Heated Pet Beds

While we focus on creatures unknown and legendary (among other things), we have been known to discuss regular old pets quite a bit around these parts. I have two pets right now and have had as many as four at a time. I also worked as a vet tech when I was younger, so to say that I am an animal lover could be considered an understatement.

If you have dogs, then you really need to check out http://cozywinters.com/ and their many heated products. They have more than just pet products but their pet products are really great!

Pet Beds

I have tried and tried to make a bed for my little wiener dog but he tears them all up! He is completely neurotic and has been known to gnaw through seatbelts if left alone in a car, so a pet bed for him is not to be. However, your cat or dog would probably love one and you can find a great bed for pets here. There is no need to get too fancy - your pet does not mind.

Dog Stands Guard Over Owner's Grave

I have a love/hate relationship with stories like this because they are just heartbreaking to me:

A dog in central Argentina named Capitan has stood guard over his master's grave since 2006, when the man died. Miguel Guzman bought the dog for his son in 2005, then passed away the following year. The family thought the dog had been run over or had run away, so they were floored when they found Capitan at Guzman's graveside the following Sunday.

They had never taken Capitan to visit the grave or to the graveyard, so no one knows how he found the grave. The cemetery director says the dog showed up one day and began running around the graveyard until it found Guzman's grave. They have been feeding and caring for the dog since then.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Rabid Bats Descend on L.A.

Los Angeles authorities have issued a warning to residents to stay away from the bats in and around the city, and keep their pets away from them as well, after finding over 20 rabies-infected bats in the city this year. One resident was treated for the virus after being bitten recently. Rabies can be fatal.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Chew Chew, an Australian Restaurant for Dogs

Believe it or don't (I don't have the money to fight a lawsuit), a restaurant in Sydney, Australia is for dogs only. Chew Chew serves only organic, all-natural dishes and doggie treats -- and serves only dogs. (Cats are actually welcome for lunch anytime after 2pm, but must make reservations to ensure a dog-free atmosphere). Customers can also purchase Chew Chew's foods and treats from the restaurant or online. Chew Chew also serves "doggy-cinos," a coffee treat for pooches, which comes with sprinkles of liver.

Britons can rest easy, as their dogs are catered to by an ice cream truck serving doggy cones.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Roy: Border Collie, Duckherder

A Northumberland border collie is training to make the English sheepdog team by herding ducks. Roy's 24-year-old owner, Emma Gray, says the Indian Runner ducks make for good training because they are slow and more predictable than sheep.

Roy has become a hit with visitors to the Morpeth farm, but Ms. Gray is hoping Roy is chosen to represent the UK in the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) World Trials. The competition is held every three years.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Woman Arrested for Selling Goldfish to Child

66-year old Jane Higgins, a great-grandmother, and her 47-year old son, Mark, were arrested for selling a goldfish to a boy who was only 14. The Animal Welfare Act of 2006 states that pets cannot be sold to children under 16 unless accompanied by an adult, and the seller must inform the purchaser on how to care for the animal. Authorities were informed that the pet store run by the mother and son were selling to underage kids, so they sent the 14-year old in to make a purchase in a "sting" operation.

Jane Higgins expected a small fine or the like, but nearly fainted when she was told she faced a possible prison sentence! Higgins wound-up receiving a £1000 fine, being placed under curfew, and forced to wear an electronic tag for two months. The sentence is one usually given to violent offenders and cost taxpayers an estimated £20,000! Her son was sentenced to 120 hours community service.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

RIP - Scamp

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you all that Scamper was killed sometime this week.

I put him out Saturday night because he wouldn't leave the little cat alone (because she was in heat) and thought he'd climbed a tree like he used to at the trailer - he'd climb one and stay up there for two-three days or more! I called and called and looked in all of the trees and all of that, to no avail. Finally, yesterday, I decided to ride the bike around and look for him. I put the outgoing mail in the box and saw something about 10' away. My heart sank.

I have no idea what Scamper was doing that far away; the road is about 100 yards away from the house - the front yard is absolutely huge. He may have been chasing something or something may have been chasing him - I don't know. What worries me most of all is how long my poor baby - the cat I'd raised since he was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand - laid there, suffering, wondering where I was and when I was going to come and make it all go away... That's what breaks my heart; that's what hurts me so much.

