The best pets

It seems as if I become less and less grossed out or surprised by the things I have to do. Like last week when the vet said I had to collect urine samples from the dog for three mornings in a row. Didn't even flinch. And didn't think for one second that Seth would do this.

It seems between poopy diapers, spaghetti sauce in Jasper's hair, chicken poop and the regular dog poop pickup in the yard, I now have to hold a cup out while the dog takes a piss. Thank goodness he's male. Just make sure and put the tea water for me. It has been freezing cold and wet these past few mornings.

I have to say, however, I was pretty happy to drop off the specimens at the vet's office today. Another day, another chore. All of this is still in an effort to figure out why in the heck Wiley keeps getting these skin infections. We've moved beyond allergy to some metabolic disorder or disease that has weakened his immune system.


After hearing all of this, my sister said it best: "A beta fish, the best pet. Ever."

That says a lot coming from her. Angie brought home more than a few stray animals during our childhood. My parents especially loved the dog she brought home, took to the vet and found out was pregnant with LOTS of puppies! Yeah, not just one dog to take in but 10! Growing up we had (at one point or another, though not all at the same time) horses, dogs, cats, bunnies, fish, mice, hermit crabs and, if you include wild animals we caught, the list would expand to turtles, tarantulas, horny toads and crawdads.

All that said, I guess it's not too surprising that my little family expanded our animal brood about three weeks ago with three chickens. They're hens, they're legal and they will be delivering our eggs with a bow attached. OK, maybe not the part about they bow, but these little gals will live in a little coop in our backyard, something that more than a few of our neighbors also enjoy.


We have had the luxury of eating freshly laid eggs while chicken sitting for our neighbors. It is really a delight. And I'm hoping we all find a little fun in these new creatures. I'm also hoping that this go-round with animals is a bit more like my childhood. With all those pets, we actually didn't make a gazillion trips to the vet. And when one dog died after being hit by a car on the side of our country road, my dad just dug a grave right there. We even had a little spot in the back corner of our 5 acres where we buried a few other pets. I don't want to stress about animals like we've done with Wiley over the past year and a half. We love the guy and wouldn't change a thing, but some days I wonder how we got to this point where the dog has equal footing with the humans.

Nonetheless, today, we drove several miles out of our way with an impatient kiddo in the back to pick up Wiley's special dog food and drop off the jars of pee at the vet's.

Now that I think about it, Jasper is really into fish these days. Maybe I should jump on Angie's suggestion before he learns about all the other animals other people keep as pets!