Birdbath 1 : Whippet 0

I’ve had racing hounds since my teen years, yet it never ceases to amaze me how they manage to biff it. Like any well honed athelete, accidents happen. Unfortunatly, when your running 45mph, a run in with a concrete birdbath can easily be a life or death encounter. Luckily, he managed to miss the juggular by a whole inch. Two weeks of antibiotics and warm compresses should clear this up…. This time.

Tags: whippets

PetHack – De-Mat a Cat

We love our fluffy adopted kitty Somewhere. Although I swore I’d never own long haired pets, her sweet snugly disposition won us over and we brought her home from the shelter, despite my fuzzy misgivings. She is a great cat, worthy of her feline heritage, but we were right about the hair.

Before we had Kahlan we tried to maintain a regular brushing session to keep her fluff from matting. Somewhere would get the occasional small tangle, which was easily removed by cat power, so she stayed in control of her mighty mane. Unfortunately, having a new baby doesn’t leave time for much else and I’m embarrassed to admit we let the cat slip into such a matted state that nearly a third of her rear became home to three of the biggest hairballs I’ve ever seen.

Now, with our new tightly implemented budget, it wasn’t financially appealing to pay a groomer $30+ to shave her butt. After attempting to tackle her with the hubby’s beard trimmer ourselves we learned how strong and willing to shed blood our snugly cat was to avoid the noisy treatment. By this time, the now golf ball sized mats, were too invasive to simply cut out with scissors. The thickness, combined with her struggling, would make it far to easy to accidentally cut into her delicate flesh along with the fur and we faced a dilemma. Shell out the cash for a groomer or face an unhealthy kitty situation.

The Solution:
Since Somewhere really only had a problem with the noise from the electric trimmer I got to wondering, if I could shave her without the noise would she let me? My first attempt to muzzle the sound failed. I had wrapped a towel around the trimmer to dull the vibration but it was still to loud, difficult to handle, and the cat was on to me. Necessity breeds creativity and an idea struck. I dug into my cabinets and found a pack of good ol’ Bic plastic disposables. By keeping or against the edge of the worst mat and rubbing it in a shallow repetitive arc I managed to start peeling out the mats. Since the blade is relatively protected I wasn’t as likely to tag skin and the lack of noise allowed me to work at them for a solid 2-3 minutes at a time before kitty lost patience. It was a slower process for sure, but given the circumstances a much more viable alternative. Continuing our little sessions throughout the afternoon, I managed to remove the biggest one same day, and the two others a day later.

My advice for shaver-phobic cat owners? Try a cheapo Bic razor, it’s an unusual yet effective alternative.

Tags: cat, grooming

Kids ‘N Pets

There are varying opinions on the issue of pets and babies. Some recommend no cats for a while, others say the more the merrier. Each Doctor is different, but in my own search for information I found more research supporting the benefits of pets around babies than reasons to ditch the furry siblings.

I myself, like plenty of people I know are out there, spent the first chunk of my life with only my “fur kids”. In fact it wasn’t until the last few years I even considered a “real” baby. My dogs ARE my babies. Even our cat has wiggled her way onto the pack. So when we found out we were pregnant I was determined to make us all one happy family.
I’d done my research, there are plenty of studies showing evidence that having pets as a child reduces allergies, lowers blood pressure and generally contributes to a happy childhood. So where does all the negative advice come from?

I’d heard it all in the first few weeks. “Oh we had to get rid of our cat, Docs orders!”
“We keep the dog in another room, we don’t want germs on the baby!”
“Oh, you just wait, you think you love them so much but once that baby comes…”
And on and on.

So we are a month into parenthood and so far I haven’t seen any reasons to change our pet lifestyle. Sure, I love my little one more than I thought humanly possible. That enormous feeling didn’t diminish my love for her furry siblings. Sure, they get slightly less attention since feeding and changing the baby comes before Frisbee and gummy rubs. But baby naps come frequently, and gummy rubs and Frisbee make it into our day. I wouldn’t trade the companionship or love my little girl will experience through her life with these great animals for anything. Not a pristine house, or a hair free baby blanket. Life with animals can be messy, yes, but is life in general or especially with a baby any less so?
I don’t think so

Tags: allergies, baby, cats, dogs, pets

Puppy Love

Ok mommy, I don’t quit know what it is yet, but I love it and your never getting me to give up the little blankie that has her “first minute in the world” smells all over it that daddy gave me before you came home.

And another thing, I let kitty beat me up but I don’t like her near my baby with those claws so don’t worry mommy, I will chase away kitty with my deep woof everytime she gets near my liitle wiggly thing!

Tags: dogs, kids & pets

“Deep Woof” in deep thought

What are all these strange little people things? Why are mommy and daddy fussing with such strange stuff. I smelled all the little things, rubbed my gummies on the softer ones and even took a nap in a pile of fluffy little blankies to double check I didn’t miss something. I don’t get it. Oh well, maybe if I lay here on the couch and stare at mommy while she folds all the little soft things she will give me attention. Ooooo or take me to the park. SQUIRREL!