ARTICLE: Pets As Christmas Gifts: Good Idea Or Not?

(Originally published on Bubblews~December 22, 2013)

Bubblews Article

With the Christmas season upon us there probably is not a better way to express the idea of giving than to adopt a shelter pet and give the gift of life to that pet; this is especially true when adopting a pet in a high kill shelter. Whether a shelter pet is from a high kill shelter or a no-kill shelter, both types of shelters are overwhelmed and crammed with unwanted pets and by adopting a pet, especially during this time one is giving a chance for a new life, new home to that shelter pet. However! Is it a good idea or not?

The Pros:

I've had cats ever since I was five years old, in fact, my very first cat, a "tuxedo" cat, that is a black and white cat and named Babette, was adopted by my mother and yes, given to me as a Christmas gift. Babette became my animal companion and was to live throughout my elementary school years, junior high, high school and even college. I came from a background of people who were "pet" people and knew responsibility in taking care of pets. Since I was introduced to a pet at such an early age, I too learned the responsibility of having a pet and was to have many pets afterwards. To this day, I have two cats, the most recent is Ouija, a cat I adopted from the Grayson County Humane Society, a no-kill shelter all the way in Kentucky and was transported to me. I adopted him and he came into my life on December 1, 2012, so in effect, he was my Christmas present.

As I've indicated, whether pets are in a no-kill shelter or high kill shelters, both types of shelters are overwhelmed with too many pets and not enough people adopting them. The sad statistics for high kill shelters is that as many as one-hundred pets can be killed weekly in one high-kill shelter alone, multiply that by each and every high-kill shelters nationwide, it's not hard to understand that up to three to four million, yes, million cats and dogs are "euthanized" every year. (1)

Therefore by adopting a pet, especially from a high kill shelter at anytime of the year, one is indeed saving a life, and one can't help thinking what better time of the year to save a shelter pet's life than at the Holiday/Christmas time? So yes, adopting a pet at this time of the year and as a "gift" can be a true miracle, especially for that pet. What better way to celebrate Christmas?

The Cons:

There are of course the cons to the concept of adopting a pet as a gift for Christmas and it all has to do with how responsible the adopter and/or recipient of the pet is. The adopter has to realize, that when adopting a pet from a shelter and as a "gift" we're talking about a living creature with feelings and emotions; the pet isn't a disposable or returnable item or commodity.

I hate to say it, but to my mind, pet shelters can often be at fault as well as far as the concept of giving a pet as a gift during the holiday season. So many shelters, whether high-kill or no-kill, are always overwhelmed with too many pets in their shelters and not enough people interested in adopting a pet. What happens then is that during this time of the year, shelters will lower adoption fees, much in the same sense stores will do to entice people to buy commodities and therefore will have spectacular sales for their electronics, shoes, and so forth.

There's a big difference however; one can return an item that was given as a gift such as clothing if it's not the right size or color, but one shouldn't have the same mind-set with a pet; unfortunately this has become a sad fact, that yes indeed, many shelter pets adopted during the Christmas season are sooner or later often returned for a variety of reasons. Those reasons can be anywhere from that cuddly puppy or kitten is now grown and has lost it's "cute appeal, to perhaps the recipient of the "gift" pet not realizing the responsibilities and costs involved with owning a pet.

Bottom line: If one is thinking of adopting a pet as a gift, one needs to give real serious thought of what's involved. This is a living, breathing animal; a life, an addition to the family, and therefore, should be a member of the family for the remainder of the pet's life and not to be gotten rid of when no longer convenient.

Sources:

Shelter Pet Statistics: (1) http://www.humanesociety.org/animal_community/resources/qa/common_questions_on_shelters.html

Shelter Pet Statistics

IMAGE SOURCE~©DESIGN BY MELANIE NEER VIA PHOTOSHOP

Article: A Quick Cute Way To Make A Black Cat Halloween Decoration

Well this year has sure gone fast and Halloween is fast approaching, and I have to confess it's one of my favorite times of the year. Each and every year, I just love decorating for Halloween, not only in my home, but for my front door. Now of course I often buy Halloween decorations and have a fair sized collection of all kinds of decorations that I've bought over the years, but every once in awhile I decide to get a little "artistic" and create something on my own.

Being that I'm one of those environmentalist type of people and like to reuse something instead of merely trashing it out as garbage, I'm one of those people that tries to think up ways of recycling something for another purpose and use. I haven't a clue how I came up with this idea, but it's one way I discovered to recycle plastic shopping bags, especially those rather small sized bags.

How often have you done some kind of grocery shopping, especially for very small-sized items and you're given a very small sized black shopping bag? Normally, with regular sized plastic shopping bags one can in a sense reuse them say for throwing out garbage, but those really small-sized bags are kind of pesky and not really great for reusing again. So what happens? One usually just throws them out. Well guess what, I found a way to reuse them by coming up with and creating a quick, kind of cute Black Cat Halloween decoration.

In the included photo you see just one of my Black Cat Halloween decorations and here's how I made it.

What you will need:

One black plastic grocery shopping bag

One or two more plastic shopping bags

Orange yarn

Orange acrylic paint

Small artist paintbrush

Duct tape

1). For this particular decoration, the bag size itself was about 12 inches long. To create the head part of the Black Cat decoration, take more plastic grocery bags, perhaps one or two and form a ball out of them and stuff into the bottom of the bag.

2). With some orange-colored yarn, cut about 18-inches of the yarn, center the yarn and wrap it around a few times to form the "neck" and then tying it into a "bow". Smooth the front of the head to form a better "face" and form "ears" at each top end of the bag. Cut off the handles of the bag.

3). Now take the orange acrylic paint, and paint directly on the "face" the cats eyes, nose, whiskers, and mouth…get as fancy as you wish with these details, though not really necessary.

4). In order to hang up the Black Cat Halloween decoration, cut a bit more yarn, create a loop and tape it to the back of the cat's head with some duct tape.

Voilà ..that's all that's to it. Simple to make yet kind of cute and festive for Halloween and even kids can make these. Not only that, but stored away properly this decoration will last for years.

IMAGE SOURCE~©Melanie Neer~Personal Photo

ARTICLE: How To Make A Mustard Plaster: An Old Time Remedy For Congestion And Backaches

(Originally Published on Bubblews~March 22, 2014-a website that no longer exists)

My great grandmother who while being a nurse, was a virtual walking encyclopedia of natural remedies and preferred them over pharmaceutical medications; she never took anything stronger than aspirin and only relied on the old-time natural remedies and lived to be 98 years old. You might say, that her sense of natural remedies is what we might now call holistic, homeopathic or alternative types of healing. It's unfortunate however, that neither my grandmother nor mother wrote any of my great grandmother's "remedies" down, however there is one I do remember very well: the mustard plaster.

The mustard plaster has been an old-time folklore remedy mainly used for both chest congestions and backaches. Growing up, I always remembered seeing a tin can of Colman's Dry Mustard, both in my great grandmother's home and in the home where I lived with my grandmother and mother. In other words, none of us were ever without it. While there may be other brands of dry mustard, the Colman's brand seemed to be the preferred choice.

How To Make A Mustard Plaster:

From reading different articles about the Mustard Plaster, I noticed there were many variations of just how to make them. However, from a very old tin of Colman's Dry Mustard that I still have, it gives the directions, and as a by the way, none of the newer tins have them. Here are the directions:

MUSTARD PLASTER or POULTICE (Adults)

"Take equal parts of flour and Coleman's Mustard and make into a pass with tepid water. Spread on cotton cloth and cover with a second piece. Apply and allow to remain as long as can be borne but not more than 20 minutes. For sensitive skin increase the amount of flour used to four parts flour to one part mustard."

For the cotton cloth part, one may use a washcloth, and spread the plaster onto half of the washcloth, then fold over. One can then place directly right on one's chest to clear chest congestion, or on one's back for helping backaches. Have I used the Mustard Plaster myself? Yes. Does it work?Most definitely! In the past, when I've had bad bouts of bronchitis to the point where I felt like an elephant was sitting on top of my chest, I would make up the plaster. However, in my case, I was often a little more daring and I dispensed with the cloth part, and would apply the plaster directly on my chest. I would then keep it on as long as I could tolerate it. Why? The plaster does make the area where it is applied on feel hot, also and I did notice that my skin would turn noticeably red.

