*Adoption Tales 1*

I know I have told stories about my adoption experiences and how they have turned out great for me.  I am sure this is not always the case, but I would like to think that it is usually the case.  This blog and the next one will both contain success stories of adopted animals.

My cousin has been adopting animals for years.  She has had both outdoor and indoor animals.  People have literally gone over and just dropped animals at her house because they knew, one way or another, they’d be taken care of.  As of right now she only has three pets that she has rescued.  One cat named Grayson.  He is one of the sweetest cats I have ever met.  He just walks up and loves to be pet, held, and played with.  She also has two dogs.  One dog is a Boston Terrier named Lizzie and she huge.  It is around thirty pounds and very hyper.  I think he is such a cutie but he does get annoying.  Her other dog is named Flower and I forget what kind of breed she is.  I am not that big of a fan of her and she reminds me of a little mop.  My cousin however is completely in love with her.  All of them have been adopted at different times with the pets being different ages.  The pets still get along great and she rarely has problems with one fighting with the other, or the dogs wanting to fight with the cat.

*Games for Pets*

I think playing with your pets is a key component in raising them.  I think the list of recommendations that Jane, blog found on Pet Finder, has provided is a great way to always keep your animal engaged and your house & wallet happy.  One thing that she did not mention, that I think is a good reason to switch out your pet’s toys, is that they get bored when they always play with the same toys.  If we play with our cats with the same toy for too long, our cats will sit there and just watch us; they will not actually play with it themselves.  It is very boring for them and us too.  As soon as we bring out a toy that is new or they have not seen in a while, they start to go nuts.  Her fifth recommendation about marinating their toys in their food for extra appeal is my favorite of the five.  I have never thought about trying that and know our youngest cat Isis will love it.  I would recommend doing what I have just mentioned along with Jane’s recommendations.  Below my review, is most of the article by Jane.  For her full article please click here.

 

Games for Pets: 5 reasons to take away your pet's toys (at least some of them)

By Jane, associate producer

Posted February 10, 2011 10:00 AM |

This article is the latest in our series on environmental enrichment for pets, offering easy ways to keep your pet's mind and body active.

If living with, volunteering with and working with cats has taught me anything, it's this: Cats hate change -- except when it comes to toys.

In my house, we always have a few toys out, but the majority are hidden away. Here are just a few reasons why rotating your cat's or dog's toys can be a good thing:

1. Your pet will think you're the most generous mom ever -- after all, you'll always be providing "new" toys.
2. The toys are less likely to end up forgotten under a couch or in a corner somewhere.
3. The toys will last longer (a bonus for your wallet).
4. Your house will be less cluttered and your pet's bed will have more room for him in it.
5. You can "marinate" the toys in a container with treats or catnip to make them extra appealing when you bring them back out.

Every week or so I switch out a few of the toys. Voila! My cats get a whole "new" batch to play with. Add a DIY cat playhouse and you're golden. (Money-saving tip: Stock up on toys when your pet-supply store has a sale, and then dole them out every few weeks instead of all at once.)

Finally, don't forget about your other pets. My three-toed box turtle, Turt, is always more active when I put new turtle-safe objects (such as new rocks, plastic cat toys and non-toxic plants) in her enclosure.

If you have a rabbit, iguana, or other pet, making occasional small changes or additions to his or her environment will do a world of good for your pet's physical and mental health.

*Bad Kitties*

Our two kittens have a really bad habit of getting on the counters and the kitchen table.  They use to only get on them when we would go to bed.  I caught them up there a couple times when I would go get a drink of water or some food.  Lately, they have started to get on the counters and table whenever they feel like it.  We yell at them and make them get down, but they are still not listening.  Since that is not working, we have to try our other way of discipline, an eight ounce glass of water.  We are going to keep a glass of room temperature water handy for when they get up on the table or counter.  I think them getting soaked with water will get the message across that this is a BIG NO NO!  This obviously will not hurt them physically because it is only water.  Pyrrha, our orange kitty, may get her feelings hurt because she absolutely hates to be yelled at or disciplined.  I do not know why they started to do this because our oldest cat, Pouncer, never gets on the counters so they could not have learned this from her.  Also, we have never encouraged it or occasionally let it slide.  We have always yelled at them to send the same message that this is not allowed.  If anyone has any suggestions that work better than a glass of water, feel free to share.  Your advice will be greatly appreciated!!

