My friend Jason at Song of the Suberbs left a comment a few posts back that reminded me that as someone who rents his home, and many of you all do as well, we're all used to trying to find a rental that allows pets. All you have to do is look in the apartment rentals of the classified section of your paper to see all the no pets allowed within most ads. (I get a double-whammy since I'm a smoker.)
So what do you do? Sometimes, if you're lucky, the ad says, "pets negotiable" or "small pets only." But usually, our best friends are simply ruled out.
Tell us your horror stories. Or triumphs. What have you been up against? Were you able to convince a prospective landlord to allow your cat or dog? How? Open up, folks! The comments floor is yours to help the rest of us the next time we have to move.
Well, it turns out that dogs and their owners really do tend to look alike. At least that's the case if the dogs are pure-breds. From WIS TV News in Columbia, South Carolina comes the story:
A new study testing the notion that dogs and their owners look alike finds the theory is true, at least for purebreds.Scientists had impartial judges try to match up pictures of 45 dogs and their owners. If more than half of the judges paired the dog with the right owner, researchers classified them as looking alike.
In the end, they found that 16 of 25 purebreds "looked like" their owners, but only seven of 20 mixed breed dogs and were matched to their owners correctly.
Researchers say the results suggest that when people select a pet they do, on some level, look for themselves and have an easier time finding what they want when they get purebred dogs. The findings don't reveal if the pet choice is based on physical attributes or personality traits, although researchers note that correct dog-owner matches weren't based on obvious traits, like curly haired people with curly haired dogs.
Do YOU look like your best friend? Send me a picture of the two of you together and I'll put it up in a future post.
My friends The Pryhills have a post up about an animal rights group wanting to change the relationship of pets from ownership to guardianship. It's an interesting topic and I recommend you head over there to read and comment on it.
Of course in my home, my cats own me!
At night, all three cats pile onto my bed and go to sleep with me. During the day though, each has their own "spots" for napping. Sambo has her own unused part of a sectional couch. Critter has two chairs he occupies. Rainbow has a nest made of a soft blanket in the circular base of a coffee table.
But I have to say, there are some quite sophisticated beds now available for your dogs and cats.
Drs Foster & Smith -- L L Bean -- Orvis
See the second photo on the right? That's a special "chew resistant" cover! And the one below that is an actual inner-spring mattress with a "pillow-top."
Let's face it, nothing's too good for our pets. Where do yours do their daytime snoozing? And do you let them sleep on your bed at night (if they want)?
Look, this is mostly meant to be an up-beat blog, but all of us have to face the fact that there are evil people out there who torture and harm and mutilate dogs and cats.
From WKMG in Arizona comes this disgusting report on how a cat and her kittens were found "glued together."
"Police in Phoenix are investigating a possible case of animal cruelty Monday after a cat and her three kittens were found glued together and stuck to the floor, according to a Local 6 News report.The owner of a recycling center in the west valley found the cat and her babies glued to the floor inside his facility when he arrived at work Monday morning.
One of the kitten's eyes was found glued shut and another had its paw stuck to its abdomen, according to the report.
Police believe vandals broke into the facility over the weekend and dumped the glue in the building.
It's not known whether these vandals intentionally placed the cat and her kittens in the glue."
These people are evil and horrible. There is no justifiable rational that any psychologist can present to me that would ever make me forgive them for such terrible deeds. And frankly, there can never be any possible redemption for them. And if they can commit such heinous actions against a trusting, lovable cat or dog, Ghod what horrors they must do to children and spouses.
Lock them up and throw away the key. They are not deserving of living in society. Damn them.
Hey, I've received several emailed pictures of pets from readers. I requested them the other day so I could create a "montage" or something of our friend's faces for the top of the blog. But I need more, so get out those cameras and snap-away and email them to me. I hope to put it all together this coming weekend.
Also, I might start a seperate page here to show the full pictures you kind folks have sent. It will be seperate so the main blog won't load too slowly for modem folks (like me!)
Thanks!
Alright. My friend has a golden retriever. She takes him for walks on the golf course near her home. Her dog likes to "roll" in the "goose-poop" on the course. Can someone please explain that to me?
And while you're at it, where is my cat Sambo hiding all of my socks?
Kidney disease, or as Vets put it, "renal failure" is a terrible thing to watch an animal, usually a cat, go through.
My first cat, long gone now, Jasper got kidney disease when he was about ten-years-old. He was drinking more and more water and became listless and less playful.
