For Pets and Pet Lovers

Dog, elephant are best buddies — what a great lesson for us all!

Gary — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:59:31 +0000

If you missed Sunday's CBS evening news, you really must take a look at this video on their website about Tarra the elephant and Bella the dog. Two incredibly unlikely best friends, Tarra and Bella will warm your heart and offer hope that even we human beings COULD some day learn to get along!

Just click on the link below and you should go to the CBS News link to view the video:

Enjoy the story of Tarra and Bella! And may this new year bring the best to all pets and pet lovers!

Dog, elephant are best buddies — what a great lesson for us all!

Take a look around our new online shop — ‘Supplies for Pets and Pet Lovers’

Gary — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:23:48 +0000

We just added a terrific merchant partner who supplied us with a nifty new store we've "opened" on the website, "Supplies for Pets and Pet Lovers."

Our newly opened store includes such name-brand items as Bio Spot and Advantage flea and tick control products, Hartz products for cats and dogs, and a wide array of pet supplies for small animals, reptiles and amphibians, and birds. Go have a look.

You'll find links to our new online pet supply shop throughout this post, and in the navigation menu at the top of the blog, by clicking the link labeled "Supplies for Pets and Pet Lovers."

I know you'll find some useful and delightful supplies for your pets -- at prices that will please any pet lover! Enjoy!

Take a look around our new online shop — ‘Supplies for Pets and Pet Lovers’

Inflicting Halloween on your pet? Pets are so patient with us, aren’t they?

Gary — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:06:05 +0000

I offer these pictures in a spirit of good fun. I know most people find dogs and cats and other pets costumed for Halloween to be cute. I agree that most of these pics are really funny and made me chuckle.

But, hey, think of the humiliation to our poor pets -- and yet they patiently love us still, don't they. Makes me think of that quote I can't place right now, or prayer or something. It goes like this:

"Dear Lord, help me to be as good a person as my dog things I am."

Enjoy the Halloween fun -- and, seriously, I don't think any pets were hurt in the making of these pictures (at least it doesn't appear that anything suffered beyond their dignity). LOL!

(NOTE: I am just learning to work with this new-fangled "gallery" software on this blog, so I ask for your patience. You should be able to click on a link just below this paragraph and see thumbnails of 9 photos -- or maybe a link that says "Show Slideshow" that will set up a "YouTube type" video display you can advance from one of the nine pics to the next by clicking. Does that make any sense? Hope so.)

Halloween Pets

Watch gallery

9 Photos

Inflicting Halloween on your pet? Pets are so patient with us, aren’t they?

Happy Halloween

Gary — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:02:49 +0000

It's just over a week until Halloween. Trick-or-treaters and costumes and parties are lots of fun for humans, but don't forget that your pets are affected as well. For a number of years we had a large black cat named Merlin. When Halloween rolled around we made it a point to put him in the basement or upstairs where he couldn't slip out the door and become the object of mischief (or scare some unwitting trick-or-treater). We need to remember that the noise and commotion can be scary for some pets. Other pets like our neighbor's dog are more likely to become overly excited and overwhelm the trick-or-treaters. By the way, be careful not to let your pets get into Halloween treats that will make them sick. Have a safe and happy Halloween.

Happy Halloween

Hamsters are fun pets

Gary — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:47:52 +0000

Recently I was reading a novel whose main character has a pet hamster and it brought back some pleasant memories. When our children were in elementary school we had a hamster named Scooter. Scooter was quite a little escape artist. Even though we had a plastic cage with a metal top Scooter proved able to get out. One night Scooter managed to get from the cage on top of our son's chest of drawers down to the floor and into his sister's bedroom. From there Scooter headed downstairs. When we caught him he was almost at the bottom of the stairs. We found that a book placed on top of the cage lid stymied Scooter's escape plans. Scooter did get to explore in his plastic ball.

Hamsters are fun pets

Spoiled cat

Gary — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:22:56 +0000

Lately we have had our cat spoiled by our son. He had purchased some small cans of cat food for a stray he met while running and then didn't see it anymore, so he brought the food to Tigra. We normally feed her dry food and occasional tidbits. She really likes the canned food. We allow her about half a can per day, which she gobbles down and then she does her best to get us to give her more. If we are in the living room she will go stand by the door like she wants out. As soon as one of us approaches the front door she will abruptly turn and head for the refrigerator. Whenever someone opens the refrigerator she is right there in the way. Our son gets such a kick out of all this that he keeps on buying the little cans of cat food. She now recognizes the size and shape of the can and knows it's for her. She is definitely spoiled.

Spoiled cat

Should taxpayers put up $130,000 to save box turtles in Maryland?

