Monday, December 31, 2012
Outgoing Columnist Wishes You a 2013 Full of Pets and Continued Learning
What you, dear reader, learned from Pet Pause these past two years, for the most part, I learned, too. But, sadly, this week is the last column. I will miss this small space, where we celebrated our pets, learning what we could about how to feed them well, keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter; how and when to treat for pests before they bit. And overall, how they make our lives better. I started this column as a pet enthusiast. Then I proceeded to get married, buy a house, and, as I type this, our son, Peter, born two weeks ago, is feeding right down by my hands. Those are pretty important changes. But Sister and Muppet have remained constant. They aren't quite the focus they once were, but our small interactions are still …
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
How Our Family Has Changed Since Peter Aaron Ward Arrived December 8
“Hey, guys — wait, why are you acting so weird?” Those were the thoughts that crossed Sistercat's mind as we walked through the door with our new son, Peter Aaron, who to her looked like nothing more than a car seat. Jamie (my husband) and I were giddy, with obvious reason. We couldn't believe we were introducing Peter to his home, even if he was sleeping through the big event. Nine months is a long time to wait, but you can't imagine how it will feel to carry him over the threshold till it's actually happening to you. A couple of days had passed since we'd seen the cats; no doubt they knew something was up as I labored more than 12 hours at home. The moment of truth: I lowered the car seat to the floor beside our fraser fir, and myself …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
How I Wish We Could Make Them Understand What's About to Happen — At Least As Much as We Do
At the time of this writing, I am sitting on my couch with two cats -- one on the cushion above me, one on my torso -- looking across the coffee table at my husband, who is enjoying a glass of Côtes du Rhône. We're also exactly 7 hours 45 minutes from our due date, and waiting for my body to tell us it's time to deliver our son. It's the best and the strangest time of my life, and one cat in particular continues to make it even better and stranger. Muppet's been fairly consistent this year, sticking to her usual appearances throughout the day and finding places to lay within eyesight but not reach at night. But Sistercat, she's been acting like something's up for months now, equally more affectionate and eager for attention, especially in …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
New Readership to Yield More Expansive Local Pet Focus - and I Could Use Your Help
About this time of year, we all reflect on the months past and what the coming year may hold. Now is also a time of reflection and growth for Pet Pause. In the past month, our readership has expanded from Mentor, near my home, to Solon and Twinsburg. This won't prevent us from still exploring topics near and dear to pet owners everywhere: responsible pet waste removal, adoption, feral control, cost savings,puppy mills and hazards like fleas, ticks, summer heat and — yes, even in Twinsburg and Solon — coyotes. Pet Pause will continue to preview events for pet owners of our region: Dog Nights at the ballparks, Woofstock at Holden Arboretum, and things like Santa Paws in Mentor. (Click here for more information on this photo session Saturday …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Pet Stores Offering Friday Savings for All Ye Over-stuffed Consumers
There's the overeating, the overeating again, and then there are still the desserts. For anything left over — and there still will be, even after all of that, even after Dad's thirds — here's last year's column on Thanksgiving-style pet food. And for those of us who already know we'll be so stuffed after our smörgåsbord that the thought of stuffing will make us nauseous, well, let's redirect our attention to the day after. The day of doorbuster sales and stretching one's legs to move faster than one's neighbor toward savings. The day we temporarily turn our attention from overeating to overwhelmed. The day we never weigh ourselves. Black Friday. Good news: Pet stores in nearby are touting some pretty appetizing savings on food, treats, …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Does the Fourth Amendment Protect Us From Dogs Without Warrants?
There must have been a point in my life when I thought, “Dogs can sniff out drugs? No way.” Some distant point in my youth I no longer recall. Seems a socially accepted truth these days. So it may surprise some that the question, in part, is now before the U.S. Supreme Court — casting doubt on the training of the dogs and how well they do their jobs, and whether the Fourth Amendment, the one that protects us from unreasonable search and seizure, should be able to stop them from doing their jobs at all. “Dogs make mistakes. Dogs err,” lawyer Glen P. Gifford told the justices during argument in October. “Dogs get excited and will alert to things like tennis balls in trunks or animals, that sort of thing.” However, Justice Department lawyer …
Monday, November 5, 2012
It's About Time Rescuers Treated Pets Like the Family Members They Are
Around here, we see signs hurriedly stapled to telephone poles fairly often. Lost cat. Lost dog. Please help. Reward. Now imagine how many of those signs could go up in the line of Hurricane Sandy. Even as hundreds, perhaps thousands, are still displaced from their neighborhoods, an act-alike Facebook page has caught the attention of the media, and a warning — it's equally touching and heartbreaking to visit. Hurricane Sandy Lost and Found Pets, established the day before Sandy made landfall in the U.S., doesn't recommend any particular charity deserving your dollars, nor take donations. (Refreshing a week before Election Day, isn't it?) It exists solely to create a place where people can post photos of lost and found pets in affected …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Old Wives' Tale Raises Good Safety Points, But No Longer Red Flags
With five weeks to go, the Ward nursery finally looks like a place a baby could live. We've assembled the crib and the changing table. We've laid a rug and cushioned a rocking chair. We've even washed, folded and sorted all five loads of clothing into the drawers. (Well, I have.) Sharing this news, coworkers and neighbors of older children have gone giddy over the mention of Dreft, let alone its trademark scent. No, it's not ill preparation that made me anxious last week, but a threat does still linger in that little, yet-empty room. I'll take the blame for my husband's fear that Sistercat will suffocate our newborn. For years I've let this cat cozy up to my neck before I fall asleep. Her scent and soft fur against my chin lull me right …
Monday, October 22, 2012
Better Late Than Never, Law Finally Goes Into Effect November 5
The image sticks with me, of majestic lions, tigers and bears laid out along a muddy Zanesville driveway. All of them lifeless, wet from rain, their underfurs muddy from the chase — It was already a year ago October 18 that this happened in Ohio, and somehow a year has made this picture even more unbearable as I sit here on a Sunday morning nibbling biscotti and drinking coffee. Tragic death always feels more rotten after time, not better. At least it does for me. I think about how the deceased have not passed the time with us. Details that emerge after a year also tend to be more chilling; in Charles Siebert's essay-length book “Rough Beasts,” he reveals more about owner Terry Thompson's intent when he released these animals into his …
Heinz Knall
4:50 pm on Monday, October 22, 2012
There a simply no words to describe the sadness and disappointment caused by this event. more ›