Pet Care with Norm

Let me begin my post by saying that I Love Animals. As a child I grew up with dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, sheep, cows, and all kinds of other animals. It was like we lived on a farm. My family had a lot of land in the south so we were able to have a good many pets. I like to the think the town people called us Noah's Ark.

Being the animal lover I am I have always wanted my kids to be around animals. It was easy to start getting each of them a dog. The problem was that in the beginning due to some financial reasons I was unable to provide enough living space for each dog. I did enjoy having some of the dogs living indoors but I needed to put my foot down and make them all outside pets. This is when I had to purchase a small pen for our small yard. Being new to fencing dogs in I wasn't sure how many dogs I could keep inside a 5 x 5 pen. It didn't last long because I eventually was able to get back on my feet financially and move onto bigger and better places.

This is when the problem of keeping them all the dogs from breeding began to be an issue. It was great having the kids see a few of the dogs raise puppies but this couldn't go on forever. Neutering seemed to be the best way to keep this issue under control. I was able to get a great deal at the local vet for having so many dogs to neuter. It was almost like a 2 for 1 type of deal. All the neutering went well except for Harper, the black lab. He would not leave the stitches alone on his wound. I was worried he'd pull them all out. When Harper was a puppy he would chew on everything and nothing would stop him till I eventually discovered his hate for jalapeno juice. His hatred for that juice is what helped me to keep him from biting at his stitches. The jalapeno juice eventually made him stop licking and biting. I was really worried about him but he pulled through just fine and is one of the few that is still with me.

Along with breeding problems, I had problems with the cats clawing everything in sight. They wouldn't quit. I had to settle this issue before we lost everything nice we owned. Unfortunately the local vet went out of business for some legal issues so I was no longer able to get the special deals I was getting in the past. The other, new improved, vet was charging way too much. It's not right to have to pay that much for a cat to be declawed. I kept telling myself that there has to be some way to declaw a cat myself. I tried numerous methods I found on the internet but nothing seemed to work. That dang cat kept clawing me and ripping my skin. Eventually I booted the cat out and gave him to some elder lady in the next neighborhood.

One of the many reasons I don't like having to be a father is the punishment of my kids. I, Santa Claus, bought them new pet birds for Christmas. They all promised Santa that they would take care of them. Like my kids usually do, they didn't take the responsibility of their new pets. I've never been much a pet person myself so I took the issue in my hands to teach my kids a lesson. The birds had to be set free as a way to show the kids that if they don't take care of pets they'll be let go. It's not the easiest thing to do as a father but it has to be done. Luckily my kids learned that lesson and took more responsibility with the dogs. It was a small price to pay but worth it in the end. It took about 5 days till I stopped seeing the birds flying around the neighborhood. Hope they're ok still.