I have six dogs and one cat. Nobody will ever separate me from them, and nothing but death will take them away from me or vice versa. Why would the city come in and take healthy, loved pets from someone just to place in an already overcrowded shelter? It literally would make no sense, unless the person was an animal hoarder and the animals health, living conditions, and safety were an issue.

They wouldn't unless someone complained about you or your dogs. Relax, they don't have enough money to enforce traffic laws let alone animal ordinances.

My life for enough police to make people use turn signals!

Refuge51---I feel so horrible, I checked this thread every day and somehow I missed you sad news. I am so sorry to hear that, I really am, I'm also so sorry to not know until now, man I hate when that happens. I do know that they are both better off now, running around with all of their fellow dog buddies in the great beyond. In that place she doesn't need a cart just a friend, and they will have plenty. We all have to remind ourselves that they did not go as a result of abuse, but they went knowing we loved them immensely and that if we could make them live forever, we would. They know it, they understand it, so we cannot be hard on ourselves. We pride ourselves on doing our very very best, and they appreciate it, that's why they kiss us.
Again, I'm sorry it took me so long to respond when you were so good to me.

Bushwa--Thanks for that poem, man I was laughing through my tears, you are the best!!! It's good thing you're a writer, because many people don't know they have a way with words.

Thanks Tap.
That's exactly what I was thinking about your precious friend Buddy. Where was I? I didn't even know until I came to post Sassy had died.

You're right, all our beloved fur babies that have gone on ahead are running and playing all day long because the sun always shines, and they never get tired, or hungry, or thirsty and I think they're eternally young.
Did I already post this? It gives me great comfort:
http://www.rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm
And a favorite quote:"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where
they went." -- Unknown

Two of my kitties decided to take 10 years off my life this morning.

I have a new housemate and the three terrorist kitties are intensely shy so I expect some hiding now and then. However, the new housemate is very quiet and has been good about letting the animals come to him (Roxy is in love I think) in their own time. Things seemed pretty good, the young ones weren't hiding all day long and a few times they were even on the same floor with the "stranger".

This morning when I got up I did my usual mental inventory of cats and only saw three, Sterling (he's always the first I hunt down because at his age, well....), South and JJ. So I got the dogs out, gave the three cats breakfast and did some quick hunting around for the other two to see if they got shut in a room or something. They are fast and can get into a room before you realize they were even near the door.

I stuck my head in the basement stairwell and did the "here kitty, kitty, kitty" thing. Why do they answer to that? Its like the can opener, it must be in the DNA or something because I so rarely use it and yet they know what it means right away. Only this time there was no response. So I got the dogs inside and was preparing their breakfast when Grant came strolling through. That left only Jimmy as MIA.

The neighbor girl came to walk Roxy and I had to clean and refill the upstairs litterboxes (cause they are in the same room as the computer and its really hard to drink your morning coffee and read your email while the smell of cat poop wafts through the air). Still, a half an hour later, no Jimmy.

I'm starting to panic here cause I've lost far too many pets since last September. Two were not ones I thought I'd lose this soon, it tends to make one paranoid. So I stuck my head into the basement stairwell once more and did the "here kitty, kitty" thing and noticed a torn plastic bag laying at the bottom of the stairs.

Crap, all that raced through my head was Jimmy playing with that, swallowing some and choking. I was just about ready to gimp down there to look for him when he poked his handsome little head around the corner and looked up at me as if to say, "Gotch ya!"

Damn cats! I'm just so relieved though. Not how you want to start a Monday, or maybe it is cause it all turned out well.

I tell ya, I swear these animals are trying to take years off my life by freaking me out!

LOL they'll keep your young or crippled one of the two.

Oh, PLEASE don't give me credit for the work of Billy Collins. I hope to God I did name him as the author of the piece back in the OP.

I mean, I WISH I could claim I wrote it, but I'm mortified if someone thought I was claiming to have written the Revenant.

Me, I wrote a little something called "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Oh, and "For Whom The Bell Tolls." I wrote that, too.

No I was responding to two of your posts, at once, my bad. You did clarify Billy Collins.

Wow, I loved those books you wrote, too...LOL

Our fur children have turned us into mother hens! Maybe when we call out kitty kitty, they hear cluck cluck
I'm so glad everything turned out okay after all for you and the cats.

boring and the ending was too predictable

Ok, so Saturday while grocery shopping, I noticed Kroger's had Texas broilers on sale. These really are tough pieces of steak, but steak sounded SO good and I could get a good sized piece for under $4. I went for it.

