A Show of Paws: Who's Ready for Autumn?

Image courtesy of Stock.xchng, copyright István Benedek.

Crisp leaves, apple cider, pumpkin pie and bonfires. The images that come to mind with the changing of the seasons is limitless. If you're a pet lover, chances are the colder weather brings to mind the thought of your beloved companion cuddled up on your lap or by your feet as the weather chills. The first fall days also bring a few notable safety tips for dogs and cats alike. Keep your companion animal safe and healthy by remembering a few key points.

• Provide your pets with a warm space. While keeping your pets indoors is ideal, it isn't possible for every owner. If you have an outdoor feline, make sure he or she has access to a warm, enclosed space during colder weather - consider leaving your garage door open to provide access, if no other option exists. The same goes for your pooches, too. If, for some reason, keeping them indoors during inclement weather is unfeasible, make sure they have a warm enclosure that is sheltered from the elements and warm bedding.
  Click here for plans to build a heated dog house!
  

• The weather is growing colder. For animals exposed to the outdoors, this means their coats are growing thicker and they're gearing up for winter. More calories are consumed as animals with an eye for the outdoors ready themselves for the cold weather ahead. Don't be surprised if your pet has the need for extra energy and food, too, or at least if it seems that way after a lull in the feeding frenzy due to the warm weather of summer!
  Learn more about a dog's energy requirements. Learn more about feeding your cat the right stuff.
  

• If your dog primarily lives indoors, think about getting some cold weather gear. If the ground is too cold for you to touch without gloves on, it's probably too cold for your pup's paws. If you have a dog with a short or thin coat, or you engage in outdoor activities with your dog for extended periods of time in cold or wet weather, consider a doggie sweater. Your pet will thank you.
  If you're handy with a pair of knitting needles or a crochet hook, use one of these patterns to make your pup something special: A Knit Dog Sweater pattern is fairly simple for knitters, while a crochet dog sweater pattern is ideal for "happy hookers."
  

• Everyone wants to be indoors when it's cold, even your friendly neighborhood pests. Keep an eye out for scavengers seeking to dodge the chill, but keep an even closer eye on chemical toxins meant to control scavenger populations. Rat poison is incredibly toxic for dogs. Fall is the time of year when these toxins become more readily available: make sure Fido doesn't grab ahold of these potentially lethal items while you're not looking. And just because you don't use chemical poisons on your property doesn't mean your pet can't still get ahold of them: your neighbors may have rat poison or other toxins stashed where Fido or Fluffy has access to them.
  Read more on rat poison and pets.
  

• If you've been avoiding outdoor activity in favor of more climate-controlled options, the crisp fall weather is the perfect time to get back into the swing of things. Brush up on your dog's basic training before taking advantage of the weather. Going back to the basics is a good reminder for everyone.
  Find out what the Humane Society of the United States has to say about dog training basics!
  

• If you're a gardener, chances are you're gathering and planting bulbs that will grow and bloom in spring. Remember that some plants or even just some PARTS of plants are toxic to your companion animals. For example, tulip bulbs contain a toxin that causes stomach upset, drooling, loss of appetite, lethargy, heart problems, convulsions and central nervous system depression. Yikes! While your cat may think it's fun to help you in the garden, limit your pet's gardening "expertise" to plants that are pet-safe.
  Take a gander at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' "Poison Control Center" plant database.
  

• Watch out for those snakes. Autumn is a high activity time for these critters, and they may be a more easily excitable than other times of the year: they're preparing for a season of hibernation. Keep an eye out for slithery snakes in your backyard. Take the time to learn about a new species of wild friend or, for the less reptile-inclined, brush up on your pet first aid skills!
  Click here to read more about the reptiles of Ohio or visit here to brush up on your first aid for pets.
  
  
• Keep an eye on your child's school supplies. While a glue stick or pack of colored pencils may not look like a tasty treat in our eyes, your dog or cat may feel differently! While most typical school supplies are considered low-toxicity for both people and animals, these educational tools can still cause problems for our pets. If you suspect your pet has gotten ahold of your darling son or daughter's set of pens or wire notebook binding, call your vet. He or she can help you sort it all out and provide assistance if needed.
  Click here for a list of veterinarians in and around Athens County.
  
