I'm just back for a day before heading out again. Kind reader Monique sent me a link about the plight of many animals due to the recent hurricane in Florida. From the Scripps Howard News Service:
The thumb-sized baby squirrel could've been an angry cat for the screaming that came when vet tech Debi Tietboehl gently stuck a needle though its skin.The syringe delivered saline solution to re-hydrate the animal that someone had brought Sunday to the makeshift Humane Society compound in Punta Gorda.
A mobile veterinary clinic, RVs, trucks, tables and awnings cover the Carmalita Baseball Field. Animal workers and volunteers have come from all over Florida to offer aid, including Tietboehl, who works at the San Carlos Park Animal Hospital.
Around them for miles, the people of Punta Gorda and beyond continue to reassemble their lives, piling storm debris, gathering supplies, filing claims and catching a hot meal when they can.
In the bustle of recovery, many aren't thinking about pets. But in a baseball field here, people find relief from a host of problems they and their animals face in the wake of Hurricane Charley.
Few stores are open, and pet food is hard to find.
Two cats need a shelter while their owners find some for themselves. For the same reason, a Chihuahua is holed up in a cage behind a stuffed animal, shaking and waiting for an owner's return. A puppy has dysentery. Two blue merle shelties have rashes and need to see a vet.
Their houses are falling down around them, but care for their animals is paramount to these pet owners.
Though many think such devotion is over the top, the folks at the baseball field understand, says Diane Webber, regional director for the Humane Society of the United States.
"Animals are our comfort," she says.
Do what you can. Anyway, I'll be back on Tuesday for good and will then start blogging around here again. See you soon.
Vacation Time!
So look folks, I appreciate all of you that stop by. I get only a couple weeks vacation each year and here it is... Time for me to take some time off. For the next ten days I will not see a TV or listen to a radio or log-onto the net. And no, that also means I won't be checking email so...
This coming weekend I get to visit my parents and help celebrate my mom's something-something birthday. I'm not like some famous blogger who raises $50K in donations and then takes a month off. I'm just taking ten days off. Hopefully you won't all forget about me and never come back. I'll (really!) be back after some r&r and (if we ever get it here in New England) sunshine.
So... Have a great rest of the month and I'll see you soon. Thanks for stopping by! Check back in a couple weeks...
Hmmm... From Yahoo-Reuters:
A German woman thought she had been robbed by sedative-toting thieves when she returned to her car to find 380 euros ($470) missing and her dog vomiting, only to discover the pet had eaten the cash, police said on Thursday."She thought the dog had been drugged and that thieves had taken the money," a police spokesman in the western town of Aschaffenburg said. "The woman had withdrawn the money and hidden it under bank statements on the passenger seat."
She informed police and took the dog to a vet.
"The vet gave the dog an injection and after 20 minutes six of the 50 euro notes reappeared," the spokesman said.
"The dog spat out the rest of the money in shreds along with the bank statements."
Rather a silly article from Yahoo-KPRC:
What kind of personality does your cat have? That's right, cats have definite personalities, according to a feline expert in Houston this weekend.Dr. Stephen Ruhnquist is a self-proclaimed "cat personality expert." He said that knowing a pet's personality could help owners take better care of their animals.
Some cats are born lovers.
"The lover cat is very easygoing, very sweet, loves everyone in the family and adjusts well to change," Ruhnquist said.
Others are go-go cats.
"(The go-go cat) is usually a kitten or younger cat. They are always playful and wake you up in the middle of the night," he said.
Ruhnquist travels the country helping cat owners understand their pet's personality and how it affects their health.
Cats get stuck in the weirdest places. (Remember this?) Anyway...
From the Leicester Mercury (UK):
Shocked Martin Bailey could only watch in horror as firefighters knocked a hole through his new £25,000 extension - to rescue someone else's trapped cat.Crews smashed their way through the wall at Mr Bailey's garage after they were alerted to the stuck cat by an RSPCA officer.
The cat had become wedged in a three-inch-wide gap between Mr Bailey's house on Coltbeck Avenue, Narborough, and the home of his next door neighbour.
Firemen used hammers and chisels to remove breeze-blocks and bricks from the wall to reach the cat.
