Doggie Heaven

Ever since we had to put Perci down last summer, Addi will periodically talk about how Perci has gone to Dog Heaven. Recently she has started saying to me, "Mommy, when you die, then you go to Dog Heaven." She also went with me this week to take the cat to the vet to get her shots. I thought it was very strange that she starting acting very nervous and unsure. Finally she says to me, "Mommy, is this Dog Heaven?" I couldn't figure out where this question came from. I said, "no, this is just the doggie doctor." She then says, "But Perci is here??" And then I put it all together. The last time we were at the vet was when we put Perci down and we told her that Perci was going to Dog Heaven. I didn't realize that she would then associate the vet with Dog Heaven and she was nervous and unsure when we got there because she thought we'd leave without our cat and never see her again (just like what happened with Perci). I felt so awful and very much like an inadequate parent. Perhaps I haven't explained things very well to my little 3 year old. After she saw that the cat was just going to the "doctor" and that we were still taking her home, she felt much better about everything.

Speaking of the cat....she has slowly become more of an indoor/outdoor cat instead of a strickly outdoor cat. This morning at about 6:45 I started hearing very loud bird noises that sounded like they were coming from inside the house. I know we have a lot of pets, but I'm pretty sure a bird is not one of them. After I woke up a little bit, I realized that even though we don't have a pet bird, there still probably WAS a bird in the house. Apparently the cat caught a bird and brought it inside via the doggie door. Somehow she managed not to kill it, but the poor bird was freaking out and flying all over our front entry. I got Daniel up, and while I held the cat (an interesting task when the cat still has all of her claws and REALLY wanted that poor bird) Daniel somehow got the bird to perch on top of the broom and after he took it outside, it flew away happy and free. Our pets bring such excitement to our lives!!

Speaking of pets....3 years ago we gave one of our ball pythons to a friend (Peter) of Tristan's before we left St. Louis. Apparently the mother had her fill of snake caring, and asked us if we'd by chance want it back. Does the Lonergan family ever turn down an animal???? So we brought it home with us last weekend and we set it up in Tristan's room. Guess what his name is? Guess....I mean it, Guess. No really, his name is "GUESS." Clever isn't it??? We have more animals that people living in our house...does that disturb anyone else??????