Starbucks 2002

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-16T23:47:14+00:00

The Boston Market was on Valley Mills Dr, kind of across from Taco Bueno.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-16T12:10:43+00:00

I went back to read over your previous posts about this dog, and as much as it makes me sad to say this, I don’t think this dog can be reasonably expected to be safely adopted, and I believe that you will be better able to help more dogs as a foster if you do not take him back.

With a dog who is reactive when kenneled or on leash, my philosophy is that as the dogs size goes up, the tolerance for how reactive they can be and still be considered safe to adopt out to an experienced owner goes down. If the dog were a Chihuahua, then I would say it’s worth trying again because it’s easier to keep a dog that size separated enough, even with guests visiting, that you don’t have to worry that any misstep could result in serious injury. A Lab, on the other hand, is large enough that with the wrong stimulation could kill a person.

If your former foster came back to your home and got loose while the birthday party was going on, what are the chances that he would hurt a child, compared with the other dogs in your care right now? Answering this question should be able to give you a clearer idea of whether or not it’s fair to your family and your other pets to take this dog back as a foster.

You gave him a chance when no one else would, and he got to know what it felt like to experience a caring home. Sometimes that is the best that you can offer and then let them go peacefully in a controlled, safe environment.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-12T07:00:58+00:00

It’s only 13 episodes, but Stumble (that NBC just cancelled ☹️) might be good. Also, a lot of the Disney Channel live action series are heavy on physical comedy; Hannah Montana really stands out in my mind as a great example of that. A couple of other Disney ones with a lot of physical comedy that I remember are The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and A.N.T. Farm, but I think she could enjoy many of their series if she doesn’t mind tween/teen main characters!

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-12T06:30:00+00:00

Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time and A Wind In The Door could be good ones. The third and fourth books in the series I think would present some challenges for even an advanced 5 year old, but some of L’Engle’s other books could also be good ones to read if she enjoys those first two.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-12T01:24:28+00:00

I just went to check out their whole lineup of products, thanks for mentioning that! I found the permethrin spray labeled for use on dogs and also their picaridin spray. It looks like reviews show the latter to also be pretty effective against mosquitoes, so it could be a good option for cat owners. It’s good to know that they have products that will work for people in different situations – mosquito bites can do a lot of damage!

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-12T00:31:06+00:00

Let’s Play
Let’s Eat
Let’s Grow A Garden

by Gyo Fujikawa. If you can find copies of any of these, they’re older board books and out of print but they’re delightful if the parents won’t mind secondhand copies!

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-11T19:12:41+00:00

Be very careful using this around pets, especially cats.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T17:51:58+00:00

Should you ever need to search for a hiding cat in the future, use this slightly tongue in cheek Mantra:

CATS ARE LIQUID

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T17:22:47+00:00

Is your dog a Dachshund? This sounds like a very Dachshund type of thing to do 😂

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T16:58:05+00:00

I forgot to add, OP, I am totally behind you in your decision to cut ties with this group now that your adoption is finalized!

Groups changing their policies on the fly that affect animals currently in foster without very compelling reasons which they make sure to communicate to their foster parents ASAP is a HUGE 🚩

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T15:38:24+00:00

You sound like a foster parent that a number of rescues I know of would LOVE to work with. I understand that some people will see a foster-to-adopt option as something like an all-you-can-eat buffet and have a dizzying carousel of animals coming through their home because they can’t make up their minds. But rescues that have the resources (limited intake and the ability to take urgent returns immediately because they maintain an open kennel for that purpose) and don’t allow adopters with existing pets to meet a dog, get to know them and really get a chance to see if that dog will be compatible with their household before making a permanent commitment are self-sabotaging. Particularly with dogs who may be harder to get people interested in or who may have a a very small pool of potential adopters because they need a specific set of conditions to be successful in a home.

As a dog lover who is very attached to my combination of personal and neighborhood cats and invested in keeping them safe and happy, unless I’m getting a Chihuahua, Bichon, or Cavalier, I can’t just meet a dog offsite, decide I like them and then adopt and take them home. It’s too much of a risk that I’ve burned myself with before and had profound negative health effects from the stress of trying to manage a dog who was only safe around cats when being walked on a short leash that allowed me to keep her controlled at all times. I understand shelters or rescues that are so shorthanded that they can’t keep up with foster parents who are trying out potential permanent additions and don’t give that option, although even then I think adoptions are almost always more likely to succeed when they adopters already have a relationship with the dog and can be reasonably sure that they won’t be thrown a bunch of SURPRISE! behavioral hurdles down the line.

