The Dorky Vegan

I wrote this on my livejournal, but I thought it was worth repeating.

1. Clean up, Chinese style.

2. That little place called Tibet, ever heard of it?

3. It’s all about huge corporations making money, which puts the hosting country in debt for decades.

4. Imposing beauty standards for seven year olds

5. No specific link, but just their overall record of human rights violations. Google it yourself.

So, um, don’t discuss the Olympics with me.

Friday night, a friend found a pitbull puppy running around a neighborhood of Chicago. She took him in for the night, but he couldn’t stay there. So, he came to me on Saturday. Monday, he had to go back to her because of my landlord. In the meantime, the friend had become sick (I’m guessing unrelated) and was spiking a fever when she came to pick him up. Yep, guess who got sick. And then another friend got sick because she was with me most of this time.

Aside from that, having the puppy here was great! Okay, so trying to housetrain a puppy when the weather is a high of 3 degrees isn’t so great. But having an absolutely adorable, cuddly, playful, loveable puppy around? The best! I so fell in love. I have puppy fever now. Some people get baby fever when they’re around a lot of babies. I get puppy fever.

Ginny and Avocado didn’t react well to having him around, though. Avocado’s usually fine with dogs, Ginny takes a while to get used to them (and in general doesn’t like hyper dogs). Avocado’s reaction might have been because it’s been a while since he’s been around dogs, or he’s never been around an (unneutered especially) male dog, I don’t know. Eventually, I think, I’ll find the right dog to be a companion for them. Less hyper (but still playful because Avocado liked to play with Kali), and female apparently.

I miss Kali.

Anyway, the puppy story ended happy: the dog’s family called and they were reunited. And now all the activists are sick.

Well, besides the fact that I’m currently Mac-less (it’s at the Genius Bar *hopefully* being fixed). And me not being able to access my dorkyvegan.com email address because I’m a moron and can’t remember how to log into the webmail site (I’ve been using Mail way too long…). So you know, try an alternate email address if you need to send me something.

Anyway, why Eyeore is depressed. I was listening to the Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast the other day titled “The Burden of Burros”. She had a short piece about how Eyeore is the only “positive” donkey character, usually they’re just beasts of burden or stubborn. Even our language reflects these negative images, calling someone a jackass as an insult (I love this podcast because she constantly challenges me to change the way I communicate; she’s had a couple episodes about animal cliches).

And no wonder that Eyeore’s depressed about all of this, considering that he’s only been portrayed negatively for thousands of years.

So tonight, I was walking home (after a successful day of protesting, including our RADICAL CHEERLEADER DEBUT!) and a yard had a Winnie the Pooh blow-up Christmas decoration. Winnie and Tigger on a sled, smiling and happy… and Eyeore pulling the sled. And he was partially deflated, flopping over and proving his point even more.

Just something to think about. I’d go more into it, but I’m exhausted. So just think about it.

Some days, let’s face it, I don’t want to get out of bed and be barraged with fur coats, stupid anti-vegan questions, and McDonald’s/Arby’s/Applebee’s/whateverthefuck ad that shoves dead animals into my face. Sometimes, you can feel extremely defeated when you look at the big picture. So what do I do? I don’t look at the big picture. There’s one thing that gets me out of bed on these days to continue fighting. Well, two.

Avocado and Ginny. And I don’t mean that I get out of bed because I have to feed them (I can easily go right back to bed). Just seeing them, knowing what a great life they now have, is sometimes the motivation I need. Their stories aren’t incredibly horrific compared to some (J’s dog was legally rescued from a vivisection lab, and you should hear him talk about the rehabilitation process), but still. I need to keep fighting so others won’t have to endure worse.

I got Avocado in March of this past year. He and his brother (whom I didn’t adopt) were seventh months old and had been victims of animal abuse. Yet he had never fought back, according to the papers I received at his adoption. He never bit, or clawed, or anything. And he still hasn’t. Even though he received horrible treatment in his first home, once he was with people who cared about him, once he could feel safe, he knew that. As soon as I brought him home, he knew it was for good. He completely trusts me (and I would never do anything to violate that trust). The capacity for forgiveness in animals is amazing.

