If You Want To Make a Cat Mad, Get a Puppy

Our tuxedo cat, Seph, is probably about 14 years old.  For the first 3 years after we adopted him, he only lived with other cats.  In 2009, we got our Husky, Kita, and he was not thrilled.  Seph believes that Chris is his human only, and Kita took some of his attention away.  Seph would constantly try to get Kita in trouble when he was a puppy, by bothering him until Kita got mad, and then Kita would have to go in his cage. After about a year, Kita began to figure out how to keep Seph from getting mad at him, and since that time, Seph has grown to love and trust him, even if he does get annoyed by Kita's high energy level at times.

Enter our puppy, Pearl.  Pearl is unpredictable, and if Seph hates anything, its unpredictability.  Change is not acceptable and loud noises are cause for shunning.  Pearl whines and barks much more than Kita ever did, and Seph could not make his disdain more clear to us.  He will stare at her while she barks with a look of pure hatred.  If she is energetic, he runs from the room and will run around crying until she is done.  He, of course, hates when Pearl jumps on Chris's lap, so he will sit in a place where she can't reach him and will stare at her some more.  In the mornings, I drink coffee before I feed Pearl and let her out, and Seph has learned that if he sits on my lap while I drink my coffee, Pearl will have to stay in her "house" longer.  He now schedules his own naps for when she is out playing.

I don't know if Seph will ever learn to accept Pearl as he has accepted Kita, but hopefully they will learn to live in harmony.  Pearl is a wild card to him right now, but the one thing Seph can count on is that Kita will not let Pearl hurt him or our other cat Zoey in any way.  Kita knows Pearl can be rough, so he watches her like a hawk, ready to run and pull her away if she bothers one of the cats for too long.

In short, my limited experience has been that adult cats are not fond of puppies.  I can guarantee that this isn't a universal trait as all animals have very different personalities, but many dogs get calmer and more predictable as they grow older, and cats are much more willing to deal with a personality that they can understand and trust.  Also, Seph and Pearl are probably an extreme example, considering Seph is 13 years older than Pearl and a bit of a grump, while Pearl is young, rambunctious and loud.  Seph is unlikely to change, but he may learn to tolerate Pearl when she grows up and relaxes a bit.  Time can only tell.

Click here to visit Seph's page!   Learn more about Pearl the puppy!

Kita and his Protege, Pearl

Kita and Pearl are opposites in almost every way.  Pearl has short hair, skinny legs and tiny feet, while Kita has humongous paws and a huge furry coat.  Despite being less than half his size, Pearl is very confident that she can take all of Kita's toys, rawhides, and anything else as her own.   Kita is very gentle with her, but does sometimes try to get his items back as you can see in the video above.

Kita's a purebred male Siberian Husky; the largest of his litter, and was very well socialized as a puppy.   Pearl is a mixed breed little dog, likely the runt of her litter, and was either abandoned by or taken from her birth mom at a very young age.  She was lucky enough to have a wonderful family with six young children and an older female puppy, and her human mom bottle-fed her until she was old enough to be adopted by us, but she is terrified of being left alone in any capacity.

Kita is a gentle giant; incapable of hurting even bunnies or our pet tortoise.  Every breathing creature is a potential new best friend for him to jump on, kiss and play with.  Even our cranky cat, Seph, has learned to love him, often spending time with him alone and confident that Kita will never try to steal his food or anything else that he has claimed for himself.  The only time Kita has ever demonstrated even slight fear is from getting tackled by an aggressive dog and for whatever reason, walking up or down a flight of stairs (indoors only).

Pearl is cautious and self-aware; protecting everything she has as if she can lose everything at any moment. If you catch her on a bad day and Kita tries to share a toy she has in her possession, she will growl and snap, but these days are thankfully getting to be more far and few between.  Strangers are potential enemies, and will run and hide behind Kita, Chris or myself, if she meets someone knew that intimidates her.  She growled at a snowman that the children behind us built for weeks on end since it took so long to melt, and growls at her own reflection when she glances it in the window.  Her last visit to Petsmart went sour when she spotted a Great Dane and pulled me across the store at full speed; she was afraid for the rest of the night and wouldn't even tolerate attention from Kita, whom had worried about her the entire time she was gone, whining and pacing until she returned.