Now unless you have a very good condiment section of your local supermarkets, which I don't have, Coleman's Dry Mustard may be hard to find. Wanting to have a tin of the mustard on hand as a just in case, I had to resort to buying it on-line, therefore you may also have to resort to buying on-line as well. One can find it via Amazon.com, eBay and a good number of other on-line websites and runs about $5.99 for one tin.

Other articles about Mustard Plaster:

http://thewellspring.org/mustard-plaster-for-stubborn-chest-congestion/

Mustard Plaster Chest Congestion

Mustard Plaster

There's even a video on how to make a Mustard Plaster:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIw9Ay3zEJs Mustard Plaster Video

Image Source: ©Melanie Neer~Personal Photo of my tin of Colman's Dry Mustard

Article: Have You Ever Just Found Out A "Celebrity" That You Knew Had Passed Away? Actor Rino Thunder

(Originally Published At The Discussion Forum MyLot~under the username of pyewacket~January 23, 2008)

MyLot Discussion

I had been involved with a discussion by worldwise about the passing of a rather well-known Native American actor, Floyd Red Crow Westerman. I gave her a link to a website that is a listing of all Native American actors....so curious I started puttering around the site myself, and came up with a familiar name, Rino (pronounced Reeno) Thunder. So clicked on his link to his site and found out to my dismay he had died back in 2003!

What was shocking for me, was that I actually knew him. This goes back to the late 1970s. Being part Native American myself I perchance went to an outdoor powwow at the Museum of the American Indian..I took my camera with me and got some excellent photos, mainly using black and white film. Then I found out about the American Indian Community House (AICH) in Manhattan and at the time they were having a gallery exhibit of Native art work. I asked permission if I could photograph some of the work and they said it was all right. A few weeks later, I went back to them, with a small portfolio of some of the black and white prints I had made up as I knew how to develop my own film and prints. I showed off my work to some of the staff members and they were so impressed that right then and there they asked me to in effect be their "official" photographer to photograph future exhibits, the powwows, to photograph their jewelry that they made on site and to photograph some of the people that belonged to AICH as many were aspiring actors who wanted their 8x10 glossy resume photos

..and yes, you can guess just who was one of the people I photographed...Rino Thunder...you can say it was a classic case of knowing him before he got "famous"--he was seen in some of the following movies:

Film

· 7th Street (2002)

· Fresh Kill (1994)

· Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)

· Beyond the Law (1992)

· Hot Shots! (1991)

· Power (1986)

· Wolfen (1982)

Television

· Miracle in the Wilderness 1992

· Invisible Thread Penn & Teller 1987

· Three Sovereigns For Sarah - American Playhouse 'John The Indian' 1985

· Stone Pillow Starring Lucille Ball 1985

· Dance in America 'Song For Dead Warriors' - Narrator (Emmy Award) 1984

· Johnny Appleseed And The Frontier Within - 'Shamen' (Emmy Award) 1983

· Leatherstocking Tales - Singing Bear (Emmy Award: Outstanding Childrens' Anthology/Dramatic Programming) 1982

When I photographed him he took on the stance of the very serious person, the classic "stoic" Indian-- never cracked a smile, but he did have a wicked sense of humor. I unfortunately don't have any of my photos of him printed up..but I do still have all the negatives of all the people I had photographed during that time.

Anyway, like I said you can imagine my shock when I was looking at that website, only to find out he had passed away in 2003..odd, as I never even remember anything mentioned about his passing..I surely would have remembered hearing about it.

http://www.tv.com/rino-thunder/person/236178/biography.html

So have any of you actually known any "celebrities"? And then found out they had passed away? All I know I really feel a sadness about having learned of this actor's passing..

(Update from original posting. While I never printed up any of the photos I took of Rino Thunder, I still have the negatives and am able to scan them to digitize.)

Image Source: ©Melanie Neer~Personal photo taken at the American Indian Community House of then "unknown" actor Rino Thunder circa 1978)

Article: Keep Your Cats Safe During The Month Of October And Especially On Halloween

Summer has come and gone and now it’s officially the Fall season. The air is starting to get crisp and cool once more, and one of my favorite holidays is fast approaching, that being Halloween.

Halloween, that time of year where people can dress up in costumes and isn’t just a “holiday” for kids to have fun, but a time where no matter what one’s age is, we can let our “adult” selves let go and act silly. We can dress up as a superhero, a person from history such as Cleopatra, we can dress up as a character from Lord Of The Rings, or become a favorite Disney character, and needless to say, attire ourselves as a witch, which consequently is still one of the most popular Halloween costumes to wear. 



There is however, a very negative down side to Halloween and not just on October 31st, but for the whole month of October. The month of October is perhaps the worst month of the year for cats, particularly black cats. As an animal activist, not one day goes by when I hear of outright animal abuse throughout the year for sadly there are all too many people that are cat haters. Antagonisms toward cats aren’t limited to outright animal abusers, but a seeming hatred toward cats and rather “sick” suggestions are made even by the media. For instance, on March 14, 2013, Ted Williams, a guest writer for the Orlando Sentinel suggested to rid the feral and stray cat population by “lacing” pet food with Tylenol. (1) Some states in the USA are suggesting bills to be passed to change the status of feral and stray cats to “wildlife” so that it would be no longer considered illegal to hunt and kill cats. The latest is a landlord in Missouri requesting tenants to leave bowls of antifreeze out to poison cats. (2)

Now to get back to Halloween which may be fun for us, but not for cats. Did you know that reputable pet rescuers and animal shelters will not adopt out black cats during the whole month of October and in my opinion rightly so. Hatred and abuse of cats, especially black cats, intensifies during the month of October and all cats can be targets for sick, demented people with ill intent, and not just limited to feral or stray cats, but people’s pets who are allowed to “roam” freely by their owners. During the month of October, cats are more likely to be stolen as bait for dog fights, brutalized, abused, tortured and killed by sick demented people.

So here’s an urgent plea on my part. If you’re the type of person who allows their pet cat to “roam” no matter what color your pet cat is, but especially if your pet cat(s) are black cats, during the entire month of October, please, please, please KEEP THEM INDOORS!!

Sources:

(1). Outcry about Ted Williams article:


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130320-feral-cats-euthanize-ted-williams-audubon-science/

Ted Williams article

(2). Anti-freeze threat to kill cats:

http://news.alleycat.org/2014/09/23/cats-threatened-by-antifreeze-notice-in-missouri/


Anti-freeze threat to cats

Image Source

http://animals.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/2658/

ARTICLE: Oh No! Ekk!!! Bedbugs!! And How I Dealt With Them

Originally published on Bubblews~March 14, 2014

Bubblews Article

I had read an article here by &o0o_Sea-Sparkles_o0o about how she avoids the issue of bringing in bedbugs by accident, especially when staying in a hotel, and it reminded me all too painfully of an incident that happened to me last year. Yup, I had gotten hit with those nasty critters.

First, one has to realize that I've lived in my apartment for a long, long time. I was only a little girl when my grandmother, mother and I moved into this place. Over the years, yes, there would be a variety of "critters" that we had to deal with. For a long time, when we first moved in, there often were silverfish, why I don't know, but thankfully, after a period of time, haven't seen any in decades. Then of course, on and off during the years, cockroaches, which seem to be a plague one deals with a lot when living in a urban type apartment building. About five years ago, all of a sudden I had an infestation of ants coming in.

Well being that I have pets, I don't like the idea of using anything toxic or poisonous that could be a danger to them. That means I refuse to use any kind of insecticide sprays (besides I can't tolerate the smell of bug juice either). I won't use baits, since my feeling is, is that, say the particular insect goes into the bait and eats the poison. Now the insect has the poison in them, so if a nosy pet decides to go after the poisoned insect, plays with it and maybe bite sin to the insect, then the pet is poisoned as well. By the way, it actually has been documented that poisons designed for one type of "pest" can and will affect other animals, including wildlife. (1)

When I got the ant problem years ago, instead of getting ant baits, I resorted to trying something more natural and non-toxic: baking soda. Yes, believe it or not, common ordinary baking soda, which I sprinkled around where I saw the ants coming in. It took awhile, but sure enough, it did the trick, as the baking soda sort of "smothers" them if they go into it. I haven't had one ant since. Yea!

