When I got married my wife already had two miniature dachshunds, Jaxson and Leo. Leo is starting to get older, and Jaxson wears him out, so early this year my wife started talking about getting a puppy to play with Jaxson so Leo could have a break.
Then one day she sends me a text, with a picture; "Can I keep her?"
When Brit brought the kitten home the next day, the dogs (in their crates) went absolutely crazy, barking their heads off and trying to get at her. The kitten ignored them.
Brit held her next to their crates so they could start to get her scent; they went crazy barking and trying to bite her. The kitten ignored them.
I suggested we call her Serenity.
For the next month, the dogs were banned from the office, where the kitten lived. Before we got her, she had lived outdoors (her mother was a farm cat that had a litter on the deck) and she had some parasites that had to be treated. She had no fear of...well, anything, really...and loved to play. At this point we weren't 100% certain that she was female, so we decided to go with an ambiguous name; after discarding a number of choices, we settled on Yoda.
Yoda grew quickly, and Brit slowly introduced her to the dogs, successfully teaching them that she was not, in fact, a chew toy. Once he understood that trying to bite her would get him in trouble, Leo decided to ignore her; Jaxson, on the other hand, was delighted to have a new playmate, and they soon took up wrestling together. Yoda does something that nobody else has been able to do: wear Jaxson out! She loves to wait behind something and then pounce on him, or hide under the couch and grab him when he walks by.
Of course, she also has her own hobbies; she considers herself quite the mighty huntress. When she's not pouncing on Jaxson (or my hand), she stalks any bugs that make it into the house. Brit uses her as a flyswatter: see a fly on the wall, hold the cat up, and Yoda smacks it!
She's a huge fan of water; anytime she sees some, she has to stick her paw in and splash around. Obviously, we have to keep the toilets closed! One time she even jumped into the bathroom sink and turned the water on so she could play in it!
Why am I writing about Yoda now? Last week she started refusing to walk. The vet thought she tore the ligaments in her hind legs and put her in casts; a trip to the ER a few days later, however, turned up a neurological issue.
Right now Yoda is back home and has improved on antibiotics, but we still don't know exactly what's wrong with her. Her initial blood work came back negative; there are a few more tests we're still waiting on. If those are negative as well, the next step would be a MRI and possibly a spinal tap. What will happen after that? I have no idea...
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This diary is NOT a request for donations. However, I am going to throw in a plug for some candles my wife is selling to raise funds.
Love Thy Scents - Scentsy makes electric candles that use small lightbulbs to heat the wax; there's no flame, so you don't have to worry about them getting knocked over. I was skeptical (Brit is into candles - I'm not) but I have to admit that they're pretty nice. There are a ton of scents; my favorite so far is Sugar Cookies.
Want to read more about Yoda, Jaxson, and Leo? They have their own website (which, alas, they rarely update) - A Dog's Journal. (My wife is a professional graphic designer, so she might have helped a little.)