Posts Tagged ‘Pets’

A few weeks ago I shared a few of my favourite quotes about cats and a few fun words about dogs. I couldn't resist adding a third volume to the series.

With this collection everyone from world leaders to the rather-not-be-named offers up an opinion on cats versus dogs. Here are 9 quotes I particularly like:

• "Dogs have owners, cats have staff." – Anonymous

• “A cat, after being scolded, goes about its business. A dog slinks off into a corner and pretends to be doing a serious self-reappraisal.” – Robert Brault

Photography: Ohnoitsjamie

• “Dogs come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you later.” – Mary Bly

• "Cat's motto: No matter what you've done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it." – Anonymous

• “In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.” – Dereke Bruce

• "A dog is a man's best friend. A cat is a cat's best friend." – Robert J. Vogel

Photography: Claudio Matsuoka

• “If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.” – Alfred North Whitehead

• "Cats are ultimate narcissists. You can tell this by all the time they spend on personal grooming. Dogs aren't like this. A dog's idea of personal grooming is to roll in a dead fish." – James Gorman

• "Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." – Jeff Valdez

Do you have a favourite quote that compares cats and dogs? Or maybe one about rabbits and guinea pigs?

April is Pet First Aid Awareness Month in the U.S. The occasion serves as a nice reminder for pet parents on both sides of the border to organize a first-aid kit and create a safety plan for handling pet-related emergencies.

It doesn't hurt to have a supply kit on hand should a bee sting interrupt your dog's backyard playtime or a meet-and-greet between cats gets more testy than expected.

Some gauze and adhesive tape – and a sympathetic friend – will help Rover feel good as new (photography: Mdk572).

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association recommends filling a pet first-aid kit with the following items:

• muzzle
• protective gloves
• digital/rectal thermometer
• rubbing alcohol
• lubricating jelly
• hydrogen peroxide (3% strength)
• antibacterial soap
• sterile rinse solution (saline, used as wound flush or eyewash)
• clean syringes (1 cc and 5 cc)
• pen light
• blanket (for pet transport)
• cotton swabs
• adhesive tape
• gauze squares
• gauze roll
• stretchy bandages
• no-stick sterile wound dressing
• cotton roll
• splinting item (such as a coffee stir stick or tongue depressor, for small pets)
• bandage scissors
• tweezers
• first-aid ointment or cream
• corn syrup

Do you have a first-aid kit and safety plan in place for your pet?

Just a quick note to let you know who won the pair of Julie Klam books offered up in last week's Pet Blog. As usual our trusty friend, the Random Integer Generator, has the answer:

And our winner is:

Congratulations, Dianne! I'll be in touch about getting you your new books!

And thank you to everyone for your comments. My to-read list just got a bit longer!

Is your dog a picky eater?

Maybe he'd like to try Nature's Harvest Fresh, a new gently cooked dog food from Global Pet Foods.

Photography: Ildar Sagdejev

Made with locally sourced whole food ingredients, the fresh frozen patties have been gently cooked to the point of pasteurization and are available in four flavours: beef, chicken, lamb and salmon. You can find them at your local Global Pet Foods in boxes of 12 (for $21.99) or as individual patties (for $1.99 each).

You can also win one box of each flavour right here! Unfortunately, this contest is open to readers in only Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Please note that the winner will have to pick up the boxes at a Global Pet Foods store. (I, too, wish we had plane tickets to give away.) Here are the stores that carry the product:

ONTARIO
Ajax – 314 Harwood Ave. S.
Alliston – 113 Victoria St. W.
Aurora - 15440 Bayview Ave.
Bowmanville – 2316 Highway 2, Unit K1
Bradford – 170 Holland St. W.
Brampton - 2901 Queen St. East, Unit 4.
Brantford – 39 King George Rd #6
Cobourg - 471 Division St.
London – 509 Commissioners Rd. W.
Markham - 5990 16th Avenue. Unit 208
Newmarket - 130 Davis Dr. box 40
Oakville - 1011 Upper Middle Rd. Unit E5
Orangeville - 47 Broadway (Broadway & HWY10)
Ottawa – 700 Eagleson Rd. Unit 105
Ottawa – 1200 Wellington St. W. Unit E
Ottawa –  1029 St. Laurent Blvd.
Shelburne – 226 First Ave. E. SS 2
Thornhill - 70 Doncaster Ave.
Toronto - 243 Danforth Ave.
Toronto - 808 York Mills Rd. Unit 6
Toronto - 1753 Queen St. E.
Toronto - 125 Lower Jarvis
Waterloo - 425 University Ave. East, Unit 14
Waterloo - 440-450 Columbia St. West