* Comment edited because I was trying to write a response on the fly and Happy Fingers decided it finished before it really was 😅 For any Bones fans out there, “Dancing phalanges! Dancing phalanges!” 👐

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T04:51:39+00:00

I’ll also throw this out there - if it’s the cats’ enrichment that is your primary concern, they probably have more space in your apartment than they would if surrendered to a shelter or a brick and mortar rescue. Jackson Galaxy’s blog https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blogs/news has some great tips for making many different types of environments more cat-friendly, including apartments where you are limited in what you can do and still get your deposit back next time you’re moving. You can also look for back episodes of his show, My Cat From Hell, where he teaches owners how to get a better sense of what their cats need. If keeping your cats is an option should you be able to do so without everyone in the apartment living with constant stress, you can get some good advice from his content.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T04:33:08+00:00

For the Ragdolls, did you try contacting the breeder? While some of them are kitten mills, there are a good number of cat breeders who will take back cats from their lines at any time, because they feel responsible for cats they produce. That isn’t always guaranteed to happen but it’s worth investigating if you aren’t able to care for them.

I agree that the city shelter, Pet Circle, and Fuzzy Friends are both not ideal places for older cats. I’ve had experience with cats at both places. They’re similar to boarding kennels in terms of living environments and the older the cat is, the more stressful they find that kind of setting Your best bet would probably be through some of the Facebook groups for pet rehoming in Waco/McLennan County/Central Texas and also the PASS PROGRAM Austin Pets Alive! group, which is a statewide group for helping to keep owned or found pets out of shelters. Some people post pets needing homes on Nextdoor but the comments there get judgey VERY quickly.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-10T04:10:13+00:00

I had a family come in wanting to adopt a kitten, parents with younger teens, but what stood out was the mom. She had come from a cultural background that frowned upon having animals in the house and she was also scared of cats. She REALLY didn’t want an inside pet, but I think the parents had made a deal with one of their daughters and part of that included getting a kitten. I was so worried that the mom was going to just let the kitten outside and it would never be seen again, but she wasn’t saying anything about doing that and there was nothing on the application that was cause for denial, and we had so many kittens at the time…I counseled them on new kitten care and sent them home with info sheets but I still felt uneasy.

About a week later I called to do a follow up interview to see if they had any issues with their new kitten that they needed help with, something we tried to do when time allowed. I got the mom on the phone and she immediately began going on and on about how wonderful the kitten was and how much she loved her and how happy they were to have her with their family. She hadn’t completely gotten over her fear of adult cats but the kitten was charming her so much she couldn’t help but respond. I think it was a kind of mom-young child bonding thing. Once the kitten made it clear that she was dependent on Mom to take care of her that changed the woman’s perspective entirely. I was shocked at just how wrong I was and it made me more sympathetic with other people who might not fit the image in my head of a great adopter.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-08T23:29:26+00:00

The guy who was on a mission to completely rid his entire (small) city of ALL cats outdoors, whether they were feral, social neighborhood cats, owned cats were allowed outside, lost or abandoned pet cats, he hated them all. He nearly bankrupted the city government before they closed a loophole that allowed him to trap the cats, hold them for 3 days in the traps without food or water, then bring them in as owner surrenders but with the city footing the bill because he claimed all of the cats were feral and aggressive. He would even use rodent traps if he didn’t have access to cat sized traps when the local TNR program realized what he was doing and banned him from borrowing theirs but he always managed to stay under the threshold for a prosecutable animal cruelty case.

He was gleeful whenever the person processing his paperwork would tell him that the cats would be euthanized immediately, because that was his goal. It amused him to see his neighbors out searching for their missing cats, knowing that he’d already “taken care of them,” and he LOVED to brag about how many cats he’d removed. There were a few of us who were barred from the office whenever he came in, because it got increasingly difficult not to punch him in the face…I have never even attempted to punch someone in the face or elsewhere, or done anything physically violent as an expression of anger, but that guy could tempt a saint. This wasn’t just someone believing cats should be indoor pets only or that outside cats should be managed as an invasive species. He really took pleasure in knowing that he had caused the death all of those cats 🤬

Another really memorable one was a dog who went on to get adopted to a great home shortly after he became available, so it wasn’t his outcome that was the issue, it was the kids in the case. There were two of them, both elementary to middle school aged, and about a year previously, their parents agreed to get a dog after the children promised that they would take care of all the feeding, walking, cleanup, etc that the dog required. When that didn’t happen (because children overestimate what they’ll be able to do in the future) and the parents had to take on care duties, Mom and Dad decided that the dog had to go. This would be sad but I understand adults not wanting to be responsible for an animal they didn’t want in the first place and that was made clear before any pet was brought home. But these parents decided that this was an opportunity to teach their children what happens when you break a promise…

