The Leaf Chronicle - www.theleafchronicle.com - Clarksville, TN
  Welcome to The Leaf Chronicle Clarksville, TN Customer Service:   Subscribe Now | Place an Ad | Contact Us
  theleafchronicle.com   Weather   Jobs   Cars   Homes   Apartments   Shopping   Classifieds   Dating
7 days Archive    

Pet People

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Wiped Out


Work has been a bit rough lately, a bit hectic and busy with overtime. My boss got married and is on vacation for a couple of weeks, so all of us underlings have to step it up a bit. We joke that he should have just run across the street to the court house on his lunch hour to tie the knot! But he's off in sunny San Francisco having a good time. I'm so jealous!

My brain is fried today. How nice to have the life of a well-taken-care-of cat or dog. They get fed and can nap all day long! I've been feeling guilty, because I haven't taken the mutts for a walk in ages. Yes, they have a big yard to romp in, but they so enjoy walks. Guess I'm suffering from guilty-working-mom syndrome.

So today, talk about what you want. Did anyone hear about a new pet-food recall? Someone mentioned it to me at work last night, but I haven't heard anything new.

Cats Are Us has found a place for their mega yard sale, so I'll be letting you all know soon when and where so you can donate items and also go shopping!

Any of you have special summer plans? Vacations?

posted by Sandy at 4/19/2007 09:42:00 AM

24 Comments:

Blogger Skeeter said...

I love this picture of the snuggle bunnies! Our girls snuggle a bit but not like that! They are usually mirror images being butt to butt…

We had an encounter of a wild animal last night...
We keep compressed corn cobs on a feeder for the squirrels. We bring them in at night due to the bandit stealing them. Last night we forgot to take the cob off the perch and found the bandit in the process of munching down. We turned on all the outside lights and went to the feeder and the bandit would not leave! The beautiful Raccoon just continue to eat as the Saint and I talked to him. I snapped pictures of him/her and it never phased the masked critter! I snapped one picture of the Saint standing a few feet away from Bandit. Needless to say, Bandit got to much all he wanted to as we did not have the heart to take the corn from the cute hungry thing… Either this raccoon had been intervened by humans before or the Saint and I just have a natural way with wild animals! We believe we could have touched this animal but we do know they are wild and unpredictable so we snapped the few photos then let it be….

Thursday, April 19, 2007 10:26:00 AM  
Blogger O'Malley said...

Skeeter, I would love to see the picture of the racoon, maybe Sandy can post it here? We had 13 deer in our backyard this morning looking for corn, I felt so bad. My hubby regularly puts it out for them but with him deploying again, I forgot. I wanted to run out yelling "come back...I've got the corn..." But I knew they wouldn't go for that.

For the last 2 nights, we ahve had a stray kitty visitor. He is scruffy looking, but beautiful. Long, fluffy black hair with white chest and feet. He let me pet him briefly the first night abd I could feel that his fur is tangled and dirty. Last night he wouldn't come to me so I just left a bowl of food for him and came back inside. I noticed that he is limping badly and holding his back foot up. He ate a bit and then scurried off into the darkness. I am going to look for him again tonight but I am not sure what to do with him. My outside kitties stay in my garage at night so I can't put him there, and I can't bring another cat inside due to the 2 nuerotic ones I have inside already. I wish he would come during the day so I could check him out better. I am worried about his foot and what might happen to him if he can't run fast. We do have some coyotes in the area sometimes.

Maybe when your boss gets back Sandy you can take a day off and relax! I get stressed when my hubby is gone and everything falls on me.I need to cut grass and weed-eat today but I am just feeling lazy. I am finding any excuse in the world to keep from cutting the grass, doing the laundry, etc. We seem to be at the ballfield everynight now until 9ish and I just can't get caught up. I don't walk my Harley due to her health but I can tell she misses us being gone from her so much.

Sandy mentioned vacations. Does anyone ever vacation at a place that allows your pet? I have always wondered how that would be. My oldest daughter is hoping to go on vacation with her new hubby once he gets out of basic and AIT. She is looking for a place that is pet friendly and has walking/play areas for dogs.

Have a great day everyone!

Thursday, April 19, 2007 10:50:00 AM  
Blogger Sandy said...

You'll have to send me the pictures so I can post them!

Thursday, April 19, 2007 11:05:00 AM  
Blogger Sandy said...

Shannon, I was wondering what area of town you lived in. A coworker had been feeding a long-haired cat of that discription, but she could never get it to come in. She's in the St. B area I believe, but I have to double check. I know the odds are long, but who knows. If you could, try to get a picture if it comes back. And you can always call Cats Are Us and tell them about the cat, as if you could get it to one of their vets, we can take care of it.