Well today I cooked it up for breakfast and that piece was so big I cut it into 3 pieces, ate one and left the other two in the pan to be put away. I got sidetracked with some things I really needed to do.

With a new housemate I left Schatzi alone in the living room and let Roxy wander around in the kitchen and computer room with the 3 brave cats that weren't hiding down in the basement because there is a strange hooman in the house. I ducked into the shower, then got dressed, hunted down Roxy and put her in the bedroom. As I was walking through the kitchen I realized I'd left the steaks out so backed up to put them away and they were gone.

My first thought was, "Damn cats!" Then I noticed the pan was licked clean and immediately in my head popped up a picture of Roxy standing on her hind legs, front paws on the stove, snarfing down those tough but good tasting, rather large, pieces of steak. Well, I definitely got my $4 worth and fortunately for her I was in a good mood so I laughed, hunted down my housemate to make sure he was going to be in and out while I was gone, assessed him of her good fortune and asked if he'd look in on her throughout the evening because she most likely will need to make a couple trips outside.

I cannot say I am sooo cheerful about my animal eating my dinner. I was very tired, I had been digging out in the desert all damn day with a very heavy digging bar. This was so we could set a temporary pipeline for the crap pumping plant for Palmdale. It was an hour long drive home, I stopped at the AM PM mini market and got gas and some cheap chicken sandwiches.

I got home, put the bag of sandwiches on my bed, and walked back out to the kitchen for a beer. When I walked into my room my Sharpei called Velvet had eaten both damn sandwiches and the wrappers and condiments were everywhere. I screamed at her and swatted her on the nose. When ever I got mad at her it always broke her heart so I got something else to eat, and then found her and let her know that everything was OK. After that though, I could leave food right in front of her, she would not touch it unless I told her it was OK. She found out quickly that all she had to do was wait and I would spoil the crap out of her.

Trust me, normally I wouldn't have been so good about one of the dogs stealing two meals from me! But, truth is, it was gone and she had forgotten about it already. There really is no way to get her to understand not to touch that meal, but we will be working on training her (and me) in this area. I also have to remember, you don't put temptation in your animal's way and expect them to act like they aren't an animal. Its been a while since I had a dog who could reach the top of the stove. Skye had arthritis her last years, Damien never could get up enough to reach the stove or counters and Schatzi has always been the well behaved older child who ratted out the younger kids.

I do remember taking Skye to the vet for something then stopping at the Burger King next door to get her a couple plain hamburgers. I put them on the floor of the front seat thinking her arthritis was so bad she'd never climb over the seat to get them, went into the store to get something or other and damn if she hadn't managed to get herself over the seat and into the food. They were her's anyway, it was during her chemo and I was feeding her extra protein to make up for what the chemo killed.

It's instinct for an animal to grab food. Two days ago, my dog Riley reached up and ate my sandwich off my desk when I answered the phone! He was so quiet about it, I just barely caught him doing it. I simply said "Riley that was mine you goofball" I figured, oh well, less calories for me I'll just be more careful next time where I place something.

A couple years ago, I came home from the grocery store and laid the non refrigerated items on the counter, then was busy doing something when I walked into the kitchen and noticed one of the dogs had a red ball in her mouth. I thought to myself"She doesn't have any red balls" Sure enough, she was carrying around my tomato! My avocado was missing, and Riley had taken a can of pop downstairs and opened it, because there were only 11 soda cans in the carton and we hadn't drank any yet. I called the vet about the avocado and she told me to find the pit because all of the avocado is toxic, but mostly the pit. I found the whole thing outside, slobbery but not eaten. So into the trash went the tomato and avocado. Darn vagabonds!

WOw those are some funny stories. Years ago we had dog named Blitz who ate 2 steaks off the counter that my mom just bought, they were porterhouses and we were pretty poor then, but my dad just shrugged it off and went and bought 2 more. They still tell that story today. And they put the steaks in the sink to defrost!!!

Steakcycle! Speaking of frosty treats to keep one cool in the summer.........

Thank goodness your dad knew when it's gone, there's no bringing it back, so why punish the dog for an instinctual act

My dad was funny that way, he always stood up for the dogs. My mom was raised with hunting dogs, so she was more harsh. Dad eventually showed her how dogs are our friends, then she changed. Towards dogs, I'm not gonna lionize her....

