news-record.com

We all have those things it's hard to say no to. For me, it's chocolate and coffee. Others, it's soda. For Julian, it's plastic bags.

For years, I've seen, or even heard, him licking the plastic bag that lines my garbage or recycling can. He doesn't eat the plastic, he just licks it. And it's not just one type of bag, it's all of them. Walmart, Food Lion, Target, he could care less. If it's plastic, and he can reach it, he'll spend a good 10 minutes licking it.

I use to leave a bag on the floor for him, and he would lay on it, licking the plastic. Then I read somewhere that cats could suffocate themselves in plastic bags, so I stopped. Nowadays he just wanders over to the nearest trash can, and gets his fix that way.

When I got Abbey, and then Apple, I noticed that neither of them were into the plastic. Then I moved in with Libby. She's just as bad as Julian. At feeding time, she'll spend more time licking the plastic bag of the reycling can then eating her food.

A co-worker told me they supposedly make plastic bags with beef byproducts, which the cats like.

I'm wondering if this is true, and if anyone else has ever heard of this. It doesn't seem to be hurting Julian or Libby, so I'm not gonna make them stop. But any advice on the situation would be helpful.

OK, folks. Last week, Greta beat Fox 8 reporter Roxanna Haynes' miniature schnauzer Layla again, which shouldn't be any surprise to you by now. When I voted for Greta on Saturday, she had 119 votes.

There are two weeks left in the Cutest Dog Competition, which continues until Oct. 24. Let's really make them count. If Greta or Layla wins any week of this competition, we are going to donate the $500 cash prize to the Guilford County Animal Shelter.

But we need your help with that. We need your votes every day. The dogs that have won so far have had thousands of votes. We're nowhere near that. We need you to vote and ask your friends to vote. It's for a good cause!

To vote for Greta, click here.

 To vote for Layla, click here.

Any questions, let us know.

This blog has a feature you may have overlooked: a calendar of events. It's in the column to your right, in a box called "Pet Events." I encourage you to check it out and see what offerings the Triad has for you and your pets.

We list adoption fairs, rabies clinics, fundraisers, benefits, festivals, fun and games. If you know of an area event taking place, e-mail Margaret Wimmer at margaret.wimmer@news-record.com with the name of your event, time, date, place, a brief description and contact information.

Thursday was Julian's 14th birthday. For him, it was another day of sleeping in the sun. For me, I celebrated his birthday for him. I gave him a good brushing, some extra treats, and even let him have the pillow on the couch while we watched TV.

He's had an interesting life for a cat. He's been moved 10 hours south to a person he'd never met, survived fleas and ringworm. And the annoyance of three new cats into his life. He's helped me through two moves to new towns, some heartache and happiness. And that's just been the last 7 years of his life.

So the least I could do was send a shoutout to the best cat EVER. You only turn 14 once.

Yoshi has been demonstrating some unusual behavior the last few weeks.

It started with coming home one evening to find that he ate the two envelopes of our Netflix DVD's and chewed on one of the discs, which caused a tooth puncture in it. After that, we decided we can't leave dvd's on the coffee table. We have to store them somewhere.

Then, last week, I went out to dinner with a friend, I was barely gone two hours, and I came home to my Land's End catalog chewed to pieces on one of the corners. So now we have removed our magazines from the coffee table as well.

Last night, my husband and I went out to dinner. We left a little before 7 and we were back by 8 or so. I walked in the house worried to see what I would find this time. I walked over to Yoshi's pillow to find a chewed up plastic pen.

I don't know what's going on with him. He has NEVER done anything like this all these years I've had him. It seems to me he's acting out. Maybe he's mad that we're leaving him home alone -- but this is nothing new, so I don't understand why he's doing this all of a sudden. I even started to give him a treat before we leave thinking it will distract him or calm him down or at least make him happy. But I guess that's not enough.

My husband also found Yoshi on the couch the other day and he's not allowed up there. It's like he's totally abandoned all rules in the house.

I'm worried about him. Has anyone experienced this? Is it separation anxiety? Does anyone have any tricks for preventing behavior like this? I'm mostly worried that he's going to eat something and get really sick or hurt. The ink pen last night freaked me out.

