Rubber ducky
Jun 24, 2008 Pets & Animals
You’re the one!
You make bath time, so much fun!
Taking our cockatiel, Nugget, into the shower is always an amusing part of the day. He eyes up the shower for a while and then does a little head bob-dance to get your attention and to signify he wants down and in the water. So we turn the shower head to the bathroom’s window ledge and set him down then let him go nuts.
He’ll hunker down and then floof out all of his feathers, doing this strange shower-dance with his head, lowering it, then rolling it back and forth over his back and wings then lowering it again. He’ll hold his wings out for maximum soakage and some times chitter little tiny brrrtbrrrt? noises.
I love Nugget, he’s definitely taught me to appreciate birds just a little more and love the smell of feathers!
Tags: Feathers and whiskers, Nugget
Iowa paws n’ whiskers having a hard time.
Jun 18, 2008 Pets & Animals
Cedar Rapids, Iowa is home to several stranded pups and kittehs, birds and other paws that need your help.
The humane society is doing its best to rescue, treat and save as many animals as possible but they need your help.
If you have it to donate and are interested in helping, please consider donating toward saving some mew’s. You can donate here: Disaster Relief Fund 2008
If you can’t donate, that’s okay. I’s poo’ folk too. If you want to show your support anyway, why not copy the donate link and pass it along?
Thanks guys and gals for reading! Meow!
Tags: Feathers and whiskers, Pets
Pets and People: Sometimes you guys Frikken’ Scare me.
Apr 7, 2008 Pets & Animals
I’ve been owned and adopted by several generic domestic animals through out my illustrious career as a fat, geeky woman. Cats, dogs, birds and hamsters have all lived with me and have allowed me to continue living with them.
What gets me is the blatant lack of common sense from other people who are also owned by pets. Here are some of the things that make me wonder how these people function in day to day life.
The: My cat is vomiting up blood, so I decided to post about it on the internet instead of frantically searching to find a vet clinic open this time of night. It’s okay to just give her aspirin, right? -girl.
I’ve read so many horrific signs and symptoms of something being dangerously wrong with animals via forums, websites, e-mails and posting boards online; it boggles the mind.
To give credit where credit is due, I know that animals do not behave in the same manner we do when they get sick. They can’t sidle up to us and tell us in plain spoken English what is wrong with them. Animals are pretty much programmed to hide being sick for as long as possible. It’s a defense mechanism that tries to make them not-so easily picked off by predators.
But, honestly? Replace “cat vomiting up blood” with “kid vomiting up blood”. What do you think the reaction would be? Would you sit at home (most of us not drooling at the keyboard wouldn’t, okay?) and ask an internet forum what to do?
The: Why can’t you people just tell me some cheap, easy alternative to treat my cockatiel which is wheezing and twitching at the bottom of the cage? Aren’t you all experienced bird veterinarians’ on the intarwebs? -guy.
What I’m about to type may just shock and awe all of you who expect the internet to be a collection of experts in all fields, all at the same time who just so happen to be looking at your forum post right now—The internet, nay, dare I say it? Even Google is not always right.
Yes. I hear the gasps, but it’s true. What you read online via a search and what advice you are given by Joe Shmoe, hell, even I am not always going to be correct. (Shocking, I know.)
If you aren’t one, trust your veterinarian. They aren’t all “out to milk you for every dime.”
Self-diagnosing and self-treatment could lead you down a dangerous path of making your animal sicker! I’m not saying this because I’ve been some how brain-washed by a dark cult of greedy Vets, I’m saying this because it’s 100% true. Think about it. Animals, like people, could be allergic to anything—not to mention their entirely different systems which handle allergies and sickness in a different way than we do. Self-treating could lead to countless more issues making whatever is wrong with your pet from bad to deadly.
Take your pet to the Vet. Trust your Vet. Before it is too late.
The: My cat, which is a predator born and bred by nature and genetics to hunt small things—is the bestest friend ever of my two hamsters, three chinchillas, cockatiel, and sugar glider!111! -couple.
I’ve been on hand to witness the tragic event of a cat who had never attacked anything in it’s entire life—a very lazy, loving cat whose owners often photographed him with his pal, a rat, together—turn around after several years of companionship; crush the rat to death in its mouth while shaking it.
You cannot be 100% sure that your cat will not do what it is programmed by breeding and nature to do—which is hunt and kill. Even a cat mock-playing with a smaller animal, can turn into a heartbreak. Cat’s often play with us and other creatures as they would another cat, and cats tend to have thick fur over thick skin which protects them better from bites and scratches.
It’s kind of like watching a mother drop her kid onto a polar bear’s back in a zoo and wondering why in hell it got eaten. We know you love your cat. We know you love your hamster, but this isn’t really the best course of action. No matter how cute it is on youtube.