Well last year I was in for the surprise of my life, the appearance of bedbugs on my bed! Just how they managed to get into my apartment I'll never know. There are a good number of ways that bedbugs can come in one's home: if one takes in used furniture, the arrival of packages via deliveries where the delivery truck is infested with them; many stores, even theaters are infested with them, also, hotels and motels may have them. There's also another more common reason.

When I think of it, who knows what critters are lurking and running up and down in the foundation and behind the walls of an apartment building or home. Do I really want to know? No thanks, since if I really sat and thought about it, I'd probably get the willies. It's my suspicion that the bedbugs got in via any cracks in the baseboard of my bedroom from another apartment with them.

Now how I discovered them. One day, last year I was doing my fanatical cleaning routine. I set aside one day of the week and clean all the floors of my apartment, clean and tidy up the bathroom, clean and tidy up the kitchen, clean and tidy up the bedroom. If I need to dust, I will, I also will do light hand-washable laundry. Yes, I do it all in one day, and often into the night, to get it all done. Well, I also decided to air out my bed that one particular day. The sheets didn't really need to be changed, but I wanted. as I said to air out my bed, so pulled the sheets off the mattress. That's when I saw them.

I'm not by any means a squeamish person, but when I saw the bedbugs on my mattress, I got annoyed more than anything else, and don't ask the "lovely" language that spewed out from my mouth. If anyone had been watching me for what I did next, they would have thought they were watching a crazed person. I ran into the bathroom, and quickly filled my bathtub with hot water. I ran back to the bedroom and stripped off the fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillow case, then ran back into the bathroom and dumped the sheets into the tub. I had remembered reading that heat kills bedbugs, thus the hot water in my bathtub. Ah, but it didn't end there!

I got out my vacuum and dragged it into the bedroom, then quite literally took my bed apart, and no easy feat considering I have painful RA issues. I took the mattress off the bed and vacuumed it, took the box spring off and vacuumed that. I lifted the two large and heavy slats of the bed off, vacuuming them, then vacuumed every nook under the bed.

Not confined to just trying to get rid of the bedbugs in the bedroom, armed with my vacuum I made an inspection of the rest of the bedroom and the entire apartment, especially going through the sofa as well. Thank goodness I didn't see any bedbugs anywhere else; they seemed to have been confined only on my bed. v Luckily at the time I just happened to have Diatomaceaous Earth on hand. If you don't know what it is, it's a powdery substance made from the crushed up remains of marine phytoplankton. (2) I had heard about it sometime ago, and had gotten some to keep cockroaches away; it is a non-toxic means of getting rid of many types of insects, but it is known to work wonders particularly with bedbugs and completely safe around pets. So I grabbed my container of Diatomaceaous Earth and began sprinkling it all around all over the place in the bedroom.

Well it took a bit of doing as the bedbugs didn't disappear overnight. I started reading up on bedbugs, to be informed what to look for. It's easy to see them as adults, since while not very large, they are nonetheless very noticeable, but one has to be able to identify what bedbug eggs look like as well as the "baby" bedbugs. Needless to say, I kept up with my routine and searching for the critters and sprinkling more of the Diatomaceaous Earth around. Thankfully, I must have caught the bedbugs early on and was not a heavy infestation of them, since to date, a year later, I haven't seen a single one.

So if by chance you get hit with bedbugs, if not a heavy infestation, consider getting Diatomaceaous Earth and be sure it's the "food grade" kind. Where can one get this product? There are several websites one can order it, including good old Amazon.com which is where I got it. I would also recommend looking up about bedbugs to see what to look for, as many websites will show photos of bedbugs in all their stages, from eggs to adults. Sadly, if you do have a real infestation, you might have to consider getting rid of all the infested furniture. The real trick however, is to get rid of them before it does become out of control.

(1) Dangers of various poisons. Includes mention of poisons for rodents, slugs and other toxic substances that can affect pets and wildlife:

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/2011/09/things-in-your-yard-that-are-poisonous-to-dogs-cats/

Toxic Substances Affecting Pets and Wildlife

(2). One of the best articles about Diatomaceous Earth:

http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

Diatomaceous Earth

Image Source:

A Take of this image found here, but I changed the caption around via Photoshop

http://www.seekwellness.com/wellness/reports/2012-07-07.htm

Article: Natural And Alternative Means Of Healing For Pets: Holistic, Homeopathic And Naturopathic

Originally published and posted in Bubblews~July 22, 2014 HERE

Just as many people are turning to alternative means of health and healing, so are pets owners. I've never been a great fan of the medical profession to begin with and I've gotten that viewpoint no doubt from my great-grandmother who was a nurse, for the most part thought doctors were idiots, was a walking encyclopedia of natural remedies, never took anything stronger than aspirin, and lived to be 98; I can only hope I can live that long!

Now I'm not saying one should completely forsake and dismiss the medical profession altogether , whether for humans or for pets, but I think a good number of people are getting a bit more wary. You no doubt, when watching TV for instance, will see those commercials about some medication that is good for a specific medical problem, and then of course the announcer starts rattling about the potential side effects and to tell your doctor if you get certain side effects that could be detrimental, or in extreme cases life-threatening. I sit back and listen to all this and think to myself, just why on earth would a person want to take this?

Also, another point. Just because a medication has been FDA "approved" does not mean the medication entirely safe in other regards. By this I mean, not all side effects are recognized at first and can often trigger other health problems later on that were not known when they were initially tested. A good example is the cholesterol lowering medication Lipitor now linked to triggering off Diabetes in women.

You may wonder why I'm bringing all this up; quite simple. What is one of the questions a doctor will ask you as a patient when he or she is prescribing a medication? Are you allergic to it? This has to be one of those like duh moments. How can one tell if one is allergic to a medication if one has never had it before? One has to consider this with pets as well. Many of the medications designed for humans are also prescribed for pets, just at a much lower dosage.

Just as we humans may suffer from side effects of medications or may be allergic to them, so can pets, but there's a big difference. If we start experiencing what could be detrimental side effects from a medication, we at least can say something about it, pets can't until perhaps unfortunately too late.

I had a horrific experience in the past with one of my cats many, many years ago back around the late 1970s. One of my younger cats had developed a mild URI (Upper Respiratory Infection). No real big deal, right? It's a condition that is very treatable with antibiotics. So I went to the vet, he examined her and gave me a common penicillin type antibiotic, Amoxicillin. In the past, a few of my other cats would also have URI and would give them the same medication without a problem. So I came home and prepared the Amoxicillin and proceeded to give her the medication. Within minutes she started having not only horrific seizures but worse, passed on. Do you have any idea how guilty I felt? Here I was trying to help my young cat but instead due to the medication in which she had a rare and fatal reaction, she died from it.

IMPORTANT: Before I continue on, once again, I'm not saying one should completely forgo any medications for pets, just be wary, and perhaps investigate more holistic means of healing.

Not long after this horrific incident occurred, I started looking into a more holistic means of healing for my cats. In fact, it was back in the 1980s I happen to come across the book, The Natural Cat: The Comprehensive Guide to Optimum Care by Anitra Frazier. Let's put it this way, it has virtually become a "bible" for me in helping and healing my cats in a more natural, holistic way. Think of and name the potential and possible health condition a cat may face, and Ms. Frazier has fantastic suggestions how to heal and heal naturally. I might add, she also doesn't completely ignore veterinary help.

Well, many years have passed, and yes from time to time I do still rely on veterinary care, but before racing to a vet, I now attempt alternative means of healing and with great success I might add. There are numerous books out there for one to explore about natural alternative means for healing not only cats, but dogs, of course top on the list should be Anitra Frazier's book. I include a listing of just some of the books available. Do a google search under holistic and/or natural healing for cats, or dogs or pets in general for a more comprehensive listing.

