$150.00 [Animal Vacations]

Note: A version of this post may have previously shown up in your RSS feed, although it was deleted from this blog. If so, please excuse the re-post.

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By the time this post goes live, (1) the human members of the clan will (finally) be in Costa Rica, and (2) it will be the right time to wish you a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY from us here at (over)budgetpet!  ♥♥♥

We're missing the animals, especially on this day celebrating love, but the three creatures are currently enjoying alternate vacation accommodations better suited to their tastes than Costa Rica.

Our dogs Betelgeuse and Lulu are vacationing in Long Island with Icarus. Long walks and romps in nature, cuddling, treats, etc. They love getting out of the city, and they love Icky and his humans. I dropped them off on Saturday in Long Island, and they were not the least bit sorry to see me go. Since then, I got word that Icky harnessed his inner wolf and took down a deer while my glorified dog-cats relaxed inside.

Our cat Lola is staycationing at our apartment in Brooklyn with the cat sitter. I am paying the cat sitter $150 to sleep in my bed -- and this is a good deal in New York. I scattered Lola's catnip toys around the house since the dogs aren't here to chew them up and break them open, and she's been having a blast.  She's spending Valentine's Day high as a kite on catnip and purring her little heart out.

I'm not sure what this blog will look like during the remainder of our trip. Maybe a guest post or two? Maybe a photo of me hangin' with monkeys? In any event, Happy Valentine's Day and best wishes from the rainforest. And until the next time my wallet opens for an animal who needs a home or a cute outfit, some portraits of my crew:

$9.99 [World's Biggest Bully Stick]

This past weekend was a busy one for the clan.  We had a rotating cast of house guests [when don't we?], and Sunday was a day full of fun homebrew events [have I told you that my S.O. is both an animal lover AND an award-winning brewer?].

But I digress.  After all, this isn't a blog about humans, it's a blog about the money this human spends on animals.  And although I almost made it to the end of the month, I officially exceeded January's pet budget by buying a gift for our canine house guest, Icarus.  What did I buy that broke the threshold?  A Full Bully Stick Cane, 36" ($9.99).

The Full Bully Stick Cane is so much bigger than your average bully stick -- in fact, a full 30" bigger than your average bully stick.  And for just under $10.00, it's a pretty good deal on a cost-per-inch basis.  Oh man, it's the best joke.  After I bought the Bully Stick Cane at Pets On the Run, I carried it home like it was my royal staff -- yes, I'm the kind of royalty that proudly parades large intimate parts of bull carcasses around the five boroughs.

The Bully Stick Cane was (literally) a big hit with Icarus.  The first thing he did was grab one end of the stick with his mouth and jump up on the recliner, almost knocking over the lamp with the other end of the stick.  I was delighted.  Then he got down to business, really stinking up the living room.

A boy and his magic pipe.  Lulu wanted in on the action, too.  She eventually had the Bully Stick Cane all to herself -- it was nearly three times her body length.  Her radiant happiness (and filthy mane, featuring bits of the bully stick) was captured by Justin in the photo below.

Lulu was also featured chewing on the Bully Stick Cane in a raw, uncut horror movie filmed by Justin at our apartment.  Release date T.B.A.  Leave your kids at home.

$7.99 [Lamb Chop]

I nailed it again.

Lamb Chop ($7.99), purchased at Unleash Brooklyn.  Think she's just another sheep toy?  Think again.  Betelgeuse went completely nuts for her.  Squeaking her, carrying her around the apartment.  It's unclear whether it was love or love to hate, but either way, Betel was really into her.

Icarus, who visited while Lamb Chop was in rotation, also went nuts for the little puppet. Icky even took her out in the backyard to toss her around. Unfortunately, Icky also ate some cat poop while he was in the backyard tossing her around, so poop-stricken Lamb Chop ended up in plastic bag quarantine pending a trip to the laundromat.

After Lamb Chop was washed and dried, she went back into the dog toy box.  Betel dug through the box, scattering other plush toys and chew toys to the side, to retrieve Lamb Chop.

Some more squeaking.  Some more carrying her around.  And then the most amazing thing that can happen to a dog . . . Betel punctured Lamb Chop's exterior and out came some stuffing.  Her eyes lit up.  I wish you all could have been there.  Betel was just totally manic -- squeaking and pulling out stuffing and throwing Lamb Chop around.  The more stuffing that came out of the toy, the happier Betel became.  She made the same little Joker face that she makes when she sees a Frisbee.

