Sh*t. There is not too much else to say. I wanted to go for a walk to relax and my toddler and hubby decided to join me. In a matter of half a second my plans went from happy walk to major cleanup…. hence the sh*t.

These are her pants, gloves, boots and coat. This photo does not come close to showing the extent of the muddy mess. I swear.

We had to disrobe my daughter before she could go inside. My husband had to run into the mud to fish her out though before we could do that. Did I mention that she ran into it and SAT DOWN? Yep. In the mud. She SAT IN THE MUD…. and got stuck. My hubby had to retrieve one of her boots that was being sucked down to the depths of the earth after first retrieving the kid.

Hubby's Shoes

I am just really glad that I didn’t have to go in after them, because I wasn’t really feeling the idea of wandering out into the mud. They probably would have had a very long wait. Sheesh.

I have always felt that the vast majority of cases where an owner is having a problem with an animal can be corrected with behavior modification in a kind way. I do not believe in using unnecessary, and sometimes cruel, treatments to correct unwanted behavior. In fact, most of the time, the problem lies with the owner, not the animal. Let me also quickly mention that for those of you who think I am talking about things I know nothing about, you’re wrong. I do know what I am talking about. I am not as much of an expert as some professionals, but I am a Certified Animal Behaviorist. With that said, let me tell you about declawing.

Declawing is a barbaric, cruel practice that should only be done in the most extreme of circumstances. All of the people I have spoken with that tell me they declawed their cats, did it because they were tired of shredded furniture and people. However, in nearly all of those case they no longer had shredded furniture, but they did have other (often worse) behavioral issues after declawing their cat. Unfortunately, sometimes the issues that come after a cat has been declawed are so much worse that the cat ends up in a shelter.

I want to share some ways that I know of to correct unwanted scratching and other claw-related behaviors, but first let me explain what declawing actually is. Many people are under the impression that it is simply removing the claws, kind of like pulling off our fingernails. This is not the case, because their claws are attached to bone, not skin like our fingernails. While I think that would be awful enough to justify never doing it, it is actually much worse. When a cat is declawed everything up to the first joint is amputated, including tendons, ligaments and bone. The cat has the ends of their toes amputated. It is comparable to having the ends of our fingers, up to the first joint, removed. Here is a visual:

There are many countries in which declawing is already illegal and I hope that one day the United States follows suit. Already many veterinarians in the US refuse to declaw pets unless there are very specific circumstances for it. In fact, I just read a great article by a veterinarian blogger. Read the blog post here. He is against declawing and he offers some important information on it as well.

There are many alternatives to declawing. I personally use two methods two control the scratching issue with my two cats. First, I keep their nails trimmed, so that they cannot inadvertently scratch anything and so if they do intentionally scratch anything the damage is not bad. Second, I teach them what they are allowed to scratch and what they are not. My cats have a scratching post and a huge cat castle that has multiple scratching posts on it. I trained them immediately after adopting them to use the posts. When your cat scratches somewhere they are not supposed to, you tell them “no” in a firm voice and then immediately take them over to their post (or wherever else you want them to scratch.) I even demonstrate how to scratch on the post. Rubbing catnip into it is helpful too. It is time consuming, but worth it. You signed up for time consuming responsibilities the moment you brought a cat into your home anyway. When you see your cat scratching in an appropriate place give them plenty of praise and reward them with a treat.

You can deter unwanted scratching in a number of ways:

• You can also use soft paws, which are covers you apply to the nails. Check out their website here.
• A spray bottle filled with water.
• An empty soda can with coins in it that you shake once when they begin to scratch in an unwanted area.
• Canned air that you spray. (You can even set canned air up to spray automatically when a cat approaches a certain area if they have a favorite spot they scratch that you do not want them to.)
• Aluminum foil placed over the area or doubled sided-tape (there are pet specific products you can buy as well.)
• Citrus sprayed on the area you do not want them to scratch. You can either use a citrus scented air freshener or use citrus juice in a water bottle (Check for color change on some fabrics and do not use near litter boxes or food, because it can create an aversion to them.)
• Try different things for them to scratch. My cats do not like sisal, but they adore carpet. They also like posts, but not flat scratch pads. Every cat is different, so you need to be willing to try several different things.
• Make their post (or whatever it is) easily accessible. If you hide it in a back room where the cat does not go very often, they will use something else.

I can think of many other ways to prevent unwanted scratching, but this post is too long already. If you are having a cat scratching problem, comment or email me and I can give you more ideas. Just remember to consider the problem and solutions very carefully. Scratching is a normal behavior for cats. If you absolutely hate scratching, then don’t get a cat.