Mr Bailey, 39, an engineer who does not keep pets, said: "It's only been up six months and it's got to come out.
"I suppose the main thing is that the cat is safe."
Firefighters think the cat had chased something into the gap. Leading firefighter Martin Tasker, 44, of Leicester's Western station, said: "Cats will often chase something down a gap and then they can't go backwards and get out."
It seems to be a recurring theme around here. From Quinnett Daily:
Lizzie Belle is a 21st century pooch.After the canine ran away a few weeks ago, a tiny microchip the size of a grain of rice returned Lizzie Belle to her doting family and spared her from being euthanized.
“This chip has saved my dog’s life,” said Angela Gray, Lizzie Belle’s human mother.
Gray adopted Lizzie Belle from the Barrow County Humane Society and had the chip implanted into her new pet when she received vaccinations.
Lizzie’s odyssey wasn’t the first time she’d escaped from her home.
The pup with a penchant for running took off from the Grays’ home shortly after the chip was implanted, but a collar identifying her as a microchipped dog had her back home within two hours.The second time, however, the clever canine freed herself from the confines of her collar and ran.
“While we were at work, she got completely out of her collar,” Gray said. “It was still lying on the ground when we got home.”
Two or three days later, someone from the Oconee County Animal Shelter called Gray to tell her Lizzie Belle had turned up in their territory. The shelter did not euthanize the dog because she was implanted with the chip, a standard protocol, according to Nancy Gaudino with the Auburn Animal Hospital.
A man's dog jumped off a ferry and needless to say, the man jumped off to rescue him. Alls well that ends well. From Yahoo-AP:
It all started when the ferry Hyak had engine trouble and stopped on the way from Seattle to Bremerton. Fisher and Ruben got out of their car to see what was going on and while Fisher was talking to some other dog owners, Ruben disappeared."A guy said, 'Your dog just jumped overboard!'" Fisher told The (Bremerton) Sun.
Ruben apparently went overboard as the ferry was starting up again. Fisher said he ran to the back of the boat, saw someone point to a dog in the water, then grabbed a life buoy, jumped in and started swimming.
Once in the water, he could no longer see Ruben.
"It was really hard to see in those big waves," he said Saturday in an interview with KIRO Television.
The ferry stopped, backed up and sent out a life boat to rescue both Fisher and Ruben.
"I was expecting to be in trouble ... but they totally understood that I had to get my dog," he said.
Fisher said the ferry crew were "nothing but nice the whole time," although they advised him to keep his dog on a leash next time.
"We obviously do not encourage people to jump into the water from the ferry," said Patricia Patterson, spokeswoman for Washington State Ferries. "But I understand the reaction. If it were my dog, I likely would have done the same thing."
The cat of the year, named Colin Powell, has friends in high places...
Colin Powell, the cat, met Friday with Colin Powell, the secretary of state, who heaped praise on the uneasy black feline as “the best cat in the country.”“Hey, Colin, how are you,” Powell, the secretary of state, said when they were introduced in the treaty room on the seventh floor of the State Department before cameras and cat fanciers. “It’s nice to have you here.”
The prize-winning cat, a copper-eyed Bombay born in the Brookfield, Conn., home of Sharyn and Sig Hauck, on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, responded with a hesitant purr, and had nothing further to offer reporters, on the record or otherwise.
Colin Powell, the secretary of state, said he had been given the chance to name the recently born offspring of Colin, the cat, and had chosen Ralph Bunche, in honor of the late diplomat.
Hauck, explaining later how Colin the cat got his name, said, “We name all of our black cats after prominent African-Americans.”
The cat’s parents were named after musician Isaac Hayes and author Jamaica Kincaid, his grandmother after Rosa Parks, the integrationist.
Well, we all new that. Single people always walk their dogs in areas where other singles mingle. Now there's even a "mixer" for single gay dog owners... From the Advocate:
All single GLBT animal lovers and their friends are invited to mingle at a meet-and-greet event hosted by Leashes and Lovers, a company founded by dog lovers for dog lovers who are single in New York City. The singles mixer will take place Wednesday, August 25, 6-9 p.m., at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, 208 West 13th Street (between 7th and 8th). A $20 donation is suggested, which will benefit NYSAVE, New York's pet charity.
