There was this gray-brown thing that seemed to stay permanently under cars in the parking lot.  I first saw it after feeding the alley cats in a nearby building construction.  It slowly went out from under the car, looked up and assessed me, and rubbed its head against my leg. This isn’t an alley cat, I [...]

A page devoted to cats and dogs in the Monday issues of a UAE broadsheet has a column by a veterinarian who gives advice on pet care, mostly by answering questions sent by readers, including how to make a scared dog get into a car. There are two pet welfare organizations in the UAE, K9 Friends [...]

The first thing I want to do in Dubai is to make a courtesy call to the consulate dog, and then to a camel, I declared to the husband. The consulate dog is now being taken care of by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, he had said.  As for the camel, an out-of-town trip is needed [...]

It was cruel to be awakened with a start at 2:30 a.m. when one had hit the sack at 1:00 a.m.  The head is groggy, the pulse is frenzied.  I can’t blame my cats, though.  What issues they had which they decided to settle with catfights terrible enough to awaken me must be issues of [...]

Unexpected happy returns The returns are immeasurable in terms of money.  Just as money cannot buy the wag of a dog’s tail, so could it not buy the reassuring magic of cats whose personalities (or catnalities and dognalities, as our father used to say) are as enjoyable, interesting and as varied as they come. Take Rexit.  Imperious, [...]

Going straight to battle Time came when I had gathered strength to solve the condo’s problem of keeping cats by facing it head-on.  I went straight to management to tell the truth.  They are just passing through; we are bringing them to Cebu and we will see to it that they do not disturb anyone, I [...]

Solutions, solutions When I could no longer bear feeling like a fugitive, I told the husband one day that I just have to learn to let go.  We can take Rexit to that cat shelter in Quezon City that I have read about, find that shelter somehow.  She would become anonymous, fade in like those hundreds [...]

In the beginning was a kitten Rexit is our first feline beauty.  I found her when we were still reeling with relocation adjustments.  She was weak, was shivering with cold and hunger, had a gaping wound in her neck and, to my horror, judging from her labored breathing and swollen watery eyes, was suffering from feline-deadly [...]