Cat fights

Continuing on with memories of Misty...

Misty loved the outdoors. We had bars on all our windows, as was common in Peru, and so we'd keep the window open a little so she could slip in and out through the bars. She loved to be on the prowl. She ran away once, when she was still young, and we found her a few days later. Oh those were very tough days! I remember being SO happy when we found her!

Like I said, I was only 10 when we got her. She was my responsibility and I took my duties very seriously. She was definitely my baby. In our backyard we had a grape arbor, where neighborhood cats liked to meet in the midnight moonlight. Misty was no exception. We often found her walking around up there, at all times of the day.

One evening I remember waking up to cat yowls and screams - the sounds of a fight! I peeked out my bedroom window, and in the dim landscape lighting I could just make out the shape of some kitties on the grape arbor. I was convinced it was Misty, and I was worried that she'd get hurt or killed. I ran to my parents' room and woke up my dad. He graciously followed me downstairs to "rescue Misty".

As we entered the living room, my dad paused by the couch and said, "Ashley, here she is." Sure enough, there on the couch lay Misty, completely comfortable and unharmed. I was so relieved. I felt bad for dragging my dad out of bed in the middle of the night, though!

My very first kitty

I got my first cat when I was 10. I had wanted a cat for a long time, but we moved around so much that I couldn't get one. Finally, in 1993, my parents said we were settled enough for me to get a kitty. I remember my mom had me call on "free kitten" ads in the newspaper. I didn't speak much Spanish, but my mom helped me write out a little script of what to say on the phone. I called a few places who didn't have kittens anymore, and then I called the last one. She had kittens! I was so excited, that I completely forgot all the Spanish I knew. I didn't know what to say, so I gave the phone to my mom. I'm sure she loved that. ;-)

We picked up Misty in November of 1993. She was only 6 weeks old, and a cute little grey tabby. I named her after the horse in the book "Misty of Chincoteague", which was a favorite of mine at the time. Ah, the memories! I loved having a kitty and taking care of her. She lived with us until 1996 when we were unable to bring her with us when we moved countries. She passed away in 2000 from feline leukemia.

By the way, fun fact about me: I was a horse-lover until 7th grade, when I realized my love for cats. I was a huge fan of Marguerite Henry, writer of many horse books. Her most famous take place in Chincoteague, an island off of the Virginia coastline. They are famous for their wild horses, and the "Pony Penning Day" that takes place there every year. One of these days I'd love to see that. Perhaps stay at a nice Virginia bed and breakfast, relax with my husband, really live it up. Who knows, I may do it yet. :-)

Overweight pets

Joanna, who is my resident link-sender passed on this CNN article earlier this week. It's an article entitled "Are you 'loving' your pet into an early grave?" and about people who overfeed their pets.

It's common for people to show their pets love by giving them a lot of food and snacks. They pour on the treats, not realizing that one dog biscuit can be 100 calories. They let cats and dogs feast on the fat of their rib-eye steaks and other scraps from the dinner table.

"A lot of owners think their pets are suffering if they aren't getting table scraps and treats," Yee says. "But dogs don't need people food; they're perfectly happy with their own food."

The article talks about how overweight pets suffer many physical problems, including the possibility of early death. This kinda scared me!

I have struggled myself with an overweight cat, Lewis. I feed him the vet recommended amount of good quality "light" food. Yet, Lewis seems to walk round with a pocket of flubber hanging from his belly. It used to be a lot worse; he's looking much better now. I decided that he's never going to be thin, and that I just need to try my hardest that he doesn't get any heavier. :-)

The article suggests two ways of telling if your pet is overweight: check to see if you can feel their ribs (but you shouldn't be able to see them), and they should have an hourglass shape when looking down at them from above (the waist tucks in right in front of the hips). It's probably a good idea to always keep an eye on your animal to make sure he's not gaining too much weight. Also, make sure you're not feeding your animal table scraps and other food made for humans.

Now, if you find that you want to build an outdoor kitchen to accommodate your pets' eating habits, you might want to reevaluate your own overfeeding of your animal. :-)

Huh?

Today I have to hide in this post the phrase "pulse oximeter". I suppose if I sat down and thought for a long time, I could come up with a great pet-related post that used that term not out-of-place. But, I am tired. Life catches up to you and I have no energy to figure it out.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. Zoey turns 4 months old on Saturday. She has gotten into this new habit that cracks me up. When her water bowl is empty, she picks it up and carries it to me. It reminds me of Snoopy. I think it's really cute. I'll have to get a picture of her next time she does that!

(Of course, I have to say that after she carries it to me, she begins to chew on it. Not so cute!)

Also, Lewis and Zoey have started playing together. It's cute too. More pictures, note to self.

Visit your local shelter!

The first time I went to get a dog, we went to a pet store. I would never do that again - for reasons that are another post. I would encourage anyone who is looking for a dog to check out their local shelters first. If you are in Atlanta, one I recommend is Atlanta Pet Rescue. They have all sorts of dogs and cats, a good variety of breeds and ages. If you are looking for a particular breed, all you have to do is wait and be patient.

Another option is finding a pet through Craigslist. This is where I found my dog, Zoey. Craigslist is more individuals who are giving away their pets due to various reasons - not enough time to spend with the pet, health issues, moving, etc. One entry I read was about an owner who was about to enter drug treatment and wanted to make sure his pet had a good home. Craigslist can be great also if you want an animal other than a dog or cat. Again, you have to be patient but it's worth it when the one you want comes along! You can also check it for pet supplies, like cages.

