The Mercury News has a nice feature today of some stories by readers about the uncommon intelligence of their cats and dogs. Rather than try to quote one part, I'll just tell you to head over there and read the whole thing.
Another remarkable story, this one from the AP:
CROWN POINT, Ind. - Lake County Animal Control officials are crediting a dog with warning them about dangerous smoke coming from an area that contained 10 other dogs.April Godra, a shelter official, said she knew something wasn't right when Foxie, a normally quiet collie, would not stop barking as Godra made her rounds through the northwestern Indiana kennels two weeks ago.
Then she noticed Foxie looking at the door leading to the garage where the dogs were.
"I opened the door, and smoke started billowing in," Godra said. "I said, 'Oh my God, Foxie, you're just like Lassie. You saved us!'"
A burning motor on the washing machine caused the smoke.
Godra said if it weren't for Foxie, the dogs likely would have died.
"She saved us. She's our baby," Godra said.
A new magazine is coming out shortly titled New York Dogs although it looks like they will have material applicable to dog owners everywhere. From the Washington Times:
In addition to the [national, free] dog obituaries, the nationally distributed magazine will feature articles on subjects such as how to win your dog in a custody battle, canine haute couture, advice from an animal behaviorist, and a close look at dogs on the Atkins diet.The magazine, priced at $4.99, will be published six times annually by Gatsby Publishing Inc.
Move over, Rover. Here's the story of a guy and his rabbit. From the Fort Saskatchewan Record:
Man’s best friend isn’t always a dog, attests Sharrif Johnston.
In his case it’s a rabbit.The local 36-year-old man’s newfound furry friend has taken Johnston as a parent figure after the infant rabbit was discovered tangled in some fishing line and likely abandoned...
...
...“He’s a good bunny. He makes my world,” notes Johnston, who takes the rabbit everywhere he goes.Johnston can often be found with Gordon perched on his shoulder as he pedals his bike around the city. When the two got to the park, he says his rabbit doesn’t try to hop away.
“Gordon rides on my shoulder. He goes where I go,” says Johnston. “He doesn’t ever try to just take off. I don’t know why. I guess he’s just very loyal--more so than a dog.”
If you love cats and have no children, what do you do in your will? From the AP:
A childless Florida couple who loved cats have given their entire $2 million estate to the University of Georgia veterinary school.Tom and Dorothy Morris of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., picked UGA because their favorite veterinatrian, William Meriwether, went to school there.
"Since they had no children, I think they just wanted to leave their legacy to animals," said Peter Armold, the deceased couple's nephew and representative of the estate.
Tom Morris died in the 1980s, and Dorothy Morris passed on in 2003.
Their bequest will turn into a $90,000 a year trust for students working toward a doctorate of veterinary medicine and Ph.D. simultaneously, said Dot Sparer, public relations coordinator for the veterinary school.
Their veterinarian, Meriwether, said he had no idea the Morrises would leave such a large gift.
"I thought maybe they'd give a few thousand dollars — but $2 million? Good gracious!" he said.
Dogs prove again just how remarkable they are and how much help they can be to humans. From Health Central.com:
British researchers say they've taught dogs to sniff out the scent of bladder cancer in urine, a feat that might someday lead to better diagnostic technology.The work was inspired by several reports that have appeared in medical journals and the popular press about dogs picking up distinctive smells associated with cancer, said Caroline M. Willis, director of research at the Amersham Hospital department of dermatology. One item that especially aroused interest was a report of a woman who sought medical help after her dog became unusually interested in a skin lesion that proved to be malignant melanoma.
The Amersham study began in a somewhat unscientific way, enlisting six dogs that were pets of hospital staffers. The dogs included three spaniels, who turned out to be the best sniffers; they are widely used to detect illicit drugs, Willis said...
...
..."Then we went much further, training the dogs to recognize the specific smell of cancer, not just one associated with secondary effects such as inflammation," Willis said. "Then we ran this series of tests designed to rigorously prove that they were detecting a specific kind of cancer."The result was an overall success rate of 41 percent, with 22 successes in 54 tries. It is "a first, very tentative step into the whole area" of cancer detection by smell, Willis said.
The research effort now has turned to skin cancer, Willis said. "But we haven't quite finalized how we would do that. We can't present the dogs with fresh tissue, so we have to find ways to capture the smell," she said.
