Cats And Coupons

I’ve never given much thought to what goes on outside while I’m asleep but lately I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s time to put some low voltage path lights. Recently my son’s bike was stolen and my truck was broken into. My Mom lives close by. In recent months she has had a raccoon and another wild animal in the backyard. I know I’ve seen a black cat in the yard in the early morning. I leave for work at 4:30 am and I’m getting a little nervous about what I might encounter when I leave the house in the morning.

I’m constantly seeing ads for medical assistant training school. I love the colorful scrubs that so many medical professionals wear. When I was in school for billing and coding I bought some and they’re very comfortable and wash really well. My favorite two have cats on them, of course. Could you imagine if animals had to go to school and get jobs? I can only imagine a cat nurse taking care of a human wearing scrubs with people on them!

Sites just for pet owners are becoming quite popular. I recently learned about another community just for pet lovers called Animal Attraction. It’s free to sign up for membership. Once you’ve joined you can create a profile for you and your pets. There’s a search enging to help members find new friends with common interests. Members can communicate with each other using chat rooms, message boards and instant messaging.  On the site you can share photos and stories, as well as look for and offer advice. Every day that a member logs in Animal Attraction makes a small donation to an animal charity. If someone joins as a new member on your recommendation Animal Attraction will donate $1. The site is a terrific way to meet others with the same interests while helping animals.

If you’ve ever watched or been to a dog show you know there’s a group called working dogs. (Point of interest, there’s no working cat category at a cat show.) The dogs in the AKC working group include the Akita, Alaskan Malamute, Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Boxer, Bernese Mountain Dog, Black Russian Terrier, Bullmastiff, Doberman Pinscher, Dogue de Bordeaux, German Pinscher, Giant Schnauzer, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Komondor, Kuvasz, Mastiff, Neopolitan Mastiff, Newfoundland, Portugese Water Dog, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Siberian Husky, Standard Schnauzer and Tibetan Mastiff. Could you imagine if people were like working class dogs? They’d never have to do another job search again, because everyone would know what they can do right from the start. What I find interesting about dog shows is that dogs within one class do different “work” and yet they’re all judged against each other. We have a Siberian Husky, so he’d be in the working group if he were a show dog. Do you have a dog? What group would he be in if he were a show dog?

Every year my family takes a camping vacation in upstate New York. We go up for the Nascar race in Watkins Glen. For more then twelve years we’ve been going there and I just found out today that the country’s largest farm animal rescue is located right in Watkins Glen. The rescue is called Farm Sanctuary. The 175 acre farm offers tours, a sleepover retreat and a bed and breakfast. besides rescuing animals, Farm Sanctuary promotes education, advocacy and leadership. What a terrific organization. I can’t believe it’s been right under our noses all this time!

As I’ve mentioned previously, the homeless pet situation is a big problem. I was having a discussion recently with TJ, my twelve year old, and mentioned to him that the nearby shelter had just expanded so it could hold all of the animals it was receiving. The number of shelter animals is on the rise. Before you go get yourself an expensive purebred, consider checking the nearby shelters. The animals there are in desperate need of a home and you’re one of the many mortgage lenders out there. Think of the upside too. Shelter animals are grateful, because they’re happy to have been chosen and they know what it’s like to be homeless or to live in a cage. You’ll spend less money adopting an animal from a shelter rather than buying from a breeder. You might not have to housetrain a shelter animal if they’re older. And guess what, Even purebreds end up in shelters and need homes too, so you might find exactly what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for an animal, think shelter. And spread the word.

Don’t you love going to a good zoo? If you’ve never been to one I encourage you to take a day and do so. It doesn’t matter if you have children or not, you’ll have a blast. It’s amazing to see animals that you otherwise might not see live. The National Zoo in Washington DC is one of the well known zoos here in the US. They’ve put many live animal cams up, which means that no matter where you are you can get a glimpse of some of the National Zoo animals. Currently the cams they have up and running include an Amazon River Fish Cam, an Asian Small-clawed Otter Cam, a Black-footed Ferret Cam, Cheetah Cams, a Clouded Leopard Cam, a Fishing Cat Cam, a Flamingo Cam, a Gharial Cam, a Golden Lion Tamarin Cam, a Gorilla Cam, a Kiwi Cam, a Lion Cam, Micronesian Kingfisher Cam, a MicroTheatre Cam, a Naked Mole-Rat Cam, an Octopus Cam, an Orangutan Cam, Panda Cams, a Sloth Bear Cam and a Tiger Cam. Go check them out, they’re really neat. Happy viewing!

I am a great believer in adopting animals. There are so many unwanted animals out there that need homes and would make terrific pets. Adopting has numerous advantages over buying from a breeder. Petfinder is a website that offers a searchable database of animals that need homes and shelters, rescues and adoption groups within the United States, Canada and Mexico. The database is updated daily. If you’re looking for a pet, Petfinder should be the first place you look. Petfinder is free to use. I’ve added their search widget to one of my sidebars.

I was explaining to my son today that it’s important to keep your hair clean and to not touch your face as part of an acne prevention routine. He’s got hair from my side of the family, which tends to be oily. Somehow we got onto the topic of our cats and we both wondered if dogs and cats ever get pimples. I’ve seen a lot of things in the pet store, but never acne treatment. So, does anyone know if cats and dogs can get pimples?

Sort of. There’s a new reality show that premiered tonight called Greatest American Dog. The show will feature a dozen dog and owner teams living together and competing against each other for a prize of $250,000. Each week one team will be eliminated by the judges, who are Wendy Diamond, Allan Reznik and Victoria Stilwell. The host of the show is Jarod Miller. Greatest American Dog will be airing on Thursdays at 8pm on CBS.