Tuesday, July 21

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Though there were clouds, it didn't rain. We really need about two more weeks of complete dryness, because people are trying to cut hay right now.

That my friend at the barn was willing to give River some extra feed today, so that I could do other things. I couldn't do lessons today because he got his teeth floated yesterday, and that means he might be a bit sore.

Another one of my red-eared sliders died today. He was having problems a few weeks ago with being very weak, and the vet didn't have a clear path of treatment, but I did put it in a small container with shallow water, heat lamp and UV lamp, and I thought it was actually doing better and moving around more, and then it died. I have had quite a few turtles over the years, mainly because when I was in Wyoming word got around that I would take in turtles for people who didn't want them any more, and I got several given to me, and I took in two that were abandoned in a rented trailer, and so on. I did my best. Some only lived a couple of years with me, and several lived for around ten years, and a few for about 20. They were all adults when I got them, so some of them likely lived for their expected lifespans (red-eared sliders live from 20-30 years or so in captivity). Some of them fell dismally short of their expected life spans.

It's hard not to feel horrible about having turtles die, as they typically do live a long time. The climate here is not a good place to have turtles, as it is too cold most of the year for them to be outside, so it's really hard for them to get enough sunlight. It's so cold in the winter that it's not easy to keep them warm enough even in the house because room temperature isn't enough. You try to mimic the sun with UV lights. Most of them also have to have perfect hot spots and cooler spots to rest, because they are cold-blooded. They get sick if their enclosure isn't clean enough. They get sick if their food isn't balanced. Their needs are very demanding.

I personally feel, after having had turtles and tortoises as pets, that truly they just shouldn't be sold as pets. It's SO HARD to get everything right, and to get everything right for your whole life. You can't mess up. They can be quietly getting vitamin deficient or developing kidney stones for years (it's not like you can tell they're uncomfortable when they urinate) and then BOOM, they're sick enough that they're not moving or eating. Then, there's so few veterinarians who know anything about them, and if they do, a simple visit is going to be hundreds of dollars. You always end up having to do x-rays on turtles because you can't tell what's going on at all with their organs by just palpating them. Everything is under the shell.

Anyhow, I feel awful again about losing yet another turtle. I only have one left now, and that's a very strange feeling.

I was able to go to town today and get groceries, and I also got some of those rubber mats to put around cat litter boxes to try to cut down on the amount of tracked litter in the house. I use sawdust pellets for litter because I can dispose of it safely on our own property. When we used regular litter I ended up having to go to the dump every couple of weeks with three huge garbage cans full of litter, and at our dump you have to tip your own pails. So they were fifty pounds each of steaming cat crap, and half the time I got it all over myself. The sawdust pellets aren't cleaner to dispose of, but I can dump them at the edge of our yard safely.

Anyhow, the sawdust is always everywhere in our house. The floor, the rugs, and the bed. I spend far too much time trying to clean it off of everything, so maybe these rubber mats will help.

Talking to my trainwreck sister for a while, and it was kind of cathartic. It's kind of sad, that at her core she's a good person, but she just can't get her shit together, and her values and her attitudes are so skewed she doesn't have a healthy outlook, and doesn't have the will or the tools to do better than she is for herself. All you can do is be supportive. For all that, she's the only member of my family who calls me first, and she will say "I love you".