Dr Jo's blog

I am on the look out for interesting cat facts. Got a few already:

• cats have 30 teeth
• cats have 12 whiskers on each side of their face (give or take a few)
• cats tend to be left pawed
• most popular name for cats in Australia is Oscar
• largest cat breed in Australia is the Maine Coon
• inventor of the cat flap was Sir Isaac Newton

I’m after more fascinating feline facts. What is the most riveting cat detail that you have come across? It need not be earth shattering, just something that you have enjoyed finding out about cats. Please share.

My dog surprised me this morning. I know the wonderful things that dogs are capable of, having seen and worked with therapy dogs, assistance dogs and other hardworking canines. My dog is simply a pet dog.

Chilli wakes me up most nights to alert me when my 18 year old cat, Clyde, is in need of attention. Clyde wanders around the house some nights, a little disoriented. When he wanders, Chilli comes to my bedside and paws my arm until I get up. Annoying for me. Useful for Clyde. Nothing obvious in it for Chilli.

This morning I was up bright and early before my alarm went off. As I prepared for the day, Chilli came to me and demanded I follow her across the house (by putting her paw on my leg and then running out of the room and back to me again). Eventually I realised I had to follow. It was simply my alarm clock that had gone off. (I had forgotten to turn it off when I got out of bed.) Chilli was telling me that I had to deal with it. Quickly.

Ok, not earth shattering brilliance. Not a hearing dog in the making. But an amazing ability none the less. Especially when there was little obvious reward for Chilli again. I’m wondering what I’ll wake up to tomorrow.

Have you ever had an experience where a pet has alerted you to a situation that needed your attention?

I’m not an expert on blogging. I just like to blog – to share my thoughts with others. While websites are great for providing factual information, blogs allow a certain degree of freedom of thought. Another benefit of blogging is the interaction. Other people can comment which leads to expanded ideas – great – if you can get comments!

There are so many blog posts and tips and guides about how to write blogs and how to get people to comment on your blog. Maybe these tips work, maybe not. Some of my thoughts:

• People comment when you least expect them to, just like twitter and facebook – it’s not always the most profound ideas that generate comments.
• People comment at the source of the blog recommendation. I tweet about my blogs. People tweet their comments back to me. They don’t comment at the blog site.
• People (ie. me) give up commenting when it is too hard – having to sign in, become a member etc. They may have something to say but it will never be heard.
• Blog comments are a great networking resource.  Leaving contact details with your comment can be a great way to expand networks and drive traffic to your own sites.
• Sometimes we read bogs but don’t know what to say. In counselling you learn when you don’t know what to say, to simply say “I don’t know what to say”. We don’t do that when reading blogs for fear of sounding silly.
• Does sounding silly worry us so much that we don’t comment at all?
• People like to lurk. To be nosy. It’s human nature, to look at what others are doing, saying, how they behave, how they blog. No words are necessary.
• As a blogger, you know people are there. Analytics & subscriber numbers tell you. Sometimes it would be nice if the lurkers would just say hello

I read lots of blogs. I don’t usually leave comments: I didn’t want to be the first; I didn’t want to sign in; My comments might be silly… All sorts of excuses.

Now I realise that I have to change. Time to comment. Perhaps karma will lead others to comment on my blogs. If not, at least I am building my networks and helping bloggers feel that someone is out there.

Would you like to comment?

but I still feel like a winner!

Just watching the stars prepare for the Oscars and thinking how lucky I am to be sitting at home with a cat on my lap and a dog at my feet.

…Unlike the stars who, not only have to excel at whatever art they choose (acting, presenting, singing, modelling) but have to think about their appearance every moment of the day. After all, in these ‘valued’ professions, it’s not only being able to perform at the job but it’s about showing that you are controlled (ie. no chocolate, false smiles) and always looking acceptable by today’s standards (AU size 8 and below!).

Well, guess what – my pets don’t care. They don’t care when I have a bad hair day. They don’t care that I put on a few kilos or lose some. And I have even more benefits living with pets – I am healthier (less chance of cardiovascular disease), I have kids who are more popular with their peers; I am less stressed.

So no I won’t be watching Oscar night except for a sneak peak at the red carpet (always hopeful that someone’s outfit will be covered in dog/cat hair!). I’ll be walking my dog. I’ll be answering my cats’ meows. And in their eyes I’m the winner – every year

So I took Chilli dog along to the Purina offices with me today. Not her first visit but her first since she was 8 weeks old. Now she is 1.

This was not the first occasional she has been to work with me. Generally, however, wherever I work there are open spaces, grass, fresh air. Great for work breaks. None of that in a corporate office. Walls, ceilings, lots of surfaces to echo barks! Yes, Chilli barked… and barked.

Within five minutes she acted, typical Terrier style, as if she owned the place. Then, of course she had the right to bark at anyone who walked past her. To calm her down I had brought her dog house (a portable dog kennel) which she likes to snooze in and I can close screens to block her view. In her house, she went, as always enticed by the promise of a treat ball within. Today, however, she could still hear the girls in the petcare advice centre answering calls. Every time one of them said “Hello”, Chilli thought someone new was arriving and started to bark!

We managed to limit the barking by providing her with a Purina Total Care squeaky toy. Great – no more barks. Just squeaks, loud squeaks!

Purina is a pet friendly office. People who work there are welcome to bring their pets along to work. It is illegal, however, in our State to take your dog into food preparation areas – thus no trips to the office cafe. How does one survive a stressful day at the office with your dog without caffeine?

Home now and Chilli dog is exhausted! Next time I bring my quiet cat!

You didn’t think I had perfect pets, did you?!

(More misbehaviour from Chilli)