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Does your pet wear a collar and tag? If you have a pet, I hope the answer is, “Of course!” Today is a great day for inspecting your pet’s tags.
- Are they still legible?
- Are they still accurate?
- If you have a tag from Home Away or another finding service, dial the number and make sure the information they have is correct.
- Does your pet only have current tags? I once found an animals whose owners kept putting on new rabies tags like they were charms on a charm bracelet. Remove the extras.
Heaven forbid your pet should get lost, but we all know it’s possible. Even the shyest cat or the most elderly dog sometimes slips out through a open door. Keeping their tags up to date is the best way of making sure that he or she is returned to you safely.
We have a file folder for each of our pets where we keep their vet bills, vaccine papers, breeding papers and tags. I went through them in August and got rid of everything but the current ones. We also got rid of one of the pets. One of our son in laws is allergic to cats, so we found her a great home. I thought I would feel guilty and it would be hard. Even though she was a great cat, we haven’t missed her. I am very surprised, but our one dog is enough. It is hard to get rid of animals, and I don’t think we could have if someone wasn’t allergic to them, but I am finding that one pet is plenty. I hope I don’t offend any pet lovers by my comments. No offense was meant at all. I realize that others may differ in their preferences.
No offense taken. We have a 13 year old Shih-Tzu (completely deaf now & blind in 1 eye but otherwise a chipper little bug) and 2 parrots.
Once the dog “goes” I’m not inclined to get anymore dogs , which I mentioned to my husband recently. But the husband replied that we should get at least 3 Shih-Tzu’s when our little guy finally goes. I swear I thought I heard him wrong….but NooOOoOo – he indeed said 3 more Shih-Tzu’s. He went on to explain his reasoning & rationale for getting 3 at the same time, but I’m not sold on that idea at all. Especially since I’m the only one around here who cares for the critters to begin with!
Jane, I love that your husband wants three more Shih-Tzus. We became a three-dog family last year. It has definitely added to my workload, but it’s fun to watch the three dogs interact with each other. And I always have lots of company with them around 🙂
…he just wants to be able to say that we have a ” herd of Shih-Tzu’s”!!
Spendwisemom,
Just because you found a new home for an animal doesn’t mean you’re a bad owner or an animal hater. It means, in this case, that the pleasure of the company of a person out weighed the pleasure of the company of an animal, and I think that’s healthy.
Hi Spendwisemom,
I have no pets at all. I learned my lesson that a travellers life does not suit having pets. We actually had to adopt out two beautiful Basenjis when we left Australia for America and that was hard on all of us. I vow never to have to do that again.
Like you, Colleen, we don’t have any pets. We travel a lot and we just don’t want the responsibility of having to find people to care for them. That being said, I’ll tell you that This Very Weekend, we are dog sitting our friends’ 90 lb pit bull. We love other people’s pets and offer our services to help them enjoy a stress free weekend away.
That is very kind of you Willow. Pets are like babies the best ones are the ones you can hand back when you have had your fun with them. 😆 One of our neighbours has a cat the visits me frequently and that is all the pets I need.
This is a timely reminder, and something that probably slips people’s minds. I’ve seen little dogs with so many tags attached to their collars, it’s a wonder they can walk without tipping over. As you said, people seem to add tags as if they are charm bracelets.
We found an elderly dog whom we thought had been hit by a car. I can’t tell you how many stupid wrong numbers we called before we found the current tag. I was VERY annoyed, as you can imagine. Turns out, he hadn’t been hit; he was very arthritic and had licked a MASSIVE hot spot on his hips – what I interpreted as a dog with painful hips and a nasty case of road rash.
We just had our youngest parrot microchipped just last week ( they inject the chip into the parrot’s chest just off center of the kiel). Ouch! It really wore her out & she slept for hours and hours on end. She wouldn’t talk for a whole day after that – but now she’s her lively self & chatting up a blue storm!
My eldest daughter is fascinated with birds. How many do you have?
We have 2 parrots. A Peach-faced Lovebird and a Congo African Grey. They are both just absolutely fascinating to be around & live with. I still just cannot believe how much intelligence these little things have. Yeah they require some extra effort on my part (as compared to a dog or cat) & keeping birds entertained is never-ending but well worth it!
Your daughter is right up my alley – all birds fascinate me. Theres not a week that goes by that I’m not pulling over on the side of the road to look at some wild bird (yeah I have binoculars with me just in case LOL). A few weeks ago there were nearly 60 Turkey Vultures in the woods behind our house (waiting on some poor animal to finally keel over no doubt) & man oh man – those vultures were so cool.
Just the other day I bought my 12 year old cocker spaniel an engraved tag with her name and our phone number and it did what it was supposed to do.She surprised us by running through our hedge while we were standing right there with her.We could not fit through the tense hedge and had to run around the block to try to find her by the time we got there she was no where in sight and it is a very busy street , lots of traffic. My heart was just pounding. Then a man with a big grin on his face came out of a store carrying my little angel wrapped in a towel because it was pouring down rain! He said I Think your little dog wants to do some shopping. Big sigh of relief. That tag helped to save her life.Now she goes out on a leash .LOVE YOUR BLOG COLLEEN.Greetings from Canada
Hi SHIRLEY DO, I am assuming you are new here so welcome to you our latest 365’er. Dizzy one of our other readers just dubbed you all 365’ers today and I kinda like it. I hope you like the label.