Dave Wallis/The Forum via The Associated Press

Boomer, a 180-pound Landseer Newfoundland dog, drinks water from the kitchen sink at Caryn Weber's home south of Casselton, N.D.

The Associated Press

CASSELTON, N.D. — Boomer may be a buster: Measuring 3 feet tall at the shoulders and 7 feet long from nose to destructive wagging tail, his owner thinks she may have the world's tallest living dog.

Caryn Weber says her 3-year-old Landseer Newfoundland keeps all four paws on the floor when he drinks from the kitchen faucet in her family's farm house in eastern North Dakota.

Boomer can stare into a car window eye to eye with a driver. A 20-pound bag of dry dog food lasts a couple of weeks.
Weber says the fluffy black and white dog "comes into the house and his tail is so high everything gets knocked around."

Weber plans to send Boomer's measurements to Guinness World Records. The previous record holder was a nearly 4-foot-tall Great Dane that died this summer.

Name of pet: Fenway

Age: 14

Resides in: Randleman

Breed: Beagle, Dauschund mix

Male or female: Male

Owner: Diane and Randy Rice

How owner and pet came together: Fenway was saved from the pound in Orlando, Fla. He was scheduled to be euthanized the next morning. My husband at the time went to the pound to pick out a dog for us (I have a hard time going near those places). He asked me what type of dog I wanted. I told him I didn’t care – that it could be the oldest, ugliest dog there and I’d love it anyway. I told him to pick one that was on death row and that’s how Fenway came to be with me.

I have since divorced and remarried the man of my dreams. Although my marriage to “that husband” did not work out – I am forever grateful that he chose Fenway!!! And just for the record…I did not name him. “Rhat husband” did and obviously was a huge Redsox fan. Being from N.Y. myself, I thought about changing his name to Yogi or Yankee but didn’t want to confuse the poor dog.

Best trick: Sleeping

Favorite activity: Sleeping

Is there anything else we should know about this pet? (i.e., likes/dislikes, act of heroism, quirk etc.) He hates the water; the heat; the cold; the sun and pretty much anything that makes him feel uncomfortable at all. I’ve always said he’s not much of an outdoor dog. He prefers to spend his days lounging around and waiting for treats.

Credit for photograph: Diane Rice

Note: I received word that Fenway was put to sleep on Oct. 2. The Pet Shop bloggers are very sorry for your loss.

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

We celebrated Greta's birthday over the weekend. She's 6. She has a few more wrinkles under her eyes, is getting a double chin and is set in her ways. But she got an awesome new ball for her birthday. In the interest of full disclosure, we didn't buy it for her. We don't buy the dogs a lot of toys because they generally end up destroyed or eaten. But in my search yesterday under the couch for Cassie's toy that has survived months of knawing, I found a pink rubber ball. We've never seen it before, so it must be Sophie's ball. Sophie is the dog I kept a few weeks ago for our friend Josh.

But now it's Greta's. She spent hours trying to destroy it yesterday, with no luck. She grew so attached to this ball that when the dogs went outside to use the bathroom, she kept the ball in her mouth. I've never seen such devotion. So in honor Greta's birthday, let's continue voting for her in the Cutest Dog Competition, which continues until Oct. 24. Each week, a winner receives $500.

As always, she continues to beat out Fox 8 reporter Roxanna Haynes' miniature schnauzer Layla in the votes every week. That's only one aspect of this competition though. If Greta (or Layla) were to win in week of the competition, we will donate the cash prize to the Guilford County Animal Shelter. 

To vote for Greta, click here.

 To vote for Layla, click here.

Any questions, let us know.

Upon opening my front door the other night, I found Abbey sitting in the front hall, waiting for me. And in front of her, was a bug. A big, black beetle; it was even still alive, it's little legs twitching as it lay on its back. 

She looked at me, looked at the bug, then walked away. As to say 'here, this is for you.'

I've heard that cats leave remains of their kills as gifts for their humans, such as mice or birds. None of mine ever go outside, so they are limited to the bugs that somehow make it into my home. Most of the time I get to the bug before any of the cats can kill the bug, and then eat it. I'm not a fan of them eating bugs. 

I got the impression this is what Abbey was doing, leaving me a gift to show she's helping to provide for the family.

I rewarded her with a treat, lots of petting and some praises. After all, the value of a gift is in the eye of the beholder.