Also, with such "alternative" means of healing pets, there are of course, homeopathic/naturopathic medications one can buy to give pets and I've included the websites of just two places where one can get such natural remedies; again, one can do a google search for more websites where one can obtain such natural medications. Be prepared though, these medications can be quite pricey.

Listing of just a few suggested books on alternative health and healing for pets:

The Natural Cat: The Comprehensive Guide to Optimum Care http://www.amazon.com/The-Natural-Cat-Comprehensive-Optimum/dp/0452289750/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ZDACARP7ZVEEM67KDTE

The Natural Cat: The Comprehensive Guide to Optimum Care

Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Dogs : Safe and Effective Alternative Treatments and Healing Techniques from the Nations Top Holistic Veterinarians

http://www.amazon.com/Veterinarians-Guide-Natural-Remedies-Dogs/dp/0609803727

Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Dogs

Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats : Safe and Effective Alternative Treatments and Healing Techniques from the Nations Top Holistic Veterinarians http://www.amazon.com/Veterinarians-Guide-Natural-Remedies-Cats/dp/0609803735/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=12MHZDFM4QN7DMDW0SEC

Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Cats

The Nature of Animal Healing : The Definitive Holistic Medicine Guide to Caring for Your Dog and Cat

http://www.amazon.com/The-Nature-Animal-Healing-Definitive/dp/0345439198/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=19FDMXHP7JA4KV7KV1PA

The Nature of Animal Healing

The Complete Guide to Holistic Cat Care: An Illustrated Handbook

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guide-Holistic-Care/dp/1592535666/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WJ3FY0PARN96C0BMG6E

The Complete Guide to Holistic Cat Care

Listing of Homeopathic and Natural Medications For Pets:

Pet Alive Website For Homeopathic Medications

http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/

Pet Alive Website

Only Natural Pet Website:

http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/dogs/

Only Natural Pet Website

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian, but am passing on this information based on some of my own personal experiences.

ARTICLE: How To De-clog Drains Naturally

First published on Bubblews~July 17, 2014 Here

Whenever I have a problem with clogged drains I think of my on-line friend Nola whomI met via a discussion forum. Now you may wonder why; what does a friend have to do with clogged drains? Well it was that friend of mine who told me of a very simple way to de-clog drains naturally and without harsh and toxic chemicals.

First up, my apartment building is an old one with all the original piping system, so as you can imagine it's very easy for problems to occur including getting clogged up drains, whether kitchen or bathroom sinks, or even the bathtub. In years past, yes, I often did resort to getting any one of those de-clogging chemicals such as Drano or Liquid Plumber, however, I was always kind of cautious about using them; let's face it, read the warning labels; they all caution about keeping out of reach of children and pets, and have that skull and crossbones symbol, indicating that the product is highly poisonous. Now I don't have children, but I do have pets and when I would use those chemicals it made me a tad nervous. Also, another thing one has to think about is that those chemical de-cloggers can be highly corrosive and affect the pipes, wearing them down and perhaps even eroding them to a point that the pipes may have to be completely replaced.

On the other flip of the coin, I would sometimes resort to and ask the super of the building to de-clog a drain. Talk about a disaster! The super would come up to my apartment with one of those air-pressure type pumps. The man clearly didn't know what the heck he was doing. He would pump up the machine with air to blast air down the drain: he'd be at it for at least an hour and only succeeded in blasting up this God-awful looking sticky, smelly, black sludge that looked like it came from the sewer. Ironically, one time the super of another building that my landlord owns happened to be around, used the same pump and viola, he'd unclog the drain in about five minutes.

So not being too keen on either using toxic poisonous chemicals or having my super come up, I once did a discussion on that forum about my dilemma in that I had a real heavy duty clogged up drain and in chimed my on-line friend Nola who told me about a more natural, non-toxic means to de-clog drains: baking soda and white vinegar. I'm thinking, huh? How can something so simple work, but work it does!

Instructions:

First up, make sure there is no standing water, whether kitchen or bathroom sink or bathtub. Pour a good amount of baking soda, perhaps maybe about half a cup. Then start pouring in the white vinegar, about a cup or more. Be ready for a surprise when the vinegar contacts the baking soda…lets put it this way, rather fizzy and "explosive". The first time I did this I have to confess I nearly freaked out since I wasn't expecting such a reaction. The combo will bubble and fizz for quite awhile. Wait about 15 minutes, then pour down boiling hot water. If by chance this doesn't work first time round, depending on how bad the clog is, repeat the process, but I do guarantee you, it will work. To keep drains unclogged, repeat this perhaps every few weeks.

There you have it, a completely natural, non-toxic and eco-friendly means to unclog drains. What could be simpler?

Youtube Video of how to declog drains using baking soda and white vinegar:

Youtube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MLEO5JWRYI

IMAGE SOURCE~©MELANIE NEER~own photo

ARTICLE: Pet Toy Safety: Just How Safe Are Some of Those Pet Toys?

First Published at Bubblews~April 11, 2014

Bubblews Article

Image source~Internet images of Typical Pet Toys

ABSTRACT: If one has a pet, one should be a conscientious consumer about some of the potential hazards that can exist in some pet toys especially pet toys made in China.

CONTENT:

If you're a pet owner, no doubt you pamper your pet with a variety of cute toys that will allow your cat(s) or dog(s) a chance for them to play and perhaps even give them exercise, but just how safe are some of those toys? My question came to mind as I've been seeing a good number of my on-line friends talk about buying the seemingly new pet toy craze: that is the Crinkle Ball Toy. But my question of safety factors for pet toys isn't limited to the Crinkle Ball, but other pet toys as well.

One of the real problems as I see it, while one may hear of numerous recalls for products targeted for children on TV media news, one will rarely hear of recalls for products for pets. We are also more aware of foods for human consumption that are recalled, but with a few exceptions, we hardly ever hear of any massive pet food recalls. To be knowledgeable of recalls of any kind of pet products, be it toys or food, one has to turn to the internet.

Think of all the children's products that have been recalled in the past few years of toys found containing lead paint to a good number of strollers that have had defects in them. There is a seemingly common denominator and factor involved when it comes to products made for both children and pets, and that is the vast majority of them are made in China where safety standards are less diligent.

Now let me to explore and bring up some issues and concerns about pet toys.

Back in 2008, I very vividly remember hearing the story about a dog owner who had bought a popular chew toy, called the Pimple Ball With Bell and made Four Paws, Inc. While playing with this ball, somehow the dog's tongue got caught into the hole of the ball and despite efforts for the owner to remove the ball, the owner wasn't able to as the dog's tongue quickly became swollen. The owner took the dog to a vet to have the ball removed, however, even with the ball surgically removed, the dog's tongue continued to swell and the tongue eventually had to be amputated. You can read the whole story here.

One very popular toy for cats is known as the Lattice Plastic Ball with a Jingle Bell. Many years ago as a treat for my cats around Christmas time I bought a large Christmas stocking filled with a variety of cat toys, one of them being a few of those Lattice type balls. I refrained from giving my cats this type of toy as right away I saw a potential hazard. The lattice plastic part of the ball was rather flimsy and could easily be broken. I also saw a potential danger of that jingle bell, that if the plastic part of the ball was broken, a cat could possibly swallow that jingle bell, not to mention the plastic part of that ball as well. What did I do? Simple, I threw them all out.

Before I go on, I wish to mention something about those jingle bells. A pet owner may notice that those small jingle type bells seem to appear in or on a lot of pet toys. I suppose the idea behind having them included is to attract the attention of the pet, but in my mind they should be eliminated as there is too much of a risk of that jingle bell being accidentally swallowed by a pet. A good while ago, I had bought a mouse-shaped toy filled with catnip. Dangling from the tail part which was made out of string was, yes, a jingle bell. Not only did I cut off the bell, but the tail part of the toy. My advice then that if you do get a pet toy that has one of those shiny metal jingle bells is to cut them off!

