? When she’s a bit older, I plan to help her set up and run a pet sitting or dog walking business. The way I see it, Avery’s passion is clear. So if we can do anything to help her gain the experience to guide her along that path, shouldn’t we? So this leads us to our cat… KEVIN. My friend was telling us about her cousin’s cat, the original Kevin.[…]

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