The picture above was actually taken earlier today. It's taken me a week to get this last post up about my pets because I honestly can not remember how long we've actually had Ashes. See, the thing with Ashes is, he's lived in the neighborhood for the longest time. He used to live across the circle from me, and when the owners moved, and couldn't take him with, we took him in. He thinks he owns the cul-da-sac because he has lived at two different houses. I know Ashes is older, I'm just not quite sure HOW old. The earliest vet record I could find (with the quick scan I did a few minute ago) was 2004. I am ALMOST positive that we took him in before that. I want to say we took him in before my mother passed, however now that I type it out, I realize I may very well be wrong. I remember AFTER my mother passed away, the family across the street had a death in their family, and they moved shortly thereafter, and left Ashes with us, so 2003/2004 is actually probably fairly accurate. Strange, it feels like I've had him MUCH longer. I guess because he's always been around. Anyways, Ashes is quite the character. He is many of my friends "favorite" cat. He reminds me of Salem the cat, from Sabrina the teenage witch. Don't ask. He really has taken advantage of his nine lives. Even though we are in a dead end area, cars come around the corner fairly quickly, and Ashes has darted in front of them many a times. I've had quite a few friends (and even me at times) freak out because we thought we'd hit him. Like all my cats, Ashes has the choice of inside or out, and he prefers out. He loves to nurse on blankets, and be lovey dovey with other pets (if they let him). He was best friends with my old Lab, Andy.
I'll leave you with a picture of those best buds, Andy and Ashes.
Chloe is an rescue kitty. I adopted her from my local SPCA. Her official adoption paper says I became her "mommy" on 11-18-05 though it actually happened a little before that. 11/18/05 is the date of her spaying, and you can't officially adopt a pet from the SPCA before it's spayed. You see, I was Chloe's foster parent. I fostered her and a few other kittens at various times. With her batch, they all got adopted out (including her) I was SO HAPPY! Then, while Chloe was waiting to go to her new family, she developed ring worm on her nose. Though its treatable, her new family said they didn't want to deal with it and no longer wanted her :( The SPCA asked me if I'd be willing to take her home again and medicate her (knowing the risk of attachment and that ring worm was contagious to humans as well). They said she'd heal much quicker in a home environment than a shelter environment where their stress levels were high. I said yes, and the rest is history. I became attached, and she never went back (well except for visits for spaying and shots).
I'm taking a break from the introductions of all my pets today :)
I wanted to let everyone know the benefits of Omega 3 for dogs.
Many people aren't even aware of all the supplements that are currently on the market to better the quality and longevity of your fur babies life.
I started giving my dog, Chico, Omega 3 once daily to help with his seizures, yes seizures. I am by no means a veterinarian, so please don't take this as expert advice. What I can tell you is that after Chico had seizures I kept googling for more information. Somehow, I ended up on a page in which an individual recommended fish oil as it had helped her epileptic dog. I figured it was worth a shot before I started the hard core medicine regimen from my vet.
I went out to Petco, bought a bottle of Omega 3 and started giving it to Chico once daily, in the morning. Praise God Chico has been seizure free since that day. I am not saying it is BECAUSE of the fish oil, but I do believe it has helped.
Either way, fish oil definitely won't HARM your pet, so why not give it a shot? Pets produce some of the essential fatty acids, but not all of them. Omega 3 fatty acids include: alpha-linolenic acids (ALA), Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Some of the benefits of fish oil are:
support heart, vision, join and mental/brain health
help boost immunity
nourish the skin and coat
help prevent the growth of yeast infections
It's also used to treat allergies, kidney disease, high cholesterol, arthritis, heart disease, and various cancers in dogs.
I just bought another bottle today. 180 gel cap pills for $19.99 at my local Petco.
I bought Tanner & Paris as a Christmas present for my Dad in 2005. We had just put down our Chihuahua mix that we'd had for 12 years in August of '05 and my dad was really close to him so I wanted to get him another. I found them through an ad in the paper and went with the intent to buy one puppy. They were the last two left. I couldn't split them up! And there was no way I could choose just one. So, I put a deposit on both as the owner said he'd hold them until a few days before Christmas so I could still surprise my dad. I picked them up Christmas eve, took them in for their first shots, and left them at a friends house over night. I grabbed them early Christmas morning and rushed home and actually put them in a box so my dad could open it and be surprised (of course, he could feel the movement as he opened it). We had to pick names for them, and the female was fairly easy, I had just went to Paris the summer of '05 and Paris Hilton was also big on the news then, so we named her Paris Jade. Though sometimes I call her Hilton Mama. Tanner we just went with his color, Tan. He also goes by Tan-Tan or Fat-Fat. While they are brother and sister, there shapes are totally different. Tanner is in a constant battle to lose some puppy weight for his health. These two are quite the troopers, they've participated in our local SPCA's Walkathon costume contest every year since we got them and they've won a prize 4 out of 5x I want to say. One year they were Rapunzel and the Knight, Wilbur and Charlotte, Cops and Robbers, and contestants from the Biggest Loser. They are best friends and can often be found napping together, though Paris is the bully and doesn't like for Tanner to have fun outside.
Friskie is my oldest cat. While I have had her since she was a kitten, I don't remember what year it was that I got her as I was pretty young myself (elementary school). I did find some vet records from 1994, so I know I've had her at least 17 years. SO LONG! I've been an animal lover my whole life, even when I was a young kid. I can remember a neighbors cat had kittens and the neighbor let me pick one out (I chose Friskie!) and I brought her home and told my mom I was cat sitting for a week. Well, a week came and passed, and my mom caught on that I brought Friskie home to keep, my mom tried to return her but the neighbor said "no returns" haha and by then my mom was getting attached (she was a huge cat person) and here I am 17 years later with Friskie. I honestly am not a huge cat person myself. I will admit I am a dog person BUT I can say that the cats I do have, have a good life. They are sterilized, have the free will to roam inside or out (Friskie prefers inside) and have an unlimited supply of food. :) I have tons of other pictures of my pets, however when my desktop crashed I lost everything. I had my pictures recovered but they are in no sort of order AT ALL and it'd take me forever to rifle through them looking for specific pics, so this will do for now.