Before we moved here, that was the very example I used when I was told the cats needed to stay outside more than inside: "The other cats are fine outside," I said - not once, not four times, but at least 2340978 times, "But Scamper's an inside cat; I raised him since he was too small to have been taken away from his mother and he's never been outside before we moved to the trailer. He wouldn't know to move away from a car or that the car wasn't going to stop, etc."

And that's just what happened.

But, besides the fact that we cover pets here sometimes, the reason I'm posting this here is because I kind of think Scamper knew he was going to die here. When we first moved in, he held down the deck - the way he'd held down the porch at the trailer; he'd decided the deck was Scamperland and he simply laid there, daring anyone or anything to challenge that. But after we got moved-in and my parents went home (and their little dogs did, too), there was no one who might challenge him, so he took to the basement and just... sulked there. I tried everything, but he refused to go outside and refused to come upstairs.

Just before this awful thing happened, he finally started coming upstairs, but largely just to sit on the back of the couch in front of the window. Then he shat on the carpet a couple of times because I would not bring a litterbox upstairs, and got into trouble for it, so he took to staying downstairs again. Whenever he came upstairs, he was bizarrely upset and would do this weird, jittery "hop" I'd never seen him do before. It was like the floor was covered with biting ants or maybe tacks or something.

It still hasn't really set in that my little companion is gone. I - literally - keep seeing him out of the corner of my eye. Honestly! It may be the medicine I'm taking, but I keep seeing things in my peripheral vision, and for whatever reason, my brain triggers "Scamper's tail" or that it's Scamper, sneaking around the corner, etc. These visual... whatever - hallucinations? - started very recently, though I can't say if they started before he was killed, because I don't know when he was killed (though I'm pretty sure it was Saturday night, because I let Nyrgle back in late that night/early Sunday morning and called and called for Scamp, too).

I'm not all weepy, and I'm actually not too maudlin; I miss Scamper fiercely, but he was a problem cat who had become more of a burden than a pet. I was going to have him neutered, hoping that would change his bad-ass attitude, but I had to pay all that money to have the little one fixed last month and simply couldn't afford it yet. I had quit treating his ears because he'd started fighting me so hard, scratching me literally to ribbons the month before we left the apartment. If neutering him hadn't worked, I was seriously considering euthanizing him; he had honestly gotten that bad!

In fact, the girl I got him from gave him away specifically because he was such a hassle. She had a houseful of kids and pets and I said "He just needs attention" - which was true. Before Nyrgle came along, he was great! He started out problematic, but I spoiled him so much (it was just the two of us, and I was lonely) that he really took to me. We became very real friends; he minded my every rule and always seemed to know when I needed a cat to stroke - like me, he enjoyed his time alone, so it really worked. But the moment Nyrgle got there, everything changed and he was truly never the same again.

Of course I didn't want him to die, and I sure as hell didn't want him to die so violently (I hope to God it was a fast, at least relatively painless, death!), but Scamper was a real problem cat from the day he was born...

I still miss the poor thing and I'm all emo right now.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

The Cat Abortions

My littlest cat, Sable, is only a few months old and got pregnant. I have been worried sick that she might die giving birth and have been asking what to do. Remember that I live in a rural area which is thoroughly corrupt, but seeing as how 90+% of the residents are uneducated rednecks, you would think they'd know a thing or two about animal husbandry. I freely admit I haven't the faintest idea as to how to handle this situation. But I no longer need to, as my littlest and youngest cat, Sable, is aborting her kittens as I type. Under my chair, no less!

I called a week ago to ask about the situation and the conversation went like this (remember, I am in one of those "typical," thoroughly corrupt, rural, Southern towns in the Bible Belt):

MD: What do I do?
Vet Tech: You need to bring her in to get spayed.
MD: She's already pregnant. Will that abort the kittens?
Vet Tech: [Long, awkward pause] Well... um, no.
MD: ...
MD: What happens to the kittens, then? Do they just disappear?
Vet Tech: Yes.

Scout's honor. But I digress.

I noticed her licking on something on the floor which I first thought was a chicken bone or something. When I looked closer, it was a hairless fetus! I was instantly grossed-out and stopped her from eating it. I threw it away, even though I wasn't certain it was dead. It was still warm, but obviously not breathing (well or often, if at all). Sable let loose a small river of blood from her womb-ish area, but otherwise appeared just fine.

A few minutes later, following frantic phonecalls to after hours vets which went unanswered, another fetus appeared. This one was breathing - even moving its head! However, she waited until it had mostly stopped to chew off the umbilical cord and proceed devouring it.