I am so glad your little spaniel made it back to you safe and sound. It is almost as though that tag was a bad influence. 😆 We had a basenji escape on us one day and could not find him at all. He found his own way home at dinner time though. He had a chip in him which would have got him back to us eventually so long as nothing nasty had happened in the meantime.
Oh Cindy and Jane,
You would love my back yard. At the moment as I type this I have a pair of Kookaburras ‘GOING OFF’ honestly they are having a go at everyone, add into the frey lots of black crows (although deemed a menace, I love their sleekness and they are friendly) we also have Blue Wrens, Parrots, Lorikeets, Finches of all types, Galahs and the Black Cockatoo along side some very friendly Magpies and Mudlarks. They often dive bomb the ‘Bungarra’ Lizards that frequent the creek here but all in all it is a beautiful song to listen to and a sight to behold.
These sights and sounds will truely be missed when we move but I will be able to live without the Kangaroos chewing on my rose bushes 🙂 🙂 🙂
It’s beautiful having so many sights right in your backyard.
Cindy your daughter is welcome to fly over and stay here till we move if she wants to see birds in all their glory. 🙂 🙂 🙂
We don’t have any pets anymore, we have lost too many along the way and I found it too heartbreaking. I treat the wildlife as my pets now I don’t need to look after them but I do and it amazes me just how trusting some animals get. Godzilla (a Blue Tongue Lizard) and Rastus (Racehorse Goanna) frequent our back area quite often as I leave bacon fat or steak scraps for the birds and the Lizards always arrive first, I do tend to be wary with Rastus because he can be quite quick and a little unsettling at times. I’ve tried to get photos of him or her (not sure how you tell) but the camera seems to set him/her off in the other direction. Obviously he’s/she’s a very private lizard 🙂 🙂 🙂 Sounds naughty but I just love it when my neighbour freaks out when she sees them anywhere near her house hahaha Sorry but it is kinda funny!
Well this is perfect (perfekt) timing! We arrived back in the USA in late February and then the following week we got a pet! Our puppy is the best ever and I can’t even fathom how we survived without a dog for so long whilst living in Europe (although it was great to just pick up and go travel!).
The pet came with a listing of ‘stuff’ we were supposed to get for it. Well, I took a look at the list and pooh-poohed 90% of it. What an exciting moment for us to realize that our dog didn’t need (we didn’t need) most of the things on the list. Instead we thought about what we already had, and if any of that would work vs. buying new (for example: a doggie bed, well, how about just using some old towels that can easily be washed instead! Works for us and the dog doesn’t seem to know the difference!).
We are all in heaven over our four legged furry pup and his homemade bed and toys!
Jane, I read your comment above (the one after Spendwisewoman)after entering mine (I reply and then go through and read what other 365’ers have written), and I just want you to know our new puppy is a Shih Tzu. ONLY ONE. Let your husband know we didn’t procure a ‘herd of Shih Tzu’s’!!!! 🙂
What a nice way to settle into your new home Annabelle. And isn’t it interesting how as humans we project out desire for “creature comforts” onto every living thing around us. Dogs in the wild don’t have doggy beds. Well done you for utilising stuff you already had.
‘365’ers’
I LOVE IT!!!! 🙂
Glad you like it Annabelle.
We lost our wonderful mini dachshund in Oct 2010 and decided not to get another dog. My grandchildren are out of state so it’s a lot cheaper to travel if you don’t have to pay someone to watch the dog. Well, now I am aching for another dog and my husband just is not keen on it. My daughter is picking up her new airedale terrier pup this weekend and boy, am I jealous. We’ll just have to go to see her more often, I guess. 8 1/2 hours to visit the grands and pets isn’t that long. 🙂
I still have a pet carrier and it’s eleven years since I had a pet, a cat. I know that my lifestyle does not fit in with having a cat (I live in an upstairs flat and also go away) but haven’t been brave enough to donate it. It would mean accepting that I my cats are gone and that I won’t have the joys of pets any more. I’ve considered donating it and something my friend said made me think. He said some other cat can use it. Strangely enough, I never thought that a specific animal would use it, it wouldn’t just stay at the charity shop. Pets usually hate going in to carriers but it will take some animal for their vetenary treatment instead of gathering dust. So I’ll clean it and take it to the local animal charity shop. As for pet tags, my cats only wore one at a time. They weren’t interested in bling!
LenaC, I wish I had known you when I was looking for a carrier for my mini-dachshund. We just couldn’t afford one new and I looked at the GoodWill and 2nd hand stores all the time for a carrier. It’s tricky and dangerous to take a pet to the vet holding him on your lap or letting him lie on the seat. You might check with your local vet and see if he/she would be interested in it. Sometimes there are people who could use it for transporting a pet and then could return it to the vet. You’d be doing a good deed.
Hi Maggie, My local animal charity (goodwill )shop definitely accepts pet carriers. I have asked and they say they have people coming in asking for them. Yes, it’s risky carrying animals on your lap. They hate going in to carriers but at least they can’t run off.