My Fire Hydrant

Angela (Pet Care R&D) with Cheech, Asanya, and Samson (AKA Bubba). 

"All of my pets are seniors now, which makes them all-the-more valuable to my husband and me. Even though they're way passed the puppy years, we still catch them doing the most adorable things."

Today is SPAY DAY! Why should you get your pet spayed or neutered? 

Spayed females won’t GO INTO HEAT. This means:

• No need to deal with pet-sized sanitary napkins or stains on furniture or carpets (gross!).
• No worries about Fife running away to find her Rover or attracting unknown male suitors to your yard.
• No more noisy late nights. There are few things more calculated to keep you from getting a good night’s rest than the plaintive meow-yowl of a female cat in heat. The pacing alone totally gets on my nerves. Have you HEARD the noise they make when they actually mate? And they always do it at 3 AM.

Neutered males won’t ROAM FROM HOME. This means:

• No more one-night stands. Intact males often go looking for one-night stands—they have a strong desire to escape and roam (like the bad boy in a trashy romance novel.) This “pets gone wild” attitude can increase his chances of injury by other animals or cars.
• It also provides opportunities for him to eat bad garbage or drink contaminated water.
• And then there’s the time and the legwork you’ll have to invest in creating and distributing “have you seen?” posters when you have to go look for your roaming Romeo. Not to mention the natural stress you’ll feel because he’s lost.

There are HEALTH BENEFITS for spayed females, including:

• Prevention of uterine and, ovarian cancer and a possible reduction in the risk of breast cancer.
• Prevention of pyometra, an infection in the uterus common in older, unspayed females.
• Don’t use the risk of weight gain as a reason NOT to spay or neuter. Pets get fat because we give them too many calories and not enough exercise. There may be a link between hormone changes and weight gain, but we are the gatekeepers on calories and without an over abundance of calories there can be no weight gain.

Neutered males get HEALTH BENEFITS too. They include:

• Prevention of testicular cancer.
• Can help prevent development of perianal tumors and some diseases of the prostrate.
• See bullet point above about weight gain.

Pets can get time off for GOOD BEHAVIOR:

• Your unfixed male furball will probably become increasingly protective of his territory as he ages. This can include aggression towards other animals–especially other males, and especially when the other male enters your furball’s territorial boundaries. Territorial aggression can cause fights, which can lead to injury and vet bills and possibly a legal summons. Neutered males tend to be less aggressive.
• That same unfixed male furball likes to mark his territory with pee. Females will also mark turf—especially when they’re in heat. Spaying/neutering reduces hormone levels which can reduce territorial marking.  
• A “false pregnancy” can cause an unsprayed female to go through behavioral (and physical) changes associated with pregnancy—which can sometimes be very unsettling for the pet’s human.
• Neutered males tend to be less likely to exert dominance over your friends and family members. So you don’t have to apologize as often for Rex humping your neighbor’s leg.
• IMPORTANT: Just because you neuter him or spay her doesn’t mean you still don’t have to teach them good manners. Spaying and neutering is not a replacement for training.

It’s a GOOD NEIGHBOR policy:

• Spaying and neutering reduces number of animals on the streets.
• Roaming pets can prey on wildlife or other pets, can cause car accidents, and can frighten children (or adults—have you ever come face-to-face with a Great Dane looking to get laid?)
• Roaming Romeos get into your neighbors’ garbage and use your neighbors’ yards for potties—when you’re not there to pick up after them (as all responsible pet owners do). The noise they make with their late-night one-night stands keeps hard-working folks from getting a good night’s sleep. Invoke the no-roaming clause: roaming behavior can be effectively stopped with neutering.

It can be more COST EFFECTIVE. Spaying and neutering:

• Costs less than the cost of having a litter.
• Costs less than vet visit due to pet fighting while roaming.
• Can help keep municipal animal control costs down due to reduction in orphaned pets.
• Can’t afford the cost of spay/neuter surgery? Did I mention that today is national Spay Day? Many animal welfare groups have programs providing reduced cost spay/neuter services to celebrate. Check with your local groups to see what’s available to you.

SEX ED? The BIRTH module is on YouTube:

So many people say they want their dog or cat to have a litter so they can show their kids the miracle of life. There are lots of videos on YouTube showing the miracle of pet birth, so there’s no need to breed puppies or kittens to provide this lesson to your kids. And a video is so much less work for you!

