Rumors my dissappearance have been greatly exaggerated.

I've totally been forgetting to post about this, though I've been meaning to write about it.

About a couple of weeks ago, another woman's service cat went missing. Her friends got an add in the paper for her, and a couple of days after that a woman came up to me and said, "Oh, I'm so glad you got your service cat back!"

Of course since Diamond's never been missing, I replied with the ever eloquent, "Huh?"

So I was very surprised to find out at all that Diamond wasn't the only service cat in Pullman in the first place.

I can imagine the woman's stress. You would seriously have to hospitalize me if Diamond went missing. And by the way, you can microscip your animals, here in Pullman it's a very economical $35 at Diamond's vetrinary office, Alpine Animal Hospital.

But I digress. So I located a copy of the woman's add, and I called her. She's a very nice lady but she isn't able to get out of the house to look for her cat for herself. I'm going to call her tomorrow and find out if her service cat, Rambo, is still missing. If he is, I'm going to go search for him myself.

How to leash and harness train a cat. Part 1.

Here's a topic I've been meaning to write about for weeks.

I get a lot of people who come up to me and express their surprise that Diamond is so willing to stay calmly on his harness and lead. They often tell me that they tried to leash-train their cat, but that it didn't work.

Leash and harness training a cat isn't that much harder than training a dog, it just takes longer and more patience. Also, while it is possible to train a dog with both a positibve and negative rewards system, in my own experience cats only seem to accept training with the positive rewards system. You can put a collar and lead onto a dog and the dog will accept it more quickly, I believe dogs have been with us longer and have had more time to get aquainted with the lead -- I think -- and that's why cat's don't automatically aclimate to the lead. Most people put the lead on their cat and give up in dismay after the first or second time after their cat throws a tantrum.

Diamond was physically in a harness when I adopted him, and seemed oblivious to its presence. He was only nine months old, so I must assume that he had been harness-trained long before he'd been put up for adoption. But I have personally trained other cats to accept harnesses and leads before Diamond.

The first point is that if at all possible, it is important to begin harness training when the kitten is as young as possible. The second point is that a collar is okay for a cat if you don't intend to leash-train the cat at all, but if you are, a harness with the lead is better for the cat, ergonomically. If you have an older cat it's okay and it is still possible to train him or her to accept a harness and lead, it's just going to take longer.

First, put a collar on the kitten or cat, if you haven't done so already. It needs to be the non-breakaway kind, so that the cat will get used to bieng ina device it can't get out of any time it wants to. If your cat's already used to a collar, you're ready to begin the real fun. ;)

First, I highly recommend that you bring the cat with you to the pet store or vet's office when choosing his or her first harness. This way a professional can help you choose the precise right size for your cat, and show you exactly how the harness is supposed to go onto the cat's body. Remember: You should always be able to fit two fingers in between the neck strap and the body strap, to allow for comfortable breathing, movement, and of course growth.

Slayer of Evil Toilet paper Rolls!

OH HI!!! There once was an Evil Roll of Toilet paper here, but I have destroyed it for you. No need to be afraid anymore. I'm so proud of myself. Aren't you proud of me too?

Got anymore TP for me to kill!?

SPRING TIME!!!

Tap tap! Tap tap tap tap tap!

I've written before about how I learned from an Animal Planet BBC program called Barking Mad that I could teach Diamond sign language to better communicate with him.

Since I last wrote about that, I've taught Diamond through the use of the thumbs up signal and treats that if he politely taps me on the hand or arm, he'll get a treat. It's the sign language equivalent of "Please may I have a treat, Mommy?" and it works. It's MUCH more convenient for both of us than a random YOWL in a public place. X-D

He's also learned "sit." We're still working on "come," and he hasn't figured out "stay" yet.

It's almost the end of the semester, and we've had one the worst shooting in American history this week.

The "NO TOUCH THE CAT!" rule is suspended until the day after WSU's graduation day.

Snuggle away, Boogah.

Broccoli!

I've been rather text intensive for the last couple of posts, so its time for a picture!


Diamond says: "Stick with 'Natural Choice' cat food, mom! I'm not crazy about broccoli."

(Picture is an illusion created using tiny dots of wet food, LOL.)

Feeding Domestic Pets Raw Meat.

