November 20, 2008 - Clyde is so smart he sent his very own update to his foster parents!

Dear Auntie Susan and Uncle Dennis,

I know you must be thinking of me. I’ve been wondering where you are, too, so I thought I should write you a note just to reassure you that I am fine. I am having so many new experiences that I hardly know where to begin!

Yesterday after Uncle Dennis left, we got into my new mistress’ Jeep. We took a cat to the vet, who took my weight and checked me over, too. I am getting quite large and surprised my new mistress by how heavy I am! Everyone loves me at the vet’s office, naturally, so they gave my new Mistress a free bag of treats for me. I suppose I will have to share some with Dusty, my new room-mate.

When we came home from the vet, a very large boy with wild, long, black curls came in from school. He was excited to see me and played with me for a long time with a ball and an old towel. He is very nice and gave me some treats from the vet’s office. He laughs every time I chase my tail, which I found a little silly. Evidently, he doesn’t realize how serious a sport tail-chasing is where I come from, because he just couldn’t seem to stop laughing at everything I did.

Before supper my new mistress and Dusty showed me my new hay field, which is for long walks. It was very windy and exciting in the hay field. There were big birds flying with long tails and voices that sounded like old-fashioned car horns! The number of animals I could smell was very entertaining. I was incredibly busy trying to store all those scents in my memory for future use. I like to try to imagine what kinds of animals belong to all of those smells! Dusty is quite a friendly room-mate, and she and I enjoyed playing. Our mistress actually tied our leashes together for a little while and let us romp without holding us back! It was fun, in spite of our tangles and my occasional tumble, but Dusty was a bit of a spoil sport and kept pulling me up short when I wanted to keep going farther and farther away, every time the Mistress spoke to her. I have her pegged as the goody-goody of the house. Dusty is a good sport, even if she is a bit of a brown-noser with the bosses.

At supper time, while the people ate their meal, I ate the kibble they had for me at their house, which wasn’t the same as mine, but I was so hungry that I gobbled all two cups’ worth up immediately. I had my own bowl and everything! My new room-mate, Dusty, has to eat her meals in the bathroom, because kibble doesn’t agree with her tummy. I am sure that, by the yummy smell, whatever she ate tasted much nicer than my kibble, but I tried to be satisfied with what I got. AS usual, it didn’t seem to be nearly enough for me, but I guess I will survive.

There is a strange animal spending time in their house, called a cat. This animal is not friendly at all, isn’t in the slightest afraid of me no matter how ferociously I approach her, and has an amazing ability to triple her size whenever I come near. She does this while making the rudest hissing and spitting sounds. I came across several other of these animals outside as well. They came running up to the kitchen door each time it opened, but every time they saw me, they changed their minds about coming to visit the house, and expressed their opinions of me in the same swelling and spitting manner. I found it quite rude, but intriguing. I’m looking forward to learning more about these “cats.”

At night, my mistress, who had promised me another car ride to a pet store, decided she was too tired to go after all, so I slept on a doggie bed right next to her bed. Dusty was sleeping on another doggie bed right next to mine, and I was glad that she didn’t mind snuggling with me. My new mistress petted me from time to time during the night, and I licked her hand when I could reach it. She kept a long leash on me at night instead of putting me in a kennel. I didn’t mind it, because I enjoyed the snuggling.

Today very early we went to the barn. I was introduced to another new animal called a horse. I have to tell you, these things look terribly huge and vicious to me. I am sure they are gigantic wolves who are going to shred me in their jaws as soon as the mistress is not around to protect me. She laughed at my fear and I didn’t understand that, but then she picked me up and held me and I felt better. It was very cold outside which I found uncomfortable. She put me on a very long leash in the barn while she was working there, but I didn’t stay near her when she went near those horse-dragons to feed them. I did sniff what they ate, though, and tried a little of their grain. It’s not bad, but no decent dog would make a meal of it!

The mistress kept walking past me to get pails of water, and I tried to follow, but my leash stopped me so I couldn’t stay beside her all the way, so I cried every time she left me behind. She gave me a nice new rug to lie on, but I didn’t like it at all, except as a chew toy. After a little while, she brought me back to the house, and Dusty kept me company in the kitchen while she finished her chores.

This new mistress really spends a lot of time outside, which I think is very fun. She walks with me on a long leash which is interesting because I get to run to keep up with Dusty. The strangest thing happens to this leash. Every time Mistress says, “Far enough!” the leash snaps taut and I am pulled up short! I think when she says “far enough,” I may stop running BEFORE the leash grabs my neck.

Back at the house, Mistress brought in a cart with a LOT of wonderful-smelling sticks on it! She wouldn’t let me chew any, though, but she gave me a plastic bottle to chew instead. Boy, did I have fun with that! It squished out of my mouth every time I tried to grab it and flew all over the room! It took me a really long time to finally grab it so I could get my teeth into it. Then I killed it. I knew it was dead because it stopped rolling around , and just lay still.

Then I noticed that Mistress had put a lot of the sticks into a big black box and set them on fire! The smell was wonderful but Mistress wouldn’t let me get too close. After a while, she closed up the box, and I smelled it, but it was very hot. It is not nice to touch, but it is lovely to lie beside on an old, soft rug. Dusty and I had a nice nap there and warmed up after our morning out in the cold.

We had to spend a long time in the kitchen in the afternoon while Mistress and another vet did things to the horse-dragons in the barn. She came back every half hour or so and took me outside with Dusty so I could go for walks when I needed to. I haven’t had a single accident! It was a fun day. There were men cutting up some trees they had cut down in the field near the barn, and they and the horse vet all petted and played with me.

After the horse vet left, the big boy came home from school and played with me again and took me for another long walk. The Mistress had been gone, and when she came home, she brought all kinds of nice smelling bags of food, and some new toys for me. I shared a chew bone with Dusty, but after a while I decided I wanted it back, so I tried to take it from her. Wow! I thought Dusty was a pushover all day, but she let me have it over that bone! I guess she is higher on the pecking order than I am, and I will have to respect her.

After we ate our supper, an even bigger boy came over. I jumped all over him, but every time I did, he squeezed my front paws and wouldn’t let go. I don’t think he is a good person to jump up on. He is very nice, though, and gave me a treat every time I sat for him. He just doesn’t like my jump-up game, which I find a rather boring thing.

Finally I got to meet the cat, up close and personal. When I tried to nip at her, just for fun, she scratched my nose. She does make the rudest noises! I’ve got to say, I’m really not sure about these cat-people. They sometimes run away, which is fun, because you can try to chase them, but you can never tell when they won’t run, which is not at all fun! They are pretty violent for such small people. This one spat in my face and scratched my beard.

Well, I am feeling pretty sleepy after such a busy day, and am falling asleep under the desk. I suppose I will have to say good-night for now. I will look forward to sharing some more of my adventures with you in a few days!

Love,

Clyde

PS- my new family have decided to keep calling me Clyde, because I remind them of a dear friend of theirs, a man with lots of personality and bushy eyebrows, who died a few months ago. His name was Clyde, too. I don’t think much of the name, but they seem to like it, as you did, so I guess I’m stuck with it!