Photo Courtesy of Newscoma

From my favorite kitty blogger:

First, the source of this picture is from LeBlanc at A Natural Deficiency of Moral Fiber. He has an awesomely cute bunch of pictures there- the one I borrowed for this post reminds me of when my cats Spike and Simon were kittens. They would break out into random bouts of pure joy. We called that "kittening." Now that they’re old men, they hardly ever go into kittening mode, but when they do, it’s still deliciously cute. Sometimes, I miss the kitten days.

Lynnster has a cautionary tale about a neighbor puppy. Needless to say, I totally agree with her point, which is this: don’t let your dogs run around unfenced and unleashed. There are so many bad things that can happen to your dog while they’re outside on their own.

Finally, a post from Rattitude on the costs of owning rats. They’re not some "cheap" pet like some people think. The truth is, there is no such thing as a cheap pet. Even goldfish, when cared for properly, cost a bit of money. Before you get any pets, research the costs and time involved in properly caring for them. There are pets that are less expensive and take less of a time commitment, but if you want something that costs no money and requires no care, you’re going to have to get a stuffed animal. 

I was having a conversation with a friend recently about how some dogs really like to hang out with other dogs and other dogs prefer the company of people. Mine’s definitely a "people person." That is, if he was a person. So let’s do a poll!

Tennessee Mom’s picture of a skunk reminds me of a dog I used to have. We called him Newton, but I think he would have responded to just any old thing. Newton was a nomad, he showed up at our house one day and 8 months later he just up and left. We saw him a few months later, a few towns over, at someone else’s house. He was a rambler, and nobody could tie him down or keep him home.

He especially liked to roam in the woods, that big shaggy scamp. Now, back then we lived in the middle of nowhere on roads that didn’t have a lot of cars on it. So it was safer, theoretically. Nowadays I would never let my dog roam around, but back then, we didn’t think anything of it.

So, one day he came home smelling like skunk. He came up to the house looking very embarrassed, like he thought he probably should have known better. We bathed him in tomato juice, and he smelled slightly better, but not much. A few weeks later when he was finally smelling like his fabulous doggie self again, he came harrumphing up to the house looking sheepish again. That’s right, he had tangled with another skunk.

So we bathed him again in tomato juice and I told him to stay away from skunks, and as far as I know, he never got sprayed by another. But whoo! He smelled so bad those times.

Too funny!

My 7 year old daughter wants to be a zoo veterinarian when she grows up, so I’m always on the lookout for a good website about animals. The San Diego Zoo’s Animal Bytes page is a really good one that I wanted to share with you guys.

You can look up animals by categories, or where in the world they live, or by habitat/ecosystem. This teaches a lot more than just about animals- it also teaches some geography and science. I sat my daughter down with the site yesterday and 2 hours later, she was still reading.

Well done, San Diego Zoo!

Photo Credit: San Diego Zoo

My uncle’s cat is dying. In an email exchange that he and I had last week, there was a bit in the email I wanted to share with you guys because it’s so beautiful and affecting. I asked him if it was okay to share with my Animal Shak readers and he said it was cool, so here it is:

His decline has taken place over months, so it is slow.  He continues on the same trajectory, slowly.  He is still losing weight.  Not quite to the skin and bone stage, but pretty close.  My friend, (omitted), called it.  She said at the time that I had the vet visit that he isn’t likely to fail all at once, not now anyway, like the vet seemed to say.

I watch him like a hawk for signs of major discomfort because when he gets "there" I will do the right thing and have the wicked injection administered.  Until then, I think he is still having decent quality of life.  Still meets me at the door most nights, still purrs, still gets that delirious cat delirium when  getting just the right petting.  Seems pretty okay.

In the mean time, I am spending the kind of time with him that I always meant to before but always found some more important priority at any given moment, and loving on him and grieving.

My uncle is a very good pet owner- I know he spent a good amount of time with his cat prior to finding out his cat was dying. But the one bright spot in all of this is being able to spend as much quality time as possible with his cat before he has to put him down.

Sometimes we do get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our lives and our pets get less quality time. It happens to the best of us. But perhaps we all should remember my uncle’s story and give our pets some extra ear skritches and snuggles. I know my cats and dog have been getting some extra love lately.

And to my uncle: my thoughts are with you and Wiley every day.

My cats prefer to drink out of the water faucet more than anything, but they’ll accept a nice glass of lemonade if there’s nothing else available. They will drink out of their water bowl, but only if it’s spotlessly clean and there’s nothing in it. Unfortunately, they always take their toys and put them in the water bowl, so I’m cleaning out the bowl approximately 1,782 times a day.

Make magazine has a good solution. It’s an automatic cat faucet with motion sensors and everything. That’s just awesome. But then I guess I’d have to holler at my cats to quit playing in the water approximately 1,782 times a day. Hmm. Tradeoffs.

Sarah over at Shak in Style has the scoop (pun totally intended) on some really cute pet accessories. While having stylish pet stuff is not exactly necessary, it sure does make pet ownership quite fun!