Do you feed your cat premium cat food. Is it really better quality? Or do you go the homemade route? I would love to know, because so many people say they are all the same.

A lady at the store once told me she added up how much she saved by only buying what was on sale. It seems like constantly changing your cat’s food would not be very pleasant for the cat. What if he really likes one particular kind and another tastes like cardboard to him? Seems like it would be really individual.

How do YOU decide what to feed your cat? Please comment and feel free to discuss. I would love to know!

Just added the Plaquemines Animal Welfare Society (P.A.W.S.) to the No Kill Shelters in Louisiana page.

This is an amazing group that has been rescuing animals from the parish animal control shelter in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. They are now building a shelter in conjunction with animal control – it will be animal control on one side with the shelter on the other. It will be an all-green shelter, with walls which retain heat in the winter and a roof that recycles water.

Additionally, it will be in a high-traffic area and the first building in a new government complex. For the full story, see Struggling, No-Kill Animal Shelter Given Hope and/or go directly to their home page: Plaquemines Animal Welfare Society (P.A.W.S.) – they, like many shelters, are in need of donations of all kinds, foster homes and helping hands!

I’ve now added an Animal Rescue section on Fluffy Net for non-pet animals and non-traditional pet animals. Feel free to submit any you know about, and I’ll add them tol the list. In the meantime, we have one entry so far – a Horse Rescue in the East Bay in California:

Animal Rescues It looks like they could definitely use any donations you can spare! Be sure to give them a visit if you’re interested.

I’m thinking of adding a discussion forum to Fluffy Net. I get quite a few people asking about how to start up no-kill shelters, how best to help and some people asking what they should do with their pet in difficult situations.

Since I just run this directory, and do not have any experience running a shelter, I thought setting up a forum where people could help people with these types of things would be useful.

If you’re interested in seeing a forum on this site, please comment on this post. If enough people are interested, I will add one. Thanks!

No-Kill Shelter additions for Connecticut and Ohio:

No-Kill Shelters in Connecticut

• Cat Ladies Society Rescue & Adoption

No-Kill Shelters in Ohio

• Forgotten Angels Sanctuary

An event to honor the Washington Humane Society Officers and raise money for the Washington Humane Society. There is a VIP Chef’s Tasting Room and two book signings – one: The Dog Lover’s Companion to Washington DC by Katie Githens with all proceeds from books sold at the event going to the Washington Humane Society. And another: Dam Good Sweet Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth New Orleans Style by David Guas & Raquel Pelzel with a portion of proceeds from books sold at the event going to the Washington Humane Society.

So bring your dog, honor the hard workers of the Washington Humane society, and enjoy a champagne affair for a very good cause!

A Sugar And Champagne Affair Washington D.C.

Here is a very personal story about the importance of updating your pet microchip info!  I just moved in to where I live about 4 months ago.  A couple of weeks ago I checked my mail, and opened a letter I received.  I hadn’t checked the front of the envelope that well and just assumed this letter was for me.  It turns out the letter was for a prior resident.

It was from the King County Animal Shelter saying that her cat had been impounded.  It told where the cat was picked up, how long they had held it, and how long it would be held before being assessed for adoption or possibly “humanely destroyed.”  (It was later explained to me by the shelter that the cat would only be destroyed if it were sick or otherwise not suitable for placement – not because they didn’t “have room.”)

The cat wasn’t licensed, so printed on this letter was the information they found when scanning the cat for a pet microchip.  The microchip showed that the cat had been chipped about two years ago, the name of the owner, and this address.  So hooray that the cat was chipped, but boo that the info had not been updated by the pet’s owner in the database!

Imagine the heartache of knowing you had chipped your pet in case it got lost, only to not receive notification that it was found, safe, where it was now, etc. because you hadn’t updated your info.  Heart-rending.  A few minutes updating your info can save you and your pet a lot of grief and frustration.

In this case, I did everything I could to find the owner.  I Googled her to no avail.  Then I looked her up in an online phone directory.  It had her new number and address.  Unfortunately, her number was disconnected and her apartment at the new address was standing empty.

In a last-ditch attempt to find out if my effots were in vain, I searched the Social Security Death Index and, sadly, she had passed away about 2 months before.  Apparently her apartment manager just put her cat out to fend for itself.  Or the cat had been out when its owner died and could no longer get back into its home.  It must have wandered around the area and been picked up, eventually, as a stray and impounded, resulting in my receiving this letter.

I looked for an online obituary in an attempt to find this woman’s family and inform them of her cat’s whereabouts but found nothing.  I thought it must be fate, so I decided to adopt the cat myself.  I went in to the animal shelter on the day the cat became available, after calling them and explaining the situation.  To my surprise, they told me that they had been able to contact a relative and that the relative was going to pick up the cat. Thank goodness!

But, we were already at the shelter and, standing amidst all of these beautiful, friendly homeless cats in cages, we decided to adopt another.  We played with and petted a few different cats before finding one who is a good match for my 7-year-old son’s disposition.  That was about two weeks ago, and we are very happy with our new kitty, who fate led us to!  My son has named him Sparkles, and I will post about him soon.

And we will get him a pet microchip and I vow to keep his info up to date!  If you have recently moved, update your info in the microchip database TODAY! And always remember – it’s good to microchip your pet – but if they can’t find you, they can’t reunite you with your pet, should that horrible day ever come that he gets lost!

New listings today:

• Colorado
  • Denkai Animal Sanctuary
  • K-9 Bed & Biscuit
• Illinois
  • Save-A-Pet Adoption Center
• Maine
  • Houlton Humane Society
• West Virginia
  • Marion County Humane Society

Today’s addition is the Red Door Animal Shelter . It was added to the Illinois No-Kill Animal Shelter listings. Welcome to Fluffy Net, and thank you for all your hard work!