Raising Animals.

So, many people who know me know that I would probably be willing to raise any kind of animal except eels or ants. But even ruling them out could be an overreaction. See I have always had a fear of birds. Mostly geese and chickens. But penguins were always the exception. So then I thought to myself that if penguins are okay then maybe ducks are too. Then I fell in love with ducks and now I own 7 ducks, 5 chickens, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 20 cows. So you would think that I'll just take care of any animal that I encounter but that is also not true.

Before I got my first dog, Fubu, I researched Pugs, and health problems they can have and how much of a financial investment they can be. I looked up how much space and walking they need. I looked for what their average lifespan is, everything. I still do this with every animal I get I research as much as I can until I feel comfortable that I am familiar with their particular needs. At the time I got Fubu I had already had several family dogs and I worked in a dog grooming van. I wasn't a dog newbie. But I feel like it's your job do research an animal before you decide to be responsible for it's life and well-being.

So although it may seem like an all of the sudden snap decision to some people that I got chickens. It wasn't I had been discussing it with my husband for about 3 years. We discussed where we would keep them who would care for them if we went on vacation. How I would deal with my fear of the chickens. We knew that I would have to get babies and raise them from that age so that I would get attached before their pecking could do any damage. We knew that we wanted to raise chickens for eggs and not for meat as I can't handle eating something I raised very well yet. (I do eat our beef but I eat much less beef now that I raise them and I can't think about which cow I'm eating because it breaks my heart.) We researched what kinds of chickens we want. I have watched videos on other peoples nesting boxes. We knew how much it costs to feed and care for them. All of that. So it was in no way a snap decision. I did indeed see chicks in the feed store and decide that was the day I was going to get chicks but I still went home and slept on it and got chicks the next day.

This may seem like common sense to a lot of people but there is a disturbing number of people out there who just get something cause it's cute and learn how to care for it later. That to me is the epitome of irresponsibility. I can't imagine not knowing how to care for something before you get it. It's a tiny little life you are now responsible for and just like with children, you don't just need to keep them alive but you need to make sure they turn out good. I raised Sasha our lab/elkhound mix from a pup and I didn't need to just keep her alive, I had to make sure she knew not to nibble on peoples hands and how to go potty outside. I had to teach her how to walk on and off the leash. She has cute tricks she does like tucking me into bed and shaking, that weren't necessary but people think it's cute. It was a lot of hard work to turn her into the dog she is today. But she is a great dog now.

Some people think of animals more like decorations then living beings. You don't buy a dog to let it just be out for decoration. They have feelings and needs too. So before you go buy a bunny for your kid for Easter or a chicken for eggs or even a dog or cat. Please make sure you know not only how to keep it alive but also how to raise it and love it!

Many different ways to tell if you're a crazy cat person.

It's no secret I love my cats. People always tell me I baby them too much, but really until I have an actual baby what harm is it doing. True my cat Oliver pretty much has a God complex because I always tell him he's a king. But he is the king of the kitties. Bagheera may think he owns our farm but so what? He keeps the rodent and bird population under control. Little miss Rochette pretty much thinks the world revolves around her and I but I'm alright with that. I have begun to notice some things that make me believe that I may take it too far. Here's a few examples of things I have noticed and you might want to watch out for so you don't become as crazy as I am.

• Having pictures of your pets in your phone is fine. Having more pictures then you have of family may be taking it a bit too far. 
• Snuggling your cat is great but if you have ever stayed still when you have important things to do (like work or pee) just so that you don't wake the cat, It's becoming an issue. 
• If you make your significant other move over in bed to make room for your cat because she prefers to sleep in between you two , under the covers, like a human. Is probably taking more of a relationship risk then you want to take. 
• If you judge whether or not you like someone by how your cat feels about them it's taking it a bit far. Mainly because my cats hate most people who aren't Me, Hubby, my Mom, or my Brothers. If I cut down my social circle that much it's going to be harmful to my sanity. 
• If you hold your cats like a baby even when they weigh about twice the size of an average baby. It's pushing it a tad. Plus really not good on your arms and shoulders especially if you have a torn rotator cuff. (That one may just be me)
• If you rock your cats to sleep when you get home from work because you know that they missed you and had a big day. (never mind that you are exhausted and have better things to do)
• It's true that some cats meow in different ways for different things they want. My cats can all say the only 4 words a cat really needs to say, Mom, Dad, Out, and NOW. But responding to them as if they are a teen-aged human is not really normal. Nor is dropping everything to feed them because they are sitting by there food bowl (which is not empty but apparently not full enough for them.) yelling NOW.
• Playing games with your cat that are really more for five year old humans. I may or may not play both hide and seek and the floor is lava with my cat Rochette. 
• If you baby-talk to your cat more then you do actual babies. You probably need to tone it down a bit. 
• If you are badly allergic to cats and yet own three of them and do all of the above things and let them lay on your head until you can barely breathe. Maybe take a look at what you're doing to yourself. 

