Delinquent

I'm not a very reliable blogger, I plan to be much more active on my Facebook page. That's easier to keep up with when I'm not getting in to something...

Late Birthday Wishes - A Day in the Life of Stinkerbell

Stinkerbell turned four about 10 days ago... hard to believe we have had her for so long! 


She has developed a pretty regular schedule:
4a-5a: get out of bed (I have trained myself to wake up when I hear the click-click-click as she goes down the steps next to the bed) at which point I lock her in the laundry room so she can do her business in an appropriate place.


6a-7a: cats demand breakfast, Stinkerbell is released from the laundry room and gets breakfast too.


8a-10a: chase the dog if he's awake, if he's not awake - bite him. Also dig at the carpet next to mom's nightstand until mom locks her in the laundry room again with some "cookies" or peanuts.


Noonish: laundry room open but Stinkerbell is sacked out in her bed, usually having kicked her monkey out.


Noon to 3p-4p: sleep in the laundry room or run across the house to one of her two other favorite beds (the scarf bin in my closet or the fitted sheet bin in the bathroom closet)


3p-4p to 8p-10p: sleep


8p-10p: Up! Up! Up!  Chase the dog! Chase the cats! Stomp at Daddy! Get up on the couch to snuggle with Mom and The Chou. Get someone to FEED ME!!!


Midnight-1a: climb the steps next to the bed and get under the covers to sleep between moms ankles. 


Fun With Peanuts...

PLEASE LOVE ME!

I think that Stinkerbell has a crush on The Chou.

Merry Christmas!

Stinkerbell is festive in a lovely Christmas dress.

Even her brothers are impressed.



Happy Holidays!

Hibernation

Stinkerbell goes into a modified hibernation every winter... around the beginning of November she starts sleeping more (hard to believe, when she sleeps about 3/4 of the day to start with) and eating less.

Since just before we moved from Key West, Stink had been a bit overweight and has slimmed down a bit again, which is nice.

She's also gotten more and more social with strangers over time, we hosted some friends for a football-watching party last week and Stinkerbell allowed Lee to hold her for quite awhile!


On Thanksgiving, our friends brought their boston terrier over for the day and she was polite when he was giving her an investigative sniff attack!

We took her to visit a friend and brought her house/bed, blankie, and monkey along to make her comfortable. After the excitement of a new person and new place, she retreated to the crate to relax.

Shedding

Stinkerbell is going through her summer shed. There are skunk hairs all over the couch, carpet, bed, when you pet her your hand comes away with many souvenirs.

She also seems to have a larger appetite than in the winter, we may have to start feeding her more than once a day.

Two

Stinkerbell turned two last week.

We have learned recently that she likes sunchips and does NOT like frosted mini-wheats.

She's still crawling in to bed with us pretty much every night, but has been getting up during the day a lot more, which is nice. I think she really is winter/summer sensitive, and hibernates during the colder months regardless of the actual temperature outside.

Here's to another 18 years of Stink Life!

Run Around

Stinkerbell is doing great, sorry there haven't been any updates lately... we've been pretty busy around here lately and there have been plenty of exciting Stink action, I just haven't had a chance to write about it!

I DID decide to try and video her during one of her morning rampages and didn't get much (other than Maui the Siamese hogging the camera).

Wasabi Almonds

Slow Blood

I'm under the impression that Stinkerbell thinks she should be hibernating. She eats about 65% less than normal and sleeps the majority of the day in her bed behind the couch, then sleeps the majority of the night in bed with us.

Her fur is quite fluffy and she doesn't seem to be losing weight or acting otherwise unhealthy.

As I recall, last winter was similar, even though we were in Key West. It must be an instinctual thing.

Or maybe it's an instinktual thing.

Ha ha ha.

Stinkerbell's Wetting

Welcome to the Skunk Spa!

We decided to give Stinkerbell a bath this morning for a few reasons.

1. She was going to meet my coworkers this afternoon.

2. She hadn't had a bath since this summer or spring in the grooming department at the pet store.

3. She's been sleeping on dirty dishtowels and was developing a bit of a funk.

Here's how it played out.

Warning: The 2nd video has poop.










We used some of Buster's "Buddy Wash: Green Tea & Bergamot" shampoo. It's smells lovely.

