Nebraska - Day 21 - in the campground

Captain Critters Country Campground, Scottsbluff

Friday, 21 October 2022

This campground was a little on the rugged side with few of the usual amenities of a private campground.  No showers, no laundry, all gravel roads and sites.  But it did have a nice dog pen, which I suppose you could figure from the campground's name.

The woman who owns it has 4 dogs of her own, though she made it clear to me that if I didn't pick up after my dog she'd kick me out, and she didn't want my dog to pick fights with other dogs.  That seemed to be the only rules that mattered to her - an easygoing place.

At the dog park, I met a visiting nurse and the husband of another visiting nurse - there are at least 3 staying in the campground.  I guess the medical facilities in this area don't bother to come up with their own staff but are content to rely on these traveling nurses.  These aren't the only ones I've met as I've been on the road, so it seems to be a more important facet of our medical system in this country than I've known.

And Dext enjoyed getting to know their dogs and even did a little playing.  One of the dogs was seriously into playing fetch, which seemed to just baffle Dext.  Because Gracie was terrified of balls, I never brought them near either of them, and now Dext just has no idea at all what all that ball chasing is about.  Too bad, really, because it would be a good way for him to work off some energy.

I came up with driving directions for the next 3 days.  I called the CVS in Grand Island to get my new prescription refills ready.  I made an appointment with the vet for the kitties to get a 2-week check up while we were in town.  You know, like that.

It's occurred to me that I haven't explained the names I gave the kitties.  I felt a little handicapped trying to name them because the vet wasn't even certain what sex they are, but I figured I'd go with both being males, since that was their best guess. 

I've known for several years that the next male pet I acquired I'd name Jimmy, and it seemed to fit the little damaged kitty well enough that that's his name.  

The bonus, healthy kitty was harder because I didn't have any idea at all of what to call him.  I finally decided, based on his completely healthy and thoroughly rambunctious behavior, that his name was Bucksnort.  Yes, I know, but it's sort of an old family joke that seemed to fit this guy.  So sometimes I call him Bucksnort but mostly it's Bucky.  I figure if the vet later on tells me they're both females, I'll deal with it then.

I'm still giving them medicine two (for Bucky) and three (for Jimmy) times a day.  Jimmy still needs help getting into the shower stall for the litter box, but both kitties have gotten pretty good at managing their bladders and bowels in between box times, thank goodness.

Jimmy seems to be managing pretty well with his one functioning eye, though he's still got the sniffles and he's still much weaker than Bucky.  Jimmy was clearly the runt of the litter - especially if the litter consisted only of these two.  He's noticeably smaller and weaker, though he's improving by the day.  Nothing like medicine and a steady supply of good food for a growing kitty.

You can see how small they are -
Bucky can fit on top of this small fan.