Gary — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:32:58 +0000

I love turtles. I've never had one as a pet, nor did my kids. But we do have some that show up every spring in our backyard. (Curiously, our old cat, Tigra, tends to just stare at one when she sees it, as though its slow motion makes her doubt that it's a living creature.) We do our best to leave them alone so as not to disturb them as they go about doing whatever "wild" turtles do. I don't even know what species of turtle they are.

I have to say, though, that I puzzle over the federal government giving a $130,000 grant to a project in Maryland that was started by concerned citizens who saw box turtles being killed when they tried to cross a road at a state park. According to the story I read about it, a couple of dozen concerned people put in almost 2 miles of shin-high fencing which barred turtles from crossing and forced them and other small critters down to some culverts under the road.

Seeing the success of that, someone got in gear and got a federal grant to build a better fence and do some work on culverts or something, and the result was $130,000 in federal funding. Well, good, I guess. I'm sure $130,000 is a tiny drop in the funding bucket from a governmental standpoint. And, really, I hope it does save some box turtles and other critters who might have been at risk from traffic.

But, at the same time, is it something taxpayers should be funding? Really?? Leave a comment and tell us what you think about the matter.

Technorati Tags: saving box turtles, federal funding for turtles, for pets and pet lovers

Should taxpayers put up $130,000 to save box turtles in Maryland?

Pets’ sense of hearing certainly beat mine and probably yours too

Gary — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:51:28 +0000

Of course, as an official "Old Guy" now (I'll be 61 next month), I have an excuse for less than the best hearing -- my ears have been used and abused with headphones, loud movie soundtracks, noisy sirens and honking horns, etc. But even when I was young with fresh, flexible eardrums, science tells me my hearing probably didn't do much better than 20 to 20,000 hertz in range. Our old cat, Tigra, according to the same scientific estimates, has a hearing range of 45 to 60,000 hertz.

Chances are good that your dog or cat hears much better than you do, and his/her annoying habit of not hearing you when you call is probably just attitude -- the dog or cat hears you but just doesn't want to listen and respond!

One of the oddest observations we've made about Tigra's hearing is that she's immediately fascinated by sounds that come from the tiny speakers on our laptop computers. She rarely pays attention or reacts to the sound from the television or a radio. But if I have my speakers turned on listening to anything on the laptop. she immediately perks up, climbs onto my lap, and begins to rub and walk all over the laptop if I let her. It's sort of comical.

Do your pets react to sounds? How do they react? Leave a comment and share your story.

Technorati Tags: cats, dogs, animal hearing ranges, for pets and pet lovers

Pets’ sense of hearing certainly beat mine and probably yours too

Anybody know anything about ‘nesting’ behavior in old cats??

Gary — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:54:29 +0000

Our old cat, Tigra, will turn 13 next month. We had a cat previously, Merlin, who lived to be almost 22. So I'm not clear on how "old" 13 is for a cat. But let's say fairly old.

In recent months, Tigra has taken to nesting snuggled up under the covers tucked under the bottom of our bed. They droop down just enough for her to crawl under the bed and lay against the bottom of the blankets, while sleeping on the hardwood floor under the bed. When she first started doing this a couple of months ago, we were hunting all over the house for her and she startled us after we had called and called by suddenly popping out from under our bed.

We have no real issues with her nesting there, though she is aware of strict rules against being on the bed itself -- and is pretty cagey about not letting us come home and catch her on the bed. Too often.

I guess my biggest concern is that this could be some "end of life" issues where she's preparing just to snuggle in, go to sleep, and not wake up one of these days.

Odd, how cats behave sometimes, isn't it? They're mysterious, alien creatures. Gotta love 'em, though!

Technorati Tags: cats, cat nesting behavior, aging pets, for pets and pet lovers

Anybody know anything about ‘nesting’ behavior in old cats??

If you’re thinking fireworks this weekend, don’t forget to think about your pets

Gary — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:47:57 +0000

Most of you probably have already thought about this: Pets do NOT like fireworks and may be endangered by them.

If you have a dog or cat especially, you've probably noted that they don't care for sudden, loud noises, nor do they especially like the nasty smell of burning gunpowder. Which is to say this: Even if you live in a community which allows you to shoot off fireworks (and more communities in the U.S., at least, are banning fireworks every year) please, please, PLEASE protect your cats, dogs, birds, reptiles, caged pets, whatever from fireworks. (There was an especially cruel comment someone overheard at a fireworks stand where I live when a young man was buying firecrackers: "Yeah, I'm going to use them to scare my dog." God help us in our town if such a person was being serious; God help us in our town if such a person thought that was even funny!)

When the afternoon starts to turn into evening, make it a point today and especially this 4th of July Weekend to keep your pets inside. They'll appreciate it and so will you.

Technorati Tags: pets and fireworks, for pets and pet lovers

If you’re thinking fireworks this weekend, don’t forget to think about your pets