Sunday, January 27, 2013

Cats are not exterminators of wildlife

By Hobo Hudson

A recent study by some bird lovers who are also researchers claim that the species my siblings belong to are killers of wildlife. According to the bird lovers’ findings, birds and small mammals more often fall prey to street cats than to any other danger. In other word, cats roaming free are on the loose to destroy wildlife.

This is an affront to any cat and especially to all my former cat employees. I know cats can sometimes act weird and unpredictable and differ a lot from me and my fellow dogs in how they see the world and how they assert their independence, but they are not violent savages.  

While I sure had my share of aggravation with cats when they were working for me, they never gave me the impression or raised any suspicion of being killers, running wild to wipe out a part of nature. I knew that Charlene, my former squirrel entertainer—to find out about her, read my book—was concerned about some of my former employees. Without considering the circumstances, a wrongly advised and unsound strike instigated by my cat sister Blondie who is anything else but a street cat, blaming homeless cats for Charlene’s fear would be preposterous.  

In fact, one of my kitty sisters, Rocky, once took care of a baby owl that had lost its mother. At that time, Rocky was a street cat, hanging out around the home she now lives in. She protected the little owl until Dad saw it and brought it to a bird sanctuary. And Thomas, my kitty brother who used to be a street cat, always alerts Mom when there is a lizard on the porch without hurting it.

On the other hand, I heard Dad tell Mom the other day that when he was outside in the backyard working on my vegetable farm, he took a break watching the birds sitting on the rail of the sun deck digesting their feed. Suddenly, he saw a hawk flying overhead, and before he knew what happened, the hawk swung toward the rail and disappeared with a pigeon in its talons. Now, who is the killer of small birds?

I think the bird lovers should go back to the drawing board to do another research and maybe involve cat lovers in it so the results will come out more balanced.



Saturday, January 26, 2013

Calming down cats during a car ride

By Hobo Hudson

I love to take rides in the car. It’s one of my favorite pastimes, and Dad never has to worry about calming me down when I’m his passenger. Even if I end up at the vet’s office for my annual checkup, I’m not upset about the car ride because it’s only a once-a-year inconvenience.

For my kitty siblings, the situation is quite different. They only ride in the car when they have to see the vet who will poke them and stick them with a needle, and they never experience the luxury of riding in the car for fun. It’s no wonder that they get all shook-up and frightful sitting in their carrier inside the moving car.

I know how Blondie, one of my kitty sisters, hates those car rides to the vet because we both always go for our regular checkups at the same time. She meows and meows and even cries from the time we leave the house until we reach the vet’s office, and she repeats her calls of despair on the way back home. Dad said all her cat siblings act exactly in the same fashion while riding in the car.

The last time Dad took Blondie and me to the vet, he had a music disc running in his car, and I noticed that Blondie calmed down a tad listening to it. Wow, I thought, that’s great, but in my opinion, Dad’s choice of music didn’t really seem to appeal to cats. Then, it hits me. Why not play the sounds of birds singing while my cat siblings ride in the car. It would surely catch their attention and distract them from their worries and misery. I had Mom check on the Internet for music discs with nature sounds, and I selected the perfect one for my kitty siblings, and we received it in the mail several weeks ago.

Yesterday, Dad had the opportunity to test my idea on Pogo, another one of my cat sisters, who was due for her annual vet visit. It was a winner, and it turned out just as I thought it would. Dad told me that Pogo instantly calmed down inside the car hearing the birds singing, and listening to them during the ride, she didn’t say a word on the way to and from the vet’s office. 


Thursday, January 17, 2013

A girl’s lament

By Pogo

Psst. It’s me, Pogo, one of Hobo’s kitty sisters. Hobo went outside and forgot to turn his computer off, so I’m taking the opportunity to meow with you about some things going on in our household that I’m not too happy about.

After Hobo sold his business, I didn’t have any work to do and began to occupy myself with snacking. Every chance I had, I grabbed a bite to eat and even licked up the spilled crackers my other sisters left behind. Eating more and more and more and more often, I soon gained a few ounces. Mom noticed it and began to call me “hippy,” but I knew it was all in fun because my weight gain was barely noticeable.

About a year and a half ago, Hobo hired Thomas, a cute young male cat, to be his assistant, and I heard him ask Rocky, one of my sisters, who the cute chick was while looking at me. He said he could really go for me if I were about 5 pounds lighter.

His remark sure got my attention because I secretly thought he was a good looking guy. I immediately resolved to drop some weight, but dieting didn’t do the job because I didn’t have the willpower to stay away from the food bowl and the yummy treats Mom and Dad usually doled out once or twice a day.

Every time, Hobo was in the backyard, I sneaked into his office and began to search the Internet for a solution. I soon found and ordered an appetite suppressing diet drug, but it made me woozy, and I buried the rest of the pills in the potted plants on the windowsill and began my search again.

