OK, I know that you read that title and thought to yourself, “Yeah, right, a killer cat.” But I will lay out the facts for you and you can judge for yourself.

It all started two weeks ago when my son brought home a rain-soaked kitten that he’d found under my dad’s porch. As you heard in one of my last blogs, I’m kind of a pushover for strays so I didn’t stand a chance at the sight of this little (about 6-week-old) wet, forlorn looking little kitten. My son named her “Dallas.”

So we take it in and I notice pretty soon that this kitten loves my son but doesn’t necessarily like me. She squirms out of the arms when I pick her up and actually swatted her little paw at me once. It was unusual for an animal not to take to me—I am pretty much the Pet Whisperer. …CONTINUE READING »

Remember when you were a kid and you tried to bring home a stray dog or cat? You had at least one parent who would be such a hard sell that you had to prepare the saddest story ever just to stand a chance of being able to keep the animal.

Unfortunately, there is no such in our house. My husband and I are both totally incapable of turning away anything that my son drags home. In other words, there is no mature adult in the Bowers household. None.

I’ve tried, believe me. One time my son asked if he could have a puppy from the litter of his girlfriend’s dog. I said, “Are you kidding me? We already have three dogs and two cats! No way.” Then he brought out the big guns. He brought the puppy in wrapped in a baby blanket. He rolled the blanket back to reveal the puppy’s face and I asked, “What are you going to name it?” Just like that, Dozer came to live with us. I’m utterly spineless. In my defense, however, that was some face. (See the picture above.) …CONTINUE READING »

I am the proud owner of two rescue dogs – Brutus and Button. My husband and I adopted them as puppies two years ago and since doing that they’ve brought a ton of joy into our lives (except when they wake us up at 6:30am every Saturday). Having dogs does however pose a question mark when it comes to traveling. We have a very busy month coming up and I hate the idea of boarding them more than once this month.

We’ve boarded them before, but at a no kennel facility called Dog Days. They love it there, and it’s certainly an option for us again, but I can’t help to feel guilty when we leave them behind. My husband prefers that they are somewhere where we know they can’t get into anything, but lately we’ve been contemplating having a dog sitter check in on them at home when we are gone. I’m just not sure that my two energetic dogs can be trusted alone in our house for a weekend. I envision coming home to a chewed up couch or half eaten curtains.

So, as a compromise we’ve asked a friend to stay at our house the weekend that we’ll be gone. This way, my dogs can stay home and have a yard to run and play in, and I know that someone will be there to watch them to ensure I don’t come home to find my living room has been destroyed. I know we can’t ask friends to watch them any time we need to travel, but it’s nice to know that this time we have an animal loving friend who will take good care of them. I just hope he can train them to sleep past 6:30am while we are gone!

It’s been a traumatic couple of days for our household after the death of my six-year-old daughter’s pet betta fish, Fishy. (Clever name, I know, but all her stuffed animals bear similar names. Pun not intended.) Poor Fishy had been listing for a while, looking a bit like Nemo swimming with just one fin. Betta fish don’t do a whole lot of swimming anyway, but Fishy was definitely not looking well.

When we woke up on Tuesday morning, the betta fish lay on the bottom of the tank having been taken to the great fishbowl in the sky. Of course, tears ensued.

Losing a family pet is never easy, regardless of its size. And while Fishy had been a part of our family for less than six months, Bella had formed an attachment to him and fed him as part of her nightly routine. “I’m going to be scared in the dark without Fishy,” she sniffed –– before running off to the swing set with her friends.

…CONTINUE READING »

Last week an email circulated around the Kudzu.com Atlanta offices about a litter of pure-bred Lab puppies who needed homes. Needless to say, with an office full of pet-lovers and warm and fuzzy hearts, exclamations of “omigosh they are SO cute!” and “did you SEE those adorable faces?!” were being heard all afternoon.

The email said the puppies are in Birmingham, AL and that if not adopted, they would be euthanized. Euthanized?! This played on the heartstrings of many and we all started frantically calling our significant others and making plans to welcome a new furry body into our households.