While rare, dogs (and cats) can be bitten by mosquitoes and come down with West Nile Virus. From the Reno Gazette-Journal:
A treasured family dog that became suddenly ill and had to be put to sleep earlier this week was infected with the West Nile virus, the second rare case of canine infection reported in Washoe County, officials said Friday.Dogs are generally safe from West Nile, which is more likely to strike humans and horses, said a local veterinarian and officials from the Nevada Department of Agriculture. The virus is carried by birds and transmitted to humans and other animals by the bite of mosquitoes.
“It’s rare, but dogs can come down with it,” said Dr. Ron Anderson of the department’s Animal Disease Laboratory. “It’s certainly an infrequent happening.”
Last year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported fewer than 40 dogs and only one cat infected with West Nile virus nationwide.
My 20-year-old cat Rainbow is, amazingly, still going. Every time I think she's headed for the end she pulls it together and gets yet another second-wind. But she is losing her hearing. I'm thankful that it is her hearing and not sight or mobility. But I do worry about her. I now have to talk loud for her to even notice, although I suppose it could just be an old-broad's inattention at work.
She still loves to cuddle and play and explore and groom herself and chow-down. I really hope she sees 21 and at the present rate, she probably will. She just doesn't hear my "coo-ings" to her anymore. But she seems to know that I'm gushing over her anyway. Both of us can live with that.
For those who have followed the saga of Kimo the stray cat over the past eight months, he still shows up every few days. Depressingly skinny and starving. I always give him a full bowl of food and another of milk & water. Somehow, someway, I will eventually get this cat to a vet and then have him live with my family.
You all read the stories about cats now being cloned (for $50,000 dollars.) Is there really a shortage of cats that would require this? Go to the local shelter and take home an original! That's two souls (yours and the cat's) that will have a better life.
Cutie-pie puppy pics at Mickey's Musings...
I've reported stories like this before with condo-associations, etc. Finally, some good news on one case from Yahoo/AP:
A judge has upheld an order blocking an apartment complex from evicting a woman who says she needs to keep her late mother's dog because it helps her fight depression over the mother's death.Christine Emmick has a disability and is entitled to keep her Shih Tzu, Max, despite the no-pets rule at Royalwood Cooperative Apartments, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission ruled.
The apartment complex "refused to reasonably accommodate her mental disability by allowing her to keep a dog," and violated the state's Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, the commission ruled earlier this year.
The ruling was upheld last week by Oakland County Circuit Judge Fred Mester.
"I was skeptical of the case at first," Mester told the Detroit Free Press on Monday. "But when you look at the facts of the case, the cooperative was violating the law.
"This is not a case where somebody says, `I have a headache, and a dog would make it better.' This woman had a well-documented disability and was able to prove that the dog helps her in coping with that disability."
A lost dog found after a Phish concert in Indiana has been identified by the implanted microchip in it! From Yahoo/WRTV News:
An implanted microchip helped Humane Society workers determine that a dog found outside an Indiana concert venue in June belonged to someone in California, RTV6 reported Tuesday......A microchip implanted in Sadie showed that the dog was from California, the Hamilton County Humane Society said.
The society said it believes someone took Sadie from California to the Phish concert in Indiana.
After Sadie's owner was contacted, he arranged for his sister in New Hampshire to drive to Indiana, pick up the dog, and drive it to California, RTV6 reported.
...to rescue one little cat. Since fire departments no longer do cat in tree rescues, a whole bunch of kind folks came to the rescue of one in Clawson, Michigan. From the Daily Tribune:
Sturner said the cat had been up in the tree for more than a day. Clawson and Troy Fire Departments said they couldn't help, Sturner added."The cat was on a small branch touching the power line making it impossible for the cat to get down on her own," Sturner said.
Tamachaski, 34, said people at the site tried unsuccessfully to coax down the cat after first seeing it about 6 a.m. on Friday.
"I saw the tree service and asked if they would help," Tamachaski said. "Sure enough, they did. The cat is doing great."
But that wasn't the case at first.