  
• I knew a mushroom once, he was a fun guy (fungi!). Fall is mushroom season all across the United States. While some people love nothing more than to go searching the woods for tasty edible treats, plenty of lethal mushrooms crop up on lawns, posing a threat to our furry friends. If you're unsure of what mushrooms you've got growing, don't chance it. Some of the most toxic 'shrooms are identical to the tasty ones!
  Learn more about Ohio mushrooms here.
  
  
• If you have a car enthusiast or do-it-yourself mechanic in the family, they may very well be changing the coolant in vehicles in preparation for dropping temperatures. Propylene glycol is touted as a safer car coolant than ethylene glycol - and it is, to a point. While ethylene glycol is more deadly to pets, propylene glycol coolants can still cause some problems. Encourage friends and family to dispose of coolants in a safe and sanctioned manner. Clean up spills promptly.
  Learn more about pets and antifreeze poisoning here.
  
  
  
• Take charge of your pet's health. While humans are worried about the flu and stomach bugs, the change in seasons may mean your dog feels a little bit under the weather, too. Make sure your pet is up to date on his or her vaccinations and discuss spaying or neutering with your veterinarian if you haven't already done so. It provides a number of benefits to your furry friend!
  Click here to learn about the benefits of spaying or neutering your pet. Click here to find out more information on the Athens County Humane Society's low cost spay/neuter clinics.
  
  Above all else, have a safe and happy autumn!

How Much Is This Going to Cost?

Image courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu/profile/bjearwicke
copyright Benjamin Earwicke under a Creative Commons License.

Spend any amount of time in a veterinary office an you're guaranteed to hear a question that makes most animal health professionals groan internally. The question, seemingly innocuous, is "How much is this going to cost?"

The problem lies not with the question itself - but how it is phrased. Suspend reality for a moment and imagine your dog or cat as a car. Would you bring a car to the mechanic for an unknown issue and ask for a price before the mechanic had a chance to assess what's wrong? In the same way, animal health professionals dread the question of price because they can't give you a solid figure without figuring out what's wrong - animals can't speak to humans with language, telling us exactly where it hurts and what type of pain it is. Neither can cars.

Both situations require more delicacy and expertise to find the cause of a problem than if, for example, a fully grown adult were to go to a clinic and ask to be seen for a sprained ankle. What appears to a caring, concerned owner as something minor may, in fact, turn out to be much more serious of an issue.

So what should you ask instead? If you're facing a medical emergency or are visiting your veterinarian for a specific problem, you should ideally be focused on the problem at hand and not the sometimes substantial cost incurred. The best time to inquire about the price of emergency medical care is NOT when an emergency arises, but during the times everything is okay.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals suggests owners of small dogs squirrel away about $210 every year for recurring medical costs. Medium dogs require slightly more in terms of monetary investment - about $235 a year. Large dogs cost an average of $260 a year in routine medical care, and cats generally cost a bit less to maintain - about $160 a year in routine medical costs.

Start up a small savings fund for your pet's care. Plan to spend between $160 and $260 a year on things like an annual wellness exam, routine vaccinations, heart-worm preventative and flea and tick preventative. And it's worth it in the long run - even the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) agrees that spending annual routine care costs cuts down on emergency care later. Maintaining a regular history with your vet ensures that, when routine blood work does come back with a problem or Fluffy really doesn't feel well, both you and your veterinarian are able to agree that something is not right and catch potentially life-threatening issues earlier than might otherwise be possible.

Sure, in a perfect world every animal would have adequate veterinary care. But again, it isn't a perfect world and problems arise. What about when the proverbial litter box scoopings REALLY hit the fan? It's a question that's hard to answer based on a lot of variables, making the question "how much is this going to cost?" just that much more frustrating.

Internet advice articles abound telling pet owners exactly how much to plan for in the event of an animal emergency. Like all good advice, you get what you pay for. Setting an arbitrary number is a good starting point, but isn't always accurate. Some website advise you to squirrel away as little as $1000, while others suggest you keep a rolling account, placing $25 aside and into that account every week, much like you would a child's college fund.

