Growing up, my family always had both dogs and cats. (And the occassional bird, rodent, what-have-you...) But as an adult, I've only kept cats. I live alone, always lived in apartments, and have a pretty crazy schedule; work a lot of late nights, go away for a couple of days at a time, etc --not a very dog-friendly life, but the cats have always taken it well. Dogs need much more regular schedules, much more interaction, much more work than cats. I see dogs like little kids. The human is always (or should always be!) the boss, and they're always trying to follow you, nudge you. "Take me out, toss my ball, let me sit on you, let me worship you, train me, take me out, watch me defend you......" Like living with an agile two-year old -- exhausting! Cats, on the other hand, are like adults. Mine have always been very affectionate, and run to the door when I come home, but there's no need to lick me all over or jump on me. They like to play, but it doesn't always have to involve me. My Siamese will play "fetch-the-hair-fastener" until my arm falls off, but he also plays happily by himself. Or simply takes a nap. Cats don't seem to need their human to do so much. If you're rude or unpleasant to a cat, they don't fight, they just stalk off. But they don't foget it, the same way a human would. A good lesson to remain courteous! But dogs will forgive anything if you toss them some pepperoni and a peanut butter kong! (I'm not talking about abuse or injury, just being rude or unpleasant to an animal.) Since cats are not the pack creatures dogs are, I feel really honored when they shower me with affection. They don't fear me, they're not trying to up their status, they just felt like patting my face or licking my ear. Again, just my subjective opinion, but dogs always seem like they're 'sucking up'. Unfortunately, I think dogs *are* more valued than cats in this society. People like to be flattered and made to feel important, and dogs are happy to treat us like gods.

I believe I found out what was making her sick! I do have this spray that freshens the house and i just realized that everytime I spray it she gets sick. I spray it on the furniture. So i'm thinking that she might be licking it off the couch. I won't be buying it anymore. But when I give her bath after she drools, she stops and she feels much better!

Denny and I got one on our 40th Anniversary... But just recently our ggson bumped into the table it sat on, it fell off and broke into too many pieces to try to put it back together. I was sad about it, but he was so sweet...he picked up some of the pieces and brought it to me saying " I'm sorry grandma...I broke this". He could have just ignored it or tried to hide it. I'd love to have another one to replace it. It came with a note from my cousin Keith who could be with us on that day, because of health issues. The note was so special I kept it folded and tucked under one of the arms. I think she'll love it. patti

Our dog Spot would do this, but he wasn't very good at it. We would hear the cat starting to scratch on something, and say "Spot, get the cat" and he would take off running and barking, but sometimes in his exuberance to do what he was normally prohibited from doing, he'd run in the wrong direction. For instance if the cat was scratching on the rug in the dining room, and we would say "Spot, get the cat" , Spot would just as likely run into the kitchen or even the bedroom, barking like crazy.