Nesting

For the last few weeks Stinkerbell has decided to make her nest behind the dryer. Since the cats' litter box is in the laundry room, when she needs to doodle she just climbs in there and goes.

That, to me, is worth having the dryer pulled 8 inches out from the wall.

She also likes to build her nest with random items like grocery bags and dishtowels. Since we regularly throw the dirty dishtowels on the floor in front of the washer, she has stolen an entire pile of them to sleep on.

Lovings...

Maui is the most friendly and un-discriminating of our cats. He will tolerate snuggling with anyone, and while he doesn't seek out Buster or Stinkerbell to snuggle with, he doesn't mind if it just "happens."

I think that Stink likes Maui's fur.

Better

For those concerned, whatever the issue was seems to have passed. Stinker's breathing is fine and she is back to her silly self - eating wasabi almonds and chasing Buster around the living room.

A Scare

This morning around 7am I woke up to Stinkerbell sleeping on my chest. I moved her so I could sleep on my side and a little while later she started hacking. It sounded like she was trying to cough something up, like maybe something was stuck in her throat.

She was obviously still getting air, but the hacking went on for about fifteen minutes. After it stopped her breathing was ok but she was making some little clicking noises with about half of her breaths.

She got down and ate a few bites of cat food, and we've made sure she has lots of water available.

I've checked on her a few times throughout the day and she seems to be alright, sleeping in the corner of our closet.

In the even that she has to go to the vet, we would need to go to South Carolina, where pet skunks are legal. Fortunately our friend Amy takes her dogs to a vet that she is pretty happy with, and from the appearances of their website they take exotics.

I'm going to call and verify if they'll treat a skunk just in case.

Retro

I just had to share this pic again (I posted it originally on Butterneck Toad) ... it's from about a month after we got The Stink - she was probably only about six months old.

I used to take her to work with me a few times a week and would transport her in my Coach purse. She was pretty tolerant with the whole idea.

Q & A #3

Stinkerbell's biggest fan asked some good questions...

Vaguely interpreted I assume the first was asking if/why the dog runs from the skunk, and second, "Was it easy to house train her?"

Buster generally stays out of Stinkerbell's way because she likes to bite him. She doesn't draw blood, but her teeth are rather sharp and she likes to nip at his tail and feet. Sometimes they will chase each other around the living room, when Buster is chasing Stink he'll run up to her and stick his nose right up to her butt.

For the most part if we see her sneaking up on him, we say "No Bite!" in a stern voice and she'll back off, at least for a bit.

As for the ease of house-training her, yes and no. I would say that she's not totally house-trained even now.

Skunks are like ferrets and rabbits and other rodent-types in that they are corner poopers. When she is in her cage she poops in a particular corner, and in the house she likes to poop in particular corners as well.

One of her favorite corners has often been the corner next to Scott's side of the bed. Fortunately we've been able to dissuade her from there for the most part.

The cat's litter box is in the laundry room and Stinkerbell poops primarily in or very close to it. On the rare occasions that she chooses somewhere else it's next to the bathtub.

Q & A #2

A reader asked this question:

" Is there some kind of association you joined to learn how to take care of such an exotic pet?"

When I was given Stinkerbell as a birthday present, I was working at the pet store as the General Manager. In the state of Florida, skunks are considered an exotic pet and in order to own or sell an exotic pet you must have a Class 3 Wildlife license.

This is obtainable through the Florida Fish & Wildlife department. The application and questionnaire can be downloaded and printed, and must be mailed in. There is no fee, but you must do a little research in order to complete the questionnaire to the satisfaction of the FWC.

The purpose of the questionnaire is to ensure that someone obtaining an exotic pet knows what they are getting into and is willing to care for that pet in an appropriate manner. Skunks are not like rabbits or ferrets, which are caged the majority of the time. They need exercise on a regular basis and enjoy being a part of the household like a dog or cat.

I did the majority of my research online, wikipedia and google were both very helpful, as was the FWC's info on pet skunks and their requirements according to state regulations.

Once I sent in the application and questionnaire, it was only about a week until I received my license in the mail.

While I was waiting, she stayed at the pet store, which also gave us time to get the house prepared.

Daddy Writes, Too...

I've authorized Scott to author this blog as well... so there will be posts from his point of view as well...

Welcome Scotty!

Hilarity Ensues

This is the under-the-sheets trick:



And these are more of her playing on the floor. She was very active this evening...