Out of the two options that seem to be favored among the Internet's armchair experts, the second is closer to the mark. $25 each week equals out to just over $1300 a year, enough to cover some, but not all, emergencies. Most animals never encounter an emergency each year, but you'll never know when one will hit. And the idea is to be prepared for when an emergency does occur.

The problem of the price knowledge gap comes, in part, because a lot of pet owner's don't understand the true cost of what goes into caring for their animal. There's always a base exam fee - the money a veterinarian charges just for you being in the office. This can be likened to the same fee you pay to see your doctor.

There will almost always be some form of diagnostic testing...Blood work, diagnostic examinations, urine or fecal testing and fluid analysis are just some of the types of testing used to figure out why FiFi keeps throwing up. Since FiFi can't tell us directly what's going on, the doctor needs the aid of these tools to see what exactly is happening.

Even something seemingly as innocuous as a blood draw has money associated with it that may not be readily apparent. The needle and collection tube may only cost the veterinarian about $7. Paying a skilled technician to make the blood draw as painless as possible might cost another $5. Add in a $5 glass slide manufactured to fit the clinic's blood analysis machine and the energy needed to run in-house lab equipment, and you're looking almost $30 or more.

If FiFi needs medication, there's a cost associated with that. The base price the medication costs the clinic might be $2 per pill. The veterinary clinic needs to maintain a very costly license in order to administer those pills. The veterinary technician has to count, bottle and label those pills specifically for your pet in a childproof container with the exact dosage instructions tailored to your needs - not just anyone can do that, even as simple as it seems. For a week's supply of medication that cost the clinic $14, you may be paying $25 or more to cover those very real and necessary costs.

And for those of you wondering why $4 generic medications similar to those at Wal-Mart don't exist for Fido? The manufacturer of the medications sends the drugs pre-packaged to the pharmacy in handy one-month supplies already in their own containers. All the pharmacist has to do is slap a label on...a task that takes less than five minutes on even the busiest of days. Wal-Mart actually loses money on those prescriptions. They're able to recoup it when you spend the next 30 minutes walking around waiting for your prescription to be filled, possibly buying things in the process.


So you've come to the clinic at 3 AM for an emergency. You're already paying a basic exam fee, diagnostic testing fees and any after-hours fees the veterinarian has to charge in order to wake up the entire team in order to treat your animal. The veterinarian then must decide, based upon the diagnostic procedures, what is wrong with your animal. And that's not always easy. Even the simplest things like heart rate can vary wildly among animals of the same species based on age, gender and size. This is why having a regular check-up is important: it establishes what's NORMAL for your individual pet.

And then, the vet has come to a diagnosis. What now? If Fifi needs immediate surgery to save her life, you're looking at some big fees - the money associated with putting Fifi under anesthesia, monitoring her while she's unconscious, the cost of keeping the surgical suite as free of germs as possible (which takes meticulous attention to even the smallest detail. Not only do most veterinarians wear sterile gloves, but also sterile gowns, masks and headgear. If those things come into contact with something un-sterile, they must be replaced for the sake of keeping Fifi as safe as possible. You may balk, but imagine the fit you would have if you caught your child's surgeon wiping his or her nose while taking out YOUR CHILD'S appendix!)

The surgery has gone well and Fifi is in recovery. More costs are incurred because the staff needs to keep an eye on Fifi to ensure she has a successful recovery - anesthesia stays in the body even after someone wakes up, and although the biggest danger is past, Fifi is still at a life-threatening stage.) Medication might be administered to deal with the pain or anxiety associated with surgery. Fluids might be needed, depending on what the issue is.

Are you tired yet? So are the staff. So is Fifi. Take every moment gut-wrenching emotion of fear and anxiety and multiply it by 100 and that's what the staff of the veterinary clinic has just undergone in a very short span of time. Ask yourself if you can put a price on the love, joy and happiness your pet gives you. If you can readily say what that price is, you may be better off investing in a pet rock or sculpture.


Some key points to remember:

• Don't wait until an emergency happens to start planning for one. It's better safe than sorry and there is no such thing as "too soon." A health emergency can strike any animal of any age at any time. That's why they're emergencies.
  
