Earlier this year I rescued and subsequently adopted Piglet, a tiny, shy kitten someone dumped (probably) in our front yard, in the country, on a busy road. Tiny kitten + dumped + country + busy road = death sentence, as anyone with an ounce of sense would have, should have realized.
Pig is now about four months old now, not so tiny and certainly not so shy. I think he must be in the kitty-equivalent of the "terrible-twos". Piglet has become the Kamikaze Kitty.
While I don't know much about dogs, and I'm certainly not a professional, I am somewhat used to what they do, and I can pretty much cope with their various behaviors. The puppies I've raised and have worked with had their "terrible-twos" too, but it wasn't like this.
I know Pig is becoming a very good kitten really. He comes when he's called, doesn't use his claws when he plays with me (mostly) and has stopped biting me when I pick him up (mostly). He's getting along with the dogs, and is trying to get along with the resident cat (she's a bit bitchy). He doesn't claw the furniture or the curtains (we're still working on the houseplants). He also "helps" me by discovering new functionality in the various MacBook programs I use.
What I haven't been able to overcome are his Kamikaze missions. When I'm not paying attention - working at the computer or cooking dinner, or even just walking from one room to another with a hot cup of coffee, he runs at me, grabs my leg with his claws and bites HARD, then tears off. I'm always caught off guard, swear loudly and feel a total failure at dealing with an unwanted behavior.
When I'm not really busy, I grab my squirt bottle in one hand and my bag of treats in the other and work on "breaking" this habit of his, and it seems to be working. I walk back and forth - if he attacks, I squirt, when he doesn't, he gets lots of treats, praise and attention.
The problem is A) sometimes I'm busy and can't/don't care to be interrupted by Kamikazes or training a cat, B) I suspect Pig does these things for attention, which he certainly gets, and C) Piglet is focused on his "mission" more than I've ever been able to focus on anything, ever. I know all of these things and I'm still frustrated by my lack of time, patience and failure to understand and remember what cats need.
If feel like I can't cope, how do "average" pet parents deal with pet "problems"? What right do I have to be scornful of pet parents who don't follow my advice, when I don't always follow it myself?
And the sad truth is that many pet parents don't deal with the "problems". Too many "bad" pets are subjected to a lack of training, bad, cruel or outdated training methods, or a quick trip to the pound (or dumped in someone else's front yard. We buy expensive toys, but don't spend time playing with our fur-kids. Dogs are labeled hyperactive, cats are labeled anti-social. Dogs are confined to crates for their crimes, kitties are booted outdoors. And we humans blame them, go on with our lives without regard for the animals WE'VE invited into our homes, and the "superior" species refuses to take responsibility when things go wrong. The animals suffer.
Which brings me to the track on the broken record I seem to be playing lately. When you adopt a pet, you take the good with the bad AND you accept responsibility for spending the time, money and effort to ensure they have what they need - attention, exercise, training, restrictions. You train them to be the pet you want them to be, but accept that they are still dogs, cats, parrots or ferrets.
When I give this little lecture to myself, Pig becomes a little less of a menace and becomes an opportunity to learn, which makes the bites and scratches a little less painful. I remember to perform "random acts of positive reinforcement" (thanks to Deborah Flick), and keep treats stashed around the house just in case. I remember to watch for the signs that a Kamikaze attack is on it's way (spooky-kitty back and tail, poofy hair, wide pupils) and take a defensive posture. I try to avoid causing Pig to go Kamikaze through my own actions - playing too rough or making inciting motions/noises when he's already wound-up. And I keep Piglets nails trimmed - much less painful for everyone.
In other words, I try to remember to be a better pet-parent.
Am I perfect? Hell no! I'm still learning and anticipate I'll be a student for a very, very long time. But I've taken the first step - I've accepted responsibility for my own part in Pig's behavior and for the life I invited into my world. It's what I would advise all pet-parents to do...
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Adopt A Less Adoptable Pet Week
September 19 through 25 is Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet week. What classifies an animal as a "less adoptable pet"?
While some of these characteristics may require a bit of work on your part, not only are you going to save a life, but the feeling that comes with helping an animal overcome their issues is well worth the effort. I know, I've adopted one dog that meets ALL of these requirements to be labeled as "less-adoptable" - and she stinks to high-heavens most of the time too! The joy of turning an old, black, overweight Pit Bull mix with health and socialization issues into a happy, trusting and healthier dog has been more than ample payment.
