I bought a couple of new toys for the dogs. One a nylabone. They are the ONLY chewie I will buy for the dogs (other than kongs, which neither of them care to chew on) because Zoe LOVES them and Zeeke ignores them. Anything that Zeeke likes? Gets destroyed in a day. So those nylabones actually stick around for weeks or months, occupying Zoe. I like that.

The other thing I bought her was a hand-puppet. She had a hand-puppet when she was a pup and it was her favorite toy! Plus she would actually play wrestle with “you” when you were using it (and it didn’t hurt when she got rough - well not usually, anyways).

Well unfortunately she is beating the crap out of that thing. Fluff everywhere (from it’s head). Stitches ripped, seams coming apart. I do not think Mr. Hand Puppet will be surviving much longer.

But in the meantime she is having a ball - wiggling around on the bed kicking it with her back legs, growling at it, throwing it around… you name it. She’s so entertaining.

:: ::

I am happy to report all animals are back to their normal (destructive) non-sick selves. Zeeke unfortunately got a touch of whatever Zoe had a couple days later and had a very large “accident” in the bathroom. (It was so BEYOND nasty.) But just the once. After that everyone seems to be chipper and healthy.

Merlin is still aiming to compete in the heavyweight category with the dogs. Jojo still weighs in at a nice 11.2lbs; Merlin clocks in at over 13lbs! The little porker. But he puts all his skills and strength to good use when he “pins” Zoe down and viciously bites her. Of course they both know that she could throw him off whenever she wanted to, but they kind of take turns playinig the helpless victim.

Zeeke however has never really caught on to the whole “moderation” thing and just plays too rough for the cats’ preferences - even ass-whooping Merlin - as my previous post indicated. The cats are unamused. And I’m afraid Zeeke will just never learn to be gentle with the kitties. He’s never mean to them or I wouldn’t let him around them… he’s just too rough. He tries playing with them the same way he plays with Zoe. I guess she’s tougher than I thought. Merlin still refuses to run from Zeeke, but he does give the most evil looks. Zeeke ignores those just as quickly as he ignores the squeaks and smacks.

I could wish for total household harmony. But I guess the best I’m going to get is the three of them peacefully coexisting.

The two crazies (Merlin and Zoe) are playing rougher and rougher. They are both enjoying themselves, but Merl’s claws got stuck in her fur a few times - which means he’s using them to cling. She doesn’t seem to mind though so I’m not interfering. They are just having a blast, bouncing all over the bed, body-slamming each other into the soft mattress. Unfortunately just now Zoe half sat on Merlin, to which Merlin started biting her tail - a little too hard, apparently, as Zoe leapt to her feet with a “YIPE!” In response Merlin got up and walked off, I guess ready to end the game… but Zoe jumped at him to start it again. I guess she wasn’t hurt too badly. (I was half afraid that she’d suddenly be terrified of the cat for a little while, if she got hurt. But she’s a tough cookie, I guess!)

Interesting tidbit of information: Zoe gets snappy and possessive about her food with Zeeke, but not with the cats. And, obviously, not with us. The last few days Merlin has been very much in her face, sticking his head in her food bowl (in her crate!), and just now licking peanut butter out of the kong she is chewing. I watched carefully, and she either just continues eating around him or sits back and watches him. Weird. I wonder why she gets so snarky with Zeeke but not with anyone else?

Zoe was SO hyper last night when we got home late after a new year’s party. We just wanted to go to sleep, but she was spazzing hyper - and Merlin was her unwilling victim. She pinned him to the bed on his back and was growling, mock-biting (bitey face), licking him, pushing him with her paws, etc. She was very loud, and very physical - sometimes laying on him. He kicked her a little, bit her neck and just generally wrestled with her. It was so funny! Finally though I called Zoe off, since Merlin couldn’t get up even if he wanted to, lol. But they’ve been playing more and more often. It’s great!