In fact, my S.O. and I got a bit ahead of ourselves and even picked out a name (Godrick; yes we are True Blood fans) and were determined to rescue at least one of these ill-fated puppies. But when we tried calling the number provided on the email, we couldn’t get through. We then tried sending an email — which bounced right back to us. Turns out, the whole thing was a HOAX!

Here is a link to a similar hoax. Apparently there are tons of people who start these misleading, false puppy emails for FUN.

I could go on about the ridiculousness of concocting said email hoax but really that’s not important. What is important, is that it made us realize how much we want to adopt a dog!

Last year we found an abandoned Boxer by a dumpster (again, WHO DOES THAT?) but were unable to keep him because our building does not allow dogs over 25 lbs. Since then we didn’t revisit the dog issue because we have just been so darn busy. But now, we (think) we are ready!

The next couple of months are filled with travel plans and social engagements, so we might hold off on adoption for a little while. But really, is there ever a “good” time to adopt a dog? In my opinion, once you decide to take in a pet, you just do it and deal with it. Right?

My husband and I are dog people. Our two mutts are beloved members of the family who just happen to walk on all fours and drool a lot. In that way, perhaps we are well-trained to have a baby join the clan.

Emmy is a seven-year old bundle of energy and enthusiasm.  When I rescued her in 2003, she was a smart girl who knew how to look gentle and sweet in that cage and carried on the charade of shyness once we got her home by hiding under the dining room chair for 3 days. What a quiet  little angel, my then roommate and I thought. Little did we know.

Emmy blossomed soon after into her fabulous “look at me” personality and hasn’t switched into a lower gear since. She is a pouncing, licking, cuddling, top-of-her-lungs-howling, furniture-sitting, stuffed animal-tossing machine but we wouldn’t have it any other way. She has brought so much joy and laughter into our lives.

In 2004 when my husband and I were first dating, he decided to adopt a dog also. I went with him and seeing cage after cage of rambunctiously friendly dogs, we came across one pretty little black lab mix with light brown eyes who was scared to death, literally shaking in the back of her cage. I encouraged him to check her out and we took her outside to play with a ball.

�

What a doll! She retrieved like a champ and was calm, sweet and happy once out of that confined space. Thus, he adopted Kahlua who is almost 7 now. Kahlua is many wonderful things – she is playful, affectionate, gentle but protective and often quite goofy, but you know what? From the moment we got her home, that dog would not retrieve to save her life. Again, the old bait and switch!

In a sense, it’s like having a child. We don’t know what he will be like at all – will he love basketball like his dad, or languages like his mom?  Or will his interests lie completely outside ours?   Will he embrace or reject the love for music that we both share? Will he be reserved or talkative?

Forrest Gump was right – you never know what you’re gonna get. But what Emmy and Kahlua have taught us is that whatever he is like, we will love him just as he is.  As long as he is a dog person, of course. 

I hope we have nice weather this weekend, unlike the past few days here in Atlanta. I really want to take my dog to the park to get some good exercise (and selfishly, to tire her out so she won’t bother my Saturday afternoon nap!).

One place I really like to go with the dog is Pinckneyville Park in the Norcross area. Inside the dog area, there is a great open field for the dogs to run, plus some shaded, woody area to get out of the sun. The dog park was recently updated with new sod, too, so it’s even nicer now. There’s even a separate area for those that have smaller dogs. And if we get bored of watching the dogs play, the park has some great walking trails along with baseball fields, picnic areas and a skate park.  Now if someone can just show me how to get my dog to actually bring a ball back or catch a frisbee…

Thanks to everyone who submitted photos to the Scruffiest Pet Photo Contest.

In the last two weeks we have received over 75 entries on Kudzu’s Facebook Fan Page Wall, and now it’s time to choose the winner! We’ve selected three finalists: Arlo, Jack and Cocopuff. To cast your vote, go to http://www.kudzu.com/guides.do?guidename=scruffyPets.


…CONTINUE READING »