I know we made the right decision with her though; Kita has grown extraordinarily attached to Pearl. Waking up with the knowledge that he gets to play with his kid sister never tires, and he is always thrilled to see her.  In return, she loves to play and wrestle with him, knowing that if she yelps, he'll immediately retreat and cover her in kisses.  He has taken it upon himself to be a father figure to her recently.  He must have sensed our stress levels, and has apparently decided that disciplining her on his own is easier than having us go and get her and losing some of his playtime with her.  We hardly have to start to say "No Pearl!" anymore before Kita runs to her and drags her back to a safe spot, pushing her gently to the ground and holding her with his paw until she relaxes a little so she knows she did something wrong.  He won't allow her to leave a room without him until she goes to bed, makes sure that she doesn't bother the cats, and if she has a "timeout" due to growling, he will try his best to sneak away and check on her or annoy the heck out of us until she can come back out and play.

And so, Kita is the social butterfly that doesn't look back when he goes off to daycare or to meet a new friend while Pearl hangs back with us, loyal at every step.  I think we got the best of both worlds with this unlikely pair.

Learn more about Kita on his Blog.  Learn all about Pearl on her own puppy page!

When Kita Got Sick

Last year on my birthday, we dropped Kita off at doggy daycare for the day so that we could celebrate.  An hour or so later, we got a call that Kita had thrown up so he was taken to our vet (conveniently also at Petsmart) and we got him checked out.  Turns out he had thrown up quite a few items, including what seemed to be some plastic and a little duct tape.  We are so careful not to leave things out for him to get into, but he managed to swallow these down without us knowing.  He had to have a lot of expensive tests done, and it turned out he had Giardia, a parasite found in water that he likely picked up from swimming at a local dog park.  He needed to rest a lot, so much to his dismay, we took away his toys and wouldn't play with him for a month.  He threw up every day for a few months as we continued to change his diet and see what he could handle.

Eventually, we also discovered that he is allergic to chicken, which is a terrible thing for a dog to be allergic to as it is an ingredient in most treats, biscuits and even some rawhides.  When we are out, we have to be constantly vigilant that he isn't fed treats that we don't know the ingredients of, because people constantly want to give him something for being so friendly.  I'm sure he gets annoyed with us, but we take his health very seriously, and even stayed home for Christmas so that he didn't have to be boarded or travel while ill.  That is something a lot of people don't understand and I felt bad about not making it to see our families, but either of us wouldn't leave him when he was sick.  Kita still throws up now and then, and he warns us by begging to go outside first.  We are careful to never scold him no matter where he throws up, as he is already upset and embarrassed when it happens.  We simply put him in his crate to rest while we clean up the mess.  Within 10 minutes, he is happy and playing as if he never was sick.

If your dog gets sick, there are a ton of online resources to use:  I've compiled a list on our cat Seph's blog. Tests and treatments can be expensive, so pet insurance can be a lifesaver.  The pet insurance we got for the dogs is directly through Banfield at Petsmart, and has literally saved us hundreds of dollars.  Make sure that they aren't running unnecessary tests and to go over the prices beforehand, as they may be able to rule some illnesses out first or offer you payment plans or cheaper options.  If your dog seems sick after eating particular foods, even a day later, try removing that ingredient from their diet if possible, but understand that it could take a few months to completely get it out of their system.

 Kita also rarely throws up after he eats, so despite him not being hungry in the morning, we try to get him to eat as early as possible rather than waiting until the evening to eat.  This can sometimes require us to mix something he really likes into his food to make it more appealing, including peanut butter or some wet dog food.  My only other suggestions are to make sure you know what other people are feeding your dog and don't let them swim in bodies of water that you aren't sure about the safety of.  For me, its always better to be safe than sorry, even if it means a dog might miss out on something he enjoys.

