Nature of the Beast

Everyone in our house behaves according to their nature. I like to think that I'm the adult, in charge of myself and sometimes in charge of Alex and George, depending on their whim of the moment. Alex will always tell me when I'm wrong about that, but George has a different approach. George worries about stuff.

He worries when the gardner comes, because they make a lot of noise. When they are close to whatever window he's in he runs to hide. He worries when the dogs bark, as they do at other dogs or people walking down the street. He worries if he sees a suitcase because it means someone is leaving. He worries when he can see the bottom of his dry food bowl. Alex doesn't worry about any of those things. He lets met know when he wants attention, when he wants food, when he wants to go out(which never works, he is a strictly indoor cat), and if he wants to be left alone. Otherwise his world is one long nap in various places, depending on the sun. Sometimes he bats the silver cat nip mouse he got at the vet, sometimes he chases a wadded up tea bag wrapper. But he's fine with just about anything.

They're both cats but completely different in how they behave in their environment. George will hide when we have visitors, Alex will inspect them, smell them, try to get on their laps and generally make it known that he is present. He's an extrovert. George is an introvert. They have distinct personalities.

I am always amazed by people who think of pets as 'animals', with nothing but instinct to guide them. All they need to do is pay attention to the nearest dog or cat. They have many of the foibles and graces of humans, including a sense of humor.

I read something recently about a law being considered in Switzerland, allowing animals to have legal representation, for what I don't know. But it's an interesting question. Maybe one we should be asking.

Doggie Massage

Now I have to admit there is some snickering when Poky goes to get her massage. People always stop and ask “Is this for real?” And they laugh. But it works. Dogs have muscles and joints too, and they can be just as troublesome as the human ones. They become tight as one grows older and doesn’t exercise as much, they can be injured and cause a lot of pain. They can make it difficult to walk, or jump or just find a comfortable way to lie down.
Our team was fortunate to find Ed Oliver, who does Sports Massage, and sets up a booth at the Farmers Market in Scottsdale on Saturdays. Ed used to do massage for a member of the Diamondbacks and his family, and they happened to have 2 Rottweilers. One day he was a bit early and while waiting decided to give one of the dogs a quick rub down. The next time he came the dogs expected a massage too, and after that the dogs had to have their massage first, before he could work on anyone else. He bought some books and learned a bit about dogs and their bodies, and his dog massage business was born.
Poky can get excited if real food is involved and had twisted her back leg a while back, while leaping to show interest in a burrito. At least that’s what we think happened, because a dog can’t really tell you. We go to the Farmers Market most weekends to buy organic veggies and see what other goodies are out there, and noticed this guy who was massaging a dog. Helen talked to him about it and brought Poky the next weekend. I have to admit that I thought it was a little wacko myself.
Ed put her up on the table, he has a separate table for the dogs that’s just a table, and gently started to work on her. He found some very tight muscles, with knots, around her hips. He’s worked on her for a couple of weeks now, and she’s back to jumping for snacks and walking a mile every day. She gets excited now when we get in the car to go to the market and last weekend was giving Mr. Ed kisses to show her approval.
I decided that if it’s doing the dog so much good I might try it too, so last weekend I had a massage. It’s kind of weird, lying on the table under a plastic tent and having people stop and stare, but it felt really good. Loosened up stuff that I didn’t even know was tight. I think my next appointment will be in the office though, just because. I don’t mind promoting the dog massage business by telling the people who stop how much good it’s done for Poky but I feel kind of strange when they’re talking about me. They pretty much ask the same questions. ..
Alex thinks this is all a waste of time and effort. Any cat knows more about relaxation than 20 humans.

Welcome to our blog!

Alex is Alexander Trebec Cat, and Linda is Linda Stephens. Together, with other members of our team, Rosie, Poky, Angel (the Devil Dog), George and Helen, we'll talk about pets and pet sitting. Today we're going to talk about our experiment with organic pet food.

The canine members of our team are Rosie and Poky, who are sisters, half Bichon and half Chihuahua, and Angel, who is a small terrier of a mystery mix. Rosie and Poky are 9 years old and Angel is 6. They are all small dogs, and had for years eaten a prescription dog food because Poky had a digestive defect. Her vet had recommended a predigested dog food and it was easier to feed everyone the same food than to try and feed one dog something different. Dinner time was not an exciting event around our house, cause dinner was not exciting. Same old thing, every time. The girls would sometimes just not eat it, leave it in the dish overnight, maybe take a day to eat one serving. They did get excited over whatever Linda and Helen were having for dinner, no matter what it was, cause it sure smelled better than their food. Alex and George eat on the counter, because cat food is ambrosia to dogs(more protein). There was a lot of unhealthy snacking, with the dogs eating things that weren't good for them or to them. Poky was overweight and moved slowly, with hip problems and occasional diarrhea.

This year we all made a resolution to eat better, so we decided to go organic. Helen and Linda started eating organic food. After a week or two they felt better, and were amazed by how much better everything tasted. Helen read a wonderful book, by Martin Goldstein, DVM, called 'The Nature of Animal Healing'. Dr. Goldstein is a holistic vet and made a study of pet food, and some of the things he found were pretty disgusting. So Helen started to make her own dog food,using organic ingredients.

Rosie, Poky and Angel were started off with a mixture of rice and meat, and gradually other ingredients were added. Within a week, Poky was friskier, and the chronic joint pain which had plagued her for the last year was better. She lost weight, and her digestion improved. In a month, everyone has gotten healthier and happier, and they all look forward to meals. The dogs are walking a mile every day, and love going to the park.

Alex and George, on the other hand, are not so adaptable, and we're still working on getting them to go organic. George especially is not fond of change. He wants things to stay the same. Alex eats a little canned food, but prefers dry food, and has switched over to an organic brand, but George is our holdout. We're experimenting with mixing the good stuff with what he's used to eating and making the change slowly. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

If you have tried organic food let us know. We have some good recipes.

That's it for today, and tomorrow we'll talk about dog massage.