Willis does not foresee a role for dogs in cancer diagnosis. "Where dogs can be helpful is to help identify specific chemicals that are characteristic of bladder cancer," she said. "We may be able to use that information to develop instrumentation to identify cancers."
A brief preamble. My other blog is concerned (mostly) with the defense of gun ownership and the Second Amendment. I have often argued that it isn't "the gun" that is bad but rather it is the person who misuses the firearm. A gun is a gun and just because you label it an "assault weapon" has nothing to do with how it functions other than in the hands of a criminal.
As others and myself have reported here, some misguided towns and cities have taken to "banning" the ownership of certain breeds of dogs. Now it's happening again in Seward City, Nebraska. From the Seward County Independent:
The Seward City Council reviewed a rough draft of an ordinance banning certain breeds of dog within the city limits.At the Sept. 7 meeting, the council discussed bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and Rottweilers, all of which would not be allowed within the city limits if the ordinance is adopted.
Any of the aforementioned breeds already licensed in the city would be grandfathered in.
After discussion, the council asked the city attorney to add sections related to crossbreeds of the banned dogs and offspring of dogs grandfathered in. In addition, he was asked to include the original sections about license fees for neutered male dogs.
In previous meetings, council members had discussed changing the fines for dogs at large but decided to keep the fines the same.
I'm sure if you asked my blogson Eric Scheie about his pit bull Puff, he'd gladly tell you that he's a big sweety-pie.
Getting back to my "gun analogy" for a moment, the way to stop crime and violence is not to ban some guns but to ban some gun owners -- that is, to enforce the misuse, the criminal use of guns, and when someone does break the law re a firearm, to come down on them like a ton-of-bricks.
And here is where I really think the Seward City Council shows it is wrong: Read the last part of that quote above. After debating and drafting an ordinance to ban certain dog breeds, they then decided to leave the fines for allowing a dog to run loose the same. In essence they are saying that it's okay to NOT control your animal as long as it is the right kind of animal. Well, we're not talking cats or hamsters here, we're talking dogs.
And my concern isn't just that the dog might be dangerous but that that dog is also in danger if it suddenly runs out into the street and is hit by a car.
Back to the gun: Owning a firearm is a responsibility not to be taking lightly. If I were to leave a rifle out on my porch, unsupervised, I would be negligent in my responsibility to control that gun.
That's how it is with a dog. If I don't have a properly fenced yard and I allow my dog to roam free, well, incidents can happen. But the Seward City Council has decided that it isn't the unsupervised firearm, just the type. And it isn't the loose pooch, it's what breed he is.
That is just plain wrong.
Not really a story about guinea pigs but I thought it a humorous essay on why one person would rather feed her guinea pig than stay at a high school dance.
So listen... It's way past due around here for a PetPourri! This is an occasional feature where YOU send in pictures of your loved-ones, be they cats, dogs, rabbits, snakes, parrots, hamsters, or whoever else is making your home better.
To view past PetPourris, see the May or June versions. It's a lot of fun and your pets get "immortalized" in the archives of Google and here at Tarazet.
I figure somewhere in early October is a good time so please start sending those snaps of your furry (or scaly or feathered) friends to me at the email address on the left side-bar. Please put "PetPourri" in the subject line so I know it isn't spam.
Let's make this the biggest PetPourri ever!
First of all, my genuine thanks to all for your kind comments and emails. I really appreciate them and they have been a comfort to me.
While there are always two varieties of dry cat food left out, every morning and evening I open a can of "wet food" and put it out for the cats. These past few days I find I am still dividing that food into three portions. And when I walk into the living room, I still catch myself looking at Rainbow's "comfy-nest" to see if she is alright.
Anyway, I still have two big bruisers romping around and now that they don't have Rainbow to terrorize anymore, I'm thinking of heading to the shelter to pick-up a young'en to terrorize them.
Kimo (remember him?) still meets me outside and I still feed him but he's becoming, if anything, more feral so he's really not a good choice. And Sammy just doesn't like him. Maybe she'll accept a kitten. Crispy always spends a couple hours making half-hearted hisses but then winds up joyfully playing with anyone who ventures into our home.
Thanks again, everyone!
