National Pet Week

This is National Pet Week!


Per the Pet Week website, "National Pet Week was jointly founded in 1981 by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the Auxiliary to the AVMA, and is widely celebrated throughout the United States and other parts of the world. In 2010, National Pet Week is celebrated from May 2-8."

The Pet Week website also explains that: "The goals of National Pet Week are to promote responsible pet ownership, celebrate the human-animal bond, and promote public awareness of veterinary medicine."

So do something extra special for your pet(s) this week!

For more information, visit www.petweek.org/index.cfm

Carole

"Adopt a Shelter Pet" Stamps to Raise Awareness

Starting on April 30, 2010, the US Postal Service will be selling stamps to raise awareness of the need to adopt Shelter Pets. 

The USPS website states that the goal is for "more Americans to know about the millions of shelter pets that need good homes. Nearly half of the animals that enter animal shelters are euthanized. Many of these cats and dogs would have made a wonderful pet...if only given the chance."

They say:  "You can make a difference. Adopt a pet, volunteer at a shelter, or just get the word out by buying these stamps."

There are 10 different stamps.  All of these pets had been homeless.  At the time the pictures were taken, all but one had been adopted!  Featured on the stamps are:
Teddy Jack Russell Terrier
Willow Maltese Cat
Trevor Yellow Lab
Bianca Calico
Buddy Golden Retriever
Peaches Gray White and Tan Cat
Bindi Sue Aussie Shepherd
Frankie Black White and Tan Cat
Jake Boston Terrier
Lucas Orange Tabby

The USPS website offers a variety of products including stamps, mugs, artwork and notecards featuring these pets.

Ellen DeGeneres (Animal Advocate and co-owner of Halo Pet Food) is the spokeperson for this campaign.  Halo will be donating meals to feed 1 Million shelter pets.  You can visit stampstotherescue.com to see an update of how many meals Halo has donated to feed homeless pets.

I have my stamps! Do you have yours?

Carole

If Your Cat Could Read...

The St. Louis Public Library has a great monthly newsletter called Check It Out! (Get it? Check it out!)

This month they feature some books all about cats!

Here are the selections from their list:

The Natural Cat: The Comprehensive Guide to Optimum Care (by Anitra Frazier)

Smitten: A Kitten's Guide to Happiness (by Rachael Hale)

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (by T.S. Eliot and drawings by Edward Gorey)

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World (by Vicki Myron)

The Cat Behavior Answer Book: Practical Insights & Proven Solutions for Your Feline Questions (by Arden Moore)

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul: Stories of Feline Affection, Mystery, and Charm (by Jack Canfield)

Have you read any of these? Do you have any other suggestions to add to the list?

Carole

In Other Words: A Dictionary of Animal-Themed Words

Animal lovers have created a whole new language with clever alternatives for everyday words.

So here is a little dictionary to use when you need some ideas for an animal-themed word:

(A Big Thanks: to the Twitter users who responded to my request for words!)

Anipals = Animal pals

Bark out = Shout out

Barkaritas = Margueritas

Barking lot = Parking lot

Barktending = Bartending

Cattitude = Attitude

Caturday = Saturday

De-tails = Details

Furiend = Friend

Fursday = Thursday

Furever = Friday

Happy Mew Year = Happy New Year

Howl-iday = Holiday

Howloween = Halloween

iBone = iPhone

iPaw = iPod

Kittehs = Kitties

Meowy Catmas = Merry Christmas

Mews = News

Nom Nom = Yummy treats

OMD = Oh My Dog

OMC = Oh My Cat

Pawcircle = Prayer Circle

Pawparade = Parade

Pawprayers = Prayers

Paws crossed = Fingers crossed

Pawsitively = Positively

Pawsome = Awesome

Pawticulars = Particulars

Pawty = Party

Peemail = Checking e-mail

Puparazzi = Poparazzi

Purrfect = Perfect

Purrson = Person

Tabby tennis = Table tennis

Yappy = Happy

Some Abbreviations for LOL (Laugh out Loud):

BOL = Bark out loud

MOL = Meow out loud

QOL = Quack out loud



Some Friendly Gestures:

*nosetaps*

*wags*

*licks*

*purrs*

If you have any others, please let me know!
Carole

[Text copyright Carole of cloudk9.com  All rights reserved.]

More Ideas: The Paw Print Cookie Cutter

The Paw Print Cookie Cutter at Cloud K9® makes a cute little sugar cookie!

(It's versatile since it can represent either a dog or a cat paw print. I have also used this cookie cutter to cut brownies into paw print shapes!)

Plus, this paw print cookie is really easy to decorate!

After the baked cookies have cooled, I used a tube of black decorator icing to create the pads on the bottom of the paw, but you could also use chocolate decorator icing. 

These sugar cookies are intended for people only. (Please remember that chocolate is toxic to pets.)

Have fun! Be creative!

Carole
PS Cloud K9® carries over 80 different dog-theme and dog-shaped cookie cutters!

[Photos and text copyright Carole of cloudk9.com All rights reserved.]

A Holiday Tip to Save Some Green and Go Green

Save $ome Green
I found this cute little Santa hat for pets at the dollar store (the first way to save money...the dollar store).  This store did not have clothes for 90 lb dogs (probably because the amount of fabric required would cost more than $1).  But, if you have a small pet that will wear clothes, this is a great find!