It came on (seemingly) suddenly. He started throwing-up food that I guess was loaded with impurities. He started hanging out in the bath-tub where the faucet dripped. He drank and drank because his body was telling him he was thirsty, that he needed water to help flush out impurities in the blood that weren't getting flushed-out by the kidneys.
He cried a lot because he had a feeling, a pain in him that told him to keep drinking water and no matter how much he drank, it wasn't enough, it had no effect. He stopped grooming himself, started pee-ing uncontrollably (not in the box) because of all the water he was drinking.
The "renal failure" came on suddenly and got much worse just as quickly. After a couple of months of watching him suffer -- he was miserable -- I knew it was time to end his misery.
Oh, his vet put him on dialysis and that would put him right for a couple days, but that's no way to live and besides, I couldn't afford it on a continued basis.
Finally, I took him to the vet and made that first-time for me decision to have a pet, a friend euthanized. It was a terrible day. I started the morning by walking with him through a nice grassy field by my home. I played with him as much as he could get involved with his unquenchable thirst first in his mind. And then I made that terrible drive with him to the Vet.
That was a long time ago now and I am past it. I know I did the right thing. My friend has a garden supply business and I buried Jasper just outside where all the flowers are grown. I put him in a box with my pillowcase (for "my smell") and his favorite toy and a water dish and a catnip bag. And just in case there's anything to it, a silver cross.
I went home finally and got very drunk and cried most of the day. Something else happened that night but I'll discuss that in a future post.
I've been lucky since. Rainbow (who was best friends with Jasper) is just a few days short of 20-years-old and while she's had her health problems, kidney disease is, mercifully, not one of them. Critter is so small and active that I just know he won't be struck with it. He'll steal my car and "go" in an accident.
But I worry about Sambo. She's much like Jasper, huge and such. She's only about six now but I just have an unpleasant feeling that she's a candidate for kidney disease. I now feed all of my cats "low ash" food. But I worry... Within the last year two of my friends have had to put their feline friends to sleep because of kidney disease. It's a bitch. As with myself and family, we all wish we could "go quickly" but we have cancer and cats have "renal failure." It's a bitch and I will idolize the man or woman who finds a cure for this horrible disease.
One reason I love cats and dogs so much (I mean, besides the obvious traits of loyalty, friendship, companionship, etc.) is that these are smart animals that show (or voice) their emotions -- and despite claims by some evil people, they certainly have them -- is that they actually smile. I don't have (I'm not allowed to have, in my rental apartment) dogs but any cat owner can tell you that besides the obvious "purring" they do, cats definitely SMILE when happy. Pet them, talk to them, show them attention, and the corners of their mouth-lines turn right-up into a visible smile.
And this brings up a somewhat controversial subject -- animals used for medical research. This science has to be done to improve human lives. And I have no problem (well, mostly no problem) with mice and rats. I have no experience with rabbits but owners tell me that they are somewhat like cats, so I have a bit of a problem.
But any dog and/or cat owner knows that dogs and cats love to play, are smart, are emotional. These are signs of real feelings. One of the workers at our furniture mill has a dalmation that runs with abandon around the perimeter of the parking-lot on nice days. You just have to watch this beautiful dog to know she is absolutely enjoying the freedom and pleasure of racing around the lot. When you watch dogs and cats play, well, play implies pleasure and joy with life.
Animals that experience -- that know -- joy, also know fear and terror. Dogs and cats should, in my opinion, be totally off-limits to medical research. I don't CARE what the consequences or delays to science would be. An animal that can feel happiness certainly can also understand sadness and pain and sorrow.
I am not a PETA type. I eat beef and pork and chicken and everything else in the carnivore cookbook but Dogs and Cats -- sorry, leave them the hell alone. Don't test them in a laboratory, don't eat them (a note to asia) and don't shoot them or hurt them for doing something natural to them.
Here is my "child-like" list of animals that should be off limits to medical testing and hunting and eating: Dogs, Cats, Otters (I love them! They play even more than most domestic animals) and maybe Rabbits (you'll have to inform me on this). I can't speak for aquatic animals. I'd like to know if you have more to add to the list...
First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who are visiting here, commenting here, and blogrolling Tarazet. It's very gratifying that there are so many wonderful pet owners and lovers out there.
