news-record.com

Every trip to Walmart or Target, I make a point to walk down the cat toy aisle, just to see if anything looks interesting. I know what my cats like, so I only look for certain things. On a recent trip to Target, I found a fish toy, with a huge tail of red and purple feathers.

For as much as Libby likes strings, Abbey likes feathers. So I knew this had to be hers. I bought it, took it out of the bag, and gave it to her. Of course, the entire time I'm trying to cut the cardboard backing off the toy, she's meowing at my feet. I was obviously not going fast enough.

As Abbey played with her new toy, I took a seat on the couch, ready to settle in for a little bit of TV. Since she was playing on carpet, I could hear her running back and forth behind the couch, chasing her new favorite toy. But then I see her walk in front of me, heading toward the kitchen.

So if Abbey isn't playing with the toy, who is? I lean over the back of the couch, and there's Julian wrestling, chewing and having the best time of his life with the toy. I haven't seen him play like that in years.

He use to be just a mice guy. I'd throw a toy mouse down the hall, he'd run after it; repeat till my arm got tired.

He attacked this new toy like he was 10 years younger. All the the noise attracted a crowd, with Abbey randoming looking up at me. It was clear on her face 'mom, he has my new toy.' But I wasn't going to ruin Julian's fun. He played with it for a good 10 mins, then walked away to take a bathe. Abbey quickly pounced back on it.

A friend told me she normally doesn't buy her pets toys, since it'll get destroyed in like five mintues. And it's the same in my house. This morning I woke up to a living room covered in red and purple feathers, the new toy in pieces next to the TV. But I know for those five minutes, Abbey and Julian had tons of fun. And that's worth more than the $1.50 I spent.

Last night my husband and I decided to take Yoshi with us on the car ride to PetSmart to buy his dog food. While I was in the store, I also snagged Yoshi some rawhide bones -- his favorite. When I got in the car, I opened the bag and gave him a chew. He put it in his mouth and had this weird look on his face like he didn't know what to do with it. This was out of his normal routine. Normally, he gets chews only at home, so he didn't know what to do with it.

At first he tried laying down in the car. That didn't work. Then he looked like he was trying to bury it in the corner of the seat. Finally, he gave up and just dropped it on the floor.

When we came home, I gave him the chew back and he took it over to his pillow, his usual spot where he chomped on it for a tiny bit. He still seemed a little freaked out though, like he didn't know what to do with it.

He hadn't had his dinner yet, so I gave a scoop of food in his bowl. He approached his bowl with the chew still in his mouth. I watched him the whole time, waiting to see what he was going to do with it. This was very out of character for him. Next thing I know, he dropped the chew in his bowl and ate the kibbles of dog food around it.

When he was finished, he picked up the chew and walked around the house with it, trying to find a place to "bury" it. Yoshi will sometimes "hide" his bones in the corners of rooms. But they're always in plain sight, not very well hidden. He'll even put his nose to the ground as if he's pretending to shovel "dirt" onto the bone to cover it. So funny. 

I lost track of Yoshi and this chew after awhile, and so he either ate or sometime soon I'm going to discover a rawhide chew in a very odd place. 

Update: Tuesday night I had a couple friends over for dinner. One was my good friend Laura who loves my dogs. In fact, we've named her the caretaker of the dogs in the event that something was to ever happen to us. She had the opportunity to have some one-on-one time with the dogs at the end of the evening. And hilarity ensued.

Laura sat down on the floor, and that only means one thing to Greta: a new perch to sit on. I took many photos, but this one is the funniest because of Laura's reaction to Greta sitting perfectly content on her hip. 

From Monday: Greta likes to think she's a tiny lap dog. Last night she decided to prove this theory by making multiple attempts at curling up in my lap.

If there's ever an opportunity for her to sit in my lap, she'll take it. I think a lot of that is a territory thing with Cassie. If Greta's sitting in my lap, then sometimes Cassie will sit on my thigh. It's a really funny scene. Greta weighs 68 pounds and Cassie weighs 58 pounds.

Last night they were both plotting moves to see who would win the right to sit on or around me. I was just trying to fold towels. Cassie seemed content with lying on the floor, sprawled out next to my leg as long as I was scratching her belly. Greta was pretty tired, but wasn't happy with just sitting in my lap this time. She wanted to curl up. She's only successfully curled up in my lap once before, and it didn't last for very long. Her head kept sliding out of position, and her legs would come untucked. She's just much larger than my lap is.

But last night, she tried. Three times I think. She even brought over her favorite pink ball thinking she could curl up with it also. But it just wasn't working, and she knew it. So she retreated to her big pillow by the fireplace and curled up, with pink ball in tow. She gave me very sad eyes for about five minutes. Then Cassie flopped around to lay her head on my leg, to make Greta jealous of course.

This is Yoshi's adorable girlfriend. We stop by her house every morning on our walk so that the two of them can exchange doggie kisses and play for a little while. She has really been good for Yoshi, who has never been that great with other dogs. He gets a little territorial, a little scared and sometimes shy. Sometimes when other dogs start jumping around, trying to initiate play, Yoshi will take a step back look up at me and start tugging his leash in the opposite direction.

So since he met his little girlfriend, he has become a lot more socialized. But he still runs away from her pretty quickly. He gets overwhelmed easily.

For the last year or so I've been wanting to get another dog for Yoshi because I've heard it will add years to an animal's life if they have a partner. But I've finally decided that Yoshi is pretty much an only child; he functions best that way. And I think our daily visits to his girlfriend are giving him a little pep in his step, adding plenty of years to his life.