• Keep up with your pet's regular care. Prevention may not be the best cure, but it's the best way to detect possible emergencies before they occur.
  
• Speak frankly to your veterinarian about how much he or she charges his or her clients as an after-hours emergency fee.
  
• Ask for an estimate. A veterinarian can't provide you with a solid cost because even the veterinarian isn't sure what will be necessary until he or she finds out what is wrong. But most veterinarians should be able to provide you with an estimate to give you a basic idea of the costs involved with the visit.
  
• Explore other options, such as pet health insurance, to help offset the cost of care for your companion animal.
• Ask about alternate payment plans. If you're a client in good standing, your veterinarian may be able to work out a billing plan. Some veterinary offices also allow you to apply for a line of credit to help cover the cost of your pet's care.
  
• If you truly cannot afford veterinary care in an emergency situation, the Humane Society of the United States offers a list of organizations that may be able to provide temporary financial aid.
  

Why Is My Cat Misbehaving?

Many things can cause your cat to “misbehave,” a phrase I find ill-suited. No cat intentionally misbehaves – because cats can't communicate with us through words, they have to find other ways of stating their needs, wants, likes and dislikes.

Misbehavior such as urinating outside of the litter box, hissing, growling, scratching, biting, running away or any number of other behaviors deemed undesirable by pet owners are all communications from your cat that something is wrong.

And as the guardian and companion of that cat, when something is wrong, it's your duty to correct the issue to the best of your ability.

One of the first things you should examine when trying to determine the source of a cat's discontent is its physical health. Have there been any changes in your pet's routine? Is your cat eating or drinking enough? Is it eating or drinking too much? Is your cat refusing to eat altogether? Watch your pet's litter box behavior for excess urination or defecation, and conversely, too little urination or defecation. Are there changes in the color, consistency or texture of your cat's leavings? Are there any objects present in the urine or feces that shouldn't be there, such as blood, mucous or worms?

Any of these signs can indicate the presence of a health problem that needs to be addressed by a licensed veterinarian. Cats, like humans, act cranky when they don't feel well. A health problem can make your cat cry, scream, howl, growl, hiss, act unsociable, aggressive, lethargic or any number of things. If your cat has suddenly refused to stop using the litter box, it may have a urinary tract infection that needs to be treated with antibiotics. A list of veterinarians in the area is available here.

If your cat has been given a clean bill of health by a veterinarian, look at your cat's environment. Has there been a new addition to the family – another cat, dog or baby? These things are stressful for everyone involved, including your pet. Spend time with your cat to calm its nerves. When there's a new addition to the household, your cat may need a little extra attention.

I am the owner of two dogs and two cats, with a revolving door for cats in need – currently I have two kittens and a fully grown cat residing with me in need of homes. This leads to internal spats among the animals, and my own pets sometimes feel put out by the foster animals. Give more attention to your pets as needed. Attempts to run away, vocalizing more and aggression may result if your cat is stressed. Inappropriate urination or the destruction of property are also possible results.

Look around for any changes to the physical plant – are you remodeling your kitchen? Are people constantly coming and going? Is your sleep schedule erratic? Is there construction going on outside? All of these things can make a cat nervous. Create a routine and stick to it as much as possible. A good routine involves spending time with your cat – playing, grooming, cuddling or just talking to your cat can allay some of these stresses. You can't stop the construction going on outdoors, but you can certainly do your best to ease your cat while a temporary nuisance is occurring.

Speak to a behavioral specialist, if things don't improve. A behavior specialist is a person trained to help you get control of that nervous or fractious kitty. This isn't always possible due to financial, geographic or time constraints - the Internatonal Association of Animal Behavior Consultants does not list any specialists certified in cat behavior in a 100 mile radius of Athens, Ohio. This does not mean they don't exist - your veterinarian may be able to give you a referral to a specialist.

I've recently had to struggle with the issue of cat stress. My cat with the most tenure in the household, Pythagoras (Pi, for short), has had a nasty habit of trying to run away. He would wait by the door, trying to open it. He became quite adept at opening it, in fact – so much so that we had to start locking the door even if we were stepping outside to water the plants.

