Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Happy Valentine's Day!

The pets are all abuzz... it's a happy "I love you" Day! w00t! Image is from this Facebook page: Animals Say It Best!

Pet food Pantries

I wrote about a soup kitchen for pets in 2010 and now I see an article on a pet food pantry. This just seems like a fantatic idea whose time has come that I can't say enough good stuff about it.

From the Chattanoogan.com news site, we get this: "... the financial emergency which brought them [to surrender their pet at a shelter] was temporary: a job loss, foreclosure, serious injury, house fire or some other financial setback which left them unable to provide for their pets while they were struggling to get back on their feet. 

"So McKamey – following in the footsteps of hundreds of shelters across the nation – set aside an area as a small pet food bank for dog and cat owners who could demonstrate financial need, and then began soliciting donations from more affluent animal lovers to fill up the shelves there. 

Pet Parents Share Their New Year’s Resolutions

by Yvonne DiVita, Hop Over and Like Us on Facebook!

Most of my pet parent friends are adding 'extra' thought to their New Year's Resolutions. Are you? Some pet parents (the ones at my house, for sure!) are including how they care for their pets in their list of things they want to improve in 2012. 

To that end, our friends at Halo, Purely for Pets recently checked in with more than 1,000 pet parents for the Pet Parents’ New Year’s Resolution Survey. 

Here's what I discovered (content shared via Romeo the Cat's Mom, Caroline):

Sims Pets? Who knew?

Nintendo launches Sims Pets - who knew? Not me. 

My kids, mostly my son, played Sims in days gone by, but I've lost track of where the game is today. It was a surprise to see this version, focused on pets. I found Zach Kaplan's review very interesting. See what you think:

What a difference half a year can make. Everything about this game improves upon its predecessor, and with the majority of negatives out of the way players can now truly enjoy its advanced virtual pet-like formula. Over a decade has passed since Will Wright's groundbreaking initial entry repeatedly caused players to go to bed slightly embarrassed that they'd spent yet another night making sure their little computer people don't pee all over themselves or setting them on fire, and now handheld players can feel that rush again.

National Get a Pal for Your Pet Day

And, if national pet rescue wasn't enough yesterday, today is National Get a Pal for Your Pet Day, via PAL - Pets Add Life! Visit the link for more great info on this.

We're helping celebrate this for PAL because we believe in it, and we are part of a group of bloggers tagged to participate in this program. (yes, we are being compensated... for our time, not our blog posts)

The idea is that more than one pet in your house is a good thing. Obviously, we know this firsthand. We took in Chester because we were so ready for a dog...and we expected the Grumpy Old Lady could handle one dog - as she'd always had a dog in her life.

The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey

I have not read this book yet, but I feel compelled to write about it because I know the author.

Do you ever have that happen? You meet someone who is delightful and talented and before you know it, you're in love. No, not that kind of love! The kind that comes with being happy to know someone - because they're smart and fun to be with. Beyond that, Deborah Barnes is also an author and her new book has me intrigued.

My good, good friend Caren Osrin-Gittleman, from Cat Chat, calls The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey "...a treasure, simply enchanting, captivating and engrossing..."

Weekends at home: Ahhh!!!

First, there's a loooonnnggg walk. Followed by...

Chester oozing off the landing.

Olive giving the evil eye.

Emily still raring to go!

The cat wishing we'd listen to Emily.

And, the 'hoomans' clicking away athe computer! Just another Saturday.

Wordless Wednesday: Sleepy and Watchful

puppies upsidedown

Emily Keeping Watch

 

Wordless Wednesday - Onyx Wants Kitty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cold conversation on a Rainy Saturday

"It's cold out, Emily. And rainy."

She's poised at my feet giving me her best, "I'll be good, really I will, if we can just go for our walk," look. And, it almost works. But, I know the cold and rain is a deterrent, even to Emily.

"Here," we walk to the sliding glass doors that open on to the backyard, "what do you think?" I open the door slowly as rain pellets the glass and the wind whips the topmost leaves on the lone tree in the yard, back and forth.