For animal lovers

[PGM35]

My dog doesn't chew too much anymore (except TV guides?!) but the funniest thing when she was a puppy she chewed up a copy of Farley Mowat's "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be". I had to laugh at that.

LOL - that is irony!

Buddy is not nearly as destructive as D.Bo who is 18 months. Buddy is 5 years old - however, there was a plastic baggie (empty) on the counter with a small orange juice glass on top of it. When I came home at lunch yesterday, there was a broken glass and orange juice on the floor and the baggie in the living room. He didn't want the juice, just the baggie! D.Bo is taller than Buddy and can reach up on the counter easier so it's not usual for Buddy to steal things off the counters.

[roseskid]

Gadzooks, Waldo did all that damage before 6:40am?! He's one busy dog. Howard used to chew things occasionally like a baseboard right after we painted, and a corner of our couch right after we personally recovered it. Fortunately as he grew out of the puppy stage, he left his destructive tendencies behind - unless something is left on the coffee table, that is. Apparently that's a no-penalty zone in his peabrain. I had a black lab (Max) who once ate some tin foil out of the trash. I had no idea he'd eaten it until his abdomen began swelling a few days later, resulting in surgery.

agamergirl, I just now saw the Fall picture of your baby and he is beautiful! Seeing his gray beard reminds me so much of my Max.

[MRD]

He can be a busy boy when he wants too. The vet said he's around 2 and that can still be a puppy in many ways. I'll be glad when the chewing stopped. Rosie and Bogie chewed until they were about 3. Rosie ate a wicker dog bed while sleeping in it. It was so cute which is why we bought it for her as a puppy, but then not so cute after she got hold of it.


I once had a dog that pooped in the neighbors yard and they complained loudly to my dad about it. We had gone out to dinner about a week later and I brought home my leftover steak in a doggie bag (days before styrofoam containers, you really got a bag). I put it on the kitchen table and went to the bathroom and when I came out, it was gone. I called the vet and he said that as long as the plastic bag came out, he'd be fine. It did and he was. But my dad called up the neighbors and said: "you don't have to worry about the dog sh**ting in your yard anymore. From now on it will come out bagged. He thought it was hysterical. The neighbors not so much.

[PGM35]

I once had a dog that pooped in the neighbors yard and they complained loudly to my dad about it. We had gone out to dinner about a week later and I brought home my leftover steak in a doggie bag (days before styrofoam containers, you really got a bag). I put it on the kitchen table and went to the bathroom and when I came out, it was gone. I called the vet and he said that as long as the plastic bag came out, he'd be fine. It did and he was. But my dad called up the neighbors and said: "you don't have to worry about the dog sh**ting in your yard anymore. From now on it will come out bagged. He thought it was hysterical. The neighbors not so much.

Vet said same to us about D.Bo - as long as the stuff he eats, comes out, then it's ok. He's eaten some strange things. Lately he's been fixated on an area near our water faucet outside and has been digging up the area. There is a brick in there (filled a hole a while back and dirt / grass grew around and over it), and he thinks it's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! He spends hours (ok - really minutes), and brings in the rocks he digs up and picks up pieces of dried up vines of grass and brings them inside for us. But it's not really destructive so we can't fault him too much and it does keep him out of our hair!

[prhoshay]

The most exciting my kitty does is graze at the Kleenex box like it's her salad bar. Another liked to munch on the toilet paper, and my Aerosole shoes. I consider myself lucky, compared to all of your dog stories.

[Butterfly723]

I'm so glad Waldo wont get sick from all those candles! These "naughty" animals are lucky they are so cute. At least 10 times a day I tell my new little terror kitten "You are lucky you are so damn cute or you would be dog food". I have some open shelves that I use as kind of a wall to seperate the family room from the dining room, since the area where the shelves are gets such great light I have them loaded with plants, some of the plants I have had for years. Since P.I.T.A. came along, I have 2 plants left on the shelf. He doesn't eat them he just plays with the long stems, knocks them over and then plays in the dirt. Like I said, he is SO lucky he is cute!

Harley, my Border Collie never really went through a chewing phase, thank goodness. The only thing he chewed when he was a puppy was an old purse I had on the bottom of the closet.

prhoshay, Harley used to stare at the cat box like it was a salad bar. An all you can eat cat poop buffet. He has since, thankfully grown out of that stage.

Here is a pic of PJ that I took a while back. She likes FORT too!

[misskitty]

butterfly: What an adorable kitten!
agamergirl: That's a super photo of your pooch!
bbnbama: Thanks for the giggles!

My kitties are confused with the weather we have been having. One day I am putting on their fall sweaters, and the next day they're basking in sunshine with warm breezes. These days, when I open the door, they do this BIG hesitation thingy to decide if they really want to go out or not. It's like they look at each other, smell the air, and ask "well, if you go out, then I'll go out...!"

I stopped by my vet's for a quick visit. Dr.Gail has rescued a little orange kitten who has become the clinic kitty. His name is TANG; just like the orange crystals. He's very similar to your boys, UNK!

To all dog owners: I love puppies, but I would go crazy if my kitties were able to eat all those things! Coughing up a furball with grass once in a while isn't bad, but waiting for plastic bags and things to come out the other end?.....I'd be sooo stressed! I'm glad that their systems are able to handle those things: without surgery!

[Shaybo]

Smokey, my cat used to love chewing on plastic bags. I'd come home and find little teeth holes in baggies.
Squeeker likes to climb on the doors doesn't matter if it's the bedroom door or the bathroom door she's always climbing.
The other ones like to play ninja kitties.

[Rattus]

I have a bit of a dilemma with respect to our neighbour's cat. He's a good guy and he loves his animals and treats them well, but I have a bit of an issue regarding Mischka, his Siamese. Mischka is an unstoppable wanderer, which I understand - I've met cats like her before. But she howls to be let out in the morning, whereupon he heads off to work, leaving her outside all day. If we happen to be home, the door is usually open if the weather's nice, so she comes into our house, chows down and takes a nap, which I have absolutely no problem with. And she sometimes comes in in the evening (chowing, napping, scratching) and doesn't want to leave. Again, something I have no problem with. The problem I have is that the neighbour gets upset because she doesn't come home in the middle of the night like she apparently used to do. I always check to see if there are lights on next door, but if the house is dark, I am really uncomfortable with the idea of tossing her out in the hopes that he will show up eventually to let her in, particularly as it's getting a little nippy at night, and it's been raining quite a bit.

Am I wrong to give Mischka shelter when the neighbour expects her to be sitting outside waiting for him at 2:00 am? I know for a fact that sometimes she doesn't get in, because Mr. Rattus leaves for work at 4:30 and occasionally lets her into our house because she makes is apparent she doesn't want to be outside any more. I'm actually really uncomfortable with the fact that she doesn't have free access to her house. Our boys are outdoor cats, but they have a magnetic flap and can come and go as they please during the day, and then the house is locked down at 7:30 and they have their indoor fun (night time is when they get into the most trouble).

Anyway, I guess my question is, am I in the wrong? I know that technically pets are property, but I tend to think of them more as living creatures with certain needs.

[just1paul]

You are not wrong. I think while this neighbor is nice, he treats her as property and not a pet. Personally I don't think cats should be outside. But if they must like my parents Max, in a fenced yard on a leash.