Search Results for: blog are two cats better than one

iPhone App for Pet Adoption

I blogged recently about pet adoption. I truly believe that adopting a pet from a shelter is the best way to take home an animal companion. There are so many animals to choose form right now too. With the economy hurting, many families and individuals are finding that they can no longer afford to keep their pets. It’s sad, but true. Shelters are overwhelmed with animals. One of the local news networks here ran a story about an area shelter that suspended its adoption fees to help families adopt pets. I called the shelter to find out how well it … Continue reading →

Cats and Dogs Really Can Get Along

They’re as universal an example of opposites as up and down, day and night, right and left. Even the line “cats and dogs getting along” is sometimes used as a turn of phrase for unbelievable events. Thus there’s an idea out there that one has to be either a cat person or a dog person. One can’t love both equally, or one certainly can’t have both as pets without inviting a fur-flying frenzy into the home. At best they’ll get along by avoiding each other for the most part, and at worst they’ll need to be separated. Except that simply … Continue reading →

My Mini Zoo – New Pet Blogger Intro

As a new pet blogger here at Families.com I felt I should write an introduction post and share the story of my mini-zoo with everyone. I’ve had pets ever since I could remember. In fact, none of my homes have felt complete unless there was at least one four-legged furry critter running around. About ten years ago this love for all things feathered, furry or finned hit a high point. My second daughter worked at Petsmart at the time so she always had some tale of woe about a guinea pig, hamster, snake, fish, or other animal that had been … Continue reading →

Hyperthyroid Disease in Cats

At the cats-only boarding facility, I see a lot of guests who are taking a medication called methimazole — enough that I looked up the medication to see what it treats! Hyperthyroidism is relatively common in older cats, and owners have a variety of treatment options available. The thyroid is a gland in the neck that helps regulate the body’s metabolism. When the thyroid overproduces hormones, the entire body can be affected. The heart may beat (and pump blood) faster, eventually causing high blood pressure and other problems. The cat may have an insatiable appetite, yet still lose weight. Digestive … Continue reading →

The Law of Attraction, Cozies and Cats: An Interview with Author Jennie Bentley

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how I wish I knew any authors who featured cats in their work so I could interview them for the Pets Blog. Well, in yet another display of the Law of Attraction at work, wouldn’t you know my wish was granted this past Sunday when I was on a panel at the Southern Festival of books with Bente Gallagher who writes as Jennie Bentley? Her first mystery in her DIY Home Renovation Mystery series is called Fatal Fixer Upper and it’s due out November 4th. In the process of talking about her book … Continue reading →

The Pets Blog Week in Review for July 14-20

With summer’s pleasures beckoning, you may not have a lot of time to keep up on the Pets Blog these days. That’s okay. Here’s your handy Week in Review to quickly break down what Aimee and I wrote on: Monday, July 14 Aimee examined the issue of canine office etiquette when you bring your dog to work. I put on my dancing shoes and interviewed Beth Terrell about her dancing puppy, Luca. Tuesday, July 15 In an article that ruffled my feathers, Aimee explained how her dog is better than most humans. (Aimee didn’t ruffle me, but what she wrote … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: I’m Not a Scratching Post (But I Play One on TV)

Maybe the heat is making our guests at the cats-only boarding facility a little cranky. Whatever the reason, I’ve been playing the role of scratching post at work lately! I won’t post pictures of my injuries, but just to tally them up: I have an inch-long bite mark on my left wrist, a three inch claw mark on my left forearm, two half-inch claw marks on the inside of my right forearm, three scratches on my chest, a two inch claw mark on the front of my left shoulder and a few more scrapes on the back of my left … Continue reading →

Interview with My Fellow Pets Blogger and Mystery Author Courtney Mroch

Recently, Courtney and I decided it would be fun to interview each other. After all, we’re both writers and pet lovers. So read on, and learn something you maybe didn’t know about my awesome blogging partner, Courtney Mroch! Aimee: What kind of things do you write about? (Genre, subject matter, themes, what have you.) Courtney: I’m not prejudiced to any form of writing except maybe poetry (and that’s only ’cause I suck at it) so I pretty much write everything. Essays, short stories, novels, articles… Whatever notion my muse strikes me with, I run with it. As far as genre … Continue reading →

Territorial Behavior in Cats

Cats are territorial animals — there’s no way around it! In the wild, a cat establishes a territory where she eats and sleeps (a sort of home base) and where she hunts and mates (a home range). The size of a wild cat’s territory is generally determined by the availability of food. When food is plentiful, the cat needs a smaller home range. When food is scarce, the cat needs to range farther. A cat’s territory is marked in several ways. Scratching leaves both visual and scent marks on trees (or furniture). Rubbing also leaves scent marks. Urine spraying and … Continue reading →

Cats, Dogs, Pollywogs…How Is It They All Get Along?

As part of my New Year’s resolutions I decided to make an effort to find out what kinds of topics interest Pets Blog readers. So I posted a thread in the forum asking what you’d like to see from Pets in ‘08 and to my delight I got a few responses. Keeping Peace in Multiple Pet Households On of the issues people expressed interest in learning more about and understanding better was maintaining harmony when more than one pet –-same species or not– shares a house. In one of her replies, Mcmama remarked: “Having a peaceable kingdom is something that … Continue reading →