Help fight OVERPOPULATION in your own backyard:

• There are different estimates as to how many pets are euthanized in shelters each year due to lack of homes–the number ranges from 6 to 12 million. That’s 16,438 to 32,877 orphan pet euthanized EACH DAY. Do you want to be part of this terrible statistic? Spay and neuter your pets. Talk to your family, friends and neighbors and help them to understand why this is so important to do.
• Two really great tools illustrate how an unspayed female pet and her mate can be a population explosion waiting to happen. Check out “Did you know?” (for cats and for dogs) on SpayUSA. Get educated about pet overpopulation!

IT’S YOUR CHOICE

In my opinion, people have a right to decide whether to spay or neuter their pets. But when you decide not to do it, I firmly believe you also take on the responsibility of not adding to the population of orphaned pets.

And if your four-legged female is pregnant, then as that female’s human partner you are responsible for providing:

• The best possible nutrition for mom and the babies.
• The best possible veterinary care for mom and the babies
• Mom with help and care during all phases of the pregnancy.
• A consistently clean and warm space for mom and her babies.
• Proper socialization for the babies according to their needs
• Homes for the babies with people you are certain will properly care for them and for re-homeing them, if things don’t work out. 

In my opinion, it’s easier and more practical to spay and neuter. 

Lastly, it’s NOT JUST DOGS AND CATS!

Spaying and neutering is not just for dogs and cats—rabbit reproduction speeds are no joke! Talk to your veterinarian about spaying and neutering for other pets too.

MORE INFORMATION

Jason and Woody strut their stuff!

Jason leads our North American External Relations team. He’s been with Pet Care for 11 years.

1. What pets share your life?
Wow – there are several.  Since my wife and I raise and show Afghan Hounds, we share our lives with many of them!  Some of the notables are Woody, a 4 year old blue brindle male (and the man of the house), Bella, a 3 year old black-masked red female who’s as sweet as sugar pie, and Rush, our Italian import.  Black, lots of hair, handsome!

2. What is the funniest thing your pets have ever done?
These are too numerous to mention.  They make me laugh every day, and I love them for it.

3. What’s your favorite story about pets in the office?
My favorite story is about Vicki’s dog Rocky (Vicki is a coworker in External Relations).  Now mind you Rocky is the number 1 Boston Terrier in the country – but don’t be fooled.  We came back from a meeting, and Rocky had DESTROYED Vicki’s cube!!!  Her phone was in the floor, receiver over here and base over there.  The contents of her purse were EVERYWHERE.  The lipstick was open.  The pens had chewed caps.  Papers littered her desk, her chair, and all over the floor.  It was hilarious!  And who could get mad at a face like Rocky’s?

4. What is your favorite part of working at Pet Care?
I love being around people with a passion for cats and dogs.  For so many of us, what we do at work and how we live at home are pretty inseparable – pets are what we love.  So to do work where pets not only can have a place, but are featured and our sole reason for being is wonderful!

If you’re watching the Olympic Winter Games, then you’ve been seeing P&G commercials. This one is my favorite:

Something else I’ve been watching is P&G’s ThankYouMom.com. One of my favorite pages says, “Get the latest updates straight from the Olympians’ biggest fans–their moms!”  Blog posts from Vancouver! Gotta love that!

Munch, looking good!

Iams spokesdog Munch was recently on CNN.

Did you know that Munch has his own Facebook Fan Page?

Happy Valentine's Day!

We’re (Iams) doing something fun on the Iams Fan Page on Facebook this weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

My Own Angel Valentine.

We are donating (up to 5,000 meals!) one meal to the Helen Woodward Animal Center for every pet photo posted to the Iams wall this weekend up until midnight on Valentine’s Day.

So if you haven’t already done it, go post a photo of your furry Valentine to the Iams wall on Facebook. We want to give away 5,000 meals, our Valentine, to feed pets in need.

Four weeks today.

Each month, we (Iams) invite people to vote for their favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays organization in our Feed Pets in Needcontest. At the end of the month, the two groups with the most votes will win a month’s supply of Iams Pet Food.

This program was launched this past November, and ANH is our first of two winners for that month.

ANH (Animals Need Help) of Bear Lake is located in Montpelier, Idaho. On their very sweet, very musical web site, I found beautiful images of some of the dogs and cats they have available for adoption. I also discovered a truly wonderful video that brought tears to my eyes. Good tears.

My contact at Animals in Need is Lorrie Jensen, and she kindly consented to be interviewed by email:

Sweet little Chloe may be the right kitty for you!

