Yule Cat

Perhaps searching for those
That live in a lightless world
Will give you a happy day
And a Merry, Merry Yule.

candlegrove

Winter got to eat smoked ham for breakfast on Saturday. It was just a package of deli lunch meat but I warmed it in the microwave for a few seconds so it would smell good. I had already set out Melon's plate of smoked kipper but she clearly wanted some of Winter's ham too. Pleased to see her wanting to eat something other than the extremely nasty tinned fish I put a few slivers on her fishy plate too.

Winter patiently sat and waited while Cody and I sang "Happy Birthday" to her (like the complete dorks that we are) then she gobbled the ham up as soon as I set the plate on the floor.

Now whenever Melon meows it sounds exactly like she's saying "Haaaaam!"

"Melon and Winter have been following me around all morning like I've got veal in my pants."

It's weird being my pets' favorite toy all the time.

And not a flag in sight. Santa is a non-denominational international interspecies character. Actually there are accounts of the original Saint Nicolos being extremely kind to animals but I think I ranted enough about all that. Let's just enjoy the sheer cuteness for a moment.

Aren't they cuties? We had a great Santa this time who was fascinated with the hedgehog of course but also wasn't too pushy with getting Winter closer to him - which absolutely will not happen when they try to pull her closer. Nuh uh not a stranger with a ridgeback. She won't bite or growl or anything, just shut all systems down, dig her paws in and stay rigid until she doesn't feel spooked anymore. But this time we had a very nice easy-going Santa, Cody was there to help, and I had lots of treats in my coat pocket so we got a really nice doggy smile out of her this year.

You can see the others in the photo journal.

Now, see the neat harness winter is wearing? That's called a sporn. It's supposed to be a "no pull" training halter but we found it's one of the few halters that she's comfortable in but can't slip out of easily. I've talked about it on the site before.

It's made by a great pet product company which I like a lot anyway. But I was just reading about how they've offered reward money for information about one of their employees' brothers who's been missing since November 11th. You may have heard about this - he's the head programmer for the bookcrossing book exchange website and is a very nice guy from all accounts. No one knows where he is and this isn't the kind of guy who would just 'take off'. So please go read up on this situation and see if you can help.

Slightly gaudy items but really useful if you like the trashy chic rhinestone thing. Also the best selection of cat furniture I've ever seen...catsplay.com

Some things here are silly but others are kind of cool...In the Company of Dogs

Stylish mostly overpriced but cool-looking pet stuff @ Postmodern Pets. Who says your cat's scratching post has to be butt ugly?

this ultra cool looking scratching post sells for 375 US.

What do you suppose is in this stuff? Poochi and Kitty sushi. I think they'd prefer the real thing.

If you have five thousand extra dollars laying around you can get a custom-built pagoda for your dog from the greatest spa on earth.

There are also preppie rugby shirts for your dog and for the true label whores Gucci and Polo market to pet owners too. And there's always planet dog for the crunchy crowd.

Sometimes people are surprised to hear that I do not consider myself an animal rights person. I am an animal welfare supporter. What's the difference? I'm so glad you asked.

Basically Animal Rights people believe that all living creatures are equal. There is no distinction between the value of a human life vs that of a dog. In fact, Michael Fox of the Humane Society of the United States (a seemingly benign name) has been heard to say that "There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They're all mammals. The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect."

They generally believe that no animal should be used or harmed to benefit humans. On the surface this sounds reasonable enough right? Animal testing for cosmetics is bad, wearing fur is bad (and kind of gross), wearing leather is not as bad if you eat beef too (according to some). How about medical testing on animals? Studying the effects of medicines on diseases, using animal parts inside medicine. Monkey heart transplants? Horse products in glue for your furniture? What are bricks made out of? Where did the chemicals in the dye for your clothes come from? What do they use to make magnetic videotapes? Ok so it's really hard to track every single ingredient in products used in your daily life. But some people like to think that their cruelty-free undyed hemp underpants are better than yours so they get to dictate how and when animals can be used to benefit your life.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is probably the best known animal rights organization and they have some dubious associations indeed - violent groups such as the Animal Liberation Front. Because they're considered non-profit their tax returns are public knowledge - and they've given money to people that are known fugitives for bombing medical labs to express their disapproval, domestic terrorists if you will. Also, the secretary of PETA is an insulin-dependant diabetic. Guess what's in her insulin? You guessed it. She's been known to say that the animals who had to die for her insulin pay a small price for the work she does for their fellow living creatures' benefit.

Another charming PETA campaign I've heard about is assuming that all people who are overweight are carnivores and naming people like Michael Moore members of the "flabby five".

