Friends

I don’t know if you are anything like me, but I was one of those kids in school that everyone picked on, I was barked at in the hallways even though I wasn’t really all that ugly (I wore glasses and this was long before Harry Potter made glasses cool), I was chastised for being “different” since I can remember… and I had very few friends.

Things change as we get older, or do they? I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but I have never felt I “belong” anywhere. Have you ever felt this way? Even amongst others with the same interests, somehow you feel left out? And it doesn’t help when the few friends one has seem to leave you out of everything. You almost have to invite yourself if you want to go anywhere. And is it wrong to expect a friend who says they are going to contact you to do something to actually keep their word?

Here’s a rhetorical scenario: Your friend invites you to go out, let’s say to a movie. Wow, this friend is one you rarely see outside of work or a certain social circle. So, this feels special to you. But, later, you receive word from this friend that she doesn’t have the money after all to go out. And you can’t afford to pay for both of you. So, you tell this friend, “Ok, then we can hang out and do something free.” Not a big deal since she had no other plans, right? She texts back to you with a statement something like “let me see what is going on and I will let you know.” She will let you know? Let you know what? Whether she has time for you? After all, going to a movie takes time, right? Are you wrong in assuming that time was allotted for you? So the two of you could finally go out or do something together? And, here’s a clencher… then you find out that friend went out with someone else instead. To a party or a social gathering. Talk about a stab in the heart! You feel like a last resort.

So what do we do? Do we talk to our friend, tell her that ther actions have hurt us? Or do we just let it go and chalk it up to experience? What would you do?

What people won’t do…

When wanting to hold onto a piece of their pet after the animal has passed
away.

I know what it is to love a pet and I have a couple of my beloved cats’ ashes in urns. But lately I have been seeing more and more “varied” ways to hang on to your precious Puss after death.

One such idea I have recently been privy to experience is the concept of
placing your pet’s ashes inside a pillow that you then place on your sofa or
sleep on. When this idea is proposed to the public mixed reactions abound. Some think it’s a wonderful way to preserve their pet’s memory. Why wouldn’t one want Fluffy’s ashes crunched into a pillow for show and tell, decoration or guest seating? Others verbalize their feelings simply; “Ewww.” And, of course there’s every reaction in between. The pill-popping pillow makers claim to keep ashes secure inside the pillow within a pouch that zips into the innards. Oh, and just so you know, don’t go looking for these cushiony resting places on eBay or anywhere else that might “bring down the value” of these allegedly high class urns. The makers of these pillows tell me that they just won’t hear of it. So, if you are truly dead set on getting one for your passed pet, be sure you are willing to pay the price, and while you’re at it, you can toss Fido into the limo for his Sunday drive.

Another after-death vessel, which somehow seems a little less creepy, is the cremation jewelry. We all know Angelina Jolie used to wear a vial of her previous husband’s blood around her neck, well how about wearing a bit of Kitty around yours? The original concept of cremation jewelry was to preserve and “keep close to your heart” the ashes of deceased human loved ones. But, we all know pets are certainly part of the family, so pet cremation jewelry was a logical next step. Ranging in price from the completely affordable to the outrageously insane, pet cremation jewelry comes in a variety of metals, makes, models and designs. You can place a small portion of ol’ Leo’s ashes inside (a tail? A paw? The choice is yours) or you can put some hair or even dried memorial flowers inside (that way you can save all the ashes to place inside a seat cushion).

But why deal with cremation at all, when you can keep Puss or Fido right
there with you, to look upon every day, as if nothing had ever happened…by
freeze drying them?! Freeze dried pets are all the rage now, and claim to be
much more realistic than taxidermy. And I don’t even want to speculate on the price tag of a freeze dried Saint Bernard. But if you have the money to do it and don’t mind that Kitty no longer purrs when you pet her and Rover no longer wags his tail or begs for cookies, then perhaps freeze drying is the way to go for you.

These are only a few of the ways humans hold onto their pets after death, a
way to preserve a bit more than the memory and a few photographs or videos. And, of course the variety of traditional urns, from marble to wood to ceramic, is endless. So, whether you prefer the old fashioned bury in the ground or the newfangled freeze dry, there are so many choices, the only thing you should be upset about is the loss of your wonderful pet.

**Note: This article is deliberately written in a light tone and to be taken
that way. The author realizes the seriousness of the loss of a pet and truly
sympathizes with anyone who has suffered such heart ache.

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Connecticut Officials Study Swine Flu in Cats

Purr and Winnie Shoppes wants you to protect your cat

Talk of the H1N1 or swine flu is buzzing around the country. Everywhere you look, you hear about it and its effects on humans, how to prevent the spread of it and how important it is to teach kids to be careful and wash their hands. But, now, even cats are hitting the swine flu news. The 13 year old cat in Iowa that contracted the disease from its humans is all over the news.

But, now people are wondering if a cat can pass this virus to other cats or even back to people. At the moment there’s no evidence that a domestic animal can give the disease to humans. However, humans can most definitely give it to their pets. (And non-pet people say animals are diseased?!)  The Iowa cat was the first case ever that a cat had even contracted swine flu, so prognosis on inter-species contamination is sketchy at this time.

To help prevent the the spread of this disease, whether to other human family members or pet family members, take the same precautions that are being advertised like wildfire across the news: wash hands regularly, use sanitizers and keep hands away from faces until they have been well cleaned. As an extra measure, for your pet’s sake, don’t pet Kitty or Rufus until you and your family have taken the same steps they would for each other. Proper sanitization is not just for humans anymore.