Spudz was a reject - her owners wanted her and her canine pal euthanized because they were no longer wanted. Fortunately, a local rescue group saved her and when I was told "She's old, overweight and not much to look at" I knew she was the dog for me. Spudz was indeed old, overweight, had hip and back problems, smelled very, very bad and at age six or seven she wasn't housetrained. She wouldn't eat, drink or go potty if I was looking. She would hit the ground shaking if you had a belt in your hand. And she was black too, although I actually prefer black animals as they go with most of my clothing!
It took months (and the adoption of my Mad-Mac) before Spudz started being a normal dog - and sleeping on the sofa, which is the best place for a dog to be. She still isn't totally housetrained, and starts smelling just a few days after her baths. She loves walks and is at a decent weight, but despite the gentle ministrations of my chiropractor, her back continues to deteriorate. With coming out of her shell came little naughty behaviors like counter-surfing and stealing treats off the coffee table. But the important thing is that a less-adoptable pet is happy.
So please consider passing by the perfect Golden puppy or the bouncy adolescent tiger kitty and take a look at the older, black Pit Bull or an HIV cat. You won't be sorry...
- Old
- Black
- Big
- Health problems (missing limbs, eyes, deafness, HIV-positive, diabetic)
- An "unacceptable" breed (Rotties, Pit Bull-types, Dobbies, Dogo Argentino)
- Shy, anti-social or "only" pets
While some of these characteristics may require a bit of work on your part, not only are you going to save a life, but the feeling that comes with helping an animal overcome their issues is well worth the effort. I know, I've adopted one dog that meets ALL of these requirements to be labeled as "less-adoptable" - and she stinks to high-heavens most of the time too! The joy of turning an old, black, overweight Pit Bull mix with health and socialization issues into a happy, trusting and healthier dog has been more than ample payment.
Spudz was a reject - her owners wanted her and her canine pal euthanized because they were no longer wanted. Fortunately, a local rescue group saved her and when I was told "She's old, overweight and not much to look at" I knew she was the dog for me. Spudz was indeed old, overweight, had hip and back problems, smelled very, very bad and at age six or seven she wasn't housetrained. She wouldn't eat, drink or go potty if I was looking. She would hit the ground shaking if you had a belt in your hand. And she was black too, although I actually prefer black animals as they go with most of my clothing!
It took months (and the adoption of my Mad-Mac) before Spudz started being a normal dog - and sleeping on the sofa, which is the best place for a dog to be. She still isn't totally housetrained, and starts smelling just a few days after her baths. She loves walks and is at a decent weight, but despite the gentle ministrations of my chiropractor, her back continues to deteriorate. With coming out of her shell came little naughty behaviors like counter-surfing and stealing treats off the coffee table. But the important thing is that a less-adoptable pet is happy.
So please consider passing by the perfect Golden puppy or the bouncy adolescent tiger kitty and take a look at the older, black Pit Bull or an HIV cat. You won't be sorry...
Blogging for Dogs - Donations complements of Pedigree
Just in the nick of time I discovered this opportunity to help a few homeless dogs, complements of Pedigree. I had just discovered a new Twitter user named Mikey and his blog, which is great, albeit a bit frightening - A) I always thought the dogs were on our side B) He looks a LOT like my own fur-child, Mac:
But I digress...
Pedigree is generously donating a 20 pound bag of food for every blog written, but the deadline is today September 19, so get busy blogging! It's a part of their Adopt A Dog program, with a goal of ending "doglessness" - the suffering of humans suffering from a lack of a dog in their life. "I Love Rescue Animals" lists the blogs who have participated so far, and there is a link at the end so you can add your blog to the list.
You can also help by becoming a fan of Pedigree on Facebook - they'll donate one bowl of food for each new fan until the end of 2010. You might also want to follow them on Twitter.
Many pet food companies make donations to help animals and humans in need, and Pedigree is one of the best. I could be my usually cynical self and just assume it's all a marketing ploy, but between the commercials, the Pedigree Foundation, their Internet campaigns to help homeless dogs and the good info on their site, I think they're pretty sincere.