The one vet I spoke to - the only one who answered his phone - said the kittens had no chance of making it and to just leave her be and let her do her thing. A moment later, a family friend I'd called returned my phonecall and said she was aborting them and there was nothing to be done but wait it out. I looked online (briefly) but found no mention as to cats aborting their feti. Nevertheless, Sable has given birth to two live feti and ate one - the other I kept her from eating.

She keeps wanting to jump in my lap or on the couch and I put a towel down on the porch for her, but she won't stay there. In fact, Sable is acting perfectly fine, as though nothing were happening. While I'm thankful for that (and more than a little thankful I will not have even more mouths to feed), this is a terrible thing and I'm a little heartbroken by it.

If anyone knows anything about this phenomena (assuming there is any), please share!

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

How Smoking Affects Pets

I am a smoker. I'm not all that vocal about it because it's just a habit of mine (or vice, however you wish to view it), but increasingly these last few years, my fellow smokers and I have come under fire. In my state, they have raised taxes nearly $2.00 in the last year on cigarettes and tobacco products - only. In other states, various laws have banned smoking in public places (including bars and clubs!).

And while many are upset over all of this, a few say it's helped them cut-back on their smoking, so they don't mind. However, I'm writing this to inform you of a study one article mentioned in covering these recent changes - one I did not know about and one which made me stop and think.

A study some seven years ago found that smoking also affects your pets. While dogs often get asthma and other respiratory problems similar to those some humans who smoke face, cats were more likely to come down with intestinal lymphoma - because the carcinogens in the smoke settles on their fur and they ingest it when grooming themselves.

And if your cats are anything like mine, they are constantly grooming themselves.

This really worried me because, no matter how bad my cats are (and they are bad), I love them and want them to be around for as long as possible. But I tried to cut-down on my smoking and it lasted for all of maybe three-four days!

Still, it's been a really rough few months; maybe once my stress decreases some, I can actually do it. And once it warms-up, I am going to get in the habit of going outside to smoke. That alone helps curb your habit more than anything else I have ever tried, because I lived in places where I had to do it, so I speak from experience.

Anyway, I've wanted to pass that along since I read it a few weeks back.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Travis, Maul Chimp

Sandra Herold raised Travis from three weeks old. The chimpanzee appeared in ads for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, among others, and though Herold defends him to this day, sources say Travis had behavioral problems in the past.

Last week, the 200-lb. chimpanzee attacked and mauled a 55-year old woman who is still in critical condition. She has undergone seven hours of emergency surgery which saved her life, and has been moved to a clinic known for its success with an earlier face transplant operation. Sandra Herold had to stab her beloved pet to try and stop the attack before police arrived and shot him to death.

And though Sandra insists Travis was agitated and she believes he was trying to protect her from the woman he attacked (Charlie Nash), who was driving a different car, had a different hairstyle, and had playfully taunted the ape with an Elmo doll she brought as a present, it has since come to light that Travis previously attacked a woman in 1996. He also escaped and ran into traffic some years ago. Sandra Herold had expressed, at the time of that incident, she knew she would have to give-up the pet at some point.

Male chimpanzees get progressively harder to control as they mature and are capable of ripping a man's arm from his body. Travis mauled 55-year old Charlie Nash so severely that the woman will never be the same. Nash's brother has already moved to sue Herold. Police are not saying if criminal charges will be filed, yet.

Herold says she gave Travis a Xanax - a prescription pill used to calm patients - but the attack happened a mere five minutes later and it could not have had time to take effect. She has since retracted the statement, saying the animal refused the medicine. The pill was unprescribed.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

PETA Supports the KKK

PETA members dressed as KKK members outside the Westminster Dog Show in New York to show their support for freedom of speech. They claim the participants in the Westminster Dog Show are seeking to create a "master race" of purebred animals, and that kennels sometimes kill dogs or something equally ridiculous.

PETA is increasingly employing shocking, controversial - even terrorist - displays to make no discernible point, whatsoever.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Service Animals

This is quite interesting and something of which I was not aware: apparently, there are all sorts of service animals aside from your general seeing-eye dog. There are guide miniature horses, parrots, even monkeys! Of course, these animals can be hard to justify bringing inside a store or other places, and New York is now considering a law which limits the "service animal" label to guide dogs because of this.

NPR discusses this issue, along with many supporting links. Incredibly interesting, I do have to say some of these "service animals" are questionable even to me. For example, one guy has a parrot that calms him down by speaking to him whenever he starts to have a psychotic episode. I guess a familiar, reassuring voice would be of service to victims of certain mental disorders (such as bipolar, which this guy has), but you have to admit it's a stretch.

