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

Happy New Year, Everyone!  

2011 was a big, expensive year in animals around here, so I thought I would share some photos and stories from the past year to welcome us into 2012.

January 2011

• We started 2011 with an animal clan count of three:  Lola, Kitty, and Betelgeuse.  
• Box Cat, the TNR feral cat who liked to hang out in our backyard, used the cat shelter that Kyler and I built out of a discarded kitchen cabinet to weather the cold January months.
• We met and fostered rescue pup Victor, a wonderful 20-lb. black dog (he looked like Kira's older brother), for two weeks until he went to his forever home in early January.
• Kyler, Betelgeuse, and I took a trip to Virginia Beach to visit Future Cat (+ his feline housemates, Caddie Wompus, Bear, and Boy Cat).  Betelgeuse got an unwelcome bath at Two Brothers Self Service Dog Wash.
• In late January, we started fostering postpartum Lulu, an 8-lb. black dog (she looked like Kira's little sister), pending her scheduled spay operation.
• We had so much snow in January. Three-legged Kitty helped me build a snow fort, and Betelgeuse played fetch on top of it.

$16.47 [Chewed]

A few months ago, I learned about the book Chewed, which features 140 color photographs by Arne Svenson and "looks at the comically twisted results of our pets' desire to tear, shred, dismember, eviscerate -- to transform -- their favorite toys."  Excerpts from the book were shared to my delight on The Huffington Post.  See them here.

Like the dogs behind the photographed toys, Betelgeuse -- full of either love or hatred for them (we can't tell, maybe it's both) -- methodically destroys her plush toys.  She chews off any tags, removes the eyes and ears, dismembers the limbs, and, ideally, pulls out and eats the stuffing once the destruction is complete.  (I've already discussed her cloud-like all-stuffing BM before here.)  The end result is magnificent.

So, inspired by Chewed, I embarked on my own photography project while cleaning out the pups' toy box.  Unlike Chewed, however, I did not write stories from the perspectives of the toys -- you'll just have to buy the book for that.

It can be hard to appreciate how loved this rabbit has been without viewing the before photo. Despite Betelgeuse's infatuation with him over the last few years, he still squeaks and his stuffing is intact. What is left of his fur is super frizzy, but he somehow managed to keep his ears.

$92.48 [There are Kittens in the Office]

Okay, so yes there are kittens in the office, but I can explain.

$0.02 [omne trium perfectum]

Lola killed a three-legged mouse in the backyard by puncturing its throat with her teeth. She brought it inside through the broken screen door and batted its corpse around the kitchen playfully, spilling it's blood everywhere.

[Warning: Graphic image behind the jump.]