Good day. I said Good Day!
Late yesterday afternoon, I managed to grab hold of Spartacus and bring him inside.
I saw AVA (Action Volunteers for Animals) folks at a pet store I went to for crickets for my lizard on Saturday I think) and it got me thinking about what to do with Spart.
When Mandu passed away last year I had briefly thought I might adopt a kitten. I applied and was approved, but I really just wasn't ready and Jett went to a very good home. Beth, the woman that I had been in contact at that time was at the information booth at the pet store and I re-established that yes, I still did want to get Spart off the street and neutered and needled. So I gave Beth my information and she said she would call the vet that she dealt with to book a drop in for when I managed to get hold of him. I said it was really difficult to know "when" he might show up, because of course it's spring, and a young Tom's mind turns to howling and humping and he was disappearing for four and five days at a time. He'd come back, looking a little scruffier, a little lighter, a few more scratches on his nose, gulp some food and run back out again.
AVA gets a deal on vetting with Beattie Animal Hospital because they are a charity association. The vets also will spay/neuter and give shots etc all at once, no boosters or second visits and a thousand dollars like it would have cost if I had taken him to one of my vets. Other vets I had called wanted me to catch him, take him in for shots, bring him home, release him and then try and catch him again for second round of shots and neutering, even after I explained that he was a wild outdoor animal.
After I snagged Spartacus, I called Beth, called Beattie (Beth hadn't called them yet) and then waited for Beth to call back. It was getting closer to the time I had to take off for Silver class and I didn't want him having to stay in the green room overnight, flipping out. Finally I got frustrated and called Beth and caught her at the tail end of her dinner. She did some quick calling and Beattie had a cancellation so they could take him right away. I packed him up, got all my class stuff together (Beattie, and the campus of Mohawk College I go to are both in Brantford, how is that for serendipity?) and hauled ass the the vet. I was about 45 minutes late to my class, but Spartacus was safely ensconced at the vet and I could relax.
Anyway. Sparty is now in my green room (goat room, now cat room), all neutered, needled and his FIV/FELV SNAP test was negative (Whoo!). They gave him Drontol for deworming and put flea stuff on the back of his neck. I will be paying AVA whatever the vet charged them, plus 10 dollars for the microchip they gave me to have the vet put in him. Beth said previously that it would be in the neighbourhood of 150 for the neuter and shots, I said I'd pay extra for the SNAP test because I had to make sure he was negative before introducing him to my five. So all told it will be around 200. A far cry from the 1000 or so I was being quoted when calling around looking for a reasonable price for vet care for him.
He's quite unhappy right now, but a little petting seems to calm him down. Jenn was up today and she went with me to pick him up. When we got home and got him settled we brushed about two kittens worth of fur from him in two separate brushings, with both of us going at him with a brush each and Spart purring up a storm. Jenn marvelled at how different he seemed once inside. He'd been that way with me, but Jenn had never seen it, just the skittish hungry cat lurking in the garden or huddling in the front hall.
A little bit ago, he was trying to claw his way out of the windows in the green room and I plunked him down in my lap and petted him. He tried to hide under my arm and slowly slowly relaxed as I massaged his scruff and eventually just sat with him, not petting just letting him sit there. His purrs started out really loud (nervous purrs...don't laugh, cats do that), and slowly dwindled to a mild rumbling I could feel but couldn't hear. At one point I just sat with him in my arms and he took a big huge breath, sighed and relaxed. I've left him in the dimly lit room (turned on a lamp and turned off the four banks of grow lights) relaxed on a chair on a blanket. He has food, he has water and he's safe. I know where he is and that gives me great peace of mind even though I've interfered with his life and taken away his jewels and his freedom to roam the neighbourhood murdering other small critters. No more four footed ladies, no more fighting, but he now has pink monkeys to do his minion work for him.
Then there was the gardening that got done today! Well, not so much gardening, but weeding and beautifying. Jenn and I finished the bed that I had started the other day before I had to scuttle back under my rock. I mentioned I have cobble stones with weeds in the cracks. Well, Jenn, and then later I, sat with exacto blades and sliced the weeds out of the cracks. I edged the lawn beside the cobble and uprooted an ungodly big nest of red ants that was about ten or fifteen feed long! I flipped the sod over so they could gather up there ant babies and shove off so I could shake the clods of sod and discard them another time. Angry ants really stink! They smell vaguely of Lemon Balm or Sunlight dish soap, only more acidic and sharp. Had I been an anteater or a Northern Flicker, I might have been a bit happier about it. Thought I did get some amusement out of watching the ants grab the ant babies and run off with them. Jenn started calling it Antmageddon and menacing them from above!
And then, out came the weed torch!! It is much more spectacular to use this thing at night, and I will never waste the experience on daylight again! It's like a shepherds crook, and a propane tank fixes to what would be the handle, and there is a pizo electric start halfway down the cane and WOOSH! fire shoots out the end... weed torch! The idea is that the torch mildly cooks the tops of the plants so they can't make food for the roots and they dry up and die. I'm not sure it works quite that way, or quite that well but it's awesome fun to use. All the bits of grass and debris and seeds go up in showers of sparks, bright orange and blue flame. There may have been some ant flambé going on too.
The walk looks awesome. If it were just a little more even, it would look almost like it were freshly laid :)
We didn't get around the back of the house this time, but I can now sit on the front step as I often do and have coffee without staring at the side walk and writing mental notes and fretting about what needs doing there.
Also, I love my Garden Fae! :D
If the weather keeps up, and my energy levels stay at least where they were today, I might actually get some stuff done around here!
