Hi Everyone,
Just came here to rant and rave again. My MIL has been up (off and on, she must have cat napped) since Tuesday. That's 48 hours now. Now we have a new thing that is working on my last nerve(besides all the snorting she constantly does). Clicking. Yes clicking her false teeth constantly!!!!!! I have the radio on to try to block the sound out but it isn't working very well. Sometimes I feel that all I do is complain. I said something to her twice and it goes in one ear and out the other. I feel bad now cause she just asked me to come close so she could check out my new haircut and she said it looks so nice. At least I get out to go to work part-time. My poor husband is here all the time. He says it's like he is on house arrest!!! LOL!!

I never thought that being a caregiver would be this hard. I pray to have more patience. It seems I take it out on my poor husband sometimes and I shouldn't because he is the love of my life. I JUST WANT OUR LIFE BACK!!!!!!!!!

Mom just told the hospice volunteer yesterday that her sister comes to visit all the time. Well if you call once in a blue moon all the time then I guess she is right. I have so much anger in me and can't wait til May 15th which is our next respite. 5 days without anyone but ourselves to think about. Just hanging in til then. Sorry for rambling on but somehow it seems to help just typing my thoughts. Many of you here on this messageboard seem to have so much more problems than I and more patience than I could ever hope to have. I will remember you all in my prayers.

Thanks for listening.
Love,
Carol :wave:

P.S. We went to the Humane Society yesterday when the volunteer was here. We would love to have another dog. This Hell started a year ago in March when we had to put our little Lhasa Brandy to sleep at 15+ years. The following month I found out my own Mom had tongue cancer and I went up for 2 weeks to help my sister out (my Mom lives with her). Mom had surgery and is doing ok. Then I got back from NJ and my MIL is sick. It sure has been a hell of a year. Our daughter says maybe a new dog would help us all out even though it would be a lot more work. Maybe she's right!

Carol, so sorry, it is sooo hard. I don't know what to tell you except to come and vent here..we all understand! It is not a trivial problem, it is nerve wracking!

Love

Martha

Carol go for the dog---I know it seems like more work--but in the long run--so worth it

Thanks Martha and Linda. The dog is looking better and better.
Love,
Carol :bouncing:

Oh I had to laugh at your story .. SORRY !!!!

About 2 months ago, when FIL was home, DH and I were settling him into bed (the electric hospital bed in the loungeroom) .. MIL was asleep, as per usual, in her chair, and the next thing, she let out this HUGE snort, and pushed her bottom teeth out, in, out, in, out, in ............

We all stopped dead ............ don't move, don't breath, keep it quiet, she'll go back to sleep again, when the lower dentures FLEW out of her mouth!! She caught them (good reflexes eh?) leapt up and went to bed.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW ........................... LOL LOL LOL

Gotta laugh .... !!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs
Sally

Hi Sally,
Yes you have to laugh it's the only way to get thru this. Tonight MIL is still awake (if anybody told me their MIL could be awake over 48 hrs I would have called them nuts!) We now have pumpkins in our bathroom and she is talking to an imaginary dog!!! LOL!!! God be with us and thanks for a good sense of humor.

Love,
Carol :jester:

Hi Sally,
Yes you have to laugh it's the only way to get thru this. Tonight MIL is still awake (if anybody told me their MIL could be awake over 48 hrs I would have called them nuts!) We now have pumpkins in our bathroom and she is talking to an imaginary dog!!! LOL!!! God be with us and thanks for a good sense of humor.

Love,
Carol :jester:

Laughing is a good defense. I am almost there. Last night (Thursday!) I described an incident to Bill ..in which Mom said "today is Monday so yesterday must have been friday" ,.. and said "it would be funny if it weren't so serious?" He replied, "we used to laugh with S all the time. When she said something ridiculous we all laughed,,and she laughed with us - she thought she had told a joke." he also said "you're getting it." I hope.
Love
Martha

Oh my gosh! I thought I was nuts but I see I'm not. Dad drives me BANANAS when he eats! Click click, clack clack goes the partials. Thank you so much for posting this! lol

The dog is a GREAT idea. We have two. My dad has had his toy poodle for about 5 years now. He LIVES for her! He says she's my mom reincarnated. lol! I don't think my mom would have ever come back as a dog. As a matter of fact, I'n pretty sure she would have resented that remark. LOL!!!