A Husky that wins Hearts everywhere

It's difficult to describe just how much we love our Siberian Husky, Kita.  He isn't a cuddler, but he is very affectionate.  When he meets someone for the first time, he immediately jumps up to see if they will let him give them a kiss.  Everywhere we go, someone says how beautiful our dog is and asks to pet him, and we warn them that he will try to lick them.   Most people don't mind.  Kita's actually bigger than most Huskies and is often mistaken for a Malamute.  As a puppy, he had the largest feet and longest tongue, but he's grown into them.  He definitely stayed a puppy for 2-3 years and only just started calming down last year.  We loved to take him to the dog park, where he made a point to meet every dog big and small, and every human.  He loves kids even though we aren't around them that much.  When he was a puppy, we had a family with kids, and they would yell his name every time they were outside.  Both of our yards are fenced so Kita couldn't play with them, but he would jump up and look over the fence with his tail wagging incessantly.

In fact, he wags his tail constantly.  He is truly the friendliest animal that I've ever known.  He is so gentle with our cats and any other smaller animal he meets, including our pet tortoise.  He just wants to give them a ton of kisses.  He is so gentle that he cannot comprehend aggression.  When our cat Zoey hisses at him, he wags his tail and tries to imitate the hiss as if it is great fun.  If a dog comes to attack him, he immediately gets on his back thinking that they want to play.  This was such a problem for us at dog parks with pet owners that let their aggressive dogs do whatever they want, that we had to stop taking him.  He can turn any action into a game, which makes him difficult to scold.  He likes to push us to see what he can get away with, which is typically A LOT.

Huskies love to have playmates, so we got a puppy for him a few months ago.  He fell in love with her quite quickly and his spirits have lifted significantly.  He loves to play with her and hates it if she is not in the same room as him. When she tries to run into rooms where the dogs aren't allowed (we need to have safe space for the cats), he pulls her away and blocks it so that she doesn't get in trouble.  He's constantly vigilant that her curiosity about the cats doesn't put the cats in potential danger, and he will distract her if Seph is being particularly stubborn, which is often.  If Pearl growls at the cats, he is instantly "kissing" aka drooling on the cats as if to apologize, but the cats aren't particularly fond of this type of apology.

Kita is the first Husky that I've had the fortune to get to know, but after a few years, I don't think we will ever want to be without one.  He was so easy to house train and learns new words and tricks constantly.  He's a master imitator and has picked up behaviors of many of us in the household.  However, he is not a bodyguard and not particularly loyal, which may turn some people off.  Kita is equally happy with anyone and will happily go to a kennel without a look back.  He greets me at the door when I come home from work with a toy in his mouth and a wagging tail.  If I'm lucky, I'll get a long howl from him out of excitement to see me.  I would recommend that any dog lovers rescue a Siberian Husky or Husky mix as their next pet. Truly one of the best decisions that we ever made.

Learn more about Kita on his Blog!

My Activist Pets

I love my pets so much that I decided to use their unique personalities and characteristics to help promote causes and spread important information on pet adoption and care.

Kita, a Siberian Husky, is a sweet, playful dog that loves every animal and human he meets.  His page has more information on him and other huskies, along with details on dog adoption.

Pearl, a mixed breed puppy, has had some challenges to overcome.  Her page provides helpful sites for puppy owners and a list of sites that can be used to learn more about dogs and ways to be an animal activist.

Seph, a senior tuxedo cat, is the leader of our household.  He keeps all of the other pets in line and is always quick to offer help and support.  His site promotes cat rescue and adoption, some ways to help animals in need, and sites that pet owners can use to find important information on their health and welfare.

Zoey, an orange and white long-haired cat, is very shy and sweet.  He was a troublemaker for the first few years of her life, but he has matured into a great family member.  He is my right-hand man so his site is dedicated to on ways to become an activist for humanitarian causes.

Please take a moment to visit each of their pages; you can find links to each page to the right side of my blog.  Each page will be updated regularly and I welcome any suggested links that I can add to any of the pages or any notices of any dead links.

