Easter lilies are deadly to cats

Easter lilies are deadly to cats

7 drool-worthy designer doghouses

These digs are fit for a King, Princess, Duchess, Duke, Lady ... you get the idea.

By Matt HickmanThu, Feb 09 2012 at 5:53 PM EST

Photo: Best Friend's Home

After taking a good look at the competition showing at the 2011 Barkitecture doghouse design-off in Austin, Texas, we got around to thinking: What other doggy domiciles out there give new meaning to the phrase “creature comforts?”

Turns out, there are plenty. From tricked-out canine crash pads costing a quarter of a million dollars to eco-friendly backyard kennels with presidential pedigrees to celebrity-owned menagerie manses, the designer doghouse trend is apparently here to “stay” despite the trying economic climate. Sure, a couple of these featured doghouses cost more than the average American home (!) while others were built for significantly less using reclaimed/recycled materials and plenty of architectural flair.

Whatever you do, don’t let your own pooch get a glimpse of this article. Otherwise, you’ll have Princess Fluffybutt begging you not for a bacon-flavored treat but for a bespoke English cottage complete with central air and a plasma TV playing “Petkeeping with Marc Morrone” on a continuous loop. And you certainly wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?

The minimalist Zen retreat

The big winner at the previously mentioned Barkitecture 2011 was somewhat of a doozy: Cube House, a modernist backyard pooch pied-á-terre complete with a rooftop Zen garden. In the case of this curious-looking kennel, banishment to the doghouse isn’t a form of punishment but a chance for Fido to focus on deep contemplation, relaxation and perhaps some stretching exercises.

Created by Austin-based sustainable building firm Spring Builders in collaboration with none other than the Dog Whisperer himself, Cesar Millan, Cube House and the other Barkitecture entrants were up for grabs via silent auction (bids started at $250) with proceeds benefiting local animal rescue groups. (No offense to Cesar but our favorite design, paws down, was the positively handsome Hound Hacienda from VII Custom Homes.)

The Pacific Northwest green contemporary

Matthew Coates, principle of Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based sustainable architecture firm Coates Design Architects, is used to catering to the unique needs and wants of his eco-minded clients. But Coates took on a whole new, ahem, breed of client, this one decidedly more kibble-minded, for a 2011 project dubbed “Eco-Doghouse.”

Designed for Coates’ very own beloved Great Dane, Henri, features of the PHC Construction-built home include FSC-certified siding, thermal heated concrete floors, materials salvaged form construction sites, and various nontoxic products as to avoid “doggie asthma, dermatitis, allergies, skin infections, or other health issues that may generate from utilizing toxic products.” And of course, there’s Chez Henri’s beautiful green roof and an oversized window that gives its oversized resident a full view of the desk belonging to his “favorite person on earth:” Daddy Coates.

The hound dog hacienda

Although custom-designed for a very pampered pooch belonging to swimsuit model/reality TV mainstay/the former Mrs. Rod Stewart, Rachel Hunter, Beyond the Crate’s Hacienda Dog House can be yours, too … to the tune of $30,000 and up.

Featuring running water, heat, air conditioning and lighting, the Hacienda Dog House is just one of the several architectural styles available as part of Beyond the Crate’s fabulously fetching, bank account-busting Celebrity Dog Mansions series (the Hacienda is actually a canine-sized replica of Hunter’s own California home). So if Spanish-style dwellings aren’t exactly Fido’s architectural bowl of tap water, there’s always French chateaus, Swiss chalets and English cottages.

The historically accurate antebellum manor

If your beloved sheepdog Scarlett howls every time that “Gone With the Wind” — or “Designing Women” — comes on TV, perhaps it’s high time you consider investing in The Alabama (top photo), German doghouse design firm Best Friend’s Home’s ode to stately Southern manors. Boasting lattice windows, real shingles and a pair of imposing pillars, this €2,900 (about $3,800) kennel is both weather-resistant (it’s made from durable varnished wood) and historically accurate (the designers based it on a real historical model).

