Our older pug has been having a lot of issues with pain and his back legs - we've started him on glucosamine and tramadol, per the vet, and it's helping, but only so much. They've always been pretty bad about waking us up in the mornings on weekends (sleep past 7? nope!) by pacing on the hardwood floor, but now he's started doing the same thing about once a week at 1:30-2am in the mornings. I'm not sure if it's related to the medicine or the pain, or if he just decided he's thirsty or something, but this morning was a 2am morning, so I struggled up, let him out of the bedroom, and then went back to bed.

One of my co-workers gets up at 4:30 every day, and she has a dog that starts whining at 3am. So I'm grateful that isn't me..

Also, we are going to get some rugs for the bedroom, in the hopes that we'll be able to sleep a little better.

Was catsitting for a friend. Cat sitting on my chest, patiently waiting for breakfast. I assumed that sneezing would cause the cat to jump away; no, she just looked at me and said "sorry, that won't work."

Since our other cat died Whitey Ford has no idea what to do with his time. Other than his sun ritual Whitey's whole life was spent following Kitty everywhere. Now he just wonders around and makes small sounds.

Oh, and I went right from that catsitting gig to a second one. The second cat is normally very skittish and timid; she runs away from me for the first day or two, only grudgingly coming out when the food is being put in the dish.

This time, she marched right up to me and started violently rubbing her chin on my sandals. Then she jumped right into my pile of dirty laundry, which was covered with cat hair from the previous cat, and started violently rolling around. Must get rid of The Other at all costs!

Our stunning black and white queenly cat has been ejecting some humongous hairballs. I had the fun of stepping in one last night. On the other hand, on the same day she also sailed regally into the room where I was packing up for our imminent trip, made herself comfortable on the cat ledge by the window, and purred loudly for hours, which was awesome.

Our orange cat, now aged to about 130 in cat years, and still awesomely stupid, is going strong and clearly feeling sad that the summer has ended and she can no longer luxuriate in warm grass on our front lawn (as far as she ever goes from the house.)

Our beautiful dog is always affectionate but has been particularly cuddly lately. We are about to leave on the above mentioned trip and he is very, very good at pattern recognition, so I think this is tied to the appearance of my suitcase and said packing activity.

Kittens are up every morning 1ish wrestling on the bed, then it's crazies for two hours. I get up at 4:30....

Youngest kitten had a respiratory infection that's mostly cleared up; now older kitten and 4y.o. cat have it. I feel like the vet office has a revolving door. Next week, kittens are scheduled back at vet for booster shots.

I cannot buy enough cat food. Who knew that kittens eat as much as full grown horses!

My dopey dog has spent the better part of the last four months trying to decide whether or not she is going to die. She's up and then she's down. Lately, she's been down, but the decline seems to be slower than before. The medication she is on certainly leaves her a bit lethargic and - dare I say - a tad depressed. She's not in pain, as far as we can tell, and while she still gets excited about eating and walking and snuggles, not much else gets her motor running. Her energy level is low and she no longer does all the dorky shit that made her so funny in the past (a majestic beast she has never been). She still my sweet little nub, but sometimes I wish the damn dog would just make up her damn mind whether or not she is going to die. I mean, die she will, but we don't know how protracted her death scene is going to end up being. I'd love to see her do a victory lap that lasts a couple of years more (she's already old for her breed), but that seems unlikely.

Lucy has been enjoying the new back yard. She loves it. Unfortunately she thinks the two big raised beds are massive litter boxes for her. But she has a favourite 'poo spot' and so I just go out with a bag and clean it up.

The new bird feeders have brought many, many birds, and Lucy loves lying on her beanbag by the patio door watching them.

She's 14 now, well into middle-age, but (fingers crossed) is in good health. She is more settled now Hell Neighbour has gone - things used to be very chaotic with various debt collectors coming round, the constant noise from his flat with his TV on 24 hours a day and him yelling at people over the phone. Now all is peaceful and Lucy and I are no longer living on tenterhooks.

I changed her onto the next age group up for her Hill's Science Food - Mature for cats who are 11 and older. She likes it, but it makes her fart. It doesn't seem to bother her, but she always angles her arse to my face before she drops one.

Our cats have been racing maniacally up & down the hall. They've been boneless paperweights all summer in the heat & they and the dogs are sensing the shortening days & twitterpation has set in.

Gator has butt tufts that are driving me crazy. Her undercoat is much thicker than Otto's & they shed at different times even though they're both labs.

They've been doing some serious landscaping & drain burying in the backyard this week to keep it from turning into MudPit Central when it rains. We had to take the bird feeders down temporarily so Bird TV has been out of order for the cats.

My elderly (somewhere around 17 years) cat has started yowling out of the backdoor window..at nothing. It's not as bad as my previous elderly cat (18 when we lost him in February) who was VERY vocal very early in the morning and into the late hours. This one has never really meowed - so his sounds are creaky and soft, and blessedly brief.

My 12 year old dog has good and bad days; her right back leg seems to give her some difficulty at times. I fear her losing the ability to get up and down the few steps we have, as she weighs 80 lbs and is unwieldy.

The rest of the menagerie, well, either gets along, or doesn't, on a day to day basis.