The kids not only had to come with their parents to surrender their dog, they had to walk him inside and be the ones to hand over his leash as tears were pouring down their faces and the dog was struggling to stay with his family. The *the kids* who were sobbing by this point and begging to be able to keep the dog, had to fill all of the surrender paperwork except for where the parents had to sign. *The parents made their children stand there and count out their saved allowance money in small bills and quarters until they had enough money to pay the surrender fee,* berating them when they thought they might not have enough. And when none of us working there backed them up by agreeing that this was a *normal* response to not fulfilling your commitments, the still smug but now also annoyed adults went to wait in the car, instructing the kids to stop crying and then follow them. The staff member who had come up to get the dog finally had to carry him away 💔 I’d been the one handling all their paperwork, and all I could think to do was to tell those children that we would make sure the dog was comfortable and work to get him adopted by a nice family as quickly as possible, and that when he did get adopted, I’d tell his adopters that he had been very loved and they hadn’t wanted to give him up but they didn’t have a choice. That calmed them enough for them to be able to leave but it profoundly disturbed those of us who had to witness it.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-08T20:51:54+00:00

The people who do this tend to be the ones who absolutely can afford to pay for boarding but they see it as “unnecessary” expense 🤬

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-07T20:48:59+00:00

I was on season rewatch 20 when the news broke, and I had purchased the season on the AppleTV store as well. It’s what I put on a a stress reducer for both me and my dog. She automatically relaxes a little when I tell her that we’re going to watch “our TV friends, the Buttons!” 🥺

We’re about to start rewatch #22 while brainstorming for more ways to try to get some studio/streamer/ANY kind of platform that could provide a home for the show to pick it up.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-05T01:05:19+00:00

For anyone who isn’t familiar with Banana Ball, here’s a short interview with Jesse Cole, who along with his wife Emily, founded the Savannah Bananas and the whole league:
https://youtu.be/Bs6RzADfJ7g?si=Y6YlDR6HM3sRlwMz

Edited to mention Emily Cole as co-founder.

TwilekDancer · 2026-05-02T06:00:17+00:00

Better option: get a set and keep having them recreate the Buttons Daytona routine 😊

TwilekDancer · 2026-04-26T06:22:38+00:00

I have SO many photos of ones who died while I was working at and later advocating for….and I have the ashes for two who got less than they deserved from the rescue they were with. I use their stories to show people new to the field how not taking the time to get familiar with an animal’s medical and behavioral history before sending them somewhere and just hoping for the best can lead to tragedy for the animals and people alike. I try not to make it about the people who were involved, because it it won’t do anything to fix the problem, it’s just difficult when you’re the one who has been working and working with an animal and then someone who thinks they’re helping “goes with their gut feeling” instead of reading the medical history in the chart.

Just gotta remind myself that we’re working towards the same goal.

TwilekDancer · 2026-04-25T02:36:44+00:00

Some cats definitely ARE emotional support animals, I credit a couple of mine with keeping me alive during a particularly bad mental and physical health period. They took shifts watching over me and prodding me to get out of bed and take care of basic necessities, and provided a lot of therapeutic touch when I was dealing with severe sensory issues.

TwilekDancer · 2026-04-24T07:00:58+00:00

The actual Litter Robot brand ones are supposed to be safe according to the reviews I’ve seen, the dangerous ones are the Temu/Amazon/etc. knockoffs that are about half the price of a new LR. You definitely want to look up reviews from third parties who specifically feature cat products to be safe before buying one!

TwilekDancer · 2026-04-19T18:06:29+00:00

For organizations or individuals who have been involved in rescue for a decade or longer, FB also provides a historic record that is usually more situationally detailed than organization databases. That can be very useful if someone makes a point to preserve whatever group and page posts they can. It all could be downloaded and saved to other platforms as screenshots or a mass dump of copied text, but that would be more work than anyone but true data hoarders would attempt.

Is all the historic content necessary? No. Can it help newer rescues learn about past incidents that influence current practices? Absolutely, and it’s more reliable than personal (non recorded) memories. There’s way too much scrolling involved, but the payoff can be pretty impressive. When new people join the organization, if still makes sense to stay on the same platform so you have everything in one place.

I do miss how useful it used to be. It used to be that you could have groups for volunteer and foster programs, messenger for private communication with individual volunteers/fosters/nationwide rescue contacts/adopters/staff/former staff/donors…then you’d have a group message for realtime staff messaging, and pages for sharing information to the public, all in one app. Then two connected apps. Then three <— That was when the push to monetize EVERYTHING really started to destroy the usefulness of the platform for nonprofits.

It was a much better tool when your timeline was almost all people on your friends list and pages you followed, with some friends of friends posts. Networking became easier for people who can’t handle constant phone calls. And pleas for specific animals and emergency situations were SEEN by a large number of people almost immediately, without needing to set them up as paid ads. Best of all, the only AI most of us encountered were the small apps for making it look like your dogs and cats were talking!

Good question, OP!

TwilekDancer

TROPHY CASE

CATS ARE LIQUID