"When I first grabbed it, it was in an ornery mood," Tamachaski said. "It was so freaked out. It was scared. It came to us. But once I grabbed it, I tried to put in carrier and it didn't want any part of it. Then it was very hungry."
Tamachaski said two tree crews showed up at the site. A worker with AAA McDonald Tree Service said he couldn't rescue the cat himself, so Tamachaski got into the hydraulic lift bucket.
Meow Mix brand cat food is opening the first cafe for cats (and their human custodians) in Manhatten on August 17th. From PRNewswire:
The 3,500 square-foot Meow Mix Cafe will be located in the heart of
Midtown Manhattan, at 489 5th Avenue (between 41st and 42nd Street). Beyond a unique culinary experience for cats, the Meow Mix Cafe will offer
fully-interactive games for both cats and owners, themed to a host of the
featured entrees.The menu at the Meow Mix Cafe will showcase the highest-quality
ingredients for patrons of both the two-and four-legged variety. Feline
entrees will feature seven varieties of new Meow Mix Wet Food Pouches,
including Cluck-a-Doodle-Doo, Deep Sea Delight, Fillet Meow, Gobbliscious,
Hook, Line and Sinker, Upstream Dream and What's the Catch?. For each Meow
Mix flavor, owners will be able to enjoy a comparable dish. For instance,
while cats dine on Fillet Meow (consisting of beef in gravy), their human
counterparts will enjoy tenderloin of beef on a baguette with horseradish
sauce.The mid-town cafe will feature toys and games for cats and owners alike,
including scratching posts and catnip-filled toy mice for the kitties, plus
special games based on new Meow Mix flavors, such as Hook, Line and Sinker,
where owners -- with feline assistance --- will be able to fish for valuable
prizes.
While dogs do love riding in the back of pickup trucks, a letter to Dear Abby reminds us of the dangers:
...I watched in the mirror as she tumbled to the road. Belle survived the fall and started to get up, but before she could get out of the way, an oncoming car hit her.It was stupid, awful and completely unexpected. And it could have been prevented. A simple harness, or better yet, keeping my beautiful Belle in the cab would have saved her life.
Now, because of a stupid, macho image I had of a man, his dog and his truck, I have lost a beloved friend. Please, Abby, warn your readers that if they have a pet they care about, not to allow it to ride unrestrained in a truck bed. -- GRIEVING IN LEXINGTON, KY.
Just a nice story about a rivalry between two teenage girs vying for top prize in local rabbit shows. From the Cortez Journal (CO):
The rabbit-raising rivalry heated up about three weeks ago in Dove Creek. Thirteen-year-old Kady Meyer, a five-year veteran of showing rabbits, was up against Battle Rock 4-H friend and fellow "rabbit-rouser", 14-year-old Kayleen Hackett, a six-year veteran.The stakes were high - ribbons and pride - but the girls vowed not to let the furry competition harden their friendship. That day in Dove Creek, Kady and her Florida White rabbit won champion, while Kayleen and her gray Champagne D'Argent took reserve champion.
The girls are nervous but chatty Thursday as they await their second showdown of the summer. Kady and Kayleen are back with the same rabbits, the same rivalry and the same determination to remain friends regardless of the day's outcome. The rabbit showmanship contest isn't about winning and losing.
Day Care, it's not just for kids anymore. From the Buffalo News:
Day care is not just a service, but a necessity for many parents. For some dog owners, who consider themselves parents, having a place to keep their pooch during the day is becoming a must-have service."It's definitely worth it," said Julie Gracze of Hamburg, whose dog has been going to day care for more than a year. "When my dog leaves, she's exhausted, but she would stay all night if she could."
The growth of pet day care centers is part of an explosion in spending on American pets. From "doggy Prozac," to wardrobes, to day care, Americans spent $32.4 billion on their pets last year, double the $17 billion spent in 1993, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. This year, Americans will spend an estimated $2.2 billon on pet services alone.
Where child care can set parents back between $30 and $40 a day, dog owners shell out around $20 a day, with discounts for multiple-day visits.
My friends, the Pryhills, have moved to here. And today is the 18th Birthday of UNO, who I'll bet is the best cat-face in the world.
