Hamilton jumps!

We had quite an event in our kitchen this morning. Hamilton, who is still on schedule for his radioactive iodine shot on September 10, surprised us with an unprecedented event.

Hamilton, you see, is not much of a jumper. He never has been, and he's 12 years old. We started feeding him on top of the refrigerator about a year ago to keep his food away from Tribbs, one of our other cats. The problem was we had to pick Hamilton up and put him up there every time he wanted to nibble at his food. He was able to jump down, but not up.

It has become a household routine to have him get up onto the kitchen counter by a small jump first onto the garbage bin, and then sit there and RREEEOOOWWWW! loudly until we pick him up and put him on the refrigerator.

Recently, one of the small Scottish Folds we've been taking care of managed to jump all the way on to the top of the refrigerator from a small shelf nearby in order to raid Hamilton's food. I guess Hamilton saw her do it, because this morning he did it himself! I never thought Hamilton could jump so high!

What a cat will do to protect his food!

Countdown to Hamilton's Treatment

As September 10 grows closer, I get so worried that Hamilton will never forgive me for driving him into Boston and dropping him off at the hospital for as long as 20 days! But it will all be worth it if that radioactive iodine shot cures him of his hyperthyroid disorder. Maybe THIS picture shows just what he thinks of the idea!

Poor judgment from AOL

I was reading a news article on AOL Sports about Michael Vick pleading guilty to dog fighting charges just now, and was pleased to hear that he'd have to pay for his cruelty to animals. Then I glanced to the right of the article, and saw that AOL was featuring a picture of a bull being speared in a bull-fight as a "Tops Sports Photo."

So much for sensitivity to cruelty to animals!

Our Place to Paws Seeks Advertisers, Sponsors for "10% for Animals" Program

Our Place to Paws, a new Web site by and for animal lovers, will donate 10% of any advertising dollars to non-profit animal welfare or rescue organization of the advertisers' choice.

Waltham, MA (PRWEB) August 20, 2007 -- Our Place to Paws, a Web site by and for animal lovers that debuted in March of this year, is seeking advertisers and sponsors for its "10% for Animals" program.

Our Place to Paws (www.ourplacetopaws.com) features informative, quirky and fun articles about pets and wildlife, from regular news stories to columns penned by "animal columnists" such as Daisy the Cat, Orson the Chow and Opus the Opossum. Also featured on the site and in the free monthly e-newsletter are simple animal art projects that kids can do at home, a monthly Reader Photo Spotlight contest with a $20 gift certificate prize and a Cats vs. Dogs essay contest for writers of all ages.

"Our Place to Paws is only five months old, and we're seeking advertisers to help keep our online community of animal lovers alive," said Faye Rapoport DesPres, editor of the Web site. "Our goal from the start has been to find ways to support non-profit animal rescue and welfare organizations, and we will donate 10% of any advertising dollars to the non-profit animal organization of the advertiser's choice."

Currently, the Our Place to Paws blog (www.ourplacetopaws.blogspot.com) is chronicling the health care journey of Hamilton, a cat who has been diagnosed with hyperthyroid condition and who will soon be treated with a radioactive iodine shot in Boston. The blog also features animal photographs, news and videos.

"I started Our Place to Paws simply because I love animals and am passionate about their welfare, and wanted to develop creative ways for people to read and write about animals online," Rapoport DesPres said. "Now I have a group of loyal readers who care just as much about animals as I do, and we want to find ways to help. Because we're so new, we are offering extremely low advertising rates on our site that won't even register on most companies' budget radars."

For more information about advertising on the Our Place to Paws Web site and in the free monthly e-newsletter, and taking part in the "10% for Animals" program, contact Faye Rapoport DesPres at 781-799-4739 or visit www.ourplacetopaws.com.

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Posing with his portrait

Hamilton is still doing well, and is on schedule for his Sept. 10 radioactive iodine shot appointment. Here he is posing with his portrait, done by Peggy Dey of Dey by Dey Studio.

Post your own pet's health journey

Hello! While we're eagerly awaiting the next step in Hamilton's hyperthyroid journey, Our Place to Paws would like to invite readers to send in their own stories about their pets' health.

Have you had a dog, cat, or other pet who faced a difficult or unusual health problem and conquered it? We're looking for inspirational stories to post on our blog and in our e-newsletter. Please send stories and photos to: faye@ourplacetopaws.com. Stories should be up to 400 words in length.

Thanks, we look forward to sharing your stories.

Happy Birthday, Fiona! She's 2!

...and tired out from playing with her toys!

New Giant Panda Cub at the San Diego Zoo!

The San Diego Zoo is reporting that one of their Giant Pandas gave birth to a cub on August 3. If any of you have been watching the panda cub at the Atlanta Zoo, Mei Lan, grow up, you now have another cub to keep track of!

Here's a link to the San Diego Zoo's Panda Cam.

And here's a link to the news about the cub.

Tribbs and HIS box

I love how his back paw is sticking out the side.

Hamilton's Treatment Date set

We're gearing up -- both mentally and financially -- for Hamilton's radioactive iodine shot to treat his hyperthyroid condition. It's happening on Sept. 10 at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, part of the MSPCA. I wish we didn't have to hospitalize him for 10 days or more, but I feel really good about the decision to give him the treatment. Although he's gained weight and is looking like a "regular cat" again on the daily meds, he hates taking them. He runs away as soon as he sees the dropper, and I can tell he doesn't feel totally good on the meds. He's more subdued then he used to be and he sleeps more.

We'll be happy to have our playful kitty back and healthy again when it's all over!

Fiona and the box

Our new issue is out!

We've sent our our August issue and updated all new monthly articles on the Web site. If you'd like to see who won the August reader photo spotlight contest, or read the feature story, Daisy's new column or our first "Cats vs. Dogs" essay, visit www.ourplacetopaws.com.

In the meantime, we've had some good news about Cali, one of the cats we've been discussing here on the blog. You might recall that about six months ago an x-ray revealed something on one of her lungs that the vets couldn't identify. Only a very invasive procedure would determine if it was cancer or benign. After getting three opinions, we chose to do regular follow-up x-rays to determine whether the spot would change over time.

Yesterday Cali had her fourth follow-up, and there's been virtually no change. We're feeling more and more confident that this isn't cancer and she'll be just fine. Yay!

More on Hamilton

Well, we're in the last stretches of preparing for Hamilton's radio iodine treatment for hyperthyroid. We have some choices to make. One company will administer the shot and keep Hamilton for three days until their permit allows them to release him back to us (at that point his radiation levels should be acceptable to go home). In that case, however, we have to take very special precautions for two weeks after he's home, such as flushing all litter down the toilet and handling it with plastic gloves, and limiting our "face time" with the cat. We'd also have to keep litter boxes out of various rooms and keep Hamilton out of the kitchen (where he currently spends much of his time).

Angell Memorial in Boston does a more full-service program, which includes keeping Hamilton for up to 10 days and doing more extensive testing at the beginning to determine how much medication he should be given. Although it's more expensive, we're leaning toward the Angell Memorial program. We'd hate for Hamilton to have to be boarded for 10 days to two weeks, but it seems like the safest situation for everyone, especially since we have four other cats currently in the house!

Stay tuned, our new e-newsletter should be coming out by the end of the week! To subscribe, email faye@ourplacetopaws.com.