Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays

Allie: Hi all! I asked Mother if we could blog about Petfinder's "Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays" because it's very personal to me. You see, that's how I found my Forever Family.

And Mother was excited to do it because she knows - and works with - the people who were instrumental in making this a great new national tradition.

It all began many years ago when a lawyer in a suburban Kansas City town (Olathe, KS) wrote a bedtime story for his kids.

It was about a developmentally disabled boy named Todd who heard his hometown shelter needed to find temporary homes for its animals over the holidays. Through persistence and persuasion, Todd motivates an entire town to extend their peace and goodwill to animals that year, too.

That man's name is Greg Kincaid, and his story, "A Dog Named Christmas," was first published 4 years ago this month.

Someone gave a copy of Mr. Kincaid's book to a really nice man that Mother works with - Brad Moore, president of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. He fell in love with it, not only because it's an awesome story but also because it's a story written by a local writer and Hallmark has always been hugely supportive of hometown talent (they're really nice like that).

Greg's book became Hallmark's 2009 Holiday Hall of Fame movie (and if you never got a chance to see it, set your recorders for next Sunday December 16, because at 10 PM EST/ 9 PM Central, it's playing again on the Hallmark Channel).

But that's just the beginning of the story. Hallmark then partnered with CBS and Petfinder.com to launch a new program that winter, based on the concept in Greg's story: the idea to foster a lonely pet for the holidays.

This is a wonderful idea for several reasons. Not only would this make it easier for shelter workers to have a holiday of their own (fewer pets in the shelter = less time they need to work), but it also gives animals a few weeks away from the stresses of a shelter environment.

Did you know that there is such a thing as shelter stress and that it can weaken an animal's immune system?

Veterinary News wrote about shelter stress and its affects on cats in particular in an article last year.

They quoted Dr. Michael Moyer, President of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), as saying that a shelter environment "means stress, and stress means relapse of latent viruses ... [and] supportive care for weeks in order to convalesce."

snoozing with da

Please consider participating in this year's Petfinder's Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays program.

You'll be giving a wonderful animal a few weeks' reprieve, lightening the load for your local shelter, and - who knows?

You just might discover your foster friend is someone you just can't part with.
(It can happen - just look at me!)

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We're participating in a Chanukah Blog Crawl! 

 

There's a different host for each day. 

The Crawl stops at our blog on Monday, so be sure to swing by and visit us! 

Click the badge above to see who's hosting each day of the Crawl.

If you'd like to follow along, click here to read today's post at Gromek the Cat's site. 

Happy Chanukah!

We're participating in a Chanukah Blog Crawl! 

 

There's a different host for each day. 

The Crawl stops at our blog on Monday, so be sure to swing by and visit us! 

Click the badge above to see who's hosting each day of the Crawl.

If you'd like to follow along, click here to read today's post at Musings of a Crazy Cat Lady. 

Psst! To get you in a festive mood, we present the Nefesh B'Nefesh Chanukah Flash Mob.



We can't decide what we love more:
"Oy is just Yo backward you know" or "those fluffy latkes, oh those fluffy latkes"...!

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We're also purrticipating in the Weekend Cat Blogging blog hop...

...and the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop, hosted by Baby Patches, Life with Dogs and Two Little Cavaliers.

"Fun Finds" Friday

If you have a fun find you'd like us to feature, send us a shout-out by clicking on the Contact Us tab above.

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This has to be one of the more clever cat toys we've seen. Humans will probably find more to love that felines in this kitty tray of sushi. But hey, what cat is going to turn down a toy filled with organic catnip?

Brought to you by The Cheeky Beastie, this toy sushi package is made from a heavy duck cloth with non-toxic screen printed graphics. It comes with one sauce packet measuring 5.5" L x 3" W and three sushi to go along with it. They're stuffed full of 100% organic catnip and some poly fil for that tossy bouncy stuff that cats love.

Currently they're all sold out on their website, 
UPDATE: Just heard from Jamie, owner of The Cheeky Beastie. She had taken the sushi down temporarily to redo the artwork. But she does have a few sets still available and will put the sushi back up on her website tomorrow if anyone's interested in purchasing some for their fave kitty for the holidays!