This was possibly one of the easiest blog entries AND easiest donations to my favorite cause - Thanks Pedigree! And thank you to everyone who helps homeless and need dogs (and cats). Every little bit helps.
But I digress...
Pedigree is generously donating a 20 pound bag of food for every blog written, but the deadline is today September 19, so get busy blogging! It's a part of their Adopt A Dog program, with a goal of ending "doglessness" - the suffering of humans suffering from a lack of a dog in their life. "I Love Rescue Animals" lists the blogs who have participated so far, and there is a link at the end so you can add your blog to the list.
You can also help by becoming a fan of Pedigree on Facebook - they'll donate one bowl of food for each new fan until the end of 2010. You might also want to follow them on Twitter.
Many pet food companies make donations to help animals and humans in need, and Pedigree is one of the best. I could be my usually cynical self and just assume it's all a marketing ploy, but between the commercials, the Pedigree Foundation, their Internet campaigns to help homeless dogs and the good info on their site, I think they're pretty sincere.
This was possibly one of the easiest blog entries AND easiest donations to my favorite cause - Thanks Pedigree! And thank you to everyone who helps homeless and need dogs (and cats). Every little bit helps.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What living with a woolly mammoth can teach us about living with dogs
OK, so none of us have or ever will (probably) live with a hairy, ice-age elephant cousin, but watching a program on extinct, prehistoric animals got me thinking about our expectations in our relationships with dogs (and cats too).
I was having yet another fit of insomnia, and while channel surfing I discovered "Prehistoric Park" on Animal Planet. It's billed as docu-fiction, a kind of "Jurassic Park" meets "Hatri!", via "Timeline". A time-traveling zoologist (Nigel Marven) captures soon-to-be extinct animals and brings them back to the present day to live in his "exotic" animal sanctuary. As a sci-fi lover, and only news, sports and infomercials as alternatives, I decided to suspend my disbelief and watch.
As I joined the program, Nigel was collecting a woolly mammoth. The specimen was found starving and injured, mourning the loss of her herd-mate who had fallen in a kill-pit dug by cavemen. Nigel and his staff managed to get her back on her feet, through the time portal and into the safety of the Park. However, after several days it was apparent to the Park staff that the mammoth, named Martha, was unhappy and dying. I was silently screaming "She's a herd animal, why the hell are you keeping her isolated!!!", while Nigel and the staff veterinarian where trying new foods and doing blood tests. "Why do you go back and save her herd-mate?!?!?! For cryn'out loud, if you can go back once, why not go back again!?!?!" I mumbled under my breath.
In the next commercial break, I had a BFF (blinding flash of the obvious) - we humans, in our arrogance and ignorance don't always consider the needs of the animals we bring into our lives. We expect animals to set aside their basic natures in order to live in the world we want to live in.
Dogs are a case in point and particularly relevant to me, given the ongoing problems of my furry-friend, "Moose-boy". Dogs are social animals, yet we expect them to live much of their time alone, while we're out working and playing. We don't give them the attention, exercise, training, environments, food, toys they need because as "owners" we expect our dogs to forget their basic natures in order to live in the world WE want to live in.
Back to the program....
After several stressful moments and commercial breaks, Nigel and Co. finally decided that yes indeed, Martha needed friends. However, instead of going back in time for her friend, a "simpler" plan was agreed upon. They introduced Martha, a very woolly mammoth, to a herd of modern elephants. They did this through a rather flimsy looking 5 or 6 foot wooden fence. They talked a lot about how elephant herds will often kill a strange elephant if they don't like the look of her.
Yes I know this is science fiction and that Martha was a CGI - no one was going to get hurt. However, back in real world, we expect all sorts of animals to just get along, whether they're a good match or not, again, just because it's what WE want. Puppies and kittens aren't socialized properly and are intolerant of other animals and people. We take on a second or third animal without making proper introductions - or without considering whether our first dog or cat really WANT a friend. And we certainly demand our animals get along no matter what - at dog parks, on the street, at family gatherings - and then blame the critters when there are problems.
Back to the program...
The next hurdle for Martha was the temperature - the Park is in a rather warm climate and Martha is an ice-age animal. Do they ship her to another park in the Arctic? Do they walk her above the snow line of one of the local mountains? Nope - they give her a hair cut!
