Sophie's World

Clipping your cat’s nails is an important part of your pet’s grooming. As much for her benefit as yours, a cat with trimmed nails is much more fun to play with.

You’ll find two types of clippers available, the guillotine type and the spring action nail clipper. I recommend the latter. The guillotine type can crush nails, whereas the spring action nail clipper gives a cleaner cut and has a nail guard to prevent over-cutting. You’ll also want to have around some Kwik Stop Styptic Powder around in case of bleeding.

Extend the nail. What you are looking for is the quick, the vein inside the nail. This pink area is easy to spot with light colored nails. Your goal is to trim the tip, without cutting into the quick. That’s why you have the Kwik Stop around. If the nails are brittle, you’ll want to take extra care. Cut from the back forward to prevent splintering the nail.

If you trim your cat’s nails regularly, the quick will recede. The nails will be easier to trim with the quick well back of the tip. As much as cat owners dread it, trimming the nails is much easier if you get your cat used to have its paws handled. When petting your cat, gently touch its feet, massaging them softly. Make sure and handle both front and back feet. Finally, as you may notice when your cat is at the vet, placing your cat on a table can make the trimming easier, if just to save your back.

Trimming your cat’s nails doesn’t have to be difficult. It’s another way to bond with your pet.

I like gadgets especially when they serve a useful purpose. As a pet owner, this is one worth a look.

Using GPS with CPRS and GSM technology, Pet Tracker can help you find your lost pet in no time. To locate Fluffy, simply call the device’s phone number. A SMS text message with GPS coordinates will point the way to your lost pet. There are no monthly fees and the 15 hours monitoring will give you plenty of time to locate your pet.

The device is sold by Snooper, a United Kingdom based company. However, there will be no problems running the Pet Tracker in the United States. Retail is $279 USD.

It’s funny how dogs and cats know the inside of folks better than other folks do, isn’t it?

Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna, 1912

Photo by HdO ~ Helene

Say what you will, but cats are intelligent. They are just as capable of learning as dogs, though I will concede that some breeds of dogs may be more so.

Take Sophie, for example. Sophie was a stray. We found her through PetFinder.org, an excellent website, by the way, if you’re looking for a pet. A veterinary clinic was taking care of her and trying to find her a home. When we met, it was love at first sight.

We quickly realized that Sophie would get bored with toys after awhile. We started rotating them. We also bought a laser pointer. Now at first, she ran after it, chasing it all over. Then she caught on. We’d set it aside for awhile. Then, the chasing time started to get less and less. She figured it out.

Then there are her CET cat treats. These treats are fish-flavored dental treats. Yum. They are cylinder-shaped, like a tootsie roll. Sophie would bat the treat around awhile, chasing it through the house before she ate it. My husband then decided to teach her to fetch. It worked. Sophie became so enamored of the game that she would voice her demand if the game started late.

Now if that we’re enough, we then have the cat alarm. Like most cats, any time is a good time to eat. Unfortunately, that sometimes occurred to her at 5:00 a.m. We soon fixed that. Sophie learned not to disturb us until the alarm went off. Since we feed her twice a day, she had to learn the same thing for the afternoon feeding.

Sophie’s internal clock is pretty accurate. She’ll sleep the morning and afternoon away. When it gets to be about 3:00 p.m., she wakes up and makes her rounds. She doesn’t, however, beg for that 4:00 p.m. feeding. She has learned to wait. If she seems a bit impatient, a stern “Not yet!” settles her down. Now, how’s that for the intelligence of cats?

It was the worst of times, it was the dreariest of times. A cold wind off the lake was shaking the house, making the oddest noises.Tough times for a cat trying to stay warm.

I usually just take it as it comes concerning the weather. When it’s like this though, I’m about this close to looking into Arizona relocation services and getting warm again.

These first days of spring are so tough. Weather like this keeps the birds down. Boring! The squirrels are no where to be seen. Boring! It’s gray and cold. The whole house feels chilly.

Yeah, it’s times like this I dream of 80 degree weather. The windows are open. The birds are singing. I can just picture myself poolside at some luxury condo taking in the sun–and loving every minute of it. Ah, what a great dream!