If Disney films or Bauhaus architecture better match your pooch’s personality, Best Friend’s Home also offers the turreted Fairytale and the uber-modern Cubix (right). Or there’s the downright adorable Lönneberga, a cozy-looking doghouse based on traditional Swedish farmhouses.

The green-roofed Greek Revival

Heads were turning and tails were wagging in 2009 when landscape designer Stephanie Rubin of Los Angeles-based Sustainable Pet Design revealed Summa Canum (Latin for “Top Dog”), a bespoke, plant-topped kennel designed as a gift for the world’s most famous Portuguese water dog: Bo Obama.

A D.C.-centric riff on Rubin’s line of eco-friendly Greenrrroof Animal Homes, the Greek Rival-inspired Summa Canum was designed “not only to provide an appropriately sustainable and stylish home for the new leader of the free canine world, but to introduce eco-friendly practices and materials to the American people.” In addition to the flora-filled roof and the use of zero-VOC paints and finishes, Rubin’s canine creation incorporates reclaimed materials with a distinct presidential pedigree: The wood used to construct the structure came from felled aromatic Tennessee cedar trees reclaimed by EarthSource Forest Products from Andrew Jackson’s estate, the Hermitage. And get this: Summa Canum was delivered to the White House by none other than Neil Young in his LincVolt, a hybrid electric 1959 Lincoln Continental.

The egregiously deluxe pooch palace

There are doghouses. And then there are dog palaces. This is exactly what a Great Dane-owning “lady surgeon” erected adjacent to her home in Gloucestershire, U.K., in 2008: a £250,000 (about $400,000) 2-bedroom pooch palace built from zinc, limestone and glass and outfitted with a 52-inch plasma TV; sheepskin-lined, temperature-controlled daybeds; a £150,000 (about $235,000) sound system; an 18-inch spa tub; self-cleaning food and water bowls; and a spacious outdoor play area. And let us not forget the high-tech retina scan entry system that prevents canine interlopers from this deluxe doggy domicile that just happens to be designed by renowned Brit architect Andy Ramus.

A representative for Lower Mill Estate, the swank waterfront enclave where the canine compound was built, tells The Daily Mail: “This is the first animal request we've had. People can design their own homes and this is a bit eccentric but it's really nice that someone appreciates their pets as much as this lady does. She's designed their quarters with all their needs at the fore.”

The Beverly Hills chihuahua villa

Animal-hoarding socialite Paris Hilton is no stranger to causing a pink-colored commotion and that she did when, in 2009, she unveiled a $325,000 poolside palace for her pack of pampered pets including Tinkerbell, Marilyn Monroe, Prince Baby, Harajuku, Dolce and Prada. With interiors overseen by designer Faye Resnick (who you may remember frommemorable appearances on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and in, umm, Playboy magazine), features of the 300-square-foot, bi-level doggy digs include central air, a black crystal chandelier, a clay tile roof, a spiral staircase, miniature Philippe Starck furniture, ample closet space and, of course, pink o’ plenty.

Said Hilton in a 2009 Life & Style photo spread detailing the “Mini Doggie Mansion:” “They love lying on the balcony, playing in their backyard and hanging out on their living room furniture. They appreciate the house that Mommy built for them.”

So, do you have a custom built dog house for your canine family member?

Avon, Mary Kay, Estée Lauder Paying for Tests on Animals | PETA.org

Avon, Mary Kay, Estée Lauder Paying for Tests on Animals | PETA.org

Valentine’s Day Tips for Pet Owners

Valentine’s Day Tips for Pet Owners

PSI Offers Valentine’s Day Tips for Pet Owners

February 7, 2012

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and love is definitely in the air, but so is potential danger for your pets. Pet Sitters International (PSI) offers pet owners a few hints to keep pets safe this Valentine’s Day.

Two of the most common Valentine’s Day gifts, chocolate and flowers, can be extremely hazardous to pets.

Last year, The American Society for the Protection Against Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) saw a 74 percent increase in cases of chocolate ingestion in the week before Valentine’s Day.

