Okay, so now the pet food recall has hit home big time.

I have about two cases of Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy currently residing in my basement. We stock pile because if husband loses his job, at least the pets will eat, so we buy cases when the food's on sale.

Remember we feed 200 plus pounds of dog every day (divided by two of course.)

Except now, we have potentially tainted food in these cans, and it will take me a couple of hours tomorrow to go through product codes, and expiration dates and store codes to find out if we have killer food.

Enough is enough.

"They" know all kinds of crap about pet food and "they" are dribbling out the truth, bit by bit, because if it all fell down today, we'd realize all pet food is poisonous, or could be poisonous because they all0w poisons to get into the food.

Sad part is, much of the wheat used in pet food can also be sold to human food manufacturers - is it?

I'm going to the one ingredient foods now. I'm buying nothing with more than one ingredient: beef, potato, green bean, lettuce, egg, you get the drift.

Also today the pet food recall hit the dry food products.

I'm so tired of feeling duped and ripped off, scared and stupid.

Happy Friday to All except Vets and their Office Staff

Vets, I'm not happy with them. (animal vets, not former soldiers)

Worse than vets though, is the office staff. (Although it's the vet's fault they have become the way they are. Vets don't talk to owners anymore, they sic the pug-faced, irritable phone answerers on the paying clients.)

Suddenly, by the mere fact they got a job answering the phones for a vet, they have become beatified creatures who don't want to be questioned on anything and who love screwing their faces up in disgust if you do ask a question or dare to ask why such-and-such charge is on your bill.

(A price tag on the welfare of an animal? How dare you even think of such a thing. Just give me your income tax refund, your Mastercard and the change in your pocket!!)

One of my recent questions to Ms. Holier-than thou pet-vet clerk was this: " Why did you do the T4 $50 dollar test on the dog's thyroid if, as you say, it is inconclusive and now a Ft-4 test must be done for $70? I wish I'd had a choice in the matter. "

I heard some growling and hissing but no real explanation for the wasted $50 which could go for expensive cat and dog food since the industry is poisoning our pets probably after big payoffs from vets who want more business.

Wish someone had said, hey, we can do a $50 test but unless your dog's thyroid is crazy low or crazy high, it won't mean a damn thing.

Or, we can do a $70 test that will tell us whether he should be on thyroid meds or not. Which one do you want?

I think most people in the universe would say, for $20 extra, I'd rather not have to redo a test -- waste $50 and my time and my dog's time for that matter for inconclusive results. Yes, give me the more expensive test, dimwit- cut to the chase for crissakes. Or just pull a gun and rob me and get it the hell over with.

We brought Beau in for a watery eye. Vet gives out an antibiotic and an eye cream. $100 later we have Beau back watery eye watering.

Two weeks go by and we still have a dog with a watering eye. Back he goes, husband drops him off because they have no appointments but will fit him in during the day. Great.

He starts to leave and the office bulldog snarls: here, you have to sign this paper agreeing to an operation.

Operation?? Husband is taken back.

"Yes, $350 or more, not sure of the price until it's done."

Husband pauses, thinks, says "um look, I'm here for an eye recheck. I'd like the doctor to look at him before I sign a paper that says he can be operated on. He's 11 years old and no one has said a word to me about an operation being needed."

Bulldog snarls again but luckily did not bite nor piss on husband as he left.

Husband picks up dog at the end of day, comes home with more eye cream and more antibiotics and a inconclusive thyroid test.

Two weeks, two hundred plus dollars, dog's eye is watering, and unlike the Mastercard ad, it has a steep price.

Spoiled Cat Refuses Gourmet Food; Owners out $25



You know you want some. Even Gavin wants some.

Cats Prefer Crap

We thought we had a success on our hands when Fin gobbled up his first human grade beef muffin...I call it a muffin because it was frozen in muffin tins then put into a ziplock bag.

Meal two and three of meat muffins were sniffed at and summarily dismissed.

He then went to the cabinet where his by-product/digest/corn and chemical canned food sits and attempted to open the door with his huge pedestal paw. I got the picture.

