dogandcatviews.com

It has been a little while since anyone from The Ark has had time to post a few comments and so we decided that before you all think we have all died and gone to doggy or kitty heaven, we had better elect someone to take the time to write.  So, in the end, it’s me – the phantom writer!  Phantom because with the topic of this post being as it is, I really don’t want my name put to it.

Remember, there are six felines and two canines living here in The Ark.  Six felines can add up to a LOT of hairballs.  Even Coby, definitely a non-shedding dog, gets a hairball once in a while since he cleans four of the cats regularly.  He really thinks he is a mommy cat.  Anyways, earlier today Princess threw up a BIG hairball on the windowsill of the front living room window.  You may recall that she pretty much lives on the sill.  Mrs. Noah created two spots out of boxes and cardboard that give Princess much wider spots on which to lay – one on the east end of the sill and one on the west end of the sill.  She had said just the other day that the top piece of cardboard needed to be changed on each station because Princess sweats and drools and the cardboard was getting soiled.  The gobs of hair were growing as well.  Princess chose today as “throw up a medium sized hairball” day.  What a mess. She eats lots of coconut oil and that cuts down on the number of hairballs, for which we can be thankful.

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Hi.  It’s me, Sandi, the big sandy/orange coloured canine in the picture above – on behalf of dogs everywhere!  Mrs. Noah received in an Email this explanation about the purpose of a dog.  It came with lots of cute pictures this time but the explanation has been circulating the internet for a long time.  We have no idea of where it originated from but,  it really is a thoughtful explanation that makes a lot of sense to me, seeing as how I am a dog myself.  I concur wholeheartedly.  Do enjoy!

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You might know the song, “Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone, oh where or where can he be?”  Well, around here, Princess is the subject of the song.  You can never tell just where that silly cat is going to be “living” if you can call it that.  Just like people, cats and dogs can be REALLY quirky.  In case quirky is not part of your regular vocabulary, it means: a peculiar behavioural habit, or strikingly unconventional.    Princess is really, REALLY, REALLY QUIRKY! 

You have to have patience with a quirky individual, whether they be four leggers or two leggers and that is certainly the case with Princess.  Perhaps  you have a quirky pet in your family, home, or as we say around here, our Ark.  Mrs. Noah spent considerable time today trying to accommodate the quirkiness of Princess. Read more »

You would think that two leggers would know better.  Of course, some do but some obviously don’t.  It’s that time of year when the snow is gone and the promise of spring is in the air.  People are cruising down the roads with their windows down and the wind blowing through their hair.   The bugs are beginning to come out of hibernation, the crocuses and spring bulbs are peeking through the ground.  The geese are returning and there is a pair of ducks looking to set up housekeeping in the pond just across the road from our Ark.  Yup, things are looking good for a nice spring.  We are all so glad to have good eyesight with which to enjoy seeing everything. Read more »

We cats are so much quieter than dogs.  I know that for a fact because I AM A CAT!!  Actually, I have to admit that my voice is probably considered to be louder than my peers.  I do like to express my opinion sometimes and I do tend to set up a yowl if I can’t find anybody or it is dark.  I really don’t like the dark! However, all that said, I don’t disturb the neighbourhood.

On the other hand, the dogs who live behind us are left outside most of the day, most days and often late into the night.  They bark, and bark, and bark, and bark, and . . . .  Spring is coming, followed by summer and we should all be able to enjoy the outdoors.  The Ark owners here put in a deck with a patio door a couple of summers back with the idea that they could have the screened patio door open to allow air flow.  Sometimes they take us felines out onto the deck to enjoy the fresh air with them.  We love the opportunity to sun bathe.  The problem is, those dogs get out there and they bark, and bark, and bark, and . . . .  More often than not, we are all stuck inside, four leggers and two leggers alike with the doors and windows closed up tight to block out some of the incessant barking.  Do the owners of those dogs care?  Apparently not because they still let their dogs bark, and bark, and bark, and . . . . 

Sandi and Coby, the resident canines in our Ark like to go outside.  In fact, the Ark owners fenced the last open side of the yard a couple of years back just so Sandi and Coby could play outside.   I am the door supervisor around here.  Someone goes in or out and I am aware of it.  When my dogs go out, I lay at the door until they come back in.  When Sandi and Coby get out into the fenced in yard it is nice for them to have the exercise and for the most part they don’t bark  unless someone walks by, and then it is only a few quick barks, nothing to get upset about.  However,  when the neighbour dogs are out, which is most of  the time,  poor Sandi and Coby get to spend hardly any time in the yard.  They go out, do their business and are hauled back in as soon as they start barking back at the other dogs and before you know it, they are back in and I had barely had time to settle into a comfortable position to wait!  Our people don’t even get to enjoy sitting or laying on the lovely deck swing they got.  How can they, the noise is terrible with those dogs that bark, and bark, and bark and . . .

Around here we don’t believe in those bark collars because they are painful to the dogs.  Basically you just have to train them with treats to not bark unless it is appropriate like when someone comes to the door or a fire has broken out!!

If you have a dog, be responsible and keep it from barking and barking and barking and . . .    Other people and even us cats have the right to peace and quiet.  Train your dogs to keep their opinions short and to the point and that way everyone can enjoy the beautiful weather.