Snow Dogs

Kita looking pretty after getting groomed.

Kita is a purebred Siberian Husky and, true to his breed, loves Ohio winters.  The first big snowfall this year led to his obsession with going outside as often as possible after he noticed the snow while looking out the window.  Luckily Chris doesn't mind taking him out in the cold weather, because I hate being out in the cold. This is Pearl's first winter and despite being a short-haired small dog with tiny paws that can freeze, she is also enamored with the snow.  Kita was more than willing to show her just how fun the snow can be as they played and rolled around in our backyard last week, but even he grew tired as she ran around in circles without slowing down for a second.

Pearl has so much energy that it is tough
to get a still photo of her!

I'm amazed by Pearl's high energy level and wonder if she will ever calm down.  Nonetheless, she is becoming an integral part of the family and is easily Kita's favorite companion.  Pearl can be a bit rough with her big brother, but he is handling it in stride and is careful to never hurt her despite his much larger size.  They love to play tug of war with any toy that they can find, but it often leads to wrestling, so they need constant supervision during their playtime. We swap out toys from the closet and once they haven't seen a toy in a week or more it is as exciting as the first time they ever saw it, and since they have a ridiculous amount of toys, every day is like Christmas for them.

Dogs are a constant reminder to enjoy every moment of every day, and their excitement is contagious.  I look forward to spoiling them with rawhides, Kongs and stuffed animals this Holiday season with trips to Petsmart and Pet People.

Our Pets' Feeding Habits Run Our Lives

Seph begs for food at the closet door

Every morning, our cat Seph wakes me up anywhere from 1-3 hours before my intended wake-up time, usually as soon as the sun comes up.  I try to ignore it, but his persistence is unmatched, and he consistently finds new ways to force me to get out of bed. Some of his favorite tactics are scratching at the bed, standing above my head, knocking things down, meowing loudly enough to wake up the puppy, etc.

Pearl loves to eat

Pearl, our puppy is next.  After we go outside in the morning, she wants food immediately and then wants something to chew on.  She always scarfs down her meals very quickly and needs to eat anything that Kita eats or she throws a temper tantrum.  She also gets very protective over her food if she thinks any of the other pets are too close, which is a behavior that is worrisome and hope to change.

Zoey begs for food with his eyes

My cat, Zoey, doesn't bug us for food so much but he certainly can eat.  He is a little overweight so we try to limit his meals, but he has a habit of stealing all of the other pet's food if he is hungry and has access to the food.  This extends to any of our food that he can find in the garbage or on the counter, so we limit his access to the kitchen.  The only way that this is possible is his fear of the dogs and they are between him and the kitchen.

Kita as a youngster

Our Husky, Kita, is the most well-behaved pet when it comes to food.  He is allergic to chicken, so we have to be very careful that nothing we give him has any chicken in it at all, or he vomits.  Often, his food can sit out all day without him touching it sometimes, but then other days he eats it immediately.  On the rare circumstances that he wants more dry food, he will hit the empty bowl until it flips over in order to get our attention.  He is also crazy about treats, rawhides, and wet food.  Luckily, he doesn't beg for these items, but gets extremely excited about them.

The collective eating habits of the 4 pets combined can get expensive.  To combat this, we collect pet food coupons, watch for sales at the stores, and have loyalty cards for each of the pet stores that are nearby so that we can get discounted prices and coupons in the mail or by email.  We purchase rawhides, bones and toys online when we find sales on Amazon or other sites.  I also have signed up for email alerts for the pet foods we buy most often by visiting their websites, and occasionally they will email coupons and sales.  I have my family members look for coupons for our favorite pet products and they clip and send them to us or give them to me when I see them.  Regardless, their food is costly, so I'm always open to new tips on saving money without buying lower quality food.  They are valued family members and are too important to let them eat anything that could shorten their lifespan or make them sick.

I had a conversation with Kita about the Congress today

"I know that you've had that toy since you

were a puppy, but you have to give it up."

Why?

"The Republicans want it.  

And the rest of your toys.  

Also, they want your bed."

