A major study has found that consciousness continues after a person is clinically dead. Many of us want to know the answer to the question about whether or not we continue on in some way, whether it’s a matter of faith or a matter of curiosity. While this might not seem related to the topics of pets, there is a tie in with my book “Living With Them” and the examination of the biblical references to animals having a spirit and what God tells us. There are a significant number of us who also believe that our pets not only have a spirit but are also conscious of their lives and when it ends.

There are situations that we all face where something happens or has happened that we observe or experience that we know is different from what we expect. As I write “Living With Them”, I have been speaking with many people that have had experiences after the death of their pets that indicate to them – and they believe it – that there is something that continues after death. Whether or not you are a Christian and believe in the afterlife, there is certainly something going on.

The shock research has also uncovered the most convincing evidence of an out of body experience for a patient declared dead.

It had been believed the brain stopped all activity 30 seconds after the heart had stopped pumping blood around the body, and that with that, awareness ceases too.

Lead researcher Dr Sam Parnia said: “Contrary to perception, death is not a specific moment but a potentially reversible process that occurs after any severe illness or accident causes the heart, lungs and brain to cease functioning.

Of the 2,060 patients from Austria, the US and the UK interviewed for the study who had survived cardiac arrest, almost 40 per cent said that they recall some form of awareness after being pronounced clinically dead.

Read the rest….

Digital StillCamera

If you’ve ever “owned” a cat you know that they get embarrassed when they miss a jump or otherwise screw up during one of their world class stunts. Rant pets has a post all about the subject.

Read More….

My old Lab, Maddigan Lucy was a world champion eater. She once got an entire loaf of bread down in less than 2 minutes. Pizza? Gone. Once, she ate two weeks worth of protein powder in a flash. Not to mention the occasional wallet (oddly, $1 and $5 go through the digestive tract of labs intact. $20 and $50 not so much.)

Well, the science guys have figured out that labs have an eating gene.

Read more….

“Hail! King Louis! You were dearly loved. R.I.P. 2006-2016,” Gifford, 62, posted along with a photo of the Bichon Frise donning a gold crown.

Louis is survived by his two canine buddies Bambino and Lola. Gifford has always spoken highly of her canine clan, counting the pups among her friends.

Gifford’s Twitter feed

People Magazine article

The late Sweetie Pie

When a family member needed thousands of dollars worth of dental work, she turned to a company that specializes in credit for dental work with little or no interest and great payment options. But what about our pets? Many times when a pet gets older, just like us humans they need extra health care because of age related illnesses.

I would imagine that there are a good number of people that just put the pet down because they can’t afford the medical care. That is a very sad situation for many people. I can’t imagine having to make that choice and I am grateful that I don’t have to. There are options for limited or fixed income pet owners – and it’s a great idea to point out this article or others to friends and family members that face this situation.

Let’s take a look at some options. We’re not promoting any of these options – this is for informational purposes only.

CareCredit

In my home, we’ve used CareCredit for dental work – they’re a lifesaver when it comes to procedures that you would prefer not to use a credit card for. CareCredit has a veterinary credit line as well that’s worth looking into before you need it.

CareCredit has what they call “promotional” zero interest rate financing for 6, 12. 18 and 24 months depending on how much you charge to your CareCredit account. You should know that CareCredit charges 26% interest if you don’t pay the balance in the time allotted.

CareCredit veterinary

In Memory of Magic

In Memory of Magic (IMOM) is a well known charity that can help with one time costs, spay and neutering and helping with chronic illnesses in pets through their organization.

IMOM is named after a cat named Magic and in the cat’s memory.

IMOM

The Pet Fund

From The Pet Fund website: The Pet Fund is a registered 501(c) 3 nonprofit association that provides financial assistance to owners of domestic animals who need veterinary care. Often animals are put down or suffer needlessly because their owners cannot afford expensive surgery or medical treatment.

The were started in 2006 as a charity that helps people with financial aid when they cannot afford the care that their companion pet needs. They also work with pet owners matching them with clinical trials of medications for conditions their pet may have.

The Pet Fund

Here is a state by state listing of financial assistance groups as well as cat/dog and breed specific assistance programs.

I have had pets all my life from dogs and cats to rabbits, birds, fish and lizards. And a bug. A water beetle I named “Beetle Baily” who lived in a 2 gallon jar that I had to change the water in every couple of days which had some water plants in it. Luckily we had a river on our property so it wasn’t hard work for a 8 year old.