At first we figured he was trying to answer the call of feral cats in the neighborhood – the behavior started in spring, during prime mating season. But Pi is neutered. We figured to ourselves “He's neutered, not dead!” and wanted some kitty action. But the behavior continued and even worsened.

We'd recently added two foster kittens to the household. Even after amping up the quality time Pi received, the behavior continued. Pi has a clean bill of health and seeing a behavioral specialist is out of the question for us. I turned to alternative means to try and help Pi feel less stressed and more comfortable in his own home.

Bach Flower Essences has created a mixture termed Rescue Remedy. A naturopathic concoction, it can be sprayed in the atmosphere or administered in food or water. Knowing my cat, I knew this was not the way to go, but have seen it work wonders for animals recovering from traumatic and stressful situations, such as a spay and neuter clinic.

I turned my attentions to a product called Feliway. Feliway is a feline pheromone diffuser. The diffuser plugs into the wall and is equipped with a container of liquid that mimics calming feline pheromones. We have just one diffuser in our three bedroom house, in a central location that the cats must pass in order to get to their food, water and litter box. In under a week, the undesirable behaviors have stopped and the other cats in the household have shown more amiable dispositions as well.

Feliway isn't for everyone and won't cure every problem, but it does make a difference in cases where cat owners have run out of options. The diffuser itself runs an average of $25 while pheromone solution bottles and refills are in the range of $17, with one refill lasting one month. At a moderate cost that can provide some pretty hefty benefits, particularly in a multi-cat household, it's a small price to pay for a piece of mind and happier kitties.

No one solution will work for everyone, and feline behavior issues are complex, sometimes caused by more than one factor. For “misbehaving” cats, take a trip to the vet, examine your cat's behavior and the behavior of humans in your household, make note of any changes in the environment. speak to a behavioral specialist if possible and examine alternative and holistic options. Between all of these, your kitty should be back up to his or her playful self in no time at all.

Feel free to peruse these links for more information:
ASPCA: Ask the Virtual Pet Behaviorist: Aggression Between Cats in a Multi Cat Household

ASPCA: Ask the Virtual Pet Behaviorist: Compulsive Behavior in Cats

HSUS: Solving Litter Box Problems

HSUS: Cat Aggression Toward People

Pet Education from Drs. Foster and Smith: Causes of Stress in Cats

Image of Jack the kitten taken by Caitlin Seida, available for adoption. More information can be found on his page with the Athens County Humane Society.

What To Do If You've Lost Your Pet

Summertime is here and the cats are starting to roam. Whether they're searching for a mate (spay and neuter those pets, guys!), looking for adventure, or have escaped through an open window or door, warm weather brings an increase in missing pets.

There are some steps you should take right away if your pet has gone missing.

When you notice your pet is missing, talk to your family members or housemates. Ask them when they last saw the animal. If they saw the pet escape, ask which direction the critter ran off in.

Take a slow walk around your neighborhood. Have some tasty treats on hand to entice the animal out of hiding. Cats who run away from home are likely scared and hiding. Check spots where your pet could hide - basement windows, under cars, porches, shrubs, garages, under decks. Start searching at your house and spiral outward. Most animals can trot at a pace of 3 miles per hour. Cats are more likely to hide closer to home out of fear. Dogs may run all over town and come back hours later, muddy and tired but happy. Keep this in mind when searching for your pet.

Work those phones! Call the Athens County Dog Shelter, even if you have lost a cat. The Athens County Dog Shelter does not accept cats, but well meaning individuals might pick up your pet and drop it off. Ask the workers to give you a call if a pet of your description is brought in. Be sure to give them your phone number. You can reach the Athens County Dog Shelter at 740-593-5415. Stop by in person on Route 13 in Chauncey.

Call the veterinarians in Athens County and any vets in a neighboring county if you live close to the border of another county. Explain the situation and give them a description of your pet and your phone number. Ask them to call if your pet is brought to their practice as an injured stray or pet that someone plans to rehome.

Check with the local emergency vets. Animal Veterinary Emergency in Parkersburg and the Emergency Vet offices in Columbus are the only 24/7 critical care facilities in the area.

Call the Pooch Patrol at 740-593-6651, a radio bulletin broadcast on WATH and Power 105. They'll broadcast the details of your pet to local listeners.

