krazycatlady’s blog

Cats Rule, Dogs Drool!

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:59:28 -0800

Study finds health benefits to owning cats

MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

02/22/2008

MINNEAPOLIS — Here, kitty kitty. …

A new study suggests cat owners are less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than people who, well, don't own cats.

And no, dogs don't do the same trick.

The study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, found that feline-less people were 30 to 40 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with cats.

Yet dog owners had the same rate as nonowners. "No protective effect of dogs as domestic pets was observed," said the study, which was presented Thursday at the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans.

Dr. Adnan Qureshi, a stroke expert at the university, said he decided to raise the question because other studies have suggested pets can help reduce stress.

He and his team analyzed a group of 4,435 people who had answered questionnaires about pet ownership and other risk factors.

But the cat-dog differential came as a surprise. "We don't understand this completely," he said, but "it's probably not a coincidence."

Asked if he owns a cat, Qureshi replied: "No. Maybe I should get one, though. With this new research, I think the time has come to change."

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New Kitties!

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:36:29 -0800

It's been awhile since I've had new kitties to report; I've been good and worked on getting cats adopted and getting my numbers down, so I was really happy that I was able to say yes to taking in Seymour and Newman. They were at a new local shelter that is trying to be no kill. I'm thinking that I'm going to be getting most of my cats from there so that I can help them out and also it's really fun to go "shopping" for cats! I say that now, but will I be able to resist the first couple of calls for kittens? I don't think so!

So here are my new guys - they're so incredibly sweet! This is Newman. He needed to be neutered, so that's part of why I picked him. He's just an overall cool kitty, very sweet, very playful, just likes to be in the middle of whatever is going on. And I've always gotten a kick out of tuxedo kitties!

Newman!

Seymour is just a sweetie. He gives head-butts when he wants to be petted and then when you pick him up he just hugs you with his front paws around your neck. He's all about the eyes too, always checking out what's going on while managing to look really cool. He's so mellow yet engaged. Just an awesome guy!

Seymour!

This is a picture that I took for my photography class. The assignment was to take a picture with a slow shutter speed so that a moving object would show the blur. He said he's bored of getting pictures of ceiling fans, etc so I thought that this would be something new for him. Of course he's kinda used to me and knows that I'll twist just about any assignment into being about animals! Like when the topic was something red, I took a picture of a black lab with a red collar! That collar really popped! This is Chinchilla, one of my bottle babies that's just about adoption-ready.

Playtime!

Today I also stopped in to visit Princess Annaliese at MuddPuppies. She's so cute there - she just acts like she owns the store. Here she is sitting on the rug past the front door/check out area just watching everyone come in and waiting to be adored! When I first got there, she was in the back sitting on top of a stack of paperwork on the desk. Just like a cat to be ready to supervise! She's having the time of her life!

Princessmp!

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Sasha

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:25:49 -0800

About a month ago I told you about a sad trip in which my friend and I took her dog on her final trip to the vet. I've since posted pictures of her very happily playing with a puppy and her husband said no to getting a dog. I was keeping my eye out for a puppy that would fit her criteria - mainly young and female. Imagine my shock when she lit up after hearing about an adult St. Bernard in a shelter!

Sasha2!

There were a lot of "issues" involved. Her daughter is afraid of dogs (but not her old one). She won't set foot inside my door until my dog Lexi is locked up. She's not afraid of Jake though, which is funny because if one of my dogs was likely to bite her, it would be Jake (being old and grumpy at times). She doesn't like dogs with energy and that are jumpy. Sasha is neither one of those!

Sasha1!

But Sasha comes with issues. She ended up in the shelter after getting into a fight with another dog. She was roamng around as a stray and found a nice family that let her have her puppies at their house. They even adopted one of her pups and planned to keep Sasha too. But she can be picky about her dog friends, so that didn't work out. Heartland actually adopted out the rest of her pups around Christmas time. She's on the small side for a St. Bernard at only 95 pounds. She's also quite middle-aged at around 5-years-old. Bigger breeds don't live as long. She can be dog aggressive and food aggressive. And she needs a dental and is missing a lot of teeth!

But Juli fell in love. So did her daughter who felt that this dog offered no harm. So now she's in foster care and both Juli and Sasha (and the family) are quite happy. Except for one minor/major problem. Sasha won't poop! She's been to the vet twice in the last week. She's had x-rays and enemas (hate to be the one who has to give an enema to a St. Bernard!) She's had a barium x-ray to make sure that there wasn't anything unnatural blocking her up. Now she's on stool softeners to try to get things moving. She also has a bladder infection and is on antibiotics. Sasha didn't have much of an appetite, but Juli bought her canned food today and she acted like it was candy.

Juli loves Sasha and Sasha loves Juli. Juli can't go anywhere without her shadow Sasha. In these pictures, Sasha isn't on a leash, she just hangs around Juli!

Sasha!

