East Hill Philosophy

Pete the Cat

Wed, 9 Jun 2010 08:21:11 -0700

I was in Atlanta this past weekend, visiting my sister. We stopped in an art gallery in Decatur, GA that carries a lot of artwork from painter James Dean. His muse is a black cat he adopted from a shelter, and named Pete.

I have a print of Pete the Cat hanging in my kitchen. It’s Pete enjoying a glass of wine. The name of the piece is Cat-bernet.

This visit I picked up the license plate (pictured above) that says “You are not the boss of me.” It’s from one of his prints. I love all of his pieces, but this one particularly spoke to me because... well, because I have cats. And anyone with a cat is familiar with the “you are not the boss of me” look.

Mr. Dean’s work is a lot of fun, and has Pete the Cat in many different cities, situations, even in some of the masters.

Visit www.petethecat.com and meet Pete!

“I’m bored”

Tue, 18 May 2010 11:53:43 -0700

Dusty, at 10 years old, is the baby of our family.

She defies one of the laws of old cat-ness by not napping 22 hours out of the day.

When I’m home, she follows me from room to room.

If I could have a human language conversation with her, I think it would go like this:

I look down from my computer to see Dusty sitting next to my chair, staring at me.

Me: Hi Dusty

Dusty: Hi <sigh>

Me: What’s wrong baby Dusty?

Dusty: I’m bored.

Me: Hmm, don’t want to play with one of the 100 cat toys all over the house, or sit in a cat perch and watch the birds and squirrels outside?

Dusty utters a sad little No.

Me: Where’s Oliver? (Oliver is her big brother, who she loves more than she loves anyone else in the family.)

Dusty: He’s taking a nap <another sigh>

Me: Want to play with me?

Dusty shrugs: I dunno

Me: Want to go outside and hang out in the Catstle?

Dusty: Too cloudy and cool. (Which is true, it’s really only fun in the Catstle when the sun is shining.)

Me: Want to sit in my lap while I work on the computer?

Dusty (glumly): Okay

I pick her up and snuggle her into my lap. She gets a good purr going, but soon realizes she’s not the main focus of my moment. She hops to the window perch to watch the world go by. <sigh>

Poor baby Dusty. Such a hard life.

Emergency Pet Care

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:28:05 -0700

ACCES – the 24 hour emergency vet clinic has just opened a location in Renton; right across Lind from IKEA.

They have an established and highly reputable facility in Seattle. I am happy to see they’ve opened a facility in our area. We were in great need of a 24-hour emergency pet care clinic.

It always seems our pets wait to get sick or somehow injure themselves on the weekends or in the evenings when our regular vets are closed. I was always a little anxious about the closest 24-hour clinic being a drive up I-5 or I-405. I find great comfort knowing ACCES is a short drive away, without having to get on any major highways.

I stopped in to welcome them to the neighborhood, and to get more information about their services; which can also be found on their website:
www.criticalcarevets.com.

Let’s hope we never have to use them. But it’s good to know they are there in the event we do.

ACCES
4208 Lind Ave SW
Renton WA 98057
206-364-1660

I dig it!

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:34:20 -0700

While we make our way painfully through the yard pulling weeds before they take over (yet again), we notice Hektor’s been working on a couple of projects of his own: holes.

He has two good size holes going: under a shrub near the patio, and under the trees that line the yard. In the summer when it’s hot he likes to dig deep, then nap in the cool earth. Understandable.

We discovered he works on those holes all year long. I’ve got to hand it to him for being diligent and focused.

He had a sleepover at a friend’s and we learned, when we picked him up, he also has a nice hole going in her yard.

There is great joy in his digging. He gets his nose into it, his front paws go like mad. He’s a very efficient digger, and makes fast progress.

There’s got to be a way I can use his skill for planting bulbs or pulling weeds.

Photo above is Hektor scouting a new hole location.

The cat traps are working

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:41:07 -0700

This cracks me up.

Harmony

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:23:52 -0800

There’s a cat bed and a dog bed in my office. When I’m at the computer my office is the gathering place for the cats and the dog, and a lot of dog toys.

CC and Hektor seem to hang out with me the most when I’m working. CC loves Hektor, and loves to lay on his bed with him. She also like to groom him; which he does not enjoy at all.

CC and Bella both like to get licks on Hektor’s head. If he’s laying down and his ear happens to be flopped back, oh they’re in heaven licking the inside of that ear. Hektor will tolerate it for a nanosecond and then he’s off to find a cat-free location to nap.

It’s a little sad to see their efforts so unappreciated.

There are benefits to living with the cats. If Hektor thought about it he might be more appreciative of having them around.

At dinner time he gets the empty cat food can to lick clean.

There are heated pet beds all over the place.

Cat toys are fun to carry around. He must get some enjoyment at seeing the cats try to play with a dog-slobbered toy.

Cat treats are as good as dog treats.

If he can get to the litter boxes before they’re scooped, there are also treats there. (yuck, but true)

He tolerates them; they love him. To live together harmoniously is all we ask of them, and they’ve obliged.

