Wheezie

In 1998, a friend of mine passed away. One of his turtles ended up in the pet store trade and when I realized that, I immediately purchased the animal and brought it home. This Heosemys spinosa was estimated to be about 15 years old in 1998 and still resides with me today. This turtle was immediately called Wheezie because he had a wheeze or whistle when he breathed. Several hundred dollars later, the veterinary determined that he had a slight nasal abnormally that caused the wheezing. That was 1998 and it hasn't changed and I no longer fret about the sound.



Lately I was becoming a little concerned with Wheezie's lack of appetite. I offered some of the usual favourites such as mango, banana, egg whites, shrimp and mixed greens. But to no avail. But I had noticed that with the schooling, I had been paying less attention to the turtle and offering him less 'run time'. Decided to start incorporating this back into his schedule and discovered a few things in the process.

It appears that Wheezie enjoys human interactions more than I had originally thought and seems to have developed a definite preference for the feline food options to his own.





















Here Wheezie is stealing various types of cat food. Both cats are old and were victim of the tainted cat food scandle in 2005 and as a result have kidney problems. Due to this they are on a low fat, low protein diet. Neither one of them are thrilled with the food but the alternative of regular cat food would be deadly to them these days. Personally, have stopped worrying about Wheezie's appetite and I think he has much more of an appreciation for the food the Mischief and Sporticus has!

Echo Location

Those who know me, know that I have been living with a unique black cat since 1991. Mischief was appropriately named and has been a source of entertainment throughout the years. As he ages, I've noticed that his hearing is not what it use to be (and yes I tested him to ensure it wasn't selective hearing) and his sight is not as good as it once was. Over the past couple of years he has developed a new routine. Each time he approaches the water bowl for a drink, he seems to use some form of echo location to determine the water level of the bowl .

Recipes

Since 2007 I have been a member of RecipeZaar. Have been adding a few more recipes and am trying to work towards at least 100 favourite, tried and true recipes. Noticed that lately I am leaning towards the comfort foods rather than the healthy options... wonder why that is? Hmmmm maybe it is the unemployement issue getting the best of me? Hoping to be working again soon. If interested.... http://www.recipezaar.com/members/stats is the list of my recipes!

Julie / Julia Project

Recently watched the movie Julie / Julia Project and found it to be entertaining, comical and thought provoking. So I decided to hunt down the beginnings of this and found http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html . I'm hooked! I'll be reading an entry or so a day for the next while. May need to rewatch the movie after the blog entries!