"Hoppy" Holidays!

Paisley the Rabbit modeling the festive hat!

Instead of mailing a card by snail mail, a cute and clever e-card can be as good or even better!  Who wouldn’t enjoy receiving a holiday email with an adorable pet picture?  The photo of your pet creates a very personal touch.  Plus, during this season when everyone is trying to save money, an e-card you create yourself can save $$$.  In addition to saving the cost of purchased cards, an e-card will also save money on postage!

Go Green!
Sending your own e-card saves paper and it saves trees. You just need a great picture and a clever verse.

For this Rabbit-theme e-card, the verse will be: ‘Hoppy’ Holidays!

You could also use:

Happy Howl-idays or Yappy New Year (for a dog theme),
Purr-fect (for a cat theme),
Fleas Navidad (for a cat or dog theme)!

Be creative and have fun!  Feel free to share with everyone here your great pictures and ideas!

Carole

[Photo and Text Copyright 2009 Carole of CloudK9.com All Rights Reserved.]

Friday the 13th

Are you superstitious?  Do you have triskaidekaphobia…The Fear of Friday the 13th?

It is amazing how many superstitions there are. It's interesting, too, how many are related to animals.  Here are just a few:

Do you think black cats are unlucky?

Does a horseshoe bring you luck?

Is a ladybug lucky?

Or do you believe that a rabbit’s foot is a good luck symbol? 

Paisley, our rabbit, is showing her rabbit’s foot to bring you some good luck…

However, she is keeping her foot with her, thank you very much,

as she is rather attached to it!

Whatever superstitions you believe or don't believe…here’s hoping you have a safe and lucky Friday the 13th!

Carole

PS: Be sure to look for the key words "November Contest" for how to win either the Paw Print Locket Necklace or the Paw Print Business Card Case!

[Text and Rabbit Photo Copyright 2009 Carole of CloudK9.com All Rights Reserved.]

The Black Cat and the Engineer

I am always intrigued with the ways in which anipals fit into peoples’ lives… whether they live on a ranch or in a highrise apartment building.  Joggers have dogs who enjoy running with them.  Ranchers have dogs which guard and herd their livestock.  Fashionistas, like Paris Hilton, turn tiny dogs into fashion accessories.

And so it is with my friend Scott, an engineer, and his black cat, Cashmere.  Like any engineer worth his salt, Scott loves all kinds of tools, gadgets and contraptions: from DeWalt Drills, tile cutting saws, air compressors and Rotozips, to high-tech kitchen doohickeys like automated soap dispensers.  It’s little wonder that Cashmere has become an automated kitty with gizmos and gadgets all her own!

Meet Cashmere

With all her high tech things, her cool place to sit is in an ordinary shoe box!

Reminds me of the holidays when little kids start playing with the cheapo box and wrapping paper rather than the ultra-expensive toy!

Slowly, but surely, every item for Cashmere has become automatic.

First, there was her water dish.

This high-tech bowl has constantly moving water. To me, it looks like a miniature toilet bowl the way the water swirls around in it. But, unlike a regular toilet bowl, this one runs on electricity.

Next was the automated food dispenser..sort of like a huge gum ball machine.

It is programmed to dispense a certain about of food at a specified time. The variety of settings is pretty amazing…from the number of meals per day, to the amount per feeding! This gizmo is the only one that’s battery operated. (I guess that’s so in event of an electrical outage, she won’t go hungry!)

Cashmere understands how it works…she even knows to wait at her bowl a few minutes before the food comes out!

 The most recent acquisition has been an automated litter box.

It is electric and has a motion detector that tells it when to use the little metal fingers to rake through the special litter and clean the box.

Each gadget has special instructions for how to get the kitty comfortable with how it operates, and Cashmere has had no difficulty getting used to her new cat contraptions. I would have guessed in a previous life, she was a Princess, but who knows? Maybe one of her incarnations has been as an engineer!

Please understand, these gadgets have NOT been a substitute for personal attention and love. Each evening, Cashmere sits with Scott to watch TV. Every night she sleeps in the bed with him. In fact, once, when she sprained her leg and couldn’t jump, he put the clunky cedar steps from his hot tub next to his bed so she could climb up to her spot on the bed. (He didn’t buy the special steps made for pets since this was just a temporary measure.)

Two Paws Up for Scott for saving homeless kitties before they went to a shelter. His first cat, Smokey, was a rescue from his college days. Smokey was living in the parking lot outside his apartment one cold Winter, apparently abandoned when someone left town at the end of the semester. He adopted Cashmere as a kitten from his vet’s office when Smokey was getting elderly.

All in all, I’d say this is one Black Cat that is pretty lucky!

I can’t imagine what the next gadget will be, but I am sure when Scott spots it, Cashmere will be the proud owner of the newest thingamabob made just for cats!

• Know of any other automated gadgets for cats that Scott doesn’t own?

• Do you have any special routine, activity or gadget that fits your pet to your lifestyle?

Thanks for stopping by...See you tomorrow!

Carole

PS: Be sure to look for the key words "November Contest" for how to win either the Paw Print Locket Necklace or the Paw Print Business Card Case!

[Photos and Text Copyright 2009 Carole of CloudK9.com  All Rights Reserved.]