As Marcy and I prepare to move into the hot, sunny depths of the Mohave desert, many of our thoughts turn to our pets. As you know, we have two dogs, Sammy and Buddy, and our cats, Bing, Charlie Brown, Mr. "C" and Cleo.  When we first went house shopping in Lake Havasu, one of the things that made us fall in love with our new home was the five foot, Spanish style wall that surrounded the back yard.  "Great" we thought.  The kitties will love this because they can enjoy lying in the warmth of the sun and we will feel secure in their not being able to get out of the back yard.

You see, Bing, the great Seal Point "Hunter" can't seem to make it through the day without his roam through the back yard.  Well, truth be told, he actually loves roaming our back yard, the front yard, the neighbor's front yard and the neighbor's back yard. You get the picture.  Lake Havasu sounds like the perfect place for Bing. Lots of enclosed backyard for him to roam, and lots of lizards to chase...how perfect! 

Ok...Not so perfect...There are COYOTES in Lake Havasu and they consider our family pets their daily food!  As we do our research, we are shocked to learn that these agile coyotes can easily jump a six foot fence.  Animal control tells me that coyotes will travel anywhere from 15-100 miles from their den into the city to forge for food and that not only will they eat our cats but they will even take our dogs!

We are shocked.  We cannot fathom our pets becoming coyote prey and obviously will do anything to prevent this from happening to our pet family. Some people say to keep our pets inside between dusk and dawn when the coyotes are out hunting. However, animal control says that a coyote will jump into your back yard and snatch a pet right in front of you in broad daylight.  This is scary stuff!

If anyone has any solutions to keeping the coyotes out and the cats and dogs safe, we would love to hear from you. 

How come the coyote on the Roadrunner cartoons always seemed so cute and goofy?

Have a purrable day...

Nick

Radio Show

Our first national talk show on blogtalkradio.com was a blast last Sunday.  Our guest was Courtney Thomas, VP of Strategic initiatives for No More Homeless Pets KC.  Courtney was so informative and entertaining on topics such as local shelters in the area, rescue questions, kill and no-kill shelters and entertained the audience about spay and neutering of pets.  Courtney took calls and answered questions from our local listening audience and even a couple of calls from out-of-state!

We worked through a few minor glitches with the phone system (one of our callers held for 30 minutes - oops!), music (fade in-fade out) and a snoring dog lying next to me in the studio (who could hear Buddy snoring on the radio?).  However, for the most part it was a great show and we had great feedback.

So, please join me next Sunday March 13 from 8-9 p.m.  The entire show will be about cats! Everything you ever wanted to know - from cat litter to catnip!  Our guest speaker will be Jasmine Kinnear, Feline Behavior Consultant and author of Every Cat Has a Story.  This is going to be a FUN show!  I hope all of my cat loving friends will join us!  

"Welcome to the show...you are caller number 10"

Have a purrable day...

Nick

Nick Sacco

Author: In Heaven Kittens Play

www.nicksacco.com

Debbie's baby Ellie My very good friend Debbie Erikson lost a close member of her family last night.  Fortunately, it wasn't a relative or a family member, but a kitty that she had loved for years.  Little Ellie was a cute orphaned Calico kitten when Debbie adopted her almost 18 years ago.  At only four weeks old, Debbie did what any good kitty mother would do...she bottle fed her for almost a month and let her snooze in her shoe when she was sleepy. Many people, especially those who are not pet lovers, don't understand the feeling of loss that Debbie and other animal lovers experience.  We invite small, innocents into our lives and establish a very special bond with them.  They love us unconditionally.  They don't scold us for sleeping in late, in fact many of them share our same bed as they snuggle under the covers with us.  Our wonderful pets never turn up their noses at our cooking and gladly share whatever we are eating.  We can walk around in our slippers and house coat, hair a mess and lacking a shower and they will still look at us as if we are the king or queen of their world. Today I'll share in Debbie's loss.  I'll shed my own tears for her, in fact I am right now as I write this blog.  But I'll find strength and a sense of peace, knowing as Debbie does, that a special angel rejoices today as a new, healthy addition is welcomed into their garden. Keep Debbie and Ellie in your thoughts. Have a purrable day... Nick www.nicksacco.com

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I really believe the expression, "pets are a great judge of character."  Have you ever noticed how your pets will react strongly to someone who later on turns out to be a real jerk?  The picture to the left is a perfect example.  It shows Jessica, my step-daughter, who came over yesterday.  Whenever Jess comes over, she sits down  and all of the pets are drawn to her like a magnet.  As you can see in the photo she has two of our seal point Siamese curled up on or next to her, and of course, our crazy, insane dog, Sammy.  I don't even want to know how Sammy wound up in the chair with her in such a blissful and relaxed position!

