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Animal Experiences

An interesting email showed up today. It seems that World Animal Protection has teamed up with Airbnb to provide new animal experiences to travelers.

According to the email from World Animal Protection US, they have created an Animal Welfare policy to guide the new tours. They say there are now over 1,000 opportunities available for animal-friendly events inluding things like hiking with rescue dogs, and having tea with sheep.

As an animal lover, I’m really intrigued by this idea. Of course I would never want an animal to suffer for entertainment value, but if there is truly a way to leave animals in their natural environment and have human interaction, I think it could be a really awesome thing.

The email goes on to state that the activities will all be led by local hosts that include small farmers, rescue groups, scientists, vets, and wildlife photographers. The idea is that there will be experiences for people to enjoy observing animals in natural habitats.  Direct contact with any animal is prohibited, marine mammals can not be held in captivity, and there are guidelines for working animals.

“We know people love animals and want to see and experience them when they travel, but we also know they most want to see animals in a setting that respects their well-being.” Alesia Soltanpanah, Executive Director, World Animal Protection US

Thankfully, there will be no elephant rides or dolphin swims. I will be very curious to see what is offered.  What do you think?

Munk the Cat

Munk-Y Cat

I am a big believer in Adopt Don’t Shop, but here’s a little twist… the pet you think you want, may not necessarily be the right pet for you. My advice? Go looking for a new friend with an open mind. We no longer have Munk the cat, unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, but I will never forget his story.

Our whole family went to the local humane society to adopt a new kitten. We went into the cat room and played with the loose cat that was wandering around, and we looked for kittens. Unfortunately, no kittens were available for adoption that day. We continued to pat the adult cat that was loose in the room while we looked at the other adult cats that were there. Sadly, none of them caught our eye.

We hung out in a corner of the room for a minute to talk, should we wait until next weekend and check back? Should we try other shelters? As we talked, we all took turns patting the loose cat. The kids were disappointed, but it seemed the right kitten wasn’t there for us that day, so we headed for the door.

Slowly, we headed for the parking lot, then I stopped. My family turned to look at me. “Everything OK,” my husband asked. “Why don’t we think about adopting that cat that was loose?” was my reply. We all patted him, he followed us around the room. If we wanted a friendly, out-going cat, that guy was awesome.

We turned and went back in. The family went to see the cat again, and I went to the desk for an application. Sadly, another family was already at the desk filling out an application for Gunther, the cat we decided we wanted. The woman at the desk told me they always pick the best family for each animal and not the first family and she encouraged me to fill out the application anyway. As I stood there writing away, I heard the other people fighting about the cat. It was a Grandma, a Mom, and a boy. Grandma wanted to adopt a pet for the boy. The boy wanted a dog, the Mom said he could have a cat. Boy started screaming and yelling that he didn’t want a “Stupid” cat.

I finished the application, and the woman at the desk asked to talk to our whole family in the other room. We went with her and she went over our application with us. She told us that she thought we were a much better match for the cat than the other family, and she put him in a carrier for us.

Part of me felt bad for taking the cat from that other family, but I just knew this cat was going to be a perfect fit in our home, and he was. Maybe our taking him gave the other family a chance to figure out what kind of pet they really wanted.

Munk ended up being a super special cat. He loved everyone in the family. He would go sleep on my son’s bed at night, and then when my husband went to bed, Munk would move and come sleep on his feet. Munk taught us that adopting an adult cat could be even more awesome than adopting a kitten. We didn’t have to hope the kitten would grow up and be a good fit with our family. We had a ready-to-go cat that was already perfect.

PoochPack

As you may be able to guess, I’m kind of obsessed with all things pet. I saw a FaceBook ad a couple of weeks ago for “PoochPack.” Sounds cute, the items looked to be good quality, and I could try it out for just the cost of shipping. OK, I’m in!

I paid my $4.95 shipping, and within 3 days, my bright red package arrived. Cali and I were excited, new dog stuff! Well, our PoochPack consisted of one toy. I guess I didn’t read the small print well enough. I thought we got a sample box like the one they wanted me to subscribe to each month, but this is just a single toy.

The tugging bone looks fine. It seems to be well made, but I was a little disappointed that there weren’t treats or any of the other things I saw in an actual PoochPack. Guess I learned my lesson!

