The Box

Packed and Ready to Go

Somehow I don't think this is an indication that Diego-san wants to hangout with my softball equipment but rather it's an indication that he found something lying where it normally isn't found and he just had to fully investigate things.

Zen Master

I think Theo is able to achieve something I can only dream about... a completely free, clear, and empty mind.

More Mondays

Thompson doesn't have anything personally against Mondays except it means he'll have to put up with others in the house grousing about another work week...

Scary Movie

Diego-san told me he is starring in a scary movie about a younger brother who is seemingly possessed and just won't stop trying to bug his older brother. Here is a poster for the movie...

Movie Day

Saturday is often movie day for the boyz and I. I'm not sure Theo completely appreciates movie day. I think he'd much prefer buffet day.

Pose Please

I asked Thompson and Diego-san to strike an interesting pose to give me something to blog about. This was what they came up with. Works for me...

St. Paul Pioneer Press 9/22

by Bob Shaw

Where's the love?

That's what Minnesota's cats should be asking themselves, at the grim evidence that Minnesotans seem to be loving their cats less — and their dogs more.

In shelters, abandoned cats should be looking jealously at their canine colleagues — because cat adoptions are falling in Minnesota, even as dog adoptions increase.

"We have a cat crisis," said Deb Balzer, spokeswoman for the Animal Humane Society, whose five Twin Cities facilities are being engulfed by a river of 70 unwanted cats per day.

At the cat rescue group SCRAM, adoptions have plummeted by half in one year.

"Oh, the calls ... the calls ...," sighed SCRAM founder Laura Johnson, who talks with an endless stream of fed-up cat owners.

"People want to move, and the cats can't come with them. They ask for help with cat food or kitty litter," she said. "There are no jobs. Unemployment has run out. They can't get medical insurance."

The widening love-gap between dogs and cats is a national trend, said Nancy Peterson, the Cat Programs manager for the Humane Society of the U.S.

Nationally, there are more cats in shelters, while the number of dogs in shelters is remaining steady. Many shelters are being forced to convert dog kennels into cat cages, Peterson said.

Dog owners, like dogs, are more loyal. About 30 percent of dogs in shelters are reclaimed by owners, compared with about 4 percent for cats, according to the national Humane Society.

Pet owners lavish money on dogs (an average of $225 annually) more than cats ($203).

And now, dogs are finding more homes. In fact, Minnesotans are so eager to adopt dogs that the Animal Humane Society imported nearly 1,000 dogs from Oklahoma and Georgia last year.

"People want dogs. That is why we are able to help other rescue groups with dogs," Balzer said.

Why is there such a difference in human feelings for dogs vs. cats?

One reason is simple math. There are far more cats than dogs. Cats — nature's perfect breeding machines — can get pregnant at the age of 4 months and can have up to three litters year.

About 42,000 kittens are born every day in the U.S., compared with 10,000 people, according to the group Spay USA. The feral cat population is about 80 million — with an estimated 480,000 in the Twin Cities.

Cats dominate shelters, accounting for 58 percent of the animals taken in by the Animal Humane Society in 2009.

That imbalance increases the urgency, Balzer said, of finding more loving homes for cats. Dogs don't have that problem.

"A puppy's face, people come running for. But cats have a different role in society," Balzer said. "This is a community problem."

With adoptions down, the Humane Society will have about 3,000 more unwanted cats to deal with this year.

Officials are trying to find them homes. The group announced this month that it has slashed adoption fees to $50 for a neutered, vaccinated, microchip-implanted cat.

And it is extending a two-for-one sale. The "Double the Love" program allows families to adopt two adult cats for the price of one — $50.

The Humane Society neuters thousands of cats each year and advocates for all owners to neuter cats. Because of such programs, it slashed euthanizations in 2009 by 9 percent to 11,000 animals — most of them cats.

But this year, it will be difficult to keep euthanizations down. Balzer wouldn't estimate how many more cats would be killed in 2010, but she did say, "Euthanasia is a reality."

"Does it break our hearts? Absolutely," she said. "Are we looking for any opportunities to help? Absolutely."

It's too soon to tell if the new programs will be enough to deal with the stampede of incoming cats.

Last July's cat adoptions at the Humane Society were down 15 percent. Adoptions in the two-for-one "Double the Love" program have dropped by 36 percent in one year.