Eeee! Zoe and Merlin are playing together! They’re not wrestling, they’re just playing tag… and he’s ripping my nice comforter… but they’re playing! I’m so happy!

Zoe sure is feeling left out, even though she is absolutely still my bestest little girl. Merlin keeps curling up on my chest as I lay in bed with my laptop, purring and nuzzling me. Zoe gets upset by it, and she runs over, squirms up to me, and snuggles up close to get a bit of attention too.

She has also taken to sniffing the two cats thoroughly, sometimes licking them too. They don’t really appreciate it, especially when she snorts in their face (which is frequently), but they basically squint their eyes and put up with it until she’s done. Just now she pinned Merlin on the bed with one paw and sniffed his mouth. I guess he smelled like cat food.

The other day she was trying so hard to get either cat to play with her - she wanted to play so badly! But they wanted none of it. She was pawing at them, barking at them…. and unfortunately she pawed a little too hard, because she knocked them off the bed several times. Just, thunk, over the edge they went. I can’t feel too badly for them, though, since she wouldn’t harass them so much if they’d just give her a little bit of attention. They act as if she isn’t even there. I feel bad for her.

I feel so bad for Zoe! She really has lost a playmate. I’m in the bedroom with just Zoe and Jo, and she is trying so hard to tempt him to play with her. She’s dancing all over the bed, smacking her paws, grunt-growling, and she even started yip-barking at him. She’s desperate. She pushed him off the bed in her play-smacks. And he’s totally ignoring her. He even gave her a dirty look before walking off. And it’s just so sad, because he used to totally get into it and bounce around and play with her. Now he wants nothing to do with her.

It’s a momentous day: Zoe and Merlin are playing! Both are pretty hyper after us being out all day, Merlin is practically bouncing off the walls. So as usual when he starts acting up Zoe starts trying to entice him into play. She’s been trying for over a week, with both cats, and both have always just ignored her - she’s been feeling a little upset about it. She tries so hard to join them and they just blow her off.

Well today Jo wasn’t nearby so Merlin, as hyper as he was, started wrestling with her! Jumping on her, playfully batting at her nose. One picture-perfect moment Zoe stopped her bouncing all over to sniff Merlin’s nose. Merlin gently rested a paw on each side of her muzzle and they just paused like that. Too bad I didn’t have a camera!

It was just so cute. Unfortunately Den walked in with Zeeke, who came bowling in and split up the party, but now that they’ve started I hope they’ll do it more often. Zoe sure does love to play with her cats!

Merlin is turning into a prize-winning sleeper. He sleeps on Den’s computer chair, on the futon, on the TV table, on the floor, and especially on our bed. He’ll sleep anywhere. He even ignores Zeeke harassing him. Doesn’t care.

Zoe is so sweet. She’s gotten used to the new kitty and now is completely fine. As she’s chewing on stuff on the bed she tends to roll over frequently, and she keeps rolling into/on top of the cat. she rests her head right next to his and they just stay there for a few seconds before she continues chewing on her toy. It’s so cute!

Somehow tonight Zeeke - who was on the living room side of the baby gate - and Merlin, who was on the kitchen counter, managed to knock over a pan of freshly baked cookies. While I was cleaning that up Zeeke immediately ran into the living room - where I had been, reading - and started scarfing down my snacks. Sigh. That damn dog.

So this evening I am reading in bed. After the cookie incident (which was only the last of many tonight) Zeeke has been locked in Den’s office with Den to give me some peace. But while the dog’s away…. the cats will play. And play they do, whole-heartedly. It really is quite amusing.

It started when Jo wandered in here to say hi. It was unexpected; it’s usually Merlin up on the bed for attention. But as he explored the rest of the room Merlin started egging him on, batting at him, trying to bite his paw. (It’s really quite funny to watch.) Then Merlin jumped on him a few times and Jo managed to get away. He walked off down the hall looking quite haughty and dismissive. But then he stopped, looked back, and came running back in here, only to land on top of Merlin. Snort!