Get to work placing lost and found ads in the local papers. The Athens Messenger can be reached at 740-592-6621 Ext. 231 or Ext. 233.

The Athens News can accept your lost ad via email at classified@athensnews.com, via fax at 740-592-5695 or by phone at 740-594-8219


If you have lost a pet in or around Glouster, consider calling the Morgan County Herald about placing a lost pet ad. They can be reached at 740-962-3377

Don't discount the power of the internet! Craigslist for Athens has a Lost/Found section under their "Community" category.

Make use of Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to reach friends and family members in your area to have them keep a lookout for your missing companion.

Make and post flyers reporting your pet lost. Cover a two to three mile radius. Include only the vital information and a photo, if possible. Make the phone number large enough that passing drivers can read the numbers. If the flyers are outdoors, place them in gallon plastic freezer bags to protect them from bad weather. Additionally, ask at local stores and establishments if you can place a flyer in their window. Be sure to remove the flyers once you've found your furry child! Give a flyer to your mail carrier and ask them to keep a look-out for you on their route. Mail carriers have a strenuous job and cover your neighborhood daily. Remember to thank your mail carrier for helping.


There are some steps you can take a little bit closer to home to ensure your pet can find its way back. Cats and dogs rely heavily on scent to navigate the world. While the T-shirt or pajamas you wore two days ago may not smell appealing to you, they smell LIKE you. And to a lost pet, that smell means HOME. Place a worn item of clothing outside your door to attract your pet home again.

For cats, it might be easier to find them during the peak hunting hours of dawn and dusk, when cats are most active and seeking food. Wait until it's quiet and go walking to find your kitty. Call your cats name, take a few steps, and wait for your cat to answer. Repeat these steps while walking in a spiral pattern from your house. If your cat is a sucker for treats, bring a bag of kitty treats and shake the bag every so often. If your area lacks adequate lighting, be sure to bring a flashlight to search dimly light hiding places or to get a closer look at any cats who answer your call.

Upon recovering your pet, take steps toward preventing future escapes. Cat-proof your windows and make sure visitors and family members know not to let Kitty outdoors when entering or exiting the premises.

Affix a collar with identification to your pet. Make sure the ID has your CURRENT name and phone number.

Consider getting your pet microchipped. Pets are scanned for microchips when brought to a shelter or veterinary practice. The information on the chip could be your pet's key to coming home.

Additional Reading on Finding a Lost Pet:


The Humane Society of the United States: What To Do If You Lose Your Pet

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Finding a Lost Pet

AnimalPounds.com: Tips On Where Your Lost Pet Might Go

Missing Pet Partnership: Recovery Tips: Lost Cat Behavior

The Humane Society of the United States: High Technology: Identifying Lost Pets With Microchips

Holiday Festivities with the ACHS

This week begins the holiday season, and leading the pack is Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Yule, and New Year's. And it's always wonderful to get your pets in on the celebrations, as well as some safety tips to keep in mind for the upcoming holiday celebrations.

Coming up on December 9th is our "Santa Clause and Paws" event. For a $10 minimum donation, you and your beloved pet can get your photos taken with Santa Clause. You will recieve a four inch by six inch photo in a special holiday folder. This event runs from 4 PM to 8 PM at the Market on State Street (formerly the University Mall) in Athens.

All pets must be up to date on their vaccinations and properly contained under their owner's control by leash or carrier. Owners are responsible for cleaning up after their pets, otherwise they will be placed on Santa's "Naughty" list and have to deal with a present far worse than coal.

There is nothing better about the holidays (aside, of course, from our Clause and Paws event!) than food. With very few exceptions, holidays are the time to indulge in some of the most luxuriously spiced and seasoned foods of the year. But these foods can also lead to illness when given to pets.

Avoid giving table scraps to your pets, and discourage guests from doing so. These scraps, particularly the high seasoning and fat content, can cause vomiting, diarrhea and in some cases, inflammation of the pancreas, also called pancreatitis. This is a life threatening condition that requires immediate veterinary attention.