According to some PETA literature I've read they also don't believe that animals should be kept as pets - regardless of how well they're cared for. They believe that all pets should be set free to roam the streets on their own - to starve to death because they're so far from their hunter ancestors they don't have the first clue how to hunt, and when their instincts do kick in there aren't enough resources to share. Free to get run over by our cars, free to attack small children on their way to the bus. Are we starting to envision scenes from 12 Monkeys yet?

These groups also don't believe that we should use seeing eye dogs and have been known to compare images showing the containment and slaughter of chickens for the food industry to those of emaciated corpses in World War II concentration camps. Does this sound rational, ethical, humane, and caring?

So how do these extremist views contrast with those of animal welfare activists?

The animal welfare philosophy is fundamentally different from the animal rights philosophy, since it endorses the responsible use of animals to satisfy certain human needs. These range from companionship and sport, to uses which involve the taking of life, such as for food, clothing and medical research. Animal welfare means ensuring that all animals used by humans have their basic needs fulfilled in terms of food, shelter and health, and that they experience no unnecessary suffering in providing for human needs.

My beliefs are pretty much exactly those of the American Veterinary Medical Association-

Animal welfare is a human responsibility that encompasses all aspects of animal well being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.

Animal rights is a philosophical view and personal value characterized by statements by various animal rights groups. Animal welfare and animal rights are not synonymous terms. The AVMA wholeheartedly endorses and adopts promotion of animal welfare as official policy; however, the AVMA cannot endorse the philosophical views and personal values of animal rights advocates when they are incompatible with the responsible use of animals for human purposes, such as companionship, food, fiber, and research conducted for the benefit of both humans and animals.

So while I adore my pets, generally do prefer the company of my dog to a good number of people, and have pretty strong feelings about neutering please don't confuse me with the whacko extremists who are building their own army of lawyers in an attempt to legally change the use of "owner" to "guardian" in local animal control ordinances.

Anyway, I'm working on a theory about an extremist animal rights group being behind a series of urban legend spam emails targetted at a particular corporation. I'll say more about it tomorrow.

An interesting article in Slate today about the intensities of peoples' affection for their dogs. How affection for a dog can separate a person from other people, teach them to trust other people again, or provide a safe substitute for people that have let them down or a surrogate for the child or partner they never had. The author seems to conclude that it's all ok as long as you keep it in perspective.

I usually just tell myself that my overspending and silly pet mom behavior is acceptable as long as I don't start cooking the barf diet. That's when I've crossed the line.

Last year I listened to a 2000 show of This American Life with a similar theme. There was a couple where one partner was jealous because the other partner seemed to pour all the love and attention into their cat. And one of my favorite Dave Sedaris stories called "The Youth in Asia". Does that one have Machen as well or is that a different story?

Neither the article nor the show mentioned a program that lots of prisons and detention centers have adopted which has the inmate training therapy, seeing eye, different service dogs. Most even seem to be following the New Skete Monks' training method wherein the dogs live full-time with the prisoners in their cell. Most prisoners have become calmer, more trusting people because in many cases the dogs showed them unconditional love for the first time. Animal Planet has a fairly new series chronicling these programs in different prisons called Cell Dogs. Give me heartstring television over scary mean people anytime.

I don't consider myself an authority on a lot of things. Most of the time I'm just talking crap. But I spend a lot of time and money dealing with pet products so I thought I'd include my take on the best and worst of them so maybe some poor soul can save herself some time and money.

After much research I discovered that even the premium foods at the petsmart aren't good enough for my babies so now I have it shipped in from Wisconsin. Foster and Smith's new pet food line made the top ten list in the Whole Dog Journal within months of their premier. Not too shabby. The dog eats the light adult dog, the cats eat a blend of light adult cat and the hairball formula as well as half a can of their canned cat food. The hedgehog gets some light adult cat food in her dry blend and a tablespoon of canned cat food every few days. The canned food is really, really high quality by the way. It's not nearly as stinky as other canned foods. The costs are comparable to the other premium pet foods and if you sign up for the reship program they waive the shipping fees. Also I like the automatic reship thing so I don't really have to think about them running out.

Another great monthly subscription we use is the monthly greenies service at Dog Toys. Winter loves her greenies and this way she's guaranteed a jumbo pack of them every month. And every few deliveries they include a fun present! For Christmas we got the cutest stuffed toy shaped like a greenie and it is one of Winter's favorite toys! This is a great smaller pet store that gives a nice personal touch to their orders. Their feline counterpart is Cat Toys.com. The people are extremely nice and they almost always include an extra present or treat with orders. It's a little thing but what can I say I'm a sucker for stuff like that. Also- and this is so cool - you can purchase a toy to donate to a homeless or rescued pet and you get a discount on your whole order. Aren't these people wonderful?

*just a note- I don't have an associate membership with any of the places I review. Just want to share the knowledge.