Great sadness in our house since Friday. Being very worried about the little cat we adopted from the Humane Society in January, we took her to the vet. She had stopped eating, was drinking very little, seemed to have a bit of a head cold, and was getting more and more lethargic. We were hoping it was just depression from too many changes of homes in a short time. We weren’t that lucky.

Lily had developed something we’d never heard of before: feline infectious peritonitis. While there are palliative therapies, there is no cure. At this point she was in no pain, but that would change rapidly. She had already lost a pound and a half in body weight in just four weeks. As the disease progressed she would starve to death, provided the virus didn’t invade her brain.

She was only two years old.

I made the call to let her go now, before she started suffering. Our vets are very caring and humane; she had already been given a sedative before we got there, and they left her with me for a time so we could say our farewells. Asked Bastet to take her home. Cried a bit. Still crying a bit while I write this.

Hers was a very peaceful passing. We brought her home and buried her beneath the maple tree out back, with the other cats we’ve lost over the years. She was with us for such a short time, but was so very precious for all that.

If you want to know more about this disease, please follow this link to a very good site out of Britain.

Wind to thy wings, Lily.

German Shepherd

Late Tuesday, police in the Lewisville suburb of Dallas arrested Michael Stephen Stolz (76), and charged him with murder in the shooting death of his wife, Bernice (49), several days earlier. He told officers it started when he shot their German Shepherd mix dog after it crapped on the floor. Then he shot their other dog, a Rottweiler, and finally he shot his wife because she was screaming at him for shooting the dogs. He was going to kill himself, but he’d run out of bullets.

Rottweiler

Police had been called to check on Bernice after she missed several days of work, but Stolz refused to allow them in the house. Because of the odor of decomposition they smelled from the door, they called in the SWAT team, who were able to send in a robot to take a look. Once the robot determined that Stolz was unarmed, officers entered the house, finding the wife and dogs where they had fallen. Stolz surrendered peacefully, and is being held on $250,000 bond.

Wow. I have six cats that belong to me, plus three others that belong to other members of my household who hang out with mine, plus my daughter’s dog. Every day starts with looking for the puddle because the dog didn’t get let out on time, the pile of puked-up cat food because the little girl ate too fast, the puked-up hairballs because it’s spring and they’re ALL shedding, and the cat shit pile because somebody thinks the litter box isn’t clean enough. THIS IS PART OF HAVING PETS, PEOPLE!

Yesterday I was downstairs doing laundry and my brother-in-law was shocked at how close I had come to stepping in a pile of cat shit, and oh my! I was in bare feet. My sum total reaction was to tell him that my feet are easier to wash than my shoes. After all, I hadn’t stepped in it, because I look at where I put my feet. With nine cats and a dog, I have no sympathy for the people in this house who don’t look at the floor.

And then he shot his wife. #$%^&*(, what the hell?! Please, we need people like this to be disarmed. I’ll bet that if he hadn’t had the gun, all that would have happened would have been a lot of yelling.

With the gun, now there will be a funeral.

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Neopolitan Mastiff Getty Images via @daylife

You know the old tradition of calculating your dog’s age times seven to get his age in human years. Well, veterinarians haven’t really liked that method for years, because it doesn’t take into account the fact that they age faster at the beginning of their lives and slower as they grow older. Same with cats. They mature faster in the first two years (hell, we had a barn cat when I was a kid who had her first litter at nine months) and then slow down.

The article had these two cute little charts to help you figure out how old your animal is in human years. Now let’s see, this means that Rufus the dog is an obnoxious twenty-something. Then there’s the cats. We have Simon, who’s 60. Then Quinn, who’s 52, the twins are almost 40, Esmerelda is 36 and Lilith rounds it out at 24. Damn. Pretty well nails their a-ti-tudes!

Anyway, if you’re curious about your own furry housemates, here you go:

Calculate Dog's Age

Calculate Cat's Age

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Harold Cunningham /GettyImages

We all vaguely remember Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare, right? How about the rabbit and the rabbit? Doesn’t sound familiar, does it. Well, Aesop didn’t have anything to do with this one. It is an emerging sports trend in Central Europe called “rabbit hopping”.

Harold Cunningham /GettyImages

Yesterday in Wollerau, Switzerland they held the first European Rabbit Hopping championships. Lada Sipova-Krecova of Czech Republic won (that’s the owner, not the rabbit).

They’re just so damned cute!

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Daniel the Miracle Beagle

St. Francis, the patron saint of animals, seems to have made a stop in Florence, Alabama. On Oct. 3, the 785th anniversary of the saint’s death, the local animal control officer was performing the saddest duty in his job, euthanizing unwanted strays the local shelter had no room for. Until Dec. 31st, Alabama still uses carbon monoxide gas chambers to euthanize shelter animals.

When the chamber was opened, a young beagle mix walked out, scared but alive, wagging his tail. Thank you, St. Francis, for saving this one. He was unwanted, dropped anonymously in a drop box outside the pound. With an influx of 60 dogs the day before, there was no room to give him a chance.

However, shelter policy states that if an animal survives the gas chamber, they have to find a home for him (guess they don’t want to mess with divine intervention!). Dubbed “Daniel” for the biblical figure who walked out of a lion’s den, the miracle dog has a second chance.

Wednesday he was flown to New Jersey, tail wagging the whole way, where the nonprofit Eleventh Hour Rescue group have placed him into foster care and will find him a new home. His foster mom says “He’s absolutely fabulous. He walked in the house like he had always lived there. He’s very sweet, happy and outgoing.”