QUEBEC
Brossard – 8200 Boul. Taschereau Unit 1265
Ile-Perrot – 475 Boul. Grand
Montreal – 5326 Chemin Queen Mary
Pierrefonds – 14905 Boul. Pierrefonds
Pointe-Claire – Plaza Pointe-Claire. 245-F Boul. St. Jean
Saint-Eustache – 136 25E Avenue
Sainte-Rose – 683 Boul. Cure-Labelle
Vaudreuil – 585 Ave. St. Charles #220
Vaudreuil – 3100 Boul. Harwood

NEW BRUNSWICK
Dieppe – 9 Rue Champlain
Moncton – 1126 Mountain Rd.

NOVA SCOTIA
Dartmouth – 100 Main St.
Halifax – 9-201 Chain Lake Drive
Sydney – 800 Grand Lake Rd.

For your chance to win 4 boxes of Nature's Harvest Fresh, please leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, 2012, telling me what food your pet turns his nose up at. One comment per person, please; this contest is open to residents of Canada only. Not open to any TC Media employees or the people they live with. I'll randomly select and announce the winner on Wednesday, March 28, 2012.

And after you've entered, why not spoil Fido with a batch of Tested Till Perfect Classic Canine Cookies.

Last week I shared some of my favourite quotes about cats. Now for a few words about their mortal enemy, the dog.

• “If you can look at a dog and not feel vicarious excitement and affection, you must be a cat.” – Anonymous

• “Dogs are miracles with paws.” – attributed to author and illustrator Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

• “There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.” – author Ben Williams

Photography, Soccersmp

• “Happiness is a warm puppy.” – Charles M. Schulz

• “Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the centre of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.” – Roger Caras, president emeritus of the ASPCA

• “Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.” – humorist Dave Barry

• “My goal in life is to be as good a person my dog already thinks I am.”
– Anonymous

Photography, Sigismund von Dobschütz

• “A dog is nothing but a furry person.” – Anonymous

• “A well-trained dog will make no attempt to share your lunch. He will just make you feel so guilty that you cannot enjoy it.” – writer Helen Thomson

• “Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives.” – comedienne Sue Murphy

Photography, ccrv

• “A person who has never owned a dog has missed a wonderful part of life.” – Bob Barker

• “If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them.” – Phil Pastoret

• “If your dog doesn’t like someone, you probably shouldn’t either.” – Anonymous

Please share your favourite quotes about dogs in the comments section below!

Felines. Tabbies. Fur balls. Mousers. Felis catus.

No matter what you call them, cats have a way of inspiring the wordsmith in anyone. We've gathered up a baker's dozen of our favourite quotes about cats.

(Update: You can now find a few words about dogs here.)

• "In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, He gave him the cat!" – pet psychologist Warren Eckstein

• "The cat was created when the lion sneezed." – Arabian proverb

• "A meow massages the heart." – Scottish politician Stuart McMillan

Photography, Christoffer G. Thomsen

• "No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch." – author Leo Dworken

• "If a man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." – author and humorist Mark Twain

• "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." – Anonymous

Photography, David Corby; edited by Arad

• "A thing of beauty, strength and grace lies behind that whiskered face."
– Anonymous

• "Cats regard people as warm-blooded furniture." – author Jacquelyn Mitchard

• "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."
– theologian, philosopher and physician Albert Schweitzer

• “Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want.” – writer Joseph Wood Krutch

Photography, Loliloli

• “When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not passing time with me rather than I with her?” – author Michel de Montaigne

• "Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience." – author Pam Brown

• "Beware of people who dislike cats." – Irish proverb

Do you have a favourite quote about cats? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Meet Byron.

On first appearance he looks like your typical golden Labrador. But an article earlier this week from the Daily Mail introduced readers to what really is a seven-year-old Super Dog.

Byron’s owner, Kate Cross, suffers from Ehlers Danlos syndrome, an inherited disorder that affects her joints, skin and blood vessels. As the article explains, her joints are so weak that she could dislocate a shoulder just from opening a door.

About five or six years ago, Kate’s emotional state began to suffer. She’d been forced to take early retirement from her job as a schoolteacher and had basically sought refuge in the safety of her home. As she says in the Daily Mail:

'When I first got Byron, I hadn’t left the house by myself for almost 18 months. I felt useless, and I hated going outside – people stared and didn’t know how to speak to me.

