We love Franny’s the Cats Guide over at About.com Cats, and she recently posted a great in-depth review of an incredible book called “Making Rounds With Oscar – The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat” on her site. You can read her full review here, but here’s the beginning of it and you can already see why we say this is an incredible book with an incredible story! “On the surface, Oscar does appear to be an ordinary cat, perhaps one you’d see sitting in a neighbor’s window, or even in a cage in an animal shelter, waiting for adoption. His dark eyes, although clear and bright, don’t show any evidence of what almost appears to be Oscar’s supernatural ability of sniffing out the impending death of one or another of the patients in the third floor dementia ward of Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island.” Yes, Oscar is that famous cat wh’s self-appointed job is attending to patients right before they die, giving families and loved ones a chance to gather around for a final goodbye. Incredible! Thanks Franny for the review and letting us know about this book!

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What kind of Easter Bunny makes a great gift to give and receive? Chocolate bunnies! Sadly every year, baby bunnies and adult rabbits are purchased as Easter gifts, and then when the rabbits get older, the excitement of Easter wears off, and the reality of owning a pet that requires daily cleaning, feeding, exercise and socialization sets in… the poor bunnies are dropped off at animal shelters where few make it out alive. Or worse, let loose in a field, where they become hawk or coyote food. So thank goodness for Rescue Chocolate’s Make Mine Chocolate Bunnies! Yummy adorable chocolate bunnies wrapped up with a pretty ribbon, ready for delivery and devouring! Rescu Chocolate’s website says: “To break the cycle of purchase and abandonment, Rescue Chocolate has partnered with House Rabbit Society  to promote “Make Mine Chocolate,” a campaign that encourages the purchase of chocolate bunnies for Easter rather than live rabbits. For more information about rabbits and how you can help, visit the House Rabbit Society website and the Make Mine Chocolate campaign. Ingredients: cacao beans, sugar, cacao butter, soy lecithin, vanilla.” Yum! You can click to buy yours online here.

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Our friends over at Bark Busters have put together these great tips for dog owners in multi-user residences! “We all know what joy having a canine companion can bring, no matter where we call home. However, for those who live in multi-unit dwellings, a misbehaved dog whose barking and bad manners disturbs others can easily cause ill-will among the most rational of tenants.  Bark Busters, the world’s largest dog training company, offers these tips below for dog-owners who share living space in apartments, condos, townhomes and the like.

• Before moving into your new residence, thoroughly check the unit and complex surroundings for potential dog hazards to ensure your dog’s safety.
• Socializing your dog is essential in a busy, high-traffic environment. As soon as you move in, introduce yourself and your dog to your immediate neighbors. This lets your dog become familiar with the people—and dogs—he may encounter every day. Get to know other canine-owning neighbors so you can care for each another’s dogs in the event of delays in getting home.
• Be respectful of others. Before getting on an elevator, ask if everyone is comfortable with your dog riding along. If there is already another dog inside, wait for the next one or take the stairs.  A small confined area can become a threatening environment for the dogs.
• Always position yourself between your dog and passersby in hallways and other public areas.
• Take extra care when walking on staircases. Small dogs may fall between the stairs or through the railings. In addition, you could trip on your dog as you both maneuver the steps. Train your dog to walk slowly by your side when on stairs, and to wait to give other residents the right of way.
• Consider taking an obedience class or having one-on-one training with your dog—you’ll both learn a lot and be better neighbors. In addition, making your dog think expends as much energy as physical activity. Provide 10 to 15 minutes of training daily on basics such as sit, stay, come, and walking on leash. Doing this twice a day is even better.
• If the weather is bad, practice obedience with your dog in the building’s hallways and lobbies (if safe), as well as at home.
• Keep your dog busy when indoors by providing high-quality, treat-rewarding food-puzzle or food-stuffed toys. Switch out his toys every few days so he has new and fun things to hold his interest.
• Don’t let your dog become a nuisance barker. If he barks when you are at home, learn ways to manage his noisy behavior to help you and your neighbors enjoy a quieter living environment. If he barks when you are away from home, consult with a qualified dog behavioral therapist to learn how to stop the barking and keep the peace.
• Consider crate-training your dog. Because dogs are descended from den-dwelling animals, a crate or pet carrier makes a natural shelter. Provide soft bedding and keep the crate in an area of your home where he feels most comfortable. Crating your dog when you’re not home ensures a safe environment for him, minimizes chances of his barking, and helps prevent him from causing damage. Avoid leaving your dog unattended or locked on an apartment balcony.
• Get training that will help you understand your dog. Knowing your dog’s unique temperament and tendencies will help you to better control how he behaves. A well-behaved dog is less likely to upset people and other pets in public places, will be more welcome at gatherings, and will enjoy a better relationship with everyone he meets. Plus, his good manners will reflect positively on you, his responsible owner.