But don't think it's just the meat that's a problem. Turkey bones, and all poultry bones, can easily splinter and cause throat or bowel perforations. Double bag the bones and keep them out of reach of your pets. If wild animals or neglected animals frequently raid your trash, avoid placing scraps and bones out until trash day, or consider chaining and locking your trash can lids to discourage these animals from coming to harm.

Those of us with dogs (and some particularly lanky and intrepid cats) may be familiar with the sport known as "Counter Surfing". Be aware that your animals cannot resist the call of holiday food any more than your Great Aunt Margaret. Keep an eye on them, and keep your scraps out of access, and you'll be fine.

Avoid allowing your animals to ingest alcoholic drinks. This may seem like a no-brainer, but to a cat egg nog can seem like a special treat just for them, and it takes only a moment before they are lapping away at it. Animals' livers do not work in the same way the human liver does, and allowing your animal to drink even a small bit of alcohol can cause some serious harm.

This isn't to say you can't let your animals in on the food festivities, though. Place a dollop of packed pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling) on top of their food. They will love you for it!

Have a safe, happy holiday season! We hope to see you at our Santa Clause and Paws event!

Black Cat Superstitions

Ikea

The first, crisp hint of fall is in the air. Maybe it's the cool nights, or the subtle autumnal turning of the leaves. Maybe it's the scent of woodsmoke, or the feeling in the air that means that fall is not too far away. And with Autumn comes a time filled with legend, superstition, and myth - Halloween.



One of these superstitions is incredibly prevalent, and often misunderstood - the icon of the black cat. It is often hard to adopt out black cats and kittens due to superstitions held by people. But did you know that not all superstitions about black cats are negative?

That's right. Many have heard the saying that if a black cat crosses your path, bad luck will befall you, or illness, or perhaps even death. The same has been said about white cats in other cultures, particularly Asian cultures, where the white cat is considered to hold the same properties in legend and lore.

The superstition surrounding the ill luck of black cats is relatively recent - arising in western Europe during the middle ages. With stories and rumors of "witches" abounding the countryside, epidemics like the plague, and general financial worries, the black cat was made a scapegoat. Many locales tried to eradicate cats completely from their area, for fear that they were witches in disguise, harbingers of ill luck, or worse, carriers of the Black Plague.

Some areas of the world and some cultures still cling true to these superstitions, and unrightly so. Did you know that some cultures hold the black cat as an omen of good luck?

For example, there is a Celtic superstition that says a strange black cat showing up on your doorstep will bring prosperity and wealth, so long as it is cared for.

In Latvia, a small eastern European country bordering on the Baltic sea, black cats were said to be the spirit of Rungis, a god of harvests. Upon finding one in their barns or silos, joy was to be beheld, for it meant a well and prosperous harvest for the year.

Across the world, fishermen's wives would keep a black cat in the home to ensure no harm would come to their husbands while at sea.

Take a moment to visit Ball.

The theater world has two specific traditions concerning black cats. If a black cat were in the audience on the opening night of a performance, things would go smoothly. Many theaters had black cats in their employ, ensuring them good luck all around, so long as the cat was properly cared for by the cast and crew of that theater.

Southern France has the right idea, I think. They call their cats "matagots" or "Magician cats". They bring good luck to their owners, but only those owners who feed them well, treat them kindly, and give them the respect and love they would accord to a family member.

Have a look at Phoebe!

In the midlands of England, a black cat is thought to be a good omen for marriage. If a black cat is in the house where a young girl resides, she will find many a young many interested. A black cat gotten at the start of a marriage ensures a prosperous and happy one. If a loose white hair is found upon a black cat, groom it out, and keep it, for it is a sign you will find true love.

There are, of course, other myths associated with cats of non-specific coloring. The ancient Egyptians believed that the rays of the sun were entrusted into the eyes of the cat for safekeeping. The creation of cats was said to come about when Noah's ark was infested by rats. He asked a lion to sneeze, and out popped a cat!

But perhaps there is an inkling (pun intended) of truth to the legend that black cats bring good luck. King Charles I of England protected his black feline fiercely, believing his companion brought him luck and protection. The day after the cat died of natural causes, Charles I was arrested by Oliver Cromwell, and shortly thereafter King Charles was taken to the scaffold and beheaded.

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