I'm not afraid to admit something: My pets eat better than I do.

I am pretty picky about what my animals eat. Not crazily picky, but picky enough. I make sure they get the proper nutrition, and research any new food I give them.

The big dogs, Bella and Jax, eat Taste of the Wild. I know this isn't the best food, but I've been pretty happy with it. When we first started feeding it, I very quickly saw a huge improvement in Bella. Her coat was shinier and she had more energy. Taste of the Wild is a grain free diet with plenty of meat. It has no corn or soy. If I had things my way completely, I'd have Bella on a raw diet.

The little dogs, Maggie, Ellie, and Ricky, eat a brand called Country Naturals. This food is not grain free, but it has a higher meat content than most brands. Ellie has a very sensitive stomach and gets sick (mostly diarrhea) if she eats most dog foods. Anything with corn, wheat, or most other gains, makes her sick. We tried her on Taste of the Wild, and for a while, she was better, but she started getting sick again. When we got Ricky, he was already eating this food. We decided to try it for Ellie too, and she has done very good on it, so we keep the little dogs on this food.

Shadow and Delilah are on completely grain free diets. They get Taste of the Wild dry food, and Delilah gets Wellness canned and Taste of the Wild canned. Shadow gets canned food if she asks for it, and she eats whatever she catches. Tin Tin would be on a grain free diet if he quit going to the neighbors and eating their food. Like Bella, if it was totally up to me, the cats would be on a raw diet.

The birds, if they would just cooperate, would be getting a good diet too. I'm working on this (see other posts). My last bird got pellets, vegetables, and a small amount of seed. She had a decent diet, but I've learned more about bird nutrition since her, so the lovebirds will have an even better diet (if they would eat it).

Even the smaller animals get a high quality food. The guinea pigs get fed Oxbow pellets and timothy hay. They also get dark, leafy greens everyday, and usually another vegetable and a bit of fruit. Maxwell gets whatever greens and veggies the pigs are having and gut-loaded crickets.

Meanwhile, us humans don't eat as healthy. We eat things like McDonalds and other restaurants. I've read the book Fast Food Nation, and I've also read the book Food Pets Die For. The pet food book bothered me way more than the one about fast food. If only I made myself eat as well as I make my pets eat...

I got DNA sexing results back for Lenore and Digby, and haven't quit laughing since I got them.

Lenore is a male and Digby is a female.

The breeder was fairly certain that Lenore was a female based on how she he acted. If I had made a guess on Digby, I would have said male.

I thought about switching their names around, but decided not to. Digby knows his her name, and Lenore just fits her him.

I just have to get used to the fact that Digby is a she, not a he, and Lenore is a he, not a she. The really funny thing is that when we were sending off the stuff, my mom made a comment, "Wouldn't it be funny if Digby was a girl and Lenore was a male?" Well, Mom, you're right.

Warning: The guard dog on duty may appear friendly, but be aware that he is equipped with lasers!

Jax, with laser eyes

This evening before dinner we stopped at a local pet store to get some guinea pig food. I walked back to the bird section because I was looking for a tabletop gym-thing for Lenore (they didn't have one). I got distracted by the cockatiels. This store has their 'tiels and their budgies in big, open cages. It's set up in such a way that you can, bird willing, pick up the birds without opening a cage. The birds have their wings clipped so they can't fly away.

So, I was looking at the cockatiels, and was resting my hands on the side of the enclosure. A couple of the birds caught sight of my ring and came over to me. They climbed on top of their perches to get close. I moved my hand closer and they started playing with my ring. Then all but one came over. One acted more interested in my sweater than my ring. He was also staying further down than the other birds, so I lowered my arm so he could reach better. He stopped playing with my sweater and hopped up onto my arm. I then offered him my hand, and he sat on my hand. He jumped down, but got back up a few minutes later. He did this about three times. It was so cute. :)

I know this has absolutely nothing to do with my pets or animals in anyway, but I must share my obsession with this new game. Feel free to skip this post if you wish.

Everybody who regularly uses Facebook knows about Farmville, even if they don't play it. The company that makes Farmville, Zynga, has several other games, most of of which I've played.

I've been playing Farmville for a while, but never consistently. I'll play for a week or two and then spend a month away from it. I do the same with most of Zynga's other games. All except their newest one.

Cityville has become my latest online obsession. Unlike Farmville, I can play Cityville for hours (no joke). It's also challenging enough to be fun, but not too challenging that it's very difficult to play. At first, I didn't get really into it. But by my third night playing, I couldn't put it away. It's an addiction!

My city, Greenville, is flourishing. At level 39, it is a "swell city" and in the running for the new capital city. It has a population of 2,250, and the city has funds of 262,248 coins. The cities major industries are shipping (by ship) and agriculture (the main crops being carrots, strawberries, and eggplants). It also has a fair number of bakeries, fast food restaurants, and toy stores. It's the home to two museums and big enough to warrant two emergency clinics.

Meanwhile, my farm is sad and lonely. The crops in the field have withered and died. The feed trough is empty, and the animals are more than ready to give me eggs, fur, and milk. The trees are filled with fruit. I've left the rural life behind and moved into the city.

The past couple days, we've had temperatures in the 60s (yesterday it was 68 degrees!) here in Kentucky. The weather was so nice yesterday (until it rained, that is) that I really, really want spring to hurry up and get here. I've been saying I was sick of winter since 21 December, the first official day of winter, and before that, I was saying I was sick of the cold.

I want spring to get here so that I can plants some pretty flowers again and so that I can open the windows. I want to be able to put my car's convertible top down (I almost did that yesterday, but the car needed to be washed more than I needed to drive with the top down) and I want to be able to take the guinea pigs and my bearded dragon outside. I want sunshine and fresh air, green grass and blue skies.

Of course, once spring ends, we get Kentucky's brutal summer. If we could just skip summer and winter, I'd be so happy. Spring and fall are my favourite seasons.

I offered Digby some Nutri-berries and some pellets today. I've been trying to get him to eat these for months, but he has always refused to even touch them. So today, I made Digby think I ate both of them. He picked up a pellet in his mouth and then dropped it. He tried this with several pellets, but didn't eat any of them. I'm happy he tasted them though, so I won't try to make him eat anymore pellets until the Roudybush I ordered for Lenore gets here.

But, when I did the same with the Nutri-berries, Digby ate an entire piece. I'm beginning to think he'll taste whatever I offer him now, and I'm anxious to try all sorts of things.

I discovered something new about Digby today--he doesn't like white shirts. I wore a white, long sleeved shirt. He refused and refused to step up. Finally, I figured it might be the colour of the shirt, so I changed into a purple shirt and he stepped up very quickly. I'm not letting him get away with this. I'll be starting a collection of long sleeved grey shirts, ranging from dark to lighter to almost white. He also has to get over his fear of step up on my skin. He has until the weather warms up and I start wearing short sleeves again to do that.