Please tell us about how ANH operates—do all the pet orphans live under the same roof?
We have a very small facility. When we are full we rely on foster homes to help us out. We work totally on donation and fund raisers. We require a reference to adopt and check every reference to make sure our furkids will be safe and happy. Everyone is spayed/neutered, up to date on vaccinations and socialized before they go home. We are not an open shelter but meet the adopting families at their convenience.

Delilah is a sweet pooch who needs a home.

What is your job at ANH? What do you do?
We are all volunteers at ANH. We each take a turn every day caring for and playing with the animals. Between us we are out to the shelter about 5 times a day. Each of us does something different with the animals. Some just go for a walk, others go for car rides and runs. We try to get them used to as many different experiences are possible. We all help with the cleaning, laundry and daily chores. I do the Petfinder site and our website. I answer calls and emails and screen new potential families to make sure our furkids have the very best homes possible. I also do deliveries when needed. Lots and lots of fund raising time. From vet runs to eye meds, toenails and removing stitches. We are all available for whatever is needed. We have the most dedicated group of volunteers you will find anywhere.

Adorable Keisha and Kierra might be the dogs you're looking for!

What’s the most important thing that ANH does to help animals?
We make sure our animals are healthy and socialized before they go to a new home. We also care that it’s a good match when we place one of our kids with a new family. If there is ever any problem, we are always very happy and willing to take them back. I think the very most important thing we do is love them. When they leave our shelter, they know someone loved them. They are happy wonderful little guys who are ready to be family members.

What’s the most inspiring thing that happened at ANH during Iams Home 4 the Holidays?
It was so amazing how many people helped us in the voting [for the Feed Pets in Need contest]. We are so small and wondered if we even had a chance. We have a wonderful support team and they all rallied to help. The phone call that we won was fantastic too. I felt like we had won the lottery, actually I could barely talk, I was crying so hard. You will never know how much we appreciated this opportunity and how much it helped us.

Mazzie is a beauty who would love a furever family!

What is the hardest part of your job?
I can hardly stand it when I see animals that have been abused and neglected. I wish we could help more. We try to stay as positive as possible. We know after they are with us, they are safe. We have made a commitment to keep our site positive and not always talk about the sadness we see. We like to present our furkids like this is a new beginning.

What do you love the most about your job?
Seeing happy pets with wonderful loving families. We keep in touch with so many of our families.We get to hear and see that they are really safe and sound. Oh and who doesn’t love all those wet kisses and furry hugs.

Niki could be the playmate you seek!

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to volunteer at a shelter?
Do it. People say that they love animals too much and it would just be too hard. That’s exactly the kind of person shelters need. Someone who will never drop the ball and will fight every single day for these wonderful homeless animals. Besides it’s a way we can each save our little corner of the world.

What can people do to help ANH?
Spay and neuter pets. Speak up for the animals who can’t speak up for themselves. When you see something that needs help. Just help.

What is your perfect day?
[This past] Sunday was a perfect day. We placed two sweet animals in wonderful homes, heard from both families later on that night that all was well and The Saints won Yay!

Little Sassy is looking for a furever home!

From Bev: The dogs and cats who’s photos appear here were available for adoption from ANH at the time of this post. They’re cuties, so if you’re interested in adopting one of them you better get busy!

Help your favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter to win free food: FEED PETS IN NEED (Terms & Conditions)!

The folks at the Helen Woodward Animal Center are holding a “best adoption story” essay contest for the participating Iams Home 4 the Holidays organizations. The finalists have been narrowed down to 5. Between now and the end of February, we are all invited to vote for our favorite!

My buddy (and hero!) Mike Arms says:

Mike Arms, President of the Helen Woodward Animal Center and founder of Home 4 the Holidays

“These stories all have happy endings but for some of them it was a long, hard battle. Some make you cry, others make you laugh, they all touch your heart. 

We need help from animal lovers worldwide to select the most heart-warming and most successful pet adoption story from this past holiday season. There are so many great stories about pets that were saved during the holiday season. Now they’re starting the new year with a new, “leash” on life.

We’ve narrowed this down to the top five. Between now and February 28 we’re asking people to vote on their favorite story. The animal shelter or rescue group that submitted the winning entry will receive a $500 donation from Helen Woodward Animal Center.

One vote per person. This isn’t about which organization can convince the most people to vote. It’s about which story touches your heart.”

If you love animals, then these stories will make you cry–but in a good way. I just cast my vote–you should too!!

I was visiting my Aunt Martha a few days ago, and was struck by how beautiful she and her cat, Black Kitty are together.