Living with Anteaters

Can you believe mom woke me up at the wee hour of 10PM to give me a bath? How rude. The water ran brown for a few rinsings. Mom said I needed it because my skin film would get washed away in the wild by rain and swimming. I told her that was... well mom says I can't swear in public but it's wrong. We anteaters get a natural orangey to rusty skin film from modified sweat glands. It's mostly on our belly and chest so we can rub on things we like and mark them as ours.

Well I went right back to bed once the ordeal was over so mom put the heating bad in with me and that was nice.

On the bright side everyone was up late watching the Olympics so when I did get up later I got to go to my window and go outside for a bit.

Two tails in the window

Jake loves me and always comes running to sit in the window with me.

Looks like a long way down

Where's my stepping stool?
Mom usually puts her leg there for a boost down

The flash is so not cool
sleepy walking anteater

On the fence

coming down the tree

I'll get in and you push me
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Now mom has a note:

For those that asked before now that Pua has been out, no she didn't appear to smell Kamena.

Now there were a few people that admitted they though my wanting to preserve his bones was creepy or disturbing. I appreciate your views and wouldn't try to change your mind. However I will state my views more clearly as to maybe open a few minds for those that actually think it some sort of atrocity to shun us over.

I do not think an animal's spirit is trapped in their body after death so what happens to it will matter little if any to them. The only reason certain funeral practices are excepted is because they are common.

Is there any real reason to say that putting their body in a big oven, burning it to a crisp and then putting the remains in a little box to store on a shelf is any better than to save and preserve the bones? It could be seen as a waist of resources as buried in the garden it would at least feed the garden.

But buried and let to rot away could also be seen as a waist. In ancient Egypt they mummified people and pets, at least important ones. We all know what that entails. I can only imagine the disturbance it would make if I chose to mummify a pets, lol. Oh my, wait, I found a place that does that http://www.summum.org/mummification/pets/ Interesting. I still find the freeze drying idea more appealing personally http://www.pet-animalpreservation.com/ Though I don't think I'd spend the money.

Anyway any choice is a religious choice, something we do to help heal and feed our soul. Whatever feels right to us. If we all chose to preserve our pets remains in whatever ways we'd over run by dead pets. But personally I've always been fascinated by bones. Oddly so have my anteaters(noncooked like the elk teeth and deer jaw I had found). Elephants pay respects to old elephant bones. I thought it would be a shame to waist a good "specimen". In this way I will preserve a part of him for myself and he may be able to aid in some educational programs eventually.

As to keeping a claw for a pendant. Many native cultures keep such things as claws for ornamentation as a way to respect and feel closer to that animal and nature.

In the end this is just what I want to do and not for any unseemly reasons. We donated Stewie's body to the vet school and I do have a cremated dog in a decorated urn box. Can't rightly say for sure what I will do next time but hope that is a long way off.

Now I apologize for that and we wont have need to mention him for awhile as this process will take time.

For those curious minded here is a link to a preserved tamandua skeleton at a museum which is what we are going for http://www.dundee.ac.uk/museum/zoology/skeletons/2070.JPG

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We make a lot of Pua's clothes by altering baby clothes. This works for dogs and cats too. Once you get the hang of this you can find lots of cute things at thrift stores and make them into pet shirts. I do keep an eye out for nice pet clothes too but most of them are just not as cute as baby clothes.

This will focus on turning a baby Tee into a pet Tee. If you want to alter something like a hoody those are more difficult. Sometimes if I like the look as is I can just ad a draw string or elastic to the waist of the hoody, jacket, what have you. Other times I take them in by cutting out long triangles on each side to take in and reshape the waist area but I think that would be harder to teach. with hoodies i always tack the hood back since she wont be wearing it.

Anyway for the demo I grabbed a shirt I sometimes use on Quasi it's a bit snug since he's a bit chunky. This is an issue you need to address by choosing the right size baby shirt. As will be explained you should put the baby shirt on backwards so the front logo is seen on the back of the dog. It should fit comfortable around the back and not pull under the arms. The front will be loose but that's what we will alter. Since even in thrift stores they will frown on you trying the clothes on your dog it may take you a few tries to get the right shirt size.

How to make a pet shirt from a baby shirt 1

Find a baby shirt that fits your pet. Put it on the pet so the front of the bay shirt is the back on the pet. This gives more room for the back that is needed and puts the cute logos where they can be seen. When on the pet there will be excess cloth between the legs and hanging from the belly. This is what we will deal with.

How to make a pet shirt from a baby shirt 2
Lay the shirt on it's side. Make sure the fold down the now back side goes down the middle. Make sure the sleeves and side seems line up with each other and it lays flat as possible.

What I forgot here in the photo is to turn the shirt inside out first.

How to make a pet shirt from a baby shirt 3
Take a pet shirt that you know fits your pet well and lay it on top of the baby shirt with the sleeves lining up as best you can and the back fold lined up with the now back fold of the baby shirt.

How to make a pet shirt from a baby shirt 4
Trace the chest seam and belly cut out of the dog shirt onto the baby shirt. This will be where you sew it together. When you get to the belly cut out area simply fold that under and stitch each side separate instead of together so it remains open.

To be perfect and leave no spots use a washable marker. I just didn't worry about it since it's the underside anyway and Quasi won't be wearing this much since, well, he's to chubby.

Only mark on the one side. Keep the shirt folded and sew on the line and the sides should remain even and leave a center seam. You may need to pin the shirt but I don't bother with that myself and just watch to keep them lined up.

How to make a pet shirt from a baby shirt 5
Mark where you will cut the excess off and leave some space for sewing. You can trim any more excess off later for comfort.

How to make a pet shirt from a baby shirt 6
View of place to transition front chest seem to open belly. This shirt is shorter than most so has little belly area. Since I forgot to mark it earlier I put the pet shirt back on to show you. Once you get to the lin just fold the extra back along the sewing line and stitch in place.

Finished shirt from side

Finishes shirt from chest

This is the ant shirt I altered for Pua. You can see I cut out more belly area so her feet don't get caught up in it.

Finished shirt
It was snug before we started altering the chest should not effect how the back fits. So find one that fits well first.

finished shirt front
It got a bit off center because Quasi has a lump in his chest making it big and I forgot to allow for that.

When I did Pua's ant shirt it was even but I left extra chest when it's not needed on her. www.flickr.com/photos/tamanduagirl/4277244363/
Might take some time to work out special alterations to the pattern your pet may need.

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