"Once, I was in my wheelchair going through the park, when a gang of teenage boys playing football decided to use my chair for target practice. I was so upset, I couldn’t imagine going out again. I became afraid of the world."

Then she heard about Canine Partners, a charity that matches assistance dogs with people who need help. Now, thanks to Byron, Kate not only has an easier time with her day-to-day activities but also feels free again. “Byron hasn’t just changed my life; he’s given me my life back,” she says.

Byron knows more than 100 different commands and is able – among other things – to:

• open and close doors
• load and unload the washing machine
• make the bed
• take money out of the ATM (Kate just has to key in her pass code)
• help with the groceries by fetching items from the lower shelves, loading the conveyor belt and handing Kate’s purse to the cashier

A best friend, indeed.

Over to you: how much of a rock star is Byron?

Here’s a question to ponder: If you’re an airline, how do you simultaneously accommodate passengers who wish to fly with their cats while also ensuring that people who are allergic to the animal don’t suffer?

Oh, just cancel my flight. No way the plane has this much leg room (image via Wikipedia).

It’s a question Air Canada, Jazz and WestJet have been mulling over since late last year. In December, the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruled that the airlines had to modify their policy on allowing cats in aircraft cabins. (The policy counted a cat in his crate as one piece of carry-on baggage.)

The decision came about after three passengers who suffer from severe cat allergies issued a complaint. The CTA ruled that the airlines must do one of two things:

• ban cats from being on the same flights as passengers with severe cat allergies (“severe” in this case meaning respiratory problems, not just sneezing and a running nose); OR
• upgrade all of their planes’ air filters AND ensure a five-row buffer zone between travelling cats and passengers with allergies.

And the solution doesn’t appear to be as simple as people just leaving the family feline behind while the rest of the gang flies to Maui for a sunny holiday. For some people cats act as “emotional support animals” – basically, they’re not only a pet, but also a service animal. As such, the animal is permitted on the flight as long as the passenger can provide a note from a certified mental-health professional.

Having had time to consider their options, Air Canada finds its hands tied. As reported in The Calgary Herald:

“Air Canada says that with the exception of its Dash-8 fleet, it is ‘prepared to implement the accommodation suggested by the agency’ – namely, to upgrade the air quality and to create a cat-free buffer zone of five rows between a person with a disability as a result of their cat allergy and cats carried as pets in the cabin.

With its Dash-8 fleet, Air Canada said cats who are deemed as pets would not be carried when there is a passenger ‘with a demonstrated allergy to cats that amounts to a disability.’

But a ban on a cat classified as an emotional support animal on Dash-8 flights could put the airline ‘in breach of other legislative requirements.’”

So, indeed, what’s an airline to do? Let Fluffy fly, but be prepared to revoke his boarding pass for some Dash-8 flights (and if he does fly risk the possible – but probably unlikely – scenario of the cat breaking free from his crate and commandeering the cockpit). Or keep Fluffy grounded and risk breaking the law.

Do you travel with your pet? And what do you think of this situation: Should the rights of the passenger with allergies come before the rights of the passenger who requires the presence of their pet to travel in comfort?

If you find yourself missing Morris during the day or wondering what Whiskers is doing to pass his time…then, maybe?

Let me tell you about the Kitty Twitty Cat Toy, a step-by-step DIY project from Make magazine.

The Kitty Twitty (photo courtesy of Make magazine)

It's the brainchild of Mark de Vinck, the magazine's director of product development. After being asked by his wife one too many times for a report on their new cat, Chester, Mark designed a device that would let the cat update her himself.

Anytime Chester swats a bird tantalizingly suspended from a wooden box, a switch inside the box posts an update to Twitter that Chester is playing with his new toy.

It's certainly one way to know that your pet cat isn't sleeping his entire day away. And as resourceful as cats are, typing their own tweets may be stretching it. (Well, expect maybe for this cat.)

If knowing every time your cat plays isn't your ball of yarn (sorry!), you could instead connect the device to his food bowl to make sure he's eating his lunch (and no doubt, his multiple snacks).

Next on the agenda for world social media domination: Skype (image via Wikipedia)

What do you think? Is this a cute way to stay connected to your cat during the day? Or is it just a little too much information? And if you decide to make this, let me know how it turns out (pictures welcome!).

Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway for the pet gift basket.

I loved reading all the stories of how your pets became a part of your lives.

Image via Wikipedia

As for the winner of the Iams basket, I'm going to let the Random Integer Generator decide that one.

And our winner is:

Congratulations, Penny! I'll be in touch with more details.

Thanks again to everyone who entered.