Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Puppy Mills Infiltrating PetFinder Correction

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

I got this gentle correction and suggestion from Bambi, a DOG TALK® listener who had brought to my attention that Petfinder.com has been infiltrated by puppy mill producers claiming the dogs are “for adoption” but at a very high fee (i.e. they are selling them). But Bambi wrote this so that in my zeal to expose the “puppy mill pimps” on the Internet that I did not paint all of PetFinder with the same brush.  I stand corrected and hope people will continue to look for their new best four-legged friends on the petfinder.com website.

I urge you to re-address the petfinder issue both on your show and on your website. I found the notice about some kerry blues dogs coming from puppy mills only once and when searching for a kerry blue rescue in Texas for a friend. I actually look at petfinder quite often when I fantasize about a companion for Terrible Bean. You’ll never find such a warning on craigslist, of course, or any other places that less streetwise folks may be vulnerable to.

When I mentioned that warning on the kerry blue page, I took it as a positive thing, that petfinder does want to bring awareness up, unlike some other pet source venues.

You’ve played such an important part already in doing this and I hope you will once again remind listeners/readers that caveat emptor is a universal concept and that petfinder is actually one of the few places trying to police itself against any unsavory postings.

As written, your post now may be interpreted as if petfinder itself, one of the most powerful places for fosters and shelters to come together to find homes for unwanted pets and farm animals, may be corrupt and this may have a detrimental affect on placing adoptable animals.

You have such a powerful voice, you are a market maker, if you will, as much as an announcer on CNBC relaying financial and investment information.  So many of us rely on you for bringing us such incredibly interesting and useful, often critical, information, and I thank you for that.

Please reconsider how this particular information is projected/worded.

As always, thank you for being our animals’ and our best friend!

–Bambi

How Idella Spent Thanksgiving

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Here’s a story of a true animal lover — my listener Idella, who drives a purple 18-wheeler and whose two cat Irish and Yoyo sometimes take a trip with her. Here’s a story in her own words of how she spent Thanksgiving. To me, it gives real meaning to the word. The pets we have can be thankful for our love and protection, but those who have none are so lucky for the Idella’s in this world:

We had a flood a couple of weeks ago. We made it OK but we did have to move equipment and start evacuation. We had to rescue horses just south of us and there was a lot of people damaged. I had been seeing a stray white and yellow kitty but couldn’t get close. Finally Andy came and told me the cat was in front of the shop and looked pretty rough. So off I went to sit on the ground and talk and scoot closer to him. He was starved and has a puncture wound on the back leg in the hock that goes all the way through to the front of his leg and of course is infected. We decided to take him to the vet and see if he could be saved (in the trucking world we call that rebuild able so I named him Rebuild). The vet thought he was savable even though he had a fever of 105 — that’s pretty high I guess. Now I have him up here at the office and made him a home from a dog crate and a carrier for him because I do not want to expose my cats to him if he’s sick. So my Thanksgiving was up there at the office, hand feeding and doctoring REBUILD. He will become our office and shop kitty if he survives. He was moving around this morning and hungry and eating, but only lots of small amounts. I brought the Weruva up here (my trailer trash cats at home won’t touch it — the good stuff!). Rebuild chowed down on it. I gave him his antibiotic and Nordic Naturals fish oil I will be up here every day until Sunday and then Andy will take over — a friend who drove me to the vet. We are in this together. I told him the vet bill was his Christmas present — so the cat’s full name is HOLIDAY REBUILD. I strip my clothes at the back door and throw them right in the washing machine and scrub up because I do not want to take anything home to Irish and Yoyo. Cola the little dog I took in is very tolerant and the cat and him do not seem mind each other. I know this is a long letter but not everyone understands how I feel about the animals. My friend and I have decided if we die rich we will leave our money to rescue animals.

We Love You But…

Monday, November 16th, 2009

I got this somewhat surprising email from Michael, a podcast listener of DOG TALK®, in Sacramento. I share it with you here so if anybody else has had similar feelings about my interview style they can see how kindly and thoughtfully a constructive criticism can be worded. And you can see our whole interchange that followed.