The group will take its time sorting through the over-100 applications to adopt Daniel to find him the right home, where he will never be dropped off as unwanted again. Their only regret, right now, is that about 50% of those applicants said they don’t want another dog if Daniel is not available.

But then, there’s the 50% who will.

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Eastern Gray Squirrel

A vicious rogue gray squirrel has been terrorizing a neighborhood in the quiet Ivy League town of Bennington, Vermont. The Bennington Banner reports that one man, Kevin McDonald was ambushed while shoveling snow and one woman is being treated for possible rabies exposure. The Vermont Public Health service, through veterinarian Robert Johnson says there has never been a report of rabies being transmitted by squirrel in Vermont.

The squirrel reportedly stalks its victims, launching itself repeatedly at innocent people going about their normal business. Johnson has speculated that the squirrel was raised as a pet and therefore is unafraid of people. Gray squirrels are territorial and will chase off other squirrels for violating tree-rights. They are also remarkably intelligent, with long-term memory capabilities akin to dolphins. Though squirrel-proof bird feeders are a large market among wildlife lovers, there really is no such thing as a feeder a squirrel can’t get at. There have also been reports of squirrels becoming dangerous when cornered while trying to defend their “ownership” of toilets.

Our neighborhood alpha-male is named Leonardo, for his habit of climbing on our garage roof, standing on his hind haunches and surveying his domain while raising his front paws in a perfect imitation of “I’m King of the World!” Thinking of squirrels as cute little rodents is naive. They are fully capable of bringing a 300-pound man to tears. My Dad never recovered from that one.

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Sometimes the Dog Days of Summer…Just Plain Stink!

Late-summer nights bring fire-works, warm breezes and in many regions of the U.S., skunks.  Pet owners may learn the hard way that letting Fido out at night can lead to many-a-smelly summer’s eves.

The most commonly suggested skunk spray remedy still remains “tomato juice bath.” However after personally trying that particular cocktail, my dog turned pink and smelled like marinara skunk sauce.

Suffice it to say, I sought other options. I ventured to the internet, where the solution to all the world’s problems exist in one link or another out there. A most interesting suggestion popped out and grabbed my attention: Douche Powder. Hmm. Two words I was familiar with, but just not together.

Before the advent of the disposable douche, companies sold boxes of individually wrapped, foil packets of douchey-powder. The mix gets poured into water and mixed into a magical, douchin’ solution. Like Crystal Light, only different.

The folks on the internet site I looked at raved about this douche powder for eliminating the skunk stank on their pets. The stuff is hard to come by though!  Manufacturers all but stopped producing this form of feminine, and apparently canine, hygiene in the late 1980s.  However, hit enough pharmacies in town and douche powder can be found. Just be prepared for quite a few attempts, because as all technologies advance, so does the douche. Walking into Walgreens or Duane Read and asking for Douche Powder is like walking into Best Buy and asking for an 8-Track Player.

Recently, my dog suffered 3 sprayings in 2 weeks. That meant a return trip to the same store for more douche powder. Here’s a word of advice, whether buying just one box or repeat purchases:  Avoid eye contact with the clerk. If eye-contact is made, the massive and futile effort of the clerk trying to keep a straight face proves to be quite awkward.  Also, don’t place the giant box of douche powder on the counter and announce, “It’s for my dog!”  Nobody will believe that your dog has that not-so-fresh-feeling. Silence truly is golden at times.

The good news though? The end result is worth any extra leg work and embarrassment. The douche powder mixed in some bath water works wonderfully to remove skunk scent from a cat or dog. So when in doubt, break that douche powder out.

For more Ellen Moschetto, check her out @ http://ellenmoschetto.com/ or on Facebook @ facebook.com/ellen.moschetto

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Here is Joppa’s link:
http://www.wetv.com/pictureperfectpet/profile.php/2834/

Cyndi Wiley lives in the cornfields of Iowa, owns a graphic design studio, and is a volunteer extraordinaire and social media junkie. You can find her main site, Studio3b on the web here.

They are like our children. If you don’t have kids they are you and if you have kids their the adopted child. I am pretty sure that all of the lezs that I know have dogs.

If you are thinking about getting gift and can’t seem to think of the perfect one, what about a dog (or cat). The shelters are overwhelmed with animals right now. Families are losing their homes left and right and are moving to places that don’t accept pets. People still don’t spay or neuter their animals and then we have puppies, while cute, most of them are going to the shelters or pounds.

We have been thinking about getting a new dog lately and have been checking out the shelters. We have one dog who is 3 years old and is a nervous dog and we didn’t know if it would be better for her to have a friend. She is a great dog and wouldn’t trade her for anything. She is trained but could use a refresh course. The picture above is her. Our son loves her very much and she definitely loves her family.

Here is what I like about the shelters:

1. You Save Money (See below).
2. The pets are already spayed or neutered.
3. They are up-to-date on their shots.
4. You are helping an animal that needs a good home.
5. They have websites that yu can check out and see their adoptable pets.
6. Some pets are already microchipped!
7. You get a good animal.

A search of human society or dog rescue shelters works great.

*Arizona Residents: http://www.azhumane.org

Please, If you are thinking of getting a new animal this holiday season, check out your local shelter and get an animal that wants a good loving home.

Jess is from Arizona, is happily married, and is a proud mom of an adorable son. For more about her check out www.2moms2kids.com.