Cats ARe Us has cat traps, so if you can't catch him you could go there and they'd lend you one. I did that when I had to trap Tarzan to get him neutered. Works great.

I haven't gone on vacation with the Boss in years, because of the pets. He would never go for taking them along, and to tell you the truth, I wouldn't want to either. Maybe if I had only one dog, yes, but not with this muttley crew! And most cats don't like change, so they wouldn't like a vacation.

My sister took her cat to the shore for a week, and Sassy is a friendly, loving cat, but she hid under a bed the entire week they were there!

I know there are places to vacation with pets. A quick google search would find them!

Thursday, April 19, 2007 11:11:00 AM  
Blogger Pam said...

Hey Sandy, Shannon, could the kitty be "the one" for Alice? Alice what do you think? Since you weren't able to find anyone at Cats Are Us or the Animal Shelter yet maybe it's because this little one is the one for you. We have just been talking about how things happen for a reason. It's just a thought.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 11:21:00 AM  
Blogger O'Malley said...

I probably didn't describe the "kitty" very well. I call all cats kitty but it appears to be a full grown cat. I will be on the look-out for it tonight. I will try to get a picture of it. What email address do I use to send it to you Sandy? I live in St B also, about a mile down the road from the radio tower on Old Russellville Pike. I couldn't sleep last night because I was up every few minutes looking out the window for the kitty. But, I am a big fraidy cat myself. Being alone with my kids right now, I hesitate to wander around outside in the dark. I start thinking about all the creepy scary movies I saw when I was a teenager and I am sure Jason, Freddie, or Michael Myers are waiting for me in the dark. OK...sorry ya'll had to hear about that side of me but that is why I didn't go outside and search for the kitty. Hopefully since I have fed it 2 nights in a row it will be back tonight.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 2:14:00 PM  
Blogger jdt said...

It is funny that you mention the vacation with pets. One of my big reasons for not having taken a real vacation in over 6 years is because of my pets. I don't think I can leave them for a week. We have left them for a weekend, and I call 3 times a day to check on them at the kennel. I am so paranoid. Abby refuses to eat when I am not there which worries me. She waits to eat until I am home everyday. Zander is great being left because he is all excited to meet new people. Jake and Annabelle have never been left before. When my husband and I got married, I wanted my dogs there, but the cabin at pigeon forge would only allow one pet. We took Annabelle with us, I had a little white dress made for her, she was so cute, I will try to send a picture to Sandy.

Whenever we go to visit my mom, we take all four with us. They travel really well in the car, but if they hear the turn signal, they think we are stopping to get out and go a little bonkers. It is always interesting on our 6 hour trip.

We are supposed to take a vacation this year, but I have debated what to do with the dogs. I hate to board them for too many days, but if I do board them at least they are at the vet's office if something happens. I have a friend that is really attached to his dog like I am. We asked if he would stay at our house with them and he said yes, so that may be what we do, but I still worry.

If I had my way, we would go somewhere we could take them with us, but I am not sure how the hubby would feel about that. We are planning to go back to Pigeon Forge for our anniversary (just a weekend, not a full vacation) and I told him I wanted to take Annabelle, he didn't seem too thrilled about it, so a real vacation with all the dogs would probably not go over too well.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 2:24:00 PM  
Blogger jdt said...

Sandy,

I totally understand the guilty working mom syndrome. I am an accountant and our busy season ended this week. There have been nights that I can't get done at work until around 10:00pm and one evening it was after midnight. My husband has been on nights this month at work so the dogs have really not gotten their special time with mommy and daddy. I feel horrible about it because I want to spend that time in the evening playing, but I am so tired when I get home that I just can't do it. Instead, I tell them to get in bed and I will pet each of them for a few minutes before I have to go to sleep.

I really think it was getting to them, because they started acting out and being destructive, which they usually are not. They keep shredding the puppy pads, which makes a big mess that drives me crazy because it looks like it snowed in the house. Now that we have gotten past the deadline, I can start working flex hours where I will go in between 6:30 or 7:00am so I can leave work by 4:00pm, then we have time to play outside. I think all my co-workers think I am crazy because I plan things around my dogs, I try to explain they are like my children and are treated as such. I guess people who don't have pets like us, just don't get it.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 2:33:00 PM  
Blogger Adrienne said...

