Amy Shojai's Blog, page 134

Woof Wednesday: False Pregnancy & Zinc Neutering

Everyone knows that pets get pregnant if precautions aren’t taken, but did you know they also can suffer false pregnancy? Today’s Ask Amy address this situation, but I’ve got a BONUS VIDEO for you as well.

ZINC NEUTERING

The girls still require spay surgery and in most cases the boys are surgically neutered. But a new procedure that uses injections can neuter your boy dogs with very little muss or fuss. I’ve wanted to interview these folks for some time and we keep missing each other on schedule so hopefully sometime in the future you’ll hear a radio interview.

But in the meantime, check out the awesome video below of the procedure–fellows, I can see you crossing your legs now. Don’t be a weenie, this isn’t an ooky procedure at all and is a great paw-step forward.

At what age did you have your fur-kids neutered? Or have you decided not to sterilize them–could you share why? If it were available, would you elect to go with zinc neutering?

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, Ark Sciences, dog behavior, dog care, dog false pregnancy, www.amyshojai.com, zinc neutering

Monday Mentions: Stroke-icity, Convict Cats & Dining Dogs

Yep, that's Magic when he was a lil' guy. That rose has grown up, too, and still dwarfs him.

This week will be so busy that you may not see much of me–virtually or otherwise. I’ve received back my awesome editor’s revision notes on my thriller LOST AND FOUND and so have cleared my desk to concentrate on that. Never fear, I’ll have blogs for you this week prepared in advance.

Meanwhile for brain food, in the evenings I start rehearsals for the part of Golde in Fiddler On The Roof. For stress relief there’s playtime with the Magical-Dawg and Seren-Kitty…and spending time in the roses.

Did I mention that about 500 antique roses surround our house? It used to be 700+ but the drought, armadillos and grasshopper attrition left a dent. You cannot believe the aroma! Before the weather gets too hot, I plan to spend time with the laptop out on the patio. BRAINSTORM! That’s the perfect place to work on the fiction revisions. I feel better already.

Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the TASTY neato-torpedo links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Some of this “schtuff” can be hard to categorize and may fit more than one topic so I urge you to at least scan them all.

WRITING SCHTUFF

Stroke From The Inside Out Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain researcher, experienced a stroke and describes the process. Amazing! For writers, this is a must-see video and will give incredible insight into characterization. Thanks to D.P. Lyle for the link.

How To Write A F…antastic Blog  use the “F”

Line In The Sand, must-read blog by Lisa Hall-Wilson for all fiction writers. Excellent post!

Competing With Amazon? Kill DMR! an interesting discussion by Charlie Stross (thanks to the awesome WriterBeware blog for the link)

Stephen King’s FB Promo

PET SCHTUFF

How Not To Get A Cat, a fun blog any cat lover (or writer) will enjoy!

Dog TV? you betcha, Fido! Thanks to Piper Bayard for the paws-up mention

The Farley Foundation helps owners who can’t afford pet health care

Cats In the Klink  a cats-in-prison program that helps inmates and cats, awesome! Thanks to my friend and awesome cat writer Toni Eames for point out this story.

Stacey Ritz new blog, worth checking out, all about pets and writing

Sergeant’s Introduces New Pheromone Behavior Products to help relieve cat and dog anxiety

Bobcat Fever Affects Pet Cats, Too but cytauxzoonosis not as deadly as once thought

Weird Cat Disease turns cats into robots? Scary-bad stuff! What if it jumped species into people…plot for a thriller.

New Studies In IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia)

Seeing Eye to Eye: Visionary Care for Service Dogs The 5th Annual ACVO/Merial National Service Dog Eye Exam Event offers free exams in May 2012. Learn more from Dr. Bill Miller, a veterinary ophthalmologist with the program, in this eye-opening Pet Peeves show.

And no, it’s not a fake, and not digitally manipulated. Here’s the outtakes:

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat behavior, dog training, pet care, Pet Peeves radio, publishing, writing advice, www.amyshojai.com

Feline Friday: Solving Behavior Problems in Your MultiCat Household

It’s HERE! The latest Kindle-ized book ComPETability: Solving Behavior Problems in Your MultiCat Household has been released and it’s all about explaining why cats do what they do (aka DRIVE YOU CRAZY) and how you can solve those peevish problems.