Fin's a big fan of butter. Maybe if we'd sauted the $4.00 plus a pound ground beef in butter he'd have liked it more. Maybe he doesn't like the veggies or the urinary health ingredients: blueberries and cranberries. Maybe I can feed it to husband? Mother-in-law?

One thing I do know, the dogs love it. They are not fussy:they are so cool about eating that they (pre-clumping litter) would eat the turds right out of the litterbox.

Thank god for dogs and men. Both will eat almost everything.

The absurdity of it all.

We are making cat food or the husband part of we is making cat food while I write this post.

So far there's about $7 worth of ingredients now freezing in muffin tins, which amounts to enough food for one cat for three days. I don't know -- not sure about our recipe or not sure how long we can afford to make their food, but after researching cat food since the Menu Foods recall, I don't think I can bear to feed canned food to them anymore.

Menu foods had to recall a variety of pet food due to rat poison which was miraculously getting into the pet food cans and causing death. I think if only they had kept the rats in the food rather than the poison, so many animals would not have died and we wouldn't be going broke trying to feed our guys something akin to healthy, nutritious food.

It shouldn't be this hard to feed a cat. Years ago, there was a time when there was no such thing as pet food in cans. I am not sure what they ate back then. Probably rats.

Anyhow, our recipe so far is 1 1/2 pounds ground beef at $4.39 a pound, 3/4 cup brown rice, 4 ounces of peas and carrots 1/4 cup blueberries and cranberries mixed, salt Olive oil and one multivitamin crushed.

Finbar has had numerous signs of food allergies and now since I can't trust any manufactured pet food, we're giving a go at making our own.

Progress! Huh?

If anyone has a recipe for cat food they've used, please share it. I'm not ready to feed raw food to my boys and not sure how long my bank account will last with the price of ground beef!

Back to stirring the pot, the cat food pot.

I was thinking, dont you just wish Bush had been given a blow job? He'd be impeached by now.

Here in CT we're having an icy but happy St. Patrick's Day. The birds, can you see them? are very happy with the fare, though there's no corned beef and cabbage -- sunflower seeds and suet seem to be doing the trick.

Looking out my other window I saw a robin looking perplexed -- I'm sure he wished he was somewhere else.

My regal and magnificent red-bellied woodpecker visited this morning. What a treat to see him, unfortunately by the time I found the camera he was long gone. I'll try again, and if I can capture a picture I'll post it later.

It's a great day for the Irish, but the birds aren't so sure that this late winter storm is great. Lucky for them, our diner is open until they can find their own food again.

Have a happy St Paddy's day one and all!

Caught him, but I don't know how clear these will come out. Geesh they're appearing on the top of the post...oh well..there's my beautiful boy!!

I Irk People

Some people go through life as if invisible. I unfortunately irk people. I've known this for a long time.

At first, I was amazed at how I could unknowingly irk; now I am aware of my ability to irk and use it for good and for evil ;-)

Here's a current list of how I irk others:

I do not believe in any higher power. When asked about my beliefs, I say I don't believe in the supernatural - not ghosts, not Easter bunnies nor Santa Claus nor any form of a god or goddess.

I ask questions. I even ask doctors questions! I am the farthest thing from a true believer you will ever find. I question authority routinely and regularly and admire those people who do the same.

I am a problem solver. Lots of people don't want to have their problems solved or they don't accept the solution. What they want is to spread their hopeless and noxious state of mind on to me.

Some problems can only be accepted. Other problems have solutions that aren't exactly wonderful, but one must choose one of the solutions or just keep wallowing in the problem. I don't like wallowing or wallowers so those friends and relatives who enjoy that state are very irked by my serenity prayer-like response to them when they'd prefer to snivel and whine. Bah, it's just a waste of time.

I dye my blonde hair blonde. Never knew how much this could bug people. "Why do you do that, you already have blonde hair, why dye your hair a lighter blonde?" Because, you want to know why? because I want to - that's why and I can't see how in hell it matters to you what color my hair is.

I'm mostly happy. Very happy. I find joy in so many things and apparently a lot of people have a problem with this. They would prefer me to be less happy. They're jealous or angry that I can have a sip of wine and go to nirvana and back and they can have a double bottle and still not appreciate the taste. I like being alone; enjoy my private time and am never bored.