How many cold-climate dogs (Newfoundland, Husky, St. Bernard, for example) suffer through the summer in Florida, Texas or southern California? How many of these normally shaggy dogs get buzz cuts to help them through the summer heat? Again, we don't take our animal's needs, we attempt to mold them into what WE want them to be.
The next time you think about adopting a new pet or if you're having issues with a pet you already live with, please think about what THEY need to be happy, not just trying to get them to change to suit you. I'm certainly not recommending that you spoil them rotten, but consider their needs first, even if it means changing YOUR lifestyle.
(If I could go back in time, I would certainly get Moose-boy's friend before she disappeared....)
I was having yet another fit of insomnia, and while channel surfing I discovered "Prehistoric Park" on Animal Planet. It's billed as docu-fiction, a kind of "Jurassic Park" meets "Hatri!", via "Timeline". A time-traveling zoologist (Nigel Marven) captures soon-to-be extinct animals and brings them back to the present day to live in his "exotic" animal sanctuary. As a sci-fi lover, and only news, sports and infomercials as alternatives, I decided to suspend my disbelief and watch.
As I joined the program, Nigel was collecting a woolly mammoth. The specimen was found starving and injured, mourning the loss of her herd-mate who had fallen in a kill-pit dug by cavemen. Nigel and his staff managed to get her back on her feet, through the time portal and into the safety of the Park. However, after several days it was apparent to the Park staff that the mammoth, named Martha, was unhappy and dying. I was silently screaming "She's a herd animal, why the hell are you keeping her isolated!!!", while Nigel and the staff veterinarian where trying new foods and doing blood tests. "Why do you go back and save her herd-mate?!?!?! For cryn'out loud, if you can go back once, why not go back again!?!?!" I mumbled under my breath.
In the next commercial break, I had a BFF (blinding flash of the obvious) - we humans, in our arrogance and ignorance don't always consider the needs of the animals we bring into our lives. We expect animals to set aside their basic natures in order to live in the world we want to live in.
Dogs are a case in point and particularly relevant to me, given the ongoing problems of my furry-friend, "Moose-boy". Dogs are social animals, yet we expect them to live much of their time alone, while we're out working and playing. We don't give them the attention, exercise, training, environments, food, toys they need because as "owners" we expect our dogs to forget their basic natures in order to live in the world WE want to live in.
Back to the program....
After several stressful moments and commercial breaks, Nigel and Co. finally decided that yes indeed, Martha needed friends. However, instead of going back in time for her friend, a "simpler" plan was agreed upon. They introduced Martha, a very woolly mammoth, to a herd of modern elephants. They did this through a rather flimsy looking 5 or 6 foot wooden fence. They talked a lot about how elephant herds will often kill a strange elephant if they don't like the look of her.
Yes I know this is science fiction and that Martha was a CGI - no one was going to get hurt. However, back in real world, we expect all sorts of animals to just get along, whether they're a good match or not, again, just because it's what WE want. Puppies and kittens aren't socialized properly and are intolerant of other animals and people. We take on a second or third animal without making proper introductions - or without considering whether our first dog or cat really WANT a friend. And we certainly demand our animals get along no matter what - at dog parks, on the street, at family gatherings - and then blame the critters when there are problems.
Back to the program...
The next hurdle for Martha was the temperature - the Park is in a rather warm climate and Martha is an ice-age animal. Do they ship her to another park in the Arctic? Do they walk her above the snow line of one of the local mountains? Nope - they give her a hair cut!
How many cold-climate dogs (Newfoundland, Husky, St. Bernard, for example) suffer through the summer in Florida, Texas or southern California? How many of these normally shaggy dogs get buzz cuts to help them through the summer heat? Again, we don't take our animal's needs, we attempt to mold them into what WE want them to be.
The next time you think about adopting a new pet or if you're having issues with a pet you already live with, please think about what THEY need to be happy, not just trying to get them to change to suit you. I'm certainly not recommending that you spoil them rotten, but consider their needs first, even if it means changing YOUR lifestyle.
(If I could go back in time, I would certainly get Moose-boy's friend before she disappeared....)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Other Heroes of 9/11
I won't say anything about the history or the never-ending controversies of the 9/11 tragedy - I only know enough to have opinions which come straight from the gut. It was a tragedy, it should not have happened and I hope the world never experiences anything like it ever again.