Well, what do I get?

"Nothing"

This is a joke, right?  

It doesn't seem very fair.

"Sorry, boy, but they are too
stubborn to compromise."

I wish dogs could vote...

Pearl the Puppy joins the Family

First Day Home

Chris and I have talked about getting a puppy sister for Kita for years, but the timing never seemed right. Siberian Huskies are very social dogs and Kita seemed lonely lately, so we decided that this summer would be a good time to bring in a new family member. Kita is the coolest adult dog in the world, but Siberian Huskies puppies are very tough to raise and I thought one Husky at a time was enough for now. I also felt it was important to adopt a mixed breed as they are less likely to find homes. 

First Week Home

Pearl the puppy has webbed feet so we are almost positive that she is part Labrador Retriever, but we are unsure about her other breed(s). Her legs are very long and her tail is long and thin, but overall she is a much smaller dog than Kita was at her age. We aren't sure of her exact age, because we are her 4th home, but when we got her at the end of July, we were told that she was 2-3 months old, so right now, she's likely about 5 months old.

Pearl has separation anxiety to the point that she cannot be left alone for a second. This is probably due to her being taken from her mother at a very young age. Luckily, she's usually alright if Kita or one of our cats are in her line of vision, but whenever Kita goes outside without her, she throws a temper tantrum, howling and crying until he comes back. To make it easier on her, Kita now does his business very quickly and runs back in the house to see her. In the mornings, when I am making coffee in the kitchen, our cat Seph will sit near her cage until I come back into the living room.

If I am out of her line of vision at night, because our bed is too high for her to see the top, I have to remind her that I'm still in the room or she will begin to whimper. My cat, Zoey has actually figured this out, so he lays at the end of the bed where Pearl can see him. This is likely due to him being annoyed by the howling, but I do appreciate his help. 

 If she is particularly lonely, she works herself into such a frenzy that she exhausts herself and falls asleep. Kita usually tries to make sure this doesn't happen by laying next to her crate or bringing her a toy. He has very much become a father figure to her and is very attentive to her needs. Her behavior is getting a little better over time as she seems to be realizing that we always come back.

This is definitely a new chapter in our lives, but we are facing it patiently and we look forward to watching her grow up. It is very cool that our other pets are helping us keep her calm, and I am so proud of them as I know this is a major disruption in their lives that they didn't expect.

Kita & Doggy Daycare

Around election time, if Chris and I are working a lot of hours, we take Kita to Petsmart's Doggy Daycare a few times a week.  We had brought him to a different daycare a few times, but they only let the dogs play about an hour a day and he wasn't all that excited to go back.  That is not the case with Petsmart.  Kita is as happy as a kid at Christmas if he even thinks that we are going to Petsmart.  He has learned the name of the store, and certain stores and signs on our drive trigger his assurance that we are, in fact, going there.

When Kita is excited, he howls.

Once we get in the store, Kita pulls us directly through all of the food and toys and into the doggy daycare attached to the store.  He has a few favorite dog-sitters there, and if he sees them before we check in, he starts jumping around excitedly and gives them kisses.  Once he is checked in and taken out of the front room, he couldn't be happier to get to the playroom immediately and doesn't give us another thought.  They let the dogs there play for 7 hours with just a 1 hour lunch break, so Kita is sufficiently worn out by the time we pick him up in the evening.  They give us a card telling us about his behavior for the day and which dogs he made friends with.  We hear that Kita is one of 

the most popular dogs there, and he tries to get all of the dogs involved in 

whatever they are playing.

This doesn't surprise us a bit, because Kita is a social butterfly that loves to meet all new people and animals.  On walks, we have to talk to everyone, because he wants to greet every person and dog he sees. This started as a puppy, because bad as he was, he was an adorable pup with soft fur and everyone would rush to meet him.  Now some of our neighbors still call him "the prettiest dog in the neighborhood", but Kita doesn't get quite the same amount of excitement out of new people.  Regardless, he gets compliments a lot and couldn't be happier about someone petting him and telling him how handsome he is and I can't help but agree.  Just know that if you adopt a Husky, you will have to talk to people a lot about your dog as people don't see them everyday and have a lot of questions about the breed.