So, here's the plan - in the future when I have a business deal, I am going to invite the person over to my house, make them sit in the recliner and simply wait.   If they don't have a dog or a cat sitting on or near them within two minutes, then their name goes to the "suspicious list."  This list, of course, will warrant a much deeper and more through investigation of their moral fiber.

This new way of doing business will also be a great way to pick out a new service or business.  Say we're choosing an interior designer. We invite all prospective applicants to our house and sit them in the "chair."  We can speak with them for five minutes and then simply wait. We obviously won't need interview notes.  We will just count how many cats/dogs are sitting on their lap.   The one with the most pets wins the contract.  

I think this is a great idea and I intend to implement it immediately.  I've invited a representative of the following religious groups to come speak with us about joining their church or belief system:  Catholic, Methodist, Jewish, Baptist and Wiccan.  

This should be fun!

Have a purrable day...

Nick 

I Have Too Much Help!!

Mr. "C" trying to stow away in one of our

packing boxes.

Trying to pack for a move when you have four cats in your house can be difficult at best.  Apparently every empty box has to be carefully inspected by either Charlie Brown, Bing or Mr. "C".  Cleo, our oldest Seal Point Siamese is content to sit on my writing desk and survey the carnage going on around her.  I'm not sure how interesting the inside of an empty two foot packing box can be but the cats sure like them.  

Empty packing boxes also make a great place to sleep.  Throw some bubble wrap in the bottom and it takes a SWAT team to flush our cats out of them.

Boxes loaded to the gills also require a security inspection before being sealed with packing tape.  Kittie apparently thinks that despite the box being loaded to the maximum there is still room for them.

Trying to secure a box with packing tape creates another challenge as Mr. "C" or Bing keep rubbing their heads against  your hand while you try to avoid taping their tail to the same box your working on.

Then there is the matter of emptying a shelf or a cabinet.  Once again the mover inspection kitties need to investigate.  I'm not sure what is so facsinating about an empty drawer or closet but the cats must find something there we humans are missing.

So the move goes slowly but steadily ahead.  I keep having this bad dream that Marcy and I are standing at the rear of a moving truck, loaded to the roof with boxes and furniture.  We hear a muffled meow and then realize one of our cats is missing.   YIKES!!

Have a plurrable day...

Nick

Your The Tenth Caller...

Exciting news!  On March 6, 2011 we are hosting our first on line radio talk show.  Via Blog Talk Radio we will begin airing a Sunday evening show, "The Wonderful World Of Nick".  We will talk about a variety of subjects, including my book, pets and their attitudes and quirkiness, the afterlife, and anything interesting to keep the show fun and thought-provoking.  We will periodically have guests on to spice things up.  It's really going to be fun! 

 

Our agenda for the first show will be:

Discussion about our big PRIZE GIVE AWAY

Animal Shelters

How to find out if an organization is a kill or no-kill facility

The best part is that you, my friends and family, can listen to the show, and call in to talk or ask questions.

Here is how you can listen and take part.  Go to this link now and you'll see the show schedule.  You can take the steps necessary to listen in.  Ok, I promised you a link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nicksacco.

Share the show information with all of your friends and family.  

I look forward to talking with you on the air on SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2011, 8 P.M. 

Have a purrable day...

Nick

 

Nick L. Sacco

Author: In Heaven Kittens Play

www.nicksacco.com

Should This Cat Die?

Mr. "C" doing his favorite thing.
Drinking out of the faucet

Mr. "C", an old yellow tabby barn cat, came to our home via animal rescue about six years ago.  Mr. "C" is a definite alpha cat who never tolerated another animal, cat or dog, coming onto our property when we lived on the farm.  Mr. "C" would go out of his way to confront any strange animals and would open up a can of whoopass on them until they saw the error of their ways and fled his property.

For years, good ole Mr. "C" was content to stay outside all year round, sleeping in our barn, only occasionally coming into the house to visit.  But as he has grown older, he has realized the true comforts of life are inside and has gradually become a full time house cat.  

About nine months ago, we noticed that Mr. "C" seemed to be declining.  He was growing thinner, acting listless and lethargic, and seemed to be suffering from what appeared to be a constant case of irritable bowel syndrome.  As my wife Marcy and I prepared for our move to Arizona, the topic of Mr. "C"s health kept coming up.  We had to make the hard decision that Mr. "C" was too sick to make the trip and was going to have to be euthanized instead.  

Then something funny happened on the way to the vet's office.  Marcy, asked if I thought changing Mr. "C"s food might fix his IBS problem.  So, that day we switched his food to Science Diet digestion healthy cat food. After about one week, Mr. "C" made a miraculous recovery.  The first thing we noticed was that he started playing again!  Then he slowly started putting on weight, running around the house, interacting with the other cats and his IBS started clearing up.

Thank you Science Diet.  

So the one way trip to the vets office has been cancelled.  Mr. "C" will be joining us and the other pets at the end of March as we head for Arizona and our new home.

Have a purrable day...

Nick