Welcoming Major!

I am a huge fan of cats. My husband is a big fan of dogs. My husband and Anna have taught me to love dogs...and he's hoping I'll learn to love football. I taught my husband to love wine.....and maybe, just maybe Major is teaching him to love cats too.

Last Friday we drove to the nearest large town in order to spend part of a day away and to attempt to find new running shoes for the husband. While there we ventured over to Petsmart to comparison price dog food and to look for toys that the dog wouldn't be able to chew up quite as easily. And I'll totally admit it...I wandered into the cat adoption center...and fell in love...with Major. He was much larger than the other cats there (although he's supposedly only 9 months) and his personality reminded me so much of our dog--somewhat independent and able to entertain himself, yet he demonstrated his love to me by chewing on my hand. He officially won me over when he spent a good ten minutes playing with nothing more than a big feather. However that day we left the store empty handed and I have to admit, I left the store rather heavy hearted.

When I woke up the next morning still wanting him, the husband decided we should go back for him. So I put in a call to Petsmart to make sure he was still there, and the manager broke the rules and put him on hold for us to guarantee we could get him after our 50 minute drive. We also brought the dog along, hoping we could see how they would interact before bringing him home for sure. While probably not the most financially or environmentally savvy to drive all the way back to pay the "donation" fee for a humane society cat, we have thoroughly enjoyed having him here. When we really thought about it, his donation fee covered his neutering, all his shots for the year, and a month's worth of flea and heartworm medication---which was probably over $100 cheaper than paying for all of that ourselves by picking up a stray cat. We also saved money by transporting him home in his covered litter box and therefore didn't have to pay for a carrier or $9 for a cardboard box for that purpose. (Luckily both animals travel really well--something that will be very worthwhile on our eventual move back to Oregon.) And there's something nice about adopting shelter pets and providing them with a home, especially when we've received so much entertainment and love in return.

The two critters continue to get used to one another. Anna's got a little more playful tendencies than Major might like sometimes, but he's often the one who is egging her on. So as much as there is increased silence in our house due to the fall season, there are also moments full of barks, purrs, hisses, and yelps! We're still adjusting to litter box mode (my childhood cat had been primarily outdoor and always let us know when she needed out in order to go), although since that's my job the husband is much more inclined to clean up after the dog! ;-) For the most part I try to do it all in one swoop every day to cut down on the amount of baggies we're throwing into the trash, and I'm hopeful I can look into some more environmentally friendly cat litter options.

While I'm still on the animal post, I thought I'd share the link to Rhonda of Down to Earth's great dog biscuit recipe. These are the ones I made for Anna before going on my trip and I'll need to make some more this coming week. I used peanut butter for the flavoring which she seemed to enjoy. Since we didn't have powdered milk, I used a lil bit of regular milk and then had to add more oats and flour to the mix in order to get it to the right consistency. My cookie cutters are quite large so I just cut out little squares and triangles for her that were about the size of the other dog biscuits we'd been giving her.

I'm wanting to look into other natural pet recipes, bathing, and treat ideas. One of the articles my husband and I read lately discussed the lack of regulation over pet products and how independent testing has shown a decent percentage of said products contain toxins. While I recognize that my dog is only estimated to have a 7-10 year lifespan, I don't really want to be doing too many things to damage or lessen a happy and healthy life for her. Currently we are using the pet shampoo that the humane society gave us for free for the dog, but I wonder if anyone has any "natural" suggestions? Or does anyone know of any books that discuss this stuff?

Happy petting to all of you from all of the craziness here in our household!