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Earlier this week if you were tuned in to the Martha Stewart TV show, you may have seen a wonderful show dedicated to “Do Something.” The show opened with none other than Adopt-a-Pet.com’s own spokesperson, Dr. Pia Salk! For 9 minutes she and Martha talked about wonderful shelter and rescue pets available for adoption, from purebred Beagle puppies, to adorable kittens, unique photogenic mixed breeds from lap size to family size, and (one of Pia’s favorites) a super sweet Pit Bull named Sasha. Pia also talked about how people can “do something” to help homeless pets, even if they can’t adopt – like volunteer, share adoptable pets on social networking sites, or put an Adopt-a-Pet.com search widget (like Pia did) on their own website! Or if you have a special skill, like you are a professional or amateur photographer, you can volunteer to take photos of pets for adoption, like celeb photographer Richard Phibbs does. You can understand the life-changing difference a good photo , or social networking to get a pet seen and saved, can make in the life of a shelter or rescue pet. Did you miss the show on TV? You can watch the segment online here on MarthaStewart.com right now!  Also on Pia’s blog on MarthaStewart.com  you won’t want to miss the 33 photos Pia posted from behind the scenes. It takes a LOT of people, animals, and hard work to put together “just” a 9-minute segment! We just thrilled that Martha Stewart uses her show to promote wonderful causes, like helping homeless pets. Thank you Martha and thank you Pia for such a great show!

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We love the wisdom that senior pets bring to our lives. Senior cats in particular, since they can live such long lives, seem to possess a worldly knowledge that surpasses many other species. The Daily Mail seems to have more and more stories about incredible ancient domestic felines, such as Lucy from South Wales, who is age 39 or Cream Puff, age 28 in Texas — yes that is in human years! It’s not just the press that is recording cats living longer lives: According the Cornell Feline Health Center at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, “Just as people are living longer than they did in the past, cats are living longer too. In fact, the percentage of cats over six years of age has nearly doubled in just over a decade, and there is every reason to expect that the “graying” cat population will continue to grow.” The CFHC has even put out a brochure called “The Special Needs of the Senior Cat” (click here to view it online). Read on to find out what it reveals…

The CFHC brochure points out an interesting  way to more accurately calculate your cat’s age in human years: “The commonly held belief that every “cat year” is worth seven “human years” is not entirely accurate. In reality, a one-year-old cat is physiologically similar to a 16-year-old human, and a two-year-old cat is like a person of 21. For every year thereafter, each cat year is worth about four human years. Using this formula, a ten-year-old cat is similar age wise to a 53-year-old person, a 12-year-old cat to a 61-year-old person, and a 15-year-old cat to a person of 73.”

This age calculating is based on averaging cat data, which includes both indoor-only and cats that spend time or live outdoors. So obviously, an indoor-only pet would have a MUCH longer average lifespan than 15 years.

Ironically, many people still look at an 8 year old cat as a senior pet, but given the information above, you may want to consider adjusting that age bracket up a number of years! We see many cats living into their 20’s nowadays. That is an important piece of information when you are looking at adopting a pet, especially if you are in your upper years as well.

Another good article about growing old with your cat (which you can read in full here) has some helpful tips on feeding your pet a lower calorie diet if they begin to gain weight as they age, and touches on the common illnesses that senior cats can face — and hide very well!

Some tips we like for when you own or adopt a senior cat:

– Watch for any changes in appearance or behavior, even ones that seem “normal” or “insignificant” for an aging cat (such as slowing down, changes in appetite, coat appearance, litter box use or volume) can be signs of a disease that is developing, that could be stopped or greatly diminished with early vet care intervention.

