Peppy Pets
Jan. 19, 04

If Your Pet Has Been Poisoned: Follow these steps

The ASPCA has a pretty good site with lots of info on
what to do if your pet has been poisoned, a hotline number
to call in. Plus they have various info on preventing poisoning from
happening.

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=apcc

We also have several good informational articles on things that
are poisonous to pets at our http://petcaretips.net/site_map.html

One of the biggest causes of pet poisonings is from toxic
household cleansing agents. We carry some of the Safest,
yet effective cleansers you can find.


These environmentally safe cleaners are not only safe
for your kids and your pets, but also do a very good job
of cleaning those tough jobs.

Discover More Info Here


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Hi, of course I tell my pets that I love them. Except
Buttons. Buttons is one of my cats. He knows I love him. But
he attacks house objects anyway. Regardless of their value
or meaning to the people in the house. And he knows what
belongs to whom, so if he is mad at someone, he targets
something of theirs. Just like a man!

BJ Freeman


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Mable




Plush Animals that will Totally Cheer Up Anyone's Day

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More issues of our Pet zine


Precious Marie
Sandy Nunley

I don't like April Fool's Day and this year made it much
worse. For three days prior, my baby wouldn't eat. Then, on
April 1st, my mini-dachshund, Gracie kept whining at
Precious, my Tabby Queen, in her 'boudiar'. When I went to
investigate, she was laying on her side, breathing heavy and
shallow. When I petted her, she shivered and so I wrapped
her in a towel and held my 16 year old angel.

I started to pet and caress her .... then I felt a lump the
size of a small orange. I called a vet and made arrangements
to bring her in. Both dogs (the other is an Aussie
/ Australian cattle dog mix) were right there, whining and
trying to check on the Queen. She let them kiss her as we
waited on Daddy. The vet said that we could do tests and
find out what was wrong and meds, etc., etc., but I told him
it wouldn't give her a good life.

My husband got back with his brother and I called my son.
Precious was a gift to Chris when he was 3 from his Dad. He
couldn't handle being there when we put her to sleep. Being
a gray Tabby, wrapped in a pink towel, with her hot pink
bandage from the shot, I let her go telling her we loved her
and saying "Bubba says meow-meow, kitty". Chris said that to
her all of her life until she hit 14 years and she then
decided 'talking' was cool.

We buried her as he couldn't deal with cremation. He had
brought another kitten home about 5 months before Precious
died. We had noticed that although she allowed the other cat
near her she didn't interact with her until the last week.
Lena sat on the edge of my son's bed where they stared at
each other. We suspect now that Precious gave Lena her
'marching orders' on her family, as Lena does things that
she never did before that only Precious did. She also sits
in the closet and stares up into the corner.

Although Precious is gone, I believe her spirit is with me,
and in Lena a kitten I didn't want to have. My son has moved
out and I have 'temporary custody' (HA-HA!!) She will cry
for a treat, and sit like the dogs for it, and when I say
'bedtime', she runs for the office and the rocking chair.
Around 11 pm, she meows at me to let me know it is MY
bedtime. She has grown on me and I think the feeling is
mutual.


Dude: the Most Amazing Cat

Last fall, about this same time, it was getting pretty cold
in Missouri and I have many cats whom I feed outside. I
noticed a kitten, I didn’t recognize as mine, sitting all
humped up as cats do when they are sick or cold. I thought
it was probably wild and I passed by it a few times and then
finally I bent over and picked it up. I quickly determined
he was a little male. His body was just skin and bones and
very little else. I brought him inside and fixed some warm
softened kibble for him and he ate hungrily. I kept him
inside and made sure he knew where the litter box was, as
you would expect to do for a strange cat brought inside.
Later I came to realize he was blind.

We kept the kitten through the winter and it grew and
prospered into a beautiful yellow/orange tabby tom cat. My
husband would ask "Where is that little dude?" I finally
just named him Dude. It fit for several reasons. (For one
thing my husband could remember his name.) He is no longer
little but he is still that little dude to my husband.

He is a most amazing cat. We have enjoyed him ever so much.
He has such courage and optimism. I am a natural born
clutterer and I regularly have to de-clutter my
surroundings. This should be a real difficulty to a blind
animal but not to Dude. He thinks it’s an adventure to
figure out how to get across the floor to wherever I am. He
rarely falls and though he doesn’t run or leap onto things
he still can manage to get where he wants to go if it is at
all possible.

We have three kittens, I have yet to find homes for. and
they treat him like an Uncle Dude. They frequently lay in a
puddle all together……sometimes in layers. He never seems to
mind. If they are laying in the floor around me he just
treats them like so much clutter and walks around or over
them too.

He isn’t afraid of anything, that I know of, and I have to
really carefully watch him around other animals who he may
get too close to for their comfort. I put him outside on a
lightweight nylon rope and he loves it outside. I can’t
bring him in for very long in mild weather as he protests.
Now that the Missouri winters are beginning I can only leave
him out for a short time, of course. I let Dude take me for
walks and he really enjoys exploring our large fenced yard.
I keep him on a leash because he can climb our chain link
fence like it was a step ladder.

Dude has now been neutered and we keep his claws clipped and
brush his coat a lot. He has a full thick coat and a
beautiful plume for a tail the very tip end which is white.
I have other yellow tabby cats but he is the only one with a
white tail tip. I am frequently glad to be able to quickly
distinguish him from the others this way.

I don’t write or punctuate very well but I think you can get
the gist of my story.

Sue Landis