But I will ask you to remember the heroes of September 11, specifically the 300+ canine heroes who assisted with the search and rescue operations, including Sirius, who died on the day. These dogs worked side by side with their human partners, they suffered exhaustion, injuries, post traumatic stress and depression, and there were rumors that they also suffered abnormal high rates of cancer and respiratory disease.
Today, more dogs are still working - and dying - in the mess which is the result of 9/11. Dogs work in airports, train stations, on borders, in shipping ports - anywhere security is an issue. Dogs work in Afghanistan and Iraq, their lives are on the front lines protecting their human counterparts, guarding bases and looking for bombs. Dogs work as therapists, helping veterans overcome physical and psychological problems. And pet dogs wait patiently for the return of their masters and mistresses.
We owe dogs so much and they ask so little. So when you remember the Twin Towers on Saturday, remember the canine heroes too. When you remember the men and women who are fighting now as the result of that horrific day, remember the dogs who protect them, help them and wait for them to come home again.
My Twitter-friend, fellow blogger and dog lover Dino Dogan asked several of us to post this moving tribute to those search and rescue workers, put together by Ken Bell of The Dog Files. Please watch and pass it on, but have tissues at the ready.
And please, let us find the strength, compassion and understanding to learn to live in peace with one another.
You can follow Dino Dogan on Twitter and Facebook.
But I will ask you to remember the heroes of September 11, specifically the 300+ canine heroes who assisted with the search and rescue operations, including Sirius, who died on the day. These dogs worked side by side with their human partners, they suffered exhaustion, injuries, post traumatic stress and depression, and there were rumors that they also suffered abnormal high rates of cancer and respiratory disease.
Today, more dogs are still working - and dying - in the mess which is the result of 9/11. Dogs work in airports, train stations, on borders, in shipping ports - anywhere security is an issue. Dogs work in Afghanistan and Iraq, their lives are on the front lines protecting their human counterparts, guarding bases and looking for bombs. Dogs work as therapists, helping veterans overcome physical and psychological problems. And pet dogs wait patiently for the return of their masters and mistresses.
We owe dogs so much and they ask so little. So when you remember the Twin Towers on Saturday, remember the canine heroes too. When you remember the men and women who are fighting now as the result of that horrific day, remember the dogs who protect them, help them and wait for them to come home again.
My Twitter-friend, fellow blogger and dog lover Dino Dogan asked several of us to post this moving tribute to those search and rescue workers, put together by Ken Bell of The Dog Files. Please watch and pass it on, but have tissues at the ready.
And please, let us find the strength, compassion and understanding to learn to live in peace with one another.
You can follow Dino Dogan on Twitter and Facebook.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
A Plea for a Canine Friend
Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail. - Kinky Friedman
I've started writing this several times over the last few months, and I've never really been satisfied. It's been a rant on a particular situation and a diatribe on what seems to be a way of life for many. It's been a plea to potential dog parents in general, and a plea to a particular dog owner who I am all too well acquainted with.
But tonight, as I sit listening to a sad, lonely, uncertain dog who is just a few feet away from a place where he could feel happy, find company and feel secure, this piece has become a little bit of all of those failed attempts.
Please forgive me if it gets too personal.
My canine friend sits next door, his pet "parent" has left for the evening. Moose-boy, as I affectionately call him, probably hasn't been fed - "He's got food all the time, I don't starve my dog" is what I hear, despite the fact that the vet and others have pointed out that Moose is about 20 pounds underweight and still losing, and that sometimes dogs just want something different. I should also mention that when Moose arrived in my life, he came without food, treats, toys or bowls, and so we winged it with what my dogs eat for over a month - maybe he's decided he just wasn't getting what he wanted. I do feed him with my own dogs whenever he's with us, although it doesn't seem to be helping.
Moose has also gone through some very traumatic changes in the last six months, and his "parent" has done little if anything to address his symptoms of severe separation anxiety. He lost his home, his "dad", his canine companion (traded for a motorcycle) and his routine. "He's just got to learn to deal with it - I've got to work/go out/get on with my life" is Owner's point of view. There's been no attempt to rework obedience lessons, or to follow the commonly recommended separation anxiety protocols.
