Pet Monologues

Cat nurses baby panda.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A zookeeper’s house cat has adopted a baby red panda abandoned by its mother and is nursing the cub along with her own kittens, the Artis zoo said Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »

Cat’s out of the bag in China.

BEIJING—Prodded for months by bloggers, officials reveal that photos of tiger in wild were staged; local guide jailed. The photos of the South China tiger taken by a farmer seemed too good to be true. After all, no member of the endangered big cat family had been seen in the wild since the 1960s. Read the rest of this entry »

Pets suffer from Midwest flooding too.

No-kill shelters form vast networks to save dogs and cats for adoption.

Lesley Irwin scrolls through 200 pitiable e-mails a day to pick out the lucky dogs and cats she can keep in her Huntley pet shelter, then anguishes over the many she has to turn away. Read the rest of this entry »

Pet cemetery. Jayne Mansfield.

MILWAUKEE—Pet cemetery where sex symbol buried dog closes. Sex symbol Jayne Mansfield was looking for eternal rest for her Chihuahua Gallina when she buried her in a Milwaukee area pet cemetery in 1964. Read the rest of this entry »

On average, caring for a cat costs $1500 annually and a dog $2000.

With the U.S. economy currently on very shaky ground the falloff is tighter family budgets or worse, completely new business models for family households. In an effort to help keep households together, including family pets, let’s talk about possibly surrendering your pet to a shelter, how to pinch pennies on pet-care, and, a philosophic POV on saving animals.

Downsizing the family to make ends meet.

If you feel that you really can no longer afford your pet please consider finding another family for your pet first. If you can’t find a foster home then take the animal to a shelter, don’t abandon your animal. Here’s a story that was in the Chicago Tribune several weeks ago…

More strays linked to once-happy homes.
The sad stories have been all over the news. Pet owners who have fallen on hard times are coming into shelters and reluctantly, sometimes tearfully, surrendering their animals. Read the rest of this entry »

Two Chihuahuas wear wedding outfits at a fashion show during the VenusFort family dog fiesta in Tokyo May 17, 2008. (Getty Images photo / June 18, 2008)

June brides are everywhere in the media at the moment, we don’t want to be left out.

An article by John Kass, Chicago Tribune…
My brother has selected a puppy for his family’s pet—a Parson Russell terrier pup he’ll call Wrigley (he’s a Cubs fan)—but even before all the kids play with it I’m wondering how I’ll feel the day Wrigley gets married.

Will the “bride” wear white? Will I begin to cry, like a big fat baby?

When the “reverend” performing the pet marriage says, “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you dog and . . .”—is that when Satan pops out of the wedding cake and takes us all straight to hell?

Also, how much for the Pet Wedding Consultant?

“It varies,” said famed pet counselor-wedding consultant Shirley Scott, from Walla Walla, Wash. “It could be between $500 to $1,500. But that’s just an estimate.”

I found Scott’s name in a recent, and terrifying, news report on the American pet wedding phenomenon. Americans spend $40 billion a year on their pets, and the pet wedding industry wants its cut. There are fees for clerics to say the rites and blessings, and black tuxedos for four-legged grooms, and cakes and caterers, and beaded satin wedding gowns.

“Your little bride will be so beautiful walking down the aisle wearing this elegant, fully-lined white satin and lace wedding gown set,” promises one pet wedding Web site I won’t name in the hopes of staving off damnation. “The six layers of tulle can be separated to make this beautiful wedding veil very full and elegant. This set also includes a matching white satin leash.” Read the rest of this entry »

No, that is not a typo in the headline. Read on…

NEW YORK––The bride was radiant. Some guests said it was the sunlight bouncing off her cascading white chiffon veil; others commented that it was a “pregnancy glow,” because Ashley Nunn was carrying octuplets. The groom’s excitement was visible: Buddy Lewinski drooled and wagged his tail vigorously as he waited for his bride to reach the altar.

Ashley, a blackmouth cur mix, and Buddy, a tri-color beagle, were married in Katy, Texas, in 2002 by Rev. Lynn Turner, a licensed minister who marries both pets and people (although not to each other). These unions, called “Bow-wow vows,” are on the rise in the United States and are often accompanied by a cadre of professionals, such as pet marriage counselors, pet wedding planners, pet caterers, pet trainers and pet priests.

“Holy Muttrimonies, Bark Mitzvahs and pet ceremonies in general have really started taking off,” said Diana Guerrero, animal behavior expert and pet-trend watcher. “People treat their pets like their own children. Sheltering organizations, church leadership, party planners are saying, ‘Holy hot dog! Here’s all these people with pets and they’re spending a lot of money, let’s welcome them in.’ ” Read the rest of this entry »

Is Rover coughing? It could be dog flu.

Experts urge pet owners to be on the alert now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois. Read the rest of this entry »

$24M pet food settlement.

CAMDEN, NJ—A judge granted initial approval to a $24 million settlement in which companies that manufactured or sold contaminated pet food would compensate pet owners fro all costs related to the death or illness of their dogs and cats. Read the rest of this entry »

Man returns dogs’ bones.

Transplants of bone marrow, perfected in canine tests, will soon treat their cancers. Read the rest of this entry »