So this was a rather bleak day for several reasons. It's raining and gloomy. Oh, who cares! My best friend in the world, Rainbow Cat has been very sick all week. She was -- I grant you -- over 20. A woman never reveals her true age but I knew her and her family when she was born. When she was about 4 months old she showed-up at my front door one day as I was leaving for work. She was just sitting there and as I walked out she scampered right through the door.
My own cat, Jasper, loved other cats and I knew he wouldn't bother her. So... I just shrugged my shoulders (I was a construction worker then and we just shrugged things off and didn't give a rat's patootee...)
I came home that night to find Rainbow and Jasper "thick as thieves" and having a grand 'ol time.
Jasper was BIG but handicapped and I had "ramps" all over the place for him to be able to walk-up to things. Every night by my bed, I put out a glass of water with a napkin on it, for me to drink in the middle of the night. Every night Rainbow traipsed up the ramp, pushed the napkin away, and lapped-up my water. I thought it was so cool! Then, she hopped onto the bed and slept with me.
Back in the "old days" I let Rainbow Cat wander outside. When I walked with her she was really shy and I remember (a hot Summer evening and all the tenents were lounging outside) and I was walking with Rainbow and she just kept winding her way between my legs. She just wanted to stay with me and have me protect her. I remember one friend saying, "gee, Jeff, Rainbow really loves you." Yes she did. I never had and never had since such a loving and devoted friend as Rainbow.
At some point she scratched me and I got "Cat Scratch Fever" which the doctors couldn't diagnose and they took out a "tumor" (just a blown-up lymph-gland in my arm) and when they finally diagnosed it my surgeon called me frantically telling me that I had to "destroy" any cat I had. Needless to say, I didn't. "Destroy Rainbow" seemed to be the common theme in her (our) life as when she was overweight (for most of her life after I had her "fixed") she was diagnosed with an enlarged-heart and water in the lungs. I still said, let her go on. She did. She could rally from death itself!
But finally, at 20, all of her problems caught-up with her. She was almost fine until about a week ago when she stopped eating, couldn't walk, started gasping for breath, lost interest in everything and could only walk a few steps before lying on her side and trying to breath. Rainbow had rallied-back from so many "dire problems" that after a while you (well, me, I) just assumed she would always bounce back. But this week she couldn't. 20 years and 5 months after her birth, she finally gave in.
I knew it was the end. She let me know, with a look and a raspy sound, that it was time. I've been dreading this moment forever. But I also knew that Rainbow depended on me to do the right thing for her. She had reached the point where she was quickly dying, and there was no option left but to ease her suffering.
She was ready last night. This morning I first made an appointment at the animal hospital. Then, I went to the hardware store and -- how terrible a shopping trip is this? I bought a shovel. I came home and excavated her space right outside my front-door and the window where she used to sit and watch the world. There are huge trees all around but I also bought tin-snips to cut the roots.
The veterinarian I go to now is very nice, and they have a special room for the "end times" of your beloved. A nice couch for you both to sit on. They gave me about 15 minutes to be alone with Rainbow. Then, the doctor came in and administered a sedative (the kind used to put an animal to sleep for surgery) and then she left. As the minutes ticked-by, I said my last thoughts and feelings to Rainbow as she went into deep, painless sleep. As she fell asleep, I (again) let Rainbow know that I loved her so much and forever, in body and then in spirit. I told her as I stroked her beautiful fur that I hoped she would wait for me in Heaven and that I would join her soon.
I must tell you that this is the second cat-friend I've had to put to sleep. My first best friend, Jasper, had kidney disease and had a slow, terrible death over four months. I didn't know better and I had the Vet try to save him with dialysis and other expensive procedures. I... No, he, Jasper, suffered and grew progressively worse over several months.
Rainbow, thank God, stayed resilient and lived through most of her problems over the years. But this time, there was no rally left, no second-wind.
Rainbow had a (if there is such a thing) good death within my arms. I held her in her final moments.
Early this morning I bought a shovel and dug her grave. Then, I prepared a favorite box of hers, lined with plastic, and then my pillowcase that she always slept on, and when I brought her home from the Vet a few hours ago, I wrapped her in her favorite blanket, the one that lined her "comfy-nest" that she spent her free time in.
