Thanks for the thoughts! That makes me feel really good!

I've been under a lot of stress in my personal life. My husband and I may be getting divorced etc. - so I have neglected all my old friends at Pet Talk.

Other than that, we're all doing just great. Max and Toby are doing wonderfully, and I finally found good homes for my mom's two chihuahuas. I don't know if you remember the story with them - I thought I was babysitting them for her and wound up having to find them homes. One went to a vet tech. at my vet's office and the other went to a nurse my daughter works with. Don't worry - the new owners were very carefully screened.

I couldn't keep them - they were so tiny and delicate. Max is a big dumb oaf. (But he's MY big dumb oaf and I LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE him!)

We really want another dog (a large adult from a shelter or rescue) but we're going to wait until we can have a kennel built in the Spring. While Max remains unrestrained and doesn't leave the yard while he's an only dog, I'm certain things would change if he had a buddy. Plus, during deer season, hunters are a danger. We're going to put in a real nice kennel with access through a dog door off the front entryway. Maybe even a nice metal roof over the top of it.

Toby misses his daddy. He's a man's cat - no doubt about it. Whenever any men come over, Toby clings to them. I don't know if you remember this - but it used to be that he would only eat if my husband fed him. Now that Bob's in Iraq, he has had to learn to accept food from me. Now he won't leave me alone - meowing at me constantly for food. The little hog!

He's also almost entirely an indoor cat now. It's wierd - this is the first time I've had to clean a litter box for him. He's always meowed at the door when he wanted to go potty. But with the subzero weather (-40 with windchill) he, understandably, decided that houseplants were a better alternative. So I set him up a litterbox and he is a good boy about using it. He's safer inside, and my bird feeders are too.

Do you all remember Miss Kate? She came for a visit not long ago, and I see her just about every day now. She is a very good girl for her "new" daddy. She has a best friend, Zipper. Katie is "insane cat." She'll be just sitting there looking pretty and then suddenly start running around the house like a bat out of hell, then go quietly sit in the sunbeam again.

Didn't you get a cat, Val? I seem to remember popping in here once and seeing one in your signature, but I could have been dreaming.

How is Duke?