Happy Birthday, Uno. May God bless you and your wonderful caretakers. Many more ahead, buddy.
If you've got a Game Boy Advanced, there's a new game for you hamster owners. From HappyPuppy.com:
Hamsters are out to prove they do much more than run around on wheels all day. Team up with Hamtaro and his Ham-Ham pals as they compete for the championship title in the 2004 Ham-Ham Games. The Hamster olympics are here.
Well here's the opposite of typical events: While two big dogs slept away, the family cat alerts homeowner to burgler! From the Green Bay Press-Gazette:
Ron Olson has two big dogs, but they were not the ones to come to his aid while he was being burglarized early Wednesday. It was his cat, Dusty.“He was just sort of howling,” Olson said. Olson went to investigate downstairs only to see someone standing in the patio door of his Oneida home around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday.
“My friends and I have been doing some work on this house.” Olson said. “At first I just thought it was them, so it didn’t startle me.”
Olson said he said hello and the person took off. He then realized he had been burglarized and that the subject seemed to have been in his house for a considerable period of time. The thief took the time to unhook some home audio and video equipment, and would have probably taken them if it weren’t for Dusty.
“He’s my boy,” Olson said.
Olson’s dogs, Cinnamon and Pongo, a Dalmatian and a German shepherd, have a combined weight of more than 200 pounds.
“They slept through the whole ordeal, which is pretty much what they do all the time,” Olson said.
Olson said he is going to give Dusty as much tuna as he wants, but in moderate portions because of his age.
My friend Dancing Rain Girl at My Wide Blue Seas is a Hawaiian Islander who always has good (among many others) pet posts. here's one of her cats using each other as pillows. I love pictures like this. And read this, too.
I must tell you that after writing about politics and crime and other things at my other blog all the time, it's nice to come here to Tarazet and just write or report on nice stuff -- like our pets. This really is my "therapy" from the real world...
And in the spirit of the previous post, one man was willing to pay $10,000 dollars ransom to get his dog back. From ABC's Good Morning America:
A day after Frank Compton's dog disappeared, the Valley Springs, Calif., man got a threatening phone call."Basically, it said that we have your little dog, Sandy, and if you want him back, you're going to have to put up $10,000 or you won't be seeing him again," Compton said.
Compton was frantic. Sandy, a 10-year-old Yorkshire terrier, has been the 80-year-old retiree's sole companion ever since his wife died.
"We're pretty close, like glue," Compton said.
So he withdrew $10,000 from his life savings and went to deliver the cash at the instructed location. A man with a knife met him there, he said.
"He said your little dog is tied up around a stake and he's whining and crying for you," Compton said.
But the man took off with the money without producing the dog, leaving Compton is search for Sandy, who was nowhere to be found.
"I had given him up," Compton said. "I figured I'd never be seeing him again."
Hours later, back at home, Compton heard a car door slam. He looked out, and Sandy came running up the sidewalk.
"The miracle still happened," Compton said. "I couldn't accept it at first that he was really there."
Police are helping Compton work up a sketch of the suspect.
It's that secret, mysterious bond thing. From the Kansas City Star:
Shannon, a 6-year-old border collie and golden retriever mix, is a heroine.She may never achieve the acclaim of TV's Lassie.
But in the eyes of Ted Mandry, whose life she recently saved, she's the most special dog in the world.
Back at the farmhouse, Peggy returned home and figured her husband was late for lunch, not unusual at all.But what was unusual was Shannon's behavior. Typically restrained and quiet, she began howling and scratching at the door. The house was closed up and the air conditioner was on, so whether she heard her master's whistle or just instinctively knew he was in trouble, they'll never know.
“I figured she just wanted to run with the tractor, so I ignored her,” Peggy said, looking embarrassed, in retrospect, by her decision.
Not getting her way, Shannon's “bad” behavior escalated. She started scratching wildly at the door, digging deep grooves in the door and the floor.
“I decided to put her outside and tie her to a tree,” Peggy said. She tied one end of a rope to Shannon's collar and wrapped the other end around her arm. As soon as the door opened, Shannon bolted, and Peggy had no choice but to run with her.
When they got to the gully and she saw what had happened, Peggy ran back and called 911.