Isis and Pyrrha

*Make New Friends, But Keep The Old. One Is Silver, The Other Is Gold*

“Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver, the other is gold.”  This is part of a traditional Girl Scout song that I think of when getting a new pet when you already have one.  What this is saying, is that your old pets are just as important as your new pets.  You want to make sure that you still give a lot of attention to your other animals.  I know kittens and puppies are usually more fun and so cute, but your other pets will feel neglected.  Our oldest cat Pouncer did not like to play or cuddle before we got our kittens.  She would rarely come up to you for a petting or anything else.  Now, she demands attention.  She loves to be played with, petted, and for you to talk to her.  We did not ignore her before, but we just let her be.  I would say she definitely was jealous of our other two kittens and wanted in on the fun.  I feel bad that she did feel that way but now we make sure to give them all an equal amount of attention.  This saying also works outside of the pet world.  If you make a new friend, make sure you do not forget your old ones.  They will not hang around if you ignore them.  Make sure to include them and do things you did before.  You can integrate a new friend into a group of people.  It is much more rewarding if everyone can get along. 

*Pets Aren't For Everyone*

I know I have been gushing about all the benefits of having a pet.  I suppose it is time that I talk about the reasons getting a pet is not such a good idea.

1. Money-  Dogs are usually more expensive than cats, but both still put a dent in your wallet.  
2. Hard Work-  Both cats and dogs require a lot of your time, especially in the beginning.
3. Vacations-  When you plan on leaving to go somewhere for an extended period of time, you have to make sure that someone is available to take care of your pets while you are away or take them to a boarding shelter.
4. Smelly-  If not taken care of properly, then can get smelly and make your house smell too.
5. Furry-  No matter what kind of pet you have, they all shed (some worse than others) which requires extra time spent cleaning up the fur in your home.
6. Accidents-  There is always the possibility of a pet having an accident in your home that could ruin your carpet, your furniture, your clothes, etc.
7. Territorial- Some pets are very territorial which can make it difficult to have company over or get other pets.
8. Heartbreak-  Animals do not live that long and when their time comes, it can be devastating.  Also, some animals just do not work out in certain homes but you still get attached and getting rid of them is very heartbreaking too.
9. Pet Allergies-  Some people have allergies which are made worse by having a pet.

Even with all the above mentioned things, I still think the benefits largely out way the negatives.  If you have what it takes to comfortably own a pet, I would HIGHLY recommend it.  But before you go out and buy a pet, think long and hard and do research to make you truly have what it takes.  I love my cats so much and would not trade them for anything.

*Tornado Ready*

I do not know if everyone is as obsessed with their pets as I am, but if a tornado ever came through and blew away our house, I would want to know that my cats were right there with me safe from the danger.  Since we do not have a basement and only have a crawlspace, there are a few things we must do to prepare for severe  storms.  I recommend this to anyone who is in a similar situation.  The first thing we do is make sure that our cat carriers are always handy so we keep ours in our closet, on top of the crawlspace.  Second, when it starts to get bad we round up the cats and put them in either my bedroom or my bathroom (both are very close to our crawlspace).  We then make a tornado bag.  If we do end up being stuck in a bad storm and have to stay down in the crawlspace for a long time, we want to make sure we are as comfortable as possible, and the cats too.  A flashlight, some water bottles, our phones, some spider spray, some snacks for us, and some cat food in a container are some of the things we put in the tornado bag to take down with us.  We also put some toys in the cages and put down their blankets to help them feel as comfortable as possible.  This may seem a little extreme but my cats are like my kids and I would do anything to protect them.

*We're in the Red*

I am not sure where many of you live, but where I live we tend to get a lot of bad storms that always seem to have the potential to turn into a tornado.  So when the conditions seem favorable for one, I usually round up the cats and put them in my room.  I do this because we do not have a basement in my house and if it ever comes time to get in the crawlspace, our kitties are coming with us.  Well tonight around 8:00PM, the weather quickly got bad so we went into tornado mode; we turned on the weather channel, cleared off the crawlspace, and gathered the cats.  It was looking extra weird out, so instead of putting them in the bedroom, like I usually do, I put them straight into the cat carriers.  Isis and Pyrrha go into the larger carrier, that is made for a 30-40lb dog, and Pouncer went into the regular cat carrier.  This is the first time I have actually had to put them into the carriers and Pyrrha freaked out.  She started to crawl on top of Isis and sticking her paws out of the cage.  I felt so bad for her so I went and sat beside the cage to try and comfort her.  It only made things worse.  She then started to breathe heavy, drag me to her with her paws, and smash her whole body against the front of the cage.  I decided to cover the cage up because not being able to see anything is supposed to help calm animals nerves.  Luckily it worked and she was able to calm down some.  The storm passed within 20 minutes so I was able to let her out.  She has been a little psycho ever since!

P.S. If you are wondering why this is called "We're in the Red", it is because my Papa Wiggins was obsessed with the weather channel and whenever there is a bad storm and the alerts would come on he would always say "We're in the Red"!