I’m always talking about Oscar and readers will ask about Boots and Rita so here’s an update with all three of them.
Boots:
Boots has been on his diet almost three weeks and while I haven’t weighed him, I don’t think he’s losing much weight. The vet told me to give him 1/8th of a cup three times a day. Long ago, I had stopped leaving food out for Boots because he would eat it all and then throw up. Gross . . sorry. I started feeding him in the morning and in the event and, based on what I’m giving him now, I was probably giving him 3/4 cup each time. He would eat it all – never leave a crumb. Vince said “He’s a happy cat. Don’t starve him!” But neither of us should be giving weight loss advice so, for now, I’ll stick with 1/8 cup three times a day.
Boots has learned that Oscar cannot jump onto anything so Boots is happy to stay on the sofa. Sometimes he’ll sit on the back of the sofa so he can see all areas of the room and he keeps his eye on Oscar. The minute Boots gets down, Oscar is trying to get to him but Oscar only wants to play. He isn’t being mean. Boots wants no part of playing with Oscar.
Rita:
Poor Rita. She’s such a sweet girl and her life for the last 7 or 8 years, then along came Oscar. We have blocked him to where he can’t get to her pen. We have a plastic fence type pen that can be about 8′ x 8′ but right now, it’s probably 6 x 6 and that’s where she stays unless she’s out with us. Neither of them stay on carpet or wood floors.
Oscar tries to gnaw his way into Rita’s pen and, since she’s blind, she has no idea what he’s doing and it scares her. When we let them get together, Oscar wants to play and he plays like a bull! He wants to run and jump and tackle her and that scares her so they don’t spend much time together.
I do think she likes knowing he’s around. If he’s been quiet for more than about 5 seconds, I find her “looking” for him.
Oscar:
Whew . . he has so much energy. I think it will be four weeks tomorrow since we got him. I don’t know about him. It seems like every day he gets more bold and energetic.
Vince will sit on the floor and play fetch with him. Oscar comes running full speed towards Vince, and will either hit Vince’s belly like he’s jumping on a trampoline or jump on Vince’s thigh and go right up Vince’s tummy, onto Vince’s recliner (because Vince is sitting with his back to the recliner) and jump across about 3 feet onto my lap because my recliner sits about 3 feet from Vince’s recliner. He does all that before I can say “NO!”
I’m going to get Addie today and she wants me to bring Oscar. It’s been two or three weeks since I went to get her and brought him. I think she’s expecting the same little timid, docile puppy she last saw. She is going to be surprised to see the change . . and she’s probably not going to be too happy about it.
Addie is more of a cat lover so she and Boots will probably both be happy to hang out in the sewing room.
We love them all but I have to say . . life will be a whole lot easier once Oscar slows down a bit.
Kathleen Rountree says
judy, you are a good egg !!! Oscar needs exercise… is there a kid in the neighborhood you can pay to take him on long walks or even jogs???? That would help him tremendously…
judy.blog@gmail.com says
First, there are no kids that age in the neighborhood. There are only two houses on our street and maybe 6 houses on the street behind us. Lots of 3 – 7 year olds on the street behind us but I wouldn’t let them. Second, there are no shoulders or sidewalks and we live on a fairly busy road that is barely wide enough for cars.
We have a bit over one acre and Oscar and I walk that at least a dozen times a day . . probably two dozen because when we go out, I try to make three loops. He loves the first two but is wanting me to pick him up by the end of the third one. If Vince is inside, he’ll sit on the floor and play fetch. He throws the toys all the way across two rooms and Oscar runs like crazy, retrieves them, and runs back like crazy. That wears him down pretty quickly.
The last three or four days, it’s been cold and raining so we haven’t been out as much as we normally do. This morning was sunny for a few hours so we’ve been out a lot but it will probably rain most of the rest of the day. In another couple of weeks, the weather should be much better for spending more time outside.
Nelle Coursey says
Just think of the walks as exercise for yourself! LOL Tire him out and maybe you can get 5 minutes rest! LOL
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s really what happens. Go out and walk for 20 minutes, he crashes for 5 minutes. Go out and walk for 20 minutes. He crashes for 5 minutes. 🙁
Nelle Coursey says
That is so cute!! I just love your stories of him! He is a hoot!