So they have been running in and out. I see the tops of tails run past the bed. Every once in a while I see a head or two as someone leaps into the air. Sometimes there’s a paw. They look like WWE wrestlers - all show and exaggerated motions. And really just as entertaining.

Zoe is being the fretting mama. She’s on the bed watching intently. Before they really started playing she was trying to start something. She had been following Merlin around, and flattened Jo on the bed at least once. So now she’s just supervising their play, whining a little. I can’t tell if it’s whining because she’s upset that they’re being rough, or whining because she wants to join in. She seems so very torn. She runs over to them, then stops and runs away to watch from a safe distance. I need to get photos of her when she’s in this ultra-intent mode.

Oh, and when I got up this afternoon the tree was pretty hard done by. There were large gaps from where branches had been bent downward, and the garland was hanging off the tree haphazardly. Apparently our youngest has taken to climbing trees - but only at night when I can’t catch him. Lovely.

The pets all have me stunned today.

First the two cats. I decided I was going to step in more with their little wrestle matches when Jo appeared to be getting very annoyed. So today I did so. This morning they were getting rough so I put Merlin in time-out in his cage while we went out for breakfast. The rest of the day they spent sleeping around the house. This evening they both woke up and Merlin jumped Jojo again. The second time they started was in the living room and I shoo’d Merlin off and told him to cut it out. He walked off down the hall into Den’s office. Next thing I know Jo goes running down the hall after him. A few minutes later they both come flying out of Den’s office and down the hall, and Jo’s tail was most definitely in a crook. They ran around the living room a bit, climbing furniture, then sat down for a while. Then off they went again down the hall chasing one another. So apparently Jo is not nearly as upset about Merlin as I had feared. While I was reading a book tonight both cats snuck into the bathroom (which had the door cracked open) and proceeded to roll around in there for quite some time, thumping into walls and nearly shutting them both inside. After a while I saw the door get pulled open and Jo came sauntering out… a couple seconds later Merlin came out and walked in the opposite direction. It was the funniest thing! Unfortunately our bath mat is covered in a bunch of little black fur clumps. Whether or not they are getting “too” rough they are certainly not being gentle on each other. (Not that this should surprize me - our dogs beat the crap out of each other too.)

Merlin spent the entire day sleeping on the futon, then moving to the couch to sleep. He completely ignored Zeeke. After just two days he is walking around the house freely like he owns it - dog be damned. He does get a little ticked off with Zeeke nibbling on him, but he is definitely not the least bit scared. Zeeke has been acting much better than we expected - still not as good as we had hoped, but it is only day 2. Zeeke was basically ignoring Merlin the entire time he slept on the couches… just not paying any attention at all. This is a big improvement. However soon as Merlin moves Zeeke jumps to attention. We’re hoping that reaction will diminish over time. We hope. As it is, Zeeke is rather annoying when he starts the barking and panting and obsessive following and biting at the cat.

Zoe doesn’t even come into the equation. Merlin attempted to try playing with her - tapping her with a paw and sniffing her. But Zoe very carefully moved out of his reach. She’s still not quite sure yet. I’m sure she’ll warm up - she’s been sniffing him maniacally all day. She is feeling the effects of not as much attention as she’s used to, however. Whenever Den walks into the room she runs over to sit at his feet and start whining and barking insistently at him until he gives her some attention. I think she’s feeling a little ignored. I’ve tried giving her some personal time today. Gave her a little brushing, some cuddling, some playing. But she isn’t demanding with me, only Den.

Just now we’re all in the bedroom except Jo. The dogs were in here and when Den came in to go to bed Merlin came sauntering in and jumped on the bed. He currently has Zoe’s tail clamped in his arms and is chewing on it. Merlin is now biting her toes. It’s pretty damn funny. I’m not sure how Zoe feels… I think she’s a little disconcerned. LOL!