My next discovery was something called “bulimia” in which human girls pig out and then throw up in order to enjoy eating but not gain weight. I knew this would be the perfect solution for me because, after all, I like to eat and also like to throw up hairballs.

Indeed, it worked wonderfully. The ounces began to slip away, and the number on the scale rapidly fell from 14 pounds down to 9 pounds, which was the ideal weight for me. Thomas took notice and was soon curling up with me and giving me baths, and all was perfect until Hobo noticed my weight loss. I explained what I was doing, but he was concerned there might be something else wrong with me, and after he barked at Mom, I was soon in the little traveling room and sitting in the vet’s office.

The vet poked me all over and then stuck something cold in a place I didn’t really like. He remarked that I didn’t have a fever, and he wanted to take a picture of my insides and also take a blood sample to make sure nothing was wrong.

He hauled me off into a backroom and put me on the examining table. Then, he placed a big metal clip on the loose skin at the top of my neck. It made me feel safe and secure as though I were a kitten again being carried by my mother, and as I relaxed, I allowed him to do anything he wanted.

First, he made me lie down, but he rushed away from my side, and I heard a click and felt a tingle, and seconds later, I saw him looking at a picture of my innards on a computer monitor. Next, he proceeded to take about half my blood for something called a “blood test.” Then, he took the clip off my neck and carried me back to Mom and Dad and told them he couldn’t find anything wrong except for a small hairball, which I had been planning to hack up as soon as I was back in my room at home.

Before we all left the office, the vet handed Hobo a bill for over 300 kibbles, causing Hobo to snarl and bristle, and said he would call the next day when the blood test results came in. Needless to say, he called back and said everything was perfect and to keep a watch on me.

I think this serves Hobo right. It’s nice to know that Hobo loves me, but he should have taken my word and not have made me take all the tests and interfere with my and Thomas’s romance.





Sunday, January 6, 2013

Kibbles ‘n Bits review

By Hobo Hudson

The last review I wrote about Milk-Bone Trail Mix went very well with my fellow dogs. I’m still getting hits on our website, newsandtales.com, from dogs who want to find out something about the product. So, I thought it would be a good idea to write another review, this time about the dry dog food I eat daily.

I’m a Kibble ‘n Bits lover. Yes, Del Monte Foods’ Kibble ‘n Bits, the original savory beef and chicken flavor, is my favorite chow. Well, I’m exaggerating a little here. First of all, I prefer steaks. No questions about that. In general, people food appeals more to me because it has a better texture and bite to it and is just more succulent. Next, I’d rather eat dog treats than regular dog food and last but not least, I steal Blondie’s cat food whenever I can.  

Nevertheless, because Mom is constantly on my back to follow a healthy diet, I always finish my bowl of dog food to make her happy. Now, my penchant for a particular dog food becomes murky. I really used to be partial to one of Hannaford’s dog food brand which consisted of kibbles and other morsels. I don’t remember the name of it, but it was sooo good. Especially, the kibbles were out of this world. Big, long and round and with a creamy color, they tasted like buttery candy, and I always let Mom pick out a few extras to put in my bowl on top of the rest. 

Since there were already less kibbles than morsels in a bag, I constantly ran out of them before I emptied the whole bag. I finally wrote a letter to the company asking them to add more kibbles to the product. The people at headquarters sent me a nice reply about taking my request under consideration, and a few months later, I was sure I could find more kibbles among the other morsels.

However, not long thereafter, the company discontinued selling my beloved dog food, and because it resembled Kibble ‘n Bits, I switched over to it. I instantly liked Kibble ‘n Bits’ different shapes of bits and their taste and crunch. The kibbles, though, were disappointing. While I’ve gotten used to them by now, they do not compare in any way to the kibbles of Hannaford’s brand. They are too small, their color blends in with the other morsels and their flavor is ordinary.

All in all, Kibble ‘n Bits is a great product, and I like it better than some other dog food I’ve tried. Even Blondie has approved of it which says a lot since cats are very finicky eaters. My best friend, Max, always makes sure I serve him a big bowl full of Kibble ‘n Bits when he comes to visit me, and then he chomps them down with a blissful look on his face. 









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About Hobo


This was Hobo Hudson, my doggy brother, a little terrier mix with black fur. He became famous after his first attempt at writing stories, which was an article published in the newsletter of our local animal shelter, the same shelter in which I ended up years later before Hobo and his parents adopted me. Hobo’s fame quickly spread as he made a name for himself as a business dog and an adventurer. To keep his memory alive, my doggy sister, my three kitty siblings and I, Wylie Hudson, are continuing his blog. Our mom is the blog’s editor.

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