Before I got my automatic watering soaker hoses I would put large jugs of water with small holes in the lids upside down all over in the garden. It worked like a charm. :) It seemed to work better than watering from above even so I got the soaker hoses and put them on a timer. Love it! Have a good trip. :)

lukkiirish - After buying 3 pairs of professionally fitted boots I know suggest that people start with baby socks or balloons to even see if their pups will wear boots. I wish we had gone that route. Our dog understands the relationship between very hairy feet and ice balls/salt but obviously that is our fault! He also has a coat. Eskies are funny - very hairy but despite being double coated it is most definitely hair like rather than fur. He also has pink skin which shows on his tummy when you get through all of that hair. Thank heavens for chewable heartworm and tick prevention. He also considers them treats which also helps because there is nothing wrong with his appetite! But putting on his coat has become a challenge since he is now 15 and has various aches and pains. He has always been a dog that will only go out with one of us on the other end of the leash. Cherryfizz - our dog also loves water. He is jealous even of people watering their lawns in the summer. He is also a snow eater. The other day we had so much snow that our 25 lb. Eskie disappeared when we took him out - we pulled him back in fast so that he wouldn't eat a tunnel. Actually, he loves water so much we even had him tested for diabetes a few years ago. Fortunately, he was clear.

Then after vacuuming late afternoon yesterday I removed the dirt canister and put it on a stepstool in the kitchen, leaving it there while I went outside to mow the lawn. When I came back I found a puddle on the stepstool. Rocky feels compelled to spray anything that's out of its usual place. Or maybe it was not because something was out of space but that he was reacting to all of the different cat smells accumulated by the vacuum/ canister contents. As I recall you recently decided to make Rocky an indoor cat. I think he is telling you that this is just not working, that he doesn't like being indoors and that he especially doesn't like being forced into a community of cats who don't like each other. Cats are not pack animals in the way that dogs are. They are mostly solitary and what social networks they have are much looser. Rocky is probably feeling that he doesn't have enough personal space--hence the territorial/ dominance marking behavior.

I tried Feliway last year but thought it made my asthma worse. I still have it, so I suppose I should try it again. Rocky pees a lot, so I think he must be swallowing. Frequent drinking + excessive urination (starting a few years ago) made me think he might have diabetes, so I took him to the vet. That's when they started doing bloodwork. No diabetes or anything else. Well, he certainly doesn't seem like a sick cat. Loves to play! I took this picture a couple of days ago when my grandson was trying out a feather toy my daughter bought for Rocky. That grey thing is my knee. :-)