Tag Archives: Cats

At the Top Dog Gala!

On Tuesday night, I had the joy of attending the Top Dog Gala, a benefit for the Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York City. AMC saved my little gerbil’s life three times and helped him live to a ripe old age, so I love getting a chance to support such a great cause!

AMC is an incredible place. It feels like a high end human hospital more than a veterinary one.

There are departments of hematology, orthopedics, radiology, you name it. The imaging machines they use were bought from human hospitals, just a couple years old.

There’s nowhere better to take your pet. And despite the very high level of care, you’d be surprised how reasonable their prices are!

On Tuesday night, we filed into the beautiful Cipriani 42nd Street in the heart of Manhattan. I had passed the building a million times but never been inside.

It’s a beautifully converted bank with some of the teller windows still intact! I admired the massive windows and velvet curtains while munching on delicious snacks.

As the dinner was about to start, a very funny older lady came from the bar:

I’m getting a double. It’s going to be a long night with a lot of speeches.

Chuckling to myself, I sat down at a table replete with flowers and the presentation began. AMC President Kathryn Coyne introduced us to Sadie, a very special German Shepherd who saved her owner Brian’s life when he was having a stroke.

She licked Brian’s face to keep him awake after the stroke, then helped drag him to the phone to call for help. Without Sadie, Brian wouldn’t be here.

They may not be able to speak, but it’s amazing how animals touch all our lives.

We also met the canine officers of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) police! I was struck by their bravery.

Humans sign up for that job. Dogs don’t. But they do it all the same, risking their lives to keep us safe.

The Top Dog Gala made it clear how animals support us. But how can we support them?

By supporting AMC! AMC gives away a fortune in free care every year for those who cannot afford it.

But they can’t do that without our help! Please consider joining me in donating to this wonderful cause today.

The cute doggies, kitties, birds and rodents will thank you!

More on animals:

Cute Animals Online: My Top 5

The Real Groundhogs of New Jersey

When The Cat Who Supported Her Through Cancer Got Sick, Jessica Knew What She Had to Do

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CUTE ANIMALS ONLINE: MY TOP 5

As a fun thing heading into the weekend, I thought I’d share five of my favorite cute animal accounts online. I’m a big animal person, rodents especially, and really enjoy spending time with them. The next best thing is checking out adorable animal content online, and these are my favorites!

Number 5: Goodable

More than just cute animals, but some wonderful cute animal content. Check out this adorable abandoned kitten that was found and saved by some very kind people:

Number 4: My Little 4 Rodents

Wonderful Instagram account with some very cute gerbils, along with other fine rodents!

Number 3: Hummingbird Returns to Man Every Year

A man who rescued an injured hummingbird and nursed it back to health. He later let it go, but it returns every year and sits in his hand during its migration! Wonderful story.

Number 2: Chi Channel

Adorable chinchilla and degu videos! It’s all in Japanese, but even if you don’t speak the language, the cuteness translates!

Number 1: Cat saves little boy from falling from balcony!

Just do what kitty says! 🙂 What an amazing cat!

Have a great weekend everyone!

More on entertainment:

THE AWESOME VIDEO SERIES THAT’S SWEEPING JAPAN NOW

THIS IS SATRIALE’S FROM THE SOPRANOS

MY FAMILY IN JAPAN SAW ME ON TV!

Photo: “Cute Rodent” by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent) is licensed under CC BY 2.0. This is an elephant shrew.

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Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 and returns have been good so far. More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get your management fees waived for 90 days. With their 1% management fee, this could save you $250 on a $100,000 account. I will also get a fee waiver for 90-365 days, depending on what type of account you open.

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My wife and I have gotten organic produce shipped to our house by Misfits for over a year. It’s never once disappointed me. Every fruit and vegetable is super fresh and packed with flavor. I thought radishes were cold, tasteless little lumps at salad bars until I tried theirs! They’re peppery, colorful and crunchy! I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $10 on your first order. I’ll also get $10.

When The Cat Who Supported Her Through Cancer Got Sick, Jessica Knew What She Had to Do

Jessica had battled a brain tumor for a decade and was finally feeling better. Her little cat Olive had stood by her throughout her treatment, and now they were relaxing together at their house in Harlem.

One weekend, Jessica couldn’t find Olive anywhere. She went down to the basement and heard faint meowing from the corner. Olive was very sick.

Jessica grabbed Olive and rushed for a taxi. Together, they headed to the Animal Medical Center (AMC) on New York City’s Upper East Side.

Dr. Kate Crecraft of AMC found that Olive had an extremely rare condition: a piece of grass had lodged itself in the sack around her heart (the pericardium). This was causing enormous fluid buildup and a life threatening infection.

Surgeons removed the blade of grass and treated the infection. After some TLC at home from her mom Jessica, Olive is feeling as good as ever!

Jessica finally had the chance to repay the friend who stood by her through her own illness. Now they’re together, healthy, and happy.

I found out about this story in a wonderful letter I received from AMC today. I know firsthand the good work they do; they saved my pet gerbil’s life multiple times. I wouldn’t want to take a pet anywhere else.

AMC is a marvel. There are departments of hematology, radiology, neurosurgery, everything the best human hospitals would have! But it all costs money, and as a nonprofit, AMC needs support from people like us.

If you want to be a part of incredible stories like this, please donate here.

How we treat these little animals says everything about us. Let’s enable more Olives to get well! When we heal them, we also heal the humans who love them.

Killer Kittens Can Be Placated With Meat and Playtime, New Study Finds

It would be wise not to anger him.

Cats kill billions of animals yearly, but feeding them a meaty diet and providing lots of playtime can redirect them to less violent pursuits, a new study finds.

The mother of one cat in the study had seen her furry friend wreak havoc:

“We’ve had birds in the bedroom, rats in the paper bin, rabbits in the utility room, and several vermin that have died of fright,” says her owner, Lisa George from Cornwall, U.K.

But redirecting their prey drive to play, plus keeping them sated with meat, greatly reduced the body count:

the high-meat diet and playtime approaches had the most sweeping impacts, slashing all types of animals on the doorstep by 36% and 25%, respectively.

See the full study out today in Current Biology here.

A surprisingly large number of species have a prey drive. Our gerbil stalked, attacked and ate caterpillars, leaving only the legs. He also ripped the head off a cockroach and wisely left the remains for my wife to clean up rather than eating them.

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Photo: “killer kitty” by Ayeshah Ijaz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0