Love, Barb

We have 3 rats and now a budgie ..... I just love 'em .. even with the extra load of ensuring cages are clean, food IS given ... had a ball at a friends place yesterday with her puppy .. 1/2 shitzu, 1/2 maltese ..border collie colouring..... one little tiny bundle of fur !!! I had some good quality puppy time!!!

Hugs
Sal
*click, click*

What about diplomatically asking if you can take the teeth out during the time you are there?

Hi Gypsycarol, in case you are wondering about the extra work involved in taking care of a dog right now (which I think is a realistic concern considering your hands are pretty full for the moment), this might sound funny but have you ever considered getting a pet rat?

Don't go "eeeuuuughhh" :eek: -- I do animal rescue and a couple months ago I rescued a pet rat (I emphasize PET rat, they are way different than the big gray sewer rats or what you would see outdoors) and they can be absolutely charming and delightful and VERY easy to take care of. I would get a female and make sure it is a friendly, people-oriented, non-biting one by playing with it awhile.

Rattie (my now-pet rat) is wonderfully furry, soft, clean, curious, friendly...most of the time she scurries around inside her cage, climbs upside down, cute to watch like a little monkey, and whenever I have a few minutes I take her out and let her crawl around on my shoulders or near me such as on the bed though I stay very watchful, etc. She is white with a brown "mask" and "saddle" on her back and other people are amazed to find her quite delightful too. She makes a chug-chug-chugging little noise as she explores and she comes to my voice. (I'm just trying to give you an idea what she's like so you can decide if it would be a good companion for you.)

I am told rats tend to come back to their cages even if they are allowed to wander in the house (unlike mice who they say are more likely to take up a new residence under the fridge, but I'm not about to test the theory by letting her wander! worried she'd get lost or stuck somewhere...think that's how I found her in fact...

Anyway, just something for you to consider that would take less care than a dog. I clean her cage (takes 10 minutes) every week or so and feed her every day or two and make sure her water bottle (attaches to side of cage and they sip on it, lasts a couple weeks then refill from the sink). They are omniverous (sp?), eat pet-store rodent food, lettuce, strawberries, nuts, cat-food pellets, etc. They say pet rats tend to bite less than mice.

More than you ever wanted to know about rodents I'm sure ;)

Keep up the good work and take care of yourselves!

Oh a Fellow Rat Lover !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

People shudder, cringe and run when I say we have 3 pet rats. (not the children, the children's pets). We have a little girl albino called Snuggles, a little girl black and white 'hooded' rat called Angel, and a little boy black and white hooded rat called Scampy.

Angel and Scampy are FAST, moody and cranky. Snuggles on the other hand is like a miniature ***** cat. She's so CUTE!!! She's alot slower than the other two (fatter most likely) and she quite often sits on my shoulder whilst I type, hiding in my hair, running around my shoulders, often dives down my top and peeks out over the top. My only complaint is her TOE-NAILS! LOL She's NEVER ONCE bitten any of us (the other two have - and the boy most of all) and they are great garbage disposals, they eat ANYTHING (rubber backed curtains, chicken bones, t-shirts, socks, left overs) and they do have a personality. They are very clever and can play games and can also be toilet trained without too much fuss.

We have a special ball for Angel, she get's popped into the ball, lid placed, and she walks around the house in this ball (saves the 'behind the fridge' episodes). It's VERY therapeutic to see this hot pink ball with this rattie inside investigating everything she can get to. They are VERY inquisitive creatures, always always sniffing and everything is done double speed, even a quick scratch! They do NOT have fleas, they don't smell nearly as bad as mice (although when children are in charge of the cage and baulk at cleaning out, they get smelly).

Snuggles answers to a click of the fingers and kissing sounds. She's always always glad to see you.

Anway, I'm on a rant .. I am a rattie fan, I had one in school as well (biology class, no, she wasn't THAT kind of subject) and they are very clever, cheap to keep and easy to handle with minimum fuss.

Hugs ...
Sally

I don't have a rat but I do have a guinea pig. His name is Sammy. We've had him for 6 1/2 years so far. Their life span is 5-6 years so he is very old. He loves to be pet behind his ears. He squeals a happy squeal when he's being held and pet. He shreeks when he's hungry or thirsty and out of food or water. He's very cheap to keep and minimal effort to clean his cage once a week.

Sally, what's a budgie?

Love, Barb

Hi -

A word before bedtime - a budgie is a pet bird like a parakeet.