Dear Tracie – First, the nice part; I enjoy your show and admire your passion and dedication. After discovering your podcast of Dog Talk®, I’ve told several friends about you and even gave your The Cat Bible as a gift. I kept The Dog Bible for myself.

With that said, I hope you will allow me to offer some constructive criticism that my friends and I have to offer. Your show offers very valuable and useful information to listeners.

After listening to you interview guests many times, we respectfully suggest that you let them speak more. You have a lot of time to share your ideas with your listeners and we love that. But, when you have a guest on, you tend to dominate the conversation.

There are times when we really want to hear what the guest has to say but often find that we hear you instead. You tend to tell the guests what they stand for, think, etc. It is clear you are very well informed and fortunately you want to share lots of it with us. However, you should let your guest do the same and try to listen more.

I hesitate to send this note as I don’t want you to feel unappreciated. Just the thoughts of some of your fans in Sacramento , CA

Dear Michael,

I am really touched and honored by your email and comments. I consider it an act of respect and caring that you did so. I think it took courage to put yourself “out there” with very honest reactions — and you phrased it thoughtfully and intelligently. I genuinely thank you for taking the time to be constructively critical and letting me know your thoughts. I am interested in the comment because it is not the first time I have heard it — and I do know exactly what you and your friends mean. But I’d like to take a moment to explain that everything I do has a purpose and I am fully aware of it.

One of the challenges of live radio is to keep it moving, energized, lively, etc. And as the host/producer I can never know how it will go (and I never, ever pre-interview a guest or all the gems of wisdom and nuggets of stories will get “wasted” with me on the phone beforehand) This means that when I begin an interview I don’t know the person’s style of speech or thought, how quick they are on their feet, and whether they are correctly judging the intelligence and pet-knowledge level of my very smart listeners. Other than a one sentence topic, I don’t even know what the content of the interview will be — I let it unfold for me as well as the audience.

The pace and liveliness of the show is driven completely by me — many guests have said later it was the best interview they ever gave. I want to keep that feeling alive for the entire hour — no long pauses, unfinished thoughts or sentences, or hesitation. It is very rare to discover a guest who can match my verbal and energy skills, yet I want to keep the bar high. Veterans of live radio have praised my ability to achieve this dynamism on the air, but there are some ways in which I may then come across as overbearing or too talkative. It’s a trade-off. Of course it is not always necessary, and I think that I may have fallen into a habit of applying the style even with guests who are themselves articulate, thoughtful and fluid. I am sure that I am at times over-using a habit I have developed to keep conversations fueled and dynamic, to do everything possible to avoid “dead air” long pauses, or people who are hesitant when they speak or add “um” or “ah” throughout — So what I am going to take away from your comments is to have a little more patience with guests and trust them to meet me halfway, give them a little more chance to prove themselves.

I would like to send you an autographed bookplate for your Dog Bible (inscribed to your dog(s) and also one for the Cat Bible you gifted, along with a few samples of products I believe in. If you’d send your mailing address I’d love to do that.

Also, I am hoping you will spread the word about my newest radio show DOG TALK® & CAT CHAT® on WOR 710 AM in NYC. That show is also broadcast simultaneously live online (10 PM EST Saturday nights – 7 PM for you, of course) And it is also podcast. So please go to www.DogTalkandCatChat.com and find out more about how to get to my page on the WOR710.com website.

Dear Tracie,

You’ve just confirmed my feelings about you. What a wonderful response to my note; it was generous, honest, thoughtful and comforting.

Rest assured, I will continue to tell others about you and the convenient ways to hear you. In fact, I am streaming you live right now in the comfort of my home with a cup of coffee nearby.

While I’m slightly embarrassed by your offer to send some thoughtful gifts, I will gratefully accept them. My dog’s name is Moose (I’ll attach a picture). My sister-in-law’s cat is Muscata.

I found you shortly after I took over guardianship of the 5 month old Moose. The only other dog I had was when I was a teenager and that was a different time and experience. Baron was a 110 lb. German Shepherd and I raised him according to the experts of the ’60s. Those out-dated and harmful dominant techniques simply were not adequate for raising a small Yorkie/Chihuahua/Maltese mix. (I got him from an acquaintance as her small children were not taking good care of him).

