Category Archives: Cats

Lucy Kitty and Barky Bess

Last night when it was time for bed I took down the child gate from the stairway door, Bess ran up with me and low and behold there was Lucy kitty sitting on the stairway ledge. Bess luckily didn’t see her and I was able to get Bess to go back downstairs. It’s amazing what a burst of energy and an excited voice will do to get a pup to obey. With Bess downstairs and the stairway door closed I scooped Lucy up and took her downstairs where I was hoping the pups were otherwise occupied. Um, yeah so I quietly opened the door and there are all three pups staring at us. Bess barked, Lucy clawed to get down and shot up the stairs with Bess in close pursuit followed by Bonnie and Belle and me saying “Leave it Bess Leave It!”

Lucy ran and hid under the bed with the pups Bess of course in the lead, running around the bed barking trying to get closer to Lucy. I managed to get the pups out of the bedroom and closed the door. I then called to Lucy, who from under the bed immediately started to tell me how she felt about all of this came out from under the bed, let me pick her up and snuggled close purring all the while. I simply held her for a few minutes, then I wrapped her up in a sweater to try once again to get her downstairs. With Bess barking I tried to explain to Greg what had been happening and he was able to get the dogs into our bedroom while I got Lucy out.

Once downstairs Lucy jumped out of my arms and ran into the front room. When I went back upstairs I told the pups it was now bedtime and time to settle down. It took a bit but they finally did.

This morning I went out to the front room where Lucy greeted me and seemed calm. The pups were out in their pen so I carried her to her spot on the desk in front of the computer but she wasn’t ready yet and went back into the front room and that’s ok. We’re taking this slow, we don’t have a choice in that because that’s how Lucy needs it to go. All in all we are making headway, Lucy isn’t nearly as upset as she would have been a few days ago. Bess even though she is barky and bouncy is listening and does “leave it” when we tell her to, well after hearing it a couple of times. So we’re getting there and that’s encouraging.

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: British Cream Golden Retrievers, Cats, Golden Retrievers. Tags: british cream golden retrievers, Cats, Golden Retrievers. 3 Comments

Oct. ’15

Lucy Kitty Update and Belle News

Operation convince Lucy to stay out of the basement is going pretty well. She is content in the front room when the pups are in the house and occasionally has been going upstairs to hang out on the steps. She is vocal again and enjoys telling us about her day when the pups are in their pup pen. She even kept me company yesterday while I was taking a bath. All behaviors that she used to show us so I think we are on the right track.

The best news of all, yesterday I forgot to close the door to the basement and sure enough she went down to the basement, I was sad about this and was kicking myself that I had forgotten to close the door when low and behold up she comes from the basement. We are making headway!

In Belle news I posted on the Three Pups and a Couple of Kitties Facebook Page that Bonnie and Belle had their annual vet visit and Bonnie weighed in at 63 lbs. and was healthy as could be. Belle weighed in at 76 lbs. and has the beginnings of another ear infection. We found out that dogs that have been spade tend to put on weight as they don’t use up energy dealing with those pesky hormones that none spade dogs do. So we are to cut her food intake down to help her lose the 5-10 lbs. that will help her be healthier, especially important since she has hip dysplasia, and give her back her “tuck” in her tummy.

Luckily she already eats in the dining room while Bonnie and Bess eat in the kitchen so we simply put up a child gate in the doorway between the dining room and kitchen until all three pups are finished eating. The dr. wasn’t worried about the training treats we give the pups.

The vet also told me about a study Purina did following dogs throughout their lives and it was discovered that on a scale from 1 being all bone to 9 being the fattest a dog can be, the new optimal number is 3-4 instead of 5. If a dog is slightly on the thin side they are living up to 2 years longer than the rest. Although our vet stressed instead of numbers to look for a rib cage you can feel but not see, a backbone you can feel but not see and never should you see a dog’s hip bones. The tummy tuck is when you look down on a dog’s back and it slightly tapers in by their tummy. So we are on a new quest to help our Belle retain her girlish figure.

I appreciate our veterinary clinic and our vet for taking the time to answer our questions so we can better help our pup. Oh and yep she is back on ear drops for that pesky ear infection.

That’s all for now. Have a happy Sunday everyone!

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers. Tags: Cats, Golden Retrievers, overweight dogs. 3 Comments

Aug. ’15

Pup and Kitty Updates

Bess and I have started our third round of obedience classes. In class we are reinforcing polite greeting, learning how to walk next to another dog and not freak out, and how to bring her focus from what’s happening around her back to me. Greg has been taking Bess on walks and she is using what she has learned in class on their walks. I call that a success.