Want to get to know Kita better?  Click here to visit his page!

Kita the Copy-Cat

We adopted Kita, our Siberian Husky, when he was about 2 1/2 months old and not much bigger than our adult cats.  I've blogged before about how Kita adores our tuxedo cat, Seph, but there is more to that relationship. Kita, now 5 times larger than the cats, idolizes Seph as a "big brother" figure and thinks that he should be allowed to do everything that a cat can do.  To reach that goal, Kita has taught himself a few tricks and ridiculous habits.

Huskies are intelligent and are also known to imitate others.  Kita takes his imitation very seriously and spends a lot of time perfecting his cat-like abilities.  His size limits some of these abilities but Kita isn't really one to give up easily (or ever).  One part of his body that he has successfully used in ways similar to our cats are his paws.  As you can see in his youtube video, Kita has learned to balance toys in the air with his front paws while laying on his back.  He additionally uses his front paws to grab anything he can't reach, to catch big toys in the air, to cheat at tug-of-war by using both his mouth and paws and to kick around balls with the dexterity of a child soccer player.  If the cat uses his paws for anything at all, Kita is most likely watching him and attempting to find a way that he can also accomplish that task.

Kita thinks that he can climb on any of our furniture since he sees the cat do it.  Obviously every part of a couch, chair or table is impossible to keep a cat off of, but a 65 lb dog attempting to climb from the couch to our living room table is not the least bit graceful nor good for our furniture.  Of course, this hasn't stopped him yet and he continues his attempts to reach spots that are easily jumped onto by our cats.  Seph is allowed to sleep on our bed so Kita thinks he can do the same.  While Seph can fit on the edge of the bed, Kita needs to take up one entire side and put his head on one of the pillows.  We've yet to let Kita stay on the bed for longer than a few minutes, and he instead sleeps in a crate in our bedroom.  Kita is blocked by parts of the house with baby gates, while Seph can easily travel from room to room.  Seph can fit into small boxes (click here to read a post dedicated to Seph's love of boxes) or stand on the top of our couch. Kita is still working on ways to get around these limitation; I'll let you know if he figures any of them out.

Click here to view Kita's page dedicated to dog adoption.  If you have a Siberian Husky or simply love them, join the Siberian Husky community on Google+.

Click here to view Seph's page dedicated to cat adoption. 

Kita's Balancing Act

Siberian Huskies are known to imitate what they see. Kita imitates both
people and cats and wants to use his hands (paws) just like they can. 
After much practice, this is what he has accomplished.

Want to get to know Kita better?  Click here to visit his page!

My Collection of Short Stories on Goodreads

Living with Other Species - Some Cats Hate Dogs 

by Angela

description

It always leads to surprises.

tags

cats, dogs, families, pets, short-stories

genre

Nonfiction

Chapters

Chapter 1:Some Cats Hate Dogs

Chapter 2: If you have cats you probably know this, but...

Chapter 3: When Zoey Ran Away

Chapter 4: Seph the Nanny Cat

Chapter 5: Some Cats, however, will tolerate Dogs

Chapter 6: Kita Loves Cartoons

Chapter 7: Pets and their reaction to Fireworks

Chapter 8: Cat in a Box

Chapter 9: Pet Separation Anxiety

Chapter 10: Raising Kita

Raising Kita

You wouldn't know it now, but Kita was a terribly behaved puppy.  We got him when he was about 11 weeks old, and despite being absolutely adorable, he wasn't very friendly and would not listen to a word we said.  Huskies are very intelligent dogs and he learned very quickly; he only had one accident before he was completely potty-trained, but he was willfully disobedient and enjoyed causing trouble.  There were times I regretted getting him in those first few months, and I thought I could never grow to love him as much as our cats or my elderly American Eskimo, Simba, that at that time still lived with my parents (he passed away only a few months later).  We have a relatively small bedroom and had started off by putting Kita's crate in the room that we kept our cat toys, litter box and tortoise.  During those first few months, he managed to dig holes through his cage and through the carpet.  He would also wake us up at all hours of the night.