It was a stretch for me to take in such a little creature after decades of benign neglect toward dogs and other pets. Excitingly, I made the right decision and started on a journey that has improved my life in many ways. One of the most important changes, was opening my heart to animals and humans. My relationship to humans has deepened as I opened my heart to love this little dog. It seems, the heart doesn’t require boundaries to loving. Love can be available for all life and I have learned that more deeply because as I approach my senior years (60 in a few weeks) I allowed myself to love a dog.

You have been a major part of this journey. I’ve learned a great deal from your show, books, and guests. In response to you, I feed Moose Honest Kitchen, give him Nordic fish oil, will soon talk to my vet about Vectra, and give him the respect, treatment, and love he deserves as a fellow creature.

An outgrowth of my new experiences is my participation as a board member of a start-up Social Enterprise we’ve named Not Just Animals!  We are taking a full year to setup our hybrid profit making business that will fund our not-for-profit activities. Our goal is to increase awareness and appreciation of the human-animal bond in under-served neighborhoods so people will be less likely to abuse and abandon their pets. For this and much more, I thank you for your contributions.

Cat Toy Basket Surprise

Monday, November 16th, 2009

I got this excellent tip from a listener:

Concerning toys and cats getting bored with the same old same old thing…  I have two ‘toy baskets’, one in the living room and one in our bedroom.  When she is bored with her current choice of toys, she will go to one or the other of them and dig and dig around until she finds just what the doctor ordered as far as a toy to intrigue her!  Every once in a while I do find something around the house or in a pet store that I think she might enjoy.  Nothing big, but just interesting.  So she never knows what might show up in her baskets.  Often I find she will dig for several minutes and end up coming up with a toy from the long ago past!  Cats are absolutely the most interesting pets ever!  A home isn’t a home without a cat!

Vet Won’t Get Vectra for Cat

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

I HAVE A WONDERFUL MEMBER OF TRACIE’S CLUB, Charlotte in Texas, who adores her two kitties and worries about their health, what to feed them and fusses over them with a bushel basket of love. She joined Tracie’s Club so she could feel free to write to me as often as she wants and get a fast, in-depth reply. Charlotte asked her vet about getting Vectra for cats, the first and only anti-flea product that kills all life cycles of the dreadful flea without risk to the cat. I was so sorry to discover that the vet she uses is both uninformed and closed-minded. Here was their interchange:

Hi Tracie – I just talked with my Vet and he said that he did not recommend the Vectra because it does not protect against heart worms carried by mosquitoes. I know that Vectra only protects against fleas and that concerns me as well. Here is what his office staff wrote me:

Hi Ms. Ward,

I got the information from you on the Vectra. Unfortunately we will not be able to sign the agreement from Summit Vetpharm. We would have to sign a contract with them in order to receive the product and this is something that the owners of the clinic are not willing to do. We will however approve any online pharmacy prescription for you. I am sorry we were not able to help you. Dr Doherty does feel that the best flea & heartworm medicine for your pets would be the Revolution or the Advantage Multi. Remember you are not getting the most protection for your pet by using the Vectra it is only for fleas. Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns.

I was utterly depressed by the total ignorance this vet and staff showed in understanding how these products work — and what can be expected of them. All dogs and cats should be on heartworm medication like Heartgard — no other management tool can give assurance that your pet won’t get infested. Also, this vet did not spend any time educating himself about what Vectra does to the flex life cycle and how different it is to any other product out there. He wanted to protect his relationship with the products he knew — not learn what the newest technology has to offer. I can’t tell you how frustrating and maddening I find this — so I turned to Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins, the Official vet of Cat Chat®, to get her feedback and here is what she wrote:

As it turns out, both the products this listener’s veterinarian uses do a poor job of controlling fleas in cats. Neither have any activity that deals with the 95% of the total flea burden that lives off the cat in the home environment. This means that pets (and owners) have no protection whatsoever against any life stage of the flea except the adult. Further, neither of her chosen products have anywhere near the speed of kill for adult fleas (2-6 hours for Vectra) that Vectra has, so they are both inferior flea products for achieving integrated flea control for cats. Owners should understand that the efficacy of all currently prescribed heartworm preventives is under review by veterinary experts at the present time because many if not all have shown troubling product failures in the recent past. No owner should feel securely safe from heartworm infestation in their pets merely by the use of any of the currently available products labeled for heartworm prevention.

