National Pet Week!

by Amy Shojai | May 7, 2014 | Cat Behavior & Care, Dog Training & Care, Sponsored & Reviews | 2 comments

Well, here at Shojai Central, it’s all about the pets 24/7/365. But in case you needed an excuse, this week has been named in honor of pets. My friends at PET360 have even got a special deal going:

How do you celebrate National Pet Week? I’m curious how many of y’all have what kinds of pets. Could you list ’em in the comments and let’s get a count. Of course, y’all know that
I’ve got Magical-Dawg, Seren-Kitty and Karma-Kitten.

When I was a kid, I also had Shelties, hamsters, and my brother kept pet mice. We kids also brought in a variety of snakes and toads and frogs and lizards and turned them into pets, and from time to time we also had goldfish.

For a short time, I also had a Spectacle Amazon parrot named Venus, aka “the lil’ green chicken.” She was a rescue and came to me when I worked as a vet tech. Venus had been fed nothing but sunflower seeds and was addicted to the caffeine, mostly bald, and the vets said she wouldn’t live.

She did. And after her feathers returned she was gloriously beautiful–but cared nothing about people. I think she’d been caught as an adult with bird lime (she was missing two toes). So when we moved from Tennessee to Texas, I left her with a parrot expert and breeder who had a wonderful aviary and doted on the smaller parrots. The story THE RISE OF VENUS was my first published pet article.
We never kept rats (for some reason my mom tolerated hamsters and mice, but not rats). I understand they’re extremely intelligent.

Oh, and we lived on the river so there were always diamond back, leather back, and painted turtles (that’s a kid of turtle, not how we decorated them!). One year, my brother found where the baby turtles hatched, and brought home about 40 of the nickle-size hatchlings.

My parents put up with it all, bless their hearts. And as a result I had a childhood filled with wonderful pet memories. How about you?

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, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!

Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!

2 Comments

Amy Shojai on May 13, 2014 at 8:43 pm

Oh Patricia, my heart breaks for you, losing your dog in that way. I had something of the same experience–a beloved dog that one day just wasn’t there anymore. He’d killed another of the neighbor’s cats–so my parents took him to “live on a farm” they told us. But I think they actually took him to the shelter, a big black 5 year old shepherd-looking fellow that would never be adopted, I know now. That’s why my book P’ETiQuette was written (helping dogs and cats live together)…and dedicated to him.

Our experiences make us what we are. You wouldn’t be the loving pet parent you are today or treasure it so much if it weren’t for your experiences. And I might not be writing my passion if I’d not had that early love-lost experience.
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Patricia on May 13, 2014 at 8:02 pm

I apologize – I’m a little behind on my reading but I loved this blog. I must admit I’m a little jealous of the wonderful childhood you had with all sorts of critters and your parents being so tolerant of so many types of animals you and your brother came up with. Me and my dad were animal lovers – my mother not so much. I had a couple outdoor cats over the years and had one blonde dog that I named Taffy. I loved her and my mother did not and back in the day people did not try and find homes for pets – they just took them to the country and dumped them. She told my dad to do exactly that and somewhere out your way he did. I cried and cried. The only pet I had inside was a green parakeet. I loved my Henrietta. I bet Venus was gorgeous. Would love to read that article. You have been so blessed to have had so many different types of pets in your life. I always said when I got grown I was going to have pets and I have and been blessed with them living long term. I love me some Macy, Thomas, Termite, Snookie and Blackie.
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