Animals are particularly sensitive to theobromine and caffeine, two ingredients in chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is to your pets. Be sure to paw-proof all Valentine’s chocolate.

Many pet owners don’t realize that all members of the Lily family are extremely poisonous to cats. This is not a clever ploy by florists to sell more roses. Be sure any Valentine’s bouquets are lily-less.

These measures should keep your furry valentine feeling just fine. If your pet does ingest anything harmful, call your vet or a local emergency animal hospital immediately.

Do you treat your pets like kids?

Are Americans crazy for treating our pets like kids?

By Sharon L. Peters, Special for USA TODAY

The shopping frenzy has begun. Sweaters, toys and cushy new beds all for “other family members, the pets.

The season of giving inevitably prompts pet lovers (53% of dog owners and 38% of cat owners) to gift their animals, often lavishly, says a survey by the American Pet Products Association.

It also prompts the question: Is there something, well, weird about that?

According to a Kelton Research survey commissioned by Milo's Kitchen pet treats:

•81% regard their pets as full members of the family.

•58% call themselves their pets' "mommy" or "daddy."

•77% buy pets birthday gifts.

•More than half say they talk about pets more than politics or sex.

Well, grinches, here's what mental health professionals have to say about all this pet-loving goofiness: The blatant puppy love much of America is displaying does not spell the end of society as we know it, and the pet-obsessed are not pathetically off-kilter humans in need of intense therapy.  "What's the harm?" says Stanley Coren, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia and a Psychology Today columnist on human-pet interactions. "Someone may go spend $20 on a rhinestone collar. That's pretty much the worst that will happen."

"Most people recognize, whatever endearments they use or actions they might take, that their pets are not furry humans," he concludes. But emotionally healthy humans have the "need to nurture," and pets are the perfect recipient. They return the favor of all the love, care and baby talk with their innate ability, proven in scientific studies, to reduce stress, speed healing, and improve humans' fitness and social-interaction levels.

It must further be noted, Coren says, that people's relationships with their pets generally have none of the "conflict that probably exists" in their relationships with humans. "Who can't use more of that sometimes?" he adds.

Although many think treating pets as family is brand new, it's centuries old, Coren says. In the 1700s, Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, was deeply devoted to his dogs, and when his greyhound Biche died, he wrote wrenchingly of his heartache: "It is best to be too sensitive than too hard." Playwright Eugene O'Neill didn't get along with his kids but adored his Dalmation Blemie, who had an Hermes raincoat and a four-poster bed. In Julius Caesar's time, women toting small bejeweled dogs about Rome was quite the rage.

"We tend as a society to be very contemporary-centric," believing the current population has invented every pattern of thought and deed, Coren says. The way he sees it, this magnificent obsession "is not a sea change, it's merely a trend."

Treating pets like family is "especially pervasive … among empty nesters, singles and/or childless, and the homebound," says Waco, Texas, psychologist Julia Becker. Those groups are growing because we're living longer, and also because so many people aren't having children. Her feeling about pet obsessions: "It's fun for the people who do it. There's nothing wrong with it."

Lexington, Ky., teacher Susan Sallee is unapologetic about her affection for her basset hound, Gerdi. She threw a party for Gerdi's first birthday in January, sends her to doggie daycare when she works late, and displays puppy photos at work. "Some people may think that's ridiculous," she says with the lack of defensiveness of a person confident in her choices. Athough Sallee has a rich, full life, she's warmed by Gerdi's presence. She'll gift her at Christmas — probably new squeaky toys, gourmet holiday doggie cookies and possibly a new bed.  "It's my responsibility," Sallee says, "to give her a good life." And if what Gerdi has is beyond merely a "good life," Sallee sees that as tit for tat. "Gerdi gives so very much."

Adopt a Pet :: Solo - Virginia Beach, VA - Munchkin

Please consider if Solo may be perfect for your family. He is such a sweetheart! He was supposed to be adopted last week but the potential adopter never came to pick him up. He would be a loving companion for the New Year!