The stitching seems sturdy, the rope seems to be high quality, and the little rubber bone is cute.

Although my furry friend, Puck, would like to keep this for himself, we have decided to do a give away!

Give Away Details – share this blog with your pet loving friends, Like our Facebook Page, subscribe to my Instagram, PetMomma.co, and follow me on Twitter: @PetmommaC. Finally, leave me a comment here on the blog about what you like and what else you might like to see here. I’ll pick a winner by the end of October to receive this tug toy.

Pet Fountains?

Does anyone use a pet fountain for their dogs or cats? I always thought they were kind of a silly extravagance, but I have to say I’m a believer now, especially for cats.

I have two PetSafe water fountains, which I will review here soon. The truth is that cats need to drink, and most house cats don’t drink enough. Having had a cat that died from kidney disease, I’ve seen one of the problems of not drinking enough for myself.

Something about the moving water of a fountain attracts cats, and they tend to drink more.  That has certainly been true in my house. My cats love the fountain, one paws at the water, and splashes it as it comes down. Logan, loves to dip her paw in the running water and lick it off. I guess it is more lady-like to her than sticking her face in it. Either way, I see my cats drinking often, and that was never true with a regular water bowl.

Let me know if you’ve had any pet fountain experiences, thanks!

Pet Ness Treats

Who doesn’t love to give their pet treats? Mine are all spoiled with treats a few times a day.

Last week, my husband picked up some great pet samples for me at PepCom Tots & Tails in New York. Today’s treats are from Pet Ness. According to their website, Pet Ness developed because the owners wanted to give their pets the best possible quality of life. They have treats, biscuits, and tinctures, including a tincture for cats, all containing full spectrum hemp oil. The hemp oil is sourced in Colorado.

There is so much news lately about the benefits of CBD and hemp oil, so what’s the difference? In basic terms, hemp oil is a broad combination containing cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes to give the full benefits from the plant while CBD Oil is one cannabinoid that is isolated.

Cali, my 11 lb. morkie, has some anxiety and also some joint issues. I’ve been giving her CBD oil for several months now, and it definitely seems to help. I use it twice per day, dropped on her food.

Pet Ness offers tinctures that you can add to your dogs’ food, like I do, but they also offer treats that can be used for specific situations. For example, if you have a dog that stresses about visitors, or vet appointments, you could feed their calm treats about an hour before the appointment.

With names like Mobility, Thrive, Calm, and Happy, Pet Ness makes it pretty easy to figure out which treat might be the right one for your dog. Mobility is for joint care. Thrive is formulated for heart health. Calm has ingredients to help with anxiety, and Happy helps boost mood.

The first treat I checked out was Happy biscuits.  Happy contains 1.5mg of hemp oil per treat. Small dogs would get one treat while larger dogs could have up to three. I picked up the cute package and was overwhelmed with delicious smells when I opened it. Cali came right over to see what I had. I was trying to decide if I should taste one of these myself, they smell SO good! Happy treats are a vegan blend of oats, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots and more. They smell and look like a delicious little cookie. The treats are about an inch in diameter, and a lovely orange color with flecks in them, probably from the oats. They are hard and crunchy, but softer than a typical dog biscuit. My little Morkie had no trouble chewing it up. It didn’t take Cali long to learn the smell of these treats, and the second the bag opened she would appear from wherever she was napping hoping for another. They were definitely a hit!

Calm was the next treat I checked out. These have 4mg of hemp oil each along with chamomile, lamb, and palm fruit oil. These treats are formulated to help with anxiety, sleep issues, and to help calm tummies.  Like the other treats, it is recommended you feed 1-3 treats depending on the weight of your dog. The Calm treats have a stronger smell, a bit mineral-ish, kind of earthy. They are softer and smaller than the Happy treats.  Each one is a small little nugget, maybe half an inch long. They are drier and more crumbly than the first treats.

What did Cali think? Well, she didn’t come running when I opened the bag. The first time I fed her one she sniffed it and jumped back.  I wish I had a video! She picked it up in her mouth and kind of tossed it and then did a silly little doggy dance around it. Finally, she started rolling on it! I know others have dogs that find things outside and roll all over them, maybe trying to mask their own scent? Cali loves to roll on things, but I’ve never seen her roll on a treat. Why she chose to roll on this treat, I have no idea.

