Pet Health

I am looking to adopt a puppy and a friend of mine is suggesting that I look for one as young as possible, 4 or 5 weeks, so that the puppy can get his early socialization from me and really bond with me. That sort of makes sense to me, but on the other hand my friend is sort of a “know it all,” if you know what I mean, and is basing his opinion on something he read on the internet.

Buttercup has an interesting story. Sometime in the late spring he manged to get inside the home of his foster mom, unbeknownst to her, and take up residence in the basement. He looked so much like another shy pretty buff-colored resident cat that he was there, maybe for weeks, before she finally realized that she had two shy pretty buff-colored cats living with her. OK, so she was really busy getting ready for the Humane Society Fur Ball and maybe not paying a lot of attention.

You may have noticed, if you check out our Facebook page, our recent efforts to find a good home for Buster, an enthusiastic but somewhat unruly Jack Russell Terrier who had lost his original home because of a family illness. We think we succeeded in that effort and have high hopes that Buster will thrive in his new home. One of the questions that many people asked about Buster (and really all dogs that we have available for adoption) was “How is he with cats?”

Gabrielle was surrendered to the Humane Society by a well-meaning but not very well-equipped “cat lover” who had acquired 24 cats. We are helping her find homes for most of them, one by one. Gabrielle, as you can see, is a beautiful young tortie, as friendly and laid back as can be.

It was only in January this year that the Unites States Department of Agriculture agreed to a new rule requiring that farms raising animals for the “USDA Organic” label meet certain minimum standards of animal care. Known as the organic animal welfare rule, it was to be the first comprehensive on-farm federal protection for animals in American history. But that was January. This week, new leadership at USDA announced that they will delay implementation of the rule until November – or possibly never.

Cooper is a handsome “gentleman” of a cat. He was rescued in Mexico just a few days ago and seems to have been living outside for a while as his ears show some “wear and tear” around the edges. But boy is he glad to be inside and safe.

I don’t know whether this is a pet question or a gardening question but now that spring is “almost” here, I can see the spots on my lawn where my dogs go out to pee and boy are they ugly! And they will stay ugly all summer and get worse. Is there anything I can do to prevent those spots or at least deal with them better.

This week is Black Cat Appreciation (and Adoption) Week at the Oswego County Humane Society. Meet Tango and Cash (Johnny). Please contact the OCHS office during business hours at 315-207-1070 or via email anytime to [email protected] for information on adopting these two cuties.

Last week, I discovered four tiny kitten in my garage on one of those sunny days. I picked them up, brought them inside and called the Humane Society. They asked me a few questions, then they told me not to try to feed them and to return them to exactly where I found them and wait a few hours to see if the mother came back.