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Dog steals truck

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:49:49 -0800

http://www.citynews .ca/news/ features_ 19864.aspx

Dog Steals Owner's Truck
Friday February 22, 2008
CityNews.ca Staff

Charles McCowan was sure of only one thing - someone had
stolen his truck. The Azusa, California man had left his
rig in the parking lot of a convenience store on Wednesday,
with his 80-pound Boxer dog named Max in the front seat.

When he came out a few minutes later, the vehicle and the
pooch were both gone. Panicked, McCowan called police. They
quickly started a search for the missing truck and it only
took them a few minutes to find it. It turns out, it was
right across the street sitting idly in the lot of a fast-
food joint.

But how did it get there? Cops figured that out, too. They
obtained security video of the vehicle silently rolling
from one spot to another, after McCowan's best friend
accidentally knocked the gear shift into neutral and sent
it sloping gently backwards.

Neither the truck nor Max was damaged in the incident, but
McCowan really shouldn't have been all that surprised that
his pet decided to take his wheels for a drive.

After all, like any good dog, he already had a licence.

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Updates

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:19:27 -0800

Harry: my Heartland kitty that I adopted this fall is sick again. Part of the reason that I went ahead and adopted my snuggle bunny is that he's never been entirely healthy and I didn't trust anyone to take care of him the way that I would. So he's back on antibiotics and getting breathing treatments with the nebulizer. He's cuddled on my shoulder right now and just dripped snot on me. And he's doing his trademark chirpy purr. Too cute!

Homer: our geriatric boxer got adopted a couple of weeks ago and his new owner brought him into PetSmart and he looks like a new dog! He was so incredibly happy and had put on a good amount of weight. He loves going for car rides with his new dad and they're best friends already! It was hard to picture who would give this old guy a second chance in his golden years and we couldn't have imagined him any happier!

French Fry & Chicken Nugget: they are happy having run of the whole house, try to snuggle together in their cat bed that barely fits both of them and enjoying the nightly ritual of canned cat food that they have to "earn" by being brave enough to come by their new mom's lap.

Uno: he "should" be having surgery tomorrow. His eyes still aren't perfect, but we'll see if the vet thinks he's healthy enough to go through everything. His spirits are still good and he loves to lay on his back in my arms and relax and purr.

Peter: a kitty that was returned about a month ago for chronic diarhea. His first round of medication didn't help and the problem got worse. He's not eating a lot and is throwing up more. When he does eat, the food just races through him and comes out as liquid dripping squirts that he can't control. He had a barium xray done this week and it showed just how fast things were moving through his system. We're thinking that he does have inflammatory bowel disease and he's started a round of prednisone to help calm down his tummy. My big worry is that he will throw up the pills and it won't help him. He may be going back to the vet very soon. His sister also had this problem at one point. It's a gross thing to have to take care of and I just feel so bad for poor Peter. He feels so miserable.

Revolver: she's had a break from being at PetSmart for a couple of weeks, but she is fighting with the other kitties and so if I have to cage her, she might as well be at PetSmart and hopefully someone will fall in love with her. So she's had a couple of weeks of freedom to stretch her legs and choose where to sleep. It's my biggest hope that someone falls in love with her soon and she'll never have to live in a cage again! I also hope that she can get adopted before kitten season starts or it could take her a very long time to find a new home.

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Adoptions 2-22-08

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:34:51 -0800

I spent a chilly morning selling Girl Scout cookies outside of Walmart, but the cat adoptions at PetSmart were hot!

Dogs: Cricket

Cats: Charlie, Charice, Shaley, Big Mel, Kringle, Smitty, Miss Kitty, Ruby Tuesday

Cricket: a very cute basset hound mix that was found at the local pound, went home with Kringle!

Charlie: a mystery as to why it took him so long to find a home, very cool kitty who is sweet and playful and a big guy who went home with a very nice family with other pets for him to play with

Charice & Shaley: a pair of tabby girls that we pulled from a local shelter - super sweet and friendly

Big Mel: a boy so big that the people who found him thought he was a pregnant she! Great new home!

Kringle: a true Cinderella story - he came in 2 days before Christmas - dumped in a carrier at PetSmart and his eyes were glued shut. He had entropian eyelids, so the extra skin on his eyes literally rolled in and rubbed his corneas - surgery fixed that . He never complained about his plight. Then he spent over a month at PetSmart waiting for a home which was shocking for a gorgeous, friendly siamese boy. He went home with Cricket the dog!

Smitty: sweet boy who was found as a stray and just beyond cute and friendly. He went home with a repeat adoptor who just had to put a kitty to sleep and the other kitty in the home needed a new playmate, another really happy ending

Miss Kitty: gorgeous russian-blue look alike who wanted to be an only pet. That slowed down her chances for finding a home since a lot of our adopters have other pets. But someone was looking for a lap cat and fell in love with her - Miss Kitty is now living with a disabled woman who needed a best friend

Ruby Tuesday: my little calico kitten, the shy baby got a new home where she'll be the only cat with a bird for a big brother! But her new mom is used to having to be patient and she'll need that to help her adjust to a new home. A very happy ending for a kitten that was alone in a kill shelter marked feral.