One night, Chris was out of town, and I decided that I wanted Kita to sleep in our room that night.  He stopped his destructive behavior and never went back to his old room.  After awhile, Kita's behavior changed significantly.  We realized that he had learned all of the tricks that we had taught him; he had just pretended otherwise.  He started listening to us and wanting to play.  We also realized that he loved kids and other dogs, so walks became quite an adventure for him.  Anyone that meets Kita now will tell you that he is the friendliest dog they have met.  He loves to give kisses and is the dog at his daycamp that insists on making sure that every other dog is involved in the fun by befriending any dogs that are otherwise shy.  Huskies can be a tough breed to raise, but I would not trade Kita for the world and every frustration that he caused as a puppy was completely worth dealing with now that we know what a wonderful pet he has turned out to be.

Because Kita is so friendly, I know that he would want every other dog to have a family that loves them, so I created a blog page for him promoting dog adoption.  Check it out and let me know if you have suggestions on ways to make it better.

Movies on a Budget

I'll admit it: I want to save as much money as possible. This effort extends into watching movies at home or at the theatre. Below are just a few ways that I've found to see the movies that I want for a decent price.

What movie should I see?

Rotten Tomatoes: I won't pay to see a movie until I check its rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I am sure to check both the audience's rating and the critic's rating. Sometimes the average of the two makes a movie look much worse than it is, and this is especially true in the case of comedies. I love Will Ferrell for example, but I also know many of his movies are going to be rated low by sophisticated film critics, so I focus on the audience rating if I plan to see one of his movies.

IMDB: Find out all of the details of the movie that you want to see, but be sure to avoid reading the spoilers. I check their ratings if the Rotten Tomatoes rating left me unsure as to whether or not I should see a particular film.  Of course, there are also many other review sites that you can use to help you decide.

Should I go to the theater or wait and watch it at home?

Kita prefers that we watch movies at home with him

This choice has to be based on your personal preference.  The movies that I choose to see in theaters tend to be visually stimulating, such as action movies, superhero movies and 3D movies, but if I am very excited about a new movie and simply can't wait for it then I see it at the theater.

Check out tomorrow's post to get tips on how to save on the movies that you choose to watch (either at home or at the theater).

Pet Separation Anxiety

I had never stayed away from my dog for more than a few days until I stayed with my grandparents for the entire week.  I was so anxious to see Kita and play with him.  When I finally got back yesterday, he was fairly indifferent towards me.  He was tired from playing at Doggie Daycare all day while Chris picked me up, so that might have had something to do with it, but I was slightly disappointed.  After he woke up a bit, he is acting the exact same way he always does with me.  

I'm thankful that Kita is equally attached to Chris and I, because he is content spending time with either one of us, because our cats are definitely not like that.  They both express anger if we leave them for a few days, but when only one of us is gone it depends on which one of us has left.  When Chris leaves for a night or more, Seph sleeps facing our front door waiting for him to come home.  He throws in a long whine here and there to let me know he is not happy.  As usual, Zoey showed his displeasure with my absence by peeing on our bed and in our laundry baskets.  He never does that unless I leave him for more than one night.  Seph greeted me when he got home, but otherwise he didn't seem to mind me being gone.

I've always thought that Zoey's behavior was his way of showing his anger over me leaving and to tell me not to do it again, but then today I read this Catster article that claims that they are "mingling their scent with the scent of their beloveds."  I don't know about that, but at least one pet is very happy to have me home!

If you haven't done so already, check out Zoey's Catster profile and add him as a friend to your own cats if you also use the site.

Want to learn more about Seph?  Click here to visit his page!

