I'm curious on this note how many of you have downsized your lawns since owning your property. Our place used to be all yard. There really was nothing else. When he became homeowners and started taking care of the yard the landscaping also began! We have probably cut our lawn down by half to make way for plants that (predominantly) provide either food or habitat for critters instead. My parents think I'm insane. After growing up in the suburbs of Eastern Washington where a well-groomed lawn is all defining I'm sure my poor folks are wondering where they went wrong with me. Personally I prefer the company of butterflies and frogs to a picture perfect lawn any day. Kate

True, but it can alter the income levels or the living arrangements.... nothing good came from the group home cat "spirit" when the group home allowed her owner to keep cats... if they had to get de clawed, or would have caused issues then the intelligent thing to do would be just not have them in the first place. Get forms of life that cannot cause issues. By having cats in group home placement they've 1. put others in danger from cat bites- and feline zootonic ( diseases that can jump from animals to people), like rabies,blood infection, ect. Clawed cats can give these too, so no de clawing isn't wise either-only soft paws would have helped- maybe 2. Mudalated an innocent animal, and deprived it of ever living a "Normal" feline existence. Example- Cats should be able to jump from tables normally-not take special rotes because of injured toes Due to limited income of the owner or the staff the poor cat is provided a diet that is low grade and a possible risk to people in the home (someone retarded might try to eat like kitty) more likely it gave/will give the cats teeth reason to make it a further danger if it is a biter, due to dental disease caused by kibble- (true this cat bites- because of the de clawing in the first place) 4. put animal at risk for abandonment if some buddy should be/get allergic. 5. put animal at risk for injury from the outside( spirit runs outdoors and has had a back nail injury from fighting with other cats) or abuse from people (I've known ex drug/porn mag members- (playboy) that have lived in group homes/ along with people who have been in jail/ or have tried to take their own lives) 6. Goes against the very domestic nature of such a placement-Free ranging cats are seen as nuisance wildlife in most if not all states( some states even stupidly require police to shoot cats on site), they can go wild faster and easier then any of mans animals expect for maybe the pig, rat or pigeon. cats wild or tame by nature are difficult to control. Fish however, do not cause allergies,scratch furniture or people, and live in Aquariums. They do not live nearly as long either.

After teaching the Myers Briggs personality tests for many years, your personality type, PLUS life experiences and influences = who you are and how you act and react. You can take the tests on-line to see which one of the 16 personalities you are. As they say in "Please Understand Me" Character & Temperament Types - by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates - "Different drums, different drummers." Any number of diseases, conditions, surgeries (like open heart or brain surgery), chemical imbalances, chronic pain, as well as medications and any number of things, can alter or change people to a certain extent. Most people with strong personality traits (such as thinker, judger), which are sometimes misconstrued as negative, pessimistic, or cynical because they see things as black and white, with little that is gray, will mellow as they age, but you don't change them entirely. Those personality types are just as important as any other because we each bring something different to the table, so to speak.

How satisfying to you to allow him to be himself it really is! each time he does something new, he looks so proud of himself. i started jorah on raw food last thursday and he took to it like a duck to water! he can down 2# of chicken in about 45 seconds. so far, the transition has been flawless and i don't see why it won't continue that way. in another week, i will add turkey and a couple of weeks after that, pork. i'll keep adding different proteins slowly to make sure he doesn't have any reactions. let me tell you, this boy had poops the size of new jersey and to see small, well formed nuggets fall from his butt is THE BOMB!!! LOL