Pet First Aid

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:03:47 -0800

Yesterday I attended a pet first aid training. Once you attend the training you are “certified” for life. But I think it’s a good idea to attend every two years to keep fresh on the techniques. I want to be prepared for whatever may happen to one of my own pets, or a client’s pet.

The training was 3 hours long and covered everything from familiarizing yourself with your pet’s resting heart rate, to what to do if your dog or cat is choking, to doing CPR.

We did a lot of hands on with stuffed dogs and cats. Some of them had the “resuscitator Annie” function so we were able to actually breathe into them.

The price of the training included a booklet with a DVD. The DVD contains videos of most of the techniques we learned. (It’s available for purchase from the Red Cross website www.redcross.org.) The book also contains a list of items needed to build your own pet first aid kit.

This training was better taught than the previous one I attended. The instructor was Ruth Zaslow of PugetPets. If you’re interested in contacting Ruth to find out where she’s teaching next, her email address is ruth@pugetpets.com.

I highly recommend attending this training. There is some peace of mind in knowing what to do in an emergency situation. And it could mean the difference between life and death for an animal.

Now I have to run. My pets don’t know it yet, but today we’re going to document their resting heart and breath rate! Hektor come!

Tag, you’re it!

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 17:58:43 -0800

This sweet dog was running in and out of traffic on Kent-Kangley near 116th; scared to death, the poor little thing.

I was amazed and saddened at the people driving around him, but not stopping to help.

I pulled into the driveway of a dog groomer near that intersection and went inside looking for help. There were two women working who said to me “yeah, we saw him, but he’s not one of ours.” So they had seen him, but didn’t bother to help him. (I made a mental note to not refer any of my clients to that groomer.)

I headed toward the dog on my own, hoping he wouldn’t be scared of me and really hoping he was tagged.

I found him in a parking lot of a small store. I pulled in and grabbed the container of treats I keep in my car for my dog, and for these types of situations.

As I opened my car door he looked at me, but didn’t run. That was a good sign. I tossed treats to him. He wasn’t interested in them, but it did encourage him to get close to me. I put my hand out and slowly stroked under his chin, making my way to his neck. I was relieved to find a collar, but disappointed to not find any identification tags.

I moved him slowly toward the direction of my open car door and he jumped right in. Good boy! (or maybe girl, I’m not sure).

I drove him to the Kent shelter and they checked for a micro-chip, but there was none. I surrendered him to the shelter, hoping the owners would come looking for him. And in the mean time he was safe, he’d get food and water, and not run the risk of getting hit by a car.

I’ve picked up many many lost and stray dogs. And unfortunately more times than not they are not tagged. That’s sad. A simple identification tag gets a lost dog or cat home quickly. I’ve reunited grateful crying owners with lost dogs, thanks to the dogs being tagged.

It’s easy to do. PetSmart has a new slick do-it-yourself tag making machine, with a nice selection of tags starting at $7.50; Mud Bay Granary also has a nice selection and those tags are made while you wait; and as you can imagine there are numerous places online.

I have tags that say “I’m in the care of East Hill Pet Sitting 206-304-7042.” These tags go on the all the dogs I’m sitting for when their owners are out of town. I also had tags made for my dog to wear when he stays with friends (with their name and # on it).

Micro-chipping and tagging are the only way your pets can tell someone where they live, or who to call. Please do that for them so they’ll always be able to find their way home.

Cat Toy Trade Center

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:17:09 -0800

A friend of mine recently bought her newly adopted cat a $25 cat bed. Her cat, shrugging at the new bed, is choosing to sleep in a pile of dirty laundry when he can find one. My friend was crushed.

I feel her pain. I recently bought a toy for our cats. It’s a little toy hamster that runs around in a plastic clear ball. I thought my cats would love it. Am I new? What was I thinking? Did I forget the fortune I’ve spent on toys they ignore?

I guess I did.

The new toy scared one of my cats. She ran, low to the ground with tail down, under the bed and stayed there until I turned the toy off. The rest of the cats chose to ignore it, and walk around it when it got in their way.

We need a Cat Toy Trade Center; a place to take unused, ignored, or batted at once, cat toys. A place to trade our current toys for different toys that will be unused, ignored, or batted at once. It would save us all a lot of money and still satisfy our need to bring our cats toys.

I imagine my cats sniffing the traded toys and saying “Used? You brought us used toys? We will have to ignore these.”

And my response will be “And that’s different how?”

But now Bella is sitting on my desk purring, and Oliver is napping in my lap while I type this. They know I love them, even though I will always be perplexed by their crazy toy behavior.

Photo above is CC ignoring the awesome new toy.

A worthwhile distraction

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:46:05 -0800

The cats will ignore me until I get on the computer. Then furry bodies are walking in front of the screen, paws are typing their own Blog entry on my keyboard. If it’s during the morning email check, little noses are sniffing my latte; and who am I kidding - probably helping themselves to any droplets of milk foam little tongues can reach.

At this moment Dusty (above) is sitting between the screen and the keyboard. Her sweet paw, softer than a cotton ball, is reaching out and pulling my hand toward her for some pets.

Time to wrap this up!