Did you know that the United States is home to 86.4 million owned cats, and 52 percent of owners own more than one cat? That means more furry love for owners, but also can put your cats’ tails in a twist over that (HISSS!) new feline friend. From conflicts over favorite sleep spots to sharing potty facilities, adding new pets rubs fur the wrong way and creates hairy situations for everyone—including you.

I’ve written this new guide to save owners from hair-pulling angst. It helps explain the kitty aggravation, and how to soothe the growls and turn your household into a peaceable kingdom. You’ll find detailed how-to advice focused on the most common problems found in the multi-cat household. Use these fun techniques to calm fears, explain cat body language, and strengthen the bond you share with your cats. Step by step tips explain how to:

Recognize and diffuse cat-to-cat aggression
Settle disputes over territory, potty problems and mealtime woes
Choose an appropriate furry friend that resident cats welcome with open “paws”
Introduce the new arrival (including babies and kids) to the current cats
Solve common pet peeves: meowing, clawing, countertop cruising, door dashing and more!
Understand weird behaviors: phone attraction, mirror fear, “elevator butt” and toilet pests

Below I’ve included an excerpt from Chapter 2: How Cats Think and hope you’ll enjoy. If you’re having kitty cat-astrophes or would just like to better understand what’s going on between your cats’ pointy ears, I hope you’ll consider checking out the new book. By the way, the “dog version” should be available sometime next month.

Together with Mom!! (Copr. KrazyBoutCats/Flickr)

The “Whoops” Effect

A “whoops” experience can be happy accident or create behavior problems down the road. Kittens and cats continue to learn an incredible amount through observation, even after the prime socialization period ends. A friendly, trusting cat needs only a few positive interactions with a strange person to show positive behavior toward them, and it takes significant negative experiences to override this initial response. On the contrary, a shy cat needs LOTS of positive experiences with a stranger to overcome lack of socialization during the sensitive phase, and will react adversely toward even minor negative encounters.

In other words, the socialized cat generalizes positive experiences quickly, but the unsocialized cat must learn gradually to trust the individual person or family and does NOT generalize later positive experiences. Instead she expects that one negative experience will apply to all new situations.

When your current cat(s) know good manners, they serve as wonderful role models to new pets. By observing your interaction with a resident cat that meows at a certain time each day to get fed, Sheba more quickly makes that connection. Think of this as a positive “copycat” behavior. New cats also learn bad habits from a resident feline and vice versa. If you allow Sheba to get away with wild antics, the older cat also may start pushing your buttons. Adult cats learn by watching you, too. After seeing you open a door, they learn to jump up and hang on the door ‘lever’ to open it.

Cats are experts at getting their way. They are so good at training owners, that we often don’t recognize we are being manipulated. Sheba easily trains you to fill the food bowl when she paw-pats you awake you at 5:30 a.m. It only takes one or two repetitions of this cause-and-effect for cats to remember what works in each situation. If rattling the wooden window blinds makes you let her out the door, she’ll remember and use that ploy again and again. Therefore, pay attention to not only what Sheba does, but your own resulting behavior, to get a clue how she’s training you.

There are times when our patience runs out, and owners may be tempted to react with anger. To be blunt, corporeal punishment doesn’t work. Hitting, yelling, or using force not only is inhumane, it almost always makes the bad behavior worse. Dr. Lansberg explains that any strong arousal interferes with Sheba’s ability to learn because that portion of the brain must deal with the emotional fallout instead. Instead of thinking, these cats react out of instinct (the fight-or-flight response) and typically either attack, or hide. You’ll teach a lesson you don’t want Sheba to learn—to fear or dislike you.