Ginny was abandoned when she was about five months old. When I adopted her in August, she had been in the shelter for a month and a half (completely baffling the shelter volunteers, who loved her, and I also couldn’t understand why). She had been dumped at a “popular” drop-off spot for unwanted pets (a spot the shelter regularly checks apparently). When she was brought in, she was half-starved, had worms and fleas, and was extremely cautious. When I went to adopt her, she was still on the thin side, and she was very shy. She was terrified of being outside. She also wasn’t too keen on dogs which, with two very hyper dogs in the house, made things interesting.

I brought her home, kept her away from the dogs, and gave her lots of love and food. She went from five and a half pounds to a healthy 7 pounds quickly. She didn’t hesitate to show her affection towards me, licking my fingers (and everywhere else) whenever I picked her up. Her affection has never wavered.

Through the months, I’ve worked on renewing her confidence. She was afraid of going outside, but I started taking her out on her leash and harness, and once she realized that I would remain by her side, she relaxed. One day, the three of us (including Avocado) went outside in the front yard and she took a nap while Avocado ran around. That’s how I knew she was much more at ease. Now she goes outside all the time (always on her harness, always with me). We go for walks down to the Lincoln Square shops, where she hangs out with the calmer dogs. She’s attended a fur protest with me (once winter’s over she’ll be out there again… I’m not going to subject her to this weather!). I’m the crazy girl with a cat on a leash… but if she doesn’t go out at least once a week now, she gets restless.

She’s still jumpy at times if you move too quickly behind her, and sometimes she gets startled by the simplest things (like the fridge turning on). She freezes when people walk by my apartment door. But I’m sure that she’s aware that nothing’s going to happen to her now. She still gives me, and anyone else she meets, plenty of kisses.

So for me, I have to get out of bed and continue to fight for animal rights so that animals like Avocado and Ginny can have a chance for something better, if they happen to be born into the wrong situation. So they don’t end up as “subjects” in animal tests. So they don’t end up on fur farms in China to make cheap fur coats. So they don’t end up in cheap pet food. And this extends to ALL animals. I know that I’ve only focused on my cats, but I want to make the distinction that they’re not special just because they’re cats. All animals deserve the chance to live a happy, fulfilling life without cruelty. Just some days, the physical reminder is needed.

Okay, it’s been a while. Can you believe that I’ve been busy?

Really. I finally got a job (yay!), which is keeping me wicked busy. I have no time, it feels, to do anything once I get home at 6 in the evening (and then I usually have to go grocery shopping, do laundry, wash dishes, etc…).

Aaaand I started this post about five hours ago. Oops.

Anyway, what’s happened in the world of Avocado and Ginny? Well, Ginny was offered a job in a commercial for a local pet boutique. Unfortunately, I had a job interview that morning (the job I ended up taking) and although the owner of the store said it would be fine to come in that afternoon, the filming company didn’t listen to any of her plans and left within two hours that morning. They said she’d definitely be in the next one, though.

I’m working on getting Avocado to not be so afraid of outside again. He’s doing really well. Last weekend, I actually got him to go all the way to that pet boutique! (Ginny always comes with me.) He got freaked out by the el going by, but so does Ginny. Once he was in the store, though, he calmed down. And let me tell you, handling two cats on leashes is an adventure! I’ve become a master at scooping both of them up at once, but usually one wants to go in one direction and the other is pulling me the opposite way. Well… maybe someday they’ll figure that one out.

I’m trying to find a pet sitter for Christmas, because I just found out that I’m going back to MA for four days. The girl at the pet boutique gave me a recommendation, but they just emailed me back (after trying to contact them for a week…) and said they’re already completely booked for Christmas. This might be more of a challenge than I thought! I don’t want to board them because Avocado doesn’t like strange places, plus it’s much more expensive. I might get one of the kids on the first floor to come in and feed them, they like them… we’ll see.

I might buy them some tuna for their Thanksgiving feast. I’m not sure if it’s in my budget or not. Sadly, I’m not kidding. I also need to buy them more dry food, but I might just feed them wet (once I run out of dry) until I get paid on Thursday… and then have to wait for the store to open again.

I’ll try to update more often.