Now, I'm still learning how to use Movable Type (the software that runs this blog) but I know I can have a "catchy" thingie across the top of this page. What I envision is a montage of dog and cat (etc.) faces. So get out your digital cameras and snap a pic of your best friends and email them to me. The email link is somewhere on the sidebar (I told you, I'm learning...) Don't worry about the background because I'll use PhotoShop to just grab their faces and blend them all together into a panoramic photo. So just concentrate on their smiling mugs. Dogs, cats, and yes, ferrets, parrots, even your hamster!
I'll try to do this sometime next weekend so...
Sometime (probably Tuesday when I'm off from work) I'll post the first of my "alternate universe" series of reader participation posts about the Planet Tarazet (that planet ruled by dogs and cats who face many of the same challenges that we humans on Earth do.) How would "they" deal with the problems we have? Look for that...
Okay, I just said this wouldn't be a blog about politics but let's face it, politics, social issues, everything creeps into all of our lives.
I have to ask... If Kerry and Bush were dogs, what species would they be? Have at it!...
So on the very day I start up Tarazet, USA Today has a front page feature on folks who take their dogs where ever they go. I have no problem with that. I wish cats were as obliging. Apparently, a lot of dog owners wish other people were so obliging as well. Here's a quote:
Not everyone is laughing. It used to be the world was divided into two groups: dog people and cat people. There was no common ground. Like smokers and non-smokers. But now it seems the canine world is dividing even further: dog lovers who want their pet to be part of every party, and those who don't want them around at all.Blame it on aging and fawning baby boomers filling their empty nests with man's best friend. Or President Bush, who takes his Scottish terrier, Barney, everywhere. Dogs have become the newest accessory. You only have to look at the travel site DogFriendly.com to see that your dog is now welcome far and wide.
And I have to tell you, when someone comes into my furniture store with a dog, I'm actually HAPPY to see and greet the dog. Dogs are always welcome to visit my store but that is the exception, not the rule around the U.S.
Here's another quote:
A bill has been introduced in the Maryland Legislature to permit dogs in Maryland restaurants — at the restaurant owner's discretion — but there has been little support for the measure. Letters to the editor of The Baltimore Sun are overwhelmingly against it.Patti Moran, head of Pet Sitters International, the North Carolina-based group that promotes Take Your Dog to Work Day, appreciates everyone's concerns, but she also understands dog owners' need to be with their dogs. She has five and takes them almost everywhere.
"We tend to treat our pets as surrogate children, so it's only natural you want to take them with you," she says.
Or as the Pet Sitters International Web site proclaims: "Some people don't like children of the human variety either, but you wouldn't leave them alone at home."
Look, I suppose there are people who just won't accept dogs anywhere, much less a restaurant or hotel. I'm sorry for them. I've generally found pet owners nicer and friendlier than non-pet owners but maybe that's just me. If I worried about every pet-hair or flea in this world, I'd have no time to worry about terrorists trying to bomb and kill us... I'll take the dogs hanging out everytime.
I do think though that in a public place like an eatery or store, dogs need to be well behaved, not "oderous" and etc.
That night I returned home to find Rainbow and Jasper "thick as thieves" and romping around, playing, chasing each other, and having a grand ol' time. Rainbow had also found the food, the litter-box, and apparently, my heart.
Jasper was handi-capped. I had built "ramps" for him to climb up to the kitchen counter and my bed. Rainbow (of course) used them. Every night she'd come up the ramp to the table by my bed, find my napkin-covered water glass, push the napkin aside and drink-away... Then, she'd hop onto the bed and curl-up to me.
On April 7th (I guess at the exact date) she will be 20 real-time years old. She's still curling up with me. Jasper is, of course, long gone but Rainbow seems to keep going on. While she's lost her fangs, she is still relatively healthy, likes to play, eat, grooms herself, and hisses at the younger cats.
So, as I did last year, I'm throwing her a Birthday Party. No, she probably won't understand why but it will be fun for her. Her favorite foods (ice cream and meatballs (not in the same dish!) and games and new toys and all of that.
I don't think it's so silly. I'll bet a lot of dog and cat owners throw Birthday Parties for their friends. You? What do you do for your pets on these special occasions? Do they understand why? (Granted, probably not, and my younger cats get very jeolous...)
Okay, so I'm a "seasoned pro" at blogs. My libertarian, ranty, pro-2A Alphecca has been humming along for a year and a half. But that is hand-coded. Now I'm trying Movable Type for this new blog, Tarazet.
Tarazet is dedicated to all of our loves for our dogs and cats (or any other pets you might have.) Nothing heavy, ranty or political here. Just the joy of the best friends we have in life. This is my first post. A test post. I won't blab on, just see how it looks...