Feather toys also seem to be popular for pets however, I question the safety factor of these toys as well. Yes some of those feather toys are "cute" and often brightly colored to attract the attention of a pet. However feathers are easily torn apart, and there is the risk of the feather being swallowed, and what about the safety factor of the dyes used to make those feathers so colorful? I mention the later as I often have made crafts that call for feathers, usually the "marabou" type of feathers, and yes they are brightly dyed. In handling the feathers that are dyed red, blue or yellow, some of the dye comes off on my hands. Needless to say, I keep the feathers I use for my crafts sealed up and stored in a container so there's no potential of my cats getting to those feathers.

Beware of any pet toys that are made of "fur", yes real fur. Some years ago I bought a mini-condo for my two cats. With the condo was a mouse shaped toy and yes made of real fur, not only that, but the fur was dyed a sickly orange color. The irony of any pet toy made out of fur is that it can be made from any type of fur bearing animal such as rabbits, but more horrifying believe it or not, possibly made from dog or cat fur from the Chinese fur trade where cats and dogs are skinned alive. If you don't believe me, google "Cats and Dogs Skinned Alive In China"; it will absolutely repulse you.

Rawhide Dog Chew toys can also be suspect in their safety factor as well since many are treated with a whole array of toxic chemicals, including FD&C Red 40, which is a known carcinogen, sodium benzoate, arsenic, formaldehyde. Chemical "concoctions" isn't limited to rawhide type dog chews, but two years ago a toy called Snuggling Furry Friend, and sold by Petco also contained Trimethyl Benzene, Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and Naphthalene. One can read more about rawhide dog chew toys and about the Snuggling Furry Friend toys in the articles I provide in my Sources section.

Now to discuss those Crinkle Ball Toys which I've been wondering about for awhile and are increasingly becoming more popular. All those Crinkle Ball Toys are made from Mylar which is a shiny plastic. I can't help thinking that such plastic I can be easily ripped apart when a cat plays with them and perhaps chews on them, so once again here we have a potential choking hazard. Also, these Crinkle Balls come in a bright, dazzling array of colors to make them more attractive; attractive for whom I don't know, certainly not the pet but more for the owner. I went on a search to see if anything has yet been mentioned about the safety factor of these Crinkle Ball Toys and came across a posting by a cat owner on the Pet360 website. The owner mentions how when one of these Crinkle Ball Toys fell into her cat's water bowl, the water had turned red from the dye of the ball. She then suspects that her cat drank this water laced with the red dye from the toy as she found vomit nearby the water dish.You can read the entire posting here: http://community.pet360.com/t5/Whole-Cat-Health-Wellness/Are-Crinkle-Ball-Toys-Safe-For-Cats-Or-Not/td-p/45091

So what is a pet owner to do? Naturally we want to pamper our pets with toys for them to play with. But for the safety of your pet, refrain from buying pet toys made in China where standards and quality of materials used are suspect. Do some research in buying toys for your pets. There are plenty of pet toy manufacturers right here in the USA. To find such toys, google "Natural or Organic Pet Toys" and you'll be surprised by how many websites come up. One of my favorite natural toys to buy for my cats are anyone of the products made by Yeowww and a lot are sold over at Amazon.com.

Lastly, your pets are your "children", don't you want them to be safe? All I can say is to be a conscientious consumer. Research, research, research!

Sources:

Dog Chew Toy

http://consumerist.com/2008/08/21/owner-calls-for-chew-toy-recall-after-dogs-injury-results-in-tongue-amputation/

Rawhide Chew Toys

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/03/07/the-risk-of-rawhide-chew-toys/

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/dog_toys.html

Dog Toys

http://thebark.com/content/beware-lead-and-toxic-dog-toys

http://www.petsitusa.com/blog/?p=4843

Crinkle Toys

http://community.pet360.com/t5/Whole-Cat-Health-Wellness/Are-Crinkle-Ball-Toys-Safe-For-Cats-Or-Not/td-p/45091

Massive Recall of Children's Toys From China Due to Lead

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20254745/ns/business-consumer_news/t/mattel-issues-new-massive-china-toy-recall/#.U0iVpaVsr1w

Natural or Organic USA Made Pet Toys:

Purrfect Play Website:
http://purrfectplay.com

Only Natural Pet:
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/dogs/

Image Source~My own photo of a Yeowwwy Catnip Toy

ARTICLE: You Are What You Eat: What Exactly ARE You Eating? Part 3: Are Dairy Products Really Healthy?

First published at Bubblews~March 15, 2014

Bubblews Article

ABSTRACT: This article explores the issue as to whether or not milk and dairy products are as healthy as we've been led to believe.

CONTENT:

This article is the third in a series of articles where I explore the various aspects of the food industry.

In this article, I explore the issue concerning dairy products and as to whether or not milk and dairy products are as healthy as we have been led to believe. For decades we in effect have been bottle-fed (no pun intended), that milk does the body good, builds strong bones, that it is a good source of protein and calcium and so forth. As children we were encouraged by our parents to drink our milk, and if we didn't care for the taste of milk outright, our parents thought of other ways to get us to drink milk, that is by adding a chocolate syrup such as Bosco or Hershey's.

In the past twenty years, who can forget the ad campaign "Got Milk?" that began in 1993 where celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, Taylor Swift, Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Marg Helgenberger, Brooke Shields, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, just to name a few, posed with a glass of milk and had that milk mustache? In fact, if you wish, do a google search "images of celebrities got milk" and you'll be amazed as to how many celebrities participated in the "Got Milk?" campaign. Only recently, beginning in February of this year, the "Got Milk?" campaign has been changed to "Milk Life" with a whole new type of message to encourage people to drink more milk.

The big question however, do we really need to drink milk or consume dairy products, and are they really as healthy as we've been made to believe?

In a nutshell, to answer the question as to whether we really need to drink milk, the answer would be a flat outright no. The human species seems to be the only species that continues to drink milk after babyhood. You won't find any other mammals drinking their mother's milk after they are weaned. We have been in effect programmed that even as adults we need to drink milk and consume dairy products, and that would include cheeses, yogurts, sour cream, cottage cheese, ice cream, and I might add, not limited to cow's milk, but also the milk and dairy products from other milk producing mammals such as goats and sheep.

We have been in a sense programmed in how beneficial milk is as far as adding more protein in our diets. Well there are of course other sources of protein: meats, fish, beans, nuts, even vegetables have a certain amount of protein in them and of course for those who prefer a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, there is soy milk, and tofu.

Not only have we been programmed that milk and dairy products are a great source of protein, but also for calcium. Guess what though? Milk and dairy are not the sole and only sources for calcium either. Other sources of calcium include: Bok Choy, Kale, Beans, Salmon, Spinach, Oranges, Oatmeal, Soy Milk, and Tofu, just to mention a few. In a pinch, if one feels they aren't getting their daily intake of calcium, there are of course calcium supplements one can take. A full listing of calcium sources is at this website

The Health Factor Of Milk:
Unless one is getting organic milk and dairy products, that is from cows raised "humanely" and not in a farm factory type environment, one is also consuming a number of less desirable elements. Farm Factory raised dairy cows are pumped up with Bovine Growth Hormones, known as rBGH which encourages the cows to produce more milk. If that isn't bad enough, dairy cows are also injected antibiotics to decrease infections like mastitis. (1) Also, once again, unless one is drinking organic milk or eating organic dairy products, one is also in effect consuming Monsanto GMOs. How? Humanely raised cows are grass fed, which is a cow's normal type of diet, while farm factory raised cows are feed GMO grains such as corn, and 90% of all corn grown are GMO corn. What does this mean to us? It means when we drink milk or consume dairy foods, we are also ingesting the rBGH, antibiotics and GMO corn.

Can Milk And Dairy Products Actually Trigger Health Problems?
For decades we were have been told how milk and dairy products helps to build strong bones and helps to avoid medical conditions such as osteoporosis. Sorry but I'm about to shatter that illusion. I've read countless articles where actually the opposite is true. Just do a google search, "does milk cause osteoporosis" and you'll be amazed at what comes up. I list only one source here but take my word, there are a lot of articles out there.