I also lined her coffin with her favorite toys and shoe-laces (she was always grabbing them and carrying them off...) and some food and water and love...
I buried Rainbow an hour ago outside my front door and right next to the window she used to sit at while looking out at the world. I know her spirit will find a way back inside to be with me. I also know and believe that Rainbow was the best thing, the best person/being/friend that ever came into my life.
Rainbow, I love you now and tomorrow and forever. WE WILL be together in body and then in spirit for all eternity and beyond. Rainbow and Jeff, always and forever.
I have to tell you, Rainbow had the most beautiful face in the universe.
Here is how I will always remember her, when she wasn't snuggling up to me in bed, here she is in her "comfy-nest" blanket under the tea-table:
Okay... I'm sorry this post was depressing but I needed to send my all-time best buddy, Rainbow, onto and into heaven and ask her to please wait for me. I'll be there soon. Thank you Almighty God, for bringing Rainbow and me together and allowing us to have so many years of pleasure together.
Please, KEEP us together for all eternity and beyond.
Rainbow, I love you so much that I hope we are soon exploring the universe together and once again being reunited as best friends.
God, please bless Rainbow for all eternity. She deserves it. I love and miss her so much.
Here's one about a second-generation cat-burglar from Stuff.com:
Podge the cat, whose mother Kizzi used to steal rugby socks, has spent much of the past two and a-half years flogging shoes from porches.He lost part of his tail during one late-night raid - his owner, Aileen Smith, suspected it was caught in a door as he tried to get away - but he continues to steal shoes by the pair.
After a quiet period of some weeks, Podge stole four pair of shoes last week and on Sunday was caught, "with his tail up like a peacock", dragging a pastel-blue slip-on down the footpath to his Ventnor St home.
"I don't know if he learned about stealing things from his mother, but she was never that bad," Mrs Smith said, noting Podge might have to be put under house arrest.
Another story of a dog on-the-go... From the AP:
WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory - An exuberant dog left in a truck while the owner watched Canada win the World Cup of Hockey managed to throw the vehicle into gear and coast down a city hill.A man out for a walk called police after seeing the vehicle coast by with a black Labrador retriever behind the wheel.
Police arrived to find the truck in the middle of a road, blocking traffic, with the dog still at the wheel. No one was injured and there was no damage.
Going door to door, police managed to track down the owner.
"Subsequent investigation indicates that the dog was celebrating the Canadian victory in the world hockey game and knocked the truck into gear, causing it to roll down the hill," Whitehorse Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Wednesday in a firmly tongue-in-cheek news release.
Several of you have indicated via email that you have had trouble posting comments because of the dreaded "questionable content" thingie from MT-Blacklist (the program I use to try to screen some of the huge number of spam comments that are posted.) Usually this is because, when I do my morning "de-spam", MT-Blacklist imports onto it's "banned" list the domain of the poster. One such was mail.com. This prevented users listing their email address as anything containing that string, such as "gmail.com" or "hotmail.com" and I apologize for that. I've removed "mail.com" from the blacklist for now. A word of advice: If you find your comment being rejected, try putting in a phony email address -- it's not like it matters and will actually prevent some "spiders" from harvesting your email address for future spamming. So while you might have to put in an email address (you do) you could just put YourName@lalaland.org and usually that's enough to get you through the "security system" and all... Sorry it has to be that way but do you really want to read piles of comments about "on-line poker, penis enhancement, viagra, porno, etc"?
My cat Rainbow is over 20 years old and has faced illness before but I fear she's getting to that time. Skinny, spitting up more than usual, some incontinance, fur getting "starry" and she just looks like it might be time to move on. *Sigh*
You're walking Fido and you see something by the curb... From the New Zealand Herald:
A solid gold one penny coin dating from the ninth century and valued by experts at €220,000 ($418,808) has been found by an Englishman walking his dog."It is quite simply the most important single coin find for a century. We fell off our chairs when we realised what it was," said numismatics specialist Richard Bishop, of the London auction house Spink.
The coin bore the effigy of Coenwulf, an Anglo-Saxon king who ruled Mercia between 796 and 821 AD. It has been authenticated by the British Museum and other specialists, meaning that it might make a record price when it is auctioned on October 6.
