Go already!

There’s a For Better or Worse cartoon on my fridge. It’s from the early days of the strip, showing Elly shivering in her bathrobe in the cold as their new puppy wanders around sniffing at leaves, ignoring his mission. Finally she yells at him in frustration: “GO ALREADY!” That scene has been repeated many times in my back yard since my boyfriend decided he couldn’t...

The dog walking myth

There is a myth about dog-walking. Want some exercise? Get a dog! You’ll be walking them every day, year-round. Cardio workout guaranteed! Not! First of all, walking a dog is bit like walking a two-year-old. I like a nice brisk blood-moving, muscle stretching walk. Two-year-olds like to stomp in every puddle and investigate every bug, rock, or gum wrapper. Dogs are not that...

I almost put the budgie down

I’ve never lived with parakeets before, so fostering two parakeets this summer has a new experience. I’ve found them to be quite low maintenance, and rather soothing – most of the time. One of my favorite Monty Python skits features two “ladies” discussing how best to “put one’s budgie down” when it gets to be annoying. One might choose to hit it with a book,...

Loki crosses the “Rainbow Bridge”

Today I picked up the small metal canister containing the ashes of my almost-perfect cat, Loki, who passed away Sunday morning. The canister comes with a card that tells a lovely little fairy tale about the Rainbow Bridge, when our little pets go at death to frolic together while they wait for us to die and take them to heaven with us. It is meant to comfort, but I found the...

The almost perfect cat

Loki is the latest in a long string of cats who have chosen to allow me to care for them. My late cat, Pumpkin, had not been gone long before I got an email from a friend whose daughter was moving back home, bringing with her a large surplus of pets. After a few hours of hiding in the basement, Loki entered the family and proceeded to tell the resident dog, Winston, who was in...

The very naughty cat

Pumpkin was a rescue cat, as I often reminded him. When he was small, my daughter and her friends made sure his feet never touched the ground. In spite of all that love and attention, he matured into a companionable but fairly aloof cat; only when reached about 5 or 6 in age did he once again occasionally consent to purr or sit on a lap. In spite of his aloofness, he tolerated...

Fostering Fitzi the Ferret

My ideal pet situation would involve a cat. Maybe two. They are easily litter trained, never bark, entertain themselves for long periods of time without human intervention, cuddle nicely when needed, rarely if ever eat shoes, and their favorite food is generally available at the grocery store. So why am I currently involved in the care of a dog, a tarantula, Madacascar hissing...