– Checkups: If you have a newly adopted senior cat, you won’t have known them long enough to notice any “changes” in their appearance or behavior. Plan on vet visits every 6 months for a checkup for the first  year, or even two – then yearly. Since stress is not good for any pet, especially a senior cat, ask if your vet makes housecalls. Many offer this service for a very minimal fee.

– Brush & kitty massage weekly – or daily! Not only does this help a senior cat keep their coat sleek, reduce hairballs, increase circulation, but the massage part is a mini-exam and you will notice any lumps right away.

– Exercise. Just like with people, daily low-impact exercise is critically important for keeping your senior cat healthy. Make time each day for a short play session with a feather toy or laser toy, or any game that gets kitty moving!

So now you’re ready to adopt a “senior” cat or two! You can select “senior” as the age in the Adopt-a-Pet.com Cat Search tool to find loving senior cats for adoption near you.

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We are avid fans of Adopt-a-Pet.com’s spokesperson Dr. Pia Salk’s blog posts over on the MarthaStewart.com “The Daily Wag” blog, and her last post on her judging the “Go Dog Go’ fundraiser show for HeARTs Speak, an organization that offers a unique and creative way for artists of all ages to help homeless animals, um… forgive the play on words… “illustrates” exactly why! Pia writes: “The first annual “The Go Dog Go Show” was the brainchild of Rhinebeck New York’s Pause Boutique owner, Laura Betti. Laura’s motto for the event that showcased dogs of all ages, breeds, and talents was, “Barking allowed. Big personalities rewarded.” When asked what motivated her to create this annual event, Laura said, ” I place high value on organizing events that bring together families in support of positive animal causes. These types of events serve as a venue for the much needed education of responsible pet ownership, advocacy for animal rescue and awareness overall about the role we play in protecting animals. Collaboration is key.”

You can read the full blog article with all the super fun photos right here.

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The Young Person’s Guide to Woofs & Growls is a wonderful free poster from world-famous canine behavior specialist Jez Rose. With easy-to-understand cartoon illustrations, it walks a child through what to do – and not to do – around dogs to be safe. The short descriptive sentences are easy for young readers to comprehend, but parents of even younger children can use the poster as a discussion tool to explain how important it is to respect  that a dog is a dog, and not all dogs are the same. You can download this great poster for free right here: Understanding Woofs and Growls poster PDF. The Jez Rose website has a whole section of free training resources available here and we really appreciate their allowing Adopt-a-Pet.com to feature their poster downloads to help adopted pets!

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Sometimes as a new puppy grows up, they suddenly reach a size where they realize if they stand on their back legs, they can help themselves to those delicious-smelling things you put on the counter for them! Of course you don’t really leave it there for them, but for a puppy or dog to understand that, you have to train them first. Counter-surfing isn’t exclusively a puppy problem either, some adult dogs enjoy counter-surfing too! They might be newly adopted dogs that were never trained to behave politely (or even allowed) in the kitchen, or maybe your adult dog does his counter-snatching only when your back is turned, or you’re not home. Whatever the pup’s age or circumstances, we have some training tips that will help your food-loving pooch keep his paws on the floor where they belong and off your countertops!

1. Put it away
If you have a counter- or trash-surfing dog, the first step in training them is to put it away. That means totally out of reach. You may not want to permanently keep those yummy-smelling (to the dog) sponges or other edible items in a drawer, cabinet, or big heavy screw-top jar at the back of the counter. Think about it: every time your dog jumps up and gets something yummy, that is just like reward-training him TO jump on the counters!

2. Don’t feed them off the counters
Do you fill up their food bowl on the counter? Cut up treats or put treat bags on and then give them treats out of the bags off the counters? Stop doing as much of that as you can! Move where you fill up their food bowl and store their treats out of the kitchen, like to the laundry room, garage, hallway, etc.

3. Positive reinforcement
Whenever you are in the kitchen with your dog, you can randomly reward them for being there with food on the counter when they are NOT jumping up. Work on your sit, stay, and down commands in the kitchen and give them rewards out of your pocket and hands. Practice a sit-stay and then walk towards the doorway out of the kitchen, then do a recall and reward.  Work up to walking out of the kitchen with them on a sit-stay in the kitchen, gradually increasing the length of time they are holding the sit-stay, then coming to you when called for the reward.

