It's been a while...

Since I've written. Almost a month! I've been looking for apartments and houses and such. I may be moving out with a friend in May or June, but we are both quite limited financially, which narrows our options. Pets are also an issue - I have three cats, she has a dog. A pitbull, whose breed suffers from much breed specific legislation. He's a very sweet boy, friendly to most people (shy with some men), loves to play with other dogs, and gets along well with cats. (I'm more worried about my cats attempting to eat him than vice versa, haha) But he's a PITBULL all the same, and many people have trouble looking past that.

We found a wonderful little half-house with a backyard, pets okay, cheap enough for us, but they couldn't hold it until May 1st. I'm hoping we'll be able to find another place, but the pickings seem to be slim.

I will be pet sitting in April for a lovely family dog named Snoopy. The family is going down to DisneyLand/World (which one's in Florida?) and wants someone to stay with their dog during the evenings. I'm kind of excited, because I will be using the money to buy a drop trap. I would make one, but let me tell you, my making anything will not result in something even remotely safe. However, I want the one I buy to be very safe and well-made as well, so I'm trying to make sure before I buy (not that I have many options here, either). But trying to trap with just regular traps is simply not working the right kind of magic I need. Dr. R said we could buy a couple of more traps for the program, so I'm going to see if we can buy the ones with rear sliding doors that we can use with a drop trap for transfers.

Does anyone have any suggestions about drop traps? I believe there is a link somewhere on the right side that goes to the Drop Trap Design Bank blog, which has helped me out the most. Also helpful was Dr. Lisa Pierson's review of the Alley Cat Allies drop trap (http://www.catinfo.org/alleycatalliesdroptrapreview.htm) and her own personal sites on how to make a quality trap (http://www.catinfo.org/buildingadroptrap.htm) and even remote control traps! (http://www.catinfo.org/Remotecontrol-droptrap.htm) Actually, I spent the last hour perusing her pages on cat food, urinary tract issues, pilling animals, and the importance of water. It was all quite enlightening and informative. Definitely check it out if you belong to the under-informed group such as I do. = )