My cats are obsessed with my groceries, it appears. Ginny has her obsession with my grocery bags, and Avocado just wants to hang out in my fridge all day. Virginie has this great picture of him stepping out of the fridge back in Shutesbury, all calm. He snuck in when she wasn’t looking, and she closed him in there. Luckily, she had to put something back in there immediately, and found him. Anyway, this accompanying picture was taken yesterday when I had the fridge open to get some food (not a lot in there, I know). He was actually crawling around on the bottom shelf before I grabbed my camera. I had to pick him up to close the fridge because he wouldn’t get out on his own.

Despite always trying to steal Ginny’s food (and mine, apparently), Avocado has successfully lost half a pound! Like I said, I just cut back on a tiny bit of his dry food (I still don’t have the money to buy more wet food… I should get my paycheck tomorrow). He hasn’t complained, but the results are in. Now what you see is just pure fluff.

Of course, I did try to up his activity. See this video.

I guess that’s why Ginny’s the skinny one (although, she’s grown a lot since I got her. She’s now at a healthy weight and she’s bigger than the shelter thought she would be). But for the record, Avocado attacked the toy as soon as I turned the camera off. Camera shy, maybe? I need to replace that toy though… it’s their favorite, so much so that they’ve now ripped out all the feathers (what’s on it in that video are four straggly streamers). When I was playing with Ginny after, the wand broke, which puts me dangerously close to their claws. I had a second one, but I left it at my mom’s and I don’t know where exactly. So I need to replace this, and I know they’re not expensive, but I really don’t have any money right now. So they’ll have to wait. I mean, it’s not like they don’t have fifteen other perfectly good toys laying around here.

One thing they do love is the shower. Yesterday, I took a shower (personal hygiene, yeah!). Ginny likes to sit on the edge of the bathtub because she’s a peepi— because she likes to watch the water drain (I don’t know. So does Avocado). She usually gets a good sprinkling of water from the shower, and she’s fine with it (although it’s cute to watch her ears flick back and forth when the drops fall on her). When I’m done, she moves closer to the drain to watch it all go down.

Yesterday, when I had gotten out but there was still a good half a foot of water in the tub (my drain sucks), she went to move positions… and fell in (she’s been having a lot of misjudging distances, surfaces, etc. lately. No ear infections, I checked, just Avocado’s klutziness rubbing off on her). Although she likes a little water, she did not like suddenly being drenched! She frantically flapped around a little bit and managed to get out of the tub (taking half the water with her onto my bathroom floor). I sat there and tried to towel her off for at least twenty minutes, but she was having none of it. Finally, when I knew that she at least wouldn’t soak all of my furniture, I let her go and take care of it herself.

Today, she was much more cautious with the shower.

I had other things to post about from the last few days, but I’ve forgotten them. That’s how it is, of course.

Ginny advocates the use of reusable bags. Cats are less likely to suffocate in them, they’re fun to play in, and… oh yeah, they’re good for the environment.

I’ve been trying a few new things in my quest to get Avocado and Ginny to not wake me up in the middle of the night. The other night, they started running around as soon as I turned out the light to go to bed, and Ginny spent the entire night in the wardrobe. I felt bad, so I turned to the Veggie Board for advice. The most obvious suggestion is to just let them have run of everything except the bedroom (which I used to let Avocado do in Shutesbury), but as I now live in a studio apartment, that’s not exactly possible.

Now, I understand that cats are nocturnal animals. But I also know that they’re highly intelligent and can adapt to a different sleeping schedule if I train them right. Most people don’t train their cats in anything, thinking that cats are stubborn and can’t be trained, but that’s just not so. I’ve trained them in a few things, and as this actually affects me (unlike fetching balls and walking beside me on a leash), I’m determined to succeed. My cats are smart. And I don’t want them to learn that this new habit is okay.

In Shutesbury, they didn’t do this. They slept through the night (well, until Avocado would wake me up at 6:30 for breakfast). It could be a number of reasons why they’re suddenly doing it. They didn’t do it the first few nights, when they were still adjusting to the new location. Now, I’m lucky enough to have two cats who adjusted to a completely new living arrangement (city, long drive to get here, apartment instead of house, no dogs, by ourselves) within a matter of days. Especially considering Avocado’s apprehensions since his accident. Once they got adjusted, however, they started the late night shenanigans. Which was good, in a way, but very, very bad in another.

