Pet rentals

Joanna sent me a really interesting article, which I thought I'd share here.

It's about a company called FlexPetz - a company that lets you "rent" dogs for a certain period of time. It's geared to people who don't have the time or resources to keep a pet full-time, but still want to enjoy some of the benefits of having an animal.

An excerpt:

In early 2007, Marlena Cervantes founded FlexPetz, a pet-sharing service that allows members to rent out dogs for a few hours or days at a time. Since then the small business—the first of its kind in the U.S.—has expanded rapidly from San Diego and opened branches in Los Angeles, Manhattan, and, most recently, in London. The company's website lists plans to open soon in San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, and Paris, France.

But in recent weeks, lawmakers have begun taking steps to ban a practice critics call emotionally harmful to the animals.

It's an interesting concept. What do you think? I'm not sure. I can see some positives, especially because I'm a huge pet lover and I've been in positions where I have been unable to own one (for example, in college - I missed having cats sooo much). However, I can also see the negatives - what type of emotional affect does this have on the pet? What's the focus of the company - making money or really providing the service? Who takes care of the dogs' vet bills and makes sure they are healthy? How do you guard against possible abuse?

It seems, though, that laws are being passed to prevent FlexPetz from operating in certain cities in the U.S. (like Boston, for example). It seems this might be the end of the company:

"In response to inquiries from NEWSWEEK about the effect the legislation will have on FlexPetz growth, CEO and founder Cervantes said that as a result of the recent legislation, she has decided to "shelve" operations in the US and London, and that each pet in all FlexPetz locations will be offered to a renter for adoption."

Interesting things to ponder. Thanks, Joanna!

READ MORE:
A dog for a day? Lawmakers take action against "pet rental" companies

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Slightly concerned

So either Lewis or Ebony or both have gotten into a bad habit of using the carpet as their litter box. It's gotten especially bad as the humidity has gotten worse. We have two litter boxes which we try to keep clean and yet they still seem to prefer the bathroom carpet. (Side note: Who puts carpet in the bathroom??? Bad idea!)

So I'm not sure what to do. At first I thought they were mad at us for going on vacation, like when we're gone for the weekend camping or chilling in some Outer Banks rentals, but now they seem to be doing it even when we're home. I wonder if they are getting less attention somehow? I used to be home a lot more before I started a new job 6 months ago. They do seem to walk around the house crying for no reason.

I'm slightly concerned, and my mom suggested I talk to the vet. I realized they are due for their annual vaccines anyways so I should take them in anyways. I hope they're okay. :-/

New Simon's Cat video

Here is a new video in the series:


I love this series. It seems that the author has spent time with Lewis. :-)

You can see the other two videos here:
Simon's Cat "Cat Man Do"
Simon's Cat "Let Me In!"

Here Kitty Kitty

I'm the kind of person who enjoy creative craft-y projects. I also love sending cards out to people - birthdays, weddings, holidays, etc. Recently a friend of mine turned me onto stamps - a great tool for making cards, tags, decorating paper bags, etc. (Surprisingly, I'm not really into scrapbooking.) I received my set of stamps today, and one of the sets I got are some cat stamps:



Aren't they adorable? I tried to get stamps that would have a variety of uses, but the cat stamps are rather specific. There's only so many times you can send cards that say "happy birthday from the cat". :-) Oh well. They're so me. Any ideas of what I can use them for?

I love cat stuff. When I get my sewing machine, I'd like to start making cat-themed things for fun, and perhaps selling them on etsy or something. Maybe I can incorporate the cat stamps with that? Or I could just make and sell notecards? Ah the possibilities!

Now, I only need to find some beagle stamps... ;-)

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Couch potatoes

When my cats and I first moved to Atlanta, we settled in a nice little apartment. First I had the couch at a right angle to the large front window, and I put a small table in front of the window so Lewis and Ebony could sit there and watch the goings on outside.

A few months later I rearranged the apartment and put the couch in front of the window. That ended up being a mistake, because the kitties have a mind like a computer memory and learned something they have since never forgotten: the back of the couch is an awesome place to sleep. They never used to get up there before but once it became the Prime Spot for Window Watching, they soon settled themselves in and wouldn't move. About a year later, the apartment was rearranged again, and the couch came away from in front of the window. Since then, it has never been in front of the window, but alas - it was too late. Their favorite spot to sleep has since been on the back of the couch. It's great - they can see everything that's going on, be closer to our eye levels (especially when we're sitting), and it's comfortable to boot.

A few months ago we finally saved enough money to buy a new couch and loveseat. My thoughts were that with this new couch, which had a different type of back cushion, the cats would find a new place to rest.

Who was I kidding? Once they got over their fear of the new couches (really, why were they so scared of them?) they happily settled onto the back. And now they have pushed the cushion down enough that it's more comfortable and less attractive for us. Sigh.

I need to find something that will keep them off the back of the couch. I'm thinking that perhaps some tub mats with the suction cup side facing up would be good. I've also heard that most cats will avoid tinfoil. Or perhaps I should just not worry about it, because let's face it - cats will go wherever they please, isn't that true? We'll see.

Sea turtles

So this past weekend, we headed to Hilton Head Island for a relative's wedding and to relax on the beach for a few days. We arrived to the condo after midnight, and since we were still wound up from driving, we took a nice walk on the beach before we hit the sack.

The first thing I noticed about the beach was how incredibly dark it was. There was no moon, and I could hardly see my hand in front of me. I thought it was odd until I asked about it the next day. Because of the sea turtles, Hilton Head has required there to be no light shining on the beach from the land between May 1st and October 31st. So all the waterfront hotels had to put up thick curtains or barriers in order to block the light at night. The reason they do this is to protect the sea turtles. The lights from the shore confuses the mama turtles as well as the baby turtles after they hatch, and they head towards the land instead of heading into the ocean. Since sea turtles are endangered, Hilton Head is trying to do everything to help the turtles get back to the sea as nature intended. I thought that was interesting.

A few days ago, I came across this video on CNN's iReport of newly-hatched baby sea turtles heading for the ocean. It made me smile and gave me all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings:


I wish I could witness some baby sea turtles myself! I enjoyed our stay at Hilton Head. These are the kinds of things you don't find when you do Las Vegas traveling. :-)

Now a word from Ebony

I didn't want Lewis to be the only voice on this blog so I thought I'd take a stab. I'm curled up right now in my human's lap, making sure what is being typed matches my dictation. I have to tell you a secret. A few weeks ago, I was finally able to get out of my collar! Finally, freedom! I know my human tells me that the identification tag on my collar will help me get home if I get lost, but I'm not worried. I'm very good when it comes to direction and I'm sure I'd be able to find my way back. The best part is that I managed to hide it in a place where my humans haven't discovered it yet! They are still stumped about its location. I saw them checking under the bed the other night, and I just sat there with a knowing smile on my face. If all goes as planned, my neck shall remain free forever.

In the meantime, I spot some squirrels through the window and I must go investigate. Catch ya later, chicas!

—posted by your guest transcriber,wine refrigerator