Monster

Monster Jones passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 3 years and almost 2 months.

Monster was born in the city of Jeffersontown on tax day, April 15, 2010, just in time to be a birthday present for her adoptive mommy. She and her sister Quincy joined the Jones household on May 15. Monster, named for Lady Gaga and not her interesting appearance as many may have believed, was adventurous from the start. Her parents have virtually no good pictures of her as a baby because she never sat still. While her sister Quincy was content to sit and be cuddled, Monster was always out exploring, climbing on bookcases, windowsills, and her daddy's shoulder. She was definitely a daddy's girl. She used to love to "wrestle" with Brandon (his hand, anyway), pretend fighting it and running around in glee. Monster was well-loved by her younger sisters Cupcake and Glitter, who often used her as a pillow.

Monster loved life, and life was good to her. She lived much longer than most rats, and even though these last six months she had problems with tumors and other random health issues, she never let them bring her down. She always acted happy to see visitors, got along well with her new neighbor Gimli, and would always, always stop to give you a kiss. Her family will miss her terribly.

Salad Bar

My dear husband had the day off on Thursday, and we spent the day together. We started the day off by chopping up some veggies left over from Bible study Tuesday and making a little "salad bar" for our ratties. I hate to admit it, but since Guinea Pig died last fall, they haven't had many special treats in the way of fresh fruits and veggies (and I know they haven't had anything fun to eat since I had my surgery- I usually share a little bit of my breakfast with them since I eat breakfast upstairs on the computer. Surgery has kept me downstairs, though!) Anyway, we put the veggies on a paper plate and headed upstairs. I sat in the computer chair while Brandon let everyone out of the cage, and I took pictures. Monster and Cupcake were really happy about the snacks. Monster tried to step on everything, and Cupcake kept taking pieces of veggie off to different parts of the room to eat in secret. Glitter, ever the suspicious one, wasn't having any part of it at first, but she eventually came around. She didn't eat as much as the others, and she eventually decided she'd rather spend time snuggling with me in my new bathrobe! This made me really happy because she is generally pretty anti-social and skittish with anyone but Brandon. I am happy that I am able to go upstairs sometimes and visit with my fur-babies again!

Monster has the first taste of salad-y goodness.

Cupcake checks things out.

A rare moment of cooperative sharing.

Glitter finally decides to check things out.

And then decides cuddling is better than salad. : )

Om nom nom

Glitter says, "I am thankful for my mommy's stale tortilla chips!"

30 Days of Thankfulness- Pets

After yesterday's hardcore post, and all the frustration that half the internet is apparently experiencing, I thought it would be nice to write about something lighthearted. Today's post is about cute, fuzzy animals. I am thankful for my pets.

I have always had pets in my home. My parents had a dog named Bear when I was born. bear was the best dog that has ever walked the face of the earth. bear was the kind of wonderful dog that professional authors write children's books about. He was that good. My first pet was a fish named Elbow. He was named Elbow because I desperately wanted my parents to name my baby brother Elbow. They got me a fish instead. We also had a cat named Pickles. She was quite flabby and very sweet. Kind of like me.

We started collecting pet birds shortly before I started 5th grade. Sometimes they were rescues from meanie pet stores. Sometimes they were breeders that weren't so great at the careers that were chosen for them. At one point I had four lovebirds, all in separate cages, stacked on my dresser.

We've had quite a few dogs over the years, too. We had a basset hound named Merlin. He sat on the porch with me sometimes and ate the bees that buzzed by- a real lifesaver. We got Ivan when I was in 4th grade. He was such a tiny, scared puppy, we gave him a big name to boost his confidence. It definitely worked. We have Wolfie, truly the dumbest and most loyal canine in the world. Diego, who didn't bark until he was at least 2, was such a circus dog when he was younger. We have a special bond. He slept in my room and when asked "where's Sissy? Go find Sissy!", he would come find me. We took little Polo in shortly after I graduated from high school. And then there's Elwood, the attention-starved, bow-legged nervous tinkler of a basset hound. We also got another cat, Oscar, when I was in high school, but he lives with another family now.

