My zoo

In addition to the kids, we also have a dog, Bob, two cats, Voldemort and Harley, a guinea pig, Stephanie, and whatever other creatures my children have trapped in a jar in any given week (lizards, spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, snakes).

Bob is a black lab and a big dumb lug. Whenever we are home he follows us around, and lays next to us. He refuses to spend more than 5 minutes outdoors when his family is inside. And he thinks he is the Incredible Hulk when caged. He has literally ripped apart a chain link kennel outdoors and a metal crate that we use indoors. Apparently he has separation anxiety.

Bob's favorite pastime is chasing the cats. Harley has made friends with Bob. In fact, Harley will follow Bob around, stand under his front paws underneath Bob, and nuzzle his chin and groom his ears.

Voldy, however, has already been a little spazzy. He doesn't like people (except for PS). And he doesn't like Bob. Bob still likes to chase Voldy, and Voldy just freezes and makes no attempt to escape Bob.

Now Voldy is going bald. Because whenever Bob slobbers on him, he starts grooming himself --and never stops. I took Voldy to the vet today. Vet says Voldy is stressed. The probable trigger is Bob (duh). So we can either start giving Voldy Xanax, or we can try to reduce his stressors.

Great. All of my animals have psychological problems. My dog has separation anxiety and my cat has anxiety caused by the dog. Better the animals than the kids, I guess. Now I just have to figure out how to train my hunting dog not to hunt the cats, which has got to be easier than trying to shove a pill down a cat every day.