Let me quote a few things directly from the one article I found:

"…although milk makes bones stronger in the short term, in the long term it erodes bone-making cells, increasing the risk of osteoporosis…" and "…women…who drank milk three times a day actually broke more bones than women who rarely drank milk." (2)

If that isn't enough, do you have chronic headaches or even migraines? In another article, I found a list of possible triggers for these health issues as well, and guess what? Yes you can guess, among the list of headache and migraine triggers was cultured dairy products, sour cream, buttermilk, and all types of cheeses. (3)

The Humane Factor of The Dairy Industry:
I wish to add here, that one does have to also consider the humane factor when it comes to the dairy industry. Dairy cows in farm factory type environments live a life that is anything but humane. The female cows are kept in small, crammed stalls where they can barely move and each cow is hooked up to machine to pump out their milk. Also, the female cow is constantly kept pregnant in order to produce milk in the first place. Upon the birth of a calf, that calf is virtually yanked away from it's mother within hours of being born, and either outrightly killed or sent to be raised as veal, which of course means its eventual slaughter upon reaching around the age of 18 to 20 weeks old. (4)

Lastly, I do need to mention that I'm by no means a vegetarian nor vegan, though I have been cutting down on the eating of meats. As far as the milk factor, I've never have been a big milk drinker to begin with, yet ironically I do confess in loving cheeses. However, ever since I became more aware and conscious of the cruelty factor behind farm factory raised dairy cows, I've cut down on eating cheeses as well.

Got milk? Don't think so!

Sources:

Got Milk Campaign:

Got Milk Campaign

Milk Life

The Truth About Milk:

Facts About Milk (1)

Health Issues With Milk:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/09/12/13120.aspx (2)

Milk Triggers Headaches and Migraines (3)

Calves (4)

Calves

My earlier articles in this series:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 1
Part 2: Organic Vs. All Natural Vs. Monsanto GMO
Part 2

ARTICLE: You Are What You Eat: What Exactly ARE You Eating Though? Part 2: Organic Vs. All Natural Vs. Monsanto GMO

First Published at Bubblews~October 29, 2013

ARTICLE: Possible Radioactive Foods and Pet Foods: Fukushima Meltdown's Aftermath

Originally Published at Bubblews~October 13, 2013

A New Possible Concern, Not Only To Humans

Also published on Yahoo.Voices formerly Associated Content~11/29/2013) ABSTRACT: In the aftermath of the radioactive Fukushima meltdown of Japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami of March of 2011, there are now concerns about the safety of foods from the area that could affect both people and pets

CONTENT:

There are several websites where I regularly read articles over the safety issues concerning foods, both for human consumption and for pets; those being Susan Thixton's "Truth About PetFood.com", Dr. Mercola's website and the Natural Society website, there are of course scores of others I regularly go to read articles. It's been through such websites and their articles that I get updates and concerns about the health dangers and safety factors of a variety of chemical additives in foods, again both human and pet foods, such as MSG, Aspartame, Fructooligosaccharide and Carrageean, the later two often added to some pet foods, just to name a few. Then of course, I keep tabs about Monsanto GMO/GE (Genetically Modified Organisms/Genetically Engineered) foods, or what I call "Frankenfoods."

During the past many years, we have witnessed numerous recalls of foods, again both for humans (spinach, peanut butter, tomatoes, cantaloupe..the list is endless) and of course pet foods. Most food contamination is due to either e. Coli, Salmonella or Listeria, but not exclusively to just these three bacterias. Who can forget, perhaps the largest pet food recall back in March of 2007, when the many varieties and labels of pet foods, including Iams, and under the manufacture of Menu Foods that occurred? The real irony is that this same manufacturer of pet foods and the FDA was aware of the contamination months before an official FDA recall. The contamination was not due strictly to bacteria due to exported contaminated wheat, rice and corn gluten from China, but also due to melamine being added to the pet foods. Unfortunately, before the official recall of these pet foods, the damage was done. Many pets suffered from health issues, especially renal failure and death. (1)

In the years following 2007, many more pet food recalls have occurred, and not limited to commercial brands of pet foods, but some of the more "natural" or organic types as well. Almost a week doesn't go by when I'm made aware of yet again another pet food recall. I've even created a group over at Facebook called "Bringing Awareness Of What Is In Commercial Pet Foods". My group is not limited to just the safety factors of pet foods, but any and all pet products, such as the toxicity of flea and tick products as well; many of these products have proven lethal as well, and as of yet, the FDA nor the EPA have recalled or banned such use of products.

Now comes a new concern for both humans and pets, and that is any food products, especially fish caught in the Pacific Ocean and from Japan, but not limited to that country. I came across an article just today over at the Natural Society website over the concerns of the radiation fallout due to the Fukushima Power Plant meltdown that occurred as a result from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March of 2011.

Here's an edited quote from that article:

"The mega Fukushima meltdown continues to assault the planet on a daily basis with barrages of radioactive fallout that have infiltrated everything from our international food supply to the Pacific Ocean…Fisheries continue to operate and governments continue to pretend nothing has gone wrong…. just keep eating seafood from Japan and don't mind the fact that radiation levels are still spiking. And definitely don't mind the EPA raising 'acceptable limits' of radiation in your food supply."

To read the article in its entirety, one can read it here

I'm not surprised by either the FDA or EPA's lack of concern about "acceptable" (or non-acceptable) levels of radiation. As I see it both government agencies are not the careful watchdogs to safety concerns over food and/or any other product for human or pet consumption. Anytime I hear the words, as in promoting some medication on TV, "Approved by the FDA" frankly I stay away from the particular product. How many medications for instance, are "approved" by the FDA, only later gaining severe warnings of triggering some further health issue?

My concern now is with pet foods, particularly, more with cat food than dog food that contain any kind of fish or seafood and that would include tuna, shrimp, and crab, however I give a link to ALL the fish of the Pacific Ocean. (2) Do we know for a certainty just where that fish is from? Wasn't there even a concern and safety factor over any seafood caught in the Gulf Waters due to the BP oil spill of 2010 and contamination that affected the fishing industry there, not to mention other wildlife that was affected?

Since unfortunately the USA has done so much outsourcing from other countries to get products on the cheap, so to say, and that would include ingredients for any kind food, both for humans and pets, how long will it be before radioactive, contaminated fish (or other food products) shows up not only in food for humans but in pet foods? There could even be issues with seafood caught anywhere in the Pacific Ocean area, and that would include the entire western coast of North and South America. Why? The radioactive fallout from Japan has been moving throughout the Pacific Ocean and is estimated to reach the west coast in full in 2014. (3)

Worse case scenario yet, such radioactive and contaminated foods may be in our foods already; it could take months, perhaps years before any effects of such contaminated food show any affect, and longer for the FDA gets its act together for any official recall.

Sources:

2007 Pet Food Recalls: (1)
pet food recall March 2007

FDA Website: Melamine Pet Food Recall of 2007
melamine

Listing of Fish of the Pacific Ocean:
link (2)

Other Article About Fukushima Radiation Levels:
Fukushima Water Leaks

Radioactive fallout from Japan (3)

Article About Concerns of Japanese Fish and Radiation

Radiation Levels In Japanese Fish

ARTICLE: The Indoor/Outdoor Cat Debate

(Originally Published at Bubblews~October 12, 2013, also as a "Note" on Facebook~Ocotber 12, 2013, and at Yahoo.Voices formerly Associated Content~10/18/2013)

Bubblews version: Bubblews Article

ABSTRACT: There have been a lot of debates over this issue of when owning a cat whether it should be a strictly indoor cat or both an indoor/outdoor cat. In this article, I explore the many dangers facing outdoor cats.

CONTENT:

Over at Facebook, I've been involved with two discussions, including my own I started over the debate about the whole issue of strictly indoor cats versus cat owners who allow their pet cats as both indoor and outdoor. I'm half expecting my friend's list will drop over at Facebook as I'm pro indoor only when it comes to having pet cats.

To set the record straight, I've had cats since I was a mere five years old. The first cat, Babette, was a kitten my mother adopted and gave me as a Christmas present. I am now 57 years old (soon to be 58) and still have cats, Kissy, my 14-year-old, and Ouija, whom I adopted last year and is about two years old. In all the years I've had cats, they've been strictly indoors. This is mainly as a practicality as I live in the NYC area and in an apartment building, thus it would be very impractical for anyone owning a cat and living in such an environment to allow their pet cat(s) to be outdoors.

