On Temporary Hiatus

This blog will temporarily be put on hiatus. Please enjoy prior postings in the mean time. If you would like to be notified of the return of this blog to active status, please subscribe by rss or email in the sidebar.

Thank you for your support!

Feeding Pets in Times of Economic Harship and Poverty - Blog Action Day 2008

Photo © Aurora Maravert
Welcome to Blog Action Day 2008. This year’s theme is Poverty.

For Feathers, Fins, and Fur I will be addressing how poor families with pets can find help.

Due to economic woes and natural disasters, many families are struggling to make ends meet. One of the concerns they face in providing for their family is providing for the family pet.

In some areas, pet food banks have been established to help families meet the needs of their pets. Families who cannot care for their pets are oftentimes faced with the painful choice to re-home their pet or give it up to an animal shelter.

Two such organizations are SaveOurPets and the Lowcountry Pet Food Bank of Charleston, South Carolina.

Some food banks that help families also receive limited pet food donations that they distribute to families in need. If you are able to donate pet food and supplies, please contact your local pet food bank or (people) food bank to make arrangements.

If you need help feeding your pet, please contact your local pet food bank or (human) food bank for more information and assistance. Your local animal shelter may also have information as to how to get help feeding your pet so you may keep it at home with you rather than have to re-home or give it up to the shelter.

Sometimes companies will send coupons and free samples to consumers who ask for them. Contact information for most pet food companies is available online – some company websites advertise special offers, coupons, and samples that are readily available.

A listing of various pet food companies and manufacturers is available from the vet medicine section of about.com.

The Montauk Monster

There has been quite a buzz generated about the decomposing carcass of a 'monster' that washed up along the shore of Montauk, Long Island. FoxNews called in animal expert Jeff Corwin to explain what the animal might be:



If the video does not display, try this LINK

Though I have not seen a good picture of this animal up close, based upon what I can see, I am thinking it is more likely a dog or something similar - remember that the corpse is decaying. Decomposition frequently makes ordinary critters look very different.

What do YOU think it is?

Foreclosures Make Homeless Pets; Play Games to Help

Image via WikipediaI read this beautiful article today, Foreclosures, Homeless Pets and One Remarkable Little Girl.

It is about a 10-year old girl that has created two games, backed by sponsors, which give donations of food to homeless pets. Its a remarkable story, and I hope you will read it.

Please support her efforts by taking a moment each day to play the games.

To feed homeless dogs
FreeKibble.Com - Bow Wow Trivia Game

To feed homeless cats
FreeKibbleCats.com

Make Firefox 3 Purr-fectly Cute with RedCats

I have been ‘playing’ with various features of Firefox, as I am currently writing a lot of “How-tos” about Firefox. One of the things I am exploring is the amazing selection of addons available for Firefox. I am like a kid in a candy store!

One of my favorite types of addons is themes. I have found two themes for the new Firefox 3 that are animal related, and they are really cute! They are unobtrusive, and just give your browser window and tool bars some color with a touch of whimsical fun. Wait ‘til you see what your status bar does!

To get your RedCats themes:

RedCats (green flavor) theme for Firefox 3

Red Cats (blue flavor) theme for Firefox 3

There are not any other ‘flavors’, and there will not be any in the future. As explained by the creator of the themes, Red_Fat_Lazy_Cat, on the download pages “Please note: I do NOT plan on releasing any other flavor of Red Cats so asking for a purple/gray/etc one is pointless.”

Though I personally prefer the color green to blue, I actually like the look of the blue 'flavor' better.

Happy downloading! Please let me know what you think of your new theme(s).

A New Episode of Simon's Cat: TV Dinner

Hooray! Another episode of Simon's Cat came out and it is too funny because is it so true!

Watch for yourself and see what I mean:


Simon's Cat by SimonsCat aka Simon Tofield

When Life Gives You Lemons, Lock Up the Cat

Photo © Kerry A. Adamo
I had read somewhere that one thing used to repel cats was orange scent because they don’t like citrus. It didn’t work with our cat, Fuzzy – he always tried to drink my orange juice.

He passed away, and later we got Keiko. She has turned out to be like Fuzzy in many ways even though she never knew him. Like him, she enjoys sticking her head into my cups to check out what I am drinking. If its water, I have to watch out, because she will try to share with me. Otherwise, until now I have been safe.

Today, I had some pink lemonade in my cup and she stuck her head in it. I was ready to start laughing at her, expecting to see her quickly pull her head back out with a disgusted look on her face.

Nope. She kept her head in my cup a little too long, and when I pulled it away from her she was licking her lips.

The darn cat burglar was drinking my pink lemonade! Think its weird? I found another cat owner with a lemonade thievin’ cat HERE.

I am not a proponent of giving animals people food, but I realize sometimes they have a mind of their own and will go to any lengths to swipe people food. What weird things does your critter try to steal and consume from YOU?