SUPER LONG POST TO COMPLAIN AND VENT
My mom was an absolute drama queen over Thanksgiving. We are a military family, my brother is too and happens to also be stationed in the same state as us, 2.5 hours away. Ever since his wife and kids moved to AZ, I have hosted Thanksgiving - as they were a newer married couple and my SIL had never made the meal for them (they lived with my parents before).
ANYWAY. Since bro moved to AZ 4-5 years ago, I have hosted Thanksgiving. This grew to include my BFF and her family (they are military too). My parents came once before (they live in FL). This year my bro is deployed so my parents came again to help my sister-in-law. They were all invited for Tday. Brother has 2 dogs, and a cat, we (had) 2 cats and a dog. My eldest kitty, would be 14 in Jan, had a very malignant and malicious cancer. We were scheduled to put him down the weekend after Tday. One of my bro's dogs is a sweet but stupid a hole. He steals food from people and off the table and is aggressive to my dog and cats. He does not obey commands and is hyper and pushy. We are strict with him and do not let him do this, neither does brother, but sister-in-law has a hard time given that she has 3 kids under 6. Brother has been gone 6 months, and doggo is just not controlled. This is the setting.
My parents came down with my bros oldest kid and their calm dog a few days before Tday. My sister-in-law came down with the 3- and 1-year old, and the hyper dog Tday evening. My ENTIRE family knows that our kitty is very sick and will be put down in a week. They know how attached my husband is to this kitty, as I am, and that he is older than our kids. C-boy (sweet but not so good doggo) thinks he owns my home as soon as he comes in. He viciously attacks my dog (who is a boxer and wants to be BFF with everyone - these dogs KNOW each other and visit often. Cboy needs some extra time to settle down, and we take turns kenneling my dog and Cboy when we visit), so we lock MY DOG away until C-boy can calm down. My mom prescribes him benadryl to help him get it together. Things calm down and everyone is happy. We have our cat, M, stationed behind husbands’ computer, in a cat tree, where he is most comfortable. Cat food is high up in the tree, unavailable to dogs.
C-boy decides he needs to squeeze his way into this space and attempt to climb the cat tree to get the cat food. Sister-in-law scolds the dog and puts him in the kennel. Mom flips and says we need to move the sick an
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I’m texting my boss as soon as my last payday rolls around and quitting on the spot. I’m done with this. There is no reason I have to block out my entire day for two thirty minute visits for two pups. But hey, you want free time? You have to be there at 10 and 6, so you can kiss any large plans for the day goodbye.
This Tuesday I got a text asking me to work 14 days straight through. I’m done. I’m getting my weeks pay this Sunday, and as soon as she sends it to me I’m done. This is also the third time in a three month period that she’s asked me to do it.
I mean, it’s pet sitting dude. People don’t quit bad jobs, they quit bad bosses.
I'm going to see my parents for Thanksgiving, and while I normally take my pets with me when I travel, this time I don't have any choice but to fly. So, I need to find a good place to put them up for a few days. What's a good place for an 11 year old lab mix and a 2 year old calico?
Special consideration: My dog is sweet as can be but very anxious, so kind and considerate staff is important to me. Also, I live near Fultondale, so anything closer to that area or the airport is a bonus since the shorter the car ride the less likely to have to deal with my dog throwing up in the back seat.
Tw: pet loss
This month has been a month from hell. At the beginning, I lost my dog of 9 years all the sudden. I'm still emotional and sad over it. My husband is currently dealing with a kidney stone and has yet to pass it. I am also dealing with a sinus infection from hell and my kid has been coughing. It has been a hard month for all of us. And we need a break.
So I'm going to be a jerk and try to break the news to my mom that we may not be attending Thanksgiving. I feel guilty for sure, even though last month they hyped up a visit for my birthday and canceled the last minute because my mom was "sick" even though it was a fib. She never went to the doctor. It's been a month since my birthday and she has yet to send a birthday card. She makes excuses even though she has been to town multiple times since then.
But I still feel like a jerk. And she will get angry and throw a tantrum. I still won't oblige though. We want to stay home and have a restful Thanksgiving rather than making a 6 hour journey back and forth.
So Bro Mos, am I a jerk?
Hey guys!
Is anyone gonna be in Ithaca the days of November 19 to 24 and is willing to plant/petsit. I’m located in ctown and have a boa/some plants and would like for someone to check maybe once a a day to see that nothing is dry/power hasn’t gone out etc. i’m definitely going to compensate you for your time.
Please dm me!
Why YSK: Every organism's digestive tract is different. What they can and can't handle is different. Just because something is okay for a human to eat doesn't mean it's okay for any given animal to eat. This is not meant to make anyone feel guilty for things they have done. It's to keep your pets safe going forward.
Follow this rule of thumb: if you want to give your pet a treat, a quick internet search will reveal if it is explicitly toxic or dangerous (everyone knows about chocolate probably, but do you know that raisins, garlic, and onions are also toxic? Or that poultry bones can splinter and perforate an esophagus?)
If it isn't toxic or dangerous, you owe it to your pet to feed them a calorically appropriate amount of that food. There are several sources out there that show you how even common treats for pets are equivalent to an entire meal's worth of calories for them.
Sure, everyone has anecdotal reports of "my dogs growing up always ate this or did that, and they were fine." The evidence that inappropriate diets cause disease is incontrovertible. Your local library or veterinarian can direct you to scientific sources on the subject. I'll leave you with one such source and an earnest plea to take good care of your pets, be honest with the vet if and when they get sick (especially if you know why they might be sick), and to set good examples for your children of what is and isn't appropriate to feed your pets!
https://www.hillspet.com/pet-care/nutrition-feeding/human-food-treat-translator