So I’ve tried separating them. That results in Avocado crying for about an hour because he can’t play with Ginny. It also results in me feeling bad that Ginny’s stuck in the wardrobe/bathroom, even though she doesn’t mind it (she just goes to sleep). As soon as I let her out, they go back to their play, so nothing was accomplished. They also don’t seem to be learning from this.

I can’t use a spray bottle, because my cats are weird and like water. And I don’t want to punish them for playing; I just want them to learn the difference between “it’s okay to play during the day” and “it’s not okay to play at night”.

Last night, I tried two different things. First, I played with them constantly during the afternoon, and again while watching TV before bed. They both love the feather chaser thing (I forget what it’s actually called, but it’s that standard cat toy with feathers attached to a stick), so I have them chase it until they’re absolutely exhausted. Laying down because they can’t chase it anymore, and then I still dance it around them and they bat at it with their paws for a little while. This ensures that they’re tired enough to go right to sleep afterwards.

Also, I split their dinner into two feedings. I gave them 2/3 at the regular time (6:00) and then the remaining 1/3 right before I went to bed (of course, I have to watch them eat because Avocado will push Ginny away from her food even though it’s the same food). I can’t leave a full dish out at night, because Avocado will gobble up all of it in no time at all, so it’s carefully measured for him. But in doing so, he’s not hungry all night and crying for food an hour after I go to bed (the chasing usually starts because he’s walking around talking and Ginny, who was peacefully sleeping, gets annoyed and pounces on him).

The result? They were both ready for bed when I was, and slept until 4 or 5am. Yes, they woke me up then. I put a tiny bit of food in their bowls (just a few kibbles), went back to sleep, and was undisturbed until my neighbor started doing really loud construction insanely early in the morning (he’s been doing it for the past four days and it’s really starting to get on my nerves).

So, I think their late night rambunctiousness is a combination of being hungry (being fed too early) and just wanting to play. In Shutesbury, Avocado had Kali to play with all during the day, so he was tired at night. Lately, both he and Ginny have been trying to escape the heat by napping all day, and he doesn’t have crazy dogs chasing him around the house. I’ve been trying to lure them out to play more, but with the random heat wave this past week, it’s been hard.

But at least I know some of the solution.

I barely saw my cats all day until suppertime. Both were trying to beat the heat in whatever way possible. Ginny has been hiding out on the cool ceramic of the bathtub; Avocado spent the day underneath my bed as seen here (I crawled under and felt that it really was cooler). Ginny usually likes napping on top of the cabinets but it’s way too hot for her lately. And you can forget about getting them to play! Only at 4am, thank you.

Well I managed to find all 5 lattice balls the other night… then the next night I could only find four again. Last night I only found four but in the middle of the night, Ginny found the fifth (see why I have to hunt them down every night?). I wonder how many I’ll be able to find tonight.

Avocado, when he did come out from his cool spot, decided to be in one of his extremely affectionate moods. I couldn’t make a move without calling his attention and him running over, demanding to be pet. I guess he was making up for all those hours he wouldn’t come out from under his bed.

One of my neighbors was doing very loud yardwork (I don’t know what) all day, though, and that made him jumpy. My poor boy. Once, I went to pet and ease him and he jumped at my hand. I picked him up and cradled him, though, and he calmed down. Soon he was purring and begging for ear scratches.

I’ve also noticed that Avocado’s putting on a tiny bit extra weight (probably from stealing Ginny’s food all the time) so I’m cutting back on a tiny bit of his food. Just a little, honestly. When I scoop out his food, I don’t fill it completely to the edge, just one layer less. And anything he doesn’t finish right away goes back in the bowl. So hopefully he won’t feel hungry, but he won’t get fat either (I think it’s because we’re in a studio apartment now instead of a whole house with dogs chasing him, so less activity).

Still trying to get them to not wake me up in the very early morning… this morning, Ginny spent quite a lot of time in the wardrobe/bathroom. I put her in there and fell back asleep and woke up an hour or two later. Good thing she doesn’t mind it (she was fast asleep when I opened the door). Avocado would have a fit.