Still, very interesting.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

A Fishy Christmas Miracle

When Barbara Woodford discovered her goldfish's bowl was empty, she looked all around for the little guy to no avail. Assuming the worst, Barbara went on to work. When she arrived home some 13 hours later, she found her pet behind a shelf. She got a spatula and was surprised to see his little mouth gasping for air! Quickly, she put Ginger back in his bowl, where the little goldfish went right back to "swimming fabulously."

An spokesperson for the Association of Midland Goldfish Keepers noted that fish can live for quite some time out of the water, so long as their gills remain wet, adding, "But this is the longest I've heard of a goldfish staying alive. It's quite astonishing."

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Charges Likely for "Gothic" Kitten Peddler

Authorities say a Pennsylvania woman is likely to face charges stemming from her online business. She sold "Gothic" kittens - kittens whose ears, necks, and even tails had been pierced. SPCA workers rescued three kittens from her home, where she also ran a pet grooming service in the basement. They were tipped-off by someone.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Santa Claws

A New Jersey woman brought in her pet bobcat for pictures with Santa... but the bobcat apparently did not enjoy the sitting.

Jonathan Bebbington, the in-store Santa, tried to calm the pet, who continued biting and scratching him.  The woman said she'd had the animal shipped-in from Wyoming for $1500 and kept it on a leash in her yard.  She did not leave her name or residence.  Authorities are looking for her.  Bebbington is undergoing rabies injections.

Bebbington noted he has sat with many exotic pets over the years, but even he was concerned when he saw the bobcat.  While not full-grown, bobcats can be deadly -- quickly.  They are incredibly rare in the wild and not much is known about them.  

I gave my eyewitness account of an encounter with one several years past on the old OddBlog and will rewrite it one day for you.  Needless to say, it is the only one I ever saw and no one else I know has ever seen one in the wild.  This is not your typical bob-tailed cat, which is usually from domesticated stock, and rarely larger than your ordinary housecat; bobcats can grow to weigh as much as 50-80 pounds!

Jonathan Bebbington has been the in-store Santa Clause for Petsmart for years.  Customers can bring their pets in for a picture on his lap at $9.95 a pop.  Part of the proceeds go to various animal charities.  The promotion is called "Santa Paws."

Bobcats do not make good pets.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Obese Dog Freezes to Sidewalk

Jiffy is a 120-lb., 11- or 12-year old collie mix whose owner could not get him in the house the other night. Jiffy stayed outside and became frozen to the sidewalk! While most animals would not have survived the single-digit temperatures of Sheboygan, WI, experts say Jiffy's fat probably saved him.

Jiffy's owner was arrested on suspicion of animal neglect. Shelter workers poured warm water over the dog's rear-end to get him unstuck. It is too soon to know whether or not he will suffer any long-term effects from his frozen butthole.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Massachusetts Mystery Meat

Someone has been leaving butcher-cut hunks of meat in the Town Center common of Framington, Massachusetts. Police want to know who... and why.

For the last two weeks, butcher-quality meat has shown up in the commons area of the town center, where many citizens walk their dogs. No one knows who is leaving the meat or why. Some fear for the safety of their pets, wondering if the meat is poisoned.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Machu Picchu Offered to Obamas

Claudia Galvez, director of the Friends of the Peruvian Hairless Dog Association, has a 4-month old she's calling Ears, but says she will rename it Machu Picchu and give it to President-Elect Barack Obama and his family -- if they will have it.

In his acceptance speech, Obama told his daughters that they would be getting "that dog they wanted."  The problem, he later explained, is that 10-year old Malia is allergic to most breeds.  The Peruvian Hairless Dog, a 3000+ year-old breed, does not cause allergic reactions in most people, according to the lore surrounding them.

The Peruvian Hairless Dog is not only hairless but often toothless, and is depicted on ancient Peruvian pottery and ceramics.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Man Fights Shark to Save Dog

A Florida man leapt into the ocean to fight a 5' shark which attacked his little dog, Jake over the weekend.

Everyday, he and Jake take a swim in the ocean. On this day, the owner said the shark just appeared out of nowhere and had 14-lb. Jake in its mouth - pretty much the entire dog! The man doubled-up his fists, leapt into the water, and pounded the shark on the back until it let go of the dog. The two swam back to shore.

Jake is expected to make a full recovery.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008