AppleTreePets: Day Eighteen

Habits

Habits are funny things. For example, I have been able to stay with this blog thing almost long enough for it to become a habit. I think the litmus test is if you stay with something for about a month. I just wish I had started a diet on the same day I began the blog. Oh well.

Animals are especially prone to habits. From the smallest (Petey the hamster) to the largest (Jack) everybody has their quirks and peccadillos. Petey has to have everything in his habitat just so. He has an igloo in which he pushes the bedding so it is exactly the way he wants it. He has a place where he hides his food, and a place where he pees - as far from the igloo as possible. Also, there are other play structures, one of which he conveniently turned upside down and uses it to store some of his treats. He is very happy with his set-up until I come around to clean it. I feel so sorry for him because he looks like Dorothy running around trying to keep the storm from blowing everything away! Needs must...

Roxy, the Diva bunny. Roxy is a trip. I wasn't in the market for a pet rabbit, but when I learned that her previous owner was just going to turn her loose because her daughter was allergic, I said I would take her. Roxy quickly outgrew her cage so I went searching for the perfect hutch. Because I am also a creature of habit, I want my fur kids to be happy and comfortable. My house can be a disaster - I don't care - but their spaces have to be just so. It took awhile but I finally found a two story "rabbit condo" with a bedroom on the second floor. She has water and litter boxes on both levels. The first thing she did in her new digs was to make a nest with her own fur in the bedroom. Something instinctual must have triggered the nesting response. If I hadn't seen this when we had rabbits when I was a kid, I would have freaked out. There was fur everywhere!!! She stayed on the second floor for a few days, afraid of the ramp to go down to the first floor. Eventually, she got the nerve to try it, but she doesn't just go down the ramp - she runs down it like a kid leaping into bed before the monster under it grabs his/her foot! All-in-all she seems content in her condo, so I'm happy, too.

Each one of the cats has at least one habit.
Eli likes to lie on the top of my chair when I'm watching TV at night. He won't sit on me or next to me - he has to be above me. He is also the one who likes to knock things off counters and shelves. If there is a crash, we know Eli is responsible.
My baby, Chance, does not like the litter box. He will look at me to see if I'm paying attention. If I am, he will use the litter box and expect praise. If I'm distracted by, let's say, sleep, he will use the bathtub or the floor in front of the bathtub. Or the floor in front of the litter box. We're working on this little problem.
Finn. Well Finn loves bowls. From the sink to an Easter decoration, Finn is happiest sleeping in a bowl. But Finn's worst habit is that he goes from being the most docile kitty on the planet to a lizard's worst nightmare. I can get a lizard out of the jaws of anybody but Finn's. I have had my finger chomped on while he was trying to reclaim his prize after I shook it loose. I do a perimeter search before letting them out every day.
Fancy is such a creature of habit, it's tough to list them all. He is the one who talks to me all day; telling me he's hungry, deserves a treat, or would like to go out. He is the one who sits with me every night. His strangest habit is that he likes it when I hold his face. I cup my hand and he pushes his face in and just stays that way until my hand cramps or he can no longer breathe. He does this every single time. Andy thinks it's hilarious. I worry he has a headache or a brain tumor...

Last, but never least, the Bullmastiffs. Jack is a pretty simple guy. He likes to sleep - a lot. Jack's worst habit is, he's a foot licker - his own, not ours!! He does it at night before he falls asleep, and it drives us crazy. If he was a human kid, I would give him a pacifier. Speaking of which, Rooney makes her own pacifier out of her toys. She is still a puppy in her mind. A large puppy, but a puppy none-the-less. She carries her toys around and falls asleep sucking on them. But Rooney's biggest habit is her love for her Dad. I spend all day caring for them - feeding, grooming, etc. - but she basically ignores me. Rooney stares out the window and waits all day for him to come home. Every night she has to sit on his lap while he's watching TV. If Jack is next to him, she just sits on top of Jack until he can't take it anymore.

Habits make us feel safe. They keep us grounded when things are flying around us. Habits can be good or bad - it's all a matter of perspective.