Adopt a Pet :: Solo - Virginia Beach, VA - Munchkin

Christmas Safety For Your Pets

Because our pets are some of our favorite—if not absolutely our favorite—things, we want to emphasize the importance of being especially careful about them during the winter holiday season. During this busy time little things like keeping the kitten away from the tinsel may slip our minds. At the same time, we covertly slip Aunt Yetta’s fruitcake to the dog, not realizing that the raisins in it may make him ill. Like so many publications online and off, we wish your pets a safe Christmas with the following caveats:

Gift Wrap and Other Christmas Clutter

• Dogs knock them over and cats climb them, so make the tree as inaccessible as possible, and keep decorations and ornaments, especially the fragile ones, on the high branches.
• Keep all tinsel and the ribbon from gift packages away from your pet at all times. These things can get stuck in the intestine, and surgery will be necessary. And tinsel and ribbon are—well, catnip to cats.
• Candles are especially dangerous near animals. Don’t light them anywhere near where your pet will be.
• Mistletoe, poinsettia, holly, lilies, garlands—not vegetables. In fact, they’re horribly toxic to pets. Keep them out of reach as well.
• Exposed electric cords can cause electrocution or burns. (Remember that God-awful scene from Christmas Vacation? I know that we’re not the only ones who didn’t think it was funny, and it can happen.) Especially keep the pet rabbits, hamsters and all things great, small and chew happy away from them.

It’s Their Holiday, Too


We find this hard to believe, but not everyone thinks that pets are members of the family. Less unbelievable is that pets don’t like all your friends, either. If there’s a crowd at the house, make sure your cat or dog has a room to cower in or a bed to curl up underneath. Keep the litter box as private as you would your own. Check on your pet from time to time during the event and tell them that it’s all right, that you love them, and the interlopers will be gone in a matter of hours.


Do not feed pets from the table.

• Bones from fowl can splinter and stick in your pets intestinal tract. Don’t feed any to your pet.
• Leftovers that have been sitting out may have spoiled and can make your pet ill. Toss everything in the disposal or the compost pile.
• Keep all alcoholic drinks, especially sweet and creamy ones like eggnog, completely out of reach of animals.

There are a number of foods toxic to pets
;Chocolate is widely known to be toxic to dogs, and such foods as grapes, raisins, onions and walnuts are also poison to their systems. If your pet vomits or seems otherwise ill after a party or on the next day, get him or her to a vet.

If you reaaaally feel your pet deserves a special holiday meal, because after all, they can read the calendar, there are always the treats specialty Pet Stores in town.

Travels with Any Furry Friend


If you’re going to be away, make special arrangements for your pet and include instructions for feeding, socializing and medication (if any). Leaving pets at home with a sitter who can come in is often preferable to boarding, especially for cats.
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Make sure pets wear proper identification, and get them
micro chipped.

If your travel plans include your pet, there are plenty of pet-friendly campgrounds and hotels available. You also may be lucky enough to be staying with a friend or family member who’s just as nuts as you are regarding animals. Again, be sure your pet wears ID, and a microchip is mandatory. Locate a vet in the area where you’ll be staying, or have someone recommend one.

Your dog may enjoy the wind in his or her ears, but restrain him or her on long road trips to prevent driver distraction and for safety’s sake. You’ll be in an area unfamiliar to both of you.

If traveling by airplane, check the flights to see if you can bring your pet in a carrier in the cabin and not in cargo. It’s one thing to lose your baggage, but having your pet disappear is tragic. Again, see your vet for a tranquilizer, if necessary, and any other necessary medications.

In all cases, provide plenty of food and water, and toys and treats, too!

Ultimate Safety Tip

Pets are not gifts, so don’t surprise anyone with one. Shelters and rescues are full of good intentions gone awry. However, if you know anyone planning to adopt a pet, or if you have promised one to someone in your family, you can make a special “critter coupon” on which you promise to accompany the prospective parent to one a localrescue such as Hope For Life Rescue in Virginia Beach.  www.hopeforliferescue.com

Credit: Long Beach Post, Judy & Kate