*****

So then–have your cats ever learned a lesson you didn’t expect or appreciate? What did you do? Have your cats taught each other positive behavior or have the juvenile delinquent cats been a bad influence? Please share!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat aggression, cat behavior, cat books, cat training, cats, competability, litter box problems, solving cat behavior problems, www.amyshojai.com

Woof Wednesday: Dog Food Info & How To Stop Gassy Dogs

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks writing about pet food to help pet parents best choose what to put in the bowl. It’s up to owners to do research into what fits your furry wonder’s age and lifestyle. Do you know how many calories dogs need, for instance? The newest article answers questions about calories in dog food.

So I’ve provided a primer on how to read pet food labels. Bet you’ll learn some surprising things about what the label can tell you–and what it doesn’t say.

Do you know how they test the food? Animal testing, you betcha–and Magical-Dawg wants to come back as a food taste tester in their food trials. Read all about the testing here.

Pet food manufacturers can be creative when it comes to following the letter of the law and describing what’s in the food, too. Do you know what constitutes a GOOD food additive? Are there bad ones? Why would they even be in the food? Well, many of them are there not for the dog, but to get those of us with pocket books and thumbs to open the wallet and buy the food. Learn about pet food additives here.

Dogs aren’t the best decision makers, even if they had their own wallets. Heck, there’s a reason that at my house all the toilet lids stay CLOSED, and the waste baskets are set on countertops. Magical-Dawg eats just about anything. That, of course, can lead to (ahem) potent results. In fact, today’s Ask Amy video addresses that very issue.

How do you choose food for your dogs? Have they ever had aromatic emissions of the stinky kind? How did you handle that? Do tell!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, Ask Amy, comparing dog food, dog food label, gassy dog, pet food, puppies, puppies.About.com, puppy care, www.amyshojai.com

Monday Mentions: Reading Monkeys, Chocolate Diet & Musical Cure

Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the neato-torpedo links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Some of this “schtuff” can be hard to categorize and may fit more than one topic so I urge you to at least scan them all.

I’m THIS CLOSE to releasing the next book in the COMPETABILITY series, this one on solving cat-to-cat problems. Also, I’ve written a whole series of pet food articles as we;; as first aid tips for the puppies.about.com site and will share the latest links in the Woof Wednesday and Feline Friday blogs so please bookmark and come back. The regular busy-ness will quadruple shortly because I’m due to receive edits on my LOST AND FOUND thriller by tomorrow, yay! Therefore, you may not see me around for a few days as I work hard to regain consciousness and then work through the suggested changes. Hey, that’s a regular part of the book process, don’t let anyone tell you any different.

WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF

Research on Reading & Writing Trends

The Chocolate Diet why is this under writer-icity? because it’s a well-known fact that chocolate is BRAIN FOOD that fuels writers. Just sayin’

Poetry.com Returns–Beware! or at least caution. Read the Writer Beware post to learn more info.

Audible for Self-Pub’d Authors, is your book a candidate for an audio book?

Short Story Sales Tips still a good way to promote long fiction? Hmnnnn. Leads right into the next links.

World Of Myth looking for short stories and here’s a Short Story Contest for emerging writers

ITW’s “Love Is Murder” Collection Trailer Go to the Facebook page to “like” it to see this exclusive trailer–writers can learn some tips with this kewl video.

Blog Give-Aways, what to do and what not to do

MAN-DAY with hunks galore at Jillian Dodd’s awesome blog where today author Jen Talty expounds on her books’ hunky heroes (photo examples, squee!)

PET-ICITY SCHTUFF

Do Pets Go to Heaven? on the heels of Easter, three theology experts comment–a fascinating read. And that segues nicely into the next section about ghosts.

“Mag the Ghost wasn’t  any easier to deal with in death than Mag the Terror had been in life. Living in Love, Texas, in her childhood home, wasn’t the end of the world, but Tali Cates can’t see the good things with her eyes clouded by murder and mayhem. Now living at home with her son and her mother and trying to support her family, Tali is faced with a vengeful ghost, intent on ruining her life unless she solves her murder. Now some very human elements are showing violent intent and Tali has to come face to face with the very things she tried to leave behind, her gifts and violence.” Privy to Murder by Carol Shenold

This fun mystery (yes, a ghost appears in an outhouse!) also includes a cat, so I asked my friend–author Carol Shenold–how pets figure in her fiction. I think many writers could learn something from her response:

The Cat Said What? I don’t mean you and your cat will sit down at a computer and write together.  But, what if your cat shows up in your current WIP. How do you handle that? I know many writers who make animals into main characters in the books, complete with dialogue. Not good at that. Animals do sneak in because I live with three, but not as major players, more for comic relief, or just for fun. Besides, life is not complete without them.