The biggest thing about me that irks others is that I don't care what other people think of me. It's not important. I only like people who like me so it just doesn't matter.

How in hell can you like someone if they don't like you? This can only work if if YOU don't like YOU, and I like me.

Do you irk people? If so how?

Cheers and Choppers!



I do adore my dentist Dr. Ed Kozinn and he deserves ink or bytes for being one of the most competent, compassionate, pain-free, kind and caring dentists in the world.



Without the aid of a psychiatrist, I have conquered my phobia about dental work and go routinely now without even a single palpitation or sweat bead on my forehead.



I wish I could clone him and turn the clones into a family physician, veterinarian and hair dresser, then my life would be complete.



Today was a very fun visit as husband had the nine o’clock appointment and I had a ten o’clock appointment. I make my appointments 3 months in advance and husband and I didn’t coordinate a family visit but it just worked out that way.



Seeing him at the dentist office wasn’t a surprise, but an out of context meeting with one’s spouse in a dentist’s office can be romantic. (I was in one chair, he was in another chair…) ;-)



Anyhow, all choppers are clean and shiny and even though I tell myself to eschew red wine, I won’t.



Apoyo Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma is a mighty fine and inexpensive red. We had it recently and thought we were drinking a $40 bottle so the 13 dollar price is a steal.



Cheers!

Hi Kids,

Well, well, I'm getting well. The sun is out so the cold doesn't feel quite as cold and my cold is getting better. Finbar is putting some weight on his leg which makes me feel that he's improving. I'm beginning to dream about spring and flowers and have hope that the ice and bitter cold weather goes away.

Dj's birthday is Saturday so after his show a bunch of us are going out to dinner to celebrate. I should be in fine form by then (if I keep slathering my nose with vaseline.) I feel so ugly right now, but I know that I'd rather go around greased up today and tomorrow and not have a red nose for Saturday and Sunday!

I have stayed away from the news which helps my spirits but not stayed away from spirits which shouldn't be news.

ttfn

Well this is a first. I still have congestion and coughing from cold A which began about 2 1/2 weeks ago when surprise, yesterday I came down with cold B!

This has never happened before. Needless to say, I'm pretty sick of being sick.

Finbar has a sprained foot and can't put any weight down on it. The vet gave him a shot of cortisone -- $80 later he's still a walking tripod.

I am just going to vegetate today as next weekend we have numerous fun things lined up I don't want to miss.

If you're reading this post, then I ask you to go and wash your hands with an antibacterial soap when you leave. I don't want you to get sick!

"N-word"

The "N-word" was symbolically banned by the city council in New York! No one, not even African Americans are supposed to use the "N-word" for any reason and that means you, rappers.

Now I'm waiting for the banning of saying "N-word" as we all can hear in our heads just what that "N-word" is in its entirety. So if they ban saying "N-word" I wonder how this story would have ever made its way to the press.

Maybe like this: New York city council has banned the utterance of the letter that comes after M in the alphabet when it is adjoining the word "word". Penalties for saying the letter that comes after M in the alphabet when it is adjoining the word "word" are one year of bad hair days, a perpetual pebble in your shoe and intractable post nasal drip.

One of the things that has bothered me about referring to people of color is how to refer to them. We have the NAACP but god knows no one calls anyone a colored person...yet there was a shift to "people of color" at one time, but I think that's died as it's too much like saying "the artist formally known as Prince" - just too long.


We have the United Negro College Fund, but I don't think there are any negroes left - are there? When's the last time anyone has called anyone a negro except for the people from the United Negro College Fund, and I'm not sure they use the word.

Then came black...seemed to work for me as I've had to call myself white even though when I'm the sickest -- I don't match the color white...but that seemed to disappear and in came African American which is also pushing it.

We're all African by descent according to DNA studies that prove the first humans came from Africa and then migrated all over the place. So I'm an African American, and so are you no matter what color your skin is.

Maybe the reason words keep changing is because the very best word of all, to describe anyone who lives in America is simply: American.