Chester,

Mrs. Noah has been taking a course online and one of her fellow students enjoys using words that are not always in common use.  For instance, did you know that somewhere along the line you have been guilty of a peccant?  And no, this has nothing to do with being guilty of taking a second piece of pecan pie!  I am reasonably sure peccanting is not something I need to be concerned about but, some days Mrs. Noah wonders about that with regard to some of the other four legged Ark dwellers here.

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I hope you did your homework and have a reasonable idea of what a water based toileting station is!  If not, you can always get up to speed by reading:  — Water Based Toileting Stations .

I can’t honestly say which one is the very best water based toileting station.  They are all used, just some more than others and each of us has a favourite and all have been modified to meet our water-based toileting feature.  So, these evaluations are not necessarily in order of popularity.  They all work but some rate a 5 PAW rating.

Before giving you my rating for our successful water based toileting systems, I really need to let you know that just like Thomas Edison who did not invent a working light bulb with his first attempt, we had some failures and even our “successes” took a lot of tweaking to get them to a success status.

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Smokey here – the official Ark Feline Toileting Station Inspector!  At the end of 2009 Mrs. Noah made some toileting station decisions, which ultimately ended up with additions and subtractions.  Since we have been using these various inventions for a long time now, it is time for my review of the good, the bad, and the just plain failures!  I have my personal favourites but will attempt to give an unbiased report.  I have to admit, seeing as how we felines are rather private in our personal toileting habits, I can’t honestly say just who uses each station.  Some of us change our mind frequently and regularly like to try out the various available options.  A new toileting station system was added back in late November and it is certainly a great one that several of us like.  Andrea bought us two great big jumbo sized, covered litter boxes and Mrs. Noah added a screened grid to each one.

NOTE:  For those new to our dogandcatview.com site, a toileting station is vastly different from a traditional litter box filled with messy litter.  Here in the Ark, which is what we call our home where we live with Mrs. Noah who is our Sanitation Engineer, and her family, our toileting stations use water instead of litter.  You can read all about the concept at — Water Based Toileting Stations – where you will be introduced to the concept, which, by the way has now been modified but this article gives you the advantages of going water based. Read more »

Mrs. Noah is NOT a winter person.  She believes in staying snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug whenever possible.  She figured this out years ago and it was confirmed when in January, 19 years ago some children at a church tobogganing party convinced her to go down the hill just one more time!  Well, it was one time too many.  Her tail bone has never been the same since.  It took over a year before she could sit on the floor again without that all important bone making its presence felt.  I can personally identify with her because somehow my tail was broken when I was but a few weeks old.  To this day I still don’t like to have anyone touch my tail.

Actually, Mrs. Noah really likes the snow when it is freshly fallen and is hanging on the trees with the sun making it look like someone emptied bushels of diamonds on the world.   The strange thing is, Mr. Noah never seems to appreciate those shovels full of diamonds in the least as he is removing them from the driveway! 

This is a busy week around here since we put a lot of time into rearranging the downstairs office last week and now Mrs. Noah is running way behind in her schedule.   I have quite a few things I want to share with you but can’t get her pinned down to take dictation this week.  So, we invite you to read her blog entry for this week at http://www.joycenter.on.ca/blog    It is all about how to handle the month of February.  I know the plan works around here.  In fact, as Mrs. Noah says, February includes the last week of January and, sometimes, even earlier, as it did here this year!  That’s partly why we ended up in a major office rearrange last week that took three days to complete!   So, read all about "Conquering The Fearsome Monster!" and how we deal with it here in the Ark.

Oh yes, we hope you were glad to hear that the groundhog apparently saw his shadow on Feb. 2 and he had a Happy Ground Hog Day!

Sandi

I will never forget coming to live here in the Ark.  One extremely hot summer’s day in June 2001 Bob (that’s the head two legger in the Ark) saw me with my litter mates in a box just outside a grocery store.  Two little girls were trying to sell us and it was so hot nobody was even stopping to look at us.  But Bob did!  To make a long story short, Bob and Andrea (his daughter) raced home and begged Mrs. Noah to let me come to live in the Ark. That very afternoon they took me to a vet to make sure I was OK, and the next thing you know, I was HOME! 

Trust me, Mrs. Noah doesn’t normally recommend this way of adopting dog or another pet.  It turns out I was the runt of the litter.  But, with lots love and care I grew to be 55 pounds – actually much bigger than even the vet expected who thought I would be about 30 pounds at the most!  In fact, the vet on that afternoon must have been very hot himself because he didn’t even know for sure what breed I was.  He said to consider me as a “rescue” pup.  What the girls told Bob was definitely NOT what I turned out to be.  When I was younger I needed lots of walking and running time and it turns out I have hip problems and skin issues, oh yes, and some allergies. These are some of the reasons Mrs. Noah always says to do your homework before choosing a pet.  Thankfully, my family did not surrender me to a animal shelter when I got so big and they gradually found out my health issues.  Unfortunately, a lot of people do abandon the poor doggy that just grew and grew and grew, or ate and ate and ate, or barked and barked and barked, or chewed and chewed and chewed, or . . . .!! Read more »