There was a study done in 2006 that was called: People and Their Pets: A Relational Perspective on Interpersonal Complementarity and Attachment in Companion Animal Owners.

According to an old joke, dogs and cats can be understood by the basic mani- festation of their world views: Regarding guardians (owners) a dog thinks:

“This person’s great. She feeds me, she pets me, and she plays with me. She must be a god”!

A cat, on the other hand, thinks: “This person’s great. She feeds me, she pets me, and she plays with me. I must be a god”!

The implication in this joke is that dogs and cats have personalities that are distinctive and effective in their relationships with humans. Despite a dearth of scientific theory or evidence to support their beliefs, pet owners—on an intuitive level—frequently categorize themselves as either “cat people” or “dog people.” Those personality characteristics that distinguish these two categories of companion animal attachment, however, remain vague and ill-defined.

Writing a book using WordPress is turning out to be an experience as good as I had hoped it would be. Being able to write on any device either in the browser or via the WordPress app is a great experience for a writer.

Obviously, I do a lot of writing using WordPress over the years for journalism and opinion column writing and as a HTML editor – once you remove your mental imitations, the sky is the limit.

But once you start writing a book using WordPress, you have to do the same thing that you do with your computers and devices – you need to back up your work.

I’ve found that the best and easiest way to do this is to use the Aspose plugin and download it to whatever device you happen to be writing on at the moment and then do whatever you like best with the file. Myself, I upload it to Google Drive as a poor man’s backup solution rather than using my normal backup softare (it gets backed up anyways) so I have access to that particular version of the chapters.

You certainly don’t have to use the Apose plugin to achieve getting a copy of your work – you can copy/paste it as well, however, I’ve found that Apose does a perfect job of converting the book into the format I want it in so I go that route.

If you’ve been reading these WordPress book writing posts you know that I started using WordPress to do the writing because it’s a fumbling, stumbling pain to try to cloud the files because of having to use different software on different devices and that most cloud solutions for doing this are cumbersome to use. I much prefer coming to the website and just wriitng rather than opening different software, downloading the cloud version, opening it, writing, saving it, clouding it back up and then wonder why I was only able to write one paragraph in the time allotted.

Next up, remodeling your kitchen with WordPress!

Digital StillCamera

Quick…what’s the worst thing you can do during an emergency involving your cat? Panicking.

In an interview with Denise Fleck, Pet Safety Crusader™, Victoria Geager asked her what are the three most important cat emergency tips that she can come up with. And here they are:

What are three tips you can give us to help prevent or prepare for a cat emergency?

1. A calm YOU along with a towel and muzzle. Cats pick up on our energy, so take a deep breath but ahead of time…learn basic cat first aid!

2. Of course I’m going to say your Cat’s First Aid Kit, but…Pumpkin puree or dehydrated pumpkin/apple fiber.

3. Also a covered bathroom garbage can. I’ll bet this one surprises you, but many cats choke or worse on used dental floss!

Read the rest….

As we wind our way through mother’s day wherein all moms are celebrated as part of the Hallmark marketing machine, despite it’s dark origins according to National Geographic which was for mothers of dead soldiers and a peace movement:

However, as pet owners also turn our attention to mothers in the animal world and take a look at the best and worst of them.

While nine months may seem like forever for some human mothers, pregnancy lasts much longer for many animals. So be glad that you’re not a rhino, who’s pregnant for 16 months or a sperm whale. Be even more glad that you’re not an elephant who’s just a little bit overdue: Last year, an elephant gave birth at a British zoo after being pregnant for 700 days. Yes, that’s almost two years.

Mammals don’t have the worst of it, either: An alpine salamander’s pregnancy can last three years, and it’s believed that the frilled shark may carry offspring for three and a half years.

Every neighborhood has that overachieving mom who makes everyone else feel bad, and the same is true for the animal kingdom. Most cold-blooded animals have an enviable mothering style — like frogs, who lay thousands of eggs, and then abandon them, figuring that at least a few will survive on their own.

What to feed the kids is always a source of contention for competitive moms. Our fellow mammals have no choice but to breast-feed, and if you found it hard, be thankful that you’re not a harp seal. They nurse their young for 12 days without eating, losing about seven pounds per day. It’s an effective post-pregnancy diet plan, but not a very pleasant one.

Read more….

 

After three long days, a 5-week-old kitten was saved from a manhole on a busy street in Phoenix. The Arizona Humane Society first got a call about meows coming from the street on Friday, but when they arrived on the scene, they couldn’t hear or see anything.

Read more….