I do feel like you have to judge your book, setting and character before putting in a pet, since the main character has to take care of it. It you are writing a thriller, adventure,  horror story, will your character remember to feed and water the animal, take it for a walk, scoop the litter? If not, make sure someone else is around to take care of the cat or dog. Mention it once or twice. Or, make it the neighbor’s irritating pet that shows up at awkward times. The way your main character interacts with animals might give insight into character, or lack of.

Since my animals are part of my life, they do come into the books and have a little fun.  I have to watch them or they might take over. In PRIVY TO MURDER, Tali’s kitten, Chaos, tries to take a bath with Tali whenever she can, preferably with bubbles.  But when Aiden was around, she made herself scarce, not fond of males? Cat’s rule and Aiden has disappeared.”

Monkeys Taught To Read! Well, sorta kinda in a way–they do recognize words, how cool is that? I predict a whole new audience for my work…

National Fire Dog Memorial Statue Planned

New Kitten URI Treatment get ready for kitten season with this new info from UC-Davis

More DON’T HUG YOUR DOG DAY from dog behavior expert Marilyn Wolf, a similar take on the Purina Beneful bad promotion.

Purina Stinko Again? This time they did apologize for comparing a neighborhood to a stinky litterbox in a TidyCats NoMorePU campaign. Are the ad guys playing with catnip? Don’t tell me you didn’t inhale!

Is Cesar Milan Going To Fix Your Dog? an excellent post from veterinarian Dr. Rayya who explains the difference between behavioral problems and problem behaviors.

Some of y’all know that music is a HUGE part of my life. It seems to heal us and make us whole on so many levels. A friend sent me this video and I had to share with everyone. HANKY alert!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat care, chocolate diet, dog care, music cure, publishing advice, Purina, reading monkey, writing advice, writing tips, www.amyshojai.com

Feline Friday: Ask Amy~Why Cats Drool During Petting

Cats (especially show cats) can learn to tolerate and even appreciate hugs. What does this kitty's body language say? Look at the ears, the whiskers, the eyes...

This week’s Woof Wednesday post on hugging dogs garnered a LOT of attention and started some great discussions both here, at my puppies.about.com site, on Facebook and even in my IAABC email list among the behavior consultants. And it’s true that the “hugging rule” applies to cats, as well. Hugging is not generally considered a cat behavior that expresses affection, even though cats can learn to enjoy this. As others have said, it all depends upon the cat, the owner, and the circumstances (and also, how you define a “hug”).

But that begs the question, what do cats enjoy? And how do you know they like it? What do you do if a cat’s expression of affection or enjoyment doesn’t appeal to you–or even disgusts you?

WHY DOES MY CAT DROOL, EWWW!

How many folks have experienced a drooling, bubble-blowing saliva-spewing kitty? Since they’re much smaller than dogs, the drool factor may not be quite the same level as, say, a St. Bernard. Lovers of drooly dogs invest in drool-resistant attire and regularly hose down walls, furniture, or anything else within drool-flinging range.

I exaggerate, but not by much.

Cats also can turn on the water works. Sometimes that’s a sign of dental issues or sore mouths. While the sight of something tasty can get my Magical-Dog soaking wet with slobber-icity, the same thing rarely seems to happen with cats.  When a cat feels stressed, excessive grooming may be a way he helps calm himself. That could require increased salivation, but I’m not aware of a direct link between drooling and stress.