If your cat is secretly into big game hunting and flaunting its carnivore roots, you might want to check out their de-cat-pitated toys instead.

We also like that they give a yarn disclaimer, suggesting that if your cat tends to chew or ingest such contents, the hemp version of this toy is recommended. We personally would choose the hemp version - or cut off the yarn - simply because we want our toys to be as safe as possible. And there's no telling what Faraday will get into...!

Does Toonces know about this??

Hold the phone...we gotta get Faraday in training, stat.
No wait. Maxwell, definitely.

Mom wants to keep Allie out of the driver's seat and away from ...shopping...
(no need for her to learn bad habits at her age).





UPDATE: Hey guys! Guess what Mommy found yesterday when she went to work! She's now got three Jingle DVDs to give away! Be sure to click here to be directed to Sunday's post to enter the raffle to win one of them.

The winner will be announced next Thursday on our blog.

Wordless Wednesday: Not scheming...

:::innocent look:::

'Toon Tuesdays

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Toon Tuesdays feature cat & dog cartoons made by the peeps over at Shoebox Greetings (a tiny little division of Hallmark) - where our mom works, too!

Monday Medical Holiday Toxins: Mistletoe

Mistletoe in a hackberry tree on my sister's land in Texas

About this time last year I was in a van, driving through west Texas back country with a camera crew.  Suddenly, I saw something very familiar to me. Since we were on our way to film a Christmas special, it seemed all too appropriate.

"Look! Mistletoe!" I pointed out the window of the van.
No one believed me.

But having grown up with the stuff dripping from the oak trees on my parents' land in central Texas, I knew what I was talking about. It was mistletoe, and I won the Trivia round that day with the crew.

Oddly for a wintertime holiday plant, a large number of mistletoe varieties are tropical or sub-tropical. Mistletoe is also a partial parasite, and it grows in clumps in trees like oak, walnut and hackberry.

And since mistletoe is a known toxin to both humans and pets, it makes a good Medical Monday topic for December.

One of the earliest mentions of mistletoe is in Greek mythology around the first century BCE, in Virgil's The Aeneid. It also makes an appearance in thirteenth century Norse mythology. Mistletoe didn't really become a part of Christmas tradition until the 18th century.

1900's postcard, public domain

Back in the first century, mistletoe was actually considered to be an antidote to poisons. That's sadly ironic, since mistletoe is toxic to humans and pets alike.

It was also considered to be a cure for infertility in animals. Pliny the Elder documented a Celtic ritual in his "Natural History" series where mistletoe was mixed in a drink and served to animals to increase fertility. One wonders how many farm animals survived this practice.

There are two main species of mistletoe, the European variety and the American variety. The European variety is considered the more poisonous of the two. Both varieties are harvested commercially for Christmas decorations.

If you suspect your pet may have turned your décor into a menu item, look for symptoms to begin to show up in 2 to 24 hours. As with all toxins, the symptoms may vary with the amount ingested.

If you think it was just a berry or two that got eaten, or maybe a few leaves nibbled on, then look for things that might indicate you have inflammation in the stomach or intestines – stuff like drooling, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting.

If your mistletoe is completely gone and you suspect Fido might have chowed down on it, that’s a bit more dangerous. In large doses, mistletoe can affect the cardiovascular system – especially if it’s of the Eurpopean variety.

You risk low blood pressure, abnormal heart rate, seizures, or a condition known as ataxia (or “walking drunk”). This can even be fatal, so seek medical help immediately.

And remember, if you ever suspect your pet may have eaten something he shouldn’t, call your veterinarian immediately. There is also a Global Crisis Solution Center that has a poison emergency page that includes animals. On it you can find a link to Poison Control Center phone lines in over 70 countries.

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable holiday season - for you and your pets!
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Sources:

Images of American & Eurpoean Mistletoe
Mistletoe species are partial parasites
If your pets eat mistletoe, what should you expect? FDA.gov
Pet Poison Helpline
Mistletoe commentary by Pliny the Elder