You can search www.petfriendly.com to find pet friendly housing, hotels and other places in you area. You use your zip code to search. There are a lot of hotels that are pet friendly. Some that require a deposit and some that have a size/ weight limit. The web site lists most of the information for you and if they don't have it, they list contact information so you can call or email.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 3:39:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

When we traveled from Fresno, CA to here, we stayed in La Quinta hotels. I booked in advance and informed that we would be traveling with pets. We had 3 dogs and 2 cats. One hotel even had an elevator that Max loved but Charlie and Aimee seemed concerned that the floor moved. We had no problems at all at La Quinta and would recommend the chain to anyone traveling with pets.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 4:50:00 PM  
Blogger Skeeter said...

JDT, don’t be a scary cat! Put on your macho hat and find that Tuxedo kitty in the dark! I can say that as it is not my predicament! LOL.. I am a bit afraid of going into the yard after dark. They have seen bears near us at times and I am not ready for that visitor in the yard although, it would not surprise me as it seems everything else has come in our yard at times!

We use to sneak our Skeeter into hotels but he was no trouble as he would hide under the bedspread when we were not with him. Except for Germany (I told that story already) we only stayed in hotels for one night on our way from TX to TN or VA. They never knew a cat had been in the hotel because we left the room cleaner then it was when we checked into it! I had all the cleaning supplies I needed to clean any sign of him ever being there.

My brother and sister in law take their dog with them a lot and they look for La Quinta hotels as they are indeed pet friendly! One dog friendly hotel in Gatlinburg is the Park Vista. It is the big round hotel on the side of the mountain at the edge of the main drag... I believe all the cabins or chalets are pet friendly also but I am not sure if they require a longer stay or not. But if you are going for an anniversary, I say go for the week if necessary because there is a lot to do in Gatlinburg...

Sandy, I will send you the raccoon picture but the Saint requested I do not send his picture with Mr. Bandit. But he was standing about 3 feet away from him… It was incredible to be that close to a wild animal that seemed so content with us! Guess we put off that animal lovers vibe! Ha-ha… We will bring in the corn tonight though as we do not want to encourage him/her to come that often. It is best to keep the wild animals wild for their as well as our well being…. Raccoons can carry rabies…

The Saint got the ladder out and we took inventory today. We have 4 baby Chickadees, 4 baby Titmice and baby Eastern Bluebirds (not sure of count, they were sleeping) in our houses through out the yard! Plus Eastern Phoebe’s are building a nest in the garage! I am fighting off the finches from the hanging plants on the front porch, they are just too messy. I don’t feel bad for fighting them off as we have 2 and half acres for them to nest on, they can just find another place… We also have two little frogs on the porch! One is in the table top fountain and one was between the wicker table and the house! Lord, I hope they do not get on the new front door and get Cheetah started again! Spring is here folks!

Thursday, April 19, 2007 6:45:00 PM  
Blogger dragon said...

Sandy, I did see something on the latest pet food recall today. I don’t know of any brand name, but I do remember it was an organic canned cat food and dry cat food. I’ll see if I can get something tomorrow. It was sheer luck that the infected wheat didn’t get into foods for human consumption. The wheat was graded for humans. It seems we need to get the **** out and go out hunting for or pets, and ourselves.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 8:22:00 PM  
Blogger Pam said...

When we traveled across country from WA state to KY we stayed in many hotels,mmost didn't accept pets. We had our cat Tiger so we would sneek him into our rooms. All was fine till later in the night Tiger would go to the window and sit in front of the curtain to see what was going on. We'd freak because we were sure someone would see him and tell the managers and we'd get kicked out. It never happened but we were always worried about it. We like you skeeter, would make sure the room was so clean and free of litter and any sign of a animal that they would never know we had out pet with us.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 10:04:00 PM  
Blogger Sandy said...

Shannon, my friend lives near there, so maybe it's the cat she was caring for! She was trying to get him in, and yes, it was an adult. You can send pictures to PetsSpeak@aol.com. She called him/her Star. She couldn't find out the sex. How wonderful it would be if it was the same one and she got it back! She cares for strays and has 12--yes 12 of her own! I can't want to hear!

Thursday, April 19, 2007 11:54:00 PM  
Blogger Daisylouu said...

Vacations? Well I invited my darling sister to join our escape in June, but she declined........so don't feel sorry for little miss "I'm so overworked".

So what if it's her ONLY niece's graduation and it it's her ONLY siblings request.....both of whom live very far away????

I will drink a Bahama-mamma without her!

Friday, April 20, 2007 4:50:00 AM  
Blogger O'Malley said...