3. Negative correction
a.) Active: If you have a counter surfer who jumps up even when you are standing there, make them wear a “drag leash” when they are allowed access to the kitchen. A drag leash is one they drag around all the time – great for keeping puppies out of trouble. They should only wear one when supervised, so you can untangle them if it gets tangled in a chair or table leg for example. When your dog puts his paws on the counter, firmly but gently pull the end of the leash to get him off the counter and say a firm “no”. We don’t like grabbing a collar as part of a negative correction, that is why we advocate a drag leash. You always want hands reaching for a collar to be a good positive experience.

b) Passive: There are devices invented to keep pets off surfaces and also household items you can also. You can stack empty soda cans along the edge of the counter, and when the pet jumps up, the cans will fall making an unpleasant noise. For a determined counter-surfer, consider pet motion-activated spray cans or even snappy traps, see photo below.

4. Exercise, training, toys
Giving a dog enough exercise every day, doing daily training exercises and giving them food puzzle toys to keep their mind engaged will also help reduce their desire to find something interesting and delicious to explore on your counters!

Humane snappy traps protecting the prize sponge from a big puppy!
They make a ‘snap’ noise deterrent to ward off  pups jumping up.
(Note muddy paw prints on countertop!)

Thank you to Amy Shever, Director of 2nd Chance 4 Pets, for writing this informative guest blog article! Have you thought about what would happen to your pets should something happen to you? More than half a million companion animals are surrendered to US shelters each year simply because their human passed away or became ill without a plan for their continued care. Perhaps one of the most important questions you should ask yourself is, “Who will care for my pets should I no longer be able to?” This is a difficult question especially if your pets have “special needs” or if you have no suitable friends or relatives to care for them. Do you leave this decision up to a stranger or do you make the decision yourself? It’s not always a simple task, however, pet owners have a responsibility to provide care for their pets, and this is a critical issue for any responsible pet owner.

What if you have no one to designate as a potential caregiver for your pets? Discuss the situation with your veterinarian, local pet sitters and local animal welfare organizations. They may be able to help you find the right people that are capable of caring for your pets should you no longer be able to. If you are unable to identify a caregiver for your pets, you might consider appointing several individuals, such as veterinarians, family members, and friends, to an “animal care panel” which would be charged with the responsibility of locating a suitable caregiver. The panel could use various means to locate a proper caregiver such as consulting with local animal welfare organizations. The panel would interview prospective caregivers and select the person it feels would provide the best care for your pets.

Another option is a “lifetime care program”, sanctuary or facility. Thoroughly evaluate a facility or program before you “sign up”. You may consider engaging an attorney to finalize the arrangements or contract with the program you select. If the program sounds like a good fit for your pets do visit the facility before making your final decision.

So before you decide on the next “toy of the month” ask yourself, “Who will be my pets’ caregiver should I no longer be able to care for them myself?”.

For more resources on lifetime care planning for your pets, visit www.2ndchance4pets.org. 2nd Chance 4 Pets is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer organization, that focuses on helping to make sure pet owners have planned for the possibility that their pets might outlive them.

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We love hearing stories of amazing animal saviors, and the great lengths that caring compassionate people go to in order to help pets and give them a chance at a well-cared for life in a loving home. We consider these extraordinary people – and the volunteers, donors, and adopters who make their mission possible – heroes to homeless pets! This week we’d like to introduce you to Garo Alexanian, a true pet hero. To sum up all Mr. Alexanian has done in the past 25 years to help improve pet welfare and lives in New York City would take volumes! But to give you a little understanding of his background, he started rescuing animals when he was 9 years old, worked in a veterinary hospital starting at 16, and his best friend was a German Shepherd named King. His early experiences, and his profound love for King led him to promise himself that he would dedicate his life to helping animals. He’s been a passionate advocate for positive change in the animal control system ever since. You can read the rest of his history on his Companion Animal Network TV website here.  For this article, we spoke to Garo about two amazing programs that are having a wonderful and measurable impact on animals’ lives in New York City: 1) Safety Net – a surrender prevention program, and 2) a super low-cost full-service veterinary program.