Owner doesn't see the need for Moose to have more than 5 minutes in the morning to attend to "business" - "I take an hour to wake up" or "I'd have to give up my visit with Dad every morning" are the usual excuses. Moose puts up a fuss if I walk my dog without taking him (I think removing a window air conditioner or eating a screen window counts as a "fuss"), so I sneak him out when I can, and on a daily basis it's obvious his "business" wasn't done in those 5 minutes.
Moose has the additional stress of being very near things he enjoys the most - a place to run, people to hang out with and dog friends too. So not only is he NOT being taught how to cope with being alone, he's being tempted by the very things he desperately wants - no matter how quietly the rest of us sneak around and no matter how many barriers his human erects.
(And as a very personal aside, all the help and assistance I offer is being turned down because Owner doesn't like me - but that's a whole 'nother story....)
So apart from getting all this aggravation off my chest, what's the point of all of this?
It's a plea for my friend, and for all of the other pets in the world who need us.
When we take animals into our lives, just as when we take on any other responsibility, we take on ALL the things necessary to make their lives as comfortable as possible, even if our lifestyles are disrupted. That includes feeding, helping them adjust to changes, proper exercise and potty time, and not tormenting them with things they can't have (or denying them what they could have just because we don't feel like it!).
Being a pet-parent means being responsible for another living creature. If you take an animal into your life, please be sure you are willing to care for them for their entire life OR be willing to take the time and effort to find someone who will. Don't abdicate that responsibility and don't let pride or personal differences get in the way of being responsible.
And if you know of anyone who would love a large, goofy GSD who's great with other dogs, cats, children and humans, but who needs a bit of help with being alone, please let me know... I would love to find a real home for my canine friend.
PS. Moose is on the maximum dose of Clomicalm, and has been checked for all the standard things which might cause weight-loss and anxiety.
09-28-10 One month later and Moose is either with someone OR locked in an airline crate, sometimes for hours. When he's in his crate, he howls almost constantly. Because it isn't technically illegal - he has food, water, shelter - there is nothing else to do legally if Owner doesn't come to their senses.
I've started writing this several times over the last few months, and I've never really been satisfied. It's been a rant on a particular situation and a diatribe on what seems to be a way of life for many. It's been a plea to potential dog parents in general, and a plea to a particular dog owner who I am all too well acquainted with.
But tonight, as I sit listening to a sad, lonely, uncertain dog who is just a few feet away from a place where he could feel happy, find company and feel secure, this piece has become a little bit of all of those failed attempts.
Please forgive me if it gets too personal.
My canine friend sits next door, his pet "parent" has left for the evening. Moose-boy, as I affectionately call him, probably hasn't been fed - "He's got food all the time, I don't starve my dog" is what I hear, despite the fact that the vet and others have pointed out that Moose is about 20 pounds underweight and still losing, and that sometimes dogs just want something different. I should also mention that when Moose arrived in my life, he came without food, treats, toys or bowls, and so we winged it with what my dogs eat for over a month - maybe he's decided he just wasn't getting what he wanted. I do feed him with my own dogs whenever he's with us, although it doesn't seem to be helping.
Moose has also gone through some very traumatic changes in the last six months, and his "parent" has done little if anything to address his symptoms of severe separation anxiety. He lost his home, his "dad", his canine companion (traded for a motorcycle) and his routine. "He's just got to learn to deal with it - I've got to work/go out/get on with my life" is Owner's point of view. There's been no attempt to rework obedience lessons, or to follow the commonly recommended separation anxiety protocols.
Owner doesn't see the need for Moose to have more than 5 minutes in the morning to attend to "business" - "I take an hour to wake up" or "I'd have to give up my visit with Dad every morning" are the usual excuses. Moose puts up a fuss if I walk my dog without taking him (I think removing a window air conditioner or eating a screen window counts as a "fuss"), so I sneak him out when I can, and on a daily basis it's obvious his "business" wasn't done in those 5 minutes.
Moose has the additional stress of being very near things he enjoys the most - a place to run, people to hang out with and dog friends too. So not only is he NOT being taught how to cope with being alone, he's being tempted by the very things he desperately wants - no matter how quietly the rest of us sneak around and no matter how many barriers his human erects.
(And as a very personal aside, all the help and assistance I offer is being turned down because Owner doesn't like me - but that's a whole 'nother story....)
So apart from getting all this aggravation off my chest, what's the point of all of this?