Moving from a house full of animals to an empty, quiet apartment was a monumental adjustment after I got married. We adopted Brandon's brother's guinea pig shortly after the wedding. Pig got a big new cage, and I became dead set on getting a pair of rats for my birthday. I found an ad on craigslist for a litter that was born on tax day (April 15), 2010. Quincy and Monster came to live with us at exactly one month of age. Quincy got her name because our last name is Jones. Monster was named in honor of Lady Gaga, a big favorite of mine at the time. It was pure coincidence that she turned out to be semi-hairless and have beady red eyes. Quincy and Monster were silly, sweet, mischievous and hilarious. Monster was and still is a daddy's girl, running around, rough-housing and wrestling Brandon's hand. Quincy was so cuddly, riding on my feet, kissing my ears and hiding under my hair.

On Quincy and Monster's 2nd birthday, Glitter and Cupcake came to live with us. They were born on St. Patrick's Day this year to a young momma rat belonging to a friend of mine. They were so tiny, and really skittish for the longest time- nowhere near as friendly as Q & M. But they're a lot better now.

It's been a hard year for our pets. Ivan died earlier this year. Quincy had a stroke this summer and we put a lot of time and effort into rehabilitating her. At the end of August, Pig died. Quincy followed about  two weeks later. I miss Pig, but I really pine for Quincy. Oh, how I miss her.

I am thankful for the pets I have known, and I'm thankful for a family and a husband who love animals and have always been willing to share our home(s) with animal companions.

Oscar cuddling with a Harry Potter book

Wolfie the Dumb-Hearted

Polo, Diego and Elwood, chilling on the couch

Baby Me and Bear

Pig

Ivan

Baby Cupcake

Cupcake and Glitter, on their first day with us

Monster, exploring the window

The three amigos, all crammed in one little tent

Quincy

Quincy.

Quincy Jones passed away peacefully in her home September 17 at the age of 2 years and 5 months, after battling a long illness.
Quincy, born in Jeffersontown on April 15, 2010, was one of a litter of octuplets. She spent all but the first five weeks of her life living with her two adoptive parents, and her sister Monster. Always known for being outgoing and affectionate, Quincy spent much of her youth and adulthood climbing to surprising heights, and spending time where she was not actually supposed to be (in the couch, on the windowsill, up someone's pant leg.)
Quincy's proudest accomplishment was defeating the monster that so many Americans battle on a daily basis- obesity. Quincy struggled with obesity for many months, earning her the nickname "Big Fat Meanie", for her habit of pilfering the food of her sisters. Through a strict diet, though, she was able to get down to a healthy weight once again.
Though Quincy spent much of the last six weeks quite ill, she fought her way back from a stroke, partial blindness, and an inability to eat her regular food. In her final days she was allowed to break her diet and enjoy cookies, pizza, and peanut butter fudge.
Though she was frail in the time before her death, Quincy's family knows she would want to be remembered as the sweet, healthy rat she once was, who gave kisses and liked to have her belly rubbed. She will be greatly missed.

Baby Quincy, the day I got her. 

Having a bit of egg, as a treat

Riding around on my foot

Best buddies. Exploring the world together. 

"LET ME CLIMB YOUR HAND, DANG IT"

After she ate her noodle, she took Monster's noodle, too. 

Not supposed to be on the windowsill!

Baby Quincy hiding in her igloo

They used to have hammocks. Then they peed all over them and chewed them up. 

Taken a few weeks ago. I miss her so much.

Obits

Guinea "Snickers" Pig of Louisville passed away August 31, 2012, at the age of probably 4-ish.

Originally from the Okolona neighborhood, Pig moved to the Fern Creek area in her youth, where she shared an apartment with a charming pair of newlyweds. Following a recent move to neighboring Highview, she retired from her long and successful career as a toilet paper roll chewer. She was a lifelong ve

getarian and a member of the United Church of Weeeeeeeee.

Pig is survived by her caretakers Brandon and Jessi Jones, as well as four adopted sisters: Quincy, Monster, Glitter and Cupcake. She will be especially missed by Glitter, who really liked to get in her cage for some reason.

Memorials may be made to the "Buy Brandon and Jessi a pair of baby peegs to assuage the anguish of their bereavement" fund.

One of the two inevitabilities of life (hint: it's not "taxes")

I can't handle seeing animals in pain. It's not like I'm cold toward people, necessarily, but animals really get to me sometimes. If we watch a kid's movie with anthropomorphized animals in it, and said animals get sad, I usually cry. I just can't stand it. It's something that is very difficult for me to deal with.

