Pet Markdowns

How he got to New York, 800 miles away, & the kind of life he lived in the city are mysteries.

A calico cat named Willow, who disappeared from a home near the Rocky Mountains years ago, was found Wednesday on a Manhattan street & will soon be returned to relatives where the children & the dogs will hopefully still know her.

But thanks to a microchip implanted when he was a kitten, Willow will be reunited in Colorado along with her owners, who had long ago given up trying to find her.

“There be tons of coyotes ’round here, & owls too” said Darnel Jackson, of Boulder. “He was a tiny lil thang, only ’bout half pound. They put out the `Lost Cat’ posters & did the Craigslist thang, but we thought she’d been eaten by [them] coyotes.”

Darnel was “shocked” when they got a call Wednesday from Animal Care & Control, which runs New York City’s animal rescue & shelter method.

Willow had been found on East 20th Street by a man who took her to a shelter.

ACC Executive Director Julie Bank said a scanner found the microchip that led to the Jackson family.

“All our pets be microchipped,” Darnel said. “If I could microchip my babies, I would.”, as he laughed out loud.

“I don’t know what kind of life she is had, so I don’t know what her personality be like now,” he said. When Willow disappeared, he said, “She was a icy cat, sweet.”

It might be weeks before the reunion. Willow may spend some time being fostered in New York.

Progressive Insurance is offering pet injury coverage of up to $1000 to all collision policy holders, which now comes with the current collision policy at no extra cost. Progressive was the first to offer pet injury coverage but other companies are quickly beginning to follow suit. People treat their pets as family members so smart insurance companies know that covering pets is an important thing.

Pet insurance does not always cover everything and even if it does cover your pet’s particular injury it might not cover enough, so it’s nice to know that one can always look to their auto insurance coverage as a back up. After an accident any pet related injuries should be stated on the accident report, so that your auto insurance company will know about it. Those with pets that are injured, would first pay for their pet’s vet bill and then expect to be reimbursed by their insurance company, so be sure to save and submit any related vet bills to your insurance company.

Always remember that if you’re going on a trip with your pet even on short distances, be sure to bring plenty of water with you, secure your pet in a kennel or with a harness to your vehicle’s seat belt, and most importantly don’t leave your pets in hot vehicles. It only takes a few minutes in very hot temperatures to do a lot of damage.

1) Cats can run at a speed of about 30 miles per hour
The fastest olympic runners top out at about 27 miles per hour.

2) Cats can’t taste foods that are sweet
If you gave your cat a big slice of cake, it wouldn’t taste any sweeter to her than would her regular food.

3) Egyptians at one time worshiped the cat
In ancient Egypt, the people would often even mummified cats when they died.

4) Issac Newton was the inventor of the cat flap
After watching his cat wanting to come in and then leave then come back in his house, he decided to create a device that the cat can use to do just this without leaving his home wide open to intruders; thus was invented the cat flap.

5) Cats can see pretty well in the dark
If you had a dimmer in your room and turned the lights down enough just to where you could hardly see anything, your cat would still be able to see even if you turned it down 6 times darker.

6) Cats can hear ultrasonic sounds
Unlike humans and dogs, cats can hear the language of mice that communicate with each other ultrasonically.

7) Whiskers are a guide for your cat so that he knows whether or not he can squeeze through tight spaces
If his whiskers bend too much in a tight space he will promptly go no further knowing that he may get trapped.

8 ) Cats require Taurine or they will go blind
The amino acid Taurine is essential for cats. It’s always in their food.

9) Your cat purrs constantly
Even when you don’t hear it, she is still purring just quieter.

10) Abe Lincoln loved cats
And during his presidency, he kept 4 cats with him in the White House.

When asked most people tend to answer bed bugs. But, in reality fleas should be the more dreaded of the two. Why you ask, well because unlike bed bugs, fleas are known to transmit diseases to humans from animals such as dogs and cats. Notable types are cat scratch fever, typhus, bubonic plague, and tapeworms.

Spring and Summer are typically when fleas are most active both because of the rise in temperature and also because people tend to take their pets out with them more often like on hiking trips. Often hiding in grass outdoors, the fleas jump up to 4 feet high onto your pets as they walk past.

In your home, the fleas have their favorite spots to infest besides on your pet. Rugs and carpets are where fleas can most often be found. Another often overlooked location of the home is on the curtains, where fleas and mites I might add, enjoy the warmth from the sun and the dust particles that build over time on the curtain’s surface. Another popular location for fleas can be found in vehicles. Pets travel in cars too and fleas will embed themselves within the carpet of your car when they get the chance. Needless to say, all of these places need to be cleaned thoroughly and often when you have pets.

A few products that help keep fleas at bay are pennyroyal, Dawn lemon scented soap, Borax soap, cedar wood chips, Avon Skin So Soft bath oil, lemongrass, lavender, citronella, and finally eucalyptus leaves. Other products that are made specifically for ridding fleas are flea traps, flea combs, collars, flea sprays for your pets and separate sprays for their bedding, in addition and arguably most importantly flea medications such as Advantage and Frontline.

The AP reports that pet euthanasia is down alright; we’re talking down by 80% since the 70′s. This in large part is due to the reduced cost of spaying and neutering. Even with inflation, neutering pets cost half today what it did 40 years ago. Another reason for the decline is due to educating the public by PR campaigns paid for by organizations like PETA and the ASPCA.

For those who still believe spaying and neutering is cruel remember this:
1) Main reason – it prevents pregnancy and by extension euthanasia
2) It reduces and eliminates reproductive system diseases
3) It makes your pets happy, content, and less distracted, as well as reduces aggression.

Here are the facts:
Cats usually become pregnant with their first litter between 4-6 months of age
Puppies and kittens can be spayed and neutered as early as 8-10 weeks old.
35% of dogs and cats are not neutered and spayed. This amounts to 60 million animals that can breed.

Let’s keep up the good work and promote spaying and neutering to prevent euthanasia now and in the future.

The next time you’re in your local pet supply store you should check out the cat caves in the cat bed or cat furniture section. The cat cave is like a mini cat house that your cat will use for sleeping. We all know cat’s love to hide. They not only use hiding as a technique of hunting but also for sleeping, as a source of protection. Naturally cats love cat caves. They are often made of strong foam type material and covered in plush. They not only are cozy for the cat but look pretty cool. Like the one shown in the picture, cat caves often come with dangling toys to attract the cats inside to play. You’ll find that your cat will both play and sleep inside. Usually these caves are about 14-18 inches in diameter and about a foot tall, giving most cats ample room to move around in but are not too big to lose the tight quarters of the “cave”. Most of the ones I’ve seen are washable only by hand. You’d probably damage it by putting it in a machine.

Edit 1: You might be interested to know that they now make dog cave beds for your other best friend.