Garo explains more: “Our 25 year old “mom and pop” volunteer organization had been lobbying three different animal control administrations for 10 years to permit us to launch a never before tried program to prevent surrenders. In 2005, we finally resorted to appealing to the Board of Directors of NYCACC, whose Chair is the NYC Health Commissioner. To our amazement Health Commissioner Thomas Friedan liked our proposal and we were given the opportunity to implement the nation’s first surrender prevention program at an animal control agency. We invented, funded, and operated a telephone and animal HelpLine we named the Safety Net Program. It was open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with me personally taking a hundred or more live calls per week, including animal control calls referred from the NYCACC.” (NYCACC is “Animal Care & Control of NYC” – who, since 1995, has been responsible for NYC’s municipal shelter system, rescuing, caring for, and finding loving homes for nearly 40,000 homeless and abandoned animals in NYC each year.)

What was Garo’s background that made him the right person for this immense job? Garo says, “We founded our organization’s HelpLine twenty years prior, and had serviced over 200,000 calls in two decades. So we had already been doing what rescuers dread most, taking tens of thousands of “I want to give away my pet” calls when we got this semi-official opportunity to work with NYCACC. After a few years of operating the expanded HelpLine, and realizing that a small volunteer organization with one full time call-taker (who else, me of course), could not advance and progress the surrender prevention program’s capabilities, we turned the HelpLine over to the Humane Society of the United States.

Several years later, the HSUS renamed the program Pets For Life, and it now handles up to 500 calls per week, with several paid full time staff, and over 50 volunteers, with supportive small grants for special situations. It was so successful that within a couple of years NYC turned over all 311 animal emergency calls to the Pet for Life HelpLine instead of animal control, removing a massive burden so NYCACC can concentrate on better treatment of animals and increasing adoptions.

Some of the services the HelpLine provides are referral to low cost boarding, low cost veterinary services, free animal and owner training, assistance in obtaining service dog qualification, free attorneys for landlord tenant issues, allergists who, unlike mere MDs know what they are talking about, and do not automatically advise people with allergy concerns to “get rid of the pet and see if it gets better,” to name just a few.

However, it became clear that many, if not most, pet owners who considered surrendering their pets due to inability to afford veterinary care, had no means of transportation to the handful of vets who were participating in our Low Cost Veterinary program.

So we came up with the idea of buying a mobile vet hospital and going to the low income communities where NYCACC has its shelters, in order to provide super low cost and free veterinary services to prevent surrenders. It took about two years to find a low mileage, impeccable condition, used mobile vet hospital at a reasonable cost. I put my last penny into buying it, and fully expected to lose it all within a few months. But I always lived by the motto that it is better to give it your best shot and fail than not to try at all.

We launched the Low Cost Vet Mobile on July 25, 2009 at the Manhattan NYCACC. We had a live interview on the CBS Morning News that day and a major article was featured in the NY Daily News. One hundred pets needing care showed up on our first day! Two days later we launched the service at the Brooklyn NYCACC, and another one hundred pets showed up there – there were even fist fights over who would be seen first! We could not believe the response. We started with two days a week and were on site from 9AM to as late as 3 AM. Within two months we expanded to three days a week, with two days allocated to Manhattan. To keep the service staffed with vets, vet techs, medical record secretaries, and thousands of items to be able to perform major surgeries at a moment’s notice, I barely slept and ate for the next two and a half years.

When the NYCACC pet surrender statistics came out in 2010 at the end of our first full year (see chart), we were amazed. We had boldly predicted a 10-12% reduction in surrenders, and in actuality they dropped even more – by 15% with 5,094 fewer intakes of animals. In the previous 6 years surrenders had not changed much at all, hovering at around 40,000, give or take a couple hundred

Our second full year ended in 2011, and statistics show another 9.2% drop had occurred in surrenders. In two years time surrenders reduced from 40,742 to 31,561, a 24.2% drop! Thank heavens, as the adoptions simultaneously dropped due to the economic meltdown, so our Vet Mobile’s gains were more than able to offset the reduced adoptions, so euthanasia continued to dramatically drop.

It has been a team effort between the major players such as the NY City Health Department, the ASPCA, the HSUS, Maddie’s Fund, Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, the rescue community, and our Low Cost Vet Mobile.

In 2012, our third full year, we are expanding to a five day a week schedule. We hope to save enough money in a few years to be able to purchase a strategically located building to provide NY City a new low cost 24 hr animal hospital, low cost boarding, and adoption center.

Two years ago I would have laughed at myself for being unrealistic and just another utopian dreamer. No more. I believe in dreams, but you must act out your dreams to make them come true.”

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