More Flu News

The flu is not new news in the animal world. Many species of animals can contract the flu and its various strains. The original canine influenza, first diagnosed in dogs in 2004, is a strain of flu that began in horses. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the equine virus has now adapted to spread from dog to dog.

And let’s not forget the recent bird flu that caused panic in recent years. However, the bird flu seemed to be contained mainly to those working in very close proximity to birds, such as chicken keepers and factory farms. Or in countries with less strict protocols on disease prevention.

Any virus can mutate and spread, and proper hygiene should be observed whether there’s a strain dancing its way around the current news or not.

As for the kitty in Iowa, after he had stopped eating and began showing signs of malaise and lethargy, his owners took hm to the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. A sample taken from the cat proved to be a virus and further tests revealed a positive diagnosis of the swine flu virus strain. He was given fluids and put on a course of antibiotics and is now responding well to his treatments.

Cat products to make that feline happy

Take a Walk!

Get your horse used to items slowly.

When you think of taking a walk with your horse, you think of being on his back, in the saddle, or even bareback. But, did you know you can take your horse for a walk on a lead, like you would a dog! Have you even thought about doing this?

My horse is a show horse, not a trail horse. Most of his life was spent traveling in trailers, from one show to another, doing his job in the ring, being around fairs, rides, cars and people. So, when I decided I wanted to start trail riding with him, he acted like death had come for him. If a leaf blew in the wrong direction he would spin and bolt. Cars he could deal with, barking dogs never bothered him. He even walked in a parade behind a loud fire engine. But take him into the quiet woods and he is a completely different animal; a maniac who thinks every gust of wind is a tornado ready to swoop him away. See a cow in a field? Oh boy, now that is reason for full out panic!

To try and help him in his transitional phase, I have been taking him for walks. Use a soft rope lead, preferably one that is long enough that if he tries to pull away you have some leverage, but not so long that you and the horse are tripping over it or it becomes cumbersome. You might also want to bring along a whip something like a dressage whip. There are several reasons for this. With my horse it keeps his nose off the ground and his mouth off the grass. Just a light tap under the chin gets him to lift his head. It can also act as a training aid if you know how to use it without scaring the horse further. If it’s going to spook your steed more, it’s best to leave it home.

If you can, find a trail location with many distractions. When your horse shows apprehension or fear, relax yourself, talk calmly to him and reassure him everything is okay. Move him slowly toward the scary object. When he stops, snorts or otherwise acts like he’s going to bolt, stop and let him get his bearings. I will usually walk my horse right up and let him sniff the object if possible (that was rather difficult to do with cows and donkeys as they were as leery of him as he was of them). If you can do this with your horse, terrific. The point here is to let your horse know this object is not going to eat him. Once he’s relaxed, move on and so forth.

This is only the first stage to acclimating a horse to talking walks in the wild blue yonder (or any other place he might be fearful). I will continue this series with more tips and articles to come, including what kind of areas are safe for horses and which are not. Also, I will cover how to read your horse’s body language so you know how he’s going to act and be prepared before he acts, thus preventing disaster.

NOTE:  NEVER wrap the lead rope around your hand! If your horse freaks, rears, backs up or bolts, the rope can tighten and break your hand or you could be dragged. It’s better to let the horse go and catch him once he’s calmed a bit.

Is it a Paint or a Pinto?

I own a Paint/Pinto horse. This means he is double registered in two separate horse registries here in the USA. In order to be registered, a horse must have a certain type of pedigree going back a certain number of generations. In my horse’s case, he is an American Paint whose biological mother (or dam) was a grey Quarter Horse and his father (or sire) was a bay overo Paint. This gave him the grey color gene with the overo Paint markings.

Since I have owned a Paint, I have continuously experienced a lapse in information on the color aspect of Paint vs. Pinto. Many people will see a horse with spots in its coat and automatically dub it a Paint. Very few people today use the term Pinto (maybe they associate it too much with the car of the same name, I don’t know). In a nutshell, Paint is a breed, Pinto is a color. Unless the horse has the proper pedigree, one cannot be polically correct in calling this horse a Paint. A horse with a predominantly white coat splashed with darker spots or a dark coat splashed with some white is not necessarily a Paint, but can be called a Pinto (though unless registered with the PtHA (Pinto Horse Association of America) they are not “technically” a Pinto.

Just about any breed can have Pinto markings. Spotted horses are becoming more and more popular and a growing number of breeders of various types of horses are beginning to breed spots into their lines (Paint/Arab crosses are growing in numbers). I have seen Pinto Warmbloods, Arabs, Drafts and many others. Ironically, Thoroughbreds play a small part in the Paint line-up yet I have yet to see a spotted Thoroughbred.

But, no matter how many spots a horse might have, they are not necessarily Paints. A spotted Quarter Horse is a Paint, yet a Paint can also be solid color. A solid Paint is called a “breeding stock Paint” and usually is not allowed in regular Paint sanctioned shows, although this is changing.

My horse, Kobeejo, is registered in both the APHA (American Paint Horse Association) and the PtHA. Looking at him, many people don’t realize he’s a Paint because of his light coat. He is a flea-bitten grey (yes, that’s the official name for the color) and white. His skin under the grey areas of his coat is black and the skin beneath his white spots is pink. When he is wet, his markings are very clear. I would be a rich person if I had a dollar each time someone was shocked at his markings when they see him for the first time coming out of the wash stall. The overo part of his coloration simply means he has mostly dark color with white areas that are basically limited to his sides and neck and face. It’s ironic to call this white looking horse a “dark” color but if you could see his baby pictures, you’d be surprised. He was black and white.

So, the next time you see a horse with spotted markings, don’t automatically call it a Paint. Ask the owner or someone who knows the horse’s ancestry.

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