Through the Mist

I usually say I’ve been owned by cats since October 1977. That’s when my father brought home a tiny, 5-week-old Siamese kitten for me. I named her Cassandra, and she lived to be 14.5 years old. She died in 1992. But over the years, I’ve had many cats. Cassandra was the first, but by no means the last. At one time, I had seven! (well, 5 of those were kittens, but still…)  My cats are extremely important to me. I never had children (I usually say “human children”), so that is what my cats are – my children. They are also my friends, and my companions. We give each other love and share a bond that is utterly unbreakable. It bothers me greatly when people treat cats like disposable things, easily replaced when one dies or goes missing. I’ve had to grieve for so many of my pets over the years, and the grief and memories never completely go away – no more than they would for a human family member. Right now, my cat Chloe is lying on the bed, resting. I’m not sure where Maddy is, but she’s the mischievous one, always getting into things. Her philosophy of life is “If it’s not on the floor, it ought to be, and that’s where I’m going to put it!” and her paw swipes yet another thing off a shelf. I sometimes wonder how Maddy would react if we didn’t have gravity holding us all down. Where would she want to put everything then?

Most of the most popular dog foods today like IAMS, Pedigree, and more are thought to be the most nutritious and healthy for your dog. This is because we are constantly bombarded with television advertisements about how great these dog foods are for your dog’s health and diet. In reality, these dog food brands contain ingredients that are not great for a dog’s diet. The main ingredient in many of these foods is corn bi-product meal, which is just filler because dogs cannot digest this. A lot of these brands advertise as having meat in their food, but it is not even real meat, and mostly fatty additives. A good alternative to the major name brands is Blue Buffalo pet food, which is what we feed our five month old beagle and she loves it. It contains real meat and no bi-products and she loves it.

So this little city that’s in the middle of farming country is quite cosmopolitan, in a small-town way. But what really stands out about Red Deer is all the parks we have. We’re right in the middle of a wildlife migration corridor, and rather than uproot the animals (deer, moose, bears, coyotes, birds, etc.), we just built around them. We have a wonderful trail system where people can go hiking, and be really close to nature. We’re pretty proud of our park system, and it’s wonderful to see a deer in the middle of the city and know that nobody will try to hurt it – that people are happy to see them, take pictures, and wish them well. It’s a shame more cities couldn’t be like this.

Usually, young puppies are taken away from their mother and sold to their new owners when they are about 8 to 12 weeks old. Even though they are old enough to be able to survive without their mothers care, the new environment is often stressful. To have a means to relieve this stress, it is generally a good idea to provide a safe haven for your puppy. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy. There is no need to have a complex dog house that is put in an isolated place. On the contrary, an open dog crate with dog crate pads, right near the area where the action is going on (such as the living room), is perfect. This way a dog can retreat to this dog crate whenever he wants while still keeping an eye on and familiarize himself with what is going on around him. This will built his confidence.