Dogs And Cats Of Summer

Most of the time, the dogs and cats of summer are indistinguishable from the dogs and cats of winter - snoozing on their beds in the kitchen corner:

The cats stay inside, but the dogs get more outdoor time in the summer, much of which they spend lounging on their ramp:

Jack and Seamus, buddies:

I took this picture at dawn, just as I was coming in from doing the morning chores (there aren't many chores to do on summer mornings):

Jack, in his newly mowed back yard:

When the Rugosa Roses began blooming, I couldn't resist taking even more pictures of the dogs in their back yard run:

And Georgette is still Queen of the Kitchen Table. Sadly, she has become so antisocial that she has several times pooped or peed in her bed. I encourage her to get out and use the cat food, water and litter box in the next room. I've also watched and am convinced that the other cats aren't really bothering her. She's just getting old and crotchety. I can relate:

I caught Rocky and Daisy on adjacent beds, touching noses. It was a cute scene:

And Bugsy, the kid with the big personality, watched me from a kitchen chair:

I put a fake surveillance camera on the barn to discourage any more dumping of cats there. Alas, it only seemed to cause the perpetrators to drop off a kitten at the house instead of the barn. I found it one morning and it was friendly, clean and free of fleas - so I brought it indoors:

The dogs were tolerant of the little fellow, but the big cats mostly wished he'd just go away:

I arranged to drop him off at the Potsdam Shelter, where he'd get antibiotic for his runny eye and he'd get neutered. Most importantly, he'll get a new home where he'll be loved and cared for. I already have more cats than I can handle sometimes. Goodbye, little kitty. I trust you'll find the perfect home and live a happy life:

The Kitchen Sleepers

I find it heart warming to see my dogs and cats getting along well, and the place they get along the best is the collection of doggie beds in the corner of the farm house kitchen. This collection was four dogs - Clover, Daphne, Fergus and Seamus:

 Fergus, Daphne, Seamus and Daphne:

 All five dogs plus Rocky, the cat:

 Four dogs plus Rocky:

 Three cats on one floor pillow - Rocky, Daisy and Bugsy. The two missing cats, Georgette and Bramble, have their own personal beds atop furniture, so that's where they were at the time:

 Clover, Fergus, Jack and Daphne:

 Rocky, snoozing alone on the big floor pillow:

 The three feline buddies again, this time with the afternoon sun streaming through the window and warming them:

 Fergus, Clover, Daphne and Rocky:

 All five dogs plus two cats (Bugsy and Rocky):

 This was a difficult photo to take, but there were four dogs and four cats gathered there, so I wanted to include it. The bed in the top left held Fergus, Clover and Bugsy (hidden behind Seamus' head). The bed in the top right held Daphne and Bramble (peeking out from behind). Then, top to bottom, are Seamus, Rocky and Daisy. Georgette is missing because she was in her bed on the kitchen table. Jack is missing because he was right at my feet:

Oh, The Joys Of Food!

The cats have dry food available at all times, but the dogs only get fed once each morning. There are plenty of food and water dishes, so there is no fighting, and the cats often move right in and share the food bowls with the dogs:

 Rocky seems to love dry dog food - or maybe he just thinks he's getting away with something:

 Daphne looks forlorn in this photo as Bugsy hogs the food dish, but she can and does stick her head right in there with him at times. Also, there are plenty of other dishes:

 Seamus, because he had become so obese, is fed separately (in the laundry room). He gets a measured amount of dry dog food, mixed with low salt beef or chicken broth, tomato juice and green beans or peas:

 Seamus loves to eat but doesn't do it slowly. He'd keep eating until it was all gone, no matter how much food there is. So I have to limit it. He's dropped from a high of 147 pounds to his current low of 94 pounds and no longer has seizures - or at least he hasn't had one in a long time:

 When the morning feeding is over, I begin picking up all the food dishes. But it's become a tradition to toss a bit of dry food on the boot trays for Fergus and Clover to scarf down before they go outside. On this day, Bramble was considering grabbing a bit of dog food for himself before it all disappeared:


 The cows and horses mostly live on hay. Every second day I move the bale feeder to a new spot before putting out another bale. This makes the last remnants of the previous bale more easily available and gives them a soft, dry bed on which to sleep:

 Each morning I ring the bell for the cows and horses to come into the barn for a bit of grain. They too have gotten fat, so I keep the amount small, but lately they haven't much wanted to walk to the barn to get their grain. On this day, Jasmine didn't want to be bothered. But I'd sprinkled minerals on her grain and wanted her to have it, so I carried it outside and plunked it down by her face. She considered that fine service but I didn't get a tip:

 While we're on the subject of food, let's not forget that the cows also spend much of each day chewing their cud. Everything they eat gets chewed twice:

 Meghan and Ruby have gotten so incredibly tame that they do not hide when the dogs and I enter the room. Instead, they often put their little feet up on the bars of the cage and whistle loudly for more lettuce:

 Each morning I give them a half head of Romaine lettuce and one carrot. The lettuce is gone in ten minutes and they want more, but I figure they need the balanced nutrition of their pelleted feed:

Along the side of the house, the bird feeders are the center of activity. The wild birds eat there constantly, and on days when the chickens get out, they spend most of their time cleaning up what the wild birds have scattered. Sadly, it's also become a magnet for rats and squirrels. Everything wants to eat the abundant birdseed, but the bird seed season is almost over:

Focus On Cats

It's been a long time since I devoted an entire blog post to the cats of the house. It seems more relevant now than ever, because with the two new additions of younger, more active felines, there's a lot of cat personalities now in play. So here's some information on the household cats:

Daisy was dumped at my barn last summer and was terrified. I captured her in a live trap and, since no Shelter would take her, I adopted her. She was very sick for many months and almost lost one eye, but she's now a happy girl:

Bugsy was a tiny, sick, flea infested kitten who was dumped at my barn with Daisy. He's grown into a luxurious, beautiful cat although he too was very sick for a long time:

Georgette was taken, long ago, to the Shelter after being found abandoned in an Albany apartment with her one kitten. The Shelter gave her an orphaned litter to nurse and I fostered them all. When all the kittens were adopted, Georgette went to several adoption clinics. Though always more than friendly with me, she hissed at everyone at the adoption clinics. One volunteer interpreted this to mean that Georgette had decided to live with me and I accepted that. So Georgette stayed:

Rocky has been with me for a long time. He was a farm kitten many years ago, adopted after my elderly cat, D.J., died:

Bramble was part of a litter dropped off at the Shelter, and the only one who wasn't friendly. A Shelter employee suggested I adopt him because, with his personality, no one else would want him. He's always been - well, a little "different," but he now loves attention:

Daisy is only about two years old and still very playful. She loves toys, so I bought her a big ball with a mouse inside which squeaks when rolled. The little balls with bells inside are everyone's favorites, but they lose them behind furniture in a matter of minutes (or seconds):

Bugsy, now fully grown, is fond of PeeWee's old doggie bed. PeeWee was a small, elderly dog who I adopted several years ago but has since died:

The top of the tallest cat tree at the top of the stairs, high up with the angels, used to be Georgette's domain. Now Daisy spends hours up there, perhaps listening to Gabriel's trumpet:

Possibly because of all the handling she got while sick (which lasted for months), Daisy is now so tame and affectionate that she has become a pest. I'm not complaining, though, for she's very sweet:

Rocky is too old to be very playful anymore, so he positions himself to be petted as I walk by:

Bugsy if fond of the lamp table - and yes, he has knocked off the lamp on more than one occasion:

Dogs, Cats And Guinea Pigs

The kitchen corner continues as THE place to be, the place where dogs and cats spend their lazy days. In this photo are all five dogs (Clover, Jack, Daphne, Fergus and Seamus) plus Bugsy the cat:

Georgette remains aloof in her bed on the kitchen table:

Seamus often forsakes the kitchen dog beds and lounges on the hard living room floor when I'm at the computer:

Daisy seems totally cured now, and is fond of doing "the kitten roll," where she rolls onto her side or back and curls her front paws. It's cute, but difficult to walk around when she does it in front of my feet. In this case, she was on the dog food bin:

All in a heap, keeping me company while I was at the computer:

Bugsy, looking rich and luxurious. You'd never guess he was a sick, flea infested kitten, thrown off at my barn to die last summer. He looks like he's contemplating knocking over the lamp, something he's done more than once:

A collective scene of good will - and lack of ambition:

Daphne, Clover and Bramble shared a floor pillow:

As the snow began to melt, the dogs began to spend more time outdoors. I have not yet cleaned up the winter's accumulation of dog poop. It won't be pretty:

Another friendly collection on the big floor pillow - Daphne, Bugsy, Clover and Bramble:

Dixie the guinea pig finally died, and I buried her underneath where a big hay bale had been (the only thawed ground). That same day, I found two female guinea pigs on Craigslist and purchased them, with cage. The black and white one is named Meghan:

Ruby is the shy brown one. She's very gentle. They seem happy in their new home, though, and are more vocal than guinea pigs I've had in the past. They have become quite friendly and bold, talking to me when I enter the room, begging loudly for more lettuce. They like having their chins rubbed and are getting used to being held: