Well the change in daylight savings time seems to have solved Zoe’s waking up early. Maybe she was just trying to transition me?

I just had (minor) surgery, but it’s making it hard for me to deal with, well, anything. I have incisions on my stomach so it’s hard to get up, move around, and even hard to yell. Den has been home for most of the past two days to help me with the dogs. They’ve been pretty good, considering… Zeeke has been barky, which is annoying when I’m drifting in and out of sleep (the anesthesia really makes you drowsy for a day, then the pain meds do a number on you!). But other than that things are going pretty well.

Zoe has spent most of the two days on the bed beside me, whether napping or playing with Merlin or chewing on a toy. She’s good company, if a little pushy at times - whenever Den comes in to spend time with me she’s all over him with licks and wiggles and just won’t leave us alone! Den still needs to work on being more firm with her in not letting her get pushy. It’s funny because he definitely doesn’t let Zeeke get away with the same things, but when I tell him to push her away he gives me a sad look and says, “But she’s so small and cute!” Oy! He’s a softy sometimes.

The cats are doing really well still. Still into everything they can get into, of course. I set up Merlin’s water fountain again, and twice he’s already dis-assembled it. He’s not content just drinking the water from the fountain, he must find out where the water is coming from… which involves him popping off the top, sticking his paw into the bubbling part, and in the end pushing the fountain around the room so much it comes unplugged from the wall. :sigh: It’s cute that he loves it so much and all, but it’s annoying to have to put it all back together nearly every day!

Spring seems to be here - or at least a precursor to spring. The snow has almost all melted, finally… though what hasn’t melted is still in that dangerous icy mass stage. I think Zoe is excited to see grass again. When all there was on the ground was snow she’d spend half her time outside digging, I’m guessing to catch some scents from the ground itself. Now she wanders from grassy patch to grassy patch, sniffing before she squats to pee. It’s just really nice to not get numb fingers and toes when I take the dogs out. Hopefully we’ll get to spend a little more time out there letting them run around a bit on their long leads and burning off some of that energy.

We’ve been playing fetch with them indoors. Zeeke loves to chase, but he’s not so great at the bringing it back. He got as far as spitting the toy at Den’s feet - which, trust me, is better than he was doing. Den enjoys playing fetch with him, he just doesn’t like having to wrestle him for the toy every time. We do need a better space for it though… our hallway is narrow and not very long, plus it’s all hardwood and I worry about Zeeke’s hips (and my walls!). Too bad it’ll be a long while before we get the basement all done.