another reason not to leave your pets home alone...

Last week a friend who lives in Ann Arbor mentioned a thunderstorm in an
e-mail to me. She said there was a loud crack and it sounded as though a
gun had gone off. Turns out, a house a street up from her caught fire (it
was hit by lightening). The owners were on vacation and although they had
someone checking in on the house every day, no one was staying there at the
time. They lost two cats, a rabbit, a gerbil, and some fish. This makes me
think that if you can't get someone to actually live in your home while
you're away, you're better off taking your pets to a good kennel--one where
the owners have a house on the premises. I specify this because a year or
so ago, a deluxe kennel on the outskirts of Winnipeg caught fire, as well.
The owners lived in a house on the property so one of the owners managed to
save all the pets staying there (and he was injured in the process--that's
how important the animals were to him).

I know not everyone has the option of taking their pets to a good kennel,
nor can everyone get someone to actually live in their home for a week or
two, but if you can, *do*. Bad things rarely happen, but it's better to
deal with them proactively than reactively.

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote in message ...
gun had gone off. Turns out, a house a street up from her caught fire (it
was hit by lightening).

Unfortunately, this can happen even if you're just at work at the time
- we can't be there 100% of the time. That's one reason I have color
posters outside my home, with pictures of my 4 cats, requesting
firemen to please save them if at all possible.

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatMom to:
Bandit, (a.k.a. "Bitch Cat From Hell"), 14, DLH Tabby
Demi, (a.k.a. "Ghost Cat"), 5, DLH Pure White Beauty
Jessie, (a.k.a. "Jet Ski"), 4, DSH Tortoiseshell
Samantha / Sammy, (a.k.a. "Mini Me"), 2 ½ months, DLH Tabby

http://www.gcmensa.org/Cats.html (Jessie, Demi, Bandit)
http://www.gcmensa.org/Sammy/ (Sammy)
http://www.gcmensa.org/Sammy2/ (All my fur babies)

"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote in message ...
gun had gone off. Turns out, a house a street up from her caught fire (it
was hit by lightening).

Unfortunately, this can happen even if you're just at work at the time
- we can't be there 100% of the time. That's one reason I have color
posters outside my home, with pictures of my 4 cats, requesting
firemen to please save them if at all possible.

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatMom to:
Bandit, (a.k.a. "Bitch Cat From Hell"), 14, DLH Tabby
Demi, (a.k.a. "Ghost Cat"), 5, DLH Pure White Beauty
Jessie, (a.k.a. "Jet Ski"), 4, DSH Tortoiseshell
Samantha / Sammy, (a.k.a. "Mini Me"), 2 ½ months, DLH Tabby

http://www.gcmensa.org/Cats.html (Jessie, Demi, Bandit)
http://www.gcmensa.org/Sammy/ (Sammy)
http://www.gcmensa.org/Sammy2/ (All my fur babies)

From: (CatNipped)

That's one reason I have color
posters outside my home, with pictures of my 4 cats, requesting
firemen to please save them if at all possible.

I have stickers for that, but I like your idea with their pics.
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: (CatNipped)

That's one reason I have color
posters outside my home, with pictures of my 4 cats, requesting
firemen to please save them if at all possible.

I have stickers for that, but I like your idea with their pics.
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

Rona Yuthasastrakosol wrote:
Last week a friend who lives in Ann Arbor mentioned a thunderstorm in an
e-mail to me. She said there was a loud crack and it sounded as though a
gun had gone off. Turns out, a house a street up from her caught fire (it
was hit by lightening). The owners were on vacation and although they had
someone checking in on the house every day, no one was staying there at the
time. They lost two cats, a rabbit, a gerbil, and some fish. This makes me
think that if you can't get someone to actually live in your home while
you're away, you're better off taking your pets to a good kennel--one where
the owners have a house on the premises. I specify this because a year or
so ago, a deluxe kennel on the outskirts of Winnipeg caught fire, as well.
The owners lived in a house on the property so one of the owners managed to
save all the pets staying there (and he was injured in the process--that's
how important the animals were to him).

I know not everyone has the option of taking their pets to a good kennel,
nor can everyone get someone to actually live in their home for a week or
two, but if you can, *do*. Bad things rarely happen, but it's better to
deal with them proactively than reactively.

rona


This strikes me as a suspect risk/benefit analysis. Leave your cats in
a kennel because they're less likely to be struck by lightning and
killed... okay... but what about the increased risks of being in the kennel?

I think people put too much weight onto scary unknowns like the chances
of the house being struck by lightening, and not enough weight on the
pedestrian unknowns like the chance of the cat being attacked by an
aggressive cat or of being abused in some way by people who don't love it.

Dally

Rona Yuthasastrakosol wrote:
Last week a friend who lives in Ann Arbor mentioned a thunderstorm in an
e-mail to me. She said there was a loud crack and it sounded as though a
gun had gone off. Turns out, a house a street up from her caught fire (it
was hit by lightening). The owners were on vacation and although they had
someone checking in on the house every day, no one was staying there at the
time. They lost two cats, a rabbit, a gerbil, and some fish. This makes me
think that if you can't get someone to actually live in your home while
you're away, you're better off taking your pets to a good kennel--one where
the owners have a house on the premises. I specify this because a year or
so ago, a deluxe kennel on the outskirts of Winnipeg caught fire, as well.
The owners lived in a house on the property so one of the owners managed to
save all the pets staying there (and he was injured in the process--that's
how important the animals were to him).

I know not everyone has the option of taking their pets to a good kennel,
nor can everyone get someone to actually live in their home for a week or
two, but if you can, *do*. Bad things rarely happen, but it's better to
deal with them proactively than reactively.

rona


This strikes me as a suspect risk/benefit analysis. Leave your cats in
a kennel because they're less likely to be struck by lightning and
killed... okay... but what about the increased risks of being in the kennel?

I think people put too much weight onto scary unknowns like the chances
of the house being struck by lightening, and not enough weight on the
pedestrian unknowns like the chance of the cat being attacked by an
aggressive cat or of being abused in some way by people who don't love it.

Dally

Dally quoth:

This strikes me as a suspect risk/benefit analysis. Leave your cats in
a kennel because they're less likely to be struck by lightning and
killed... okay... but what about the increased risks of being in the kennel?
I think people put too much weight onto scary unknowns like the chances
of the house being struck by lightening, and not enough weight on the
pedestrian unknowns like the chance of the cat being attacked by an
aggressive cat or of being abused in some way by people who don't love it.

Or picking up an illness, or being stressed by the change in location.

I leave my house every day to go to work. Am I supposed to hire a
catsitter while I'm at the office?

I don't think so.

Priscilla

Dally quoth:

This strikes me as a suspect risk/benefit analysis. Leave your cats in
a kennel because they're less likely to be struck by lightning and
killed... okay... but what about the increased risks of being in the kennel?
I think people put too much weight onto scary unknowns like the chances
of the house being struck by lightening, and not enough weight on the
pedestrian unknowns like the chance of the cat being attacked by an
aggressive cat or of being abused in some way by people who don't love it.

Or picking up an illness, or being stressed by the change in location.

I leave my house every day to go to work. Am I supposed to hire a
catsitter while I'm at the office?

I don't think so.

Priscilla

Steve G quoth:

Perpective - it's not just for art's sake...

Sig line! Sig line! :-)

Priscilla