But some cats salivate when petted. The more they get petted, the greater the drippy flow. I really don’t know why some cats drool and blow bubbles while others don’t. They must simply be wired differently. The mechanism to turn on the water works has to do with the same pleasure triggers that prompt petted cats to knead/tread in satisfaction. Cats’ impulse to knead hearkens back to the sensation they felt when nursing, and eating would trigger salivation. So it’s not a huge jump to attribute salivating and drooling to these same pleasurable sensations. Drooling when petted is one more way cats show us love.

Do your cats drool? What are the circumstances? I’m curious if cats in the same household might “copy cat” behavior and more than one do this or is it primarily an individual issue? What are some other ways your cats show you they LIKE something? What else have I missed in the Ask Amy video below? Please share!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Cat Behavior & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai. www.amyshojai.com, Ask Amy, cat advice, cat behavior, cats, hugging cats, hugging dogs, video, why do cats drool when petted

Woof Wednesday: Cute Babies, Apple Pie & Hug Your Dog

I had another post set to go today. But then I took an ethical stand (say it ain't so!) and wrote what appears to be an incredibly unpopular post on my puppies.About.com site. 

Oh dear heaven, by the comments I received you'd think that I said cute babies are evil, apple pie is poison and advocated BEATING YOUR DOG! Part of that has to do with folks reading only the title and ignoring the content of the message. Oh well. That drives home the importance of titles, I suppose.

You see, I took issue with a big-name pet food company that should know better. The Purina Beneful promotion titled "hug your dog day" encouraged folks to take pictures of themselves hugging their dogs and post them.

Sounds delightful, doesn't it? The promo really struck a chord with pet lovers. After all, who doesn't love a hug? Hugs mean love, hugs mean happy happy happy, hugs are tail-wagging expressions of the joy we share with dogs. Right? RIGHT?!

Uh, no.

WHY HUGS CAN BE DANGEROUS

There's a reason that veterinary behaviorists, dog trainers and savvy owners blanched when they learned about this promotion. Why is that? Because while hugs are a natural HUMAN expression of comfort and love, they can send the opposite signal to your dog.

Children get bitten in the face as a result of inappropriate dog interaction (often hugs). Learn ways to help prevent dog bites here. There are other safer, more appropriate ways to show affection to dogs that the dog actually prefers!

"Oh no, you stupid, clueless person–you're wrong wrong wrong, because MY DOG loves hugs, and every dog I've ever had loves hugs and everyone that I know has dogs that hug them back and loves hugs and…" 

Good. In this case I would LOVE to be wrong! If you have a dog that loves hugs and hugs you back, bravo. But that also begs the question, how do you know your dog "loves hugs?"

DEFINING "HUGS" & WHY DOGS HUG

A hug is an embrace, right? Arms go around the body and squeeze–that's a hug. When do dogs clasp forelegs around another creature and squeeze? I can think of three scenarios:

Mating/Dominance displays
Prey capture
Fights/play fighting

So when your dog "hugs" you what is he saying? And what do your hugs tell him? As a vet tech years ago I was taught the "hug-restraint" technique to immobilize dogs for treatment, and I suspect the dogs were not fooled into thinking that was an expression of affection.

How do dogs actually show love? Here are 12 common ways.

Thank heavens our dogs for the most part are very flexible and forgive humans our sometimes clueless nature, LOL! I know that I'm grateful Magical-Dawg makes allowances when I don't understand what he's trying to tell me. At least with people, you can explain your intentions. That can be a challenge with dogs.

FORCING HUGS–IS IT FAIR?

I don't have two-legged children. But I've witnessed gatherings where babies and toddlers get passed around to strangers who hug, pinch cheeks, bounce up and down, and ooh-and-aw over the cuticity. I think we've all seen kids wail in protest or fall silent with fear while a clueless relative or acquaintance –or a pediatrician?–insists on continued "loving but unwanted attention." When you were a kid, do you remember that certain relative who caused no end of angst because as a kid you had no choice but to put up with the hugs, smooches, and cheek pinches? At least with older children, parents can explain what's going on and help guide the adult (hopefully) into less scary interactions.