A lot of people want puppies, but there are good reasons to consider getting an older dog, especially if you've never owned a dog before. Older dogs are less hyper, you can better tell their personalities, and you don't have to deal with potty-training issues as much. Of course, the advantage of puppies is that you can shape them to a certain extent through exposure to various things at a young age.

As for cats, I personally love kittens and probably wouldn't go for an older cat. However, older cats need homes too and they have their advantages. Like dogs, you can see what their personality will be like and they'll be less wild and destructive. While kittens are really cute, they can also be really annoying when they want to play Chase the Toes in the middle of the night. :-) (Or, if they're like anything like my cats, they'll want to either hold races around your bed or they'll want to purr loudly and knead their sharp claws on your stomach. In the middle of the night, of course.)

So, next time you are in the market for an animal be sure to check out your local shelter!

Finding a vet

When I moved to Atlanta a few years ago, I knew I needed to find a good vet for my two kitties. I asked my boss, who has two dogs, for a recommendation, and she pointed me to one that was practically next door that they used.

I went there a total of three times. I wasn't too impressed, especially after he told me that he had brought his cat in that day to be declawed. The cat apparently was tearing up the new furniture. I was skeptical - what vet declaws his cat because of furniture? But, I like giving people the benefit of the doubt so I said nothing. Then he told me my cat Lewis weighed 8 pounds. I was curious about that - Lewis was (and is!) a little fatso and I knew 8 pounds was way too light. (I was right. A second opinion later told me he was actually 11 pounds.) The thing that clinched it though was when I brought Lewis in for a urine sample, and I was asked to leave him for the day because his bladder was empty. I picked him up at the end of the day, and he was so out of it. He wouldn't eat (NOT like Lewis at all), was all dopey and couldn't even make it to the litter box. I called the vet, concerned. The vet assured me that Lewis hadn't been given any medication. I decided to see a new vet.

A year or so later, my boss happened to ask me if I was still seeing the vet they had recommended. I admitted no, and told them the story. They then told me how the had their own problems with the vet - how he tacked on all these extra fees, didn't do what he charged them for, and was overall more concerned about the money than the wellbeing of the animals. He drove his luxury car, with his custom hubcaps and fancy billet grille, and kept the office in disrepair. I could definitely see where they were coming from.

Last week, I was surprised to see that vet made the news. I'm not going to comment on this particular case, but I thought it was interesting. Apparently, the vet was treating a dog, and tacked on these extra fees that the owner couldn't pay. So, the vet was holding the dog until the owner paid up. Because of my negative experience with this vet, I wasn't too surprised. I'm so glad this didn't happen to me. It goes to show you how important it is to find a good vet.

Wild animals and the government

Joanna sent me this article entitled "Bambi vs. the Bureaucrats: Oregon Seizes Pet Deer, Controversy Erupts". It was pretty interesting, and I finished the article not really sure where I stood on the issue.

An excerpt:

Had he been a hunter, and had the mottled white doe that tumbled down a hill into his rural Oregon driveway six years ago been an adult, Jim Filipetti could have ponied up $19, applied for a deer tag and gunned the animal down. He could have butchered the deer the state now knows as "Snowball," mounted her head on the wall and moved on with his life.

But Filipetti chose to raise the injured fawn as a pet, spending thousands of dollars on veterinarian bills to treat her deformed hooves, installing strips of carpet throughout his house so she wouldn't slip on the hardwood floors, and feeding her a steady diet of sweetpeas, tomatoes and green beans—"the best that Safeway had to offer," he says. After 12 months, the house painter moved her to a pen outside his home in Molalla, Ore., but she was still a member of the family. "It was like having a dog around the house," Filipetti says.

Of course, my first thought is "Oooh the government needs to stop meddling in our personal freedoms!" When is it more legal to shoot a deer than nurse it back to health? Are we really trying to protect life, or just make everyone robots?

The article goes on to present the flip side of the situation:

[State officials] still insist Filipetti's kindness was misplaced. Approaching wild animals is a bad idea because the well-intentioned are likely to get hurt, says Rick Hargrave, a spokesman for Fish and Wildlife. "If they say 'Oh, gosh, the doe has gotten too big, we need to release it,' the doe will go to extremes to get fed. It'll break down fences and break into a house," Hargrave says. "A buck will grow antlers and attack." There's also a risk of catching diseases from wild animals, Hargrave adds.

This isn't the first time a kind-hearted, misguided Oregonian has tried to heed the call of the wild. Last year, an 11-year-old girl in the coastal city of Waldport suffered a bruised skull and jaw after the deer her family had adopted after it was hit by a car decided to turn on the child, pinning her against a fence. And in 2005, state officials discovered a black bear in the home of a Roseburg man. The bear had been living there for years, it turns out, eating people food, even sleeping in a bed made for humans. A dozen times in the past year and a half, Hargrave says, state officials have had to remove wild animals from people's homes.

Now I don't know what to think. I wish that we could all enjoy wildlife and do what's best for it, and have the freedom to do so. However, I do understand that you can't always trust people to act in the animal's best interests. So, I am grateful that the government DOES step in for those cases. All this kinda reminds me of the controversy surrounding the cute polar bear, Knut.

What do you think about this? Do you think there should be regulations about wild animals and the people who take them in? Should you need a permit to do so? Or should animals be left to their own defenses in the wild, just letting nature to take its course?

(Oh and by the way, if you DO stop and pick up a deer off the side of the road, make sure you have a good truck bed liner or their hooves will scratch up the paint. Don't ask me how I know.)