Hey, I don't make this stuff up... From News.com.au:
A PROUD Romanian dog owner was forced to leave his apartment after a court ordered his mastiff to be removed from the building because its snores kept the neighbours awake, officials said.Attila Varga and his Neapolitan mastiff named Sumo left the flat in the central town of Cluj without resistance, said legal official Marius Stolneanu, who was present at the operation.
Varga said however that he would appeal the decision of the court, which granted his neighbours' request to have the 60kg beast ousted.
Neighbours said that when Sumo snored, their walls often shook and burglar alarms went off.
"My father-in-law couldn't take it any more. He left," said neighbour Iuliu Popa.
Varga said his two-and-a-half-year-old mastiff had won several competitions.
"We share the same bed and I got so used to it (the snoring) that I don't even hear it any more," he said.
I've mentioned before that I think the punishments meted out for animal cruelty are woefully inadequate. While reading this Yahoo story about a disgusting cat-torture film being shown at the Toranto Film Festival, I discovered that even in Canada, hideous cruelty to animals goes almost unpunished. The film is an examination of an actual case of three mutants who torture and murder a cat "for the sake of art." In the actual court case of these pieces of crap:
Power, an ex-vegetarian who once worked in a slaughterhouse, said he intended to eat the cat after he killed it, but one of his roommates called police upon discovering the head in the refrigerator.In court, Power's attorneys said he intended the video to be an art project showing the hypocrisy of society for allowing the killing of some animals for meat, but not others.
Power and his friend Anthony Wennekers, 22, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and mischief charges midway through their 2001 trial.
Power was handed a 90-day sentence, to be served on weekends, followed by 18 months of house arrest. Wennekers was sentenced to time served and released after 11 months in custody.
The third cohort, Matthew Kaczorowski, became a fugitive for 18 months until his arrest in April 2003. He pleaded guilty to one charge of mischief and was sentenced to four months in prison and three years' probation.
Katie Woodward was so incensed after seeing footage of the video in court, she launched the Web site FindMatt.org, which ultimately led police to Kaczorowski in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Update: From Court TV:
As more than 100 animal-rights activists converged on the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival Tuesday to protest a documentary about the torture and murder of a cat, the man who sparked their outrage not only showed up at the rally, but was arrested.Convicted cat killer Jesse Power emerged from behind the crowd of reportedly peaceful protesters in front of a downtown Toronto theater minutes before the premiere of "Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat."
"We couldn't believe our eyes. He knows how we feel about him, but still he came right up in our faces as if to provoke us," said Suzanne Lahaie, co-founder of Freedom for Animals, the group that organized the protest. "It was so nervy of him, but we kept our cool. The police thanked us later."
Lahaie said Power exchanged a few words with protesters before Toronto police led him into the theater. When they brought him back out, he was in handcuffs.
Power was arrested for breach of peace and released two hours later, after the film's conclusion. Power is currently facing unrelated theft charges.
I'm actually astounded that a cat could survive at all in a washing machine. From the Daily Times in Pakistan:
A cat that fell asleep in a washing machine survived a 60-minute cycle at 40C. Toreilles had sneaked into a neighbour’s house looking for a warm spot, reports the Daily Mirror.The 15-month-old tabby is now recovering at an animal hospital after escaping with minor injuries. Owner Debbie Sainsbury, 44, said: “Apparently he just dropped out when the door opened.
“He couldn’t walk but was purring and very much alive, now he’s looking better every day. “I think he definitely lost one his nine lives, he’s a very lucky cat.”
Vet Sheelagh Houlden said: “He was in considerably good shape considering what he had been through. He was fairly lucky to be alive.”
While I'm sure that genetics plays a large role in the disposition of one's pet, I truly believe that most of your loved one's characteristics come from the "formative" years of it's life. What were the influences during your cat or dog's childhood?
So, as I've reported here several times past, there are companies out there willing to clone your cat. From CBS News:
Kittens Tabouli and Baba Ganoush aren't twins, they're clones, the products of a pet-cloning laboratory. CEO Lou Hawthorne says there's a fortune to be made copying cats.
CBS photo
"It's a multibillion-dollar business waiting to happen," Hawthorne said.Hawthorne's company, Genetic Savings & Clone, claims it has a waiting list of those ready to pay $50,000 to clone a beloved cat. Dogs will cost more, reports CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone.