As much as we want to believe they read our minds and understand our words, dogs misunderstand a lot–and we misunderstand an equal portion of what they say. Hugs are supposed to express affection and love. So if a hug causes stress, fear, discomfort to the dog you adore, is it fair to inflict those feelings because it "feels good" to the owner?

BUT–MY DOG LOVES HUGS!

Yes, many dogs can learn to tolerate–or even love hugs from a trusted human. For those who have taken the time to do this, BRAVO! Many dogs also can learn to tolerate or love tooth brushing–so is it responsible for a company with dental products to promote sticking your hands in the dog's mouth, or is it better to explain how to do so safely?

Magical-dog loves close contact. He often pushes his head and shoulders into my lap or squeezes his face under my arm. Is he asking for a hug? I suspect it's this type of behavior that confuses many of us–but see, he controls that interaction. My arms haven't come down around him to capture/hold/prevent movement. So some of the confusion, I suspect, has to do with semantics and how people define a hug.

How do you know your dog "loves" hugs? What does your dog do when s/he receives a hug? Do you know what each of these signals mean? Are you sure? Click on a link or two to see if you're right!

Wags
Pants
Stiffens
Licks lips
Turns head away
Shows whites of eyes

My post seems to have hissed off a large number of folks who remain convinced their dogs love hugs. That's great. But my entire purpose with these blogs, my books, pet advocacy and more is to EMPOWER PET OWNERS TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES.

To stand silent and do nothing hurts my soul. I was an expert witness in a dog bite trial where a child was severely injured by a dog she adored–and the dog adored her as well. Read about that in this blog post.

If hissing off some readers saves one child from the trauma of a bite, or one family from the heartbreak of losing a beloved dog by mis-reading intent–I'm fine with that.

Now then, I'll don my flame-resistant sparkles and prepare for comments. Do your dogs like hugs? How do you know? For trainers and behavior folks out there, how do you help people understand safe dog handling? Do tell!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, beneful, dog behavior, dog behavior books, dog bite, dog training, hug your dog, puppies.About.com, Purina, www.amyshojai.com

Monday Mentions: Thrillers, Pets & Writing

Monday Mentions is the mash-up-day of all the TASTY neato-torpedo links and videos, pet schtuff and bling and writer-icity crappiocca collected over the past week. Some of this "schtuff" can be hard to categorize and may fit more than one topic so I urge you to at least scan them all.

WRITER-ICITY SCHTUFF

Why Small Presses Fail–and what to watch out for, from Writers Beware

Congrats to fellow ITW Debut Author Donna Galanti. Her thriller A Human Element released this month. This story, like its characters, is a hybrid that combines science fiction, suspense and romance. As a twin myself, I found that aspect of the story both chilling and fascinating. Read more here–and aspiring authors may wish to take a closer look at this publisher, too!

For more thrilling romance from well known authors, check out the upcoming collection. That's a must-read, to be sure, cain't wait! PW Starred Review says, in part: "If a person is known by the company she keeps, then the company of the 30 romance and suspense writers in this stellar all-original anthology speaks volumes about bestseller Brown. From Lori Armstrong's sexy "Holding Mercy" to Vicki Hinze's sweet "Wed to Death," there's romance aplenty. But there's also loads of suspense, including Lee Child's "I Heard a Romantic Story" and Cindy Gerard's "Dying to Score." Hankering for a flight of romantic fantasy? Take a trip to a bizarre Savannah neighborhood in Dianna Love's "Deadly Fixation" or to the Chicago of Patricia Rosemoor's "Hot Note." The action spans the globe, imparting a real feel for locales as diverse as the Mexican jungle; Halifax, Nova Scotia; London, England; and south Texas. There are familiar characters such as Allison Brennan's Lucy Kincaid ("Vacation Interrupted") and new ones readers are sure to want to see more of, like William Simon's Nicholas White ("Spider's Tango"). Chockablock with nifty plot twists, these stories aren't to be missed. (June)"

More from ITW--some of your fav thriller authors, check it out!

WEIRD-ICITY & FUN SCHTUFF

You Type, She Says in any language, fun to play.

