Poor Little Kitty

DJ and the Dentist

DJ had to have 7 teeth extracted at the vet's. Apparently this is very common with kitties. They develop cavities below the gum line and since the teeth are too small to fill, it's easier to just extract them.

He was not happy going to the vet, and not happy in the carrier on the way home in the evening. I'm not sure he's eaten more than a mouthful of food since he's been home because his poor little mouth must hurt. I have to give him antibiotics twice a day--no fun either--so I guess the whole experience has been really traumatic for him.

Tonight, weather permitting, Reggie is supposed to go to another vet for more of his allergy testing. I way "weather permitting" because we did have that snowstorm last night. School was closed, which was sort of OK, but now it has started to rain. The roads are OK for driving, but I don't know if they will ice up later tonight. I'm not too keen on driving up to the vet if the roads are bad. I'll give them a call later in the afternoon to see how it is over in that direction.

I had to change Chance's blanket this morning because the one he was wearing had a great big rip on the bum. The filling was exposed to the wet and it would have been totally ruined if he'd kept in on all day. It was fine last night so I guess there was some roughhousing this morning to do it in. Luckily, I have some spares I can use.

The Boys were hanging out under the run in roofs earlier, but when I came home from renewing my cats' licenses--required in my town, mostly for rabies control--they were out in the pasture. I was raining a little--not too hard, but decidedly wet. The temperature is rising and the rain is supposed to stop. When it does, I will likely go out and clean the snow out of the driveway with the tractor. No point in letting the snow turn into ice if I can avoid it.

Needless to say, riding is out of the picture. This has, so far, been the worst winter for riding I've had since the Boys moved home. Part of it is that I am getting older and going out into the cold is getting harder and harder. But the other part is that the ground has been frozen for weeks.

Fortunately, I have no real plans or set goals for the season. I definitely want to teach Tucker the flying change. Once that's done, all his basics will be in place and I can play with him as I want. He'll never be great at the extended gaits, but his collected work will be just fine.

I need to get Chance solidly on the bit at all three gaits. and begin developing him to at least first level. I'm not sure I will ever show him, but I may consider it if he seems to be having fun.

Toby, of course, can just enjoy his semi-retirement. I hope to keep him fit enough to do some of the upper level exercises once in a while. Again, as long as I do not ask him to do them often or with "competitive" quality, he can certainly do the tempis and other upper level work without too much effort. I am so pleased at how sound he seems to be and don't want to compromise that by asking too much of him.

I also hope to get some good hacking (trail riding) in as well. There are a number of places I can trailer to to get some nice rides in. Chance is a good hack and I might be able to have some good fun with him.

So, right now, I just sit and plan, thinking of warmer weather or at least some good footing.