By MICHAEL J. CRUMB
Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 13-year-old Iowa cat has been infected with swine flu, veterinary and federal officials said Wednesday in what is believed to be the first case of the H1N1 virus in a feline in the United States.
The domestic shorthaired cat was treated last week at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames and has recovered, officials said. The virus also has been confirmed in two ferrets — one in Oregon and the other in Nebraska — but they died.
"We've known certainly it's possible this could happen," said Centers for Disease Control spokesman Tom Skinner. "This may be the first instance where we have documentation that transmission occurred involving cats or dogs."
The veterinarian who treated the cat, Dr. Brett Sponseller, said two of the three people in the cat's Iowa home had flu-like symptoms before the cat became ill. The case was confirmed at both Iowa State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Other influenza strains have been known to cross species, but Sponseller cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the cat including whether other pets could also get the swine flu.
"It's well documented in influenza in general, but this is the first highly suspected case of H1N1 going from humans into a cat," he said.
The indoor cat was lethargic, had a loss of appetite and appeared to have trouble breathing after it became infected, Sponseller said. It's owners declined to comment.
Officials said pet owners should take the same precautions against spreading swine flu to pets as they would with humans.
Getting children vaccinated for swine flu can also help prevent the illness from spreading to pets. There is no swine flu vaccine for pets.
Dr. Ann Garvey, Iowa's state health veterinarian, said it is not yet known how sick cats or other pets could get from swine flu.
"Because we haven't seen that many cases, it's difficult to give a blanket assessment on how sick it can make an animal," she said.
—————
Associated Press Medical Writer Mike Stobbe in Atlanta contributed to this report.
 

Name of pet: Tater

Age: 1 year

Resides in:  Winston-Salem

Breed: Pit Bull

Male or female: Male

Owner: (doesn't have to be real name but must be publishable) Amy

How owner and pet came together: He was hitchhiking on the side of I-85 when I found him, and he was only 8 weeks old.

Best trick: Pretending he has no idea what we are saying to him, especially in front of company. Second best is sitting in front of his food bowl without touching it at all, no matter how long you ask him to wait, until he’s told it’s time to eat.

Favorite activity: Fetch, until he drops in exhaustion.

Is there anything else we should know about this pet? (i.e., likes/dislikes, act of heroism, quirk etc.) He truly believes he weighs not 58 pounds, but 5.8 pounds. So he insists that he is the perfect size to sit in someone’s lap.

Credit for photograph: Amy

If you would like your pet(s) to be considered for the weekly My Pet feature, fill out this form.

By SUE MANNING
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — "America's Funniest Home Videos" has been going to the dogs for years, even if cats make it a game from time to time.

Dogs are a clear winner as the funniest animal — especially wiener dogs, Chihuahuas and pugs — judging by payouts from the series, which begins its 20th year on ABC next month.

For example, there was the bug-eyed Chihuahua getting a bath in a sink. "It was the homeliest dog, big bulging eyes that looked in opposite directions, his tongue was hanging out, and he was soaking wet, the sweetest thing," said co-executive producer and writer Todd Thicke

"You weren't even sure it was an animal," added executive producer Vin Di Bona.

In the show's first 19 years, 260 animal videos have won $2.2 million for their videographers. More than half those winners (136) have been dogs for $1.4 million in prize money. There have been 34 cat champs making $210,000 and 22 birds sharing $115,000. Next comes the nutty part: Nine squirrels have shared $54,000.

"We might not get a lot of squirrel videos, but when we do, they come through for us. They are high percentage rodents," Thicke said. Almost all the clips involve people in tight spaces trying to get away from the squirrels, Di Bona said.

There have been multiple wins for raccoons, giraffes, goats, horses, monkeys, bears, hamsters, llamas, mice, praying mantises and whales. In the one-time wonder category are the ant, bull, camel, chimp, deer, elk, ferret, fish, fly, frog, gorilla, guinea pig, kangaroo, lizard, orangutan, ostrich, ram, rat, rhino, sea lion, spider, snake, tarantula and toad.

Between them, Di Bona, Thicke and co-executive producer Michelle Nasraway could come up with only one animal they hadn't seen — the tsetse fly.

And what has the show taught them over the years? Never hold food next to a monkey. Don't stand behind a horse. If you put a bowl of food in the middle of a group of puppies they will move around it clockwise. Dogs tend to howl at pianos.

But most of all, Thicke said, "People love their pets and are proud of them and have trained them to do amazing tricks."

More online: http://afv.abc.com

Sadie was born at the end of April and is a beautiful grayish-brown tabby. Meet Sadie and her friends in the Animal Rescue & Foster Program by calling 574-9600 or visiting www.arfpnc.com. Visit Sadie and her friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Next Step Adoption Center, 705 Milner Drive, Greensboro. Information: 574-9600 or www.arfpnc.com.

For more available pets, please see the Records each Sunday in the News & Record.

In preparation of winter, I had someone replace the filter on my heater. A simple matter that took the heater man less than 20 minutes to do.

Having this done before, I knew he would be in and out of my apartment numerous times. So this time around, I figured I would lock up the cats to keep them safe and out of the heater man's way. And thinking that I'm even smarter, I decided to split them all up.

I know Abbey and Libby don't, well, they really don't like each other. So I put Abbey and Apple together. Libby I put in the TV room, which has a lot of Bruce's things. She is his cat, so all of it would be familiar to her. Then I just kept Julian with me, knowing he wouldn't move fast enough or even care about the heater man to leave the couch. Plus he hates the other cats, and being locked in a room even more.

So the heater man arrives, does his thing, and leaves, and it's time to release the cats. And chaos ensues.

It's as if they've never seen the house before. Libby, Abbey and Apple spend the rest of the afternoon sniffing the entire home, each other and me, trying to figure out what is going on. Of course, Abbey and Libby hiss at each even more now.

So much for me being smart.