Sandy, The kitty did not come to visit me last night or if it did, I missed it. I was up until around 12 checking for it and put a bowl of food out too. Never saw it and the food doesn't look like it was touched. I am worried now since it did have a hurt foot/leg. I will keep my eyes open for it again today and tonight. If it shows up, I will try to get it into a carrier at least until I can talk to you and see if it is the same cat your friend is looking for. Thanks for the info- I hope it comes back!

Friday, April 20, 2007 7:50:00 AM  
Blogger Skeeter said...

JDT, Sorry I called you a scardy cat! That of course was meant for Shannon O'Malley. Duh on my part!
Maybe the kitty will come back today. I will keep my fingers crossed....

Friday, April 20, 2007 8:29:00 AM  
Blogger Skeeter said...

Pam, that is funny about Tiger getting in the hotel window at night! We would keep Skeeter from doing that by putting stuff up against the curtain! The suitcase, shoes, rolled up towels whatever it took! He was a good boy and seem to understand the things we did for him...

Friday, April 20, 2007 8:31:00 AM  
Blogger Melissa said...

The boss is in California? I'm jealous, too!

My cat LOVES to snuggle. He's the only pet at home right now, but Sinja is the ultimate lap cat. Sometimes though, he gets so tired he falls asleep with his head upside down or lays on his back like a dog.

I heard about that pet food recall. I'll e-mail you the details.

Friday, April 20, 2007 11:54:00 AM  
Blogger Pam said...

Skeeter, we tried blocking the curtains with things but Tiger always found a way to get in front of the curtains, he was determined!
Sorry I didn't get time to email today will try tomorrow.

Friday, April 20, 2007 4:58:00 PM  
Blogger Adrienne said...

Skeeter, Being from bear country, I can tell you that they are more afraid of you than you are of them. We have had many bear encounters, one a big black bear tried to get in the back of my car while I was unloading groceries one night. We had one on the frone proch that a friend of ours came face to face with when he tried to leave. The only thing that seperated the two of them was a screened door. The bear always ran off when we made a loud noise. I almost hit a big male with my car going to work one morning. He was around a corner and I also didn't see him. Living in the country was always fun. I miss that now that we live in the city. We had so many different animals. The only ones I was ever afraid of was the coyotes and the mountain lions. They just don't think about anything but food. Just remember if you are ever faced with a bear, to make yourself as big as possible and make a lot of noise. They will run off.

They only time I have ever snuck an animal into a hotel was when I traveled from Alabama to CO with a box of 15 baby chicks, 2 adult chickens and Mattie. Our dog Copper had killed all my moms chicken while we were in AL and she was taking care of him. So Hubbies uncle gave me some chicks and the 2 adults to give to my mom. I will never travel that far EVER AGAIN with live stock of any kind!! That was the worst trip of my life. The chickens wanted out of the carrier so bad that they would squack in the hotel room. The first night I let them out and one of them laid an egg under the table, then proceeded to let me know what she had done. Thankfully they got quiet when the lights went out.

If anyone wants to travel to Virginia Beach, they are very pet friendly. They have dog beaches with pet friendly hotel right on the beach.

Friday, April 20, 2007 10:52:00 PM  
Blogger Sandy said...

Yes Melissa, my work "boss" is in California while the rest of us suffer even more than usual. LOL. I hope he comes back refresh and rested!

Saturday, April 21, 2007 9:59:00 AM  
Blogger Skeeter said...

Adrienne,
Thanks for the advice on the bears. I hope I never come face to face with one but now I will know what to do in the event I should...

A chicken laying an egg in the hotel room with you! That is a funny story and you get the prize for best story of the day with that one!!! I cannot imagine traveling with chickens. I bet that experience with stay with you forever!

Saturday, April 21, 2007 11:09:00 AM  
Blogger Pam said...

Jdt,Jen, hope it's ok I'm calling you that, don't worry about what your co-workers say about you for not wanting to leave your dogs to go anywhere. I do this with my girls ( cats )and I've been called over the top before too. I don't care my first priority is to take good care of my girls and keep them safe. To hell with people who don't understand that!

Monday, April 23, 2007 10:19:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home



Pet People

Sandy Britt, an animal welfare advocate and volunteer with Clarksville rescue organizations, takes care of three dogs: Zoe, Scooter and Peanut; two cats: Catfish and Tarzan; and one husband, Glen, and according to him she takes care of them in that order.
ADVERTISEMENT


ADVERTISEMENT

   Gannett.com   USATODAY.com Contact Us | Subscribe | Place an ad
Copyright ©2006 The Leaf Chronicle.
All rights reserved.
Users of this site agree to the
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
(Terms updated 7/20/05)
USAWEEKEND.COM   Gannett Foundation