However, even for people who live in country areas, all kinds of dangers lurk for pet cats that are allowed to roam freely. Yes, it's one thing if a person has a backyard with a very secure fenced in area, and if said cat(s) owner allow their cat(s) outdoors in said secure area supervise the entire time their cat(s) are in their backyard; in other words, watch them like a hawk. I know I would if I lived in such a setting. If one has young children, would parents allow their children to be alone completely without supervision? I don't think so, so why do pet owners do so? I have heard of cat owners who, if they allow their pet cats to roam freely, makes sure that the cat is only allowed to "roam" early in the day and make sure the cat is back home by nighttime. However, that still doesn't guarantee their safety as too many dangerous factors will still exist.

Also, for an additional sense of safety, there are cat enclosures one can install that will give a pet cat the sense of the outdoors, without really being outdoors per se. Just merely do a search about these enclosures, which can range from rather simplistic to the very complex and can be a total environment for one's pet cat(s).

In the times we live in, one has to recognize and provide complete safety for one's pet, there are just too many dangers that can face a pet cat that is allowed to roam freely and unsupervised. Now before I list those dangers, I want to make something clear. I do realize many people may not only have pet cats but may take care of feral cats. Feral cats are a breed all their own. They are wild cats, not domesticated, very wary of people, even to the very people that may regularly feed them. Chances are, this type of cat could never become an indoor cat. However, I'm not talking about feral cats, but unfortunately there are dangers to feral cats as well, and I'll bring up a few points here in this article as well.

1). The danger of being hit by a car. Don't ask how many times I've heard one of my online friends over at Facebook do a sob story about their pet cat going missing, only to later find them dead on a road that had been struck and hit by a car. I'll be harsh here then when I say, while I feel sorry for the cat owner that their cat met with such an end, why didn't they keep that cat indoors? Then, of course, there are the cases where a pet cat simply goes missing permanently, the owner never, ever learning the fate of what happened to their cat and they again do a boohoo sob story. I happen to know someone who lives in a country area and now has her fourth cat; each of her previous three cats who were allowed to roam went missing. She also mentioned that in her neighborhood, there are many people who aren't cat lovers and heaven only knows what fate they met. But after three cats gone missing, she still insists on letting her new cat roam.

2). Diseases and parasites. If a person wants to keep their pet cat healthy and disease free, keep the cat indoors! Cats that are allowed to roam freely can often intermingle with other cats that may carry numerous diseases such as Feline Leukemia (FeLV), Rabies, Feline Panleukopenia, (FPV), Feline HIV (FIV). Once a cat is infected with anyone of these diseases, it can then infect other healthy cats. Why anyone would want to risk such a possibility is beyond me.

Then there are the multitude of parasites a cat can pick up, from fleas, ticks, and ringworm. The pet owner then pays a small fortune in vet bills to eradicate such parasites. Well, the high vet bills could have been avoided completely by…yes, keeping the cat(s) indoors.

If the probable danger of a pet cat allowed to roam freely and possibly meeting the fate of being killed by a car, gone missing, or picking up on diseases isn't enough, there are other factors to consider.

3). Poisoning, either indirectly or directly. Indirectly: Many people living in country areas may treat their lawns with chemicals, chemicals, I might add, that are often highly toxic. Even something like Monsanto's Roundup, which is a weed killer, can and will pose a danger to pets. (2) Other indirect means that cats can be indirectly poisoned are people who lay out poisons to kill any type of pests, such as mice and rats. Not only can cats be poisoned this indirect way but other animals who may prey on mice and/or rats, including birds of prey who ingest the poisoned mice/rat.

Directly: One sad fact is that not all people are cat lovers and will purposely try to poison them. Many years ago, I knew a woman who fed stray and feral cats. She had two cats of her own that were strictly indoors. She would feed these outdoor cats very early in the morning, and then again at night. You can only imagine her horror, when she went out early in the morning to add new fresh food, only to discover one of the feral cats dead. It had been deliberately poisoned . The place she fed the stray/feral cats was an enclosed area of her apartment building and only tenants could gain access to the area. She never found out who was poisoning the cats, but it was an obvious cat hater and fellow tenant to her building.

4). Cat haters, animal abusers and outright psychopaths. The world is by no means a kind place in general. Everyday we can hear of horrific abuse of any kind both toward humans and animals, but nowhere more than with innocent animals who have no voice; it's one of the prime reasons I'm a dedicated animal rights activist and advocate. Within only this past week alone, I heard of two such cases of horrific animal torture, and yes, it had to do with cats.

In summary, unless you can 100 percent guarantee an outdoor pet cat its safety, have the means to get a cat enclosure, and/or supervise and watch you pet cat(s) in your backyard like a hawk. If you wish to have a pet cat that can live healthy and disease free and have a long, long life and not endure any of possible dangers a roaming pet cat may face, I have four words: Keep your cats indoors!

Sources:
Life experiences; Animal Advocate/Activist

ARTICLE: What Happened in My Past is Exactly That, It's Not Who I Am Now: Reference to the Pet Population Problem My Mother Created

(Originally Published as a "Note" on Facebook~May 11, 2013 and also at Yahoo.Voices formerly Associated Content~August 16, 2013)

ABSTRACT: For some reason people seem to take a weird delight in dredging up something that occurred in my past, but that's just it; it's the past and not who I am now.

CONTENT:

I don't think there is anyone of us who hasn't had some incident in their life that hasn't exactly been "stellar." The incident may have occurred in the past, and that's exactly what it is, the past. It's not happening now, it's done and over with. Yet, somehow, for some reason, people decide and want to dredge up a past incident that occurred in someone's life as if it were still occurring now when it isn't.

You might say this is a follow up article I had written here at Yahoo! Voices back in August 30, 2007 which clearly describes that past incident in my life that occurred prior to 2001; in fact, it actually started in 1993. It was an incident that was created in effect by my mother and of which got out of control very quickly, and it deals with an over pet population of cats and, yes, could be classified as a "hoarder" situation. However, this is precisely why, so many years later, I'm an animal activist/advocate, and among many things stress the need for people to spay/neuter their pets in order to not create the same problem. I'm writing this article now to be publicly and openly on record that the past incident no longer exists. Although I provided a link to that article above, I wish to describe and give a thumbnail sketch of what happened in my past, though by no means a short one.

First up, I've had cats since I was five years old and only had one cat from 1962 to 1968. In the ensuing years some more cats would come into our lives, and on average my mother and I had about five or six while I was a child, teen, young adult and beyond. Then in 1992, my mother and I had a total of nine cats, including and unfixed female we found as a stray and took her in that year. Nine cats is still not a totally outrageous number and "doable." Throughout the years, ever since 1962, it had been our policy to always spay/neuter the cats. I asked my mother to please spay the new female kitten when she came of age. She kept saying that we need not bother as we weren't gong to get anymore cats.

Some months passed and a neighbor wanted to give us a male cat he had found in the streets. I firmly insisted over and over again that, no, we couldn't take in anymore cats, but both my mother and the neighbor did sort of a guilt trip with me saying that it's only one more cat. I gave in, and in came the male cat. It didn't take long to realize that this male cat also wasn't fixed, so now we had a pair of unfixed cats. Now I was on my mother's case to get at least one of the cats fixed. I wasn't able to personally go to the vet and get one of the cats fixed as I was dealing with a disability issue of anxiety disorder with agoraphobia, and while not completely housebound, I had my limitations of where and how far I could travel, and our vet was quite a distance away. My mother had no such problem, and she most definitely had the financial means to take one of the cats to be fixed; she didn't. I think you can guess what happened next.

On April 6, 1993, six kittens were born, three males and three females. Right off the bat, I started asking my friends if any were interested in adopting one of these kittens once they were old enough. No, no one did. Rather than dump the kittens into a shelter, we decided to keep them and my mother's idea was to get the male kittens fixed first once they came of age, but oops, missed one, and yes, more kittens were born, and more and more and more, until it completely spiraled out of control. We did try and get the cats fixed as soon as we could, but it had gotten out of hand so fast.

