My cat is angry :D

Cats are funny. My cat had a best friend who moved away a few weeks ago and she has no one to play with. Yes there are many other cats in the area but that was her best "bud."

So who gets blamed for Frodo not being here? Me! It's also my fault that it's gone into the 20's at night and that we've had hail, wind and monsoons during the day. Or at least it feels like I'm to blame.

Sheba, my cat, comes in and jumps all over the things in my office - my desk, window sill, and printer - then she sits and plays with the monitor. She never did this before Frodo left and I am trying very hard to convince her that she needs to learn to play nice with Angel - another cat her age. [It's like tying to get your child to play with a kid he or she does not like very much.]

Angel's dad and I laugh that since Frodo left, the two female cats have lessened the hissing distance between them - now they hiss from 3 feet away as opposed to 10 or more feet. I guess that's progress.

I'll be happy when she finds a new best bud to play with - outdoors - I do not make a good play partner for a cat - neither does my dog who tends to ignore her...[But then he is not at a desk with a computer and monitor - so ignoring is easy for him :D]

Any ideas? Please leave comments...thanks

Holidays

I love Thanksgiving now that I am an adult. As a child, I did not like it as we spent the day with relatives and I was usually bored - [it was the pre-TV days].

Most of those relatives were not child oriented and had nothing around for me to do. As I got older and said no to those family outings, my parents invited them to our house - and at least then I could disappear into my room and had "stuff" to amuse me - or I could skip out and go to some friend's house or they to mine.

After I moved to Boston, I started doing Thanksgiving with friends and those friends became family. My mother came up sometimes but then she moved to Florida and the visits were less frequent for Thanksgiving...

Now Thanksgiving is a neighborhood pot luck. It started several years ago - before my arrival - and is a fun filled afternoon - good food, good wine and beer and super company...Almost no one plans on going anywhere for Thanksgiving - we stay put and have a day of food and friends and these are things for which we are all thankful.

What are you thankful for this year? Health? wellness? friends? pets? There is a lot to be thankful for and Thursday is the main day for giving thanks -

but giving thanks is something we can do everyday - all year long!

Mothers and Flashbacks

My mother was born in August and died in August - so maybe that's why I have been having random flashbacks about her of late.

We used to speak on the phone most every Sunday and yesterday I had the urge to call her. I know she is dead - but wow was that a strong feeling...even after 7 years.

It was like after my father died, I'd be visiting my mother and I'd say something like - aren't we going to wait til dad comes home before we eat?

Maybe I'm odd - after all I was the one stepping over a space on the floor after my old cat died..I was sure she was there and underfoot. It was even weirder though when my dog also stepped over that same spot....

Or maybe we are wired to still see, hear and feel those people and pets who were once close to us...

Pets and stress - another thought

I know that pets can be calming...

That was the situation for me until my cat, Sheba, went missing for 4 days. You bet I got stressed by that!

She reappeared at 1 AM this morning - mewing loudly to come in. She was clean, dry and well fed. [This was as opposed to summer of 2006 when she went missing for 21 days and came home hydrated but skinny...]

When she is not home at night the dog lies by the door waiting for her.....and he is stressed...

I know there are those that say keep her in - but have you ever tried to keep an outdoor cat in? If I do try that, she runs under the dog's body when I open a door for him.... and in the Summer out here - all my doors are always open during the day so I'd have to lock her up somewhere - and if you knew my cat - you'd know that would be stress for both us us : - ).

Besides - all the cats in our moorage are out - playing and hunting together...we live in a one main street neighborhood and everyone knows everyone and whose cat is who's - and we don't worry much about cars...

After I sent out an email to friends and neighbors this morning about Sheba's return - I got a return email about a cat I have known for going on 18 years and who has cancer...so I called my friend back East and we cried together about her cat who was diagnosed about 6 months ago and seemed to have been doing well.

She and I have cried about our dead and dying pets for the last 25 years and this was no different. The conversation was more on the lines of when do you decide to "play g-d" and how long and under what conditions do you wait and see. She waited and saw 6 months ago and he perked up.....does she wait again? Is he in pain? Is it fair for her to want a little more time with him?

Tough questions and a lot to cry about and of course a lot of stress

And now - bad pet food

I've written a lot about bad food and cosmetics for people - so it should not be a surprise that this news now comes along.....

Many of us have pets - they keep us happy and healthy - check what you are feeding them just as you watch what you feed you

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths....

The recall covers the company's "cuts and gravy" style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between December 3 and March 6 throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico...

The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc.

full article HERE

The company has a list of the recalled food for dog and cats - HERE

What keeps you young?

Aging is a universal process...we can slow it's effects on our body and brain but we can't stop the process.

Every so often I see an article about what helps us stay functioning and healthy and what is bad for us.

When I read of "bad" stuff in food and cosmetics I get more angry at Federal Agencies that "allow" a certain level of "bad" stuff in our food, air water and other things. It's called an "acceptable" level....but as we know what is acceptable and safe for one person may be poison to another...

So in the face of all this- what does keep one young?

For example -

I read coffee is bad for me and then I read that coffee is good for me...but I don't allow that to change my coffee habits...it energizes me and that makes me feel better and hence younger. But I have gone to mostly organic beans.

I love my pets and they keep me young...partly as I walk the dog which is good for me and him - but having pets is part of me and who I am...and if I ever had to live without a pet...that would be depressing and therefore age me.

I love to exercise and we know that keeps our hearts and bodies in better shape than if we sat around all day. But do I get as much exercise as I know I need? Nope...Like most it's easy for me to skip working out and it is something I most definitely am working on..I do go to my cycling class 2x a week so that's a good start... I try to remember how good I feel after that class and use that as a motivator...

And mentally - I have always been a crossword puzzle addict...now I read that's good for my brain : - )

So what keeps you young?

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