TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR PET OWNERS

1.) My life is likely to last 15 to 20 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.

2.) Give me time to understand what you want from me. Do not break my spirit with your temper, though I will always forgive you. Your patience will teach me more effectively.

3.) Please have me spayed or neutered.

4.) Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for your kindness than mine. Don't be angry with me for long, and don't lock me up as punishment. After all, you have your job, your friends, your entertainment. I have only you.

5.) Speak to me often. Even if I don't understand your words, I understand your voice when it's speaking to me. Your voice is the sweetest sound I ever hear, as you must know by my enthusiasm whenever I hear your footsteps.

6.) Take me in when it's cold and wet. I'm a domestic animal and am no longer accustomed to the bitter elements. I ask for little more than your gentle hands petting me. Keep my bowl filled with water. Feed me good food so that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding. By your side, I stand ready, willing and able to share my life with you, for that is what I live for. I'll never forget how well you've treated me.

7.) Don't hit me. Remember, I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, but I choose not to bite you.

8.) Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food. I've been out in the sun too long, or my heart may be getting weak.

9.) Take care of me when I get old. For you will grow old, too.

10.) Everything is better for me when you are here. I will leave this earth knowing with my last breath that my fate was always safest in your hands. I love you.


Ask Elizabeth:

What's eating your pet? Read Elizabeth's memo on intestinal parasites here!


MICROCHIPPING SAVES LIVES!

An Orchard Animal Clinic success story:

September 2010: 

Heidi is our beautiful 11 year old Australian Shepherd mix. She is very sweet and docile when home, but has had a very eventful and exciting life especially due to her ability to escape from any type of enclosure if she is determined to do so. She has escaped from three boarding facilities and once while I was on a business trip, she was wandering the streets of Boise for six days. The boarding facility had removed her collar for safety reasons, so when she escaped she had no ID and I thought she was gone forever. Luckily she was eventually found by a family who saw my ad in the newspaper. Once we were reunited I immediately got her an ID microchip to ensure that should she escape again, with or without tags she would always have her information on her.

She has slowed down a bit in her old age, but is deathly afraid of thunderstorms, and if we aren't home with her she will seek out a home with people in it. In the past she has run from our house in the Train Depot neighborhood, all the way across Broadway, to a house with some nice people who took her in and then called us from her collar tag. Just recently we had a major thunderstorm and she ran off again but this time she had no ID tags - they had been pulled off about a week earlier. We were very worried, as she is hard of hearing, and her eyesight is not so good anymore. We were working on some flyers the next morning, when all of a sudden we got a phone call - she had made it to someone's home, and they had taken her in to a vet clinic where they were able to identify her immediately from her chip. We were so happy, and had her back within an hour. The small expense to have her chipped has not only given me peace of mind, but has brought her back home to us.

-Sarah