The claim that any monthly parasiticide is good for ear mites is irrelevant because ear mites are not an ongoing problem for dogs or cats the way fleas are so treating a cat EVERY month for ear mites is tremendous overdosing in terms of the need for insecticide for the problem. There are several very effective products for ear mites that do NOT involve monthly medication unnecessarily administered. This can also be said about using any product that deworms pets on a monthly basis. From a “best medicine” standpoint, such an approach is unnecessary and unwise. No cat needs deworming every month (after kittenhood, indoor cats consuming quality diets seldom become reinfested with worms, and certainly not monthly). To administer monthly drugs for a problem that does not require this amount of treatment, while totally ignoring the immature life stages of the flea is medically unjustifiable.

Today, veterinarians must abandon the search for any one product or drug that is “one size fits all and treats all.” Medicine simply does not work that way. Products that attempt to do everything seldom do anything in the best possible way, but rather represent a set of “half-way” measures that do not address the pet’s needs in the best way and may well overmedicate the pet.

Hopefully in the future, this caller’s veterinarian will have an opportunity to hear more about Vectra and to see that many of her present perceptions about parasite control are, in fact, misperceptions.

Elizabeth Hodgkins DVM, Esq., Veterinary Services Manager, Western Region, Summit VetPharm

Wayne Pacelle on HSUS Support for Michael Vick Reinstatement

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

On CAT CHAT® (AUG 19, 2009) Wayne Pacelle explains why HSUS supports Philadelphia Eagles signing dog fighter Michael Vick.

Max the Golden is Gone

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Dear Tracie and Kate:

Max’s battle with cancer ended at 7 p.m. this evening. Unfortunately, cancer won and took my Max from me. He fought with every ounce of strength he had in his very tired body. He wanted to stay with me. But he just couldn’t fight anymore, and I had to give him the peace he deserved. I will love and honor him forever.

Upon returning home, I found the little girl, Heather, who comes to play with my dogs, sitting on my doorstep crying. She had in her hand a paper she said she wrote this morning before leaving for school. Nothing I can write here now can honor the memory of Max more than what this amazing little girl wrote about him. I share it here with you:

Max is one of a kind. Max is now a three-legged dog that makes him even more special. Also, that Max has a long nose makes him special. You could play tug of war with Max, and if you threw the ball he would go and not leave it until he had that ball in his mouth. Max is that dog that is so friendly to anyone even if you don’t know him. When he hears something, he perks his ears up and listens. Max is that dog that you could look down at and say what a dog. You could say so many things about him but it wouldn’t be enough. Max would be so good if he wanted something like a treat or a toy he would just sit there and watch until you would give it to him. Max went through a lot of things, and that is also why he is so special.

Max is 10 years old like me. We had a birthday party for him and Gabriel and the rest of the crew came over to Pam’s house. I made Max a t-shirt that said he was the best dog in the world and I wrote to him on the back. I made him his cake, and Max got the first piece. Max’s birthday is February 8th. He was getting old. I found out on the 8th of June something I didn’t want to hear. Have you ever read the book Marley and Me? Well, Marley did everything different. Marley would jump on people. Max would stand in front of you wagging his tail waiting for you to pet him. There is only one thing that happens the same. If you read the book you will probably cry because I did, and just beware because it is sad. I wrote this all in memory of Max in every Good Amazing way (because there was nothing bad about Max). You would not want to forget Max, the one of a kind dog, because he will remember you forever, too. I also wrote this to remember his birthday, and to say that you could NEVER in history replace HIM in the WORLD. So MAX, THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD will ALWAYS be here with us FOREVER.

Love Heather

Out of the devastation of losing my Max, some extraordinary beauty has come into my life. This essay from Heather is just one beautiful example.

I am going to sleep now. It will be the first night I will sleep in my own bed in a very long time. In the morning I will try to figure out how to live without Max. It will take awhile, but I know my boy will show me the way.