I have five cats that own me but this guy/gal hangs around on my deck

almost every night. Kinda sucks that I can't open the bedroom window
because of him/her.........

FD--Now why do you think that is? Put the food and agua up on a railing, and he'll leave. Also burn vanilla candles they will get rid of the stank.

Oh but it's so cute!

Not sitting outside your house spraying away it ain't. Descent it and I'll call it cute.

My biggest fear is one will find its way into my yard and the furry dog will go after it like she goes after the squirrels. A co-worker's dog tangled with a skunk and it took a long time for him to get the smell out of her fur.

Fortunately, our dogs have had cheaper tastes. The Airedale, whose nose is perfect at counter height, has eaten a full loaf of bread TWICE. (Hey, it happens, you're on guard for 2-3 years, and then you just forget one day, and WHAM.) Ate the whole damned loaf and most of the utterly shredded plastic bag both times.

We've had a few ice cream bowls licked out of when they were left on the coffee table. Thing is, three people will be eating ice cream and watching a movie. One sets his bowl down and dashes off to the bathroom. The other two are watching or talking, and glance over just in time to see the head tilted sideways and lapping up some ice cream. You shoo the dog away, but in our house you NEVER tell the "victim." 4 dogs and three cats - anyone who leaves their food unguarded at knee height loses just what they deserve to lose.

All, of course, are champion floor cleaners. In our house, if you're pouring a bowl of cereal at 3am and one Cheerio hits the floor, just say "oops" and you can hear toenails on anywhere from 16 to 24 feet come scrambling across hardwood floors from every room in the house as they all try to be the one who gets there first.

It's pretty damned funny when a visitor in our house might be standing in the kitchen and, for reasons unrelated to ANYTHING to do with food says "ooops," and they are instantly surrounded by every animal we have.

Oh yeah, I've already lost half a loaf of bread and an entire can of cat food (time to move the cat's food down the basement again where Roxy doesn't have access.)

That's a funny thought, some poor unsuspecting person saying opps and ending up with a gang of furry critters around them looking for the goods. Skye would clean my floors, and my walls, and my windows, and my couches. She was OCD actually but the floors never looked cleaner! Roxy isn't that good at cleaning off things. She only licks up what she can get without too much work. Same with Schatzi.

THis for all you dog lovers:
"If you can start the day without caffein
If you can resist complainingand boring people with your troubles
If you can eat the same foodeveryday and be gratefulfor it
If you can understand when your loved onesare too busyto give you any time
If you can overlookit whensomething goes wrong
through no fault of yours,and those you love take it out on you
If you cantake criticism and blame without resentment
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct them
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend
If you can face the world without lies and deceit
If you can conquer tension without medical help
If you can relax without liquor
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs
If you can honestly saythat deep in your heart you have no prejudices
against creed,religion or politics then you my friend are almost as good as your dog."


Don't remember where the above is from, unfortunately.
And I remember the day Elvis climbed up the stove to eat my steak-marinade and all- while I was preparing the grill outside!WOW!That pan was so clean, I thought momentarily I really had forgotten to put the steak in it. His absolute innocent look led me to believe that ,in a dog's mind, food "belongs" to whoever eats it!

Exactly. Which is why I try to train my dogs to not take food just because its with in reach. However, I also try to do my part by not putting temptation right in their face because I know when it comes to food I have very little self-control and I'm supposed to be able to do better than them.

Great stuff all of you, Like I said, if they'll try to steal it and eat it, put it in the sink, if they can climb and jump, put it in the fridge, if it needs to be at room temp., put it in the micro. Problem solved.......................................so far.

I used to own a cat who would eat anything. If I dropped a bit of chicken from a sandwich, swish!, she was there eating it from the floor.

I discovered one evening that she loved chocolate! I was reading in bed, and I looked over and there was Helga licking at my chocolate bar! One time I had a box of them chocolates that you can only get around Christmas on my desk. All night I heard a rustling that I couldn't quite identify that kept me from getting a good night's sleep. The next morning I discovered the box on the floor, she'd been trying to get at it all night. She succeeded, as there was licked chocolates in evidence.

Cats and dogs like sweets, but chocolate isn't good for them. Too much can kill them.