Goodnight - Barbara :)

Budgie's are little tiny parrot type birdies ... cute as .. you can teach 'em to talk and do tricks n stuff ....

Also known as Love Birds (not the African Love-Birds) Budgerigars (do a search for a picture).

If you clip their wings a little, they can't fly (and won't smack into walls/windows etc) but they can flutter.

*rodent lovers unite* LOL

Hugs
Sally

Interesting!!! Guess we are such a loving bunch here it naturally just extends to the animals...
Sally, what a great idea that ball is!!! I am going to look for one. Maybe they are only in Australia but hey, California's a big state, I'll look around! I do have two cats (who actually are quite wary of her, they investigate her cage and lay around it sometimes but back off hastily whenever she comes close...too bad we can't post pictures, it's hilarious), just hope they don't try decide to bat her little "explor-o-ball" around...at least not while she's in it :D

Well, just make sure STEPS are barricaded!!!!!

Cameron put Angel in the ball and as she buzzed around the house, he had forgotten to put the barricade up .

.......thump
..............thump
....................thump
............................thump
...................................thump

down 1 full flight of stairs.

Poor little rattie ... LOL .. couldn't help but giggle.

Then there's the time we LOST the ball entirely ... she had managed to wedge herself between a chest of draws, bunk stand and wall .. (quite clever really!!!) lol ...

Brianna just gave her rat (the nice albino one) a bath in the bathroom sink, talk about one unhappy rattie! She then decided that staying under brianna's T-shirt was warmer!!! hahahaha ... I hear a squeak and a yelp (both from Brianna) then a "help me please" ......

yes, photo's would be good.

Oh .. there are a range of balls .. from small to medium. I found some on ebay as well. The rattie size one is about $17+ (Australian). Mind you, two of our rats WON'T play at all ... albino just curls up and goes to sleep (you don't expect ME to walk in this do you???), the boy rat just poops everywhere (disgusting) only Angel will play nicely .. LOL

As long as the barricade is up .. of course.

hehehehehehe .. lemme know if you find one on ebay

Hugs
Sally

Ps: this is the aussie version search you can try on ebay:

Exer-sphere Rat & Sml Pet Clear Exercise Ball-Vented 7"

Hi, we had a budgie when we lived in Zimbabwe ... her name was Blue Girl. Jenny was her actual owner. The Budgie was killed by a thunderstorm ..a sudden loud clap of thunder literally scared her to death ...

Here and in my new apartment, animals aren't allowed. I am thinking of a fish tank ..that must be OK. Watching fish is so relaxing. My father used to prefer watching the fish tank to watching TV.

I am not that much of an animal lover .. I always feel sorry for them being held in captivity in small apartments .. here in NY it is almost a status symbol, the smaller the apartment, the bigger the dog. I must admit I am squeamish about rodents. We did have a rabbit (Hopsi Hase) for most of the time I lived in Germany, a dwarf hare . He lived to be about 16 years old, very very ancient for a rabbit. I buried him in the back yard and held a little 'funeral service' .. all my kids had already left for college and carreers.

My daughter and SIL would dearly love to have a pet for the boys, but both son in law and grandson have asthma. HIS Mom used to raise Golden Retrievers. Now she only has 3 cats. I start to sneeze the minute I enter their house. They think it's the cats, but I think it could be the carpeting they had replaced the last time I was there .there is a 'new carpet' irritation .. oh oh, I hope I don;t get that in my new apartment . If I do, I'll just open all windows for the rest of the summer until the first frost!

That new carpet smell goes away, cat allergies don't .. I never had it before so I don't think it suddenly appeared....

A friend of mine, a widow, has 2 Rottweilers. They are her 'children' since she never had any. They keep her sane.

Love to all,
Martha

I had a tonkinese cat when I was "unable" to have children (didn't we prove THOSE experts wrong eh?) he was my baby. He slept in my arms in bed every night. Talked to me, fetched (yes, he fetched) walked on a leash (he was an inside cat) .. and it wasn't until I discovered No. 2 baby was on her way when I KNEW he had to find a new home. I sent him to my husbands cousins husbands mum ... (did that make sense?) and he lived for another 9 years .. he only died a few years ago ..

I want another Tonkinese WHEN the time is right. No other cat will do.

I am an animal lover .. a sucker for every pooch, puss and yes, rodent that passes my way .......

Hugs
Sally