Goodnight, Max, my Love, my Heart. Sleep peacefully, my Angel.

I am going to sleep now. Tomorrow I will wake up and try to figure out how to live my life without Max.

Max the Golden

Max the Golden

Lots of “K” For Kitties in Ypsilanti

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

I’ve been getting so many (very welcome) requests for bookplates and goodies — especially the free coupon for up to a $20 bag of the wonderful Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract litter — but this one really touched me from Beth in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The kitties for the inscription are:
Kuma (my first, now gone)
Koala
Kimiko
Koji
Knudl

I hope that is not too many names! Koala and Kimiko are sisters and Koji and Knudl are males. Kuma was my first baby and I lost him at 7 1/2 to hypertrophic cariomyopathy after months of treatment from some fine veterinarians. He threw a blood clot and I had to make the most difficult decision of my life to euthanize him. It was truly heartbreaking and still is 12 years later.

The others are my best buddies and I love them dearly. Koala, Kimiko, and Koji are all just about 12 years old, and Knudl adopted us from our backyard. His age is estimated at 14. They are in good health. After listening to CAT CHAT® and readings on your website, I have ordered Weruva canned food and will be switching them over from kitty crack and Nutro canned food to Weruva. Thanks for arranging for the 20% off coupon for PetFoodDirect! I look forward to more of your radio show and the DOG TALK® podcast.

So then I wrote to Beth:

Was just thinking that you might get some surprising satisfaction from calling into either of my radio shows on the first broadcast of each month and see if my quite extraordinary animal communicator Ann Marie Sawicki can give you some sort of peace of mind or closure about your loss so many years ago?

I can see you’re a highly educated woman (you have a PhD!) and might not put much stock in this, but a lot of people have been really touched by a reading. You can see Ann Marie’s own page on my website and contact her privately if you prefer. Just a thought…

Tracie

The Cat Bible

The Cat Bible

Everybody Wants Dr. Elsey’s Litter Coupon!

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

I’ve been recommending Cat Attract litter for years and recently this lovely man and his private company became my newest Website sponsors — and to celebrate that, they have given me coupons for a free big bag of Cat Attract. This note really touched me.  So off went two bookplates and some Whisker Smackers from Dr. Harvey’s, some Liv-a-Littles from Halo Spot’s Stew, information about Weruva, my favorite canned cat food, and a little bottle of Nordic Naturals omega-3 pet oil to drizzle on their paws.

Hello my name is Holly and me and my mom heard about the Dr. Elsey’s cat litter and we wanted to try it because with me and my mom we have 15 cats we have rescued. As you know, all cats have different personalities and we wanted to see if you could send us a couple of coupons and a book plate — both of us have Cat Bibles [the book and] your show have helped us a lot. Thanks so much we would really appreciate it if you could sent us those.

Thank you for having such a helpful talk show.
Holly and Cindy

Tragedy: Kitten Dies In Recliner

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I have rarely read anything as heart-rending as this plea for help on my blog. In the midst of a blog and comments about something mundane, this popped up:

This doesn’t have anything to do with the question in this blog but I need some help. 2 days ago I was sitting in my recliner watching TV and without knowing it our 2-month-old kitten was underneath. When I closed the recliner, it broke her neck and she died. I am having a horrible time trying to accept the fact that it was an accident. To be honest I don’t know what to do. I know I am grieving because every time I think about it I cry can you help me? Please email me.

I did write Jason as follows:

Thank you for reaching out to me, because it is so hard to say that you need help in time of crisis and grief and you certainly do need some support and help

I recommend that you call the Animal Medical Center in New York City, which has one of the finest Pet Grief Loss Counselors in the country. They are actually without charge but you can make a donation to this non-profit teaching hospital. Susan Cohen is the head of this support team and you can reach them at 212-838-8100.

Please let me know what I can do beyond telling you that I am thinking of you and your sweet kitty with great sorrow for your loss and sadness, and for the little one.

May I ask you to send a photo so I can post it as a memorial? And maybe you want to write a few lines about her?

Stay in touch, let me know how it goes at the Animal Medical Center. I want you to know that you are not a bad person — you are a good person to whom a very bad thing happened.

In friendship,
Tracie