Why I'm Not a Fan of Fireworks

After dealing with fireworks for two nights in a row, I must say that my tolerance for them is even less than before.  Due to budget cuts, our town chose to cancel the official fireworks show this year.  As a result, there were more amateur fireworks than usual.  In Ohio, it is legal to buy fireworks, but illegal to set them off, which is just one of many laws in the state that are completely perplexing to me.  Regardless, each year, people set them off everywhere without suffering legal consequences.  I believe that people should not be legally barred for doing anything that does not harm anyone other than themselves, but most of the time there are kids and pets nearby as they go off, leading to potential endangerment.

  

All of our pet's ears move to the side or
back when startled

There were more fireworks last night and they were louder (and closer) than the night before.  Kita refused to go outside last night after a few fireworks had gone off.  When we managed to drag him out and put him on his leash, he would not move from directly outside the door.  As a result, he went to bed without going to the bathroom, whined this morning, and is still refusing to venture into the yard.  Zoey hid in my closet while the fireworks were going off.  Seph behaved very strangely; his eyes grew large with each sound and his heart was beating rapidly.  He made sure that all of us were under his constant supervision last night, so he didn't take his evening naps.  Unfortunately, this didn't cause him to postpone his 7 AM breakfast time!

What really matters is that all of us are safe at home, and I am grateful for that.  Hopefully the fireworks won't continue throughout the weekend, but it is very possible, based on past experience, that they will. As long as no one gets hurt, I can't complain much.

Want to get to know Kita better?  Click here to visit his page!

Have a great day

Since it is a busy day for many, I didn't want to take up too much of your time.  If you are celebrating the 4th of July, please make sure that your pets are safe at home.  It is the day that the most pets go missing out of the year.

This is a picture from today.  We found Kita laying directly behind Seph in the same position as him.  He loves to copy that cat!

Want to get to know Kita better?  Click here to visit his page!

Per Kita's Request

Kita has a new page about dogs that he wants you to visit today, so I promised that I wouldn't blog about cat adoption.  Enjoy!  Also: Kita's on Buzzfeed

Click Here to Visit Kita's New Page

Some Cats Accept Dogs

One of my other posts was dedicated to the relationship between Kita and our cat, Zoey.  Zoey despises Kita, but luckily, our tuxedo cat, Seph, is more tolerant.

For the record, I understand why our cats aren't particularly fond of Kita...he is about 6 times their size and never watches where he is walking or running.  When we brought Kita home as a puppy, Seph was only a little smaller than him and he quickly let Kita know who the boss was....him, obviously not us humans!  Since he was just a puppy, Kita has tried very hard to get Seph to play with him by placing or throwing his toys near the cat.  Seph is never amused, and then Kita gets scared to get his toy back because he is a bit afraid of the cat's reaction.

Kita is in love with both of our cats and is waiting until the day they will be willing to cuddle with him.  He thinks he is very stealth about this.  He's learned that if Seph is on the ground, Kita can lay down a good distance away, and then inch closer to Seph whenever his eyes close.  This tactic doesn't really work out, as Seph knows what is going on at all times, and when Kita is just about to touch him with his nose or paw, Seph gets up and moves.  Likewise, if Zoey ventures out into our living room, Kita slowly moves closer to him but doesn't get nearly as close.  

If Kita bothers Seph these days, he is likely going to get smacked, but the thing is Kita usually can't even feel it with his thick fur and just continues whatever he happens to be doing.  If Seph is particularly annoyed with Kita, he'll aim for his nose without using his claws as a warning.  Then Kita throws a little temper tantrum where he sways back and forth and sits down with a sigh.  Life as a dog in a home with only cats is rough.

My advice for cat owners that want to get a large dog but are nervous to try would be to get a young puppy.  Kita was young enough to be trained to defer to the cats at all times, because we knew he could very easily hurt them if he wanted to, and some Huskies have hurt cats in the past.  Kita is very gentle and loving to all of us, including our tortoise, so we can trust him, but we did take time to make sure that he was not aggressive through training and monitoring.

If you want to adopt a dog (or a cat), visit Petfinder and look at the many shelter pets that need homes near you. I'm also happy to answer any questions if you have them!

Want to get to know Kita better?  Click here to visit his page!

Want to learn more about Seph?  Click here to visit his page!