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| St Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, New Orleans |
A couple of years ago, Matt and I took a trip to New Orleans. We met up with some friends of ours in Houston, and headed to the Big Easy for a long weekend. While I was super excited to return to one of my favorite US cities, and share with Matt a place I knew he'd fall in love with, I was wrought with worry. I was going to leave behind Haimmie and the Girls.
T was yet to live with us, so the only kids we had to be concerned with were our 4 legged ones. I will never board my kiddos if I can help it. (That's a post for another day) Haimmie, our ferret, only required 2 feedings a day like the Girls at this point, as he hadn't been diagnosed with his insulinoma (a nasty pancreatic tumor that ultimately creates severe hypoglycemia).
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| My little Haimmie after a recent bath |
To prevent them and me from having a nervous breakdown, I asked my friend Alexis to petsit. She is one of them most dog-savvy people I know in Texas and I knew she could handle the beasties. She's a tiny slip of a woman, but tough as nails. She came over a few times before we left so she could meet and greet the girls and get the routine down. As we're raw feeders, there's a few extra steps involved, like thawing the following meal's food at each prior serving. I walked her through all of it, obsessively explaining each and every bit of each and every step. She patiently listened and took it all in. I am so thankful for her in my life.
I'm a worrier as some of you may have gleaned from my posts. You're shocked, I know, but it's true. I was nervous about leaving the girls, but so excited for a vacation. I was thankful for the ease of communication that technology affords while we were away, although I imagine Alexis might have felt otherwise. I called her each day to see what had transpired with the girls and prayed they wouldn't give her too many headaches. She obliged me each obsessive, lunatic phone call.
Upon our return, we were met with a detailed note (on the flipside of the 2 page instructional note I had left) from Alexis. Apparently all went great with Nyxie, although on Day 1 she was greeted with the "German Shepherd Bark" which can be alarmingly intimidating as you all know. After that, it was smooth sailing. There was just one glitch.
Arwen didn't poop the entire time we were gone.
Four days! She has this strange Poop Only for Mom Fetish that denies her the simple pleasure of relieving herself around anyone but me. She will only rarely poop for Matt. She's nothing if not "quirky". Talk about anal retentive! This dog is a champ at holding it in. For the sake of my dog's bowels, future trips will need to be kept short.
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| Should I poo? |
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| Maybe here? |
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| Nah - I'll wait for Mom! |
So what does THAT tell you about my priorities?
Better add "Doggie Laxative" to my list of pet parent jobs.