Greg likes to give the pups a treat when he brings them in the house from the pup pen. As a result Miss Bonnie has been ringing the “gotta go ” chime and when we go to let her out she turns around and sits which is what they are to do in order to get a treat. If that wasn’t enough Belle and Bess now come running when they hear the bell so they can get a treat too. They tend to give me pouty faces because I don’t give them a treat when they come in. If you can’t beat them you might as well join them and I decided today to be consistant and am giving them treats when they come in as well. My justification besides not wanting to be the recipient of pouty faces is to use the treats as an incentive to teach Miss Bess how to be polite so she will stop pushing her sisters out of the way in her excitement over pretty much everything.

Linus and Lucy have been pretty much doing their own thing but popped in to say hi!

The pups

Hello from Linus

Boss Kitty

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers. Tags: Cats, Golden Retrievers. 4 Comments

Aug. ’15

Lucy Kitty

I don’t write about Lucy Kitty very often because she prefers it that way. She is the very determined matriarch of our 4 footed family who keeps everyone including her people in line but she also likes her space and her alone time. Boy, can I relate to that!

Lucy was born on our farm 13 years ago and while she was still a young kitten barely old enough to climb she climbed up to our landing windows and meowed to be let in. Fearing this tiny kitten would fall I brought her in and gently placed her back outside. This happened several times that day (did I mention she is determined? Add persistent to that list as well.) That evening during supper I asked Greg if we could please bring her in the house to join our Pete cat who was about a year old. Greg agreed and in she came.

She is a vocal kitty who will answer if you call to her, well at least most of the time. She keeps me company while I am working on the computer and insists on starting each day by gently bumping my forehead. Luce has seen many changes in her time with us. We have said good bye to several precious 4 footed family members and hello to new people, and new 4 footed family members. The people she tends to hide from but she has let her feelings be known when the 4 footed members join the family. Lucy doesn’t like change so it takes her awhile to get her head wrapped around small barky pups, who don’t stay small for long and a kitten named Linus who seems to have a mind of his own and rarely does what she says.

Below are a few pictures of Lucy tending her many tasks.

Keeping the pups in line

Doing her owl impersonation.

Lucy’s normal pose while I’m working at the computer.

Taking a Tummy Rub Break

Study Partner

Keeper of the Basket

Laundry Helper keeping those towels from floating away.

Relaxing after all of her hard work.

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats. Tags: Cats. 7 Comments

Jun. ’15

While Wearing My Grandma Hat…

While I was wearing my Grandma hat the past few weeks helping our daughter and her family when their new baby girl was born, the pups stayed busy. They had fun during their stay at Paws Here, the pet resort they vacation at while we are away. This was their longest stay so far and they did fine. We called and checked on them often and discovered that the thunder parties we’ve been throwing worked and they could have cared less when there was a thunderstorm. Yea! Thunder Parties I recommend them!! Now if we could just get Bess used to blow dryers…

Greg was only able to stay for part of the time due to work so on his way home he stopped to picked up the pups. They were happy to see Greg and when he called to let me know they were all back home he put me on speaker phone so I could greet them and Bess licked the phone when she heard my voice. Miss Lucy kitty waited until the next day to welcome Greg back home, preferring to stay hidden in the secret place that she goes when she doesn’t want to be found. Linus on the other hand spent the first evening home on Greg’s lap not caring that the pups were also taking turns being on Greg’s lap. Thank goodness for oversized recliners. Later that week Greg put me on speaker phone again so I could talk to Lucy and when she heard my voice she head bopped the phone like she head bops me every morning.

When I returned home yesterday afternoon after being gone for 2-1/2 weeks the pups and kitties were glad to see me. Bonnie after greeting me hid under the dining room table, when I knelt down on the floor and called to her, she came to me and buried her head in my shoulder staying that way while I gently talked to her and petted her. Later that night she did that again before curling up beside me on the couch.

Belle was just as glad to have her world back to normal and has been asking for and receiving lots of love and cuddles.

Bess grew A LOT while I was away. She is a bit bigger than her sisters now and tonight when she brought me her toy then later while watching her walk away from me she reminded of a cross between Snuffleupagus (from Sesame Street) and the dog slinky toy.

Belle, Bess and Bonnie

While at our daughter’s we were able to spend time with our granddog Patch. Patch is 2 years old and does a good job taking care of his family. When I went to leave he gently licked my arm goodbye when I gave him a goodbye love and cuddle.

Our Granddog Patch

As I write this the house is quiet, Greg has gone to bed and I am in our dining room surrounded by 3 pups and a couple of kitties all sleeping soundly.