I get Bountiful Baskets every week and I picked up ours this morning. We got a lot of really great stuff. Among everything, there was a fresh pineapple, several large white onions, several HUGE green peppers, and a few HUGE red peppers too. I wanted to try a new recipe and I found the perfect one that used all of those ingredients! Here is the link to Sweet & Sour Veggie Medley on DigitalRedX’s blog.

IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! It makes a lot, so use a big pan. It is also one of the most beautiful, colorful recipes I’ve ever made. Note: I used fresh pineapple instead of canned, and I juiced some of my leftover pineapple to make the 1/2 Cup juice it calls for, but I didn’t change anything else. It has so much flavor and it is going to be in regular rotation at my house from now on! Here’s a photo of mine before I devoured it:

Why do some people even bother to own pets when they aren’t going to take care of them? It seems like in every neighborhood there is a family with a dog they keep chained outside in blizzards and scorching heat. It’s despicable and reprehensible. Then there are the people who wake up one morning and say, “Hey! You know what would be great? A dog!” They go to a pet store, pick out the cutest puppy and take it home. The next thing they know, the dog is really ill from parvo or it has massive behavior issues or it has a personality and breed type that’s opposite of their lifestyle. Haven’t they ever heard of puppy mills? Do they not know that different dog breeds have different characteristics?

You also have the idiotic and insensate group of people who buy pets on holidays and give them up to a shelter (if the animal is even semi-lucky) a few months later when the novelty has worn off. Just because it’s Easter, it doesn’t mean your kid needs a cute, little, fluffy rabbit. That tiny, little fluff ball is going to get bigger and require more care in a few months. What then?

There are plenty of examples of various times in history when people saw an animal featured in a movie or a popular celebrity owned one, or whatever, and it peaked their interest. Unfortunately, after bringing said animal into their home, they realize the work involved and are dismayed. That animal is then left abandoned and without a home. Did you know that when 101 Dalmatians came out many years ago, lots of people went out and bought dalmatians only to abandon them when they weren’t replicas of Pongo and Perdy? Within a few months the shelters were flooded with dalmatians. When Paris Hilton started to strut around on her own tv show with a dog in a purse, guess what people did? They mimicked her and now, ten years later, the shelters have seen a very large increase in the number of miniature dogs abandoned. Nearly 900,000 are euthanized each year in the US alone. These dogs suffer in other ways too (see article at the bottom of the post.) As soon as President Obama got a Portugeuse Water Dog, the breed’s popularity went up. Why? Because it’s the latest fad. Animals are not fads!

Don’t even get me started in Pit Bulls. The American Staffordshire Terrier, as it is more properly called, is a wonderful dog. They are not born killers or any other nonsense. All dogs, regardless of their breed, are born good dogs. People make mean dogs. If you treat your dog with dignity and respect, train it properly, exercise it regularly, spay/neuter it, etc. you will not have an aggressive, dangerous dog. Pit bulls were chosen by people for dog fighting because of the way they are built and the fact that they are one of the most powerful dog breeds, not because they enjoy eating people or attacking at random. People could just have easily have chosen a different breed and it would have the same stigma. People need to stop making assumptions and get informed before forming an opinion! It might help if the media didn’t dramatize everything too. If a labrador or a golden retriever attacked someone, it’s not likely to end up on the nightly news. However, if a pit bull attacks someone, it will probably become a national news story. Good grief.

I read an ad in our local paper once and I was astounded. It said, “FREE–I have a juvenile rooster. I don’t want it. I don’t care if you want it for a pet or to eat, just come get it.” Really? You don’t care if someone wants to kill it and eat it for dinner (who eats roosters anyway?) as long as someone comes and gets it off your hands? Ridiculous. It leaves you wondering how they ended up with a rooster in the first place.

People need to understand that owning a pet is a huge responsibility and it isn’t a decision that should be made on a whim. You need to thoroughly research the animal (and breed!) that you are thinking of bringing into your home. You need to be willing to take care of that animal for the rest of it’s life. You have to consider the financial and time commitments involved. You need to think about whether or not you are going to still want that animal in five years when your life changes. You need to be willing to put forth the effort to properly care for and train the animal. The list goes on and on and on. These are things we need to teach our children. People might not make such ignorant decisions if their parents had taught them differently.

Check out these links for proof that stupid pet owners and uneducated people exist:

• Puppies Keep Catching Parvo
• Pit Bull Kills Pregnant Woman
• Where Are Hollywood’s Handbag Hounds Today?
• Aggressive Dog Breeds-The real criminals don’t have four legs.
• Starving Dogs Eat Owner

One of my cute kitties has developed an affinity for Baby First TV. I turn it on for my toddler, but my cat watches too.