And then even Lulu, who only plays with toys secretly and rarely squeaks them, got in on the action once the stuffing was out -- pouncing on Lamb Chop and biting and squeaking her.

Kyler aptly observed, "I hope they never actually get a hold of something dead."

So true.

$0.02 [2011, A Year in Animals, Part II]

Happy 2012, buddies!  This 2011 Year in Review post continues where we left off with Part I.  This post features photos and stories from July 2011 - December 2011!

July 2011

• The clan moved to our current apartment across McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn -- Lola, Betelgeuse, and Lulu loved it right away.
• We did a hot, sticky Independence Day hike at Stokes State Forest [post here].
• Betelgeuse and Lulu got hilarious haircuts [post here].
• We went on a Pennsylvania day trip with dog buddy Kira (who looks like Lulu in the grass above) to hang with Abby and Roxy.

$34.00 [Pillow Ten Ways]

Kyler and I like to watch cooking shows together.  They combine his love of the culinary arts and my love of reality television.  On these shows, the chefs will often serve something like "Pork Three Ways" or "Duck Two Ways" -- I'm thinking right now specifically of Tre Wilcox from Top Chef, who seemingly in every challenge would serve the protein two or three ways.  And it always made me laugh.

So in honor of Mr. Wilcox and every chef who cannot commit to one preparation of a protein, on this installation of (over)budget pet, I bring you Pintuck Pillow* Ten Ways.

The pillow:

The featured dishes:

Glazed Icarus with a Side of Steamed Pintuck Pillow

$24.99 [Wedding Gift for Stella]

The human members of the clan traveled to Chicago, Illinois this past weekend for the wedding of my friend Le and her partner (now husband) Lindsey. Lola spent the weekend back in Brooklyn with her BFF the automatic pet feeder. Betelgeuse and Lulu spent the weekend boarded at Unleash Brooklyn, which was sad because in Chicago we stayed with Betel's first dog friend, Icarus (but not too sad because they will be reunited next week!).

On the day of the wedding, I was looking up information about the ceremony on Le and Lindsey's wedding website. This led to me to play around on their wedding registry. Even though I bought them a digital toaster off their registry months ago, I wanted to see what else was purchased because I'm curious and I have boundary issues.

As I scrolled down, there was something new on the registry that immediately caught my eye. Something I recognized from my own 2011 Halloween costume watch, but something that had not been on their registry when I bought the toaster...

The Animal Planet Raptor Dog Costume!!!

It's too much. In fact, this entire line of new Animal Planet dog costumes is too much. They are by far the best dog costumes on the market. I've been looking. (These costumes are so great that Betel and Lulu can't even wear them. Other NYC pups will definitely be wearing them, which would nix my chances of winning the costume contest.) Seriously, look at them.

$9.99 [Aerobie Superdisc]

I know this little dog named Betelgeuse who cannot live without a 10" Aerobie Superdisc in her life.

My better, saner half has always wanted a dog who can catch a Frisbee.  Betel may never realize his vision, but she will give it her best shot and will also fetch that darn Frisbee over and over until she collapses from exhaustion.  I could have put any number of videos of her with her Frisbee, but I just chose the most recent.  I've written a post in the past about her love of balls, but the Frisbee is the real deal, numero uno, her soul mate in toy form.

She is attracted to most Frisbees, but the standard-sized Frisbee is a little too big for her.  It's both too heavy (give her a break -- she only weighs 11 lbs.) and too tall (it can get caught on the ground when she is running with it in her mouth).  But the 10" Aerobie Superdisc is a perfect size and so lightweight.  It's one of the easiest Frisbees I've ever thrown, and the plastic is resistant to sharp little teeth, even after a good, loving chew.

The disc costs approximately $9.99, but we've gone through several of these in the last few years.  (The first one was a birthday gift from K to me because we love playing Frisbee, which is the equivalent of monkey in the middle for Betel.)  I think we "accidentally" left one of them in Chicago -- Ahem, Icarus, do you know anything about this?*

And one got "lost" in Pennsylvania -- we're looking at you for this one, Abby.

But I guess that just goes to show what a big hit this Frisbee is for the pups in our life.  Highly recommended for the humans, too!

* Photo by CPE, cribbed from her Flickr