It's a plea for my friend, and for all of the other pets in the world who need us.
When we take animals into our lives, just as when we take on any other responsibility, we take on ALL the things necessary to make their lives as comfortable as possible, even if our lifestyles are disrupted. That includes feeding, helping them adjust to changes, proper exercise and potty time, and not tormenting them with things they can't have (or denying them what they could have just because we don't feel like it!).
Being a pet-parent means being responsible for another living creature. If you take an animal into your life, please be sure you are willing to care for them for their entire life OR be willing to take the time and effort to find someone who will. Don't abdicate that responsibility and don't let pride or personal differences get in the way of being responsible.
And if you know of anyone who would love a large, goofy GSD who's great with other dogs, cats, children and humans, but who needs a bit of help with being alone, please let me know... I would love to find a real home for my canine friend.
PS. Moose is on the maximum dose of Clomicalm, and has been checked for all the standard things which might cause weight-loss and anxiety.
09-28-10 One month later and Moose is either with someone OR locked in an airline crate, sometimes for hours. When he's in his crate, he howls almost constantly. Because it isn't technically illegal - he has food, water, shelter - there is nothing else to do legally if Owner doesn't come to their senses.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Introducing Piglet or "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
Several days passed, the kitten refused to come anywhere near me. No one came to claim "her", she was eating less and as we live on a very fast, busy road, I decided to bring out the live trap. It took about 12 hours before she was brave enough to try it, the trap finally snapped at about 5:00 am. At 9:00 am we were at the veterinarian's office. At 9:15 I learned "she" was a he, he was healthy and that long-haired (he's a short-hair, sigh) gray males make wonderful pets (well, he is turning out to be pretty wonderful).
The kitten was installed in the spare room, in a large crate with food, water, litter and toys, so I could start socializing him while I worked. He did a lot of hissing at first, but soon decided that the large hands that brought food weren't going to hurt him. He started playing, and learned to enjoy being picked up and petted. He ate and pooped a lot. He learned to ignore the large dogs that came to visit him, and decided it was fun to swat them on the nose, safely behind bars.
He earned the name "Piglet" from the messes he made of toys, food, water and litter. I once watched him stand in the litter box, somehow moving all four feet in four different directions at once, scattering litter everywhere. He got a covered litter box the next day.
Pig is learning to use his log and Turbo Cat Scratcher rather than the furnishings, but apparently I'm fair game - I have little bruises, scratches and bites just about everywhere. His favorite trick is to hide under the bed and strike when I walk back into the room, followed by jumping on my lap using all claws out just enough to really hurt. He does, however, generally keep his claws in when he swats and generally doesn't bite too hard - generally.
Pig uses the bed, dresser and my desk as a little race track, and when he knocks something off, he always looks back at me to observe my reaction. Everything is a toy, everything is interesting and everything needs to be investigated, including my glass of ice tea. For some reason he thinks the CD holder on my boom-box must be left open and the antenna in any position which results in loosing the signal.
I'm treat-training him to come when called, although playing his favorite game, "kitty fishing", with a string, my back scratcher and a bit of crinkly plastic works well too. He's already very good about having his nails trimmed and he's learning to wear a harness so he can go outside.
We don't know how Piglet arrived in our lives, we can only guess that someone dumped him out (my S.O. accuses me of doing it myself so I could have a kitty of my own). The vet guessed Pig was only six weeks old or so when we found him, and between the heat, lack of food and water, cars, coyotes and stray dogs, he would not have survived without our help. How anyone could be so cruel and uncaring is beyond my comprehension. Local shelters are full, but kittens do find homes if you try hard enough.
By the way, I know what I'll be asking for this Christmas - a trip to the vet for Piglet to be "fixed". It's not as exciting as the Lamborghini or pony I've been asking for, but it's a little more responsible, I think. (Update: Pig was taken care of mid-September, so no little Piggies will be available.)
Piglet's contribution to this post (apart from managing to delete several of the pictures I took - I haven't even figured out how to do that!):
"hjnnnnn cv".
Update November 6, 2010: Piglet is now over six months old, almost as big as his big sister, calico Cloe, and has calmed down a LOT! He sleeps on the pillow next to me every night, purrs most of the time, and apart two are three "mad half hours" a day, he's doing great!
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