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers. Tags: Cats, Golden Retrievers. 2 Comments

Mar. ’15

You’re Home!

The pups usually are in the doorway of the kitchen to greet me when I come home each day from work. This past Friday after a very busy long week I saw Bonnie peeking through the window watching me walk up to the house. When I went into the house she said “Oh, you are home, Yea! You are home,(happy sigh) Okay, I’m going to go finish my supper now.” this was accompanied by a quickly wagging tail, a smiley face and leaning into the pat and cuddle from me.

Bess met me at the door too with full body very excited wiggles and licks, cue the peppy music. “You’re HOME! You’re HOME! You’re HOME! my life is complete! Ok gotta run and go eat NOW!” and she was off and running.

Before I made it up the 4 stairs from the backdoor into the kitchen Belle appeared tail wagging, eager for her greeting but she had a tired look on her face then she said, ” Boy, I’m glad you’re home! That puppy has been bouncing around all day, can’t you do something about her? It’s your turn, I’m taking a break!

Linus was lying upstairs on our bed, where he usually at this time, resting from his very busy day of being Linus and looks to me and says, “Oh, good you’re home” and goes back to sleep.

Lucy was perched on the back of the chair which is her custom and told me all about her day and what she had to do to keep Linus in line. She accompanied by a forehead bump her way of saying I love you.

What a great way to be welcomed home!

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships. Tags: british cream golden retrievers, Cats, Golden Retrievers, Linus Kitty, Lucy Kitty. 1 Comment

Mar. ’15

Two Pups and a Kitty

Hi all

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I have changed the name of my blog and Facebook page from Two Pups and a Kitty to Three Pups and Two Kitties. Lucy Kitty is deciding that she wants to take part in our stories more often and of course we have added Miss Bessie Sprout Puppy to our family so hence the new name Three Pups and Two Kitties.

As always thanks for taking the time to read our posts. We really appreciate it.

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets. Tags: Golden Retrievers, Linus Kitty, Lucy Kitty, Pets, Pups. 2 Comments

Mar. ’15

Steps In The Right Direction

Over the past few weeks we have noticed changes and definite steps in the right direction in several areas. Bess is learning to be more gentle with “Leave It”, I mean Linus. She seems to be realizing that if she is going to play with him she needs to tone it down. Over the past few days I have seen Linus instigate play like he did when she was smaller, before she grew bigger than he.

Belle has relaxed her “I’m the responsible alpha dog” and has been simply having fun playing and snuggling with Bess.

Bonnie is Bess’s favorite when it comes to a partner in crime. The favorites are still socks and towels and they are getting very good at the “Quick, she’s coming” handoff as well as the innocent,” towel, what towel?” and flashing me a “Aren’t I cute, my Margret?”

This week Bess and I will be finishing up her puppy classes then she will take a bit of a break. In the meantime Greg and I will be taking Bonnie and Belle for 6 weeks of Canine Good Citizen test prep classes. Passing the CGC is the next step towards starting Therapy Dog training.

We’ve been doing a bit of refresher work on the very difficult sit/stay and down/stay. Belle, who this is very challenging for, did well the other day when after working on it by ourselves decided to practice in the midst of everyone. She stuck the sit even when Miss Bouncy Bess and Bonnie came by to get in on the treat action. To their credit Bess and Bonnie both immediately sat without being told 🙂

Behavior wise we are working on Bess not chewing up the couch cover, and as soon as we have mastered that task I will be getting new couch covers for our hairy crew, until then it’s just going to look ratty. When we redirect Bess and give her an approved chew toy in an effort to redirect her, she will chew on it when we are looking then switch back to chewing on what she wants to. We rarely have problems anymore with the older pups except for when Miss “I want to see what’s in your coat pockets” Belle snoops in our coats or Bonnie reverts back to puppy mode. However Miss Bess is very sneaky but we have caught on and know that “this too shall pass”

We appreciate you joining us on our Golden Adventure and would love to hear from you. For day to day happenings we invite you to visit our Two Pups and a Kitty Facebook page.

Take care.

Our Girls

Belle (on the left) stuck the sit even with sisterly distractions!

Towel, what towel?

Belle and Bess cuddling on a cold winter day.

Bess and Linus

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets. Tags: Cats, CGC classes, Golden Retrievers, Pets, Pups, training. 2 Comments

Feb. ’15

February Pupdates

Wow, where to start.

Bess is sleeping all night, and putting herself to bed if she is tired! Let the balloons and streamers fall from the ceiling!