For SCRAM founder Johnson, the stress of dealing with so many unwanted cats is grinding.
She was recently called to help one female cat in Blaine, abandoned when her owners moved. Johnson said the cat has been sitting by the back door for weeks.

"She cries and cries. The neighbor feeds her. And now she has had two kittens," said Johnson — the start of another feral colony.

"It makes me crazy," she said.

Softest Spot in the Whole Darn House

Thompson is very strategically smart in where he chooses to rest his head...

Pre-hibernation

Unlike bears who are gathering food for a winter's hibernation, Thompson is gathering the warmth of the sun in preparation for our cold cold winter.

A Mutual Interest

Theo and Diego-san finally found something of interest to bring them together. They both agreed whatever I was cooking in the kitchen was something they wanted to sample.

P.S. It didn't happen.

Sigh...

Doesn't Thompson prove here that he's the greatest cat ever to take a Sunday nap with?...

Theo's Haiku

Around and around
I run. Going somewhere fast.
Only I know where.

Eyesight Improver

The boyz were quite pleased with the catnip filled carrot they won from Parker. Theo told me he didn't realize bananas and carrots taste so much alike.

My Job

Since I tend to wear a hat to work every morning, I'm sure this is what the boyz think about me leaving every morning...

Just Another Day

Move chair upstairs to change light bulb. Diego-san climbs on top of chair to claim his rightful spot high on a perch. Theo naturally begins playing with Diego-san's tail from down below. Thompson watches, knowing a high speed chase is in all likelihood just around the corner...

Irresistable

Somebody's in need of a little forehead scritching...

Suspense

This video is almost as suspenseful as the new George Clooney movie, "The American" (which I went and saw yesterday).

Thompson's Haiku

My friends are brothers

In this house we all live in

I play peacemaker

The Winner is...

I got to break some very good news to the boyz yesterday. They won Parker's contest for a catnip filled carrot. Theo was so excited he spent the day chasing Diego-san around the house.

Thanks Parker.

Diego-san's Haiku

Like an owl up high

a little peace from brothers

they can't reach me here

The Heater

We've had a stretch of cool autumn air the past few days. A good barometer of this weather is all three boyz have rejoined me when we go to bed, because they want a spot near a natural source of heat...

One for Ripley

Believe it or not, Theo's motor sometimes does slow down...

Happy Birthday Thompson

It's Thompson's designated birthday. Happy birthday buddy.

I think I've learned something about my boy the past few weeks... I've noticed that whenever I go over to him as he is finishing up a meal and ask him if he enjoyed the food, he'll go scampering off as if he thinks I'm scolding him. I wondered what this was all about. My theory? He spent the first year of his life living out in the wild (or so I was told) and a kind woman would bring him out some food in the park she saw him at. I think his behavior is a reminder of all that. He probably didn't want her to get too close even though he was thankful for the food. I can see him running away from her if she got too near.

But she was the one who saved his life. The one who found him caught in an animal trap after he hadn't come around for several days for the meal she offered. I don't know who this person was but I will forever be eternally grateful for her actions. She brought Thompson to a no-kill shelter and they got him the care he needed (the amputation of his dead leg) to stay alive.

Thompson is my hero. He has such a grateful soul and a comforting face. He has taught me so much about the right attitude towards life... So again, happy birthday buddy... from all of us in this household...

Labor Day

I told Diego-san I got the day off because it is Labor Day. He looked at me as if he wanted to know why I was expecting to take the day off when there was plenty of work to be done for him...

Cooperation Requested

I think I've worked fairly hard chronicling the exploits over the years of three pretty special boyz... I don't ask for a lot in return but would it be that difficult for the boyz to do their part and help me out just a little in taking better pictures? For example, this picture would have turned out much better if Diego-san had posed in the sun and Thompson had looked at the cameraman. And Theo, how about staying with your brothers and paying attention to the task at hand instead of going off in the background and checking out something we've had in the house for many years now?

Peekaboo

Where'd Theo go?

A Philosophical Question

Thompson asks, "where does that magical water come from?

Important Duty

Thompson understands that part of his duty of being an older brother means taking care of his younger brother even if that brother is sometimes a little irritating...

A Brotherly Footstool

Hey Theo... not to alarm you but you appear to have an extra leg growing the wrong direction from your back.