I figure since I am writing an animal blog, it'd be only right to introduce you to the pets that rule my life. While I have a total of 6 pets currently, I say part 1 of 5 because two of my dogs go hand in hand as they are brother and sister and came home together, so I will blog about them together. For today I will write about my baby, Chico. Of my 6 pets, Chico is the one that is actually mine.
Meet Chico
His signature Doggie Smile :)
Chico is a rescue dog. I brought him home from my local SPCA on October 18th, 2006. I originally brought him home to foster him until he got old enough to be neutered. He was actually already old enough (8 weeks) to be neutered and the SPCA was ready to do so, but I asked if I could please take him home to foster him for a few weeks to get him stronger for the surgery. He was just SO small. I couldn't imagine him going through being neutered when he was just a few pounds. So tiny. He ventured home with me, captured my heart, and never went back (well, besides a visit here and there). According to the SPCA, Chico is a Chihuahua mix. I am almost positive he is mixed with Italian Greyhound. I say this because of his body shape, and how he loves to run, like a greyhound. This dog has brought me unexplainable joy. He is like a child to me; so you can imagine my distress when he started having health problems in January 2010. January 13th, 2010 was his first seizure. He had a total of 5 seizures in 2010. Such a scary thing to go through, but Praise God he has been seizure free since July 2010. Chico is very very loyal and follows me around like crazy when I am home. If I am sitting, he is in my lap, laying, he is next to me curled up, and if I am leaving with my keys in my hand, he runs to his leash and harness as he wants to come with. He is very energetic and CONSTANTLY wants to play. You can often find him running around with his squeaky toy, begging for someone to play fetch and tug-a-war with him. He also, for some reason, believes that EVERY time he comes in from outside that he is deserving of a treat. That's not good when you have the free will to go in and out as you please. Chico has given me 4 wonderful happy years thus far, and I hope for many more :)
Here's a few more pics. Okay, more than a few. I have so many!! Haha.
January 1st, 2011. What better day to start my blog for animals? I'm not 100% sure what I will make out of this blog, but it is my goal to post statistics from shelters, heart warming animal stories, tips for pet owners, etc.
This rest of this post has been copied from my November 23rd blog.
"I am thinking seriously about starting an animal blog. My passion is definitely with non profit and charitable work and animal shelters are a big part of that for me. It is my goal to raise shelter awareness not just locally but globally. I want to somehow, some day, make a career out of doing what I love (helping animals). I figure a blog may be a simple start"
This video makes me cry every time. Volunteering in a shelter, I've seen half of these happen first hand. The one that made me the angriest was one time seeing someone bring in an older cat for surrender, all the while, allowing their children to run around, asking about picking out a new kitten. It made me sick to my stomach as I know how traumatizing it must have been for their older cat to be brought into a new strange place and watch its family walk out the door forever. I could just imagine them doing the same thing to their new kitten, 10 years down the road.
* I'm just traveling too much. I'm sorry.
* We are moving. I'm sorry.
* He's just too old now. I'm sorry.
* He's impossible to train. I'm sorry.
* She has too much energy. I'm sorry.
* The shelter can find you a better home. I'm sorry.
* I didn't realize they needed to go to the vet this much. I'm sorry.
* I had no idea a puppy was this much work. I'm sorry.
* I don't believe in spaying or neutering my dog. I'm sorry.
* I no longer have the time. I'm sorry.
* We are remodeling. I'm sorry.
* We just had a baby. I'm sorry.
* We are getting a divorce. I'm sorry.
* My landlord just found out I have a dog. I'm sorry.
* The kids of outgrown the dog. I'm sorry.
* I just don't want a dog anymore. I'm sorry.
*I am dependent on YOU to take care of ME. I am affected by YOUR decisions. A victim of yourexcuses. And suffering from your APOLOGIES . Please think SERIOUSLY before you add me to your family.
--- Reminder: A pet is supposed to be a life long commitment. Not a when it's convenient commitment. ---
Now don't get me wrong. I fully understand that in some cases it is absolutely necessary to have to surrender your dog to a shelter. I've seen families (now more than ever) that have had to give up their beloved pet as they are no longer able to financially afford it, or lost their home due to the recession and had to give up their pet. I've seen people come into the shelter heartbroken and crying. I understand these situations and can't even fathom to imagine the pain that their heart feels. I don't place blame for our over crowded in shelters on these legit reasons. What I don't understand is habitual offenders, people that go through multiple pets in a years time. People that surrender one dog, get another, and surrender it a few months later. Repeat offenders I guess you'd say. And I reallyreally wish more people understood the importance of spaying and neutering. Sure, those 8 little puppies are cute but where will those puppies be a year from now?
Have you ever looked at your local SPCA or animal services statistics? They are very disturbing. Here's a look at my local stats for two shelters in my COUNTY. This isn't statewide, just one small county.
2009 Animal Shelter Statistics
* Animal Services*
- 8787 dogs impounded or surrendered
- 2582 dogs adopted out or reunited with owner - 6152 dogs EUTHANIZED
- 14841 cats impounded or surrendered
- 478 cats adopted out or reunited with owner - 14335 cats EUTHANIZED
*SPCA, Inc*
-- 3343 dogs surrendered
-- 1162 dogs adopted out or reunited with owner -- 465 dogs EUTHANIZED
Maybe you could pass this information on. You never know who you might touch.
