Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Posted by Animals at 6:13 PM Monday, October 5, 2009

Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Taking Care of Baby

Posted: 04 Oct 2009 08:36 AM PDT

Carmie-and-Wabby Some of you may know and some may not, but I also write a petblog for Purina on Yahoo!'s SHINE network. That's a network for women, and Purina sponsors the petblog section. Other people also write about pets, so there is some good, all around educational and entertaining content on that blog.

I also write a blog about marketing to women, and I know that women are far closer and more fond of their kitties and doggies, than men. That isn't right or wrong, it's just the way things are. Case in point: the Wabby, being elderly, keeps strange hours these days. She's often up in the middle of the night and my online research shows that she could be disoriented. She cries loudly and paces outside our bedroom door. Who do you think gets up to comfort her? Yep. That would be me.

And comfort her, I do. She truly waits for me to pick her up and whisper in her ear and reassure her all is okay. It's very much like taking care of a baby.

Today I discovered this article at WSAW, "Cats and Dogs Living Longer" and I want to share it here because it's an important read. The article says, "...many cats and dogs are exceeding typical life expectancies." Wabby, at 17, is on the edge. Many cats live to be 18-20, but generally, they last to be 17-18, and I know Wabby's behavior is part of her aging. Yet, she's very healthy and I expect her to last at least 4-5 more years.

What that means is that as her "mom" I need to pay more attention to her issues, including this habit of wailing in the middle of the night. I have to watch her weight. I have to watch her litterbox use. I have to make sure she sees the vet at least TWICE a year, not once a year. Reading-to-your-dog

The same was true of Carmie. Carmie was almost 16. For a dog that was part Shepard, part Lab, she was extremely elderly. But, until she developed bloat, she was in good shape. Her walks were shorter - and she slept a lot more, but had the bloat not taken her from us, I think she'd still be here, a year later. Maybe even into 2011 or more. I had a dream that she would live to be 17 or 18, and that's very unusual for big dogs.

Here's my thought - we have better nutrition (I've always fed Purina and my pets always do well on it), we take our pets' health more seriously, as evidenced by the advances in veterinary medicine (which wouldn't happen if pet parents weren't willing to take care of their pets as if they were family members, which they are, right?), and we now have pet health insurance to help us make sure our pets always get the best possible care.

Non-pet people can complain all they want. Pet parents want to keep their cats and dogs around, and in good health, for as long as possible. We no longer accept the idea that they will only last a certain length of time - we are determined to help them stay active, happy, healthy, and a part of our lives for many years beyond numbers on some chart.

At least, that's what I think. What do you think?

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