the-decepticats

[the-decepticats]

Worst thing that can happen to a cat parent is a medical situation that’s not urgent but also can’t wait all night. Everyone in my life who’s not a pet person is currently judging me intensely for being at the veterinary ER but the vet is taking me seriously so I’m just ignoring the haters.

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Giant Mountain Wilderness, Keene Valley, NY

It’s never the wrong time to spend time in the Garden.

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Anni trying on her new life preserver! Water safety is important to her and it should be to you, too!

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Deeply ambivalent feelings about stagnant water

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Add on Manitoba, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin!

Anni has now adventured in:

Alberta

New York

New Jersey

Washington State

Saskatchewan (today)

And tomorrow it’s onward to Manitoba!

(To be clear, Clem is also here but she prefers to relax in the luxury of her car carrier rather than sightsee)

[the-decepticats]

We’re okay, just shaken up and irritated

If you see a fucking cat on a leash and you’re walking with off leash dogs and the owner doesn’t see you coming, TELL THE OWNER YOURE COMING. Sincerely, someone who just had to rescue her cat from two off leash “friendly” dogs

[the-decepticats]

If you see a fucking cat on a leash and you’re walking with off leash dogs and the owner doesn’t see you coming, TELL THE OWNER YOURE COMING. Sincerely, someone who just had to rescue her cat from two off leash “friendly” dogs

[the-decepticats]

One of the natural wonders of the world

And Lake Superior, I guess

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Park setup! Miss Anni explored while Clem held down the fort

[the-decepticats]

Anni has now adventured in:

Alberta

New York

New Jersey

Washington State

Saskatchewan (today)

And tomorrow it’s onward to Manitoba!

(To be clear, Clem is also here but she prefers to relax in the luxury of her car carrier rather than sightsee)

[the-decepticats]

had a dream last night that they were selling these little self-contained ball pits for babies and toddlers at Shopper's Drug Mart for $84.99. Idk why I remember the price but I think it's because dream-me was fully prepared to drop 85 bucks on cat enrichment

[the-decepticats]

We've successfully phased the buttons into our daily routine! Anni now asks for training several times a day, and she's slowly learning the difference between the training button and the play button. I'm wondering whether or not we'll lose a significant portion of this progress in the move, but there's only so much I can do about that. We have plenty of time to relearn!

holy shit holy shit holy shit guys I think Anni just figured out the buttons for real

She was pestering me for like ten minutes, meowing, shoving her face in my face, etc, and I was petting her but she wasn't stopping. Then, she went over and very deliberately pressed the training button. And so I gave her a treat, and she started purring. Like immediately, as soon as I sat down and started doing training with her, she slow blinked and started purring.

I know some of this is me seeing what I want to see, but I swear to God it finally clicked for her. She realizes now that the button gets her exactly what she wants, not just my attention.

There's a quote from @/parrotkindergarten on instagram that goes something like (reflecting on teaching her parrot to use AIC) "I had no idea how often Ellie wanted an apple. How many times in her life has she wanted an apple, something that was right there, and been unable to get it? Now she can." And yeah. That's what I'm feeling right now.

[the-decepticats]

So I'm trying to teach Anni to tolerate having her nails clipped a bit better. Right now, we're moving on from "give paw" to "give paw and let me hold it for increasing periods of time" but at the beginning of me (gently, without restraint) holding her paw, she would nip at me to get me to let go, and that behavior coincided with the clicker because it would happen right when I was about to let go.

What I'm trying to say is I've accidentally made part of "gimme paw" "gently bite my hand" and I'm having trouble phasing it out of the trick.

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Feel like Anni and Clem fulfill this prophecy quite well

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Anni unlocked a new skill today

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Despondent creature (after a whole half hour wandering around our floor of the apartment complex with me she was forced to come back inside)

[the-decepticats]

Burrowing for dinner tonight