After a weeklong vacation in Vermont, Nick and I were happy to find all of our dogs safe and sound as we retrieved each of them from their temporary homes, and were glad to greet our cats, who remained in our house under the care of Lisa, our local Critter Sitter. As usual, I worried excessively about each of their welfares while we were gone, a habit I just can’t shake ever since we lost two animals unexpectedly during vacations past….our beloved Doberman, Harley, who died in his kennel at the young age of five, without apparent cause, and my sweet, shy cat, Sashi, who appeared to have passed in her sleep, to be discovered upon our return.
In addition to these two tragedies, we returned home from a subsequent trip to learn that Toby had become so distraught while being boarded that he had run in circles until his paws bled…which was the last time we boarded an animal in a traditional kennel.
On top of all that, my cat Cinder freaks out when we leave him, and we had to cancel two trips to Florida in the past because he got cystitis just before we left. We realized, in hindsight, that it was caused by the stress of us packing…so we now must pack behind closed doors.
Actually, considering all we’ve been though, it’s surprising that we muster up the courage to pack at all.
But, we do like to travel, despite the fact that taking a trip has grown into a major event, and it has now become one of the very rare times that I regret having so many animals under my care. Not because of the expense, or the packing, or the planning, or the running around from place to place – but because of my extreme dread. Every phone call makes my heart skip a beat, every unanswered call a reason to hold my breath. Will this one get sick and go unnoticed by the sitter? Will that one not get along with the other animals they are staying with? Will this one eat something and get blocked? Will that one escape?
Will one of them die?
Well, apparently, this time, my worry was for naught. It appears I placed each of my furry friends into the best possible places during my absence and each had more fun on their vacations then I could have ever imagined….so much so…I suspect they all are wishing we would leave again.
Not only did my Mom report that Leah finally stopped burping and making the strange “something is caught in my throat” noise, but she played with my Mom’s young German shepherd Luke with such abandon that one would think she was a pup herself. Along with that, in the middle of greeting me, my Mom lured her away from me with a simple salmon treat. That, I’d expect from Toby – but never from Leah! Grandma’s goodies were so plentiful, in fact, that Leah laid down and turned away from the first meal I offered her the next morning. The look in her eyes said it all, “Grandma would never make me eat that.”
As for Toby, my dear friend Bev reports that he loved having a much bigger home to stay in, zooming through her halls like a maniac, barreling around with so much speed that she worried he’d end up with a torn ACL. When he wasn’t running himself ragged, he spent his time lounging like a king on his pick of dog beds, surrounded by all of the toys he had stolen from the toy box that belongs to her lovely goldens - Meggie, Maureen, and Orlagh. In response, Orlagh stole Toby’s blue dumbbell, squirreling it away up on the sofa, which surprisingly, he refused to jump on. Bev commended Toby on that, and all of his good behavior during his entire visit; how he didn’t touch anything he wasn’t supposed to, and was a gentleman around the girls.
Toby has always enjoyed making a liar out of me.
And what about little Miss Meadow, our fearful flight risk? She had the honor of staying with her previous foster Mom, Lesli, a friend that Meadow brought into my life, and with whom I have so much in common, I am continuously surprised. Under Lesli’s watchful eye, and with the added security of double leashes, Meadow got to go for hikes in the country, (instead of the litter ridden woods adjacent to our home), she had time to explore the very meadow she was named for, had a play date with another Vizsla, was constantly surrounded by five friendly dogs (the more the merrier), and even got to sleep on a human bed! Plus she got to spend time with an old friend, who loves her very much and nearly adopted her, had she not been waiting for her own special heart dog to arrive – another flighty escapee named Tawnie.
So, after gathering up three dogs who had each forgotten my face, I thought, “Maybe the cats missed me?” As it turns out, Cinder did; the poor little guy has been pandering for my attention since the moment he ‘forgave’ me – several hours after we returned home. Mew curled right up on Nick's lap, giving me the cold shoulder as always, and both cats turned their noses up at the dry food I fed them the next morning, pining for the canned food that they only receive as an extra treat while under Lisa's care. Additionally, with the dogs back in town, gone are the furry little toy mice I left for them to play with. It was either that, or suffer the surgical consequences of two (red) dogs believing that plastic enrobed in rabbit fur is a delicacy.
Hmmmm….maybe next time, we should stay away a little longer?
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