Happy Birthday!

 Happy 7th Birthday to Me!!!

Fighting for Attention

People might find this extremely hard to believe given my movie star good looks and sparkling personality, but I've felt very neglected this last month.  Why?  Because of these:

Yes, Sister's brand new hamster, Mittens, had babies.  Six in fact.  Now usually, when Sister gets a new rat, she and Ma spend a lot of time "oohing" and "aahing" over the little tailless squirrel (Pa's never fooled...he's always on my side).  It's sickening, but I tolerate it because I know that in a couple of days the hamster will be integrated into the family and I'll regain my status as primary attention receiver.  But when you add babies into the mix...well, let's just say that I immediately realized that everything wasn't going to blow over in a day or so.

What needed to be done suddenly became very clear to me:  I needed to fight to win back Ma and Sister's undivided attention.  And that's what I did.  And let me tell you, I held nothing back in my quest.  Here's what I did:

1. I managed to will myself into having a bad belly which resulted in no less than two trips to the vet, countless peanut butter and pill sandwiches, two messes inside the house (the less said about those the better), a few midnight trips outside to do business, a number of meals augmented with rice (sadly no chicken), and a switch over to a new prescription kibble mix that is way tastier than the food I've eaten all my life.
2. I managed to force myself into having an allergic reaction to a new flea, tick, and mosquito treatment which resulted in another two trips to the vet, twenty four hours of howling, crying, and scratching because I was so uncomfortable, a dose of doggy Benadryl which failed to take the edge off the itchiness and instead made me even more hyper and super thirsty, and a bath to wash off the remaining treatment.  And if all that wasn't bad enough, the technician at the vet's office "accidentally" tried to send me home with some cheap costume jewelry (a tacky rope leash) rather than with my bling (a stylish black collar, shiny metal chain, and a leather leash).  What nerve!

And did my extreme devotion to the issue work?  Yes and no.  Sure, I got a lot of attention during both of my medical incidents, but once I started feeling better, Ma and Sister returned to the babies. It wasn't until today, the start of a hamster free weekend (Pa, Ma, Sister and I went out east while the "hamlets" stayed at home), that I finally received the attention I craved.  And do you know what?  Perhaps I didn't really want all that attention after all.  Look what Sister did to my tail when I wasn't looking:

Goodbye to a Friend

Ralphie and Me

To my pal Ralphie,

I'll never forget our play dates and sleepovers, our jockeying for the best pets, and our marathon leaning sessions.  You taught me how to make dog angels in the snow and let me sample your yummy "Ralphie tested, Ralphie approved" meals.  We barked at Chinese food delivery men and checked the pizza tree for new growth.  I'll think of you every time I howl my displeasure about getting a bath.

You were a good dog...a very good dog...and I'll miss you always.

Love,

Rigby and family