For a rather hefty fee, residents of Los Angeles and San Diego (and soon San Franciso, New York and London) can rent a dog, i.e., “share ownership,” for an occasional companion.
No word on renting cats.
What will be next, outsourced childcare?
Source: “Company Rents Pets to Animal Lovers”
Breitbart.com, July 29, 2007
LitterWorks.com offers self-cleaning systems which eliminate the need for daily scooping. They utilize a self-cleaning litterbox combined with a setup where the waste is dumped into a bag. Every two to three weeks, toss the bag and start with a new one.
Looks like a nice idea, though it would be difficult for older or disabled cats that can’t jump up to the raised platform.
Two teenage girls have been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly setting an 8-week-old kitten on fire.
A boy says the girls laughed while the burning kitten shrieked.
Source: “Teen Girls Accused Of Setting Kitten Ablaze”
NBCSandiego.com, July 18, 2007
The website, eMaxHealth, has a nice (albeit brief) article on “Caring For Your Pregnant Cat.”
Christie Keith has an excellent article on kitty litter (link below).
When we had multiple cats, the litter boxes had to be cleaned several times a day.
Source: “Digging Deep Into the Cat Litter Question”
San Francisco Gate, July 10, 2007
Cats appear happy and content. Local government says it’s okay, but the feds are looking for excuses to collect licensing fees.
Source: “Feds, Key West stage catfight over Hemingway House”
The Miami Herald, July 9, 2007
A good compilation of funny cat videos on YouTube. Some old, some I’ve not seen before.
It should come as no surprise that the cat is America’s favorite pet. Dogs lovers may object, but cats are easier to house than most dogs. Cats are content with food, water, a bed (which can be as simple as a cardboard box)*, a litter box and a sunny window. The cat is perfectly content not to see you for days, just so long as the food and water keep coming.
According to a newspaper report today, “About 34 percent of American homes have at least one cat.” According to various surveys, the number of dog households exceeds that of cat households, but the number of cats is greater than the number of dogs. People are more likely to have multiple cats than multiple dogs, I suppose.
Source: “Purrfect Sense”
Helena Independent Record, July 8, 2007
*Cats like to toy with their owners. When you buy them a nice, fancy bed, they’ll prefer sleeping in the box the bed came in. When you buy them toys, they’ll prefer to play with straws and pieces of string. Tie a straw to a string, and your cat will be entertained for hours.
The relationship between cats and men may go way, way back. Researchers now believe that cats may have been domesticated way back in man’s early settlements in the Middle East. Blogger Julie has more on this: “Domestic cats have common ancestor.”
Could cats have been man’s first pet?
Fickle Foe shares a sad but touching story about an old friend: “The Cats of Sheldon.” Cats are such beautiful creatures and it’s a shame that some people treat them so poorly.