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Warren Elementary

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:47:45 -0800

Warrenelementary

Wow! Thanks go out to the kids at Warren Elementary School in Cottleville! They raised $828.19 for Murphy. The student council sponsored two spirit days, one was a dress crazy day, the other was wear your favorite team's logo and the kids had to pay $1 to participate. They also got to bring in other donations as well. Great job guys! Between their help and the help of the Girl Scouts with our Maggie Moo's fundraiser, we've just about covered the cost of Murphy's surgery!

Murphy couldn't be there in person to collect the money, so my Heartland dog Lexi filled in. She was happy to be the center of attention and was such a good girl! She got to show off her few basic obedience commands and got petted by each and every kid!

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Adoptions 2-16-09

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:10:37 -0800

It was a slow day. It was sad seeing so many of our special needs pets come out for the day and none of them got a home.

Dogs: Dixie, Elke

Cats: Merlin, Snickers

Dixie: cute little cocker spaniel who loves people but wasn't happy in her foster home because she wanted to be an only pet - her life got so much better today!

Elke: cute little pup adopted by our vet's aunt, happy ending for a pup that was dumped over one of our foster mom's fences around Christmas time

Merlin: my black, long-haired cat. He got to be part of the special needs day because he's black, but someone fell in love with him last night and took him home this morning

Snickers: a nice lady fell in love with his picture online and wanted him right away! So I brought him along and he got to go home. He'll be so much happier. He wasn't crazy about the other cats and just wanted so much attention. He'll love getting all the lap time and not having to share the love!

Remington was supposed to be going home tomorrow, but no such luck. They called today to cancel. Poor little guy just can't catch a break! I also had someone fall in love with Mouse and Chinchilla, so cross your fingers that they could go home next week. I just may cry over that one, but the woman is so wonderful that I might not! Pepe Le Peu is also supposed to go home tomorrow.

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Open Your Heart to a Special Needs Friend

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:26:54 -0800

We're having a "special needs" adoption event tomorrow. All of the cats will have a reason that makes them harder to adopt. I'll have Katamari (age), Merlin (black), Chinchilla & Mouse (Mousie has asthma and I want them to stay together). I got a call on Merlin tonight so he should be going home first thing in the morning! I also got a call on Snickers, so even though he's not special needs, he'll be going up tomorrow to see if he's a good match for this lady. We'll also have some of our FIV+ kitties up there (Porter & Babydoll) and other older kitties (Monk, Tommy, Lily). Ashes, Slate and Charco will be there - all have been in foster care for over a year because they're black. For dogs we'll have Tulsa (deaf), Hugo (foster care forever!), Annie (allergies), Hershe (shy) & Kermit (neurological). We're also bringing the puppies just because they're so labor intensive!

Here are some updates on my kitties this week. Mary is back home because they said she was depressed at PetSmart. Can't have our special girl feeling down! So she'll be going up on weekends with me for awhile and maybe will stay again later. Uno's surgery got rescheduled again. We also got more serious about his antibiotics. The vet switched him to a stronger one and added nebulizer treatments. Poor guy is showing his cold through his eyes - just layers of crusty, yellow eye boogers, but as usual he doesn't let that get him down. He loves to burn past me when it's time to clean his cage so that he can chase down a kitten and play-attack. You would be hard-pressed to be able to tell that he has a broken leg that needs fixing. I guess that comes from having lived with it for so long. Still, I'll be much more at ease when we've gotten him all fixed up!

Mouse got neutered today. He's one of my bottle babies from August. I still have Mouse and Chinchilla. I kept thinking that they weren't going to make it. Well, they're still here! Chinchilla got spayed about a month ago, but the vet didn't like the way Mouse sounded, so she did x-rays and even had the radiologist look at them to confirm that he has asthma. So today his lungs sounded clear enough to neuter him. But after surgery, he was coughing, so he got a steroid shot to help him breathe. Tonight he was wheezing a little, so I gave him some prednisone (per the Dr's orders). I'm so attached to this little pair; it's going to be hard seeing them go to a new home.

And the last story has nothing to do with cats, but may give you a chuckle! My daughter wanted to go to the mall tonight for a girls' night out, so I figured what the heck? We planned dinner in the food court and then to buy a b-day gift that we missed while I was sick last week. So we get to the mall and I realize that I don't have my wallet! Luckily I had $5 in my pocket. So we debated between eating and shopping with the $$. We chose shopping! Still, I'm amazed that I was able to get out of the mall for only $5. I'll have to leave it at home next time she wants to go shopping with me. I know my husband didn't mind!

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New Blogger

nobody@vox.com(krazycatlady) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:54:46 -0800

I found out today that one of our new foster moms started her own blog when she started fostering! Check out the dog mom perspective! http://www.dogfostermom.blogspot.com/

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