My Quincy is dying. It sucks to say it, but it's true. She isn't sick, really. She isn't coughing or wheezing. But she has been slowing down dramatically over the past few days. The rat I once called "big fat meanie" for stealing the food of her sisters is losing weight, and not really eating. We thought she might have had pain in her little hands and feet, because she would pick up a piece of food, hold it for a moment or two, and end up dropping it. She is staying on the ground floor of her cage, too. But it's more than just her extremities. She walks funny, and has been acting confused. This morning I noticed that one of her eyes has turned cloudy and white- and it wasn't like that yesterday. I have a feeling that she can't see very well out of the other one, either, judging by the way she has bumped into things. I got her to drink a little with an eye dropper earlier this afternoon because I realized I haven't seen her drink anything in a few days. She has been working on the same piece of dried pineapple all morning, taking imperceptibly tiny bites. I don't think she is in pain, but she is just fading away. The whole thing is very sad, and very hard for me to deal with. I have never been "the grown up" when a pet has passed away. Earlier this year my family had to put our dog Ivan to sleep. But Ivan has always been my mom's dog, and I hadn't lived in the same house with him for over two years. Quincy can't be put to sleep because no vets around here deal with that sort of thing when it comes to small animals. I have actually only found two vets in the whole city that would even consider seeing her when she was a baby and I thought she had a respiratory infection (I was wrong.) So we are basically playing the worst kind of waiting game.

My dear husband, who loves animals so much and has playtime with our pets every night, tried, I guess, to offer me some words of comfort a few minutes ago when I was telling him how emotionally drained I was feeling these days (in addition to being in the process of losing Quincy, I also had some car trouble this weekend- stressful enough- that ended up draining our bank account, costing twice as much as originally estimated, and we have bills due next week. But I digress.) He said "well, they don't live forever." Yes, thank you, I know that. I can't expect anyone, pets or people, to live forever. But it's hard when my pets still seem so young to me. It's hard seeing a creature I care about changing so much in a matter of a few days- changing for the worse. It's hard because there's nothing I can really do for her. And it's hard because no matter who you are and who is dying, you can never really be prepared- mentally, emotionally- for death. Even if you have a loved one who has been sick or in an accident, there is always a tiny voice in your head that hopes "maybe things will get better. Maybe this isn't the end." Life would be easier if we knew when we, or our loved ones, or our pets, were going to die. I keep thinking of a quote from an episode of the Golden Girls-- "There shouldn't be heart attacks, or cancer, or anything like that. There should just be a certain age where you have to turn your life in, like a library book." Maybe if we knew when our pets' due dates were, it would make it easier when it's time to turn them in. I don't know. I'm sad and I'm rambling.

I'm fairly confident that things are not going to get better with my Quincy. I am sure that there is not going to be a miraculous turnaround here. Which means things are going to get worse- for her, physically, and for me, emotionally. We are certainly in for an interesting week. If you would remember us when saying your prayers, I would certainly appreciate it.

Little baby Quincy, the day after she came to live with us (1 month old)

I sent this picture in to a cute animal website, and Q got featured on there! She got 73 thumbs up.  :)

Working on the "edible log" the rats destroyed in one week. It was probably meant to last much 

longer than that. 

Quincy and Monster used to have a hammock. Then we had to get another hammock because they would fight over who got to stay in the hammock. Even with two hammocks, sometimes they both snuggled up in one. The hammocks kind of fell apart after a while. 

Introducing Glitter to Quincy. Quincy kind of looks like Glitter and Cupcake's momma. So they flipped out when they saw her. Quincy was horrified. This is our size comparison between big fat Quincy (before she went on a diet) and little bitty Glitter (who is still smaller than her sissy, Cupcake)

Quincy, climbing on her cage while the babies are inside exploring. Quincy and Monster HATED it when the babies got to visit their cage. She is waiting for one of them to come close enough for her to punch, in this picture. I'm not kidding. She bopped them all the time. Monster hissed a lot and got so worked up she was bouncing around like hot popcorn. But then, after a few weeks, we cleaned the cage, everyone moved in together, and it was all fine and dandy. 

Quincy today. I took this picture this morning. She is resting a little piece of pineapple on top of her paws because she can't hold onto it very well. I'm sure that there is plenty of pineapple in heaven. And cheese and deli turkey and rotini and chocolate chips and everything else she likes to eat. 

Meet the newest Joneses

Glitter and Cupcake are the newest additions to our family. We are very glad to have them. They are so tiny!