a little insight to the complexities of zoo management

here are the facts:

-unlike most dogs who feel safest in a small enclosed area, Moose chooses to have access to the entire property. if we limit him to the inside area of our property, he protests by chewing up our books when we leave the house.
-unlike some recent VP picks, we like books.
-if we leave the back door open for him, he doesn't chew up books.
-matilda will only laze outside if she knows she can get back in at her leisure. if i close the backdoor, she panics and scratches to get back in. if i leave the door open, she naps on the deck. she likes sunshine on her face.
-we can't leave the back door open for either dog in the dead of winter. it gets cold here, dudes.
-we bought a dog door that locks. yay!

~~~~dog problem solved? i think not! enter cat problems~~~~

-gertie can not g0 outside and is smart enough to go through a dog door. boo.
-gertie sneaks out through the regular door anyways. sometimes at night. dog door or no, at some point i will have to release her from her hospital room/prison/my office. at that point, it will be virtually impossible to keep her in, unless i were to relock her in the office each time we were to let the dogs out. this seems a wee bit redonk to me.

~~~~soooooo.......~~~~
we are looking into some kind of cat fencing. our 6 foot privacy fence just isn't enough to keep gertie on the property when she gets better. the cat fencing goes on top of our current fence. it's basically netting that is angled in. supposedly, cats won't climb over it. they'd better not. it's not cheap. but this way, we can install the dog door (the back door is open right now and it's about 40 degrees out. awesome), the dogs can have free reign, we'll be able to read our remaining books, and the cats can go out but will be forced to stay on our property that is properly protected by the dogs! jules and midge just sunbathe on the deck anyways. it really is gertie who is the problem child.

so last and final update on the above mentioned problem child. she got her 20 or so stitches removed this morning. yay! the vet says she is most likely pain free at this point, so we can stop giving her the crack. unfortunately this means that she will not be so content in her room, so the above plan will need to happen sooner rather than later. she also saw a neurologist today. looks like her femoral nerve was chomped through. it may or may not repair itself and there isn't anything that can be done to help it. so gerts might be a bit gimps from here on out (see wobbles video below). we won't know for another 1 to 3 months. way to keep it vague, vet dude. but as long as she is pain free and acting like a cat, i am thrilled.

now here is the ironic thing...if her nerve doesn't repair itself, that would keep her on the property. she can't really jump. but only a really evil and selfish person would hope for that. so cat fence it is, folks. looks like installing the flooring downstairs is getting postponed once again...i sleep on plywood! yay!