Jim Dandy: Since a recent merger/acquisition, the company I work for began offering pet insurance as a payroll deduction option.  At first, that sounded pretty cool!  But unfortunately, the participating vets were quite a bit farther away from home than my regular clinics.

My    just hate to travel in my , and aren't the least bit shy about letting me know it!

Rose: I heard a story on the radio this weekend about the Atlanta Humane Society having received a number of Micheal Vick football jerseys as donations--to be used as animal bedding, or possibly for cleanup.  A worker there mentioned one dog using a jersey as a pillow.

srnity: I had decide to finish reading the posts and then go back and watch the video BUT after reading the posts of those of you who DID watch..I feel no need to go back and click the link.Throwing any animal into a situation is cruel...If the cats had gone in on their own then that is different.

 When Damien was going through his fear stage,for some reason a HUGH fear were manhole covers (I dunno either,lol) but I never FORCED him to go next to them.He got over it tho,thankfully,lol...point is that I didn't FORCE him to do something like I am guessing the cats were forced into the water.Thats just stupid.

 I do train humanly...ONLY positive reinforcment for my animals..if they are having a bad day then off the field we go so I don't get upset..I need and WANT everything to stay fun for my animals....They absolutly LOVE to please me on the field and the way I feel about them,the bonding I have with them I cannot put into words...Thank you Srnity for your kind words :)

I'm one who'd never fling my cats into water.  I haven't viewed the video, but what I've heard reminds me of one of my cats (Comet) from decades ago.  Her name came from her habit of ranging unseen in far corners of the apartment, then every so often racing past wherever I was, only to disappear once again.  She made me think of a comet's trajectory, and their occasional speeding passes near our Sun.

One of our play habits was sliding a plastic button around inside the bathtub, where it would follow nice curvilinear paths around the banked sides.  She enjoyed it so much that sometimes when she saw me headed that way she'd race to the bathroom and leap right in, anticipating another wonderful play session.  Once--only once--she leaped into the tub to find that I'd drawn a bath about 15 minutes earlier...

srnity: I like seeing the ferrets at local stores.

Tomorrow, there will be an experiment in wetware manor: all cats will be given the option to join me in the shower.  I'm guessing: there will be no takers.  But these girls aren't done surprising me, so who knows what may happen?  A couple of them are usually waiting for me to emerge afterward, one of them does most of her day's vocalizing at that moment--I have no idea why.  Maybe she's wanted to join me all along, and I just never realized it.  Or maybe she's telling me how brave I am to voluntarily battle the spraying water-beast...

srnity: Those are some funny tales, srnity!

Mornings here require some planning: must set out cat breakfast so I can have 5 minutes free to shave at a bathroom sink.  I'm not sure why some of the girls would much rather drink what drips out of a faucet, than what they can get from their cool cat fountain.

Then I've got to race back to where breakfast is served, to make sure that the fast eaters don't start poaching from the more leisurely eater.

Ever seen some of Nicole Hollander's cartoons?  In one of her works, a news reporter informs us that scientists have finally managed to crack the secret of cat communications.  In essence, all of their vocalizations mean one of two things:

1. Everything here is mine

2. Hurry up with that dinner, will ya?