I just realized that Monday, April 11, was National Pet Day. I have only one rule in regards to pets, and that is one is enough. However, I'm married so as a result we have one playhouse cat for me, four in the house, four in the barn, two dogs, three horses and a rabbit. Years ago we peaked at close to 30 barn cats. Mother Nature then took over and we were down to six tom cats and one female. The poor female had a rough final year or two. I don't have to tell you what led to her demise. Then we were down to one and it's starting to climb back up again.

Pictured are Willis and Buggers. Willis lived in a bible camp and years ago one of my daughter's friends brought it home. She couldn't keep it, so it wound up at our place. Willy is a whiner and waits for us to enter the house. He then runs down to the basement and rolls around in his favorite corner by the pump. I'm not sure why. He especially loves catnip. It's said that after a 10-minute session with the nip it takes a cat about two hours to recover back to normal. Wanna know a secret? Take along or rub some catnip on before going out into the woods. It's an excellent mosquito repellent. It doesn't last as long as the spray you can buy in the store though. You'll have to decide if tripping over a few stoned cats is worth it in regards to keeping insects away.

Buggers is a rarity. He contracted distemper and lived. Vets will tell you this is really not too common. My wife nursed him back in his own private room with lots of electrolytes.

We share our house with two others. Garfield was given to my wife by an old lady who entered a nursing home. Then there's Rufus. He's old and nutty and addicted to Cool Whip. He's spending his final years alone in the upstairs bathroom. He's ventured downstairs maybe twice in the past six months. Otherwise he's content to stay in his room and be waited upon.

All in all it's not too bad with all these animals, but I still say one is enough.

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