By 1996, I had to completely stop my work as a photographer. Despite my anxiety disorder and agoraphobic issues, I was primarily working at home and had often sent out my photographic work by mail to companies. Also, I was developing black-and-white film and prints, and would set up studio type shots at home, but now I had to stop everything as I was now spending all my time keeping things in order you might say, and yes, forever cleaning, cleaning, cleaning our place. My mother didn't do a thing, not even wash dishes, while here I was not only cooking all the meals, doing all the "normal" chores, but also keeping things under some kind of control with all the cats involved.

In 2001, my mother and I got our first eviction threat due to all the cats we had. Naturally we got legal help, as well as some animal advocates to help us out. One animal advocate had ties with the news media and our "story" was picked up, not only in newspapers but also by local news stations, even Jeanne Moos of CNN came to our place and did a feature on us. The local ASPCA mobile van also got involved and also came to do a spay/neuter of any and all cats that weren't already fixed. Due to the news media coverage, it encouraged people to adopt our cats. It became a virtual Grand Central Station with people coming over to our apartment and willing to adopt our cats, unfortunately not enough. We did, however, win our case, and a stipulation was made in court that we could only have two cats. There was one major problem, however. As our story became a "memory." People stopped coming by to adopt our cats and we still were way over the number of allowed cats in our home.

From 2001 to 2006 I lived in chronic fear of being found out that we did indeed still have more than two cats. In 2002 I became computer savvy by self teaching myself at my nearby library and a whole new world opened up to me. You see prior to that, the only shelters and rescues I was aware of was ASPCA, Bide-A-Wee, and of course the NYC Animal Care and Control. With the computer I now found out there were virtually hundreds of other animal rescues and groups in the NYC area. You might say my campaign began and I contacted as many animal rescues and groups as possible in the NYC area and practically on a daily basis, I would say I was contacting at least fifty, yes, fifty rescuers and groups. Folks, we're talking four years, four years of my reaching out and asking for help of any kind on an almost daily basis. The result? No one, but no one helped during those four years.

My fears came true in March of 2006, when yet again my mother and I were threatened with eviction. By this time, in that year, I had a lot going on. My mother had been diagnosed with Cancer in June of 2005 and her health was rapidly declining, not only her physical health but mental health as well. I had to find a good lawyer, which I thankfully I did, and I still continued my efforts of reaching out for help with our cat situation. I also had to contend with court appearance with my mother. Bottom line however, none of the rescuers I had contacted during those fours years helped out, even with the real threat of eviction upon us. Ironically the rescuers that did wind up in helping out tremendously, mainly ones in upstate New York, who by other rescuers networking had heard of our situation weren't even ones I had initially contacted. Also unfortunately, the NYCACC came into the picture, as our lawyer was kind of antsy pantsy to get the cat population down to only two, however, not many were surrendered to them, more were transported to the rescuers upstate New York. If it sounds like I have sour grapes against all those rescue groups I reached out to for four years, so be it. In my opinion they could have been helping all along.

By Friday, May 19, 2006 the cat population was down to only two cats, the original number set in that stipulation back in 2001. The court case however dragged on until October of 2006, and by that time I was on my own, as my mother had hospitalized for what would be the final time on August 11th. She was in a medicated induced coma until August 27, 2006 when she passed on. By the way, I did win the case and wasn't evicted.

There is another issue I wish to bring up tied to the 2006 eviction issue however. Since the news media had been so helpful back in 2001 in bringing the story to light and encouraging people to adopt our cats back then, I thought to myself, maybe I could get news coverage again to help out and encourage people to adopt the cats once more. I reached out and contacted two local newspapers who did arrange and came to our place and did an interview with my mother and myself. The story seemed to have caught on, but not necessarily in the manner I expected.

One day in April of 2006, when I was coming home after being in the library to still continue using the computer there to reach out for help, I found one of those sticky notes tacked onto my front door. The note said that he had read my story in one of those local newspapers and was interested in doing an interview with me and to call him back. The note was from a reporter of the New York Times. I thought wow, New York Times? To my mind that was like hitting the jackpot. So of course I called him and arranged for an interview for him to come over to my place. You have to remember my prime goal in contacting the news media initially was to perhaps once more get people interested in adopting our cats.

What turned out however with that interview was nothing short of a disaster and a farce and went an entirely different direction. For some reason, the reporter became fixated with my spiritual beliefs. For the record I AM a follower of the pagan/wicca path, but he seemed to turn the entire interview more on my beliefs than the real story that needed to be told, that about the cat issue and getting people interested in adopting them.

The article which did come out in early May of 2006 was nothing short of something that should have been in the National Enquirer. About the only thing he got right was my name. It's a wonder that the reporter didn't say that I was expecting an alien baby from the Andromeda Galaxy. Here's the gist of it. First off the bat he mentions me as the "witch of Elmhurst"….Okay I could deal with that since I am a follower of pagan/wicca beliefs so yes I am a witch and yes during that whole time of the court case I was doing protection "spells" or prayers. Wouldn't most people of any faith want some kind of "prayer" help? But then it goes on: "The witch happens to be Melanie Neer, 50, a student of the principles of Wicca and Harry Potter."

Harry Potter? Harry Potter? What kind of idiocy is that? Yes I do happen to be a fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, but give me credit folks, I know it's not a religion! If I still hadn't been involved at the time with the court case of eviction already back then, I would have loved to have sued the reporter for defamation of character. I actually did contact him to tell him and basically told him off about his so-called news reporting he had done and that it was totally out of line and false, but he told me that it was the editor that changed things around. Oh really? Give me a break, the editor wasn't there doing the story, he was.

Another thing in his article is that he mentions my mother sitting on the sofa wearing "her overcoat and a pair of thick boots". Why he brought that up I don't know. Yes, the "interview" took place in April, so yes, it was warm. However my mother always felt cold. It could have been 90-degrees and she still would feel cold, this the coat. As for the boots? Those were the ONLY shoes she had. During one of her hospital stays they kept changing her room around. For some reason she had a "fetish" to try and leave the hospital and eventually resorted to placing one of those wristbands on her so if she walked past a certain point, the alarms would go off. With all this changing of her room, they lost her clothes including a very expensive pair of Nikes, so the only other shoes were her boots. Since she had rather deformed feet getting shoes for her was difficult.

Since May 19, 2006 I have indeed continued to remain having only two cats. For the record and I want to get this straight, I did adopt another cat on December 1, 2012. My one of two cats, Pyewacket passed on April 19, 2010, still however, that does mean I only have two cats to date. Does anyone think I'm stupid? Does anyone think I'm so stupid that I would risk another possible eviction issue? I don't even dare adopt one more cat than the specified two allowed. It's also a purely logistics issue. Since I'm on my own now and do receive disability benefits, why would anyone think I could even afford to have a lot of cats? Also, if anyone questions the number of cats I have, I have people who can testify that yes indeed I only have two cats now, I also will freely allow anyone to come and see for themselves that I only have two cats. I have a photo here taken maybe three years ago during Christmas time that clearly shows I don't have a lot of cats.

I do rather find it amusing that when people do a search on me, they will dredge up that "infamous" article written by that NY Times reporter and slam it in my face. People seem to focus on the past negative incident that occurred, yet by-pass all my positives, such as my numerous articles I've written or even my photo website that I have to display my photography work. Only just today, someone once again dredged up the past, and sadly I have a feeling it won't be the last time.

So bottom line, if anyone wants to continue to dredge up my past situation, a past that clearly is not valid now, and making people think it's still in my present. Watch out. I can sue you for slander, libel and defamation of character.

Sources:

Life experience
@Melanie Neer-Photos included for this article are my personal collection of my two current cats and a photo of my apartment

Photo of Ouija

Photo of Kissy

Photo of my apartment at Christmas time

Previous article about what occurred in the past:

Living With A Pet Hoarder article

Previous article about my experiences about my past situation:
Living With A Pet Hoarder~date August 30, 2007

Photo image for the Living With A Pet-Hoarder article was from this website