I also introduced Jenn to True Blood! *grin* And soon, I will share Supernatural with her :D
I saw AVA (Action Volunteers for Animals) folks at a pet store I went to for crickets for my lizard on Saturday I think) and it got me thinking about what to do with Spart.
When Mandu passed away last year I had briefly thought I might adopt a kitten. I applied and was approved, but I really just wasn't ready and Jett went to a very good home. Beth, the woman that I had been in contact at that time was at the information booth at the pet store and I re-established that yes, I still did want to get Spart off the street and neutered and needled. So I gave Beth my information and she said she would call the vet that she dealt with to book a drop in for when I managed to get hold of him. I said it was really difficult to know "when" he might show up, because of course it's spring, and a young Tom's mind turns to howling and humping and he was disappearing for four and five days at a time. He'd come back, looking a little scruffier, a little lighter, a few more scratches on his nose, gulp some food and run back out again.
AVA gets a deal on vetting with Beattie Animal Hospital because they are a charity association. The vets also will spay/neuter and give shots etc all at once, no boosters or second visits and a thousand dollars like it would have cost if I had taken him to one of my vets. Other vets I had called wanted me to catch him, take him in for shots, bring him home, release him and then try and catch him again for second round of shots and neutering, even after I explained that he was a wild outdoor animal.
After I snagged Spartacus, I called Beth, called Beattie (Beth hadn't called them yet) and then waited for Beth to call back. It was getting closer to the time I had to take off for Silver class and I didn't want him having to stay in the green room overnight, flipping out. Finally I got frustrated and called Beth and caught her at the tail end of her dinner. She did some quick calling and Beattie had a cancellation so they could take him right away. I packed him up, got all my class stuff together (Beattie, and the campus of Mohawk College I go to are both in Brantford, how is that for serendipity?) and hauled ass the the vet. I was about 45 minutes late to my class, but Spartacus was safely ensconced at the vet and I could relax.
Anyway. Sparty is now in my green room (goat room, now cat room), all neutered, needled and his FIV/FELV SNAP test was negative (Whoo!). They gave him Drontol for deworming and put flea stuff on the back of his neck. I will be paying AVA whatever the vet charged them, plus 10 dollars for the microchip they gave me to have the vet put in him. Beth said previously that it would be in the neighbourhood of 150 for the neuter and shots, I said I'd pay extra for the SNAP test because I had to make sure he was negative before introducing him to my five. So all told it will be around 200. A far cry from the 1000 or so I was being quoted when calling around looking for a reasonable price for vet care for him.
He's quite unhappy right now, but a little petting seems to calm him down. Jenn was up today and she went with me to pick him up. When we got home and got him settled we brushed about two kittens worth of fur from him in two separate brushings, with both of us going at him with a brush each and Spart purring up a storm. Jenn marvelled at how different he seemed once inside. He'd been that way with me, but Jenn had never seen it, just the skittish hungry cat lurking in the garden or huddling in the front hall.
A little bit ago, he was trying to claw his way out of the windows in the green room and I plunked him down in my lap and petted him. He tried to hide under my arm and slowly slowly relaxed as I massaged his scruff and eventually just sat with him, not petting just letting him sit there. His purrs started out really loud (nervous purrs...don't laugh, cats do that), and slowly dwindled to a mild rumbling I could feel but couldn't hear. At one point I just sat with him in my arms and he took a big huge breath, sighed and relaxed. I've left him in the dimly lit room (turned on a lamp and turned off the four banks of grow lights) relaxed on a chair on a blanket. He has food, he has water and he's safe. I know where he is and that gives me great peace of mind even though I've interfered with his life and taken away his jewels and his freedom to roam the neighbourhood murdering other small critters. No more four footed ladies, no more fighting, but he now has pink monkeys to do his minion work for him.
Then there was the gardening that got done today! Well, not so much gardening, but weeding and beautifying. Jenn and I finished the bed that I had started the other day before I had to scuttle back under my rock. I mentioned I have cobble stones with weeds in the cracks. Well, Jenn, and then later I, sat with exacto blades and sliced the weeds out of the cracks. I edged the lawn beside the cobble and uprooted an ungodly big nest of red ants that was about ten or fifteen feed long! I flipped the sod over so they could gather up there ant babies and shove off so I could shake the clods of sod and discard them another time. Angry ants really stink! They smell vaguely of Lemon Balm or Sunlight dish soap, only more acidic and sharp. Had I been an anteater or a Northern Flicker, I might have been a bit happier about it. Thought I did get some amusement out of watching the ants grab the ant babies and run off with them. Jenn started calling it Antmageddon and menacing them from above!
And then, out came the weed torch!! It is much more spectacular to use this thing at night, and I will never waste the experience on daylight again! It's like a shepherds crook, and a propane tank fixes to what would be the handle, and there is a pizo electric start halfway down the cane and WOOSH! fire shoots out the end... weed torch! The idea is that the torch mildly cooks the tops of the plants so they can't make food for the roots and they dry up and die. I'm not sure it works quite that way, or quite that well but it's awesome fun to use. All the bits of grass and debris and seeds go up in showers of sparks, bright orange and blue flame. There may have been some ant flambé going on too.
The walk looks awesome. If it were just a little more even, it would look almost like it were freshly laid :)
We didn't get around the back of the house this time, but I can now sit on the front step as I often do and have coffee without staring at the side walk and writing mental notes and fretting about what needs doing there.
Also, I love my Garden Fae! :D
If the weather keeps up, and my energy levels stay at least where they were today, I might actually get some stuff done around here!
I also introduced Jenn to True Blood! *grin* And soon, I will share Supernatural with her :D