"We have a money-back guarantee that the clone will be healthy and that it will have a very high degree of physical resemblance," Hawthorne said.
It won't be the same cat. Or dog.
Might I suggest that instead of trying to duplicate your original, you instead (while it's alive) love and cherish that original as much as you can. And when -- as, unfortunately they all must -- they pass on, cherish their memories and when you're ready, head-on down to the local animal shelter and find a new, totally different, loving cat or dog. And instead of trying to "compare" him or her to your recently deceased, fall in love with a whole new set of traits in a deserving animal starving for love and affection.
To hell with clones. And anyone who would actually spend 50 grand to try to duplicate an animal has deprived other, needy and wanting animals of (besides a lot of supportive money for the shelter that has taken them in,) love and a good home-life.
Kick the humans out and turn a swimming pool over to the dogs! That's what's happening in one town in Missouri... From NBC 30 (CT):
The end of the dog days of summer means the beginning of the pool days for some canines.Dogs got to go swimming recently when a pool in Springfield, Mo., held its first dog swim.
Now that the pool is closed for humans for the season, the public pool was opened to their four-legged friends.
Owners had to pay $5 each for their dogs to get in and get wet.
The dog swim was aimed at raising interest in building a dog park in Springfield.
A group of citizens is trying to raise $75,000 for the park.
Purina, as part of their rebirth of Morris the Cat, had him presenting an animal shelter with a check for $5000 dollars. From Northwest Arkansas News:
Mayor Steve Womack gave a cat the key to the city on Thursday.Not all felines, after all, are in the position to donate $5,000 to an animal shelter.
As a part of a nationwide promotion by Del Monte Foods of its revamped 9 Lives cat food line, the company brought back a pet industry icon — Morris the 9 Lives Cat.
Television commercials featuring Morris began to air Monday. He was at the Rogers City Administration Building Thursday for the $5,000 check presentation to Rogers based Humane Society for Animals Inc.
Womack, who has three cats of his own, said Rogers is flattered to be the first stop on Morris’ promotion tour. "This is a very pet-friendly city," Womack said.
I just stumbled across a site for rabbit lovers called Rabbits.com. All sorts of info and stuff for you and your bunnies.
I've thought of getting a rabbit (there's nothing in my lease that says I can't) and I wonder how they would get along with cats...
You love your dog. You love playing with your dog. You'd like to find new ways to enjoy your time with your dog and now Dog-Play.com has a fine list of ideas for fun for you and your buddy. There are so many good activities here that I recommend you just head over and print it out! They have all sorts of categories and fun or fun training games and experiences for you.
And now there's a search-engine just for dog lover stuff here! I recommend it.
Lastly, how about an island just for dogs? Cool!
Folks, I hate occasionally reporting stories like this but I really think this one needs some attention. I'm not a member of PETA and I have no problem -- or at least not too much difficulty -- with the wearing of fur when it comes from some rodent or cow, etc. But cats and dogs are smart, emotional creatures who have brought an astounding amount of love and brightness into our lives.
I suppose that someone could make an argument that there is no difference between a mink and a cat but I don't see it that way. From This Is London:
Cat and dog fur is being shipped into Britain on a record scale, it is revealed today. Figures obtained by the Evening Standard show a huge surge in imports of the pelts for sale to the fashion industry. Traders from Europe and the Far East ferried up to £7million worth into Britain last year...
Although America, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Greece and Australia have banned all cat and dog fur imports, there are no such restrictions in Britain.
The majority of cat and dog fur arriving here comes from China, where two million animals a year are slaughtered for the trade.
I'm sorry folks but this is the most repellent photo and story I have ever read. I don't often wish harm to people but I sincerely hope that ANYONE who would buy and wear a cat or dog coat will be found dead under a tree because their miniscule heart has exploded. I wish death on them. Pure and simple.
It is incredible that a country like Britain, that protects worms and slugs would allow such trade in dog and cat fur. It is astonishing that any mutant would buy such a thing.
You know folks, not that the capture of wandering pets is a problem in Vermont, but this just gives me one more reason to keep my cats inside and if I had a dog, I would be sure to supervise their outdoor activities.
This story has really bummed me out.