We had a blizzard last Sunday and Bess got to experience a lot of snow. She had seen small amounts before but not 17 inches worth at one time. At 5:30 that morning when she and Bonnie went out we already had 7 inches of snow. Bess immediately started to bark at the falling snow. I assured her it was fine and she bounded down the stairs barking as she went. Bonnie came up to me with a look that said “I’m the big dog I’ll protect her” “Ok Bonnie Pup, Thanks!” Bonnie then stopped at the porch door, did a slow look up at the sky observing the heavy snow falling, turned and looked at me with a “what is this wet stuff?” look. Then because she is the “big dog” she continued on slowly and cautiously, because there is wet stuff you know, into the pup pen to “protect” Bess.

Bess and Linus have reached a truce of sorts. I still have to tell Bess “leave it” when she starts to play too rough with Linus. Instead of being offended at being called a “leave it” Linus seems grateful and is learning to run a bit faster away while I redirect Miss Bess.

Belle had her surgery to be spayed and had a few hiccups, but is fine. It took a bit longer than usual for her to get the anesthesia all out of her system so she had a puny few days. Then she decided that her incision area needed to be clean, very clean and started excessively licking the area, so enter the cone collar. We tried a donut collar first but Miss “I don’t want this thing around my neck” figured out how to get her front paw through it in an effort to get it off so we abandoned that option and turned to the traditional collar. It’s clear so it helps her to still be able to see everything that she needs to and has done a great job dealing with it. Belle’s stitches come out tomorrow so we are hoping the collar can be taken off then too. The pictures below capture the highlights of the past few days.

Bess checking out the snow

What is all of this stuff?

Bess and Linus

Belle and her fancy dancy they aren’t letting me lick my incision collar

Doing a good job keeping her eye on the ball

Ha! I figured out how to play with my tennis ball!

A peaceful Belle

Snuggle Bunch

Lucy doing her owl imitation

Posted by Margret Abbott. Categories: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, snow. Tags: Cats, Golden Retrievers, Pets, Relationships, snow, Tennis Balls. 2 Comments

Jan. ’15

Lucy and Linus Kitties

Lucy and Linus Kitties let me know in no uncertain terms that they feel slighted because I haven’t written about them for awhile. So it’s time to fix that!

Lucy in her computer supervisory role

Lucy is 12 years old and is our 4 footed family matriarch. While she tends to be a private kitty, she is my steadfast companion when I am working at the desktop computer or doing paperwork. Her favorite trick is to lay right on the paper that I need to see or stand and fluff out her tail to effectively cover the monitor.

Lucy laying down the law to the pups.

The rule in the house is that the pups all need to respect her, and are not allowed to chase her. Even Bess at 4 months learned that rule quickly.

Laundry Supervisor

Lucy never fails to make sure the laundry won’t fall off the table.

Lucy’s favorite spot

Lucy’s favorite place to curl up is on the back of Greg’s recliner. Her second favorite place to lay is in front of the heat register. Her third favorite is close to me when I sit to read or watch tv. She isn’t a lap sitter but she curls up close on the back or arm of the couch. She does cozy really well.

Lucy is our vocal kitty and will answer you if you talk to her. She and Bess puppy had quite the conversation the other day! Lucy is a forehead bumper, and that is part of our good morning routine. She is starting to slow down and this is the first year that she didn’t climb our Christmas tree. She has been losing weight and hand in hand with our vet we are closely monitoring her health. But so far she is doing fine.

Linus Kitty is a lovable stinker kitty, He thinks he is a Golden Retriever and from the time we brought him home as tiny kitty he followed the pups, especially Belle, everywhere, except outside and that still frustrates him to no end. He has been known to ring the “gotta go” chime in an effort to go out.

He is 1- 1/2 years old and loves to play. So much so that it’s hard to casually pet him because he turns it into let me bite that hand. He is a lap sitter and loves to snuggle although he has this habit of sucking blankets and I’m not sure what’s up with that.

Let’s play!

Linus, Bonnie and Belle

Things have changed a bit for Linus since Bess puppy joined our family a couple of months ago. When Bess first joined our family she and Linus loved to play together and Linus would usually be the one to instigate the play. But Bess quickly grew and her play became too rough for Linus, so much of our time is telling Bess to “leave it” when we hear our non verbal kitty give a yowl. I have noticed lately that Bess is learning how to play more gently and Linus is once again starting to play with her.

During the day we have a child gate across the upstairs doorway so the pups can’t go upstairs but the cats can. The upstairs landing has become one of Linus’s favorite places when he needs a break.