pet connection

This may be the cutest pet moment I have ever personally experienced. I just looked out the window into Clara’s Secret Garden to see Clara and Velocity The Rabbit (VTR) snuggling together.

And Clara is lovingly and carefully grooming his ears.

Maybe VTR isn’t missing his life on the lam so much after all.

Clara’s Secret Garden is just about done. I used two window-mounted cat doors — one from the kitchen to CSG and one from CSG into the garage where the litter boxes now are — to allow for lots of roaming for Clara. Still to come: A ground-level rabbit door through the wall into a long, matted and fenced off area under the garage workbench has yet to be completed, because a handyman will have to do that — it’s beyond my abilities. The final steps outside will be some ramps, platforms and cubbyholes — all water-resistant because the area is netted above, not roofed — and some planters for rabbit- and cat-friendly greenery. (Not sure how the plants will fare, because Velocity is Voracious.)

When it’s all done, it’ll be cat- and rabbit-paradise, for about $200, mostly re-purposed items and scrap lumber. That, of course, doesn’t include the fence, which was another $500, but wasn’t really planned. (It’s the result of miscommunication between me and the fence guy.)

The window-mounted cat doors are wonderful. I got two for product testing, and they’re different enough in design to discuss.

The first is the Let Meow’t. It’s more complicated to set up and to install, although not too much so. A handier person than I am would have mastered it in a snap. The benefit: Its lockable baffled design is energy-efficient and draft-free. The downside: It’s bulky and blocks the light. I ended up using it in the garage window, where its draft-free design doesn’t really matter much, but where its light-cutting properties also don’t matter. Also: It’s more difficult to teach a cat to use it.

The second is the Windoor. It’s a basic, lockable two-way clear plastic cat flap mounted in a piece of clear plastic. Metal “wings” slide out from the sides to adjust for window fit. Took me about 15 minutes to put in, tops, and Clara figured out how to use it in about the same amount of time. I put it in the kitchen window. The benefit: Good-looking enough to have where you don’t mind seeing it, and the clear plastic lets the light through. The downside: Even with the provided insulation tape, it’s not very energy-efficient, and it’s a little drafty.

My recommendations: Consider your application. For more visible windows in moderate climates, the Windoor is perfect. Everywhere else, the Let Meow’t would be my preference. Pick your spots.

Now … a confession and an announcement.

Confession first. Clara has a secret. Or rather, I have a secret about Clara.

She’s a Siberian, a breed of forest cat from … well, Russia.

Now, aside from my Flat-Coated Retrievers — I’m involved with them because I love these guys, and because it’s a rare breed I want to help preserve with all its historical smarts and working abilities, not just as a family companion — most all my pets are adult-adopted rescues. I’m Sheltie Drew’s fourth home, and Pip came from a shelter in Modesto, Calif., with the help of German shepherd rescue. Two of the three rabbits I’ve had came from the Sacramento SPCA, and VTR was handed to me by a crying child in a Petsmart parking lot. Eddie the Caique parrot (interesting aside: The linked Web site lifted a picture of mine without asking — that’s Eddie on the bottom right) came from a reputable source recommended by my “Birds For Dummies” co-author Dr. Brian Speer, but my first parrot, Patrick the Senegal,was a sickly little guy who’d been left at the vet’s to die after his owners couldn’t afford his care. (He lived two years with me, with Dr. Speer’s help, despite all Patrick’s illnesses.) I chose Eddie because I wanted a small, relatively quiet, un-talking parrot, and I knew the bold and playful Caique would do as well as any parrot could in a multi-species household.

Obviously, my preference in a cat would be a shelter or rescue adoption, but there’s a hang-up: I’m moderately allergic, and my brother is severely so. Now, I can live with my allergies — and do, since I’m slightly allergic to the dogs and moderately allergic to the rabbit, too — but I couldn’t live without having my brother over here all the time, since he’s my best friend.

I explored the potential for less sneezing and wheezing from the Rex cat breeds, but they were just normal cats to my allergies. And then, fellow pet-care columnist Denise Flaim of Newsday wrote that some allergic people seemed to able to live happily with Siberians. Since my personal preference leaned toward big, long-haired furballs anyway, this seemed to good to be true.

The research began. I talked to veterinarians researching feline genetics, and with their help I finally found a breeder who tested the allergy levels of his cats (along with other health-related tests) and bred for good health and low allergy levels.

Clara has been here almost a year, and neither I nor my brother have once sneezed or wheezed in her presence. To me, to have a cat again and my brother not sick when he’s in my house is a dream come true.

Now, before you run off to some Internet kitty-mill site to order a Siberian from someone jumping on to the bandwagon, stop. Not all Siberians have the potential to be lower in allergy triggers and not all low-allergy Siberians will work for all allergy sufferers. You need to be careful to work with a reputable breeder who’s testing the cats for both allergy levels and the health problems (heart, in this breed) that can pop up. And you need to make sure you, personally, are not sneezing and wheezing around the breeder’s cats.

Of course once the news really gets out there, all kinds of quick-buck scumbuckets will be selling “hypoallergenic” Siberians, or cats that look like Siberians (which basically is any big, agile long-haired cat, or a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest, etc., etc.). You need to do your research, allergy-test yourself with the breeder’s cats, pass the breeder’s screening and then be willing to wait a long while. (A year on a waiting list, in my case.) If someone is going to ship you a kitten today, with nothing more than a few mouse clicks and a credit card number, you should run away as quickly as you can. Don’t support unscrupulous dirtbags who are trying to take advantage of people while adding to the surplus of adoptable cats. Just don’t do it.

But if you’re a cat-lover with mild to moderate allergies and haven’t been able to have a cat, you may — let me stress may — be able to live with a Siberian from a reputable, ethical breeder with allergy-tested lines. And the evidence on that is purely anecdotal … but I’m one of the success stories.

About that announcement? Next month another Siberian is joining the household, from the same breeder (another year on the waiting list!) He’s three weeks old now, a red tabby with white accents. I can’t wait! Cute, isn’t he?