I’ve offered her the Calm treats a few more times, and they just aren’t her thing. Maybe it’s the lamb as it isn’t something I usually feed? Whatever it is, there is no way for me to see how she reacts to the ingredients if she won’t eat it.

Bottom Line: Happy Biscuits were definitely a hit. I like the all natural ingredients, my dog likes the taste, and the little bit of hemp oil is a nice bonus. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy the Calm treats, but maybe that is just my picky dog that won’t eat them. I do feel the crumbly soft chews are a little messy compared to the Happy Biscuits, and with the hemp oil concentration, I would like them to stay together better so I have a good idea of how much oil my pet is getting.

Both the soft Calm treats, and the Happy Biscuits are available on the Pet Ness website for $34.99 for 120 gm/4.23 ounces.  This seems a little pricey to me, but not out of line for a quality treat with lab-tested hemp oil.

Check them out at Pet Ness

Hector D. Byrd Arrives

If you haven’t read Hector Part 1, it’s just a little background on my history with birds.  The important thing to know is that my husband talked me out of rescuing a little Lovebird because he knew it would just fuel my fire for a bigger parrot. He figured we should skip the little parrot part and just get the bird I actually wanted.  I appreciated that!

The other important thing to know is that Hector is a girl. Both sexes of African Greys look the same, so the only way to tell the difference is with a blood test, or if the bird lays eggs. Hector was named before she laid her first egg, but she’s quite proud of her name, and didn’t want it changed.

Silly me thought it would be hard finding the right bird to add to our house. I start doing some research on bird rescues to see what was out there. My husband thought he was being funny and posted to Twitter about his decision to talk me out of a Lovebird and into an African Grey. The post was something about how he thought he might regret the decision, but it seemed like the right choice at the time. Be careful what you wish for!

The universe has a funny way of reacting to things some times, and the husband’s Tweet lead to a friend joking about how we should adopt the old Ambrosia Software parrot, Hector. Next thing you know, the guy that took Hector in when Ambrosia no longer wanted an office parrot was reaching out to my husband. John Magnus Champlin, from Ambrosia, had been working with Hector for a few years, and gave her a great start on moving from being an office ornament to actually figuring out how to be a pet. While John loved and cared for Hector, he also felt that he wasn’t a “bird guy” and hoped to find her a forever home someday.

My husband Dave runs The Mac Observer, Inc., a website about all things Apple. John loved the idea that Hector could move to another Tech home after being the Ambrosia mascot. So at 21 years old, Hector moved from New York to New Hampshire and became the new mascot for The Mac Observer.

John is a super caring guy, and insisted on driving Hector to us to help ease her transition. On the drive, John stopped for gas. It was a nice day, so he took Hector’s carrier out of the car for a little air. John says, “If I remember right they recognized the Ambrosia logo stickers and some other Apple related thing on my car and it spawned a conversation. They didn’t realize I was associated with the company. When they saw the bird and realized it was actually *the* Captain Hector it blew some minds.”

And Hector made her way to New Hampshire. She loves my husband, she loves my son, me? she tolerates. I’m the one who researches parrot diet, makes her homemade food with organic grains and fresh veggies, buys her toys, cleans her cage, and gives her the most attention, but she loves the boys. It’s OK, she mostly doesn’t bite me, and I love her.

When Hector first came to us, she rarely wanted to leave her cage although she would climb up on top to hang out and liked having her cage door open. She was super nervous about anything new.  If I bought a new toy, I had to hang it across the room for a couple of days, then slowly bring it closer to her cage. After a week, I could usually hang the new toy on the outside of her cage and then move it in after another couple of days. She is not a bird that likes change.

After five years with us, I’m happy to report that Hector is much more comfortable here, finally! She doesn’t really fly even though she could, but she loves to climb down from her cage and stroll around the house.  She chases the cats and looks for anything cardboard to chew up. While she has always talked and whistled, she is talking more than ever lately. I think she has finally realized that we are her forever people and she doesn’t have to move again. Maybe she’ll even learn to like me some day!