The: My brand new animal which I just brought home seconds ago isn’t being friendly to me! I want an animal that’s immediately my best friend! – lady.
Let’s say I pick this woman up and then throw her into the home of people she doesn’t know. Specifically, into the lap of some stranger she’s never met before in her entire life, in an environment she’s never been in.
What do you bet her first reaction will be? Hugs and smooches on the cheek to the random stranger she’s now sitting on? Or an ungodly shriek with an attempt to get the hell out of there?
I’d go with choice number two, Alex, and so do most animals when you just bring them home. You can’t expect trust to happen in one day. You have to give them time to adjust and you have to show them you’re worth trusting. That takes more than a few hours.
The: My dog behaves terribly, but I’ve never attempted to ever train him myself, or take him to a trainer, or set down some sort of ground rules to show him I’m the top dog around here and I never crate! - person.
I honestly don’t think the fallacy and illogical thought pattern needs to be explained. However, I’ll try my favorite game of comparison for you for those of you who might not be pet owners anyway:
Imagine you have a child. Imagine you never bothered to instill any sense of right or wrong for that child, at all. Not even the barest scrap—you’ve let that child do whatever he or she wants, whenever he or she wants, however. Imagine what kind of adult that child will turn into.
Probably a pretty horrific adult with no ability to fit into the social scheme of things, acting out badly, ruining as well as destroying things just because.
You get the gist? A dog is only as good as his or her owner. If you don’t care to teach your dog right from wrong, it’s not the dogs fault. He or she can only learn from you. It’s behaving in the manner you taught it to!
An animal depends solely on us for its every need, behavioral, guidance, pack-leadership, food, water, shelter and affection. They are much like new born babies in some ways. It is our responsibility to take care of them and learn how to take care of them.
It is also our responsibility to be able to have the intelligence, strength and courage to realize when we shouldn’t own a pet—I just wish more people out there did. Those that cannot come to these conclusions on their own frighten the bejeezus out of me.
What are some of your pet common sense lists you get, but everyone else seems to not get?
Tags: Feathers and whiskers, Flora, Pets
Why I am the crazy cat lady, in honor of upcoming ASPCA day, April 10th.
Mar 27, 2008 Pets & Animals
If you haven’t already guessed, I’m one of those animal people. You know which ones I mean, too–I don’t see any difference in life. A life is a life is a life. Should a cat be beaten to death for no reason other than it was a cat, defenseless and something to beat, I am heart broken, angered and upset. Should a baby be beaten to death for no reason other than it was a baby, defenseless, and something to beat, I feel the same way.
Some of us get a lot of flack, we’re told a cat isn’t as important as that baby, or that prisoner in war-torn country. That we should feel more sympathy for the innocent children being shot, than some tom-cat the neighbors kid shot for sport in their backyard. And I don’t understand this reasoning at all.
Why should I put an importance, a hierarchy, on life? Why is it that a rich man’s life is more important than a bums? Why is my life more important than a starving child in famine riddled country? To me, they aren’t. I don’t remember where I read it, who said it, or where I found it–but somewhere, someone wrote, life is sacred, everywhere.
It is something I believe. I’m not here to preach or push this down my reader’s throats, but I wanted to share parts and pieces of the reason why I feel so strongly about protecting animal life, too.
I strongly suspect how we treat our animals, our environment, reflects on how we treat each other. I don’t support companies and groups that employ guerrillas tactics to scare people into their folds, but I support learning how to be a better human.
If you agree with me and would like to learn how you can take steps in starting to help animals in need, please take a moment to visit your local shelter’s website, SPCA, or humane society/shelter. Also, on april 10th of this year, it is ASPCA day. To learn how to support ASPCA day, you can read more of my post on this or visit the ASPCA day web page directly.
Thanks guys and gals!
Tags: Feathers and whiskers
Do you know what April 10th is? It’s ASPCA day!
Mar 25, 2008 Pets & Animals
Did you know that April 10th is ASPCA Day?
No? Let’s find out what the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) day says about it!
“On Thursday, April 10, cities all over the country will be going orange to celebrate the ASPCA’s victories on behalf of animals and the joy they bring to pet parents everywhere. Lend us your voice on April 10 by dressing yourself, your kids, your pet—even your school or company!—in ASPCA orange, and show the world you support the ASPCA and the pets we protect.”
Sounds pretty damn good to me. I don’t think I have anything orange, however. I think Shawn might have an awful Hawaiian shirt. I’ll have to drum up something! Won’t you wear orange on April 10th for me? Won’t you help speak for those who don’t have a voice?
If not, do it for Nugget:
Tags: Feathers and whiskers