That is, why Ginny and Avocado were just chasing each other and I had to put Ginny in the wardrobe. They were behaving perfectly (ie, sleeping) until I woke up at 5am to pee. Appparently, that’s the signal for them to behave like crazy cats. Note to self: stumble to bathroom in the dark next time.

While sleeping, however, I had a horrible dream. I was at my mom’s with them (and taking my sister’s cat, Chester, because she was going overseas and couldn’t take him for some reason), and I couldn’t find Avocado. Finally, late in the evening, he came back… with his entire face painted. But it was really bad, as whoever painted his face blocked his nostrils and painted his mouth so that it couldn’t open (eyes too). I managed to pry open his mouth so he didn’t suffocate just in time, but couldn’t do anything else about the other stuff.

We knew it was our crazy neighbors’ doing, and my sister was telling me to get the cats out of here as soon as possible because of them (due to Avocado not going outside, it was only likely that they took him from our [really nonexistent] porch). I was supposed to move in three months, so she told me to just find a long-term foster parent for them (and I, of course, was crying because of what happened to Avocado and I didn’t want to part with any of the cats).

We tried going to the vet to get the paint removed, but as we opened the door, a zombie child came upon us, so we had to stay inside. And then the dream rapidly progressed into a Resident Evil, complete with Milla Jovovich.

Oh yeah, and there was a part about me having no money. Surprised?

I don’t know where the zombies came from, but as for the rest of it… well, I’m constantly worried about my cats. But really! A painted face?

Anyway. Then I woke up, and went back to sleep, and now I’m awake again. Oh, and sometime in the night, Avocado found another one of the lattice balls. That means only one is missing now.

Ginny just went back into the wardrobe because they’re still running around. But, for what it’s worth, they did come up with a “neutral space”: under my bed. If only it could be on my bed instead. But as soon as one goes under it, the other stops chasing (and in fact usually both will go under and just hang out) but as soon as the first reemerges, it all starts again. Usually Ginny’s sitting right next to the bed waiting to pounce on Avocado.

Redefining, that is, Avocado as a cat. It seems that he’s determined to be anything but a cat. Here he is trying to be a book, now that the bookshelves are cleared of the former tenant’s stuff (well, mostly). If he can’t be a dog, he’s just going to be an inanimate object!

Today was rather uneventful. I awoke at 4am like usual… but not because Avocado and Ginny were chasing each other around the apartment! I guess my body’s just used to getting up at 4am now. I read a bit in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (finished that, actually) until my body was ready to go back to sleep. Avocado and Ginny were all, “What are you doing up?” Avocado slept in my bed, Ginny slept on the couch. It’s possible that Avocado just wasn’t sleeping in my bed because it wasn’t comfortable with his e-collar.

I spent the late morning/early afternoon moving furniture around, which gives Avocado and Ginny even more space to chase each other around (like they didn’t have enough!). Which they promptly took advantage of. Avocado broke one of the Christmas ornaments he’s been playing with since March (yes, we didn’t take our Christmas tree down until late April, and then only because Virginie’s sister was visiting and would have laughed at us) by hitting it into the bed leg. So now, they only have… oh, fifty other things to chase around the apartment.

We came here with five lattice balls (not to mention other things, but this is what we’re talking about here) and within two days at most, two were missing. Despite cleaning, unpacking, moving furniture, retrieving the remaining balls from under furniture (that’s a never ending task!), I still can’t find those two balls. Well, they’re fifty cents each, so it wasn’t a huge loss, but I’m still wondering where they could possibly be.

Also, you wouldn’t think that it would be hard to be able to find two cats in a studio apartment, but they keep coming up with more and more hiding places! Especially since Avocado no longer has his e-collar, he’s the explorer (Virginie once opened the fridge to find him in there!)… they can fit behind the couch and the loveseat, they keep sneaking into the closet (and the shelf in the closet), the cupboards… half the time I panic that they’ve somehow escaped the apartment, even though I haven’t opened the door and the screens are all on the windows!

They’re calmed down now (I took all their jingly toys away so the people downstairs don’t hate me too much) so I guess I should go to bed while I have the chance!