Meet Scout (AKA Scouter Chops)

We adopted newest family member, Scout, aka "Scouter Chops" in March from Central Indiana Lab Rescue.  He's been such a great fit! He's good with kids, cats and doesn't go crazy over strangers or the UPS. Win, win for everyone! Although I still have a hole in my heart for Willow, who passed unexpectedly last November, it's nice to have a new puppy in the house!

He brings out the puppy in our old man, Hunter

Lifeguard dog on duty

Oh Rats!

Pets, Pets & More Pets!

Found all these photos while clearing out my phone. The pets are taking over!

Hello!!?

I'll just lay here, okay?

Oh, where you working here? 

Tired animals

Guard kitty

I did not pull this tablecloth down....it fell on me!

Laziness

Happy 10th Birthday, Hunter!

Gracie Gummy Bear

In an effort to try to get people to not read my blog, I will be writing about cats & domestic adventures. Joking, joking. Well, not about my topics. But it takes a special reader to "get me" and my interests.

Gracie Gummy Bear, formerly named Tracey, is our foster cat. She had all, yes ALL, her teeth extracted due to stomatitis. Jeff thought it would be funny to call her Gummy Bear because of this. I agreed to take her back in October thinking it was just another foster cat. She went through a lot of vet visits, injections and questionable improvement. Notice I said a lot of vet visits. Imagine me, cat carrier in one arm and baby carrier in the other trekking my into the vet! I have to admit that was not fun. I was almost ready to throw in the towel and take her back to the shelter. However, she wasn't getting better and I was concerned that I was her last chance.

During her stay at the Norris Inn, we kept her in our basement. Don't worry it's finished with lots of plush, animal-hair-covered seating opportunities. I figured she'd quietly adjust to her accommodations like most cats. After a month or so, she decided she was done with the basement. Do you blame her? She wanted to be part of the family. Well, yadda yadda yadda, she is now 100% part of our family. Roaming at ease around the house, fearless of kids, cats & vacuums. Ironically, since coming out of her isolation, she's improved drastically. I'm sure there's a psychological reason for this. Not only is her health better, but she's truly an awesome cat. It could be that all our animals are at least 7 years older than her which makes her young spunk all the more noticeable. I think we'll continue to foster her "for a long time".

Gracie Gummy Bear

Gracie Gummy Bear, formerly named Tracey, is our foster cat. She had all, yes ALL, her teeth extracted due to stomatitis. Jeff thought it would be funny to call her Gummy Bear because of this. I agreed to take her back in October thinking it was just another foster cat. She went through a lot of vet visits, injections and questionable improvement. Notice I said a lot of vet visits. Imagine me, cat carrier in one arm and baby carrier in the other trekking my into the vet! I have to admit that was not fun. I was almost ready to throw in the towel and take her back to the shelter. However, she wasn't getting better and I was concerned that I was her last chance. 

During her stay at the Norris Inn, we kept her in our basement. Don't worry it's finished with lots of plush, animal-hair-covered seating opportunities. I figured she'd quietly adjust to her accommodations like most cats. After a month or so, she decided she was done with the basement. Do you blame her? She wanted to be part of the family. All this excit

Frances, our foster cat

This is Frances, our foster cat...


Frances has a little problem with allergies. She is allergic to everything! She has to have organic paper litter because she's allergic to regular cat litter. She can't have any blankets or towels because she's allergic to detergent, therefore she sleeps in a cardboard box. She had a biopsy on the back of her neck and throat to try to determine what is going on with her immune system. Thus, we are left with poor little Frances...aka "Lamp Shade". I have to give her pills in the morning which was a learning experience. It actually went quite well. I have to remember it's for her to get better.

She loves, and I mean, loves being petted. She wants you to pet/scratch every inch of her body. It's quite pathetic. I've never seen a cat so active and rolling over every inch of my lap trying to get petted. And for pity sake I take her head cone off to give her some relief. But, once she gets scratching, it's crazy. I honestly thought the shelter staff was crazy when they told me about her allergies, but it's true! Poor thing. I think she even gets a little red from rolling all over my clothes. Oh, what to do...? I'll just give her love and help her recover from her surgery.

Oh, and yes, I realize Frances is a funny name for a cat. She was already named. I actually think it fits her quite well considering how fragile she is. However, Liddy has decided that Frances is too hard to remember, therefore, she has renamed her Daisy.


"Can you itch behind my ears?"

Our first baby, Hunter

In an effort to relax, I was looking through old scrapbooks today which leads me to my memories of our first baby...

Hunter was our first puppy that we adopted when we were seniors in college. He was our baby. He went everywhere with us. He'd ride with Jeff to drop me off. He had fraternity brother babysitters that would use him to attract the girls. He knew all the tricks. He graduated puppy kindergarten. We investigated agility school. He had his photo taken with the Easter Bunny and Smokey the Bear, in addition to professional dog pictures. I actually saved a few of his baby teeth and taped them in a scrapbook. What was I thinking about this!?! He was our everything! Now, 7 years later...poor guy. He just mopes around and sleeps in the dog bed with an overstuffed animal in his mouth. Sometimes at night Liddy will come into our room and crash on his dog bed, thus moving him to the floor. His chin is getting gray. He has a fatty tumor on his side (an old age dog thing). Sigh...my (first) baby...

Happy Birthday Hunter!

Our first "baby" is 7 today! Here's a video from his party.

Kitten for adoption

Isn't she cute? I've been raising her since she was 3 weeks old - she is now 5 weeks. Her siblings all died and her mom abandoned her in my parent's barn. She is ready to be adopted (free, of course)! She is a sweetheart, purrs non-stop, playful and loves people. I wish I could keep her, but our dog is very aggressive toward her. I can't sacrafice her safety. So, I would really like to find her a good home. If you know anyone would like a kitten, please let me know. You can email me at lisa.m.norris@gmail.com.

Kittens...and more kittens!

We are fostering 4 orange kittens. We picked them up this morning, and will keep them for 2 weeks. Liddy is excited about helping. So far I can't tell them apart, but they each have their own personality. Two of them have motors purring everytime I see them. And one is super shy. We'll work on him. :) But, it's only for 2 weeks and then they are going up for adoption.

I'll have to get a picture of Jinx with them. They flock to him and he gives kisses. He did this with the last kittens we fostered (a few years ago!) I'm not sure if he's really fatherly or if he thinks they could be his dinner. LOL! Anyways, he's absolutely huge compared to them. I must get a picture of it!

Here they are....

Happy Birthday to....

Willow! She's 5 years old today. Five years of chewed flip flops, terrified cats, food stolen off counters - including a whole stick of butter and a jar of diaper ointment...to name a few. But, I guess we love her, our wild and crazy, yet misunderstood Wildebeast.

Good thing Old Navy flip flops are cheap

....because they are Willow's favorite chew toy. Last year I lost 4 pairs. Today I lost my first pair of the season. This dog will eat anything!