http://www.pawnation.com/2010/07/28/10-human-foods-dogs-can-eat/

If you don’t want pets in your apartment building or in the elevator with you, don’t move into a PET-FRIENDLY building.  Pet-friendly means that pets are allowed in the building, in the elevator and in the lobby.  Pet owners take on the responsibility of finding an apartment building that is pet-friendly.  If you are pet-UNfriendly and don’t want pets anywhere near you, do yourself and everyone else a favor by moving into a building that does not allow pets.  There are plenty of them!  Can you tell that I am bothered?  There are a couple of residents in my building who stare at me with a look of complete disgust when I walk in the lobby or into the elevator with my dog.  He doesn’t jump, smell, make noise or even come close to touching anyone.  But I get a look like I am doing something absolutely wrong.  Of course, there are elevator courtesy “rules” that apply with pets the same way they apply with people.  If it’s crowded, I pick him up or take the service elevator, and if it’s a very big dog, it may be wise to always take the service elevator.  However, I feel strongly that I should not be made to feel uncomfortable by having my pet in a pet-friendly building.  The bottom line is that the people who have a problem with pets in my building moved into the wrong building!  Every time I get one of the looks I have the urge to say something, but I have yet to build up the courage to engage in confrontation.  The elevator rides are just too short.  So if any of you pet-unfriendly people out there are reading this, and you happen to live in a pet-friendly building, stop giving the looks… or maybe think about moving out…because I and my pet and all of the other pets in the building are here to stay.

-Hali Katz

I’m due in September with our first child and I know that having a child will be like nothing I have ever experienced before. I know that one can never be fully prepared for the changes that happen in your life after having a baby.  However, although I get laughed at when I say this sometimes, I do believe that owning a dog has prepared me for having a baby in a lot of ways, and I am hopeful that it has been somewhat of a stepping stone toward raising my first baby.  Let’s start with the basics.  We can never go away without first figuring out who will watch the dog and making sure that he will be well-cared for.  Not to mention that the grandparents are usually our first choice for this.  We need to make sure he is fed on schedule and that his eating patterns remain normal.  We clean up after him when he goes to the bathroom. And of course, we take him to the doctor when he doesn’t feel well.  At a higher level, owning a pet trains you to be selfless in a way that you have to be when you have a baby.  We wake up early to walk him.  We adjust our schedule often to minimize his anxiety.  We make sure financially that we can take care of all of his needs.  And most importantly, we do everything for him that he can’t do on his own and make his happiness a high priority.  He is a dog, but he is certainly our baby in a lot of ways.  He has taught us so much about taking care of another living thing and has been the ultimate example of providing unconditional love.  I have no doubt that the experience of taking care of my dog has prepared me (even if only a little bit) for life as a parent.

- Hali Katz

Everyone thinks that having a cat as a pet is easy as 1-2-3, that cats can just stay at home alone for days at a time and will take care of themselves.  In my experience, this is not so.  Although cats don’t require a walk around the block and high energy playing, it is more than throwing dry food in a bowl and cleaning a litter box every day.  Kitten personalities run the gamut – some require constant human interaction, others avoid human interaction like the plague and the rest are somewhere in between – and kitten care should be tailored to each kitten’s individuality.   My kittens, Finn and Texas, fall on both ends of the spectrum – Finn follows me around like a dog and is always getting underfoot, while Texas lives his life running from hiding place to hiding place, avoiding me and anything else that makes him nervous.   They are like night and day (literally – Texas is black with green eyes and Finn is white with blue eyes).

Finn and Texas have made my life so much more enjoyable and interesting; unfortunately, my life is pretty hectic and requires a good amount of weekend traveling.  Within weeks of Finn and Texas coming home with me, I had to leave town for the weekend and I was really nervous about leaving the kittens for the first time.  I knew I had to find a cat sitter that I could trust with my kittens, someone that would get to know them and their unique personalities.  Before that trip, I reached out to a local pet sitting company and they sent a woman named Diane over to meet the kittens (and me, but I was an afterthought).  She instantly fell in love with Finn (upon seeing him, she told me to quit my legal job and put Finn in show business!) and became determined to make Texas comfortable in his new home and with her.  I’ve never met anyone that cared for cats more – she is always thrilled at the prospect of a weekend of cat sitting, so much so that I pay her for 30 minutes and she often spends over 2 hours playing and cuddling with Finn and speaking softly to Texas.   She will also send me long e-mails while I’m gone, so I am caught up on the goings-on around the apartment and with the kittens.  Knowing that Diane is home taking care of the kittens – both meeting Finn’s need of constant attention and attempting to make Texas comfortable enough to poke his head out and even eat – makes my weekends away that much more relaxing.

-Jessica Straley