My Furry, Finned and Scaled Thearpy Journal

[TheCrabbyTabby]

If you don't already know, I am Manic-Depressive, otherwise known as Bi-Polar. It comes in waves of either severe depression, or severe energetic happiness aka being manic. My particular form of manic episodes manifest themselves into severe bursts of rage.

This journal is not to necessarily chronicle my life dealing with Bi-Polar, as some of it is extremely personal, but to chronicle the effects that being an animal guardian has on it. Yeah, I know this is a family friendly forum, so I have a private and personal journal to write down the things I need to get off my chest that aren't very appropriate for this forum, or that I feel need to be shared with anyone at all.

Anyways, let's get onto the animals I do have guardianship of as of now. I have a lovely mink (possibly a satin) female syrian hamster I have named Holly, due to acquiring her close to Christmastime. Like all syrians, she is corpuscular, meaning that she is more active at dawn and dusk, and sleeps in between times. I spoil her relentlessly with many different treats.

I also have two little roborovski hamsters, sisters, named Chibiusa and Kousagi, after a manga special, Parallel Sailor Moon, from the Bishoujo Senshi (Pretty Guardian/Solider) Sailor Moon manga series, which is also an anime as well. I am a huge fan of that series, as you probably could already tell by my current signature and avatar.

The robos, as they are affectionately known, are not really a species of hamster that can be handled easily. They are more of a watch and appreciate pet, rather than a cuddle and hold pet. Kousagi is very shy and hides when I am doing something to her cage, while the bolder Chibiusa likes to come out on occasion, to see what I am doing. They are housed in separate cages now as they were fighting a lot when they were housed together.

Now comes the coup de grace of my furry, finned and scaled children, the 10 gallon betta tank. In there are any number of MTS, Malaysian Trumpet Snails, a handful of mystery snails, and of course, my lovely, and now completely blue, delta tail male betta, Zephyr. I am contemplating adding another occupant to the tank, possibly a dwarf orange crayfish (CPO) but its still up in the air for now.

I also have a chihuahua, a chocolate colored female, named Noel (yet another critter acquired near Christmastime). She was tragically, a result of a seizure on a puppy mill, as her mother was pregnant with her at the time of the seizure and later gave birth in the foster home. Because of the poor diet all the dogs at the mill were fed, most of the litter was stillborn, but luckily, Noel was a fighter and survived.

She now weighs a hefty 7 and 1/2 to 8 lbs, rather large for a chihuahua, and is classified by some as having a "deer" face, rather than an "apple dome" face. These are, of course, simply terms created by the puppy mill industry to help sell the puppies they produce at a higher price, along with terms such as "teacup" and "miniature". All chihuahuas, regardless of their facial features, or size, are the same breed.

Noel is such a diva. She only eats when she feels like it and only when the food is up to her standards, which means adding a bit of wet food to the dry. She also insists on sleeping on only the softest and fluffiest spots. Another thing is that she absolutely detests wearing clothes. She runs and hides the moment anything resembling a dog clothing item comes into view. That includes harnesses and coats/sweaters for winter walks. She is a short haired chihuahua after all, and needs a little extra help staying warm in the winter.

Well, that's all my critters in a nutshell. I am terrible about being a consistent poster, but will try my best to keep adding new and interesting posts to this journal. If I do, however, stop posting, then you'll know why.

[TheCrabbyTabby]

I am currently helping my mother to foster various dogs. Our current fosters are a pekinese who has been so sickly and full of infections and whatnot, that nearly all her fur had fallen out. She was rescued during a raid on a puppy mill. Not only is she missing fur, she has an umbilical hernia from constantly being pregnant and giving birth, and is missing an eye. No one knows exactly how that happened but its most likely a result of an infection gone untreated and as a result the eye just oozed away. Her other eye is reasonably functional, and she manages just fine with it.

Since coming to us and being treated with antibiotics and a special medicated shampoo, she has begun to regrow her fur and is even showing more and more spunk as the days go by. I am sure that she will be absolutely gorgeous when her full fluffiness comes into being and as a result, will have absolutely no problem finding a good home.

The other foster is a female Boston terrier who was also a part of the same puppy mill raid and seizure. She was brought to us with moderate to severe hair loss on her back and legs, also from infection. She had with her, four not quite 2 week old puppies when she was rescued, one of which didn't make it due to malnutrition and a severe worm infestation. The other three are now 4 and 1/2 weeks old and doing fine. Although, one, the runt, is a little smaller than the other two and she is just now starting to catch up.

We have named the Pekinese, Mona Lisa, and the Boston terrier mother, Sophie. The puppies are named Wynona, after the singer due to her being so chubby, Winston, after the well known British Prime Minister due to him being the chubbiest, and the little runt is called Willow.

Wynona loves to explore and is the most precocious of the three and loves to explore and follow you around when out of the nursery crate, while Winston is more easily scared, being the baby that he is, and prefers to stay in one place and cry when he is taken out. Willow, being the littlest is babied a lot more than the others by us, and is more likely to want to cuddle or eat when she is out.

Willow has made some great progress as of late in the weight gaining department. She had struggled to keep at 12-13 ounces for a solid week or so and suddenly is starting to gain. She is now up to 15.7 ounces now, which is almost a whole pound! She is proving to be quite the fighter after her rocky start in life. I bet she'll be a wonderful companion for her new family, which has already been found. In fact, all the puppies are spoken for. I even think Sophie is spoken for too!

Willow will go to a home just down the street, and another family came to look at Winston, and decided to take Sophie instead, as Winston may be auctioned off at a very special event (with a butt-load of stipulations and a contract to sign, of course) in a bid to bring awareness to the tragedy of puppy mills. All the proceeds will go the animal adoption organization that we foster for. At least that is the plan so far. There might be a change in plans, though, as this kind of auction is kind of hard to do ethically.

Well, that's all for now. See ya!