I adore my cats and will most likely continue to baby them. They and my other fur babies bring me happiness the least I can do is try to return the favor. So, the next time someone calls me a crazy cat person my response will probably be, "Yes, but I'm a happy crazy cat person!"  

Why I like my cats more then I like most people.

Everyone knows I love cats. I can never decide if I'm a cat person or a dog person. But after years of working in retail I do know one thing. Between animals and people I'm most definitely an animal person. Here are a few reasons why I'd rather hang out with my cats then most people.

-I never have to guess if they are happy. You know how sometimes when you're talking to someone you are thinking "Are they pretending to be happy for appearances?" Well with cats you never have to wonder. If they are happy they purr and in the case of my cat they purr loudly and pet the air.

-When I say hello to someone their response is never an adorable little chirp. Every time I say hello to my cats they chirp. usually while happily running towards me. The only human who gives me a similar reaction is my 7 year old part time kiddo. (my best friends daughter) Everyone else the best I can expect is hi back and maybe a, "how are you?"

-If I woke you up to pat your head just because I was bored I'm pretty sure your reaction wouldn't be a positive one. My cats adore sleep even more then I do but still if I wake them up by petting them I usually get a chirp and a snuggle and then lots of purring. I haven't had that good of a reaction to being woken up since I was 2.

-My cats make a daily effort to please me no matter what mood I'm in. They bring me gifts. I don't want the gifts they pick out but it's thoughtful none the less. They apparently think I'm a bad hunter and may starve so they bring me rodents and birds. Sometimes still alive so I can hone my hunting skills. Which will never happen but still they don't want me to starve and they go through a lot of trouble to bring me those gifts. No human would go to all that trouble everyday just on the off chance it made me happy.

-They do the most hilarious things without knowing they're funny. One of the cats I'm currently fostering, Roshet, was playing the floor is lava last night jumping from chair to table to chair again. She was completely thrown off when she got to our computer chair she had her two back feet planted on a chair and her two front feet on the computer chair walking backwards because it was spinning and she couldn't figure out how to get out of her predicament. She eventually gave up and laded on the carpet but jumped twice quickly because the floor was lava. Apparently the kitchen floor was just linoleum. I know that this example cats pretty much win from having a lower I.Q. but it was cute darn it.

-If I'm cold the best a human can do is offer to turn the heat up or give me a jacket or blanket. My cats make it a group effort to keep me warm they lay on the coldest parts of me like my feet and the small of my back. Just to keep me warm. I know it makes them colder but they don't mind they give me all their heat.

-My cats don't have mood swings. Granted one of my cats is a little mentally special but they will always love me and always be nice to me. Even when I'm doing something they don't like such as removing a tick or trimming their nails. They know that I'm trying to help them and they never take out their frustrations on me. At work I get yelled at for things I had nothing to do with on a regular basis by angry customers. I wish I had a NO bottle to squirt them with.

-If I don't want my cats on me or around me I can put them outside and they are always thrilled. They don't think I'm sick of them they just think I wanted them to go play in the outdoor wonderland. If I get irritated with a human they would look at me pretty funny if I started pushing them outside and then just told them to have fun and shut the door. That would be viewed as "weird" or "rude"

-When I am caring for humans either old or babies they tend to require a lot of care. My cats are self cleaning. One is even a tad obsessive about cleaning. (She grooms my husbands beard and my hands which all have to be immediately washed cause eww but still we appreciate the effort.) If they run out of food the cats just need a scoop and that's it no preparation needed. And having indoor/outdoor cats there is significantly less litterbox issues then indoor cats. Since I'm so high maintenance it is nice to have a lower maintenance animal in the house.

-My cats don't judge me if I want to sleep in because that is all they ever want to do. If anything they judge me for getting up and going to work. That is a habit they wish I would break. Especially living on a farm humans tend to judge me if I want to sleep past nine which I usually do.

I love people I am most definitely  a social people person however there are days when I just wanna hang out with my crazy cats. I feel like queen of the house when I'm with my Gatos. They make me smile everyday that is why I currently own 2 and foster 3 even though I'm allergic to cats. I will most likely always have a cat or two around my house. Why wouldn't you want a fuzzy ball of entertaining happiness.

Shasha the dog that doesn't fit in.

This is my dog, Sasha. I got her as an early Christmas present for my husband a few years ago. Her daddy is Lab/Norwegian Elkhound. And her mommy is Lab/Jack Russell. She is the thing I never knew I needed. But I'll save all her praises for another day. Sasha's most outstanding quality is her love and compassion. She feeds her stuffed animals everyday. They take turns going head first into her (usually already empty) food dish. She loves all animals. We have cattle and she plays with the babies. They kiss noses. She has a Puggle brother who she adores. When we had ducks she would kiss them and swim with them. She and Carlisle (my duck) would run up to each other so she could kiss his beak. She once found a little roof rat she wanted to be friends with. But she played to rough and accidentally killed him. She looked so sad. She didn't want to come in she kept poking him with her nose trying to wake him. She mourned that stupid rat for weeks. She would go outside and go straight to that spot and lay down and pout. She never makes noises but she would wimper at night. She is truely the most warm hearted dog. So on the farm she can't understand why the chickens run from her. She doesn't know why they don't want her kisses. The only thing she is lacking is any skills to actually be a dog. See when she was a puppy she was around an unfixed male dog and my husband taught her to sit when he tried sniffing around her area. Well as I'm sure you know dogs get to know each other by sniffing each other's areas. But Sasha is a lady. So any dog comes up and she sits. Which leads to every dog looking at her like she's nuts and leaving her alone. My husband was recently building fence with two family friends and between the two of them they have 3 dogs. All slightly smaller then Sash. So Hubby took Sasha with him. All the other dogs ran and played while Sasha sat by her human and watched him build fence. During a break he saw a mouse. She did everything she could to try to befriend that mouse. Slowly approaching and even crawling on her belly under a farm vehicle because her friend was running away from her under there. Poor girl she gets along great with her brother, Riley the puggle. And she is never mean to other dogs she just doesn't fit in. Her daddy taght her to be a lady which made her socially awkward around other dogs. Anything from lizards to birds to cats or beavers are her friends, but not dogs, dogs are weird.

Fostering and why it's important.

There are so many kinds of fostering. You can foster dogs, cats, livestock, kids, elderly people, etc. I have seen all of these in my life. I am currently fostering 3 of the most adorable quirky little cats ever. It's not something I set out to do. I had a friend who was in a situation where she required medical attention for many months. I was able to take her cats and my giant cat is the brother of these guys so it was a no brainer. My husband is luckily very understanding and let me take them in even though he does the more unpleasant cat care. See I'm allergic to cats. so they can't get too close to my face and I have constantly wash my hands after loving on them so I don't rub my eye or nose and have a reaction. I have never been able to live without a cat even though I'm allergic. I love animals. The thing about fostering is it's hard. No matter what kind of fostering there is an adjustment period. There's times when you think, "Will they ever feel at home here?" but most of the time they do. There can be issues. I've fostered dogs that had issues with other dogs. luckily they were fine with our dogs but we had to be careful to keep them away from others. One of the kitties I'm fostering I thought he'd never quit hiding from us but after almost 2 weeks of hiding he came out to eat and saw me petting one of the other cats. He slowly made his way to me and since then we've been pretty inseparable. Yes it will be hard to take them back to their mommy. But I just focus on the joy they will give to her while she is healing. We're friends so I can visit them. Not everyone is lucky enough to have that but it helps me. Either way sometimes people or animals need an in between place. Those who offer to be that place, to love them like they're family until they can return to their actual family, they have to be a special kind of person. It's so hard to let go. I think the most difficult would be adult foster care. My grandmother was in adult foster care before she passed. My mom went everyday and helped them get grandma put to bed but these people loved my grandma and cared for her like she was family. They invited us to visit anytime and we came to love these people like family. But they love these people and care for them knowing that usually they won't leave until they leave to be with Jesus. That has got to be so hard. It's such a blessing to be able to love animals and people whenever you can and I hope that one day everyone who fosters does it for all the right reasons. I hope that every animal and child and grandparent that needs to be fostered finds someone who is willing to give them all the love they need and deserve!