I want to highlight some more knowledgeable perspectives than mine, here are a couple of informative comments I recieved in my last entry:

trixiefirecat said...
the people i've read so far highly recommend wellness wet food as well [human grade meat & no grain filler]. i transitioned my cats off kibble with it, adding a little water, and their coats got softer, thicker & shinier in the first week.

another nice thing you can do for your cat is get some wild salmon oil in gel caps [bottles of it go rancid quickly with air exposure] and squeeze them into their food. they love the smell & flavor, and it's really good for them [something added to all raw food diets].

Curt said...
We have a pack of 6 farm dogs and they all mean the world to our family. And we have fed a raw food diet for years.

But there are so many products out there that are supposed to be raw that aren't. And this craze of "cooking for your pet" is going to hurt alot of animals. You should NEVER cook meat meant for a dog.

Another thing I see being tossed around that is so incorrect is the idea that bones are bad for dogs. Again, absolutely incorrect. CooCooked bones are bad dogs. Raw bones are an essential factor for thier health.

We only feed Oma's Pride meats b/c they come from the same processing plant that produces human consumption products and everything is USDA inspected. We are in Houston so we order from http://www.thedinnerbowl.com but there are quality raw suppliers all over the country.

And really b/c we feed so much less raw (2.5% of the body a day) versus kibble (easily twice that to keep weight) it isn't that much more expensive. It gets expensive when people go to Kroger or some other retail grocery store or when they order from a distant vendor.

We love our animals and the small amount of time and pennie is well worth thier health.

However, there are dangers to be considered. A friend of mine who is in Veterinary school told me;

Raw food diets are typically bad for your pets. For one thing, they usually lack essential nutrients, like calcium. For another thing, they also expose your pet to all sorts of food born diseases and parasites, like salmonella. And even if your pet doesn't get sick, it can still be a carrier for the disease and can spread it to other people. In my nutrtion class we learned about one family in Germany (I think it was Germany) that fed their cat a raw food diet and she ended up spreading e.coli to their daughter. The daughter got very sick and had to be hospitalized.

As I said before, I won't be making home-made meals for Diamond, because I know I don't have the knowledge, time, money, and skills necessary. Furthermore, I've had e. coli in my kidneys TWICE in my life already without my own assistance, and can't possibly afford to do that to myself again.

Its important to get as much information as possible if you're serious about home-making your pets' meals.

Food scare prompts pet owners to retreat to own kitchens.

Something someone posted in Live Journal:

hi, i feed my cats a raw meat diet. homemade cat & dog food is a great idea, i'm just here to tell you, there are things to know about their nutrition that make their diets a little more complicated than just cooking food at home. here's a good article about how cats need special supplements, please do a lot of research before starting your pets on homemade food. they have different needs than we do:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/catsaredif.html

and this woman is an excellent resource for raw food & holistic pet health:
http://www.catnutrition.org/index.html

As anyone else with a pet, I've been watching this pet food recall closely, doing research, et cetera. Diamond means the world to me... you'd have to hospitalize me if Diamond died any time in the near future. ...Perhaps someday if I married I could cope with such a loss without a temporary stay in a rubber room, but not now.

Anyway, I read (and hear, etc.) that a lot of people are resorting to home-cooking meals for their pets. Personally I couldn't POSSIBLY afford to do it right, so I'm not even going to try. By asking a local pet store, I've found out that a brand called Natural Choice doesn't contain any wheat gluten, or other glutens, so I'll probably be switching to that. Diamond's vet told me last month that Diamond should have wet food about once a week for his kidney health, so I've already bought some, and Diamond's tried the "Venison and green pea," and liked it a lot. (Then again,it was GUSHY FOODS, so he could be just grateful. But he did eat it cheefully.)

I listened to some guest on CNN speak disnmissively about how "its just too hard" for people to home cook for their pets. Now, I disagree with her dismissiveness and I don't think it's THAT hard for anyone who is willing to make an honest effort at it.

At the same time, I hope people are bieng VERY cautious if they do decide to get into the home pet food hobby for their beloved animals, I agree that it IS more involved that it would seem.

Hi there!

Sorry I haven't been around in a while, my scooter was broken so I wasn't able to get to a computer that I could use to upload new photos. We're back now!

Diamond says Hi!