Paul D:

About cats aloofness, I speak from the ones I had when I was younger.

About figuring the lady out, you are right, I do not know her and again I speak only from the knowledge of people I have known who have owned many same species animals (For the record, except for having babies, more than 2 for me is many.). All the people I know who have many animals relate to animals more than humans, but that does not mean that everyone who has many animals is lonely or afraid of human interaction. What and who you know and how they interact, I have not and can not experience.

Regarding cars, only twice in my life have cars given me a problem without warnings, once a 1962 Chevy Impala with a 327 engine had a capacitor short out (The little one in the distributor next to the points.), and a 1992 Chevy Beretta that had the ABS brakes give out on me suddenly. People that are willing to try and figure out animals don't seem to concern themselves about figuring out cars. Cars are easier.

I didn't have dogs so that I could become an "Animal Whisperer" and claim knowledge of their psyches beyond the scope of the needs I obtained the dog for. I have had a Brittainy Spaniel, and German Shorthair for hunting and 2 German Shepards at different times for security. Except for the early months of their lives where they lived in the house to acclimate them to the family, they all lived in solidly built insulated dog houses outside, spring, summer, fall, and winter. My dog owning friends think I am cruel and cold for that, and I think they are cold and cruel for owning dogs not built for Wisconsin weather and keeping those that are, in their homes.

Now as to sticking to what I know: Wheather you agree with me or not, wheather you love, hate, or don't care about me personally does not matter as I post what I believe and in doing so get people to respond according to what they believe and even if we never agree, we both become exposed to different ideas and we both learn something even if we dispute it.

Now finally, last but not least, thank you for the compliment.

Bountyhunter

But weirdly enough my ex-wife treated the rhino's (she was a zookeeper) just like dogs and they behaved perfectly. Much to the disgust of the keepers who actually worked full time in that section. Its really funny watching someone treat a baby rhino like a puppy, but you have to be careful not to get your arm crushed against the wall when scratching behind its ears if it leans against you.

The actual point of this post <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> was about giving dogs tablets. It depends on the dogs. I have an agreement with my lot. They get "people food" with a tablet in it as a treat. As long as they swallow the tablet thay get the treat. If they start spitting it out then its force tablet down and no treat time. They soon learn. The looks on peoples faces when I give tablets to the dogs are great. I was having to give one of them 7 tablets at a time and 3 of them were huge pink things (big dogs=more body weight=higher dose=more tablets). I can actually get a piece of food (corned beef or a sausage works well) and put the tablet into it in front of the dog, and he will still take it. As an experiment I tried just placing the tablet on top of the treat and giving him the morsal in one go. He still takes the tablet. Success <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. It did fail at one point since I was giving 7 tablets twice a day (antibiotics due to a very bady broken humerous) and ran out of treats. In desperation I tried giving him a bit of bread with the tablet in it. He spat it out. I couldnt complain really as it was me that had broken the agreement. After all bread isnt much of a treat. So I spread some butter on it and the tablets got swallowed ok.

For anyone that has to use the force down the throat method. I agree with the previous advcice of put on back of tongue and hold muzzle shut. However it work better if you tickle under the muzzle while holding it closed.

There are a number of on-line FEMA publications on animals in disaster situations. Everything from pets to large animals, worth a look for possible ideas on how to prepare for and respond to disasters.

http://www.fema.gov/preparedness/animals_and_disasters.shtm

Pete

Thank you for the FEMA site. I can see that I have fairly good planning in place.

One thing that I have not done yet is to get the implanted ID chips for my three cats. I had decided to do that when I had several bulletins from the ASPCA during the recent Hurricanes in Florida.

The volunteers who tried to round up all the stray pets where overwhelmed by the numbers of animals (esp. cats) that could not be easily identified.

This is what often happens. We see the emergency situations that arise and vow to make our own plans from those lessons learned. Then we put it all in the back of our minds and forget about it till the next "wake-up call."