I do let my cats sometimes like the bowl when I've had chocolate ice cream and I sometimes share a little bit of chocolate with my dogs, but its few, far between and just a little amount based on their weight.

So while its cute just make sure they don't get too much.

The oven works too. When I order pizza and don't want to put it into the fridge yet I put the box into the oven. Otherwise the cats will knock it off the counter or stove and of course they or the dogs will eat it.

I know...I was joking...that stuff will make you vomit it's so awful!!


I love your food stories..all of you...really makes my day

for the record ~ i have been following along. i'm sorry to hear about all your loses of late (ref, rottmom, tap, hope i didn't miss anyone)

wish i was better at this because i really do love animals but their deaths makes me quite depressed and i'm not usually a depressed type of person. so it's hard to be in the moment for me on this subject. sorry but know i care.

Sorry is good. I know people who can't deal with that sort of thing and I totally understand.

Thank you for caring.

Thank you Lucy..sorry works just fine for me too.

thx for understanding ~ i wish i could put on my big girl panties and not be so selfish but it is just not good for my mental being.

but enough about me ~ no wait i have a proud of my mia moment.

mia only trusts me. when friends come over she hides. many friends have never seen her and a few have only seen her sleeking away to parts unknown. (i do know where she hides but honest i made jiggy show me. when i first got her she disappeared for hours and i couldn't find her. i kept saying to jiggy, where's your sissy, where's mia? he actually lead me to her)

anyway ~ when i was on holidays for 2 weeks a friend of mine came over pretty much everyday. near the end one day we walked in and mia stayed where she was and just looked at him. we stopped in our tracks for quite a few minutes but when we continued in, she ditched but it was huge progress for her. she looked so scared but so cute.

Yeah, well, everyone is delicately avoiding the most revealing favorite treat of far too many dogs. The GD cat box! (And NO, that's NOT a vulgar reference to kittylingus)

Lucy, that is progress! Congrats to Mia ! My rescued cat Sammy is like that. He runs when anyone, even family, comes over and when they leave, he slinks back out, but his eyes are as round as saucers. Poor guy, he had a horrible outside life in a scary world, before I found him.

Eewww, thanks for the memories lol! My chihuahuas were avid fans of cat poop when they were younger...gag...

Actually, that is why most of my cat boxes are in the basement, and my dogs are not.

Another tip---Add MSG to the cats food, it makes their feces unbearable to a dog, it also works for dogs, too. Not a lot, just enough to get on most of a portion. Check with the vet and make sure it's ok with him, but I got that tip from my vet and it works.

Good idea. My chihuahuas are blocked from the bathroom with Sammy's cathouse. Sammy jumps over it to use the catbox...gives himsome exercise too

Is that okay for dogs to eat? I myself am highly allergic to MSG...but if it's safe it sure is a great idea Tap.

This is my dog. Now I haven't tried to put him (bob) on you tube but this is exactly what he looks like and he too sits at the table waiting for his breakfest, lunch, supper, snacks, whatever.......

speakers on........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XguD23Jwo0w...feature=related

Well it really is just a salt form, but like I said, check w/ the vet first. It did work on our dogs, tho'.

I don't know what it does for pet poop, but it is the absolute remedy for jellyfish stings.

here's something I came across today and wasn't aware of ..........


This should never happen to another animal again!

I'M CALLING FOR AN INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF ALL FOUR PAWS PRODUCTS UNTIL THIS PRODUCT IS RECALLED. We need your help, please take the time to make your voice heard.

Please copy/paste the following into the body of your email in support of this boycott and send it to the address below to let Allen Simon the CEO of four paws know your stand;

Mr. Allen Simon,

I am in support of a boycott of your company until you recall the product pimple ball with bell,
as it is designed is such a way that irreparable damage can be caused by its use.

hbirk@fourpaws.com

read the story here -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/23/23.../034/750/573873

Plodder---Thank you so much for that, I have already e-mailed asking why if they knew about it, they did nothing. I don't think that pet supply people want to hurt an animal, it is how they make money, but they are about money, which, I guess is quixotic at best. Those stories are heart breaking, I feel for those folks. Thanks again. I wish I knew this yesterday when I went to Petsmart to get a new frisbee, I would have looked and then asked why is that here? Do you know? I will look next time fer sure.

My cat's trying to claw at the stuff she sees on the monitor again.

Good move. Give them obesity and a heart condition.