Middle Eastern Poetry Meets Bollywood & More from my friend Carol Shenold's blog

Google to End Ebook ReSeller Program

Amazon Ebooks in Spanish

PET-ICITY SCHTUFF

10 New Cat Health Studies Funded by Winn Feline Foundation

Ally Cat Allies Petition Re: Loews Hotels Killing Cats Animal friendly? really…

Cat World Records–most toes, longest whiskers, loudest purrs, oldest (38 years!) and more

ALLEY CAT RESCUE Hosts International Free Feral Cat Spay Day April 27, 2012

Scottie the Flower Shop Kitty

Lost German Cat Returns Home After 15 Years

High Cost of Cutting Edge Vet Care–would you do it?

I covered a lot of this cutting-edge care in my book. And I got my first hate mail as a result from somebody deeply offended that so much $$ might be spent on mere pets. What do you think? Have we gone too far? Or would you go into dept to fund health care for YOUR dogs and cats? Do tell!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Writing Advice & More Tagged: Amy Shojai, cat care, dog care, Donna Galanti, ITW, Sandra Brown, Thrillers, veterinary, www.amyshojai.com

Feline Friday: Poop-alicious Remedies

When you have pets, shitake happens. (Hey, I figured the word "crappiocca" might have been over-used lately, so…)

One of the most common cat behavior complaints I get has to do with hit-or-miss litter box behavior. And it's one of the most misunderstood. There are so dang many reasons for Cutey-Cat to snub the litter box and even the felines who are faithful to potty training can get their tails in a twist over "sctuff" and–(ahem)–let their opinion be known.

">You can find some of the basics for solving litter box problems in my cats.About.com article on the subject.  And the updated and expanded book ComPETability: Solving Behavior Problems In Your Cat-Dog Household has explanations and step-by-step how-to-solve advice, as well (kewl new cover, too, eh? )  This week's Woof Wednesday advice about dogs snacking from litter boxes is covered in the book, with more details of course.

Thanks to one of my fav SweetTweet & bloggicity friends for sending me the Ask Amy question, below. It can be a challenge to offer advice in 3 minutes or less, so I hope the info helps.

So what other advice would y'all offer? Do you have kitties that baptize walls? Dig-dig-dig forever and then "get productive" behind the piano? How do you manage? I'll be adding two NEW books to the ComPETability series (for cat-to-cat and dog-to-dog behavior problems) so who knows? Your specific comments might make it into the book. Please share!

Gotta run, I have someone calling to interview me about–(wait for it) litter box problems! Like I said, it's been a week filled with crappiocca.

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, Ask Amy, cat behavior, cat books, cat pooping, competability, dog books, solving litter box problems, www.amyshojai.com

Woof Wednesday: Big Hairy Deal & Stop Litter Box Snacking

On Monday Mentions you saw my Hairball Celebrity Creature, and a number of folks had terrific guesses. Today you can find out just WHO that was supposed to be–featured on PeoplePets.com, a gallery of 9 of the hairy hopefuls are profiled.

To see the whole gallery plus the five finalists, and vote for your choice of winner, click on the logo, above.

In the spirit of Woof Wednesday, but with a nod to the cats, today's Ask Amy has a cross-species problem to address. Does your dog (urk!) snack from the litter box? Learn why dogs eat dung in this article. How do you keep Poochie away from the poo?

I'm in the process of completely revising my ComPETability book to be even more prescriptive, and some of the tips from the book are presented in the video, below. What are some other ways you handle the problem? Do tell!

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you'd like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, "like" me on Facebook, listen to the weekly radio show, check out weekly FREE PUPPY CARE newsletter, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter with excerpts from the forthcoming THRILLER, LOST & FOUND, and pet book give-aways!

Filed under: Ask Amy Videos, Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care Tagged: Amy Shojai, Ask Amy, cat behavior, cat care, competability, dog behavior, dog care, dogs eating from litter box, Furminator, George Clooney, hairballs, how to stop dogs litter box snacking, PeoplePets.com, pet books, video, why dogs eat poop, www.amyshojai.com