pet connection

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that my newborn granddaughter, Reagan, has been visiting  for the last couple of weeks. But my first experience of being a parent wasn’t Reagan, and it wasn’t even my own children.

When I was 7 years old, I became a mommy. And before you say, hey, Marty, you’re a guy and guys can’t be moms, believe me, gender is the least of the problems with me being a mommy. There were species issues here — because I was “mommy” to a lamb.

He was a tiny little orphan whose real mama had died giving birth to him. He belonged to my neighbor on our rural Idaho farm, and he’d asked my dad to come over and help with the lambing. I tagged along.

We drove home in my dad’s pickup truck with the lamb tucked into my coat. I bottle-fed him, kept him warm, and napped with him. I named him “Henry.” We played games together, and when I’d come home from school, Henry would come running with my dogs to meet me at the gate.

In fact, even when he was a full-grown ram, I tended to think of him as a wool-covered dog. I think he thought of himself that way, too. Until he died in old age, he would rub his head against my leg in affection, and follow me everywhere.

Whenever I’m asked how I decided to turn my love of animals into my career, I always tell this story in response — in fact, I did just that in the book “Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul.” Because while I don’t treat a lot of sheep these days, it was Henry who inspired me to become a veterinarian.

Happy Holidays to all of our Pet Connection friends, and “see” you next week!

Image: Not Henry, but still … pretty cute, huh?

When you were little, did you imagine having a mysterious animal who would love and protect and understand you? A horse to carry you away from your problems, a dog to guide you through the forest, a cat who was really a familiar?

In the world of fantasy books, films, and television shows, that’s very often exactly what animals turn out to be — magical beings, or at least those with mysterious powers to help and shield us.

Brent Hartinger at TheTorchOnline.com takes a look at some of fantasy’s most memorable pets, familiars and animal companions, including one of my favorites, Xena’s horse, Argo, from the television series Xena: Warrior Princess:

Xena is no ordinary warrior — so why should she have an ordinary horse? Sure enough, hers is extraordinarily intelligent, sensing danger, responding to a number of different commands, being able to command other horses, and even once enduring having been turned into a miniature version of herself. Speaking of which, is Argo male or female? While referred to as “boy” in earlier seasons, she is eventually identified as female (and was usually portrayed by a mare). The horse died during Xena and Gabrielle’s Ares-induced 25-year sleep in the ice-cave, but gave birth to a daughter, Argo II, who, remarkably, had all of Argo’s abilities.

Incidentally, did you ever wonder why Gabrielle had no horse? According to the producers speaking at a fan convention, it took three horses to make it look like Xena had one horse. For Gabrielle to have had a horse, that would have meant having six horses on hand — something that was financially impossible.

He also takes a look at Scabbers the rat and Hedwig the owl in the Harry Potter series (although of course, I prefer Padfoot the dog, played by a Scottish Deerhound), and a host of others.

Check it out here, and then tell us: Did you have a favorite fantasy character from films, television, or books who isn’t mentioned in the article? For me, it was Preciosa the hawk from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s young adult novel Hawkmistress.

Peggy Frezon is a writer whose blog I check in on from time to time, and always enjoy. She also has just about the cutest dog in the world. She came to my attention as one of the contributors to our book, “The Ultimate Dog-Lover.”

She has a thoughtful little piece on the Guideposts Web site, on being thankful for what our pets give us:

I’m thankful for the way my dog Kelly greets me at the door, as if my return is the best thing that happened to her all day.

I’m thankful for her soft reddish fur, and I’m especially thankful that she loves me every day.

Although we express our gratitude for our pets by feeding them, loving them and playing with them, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to remind ourselves just how lucky we are.

Rest the rest, and tell us what you’re thankful for about your pets.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, check out the recipe for Turkey and Cranberry Savories from Lucy Postins, the top dog and nutritionist behind The Honest Kitchen pet food company. Several of the PetConnection bloggers use Honest Kitchen, which is why I invited the company on as an advertiser, figuring they’d be a good match with our readers, too. (Lucy was also a fantastic source of “industry insider” information during the pet-food recall.) Visit  their YouTube channel.

Last year, I put together a list of classic and wonderful new books about animals — fiction as well as non-fiction — and this year, I’d like to know what Pet Connection readers think should be added to the list for 2009.

What great books about animals have you read this year? It doesn’t matter if they’re nature books or novels, children’s books or adults, about companions animals, farm animals, or wildlife.

I get deluged every year with pet books, and thre are few I read beyond the first few sentences. Only a couple this year have really jumped out at me. Have you had better luck? What treasures am I missing?

And one more question, since I’m sure none of you has anything better to do than answer me… what animal book would you like to read, but it seems no one has written yet?

Our Dr. Marty Becker will be visiting Sacramento for an event at the VCA Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center on Sunday, Oct. 18. His talk will focus on what pets do for us. He calls it “The Bond,” and there’s plenty of peer-reviewed evidence of all the ways that having pets makes our own lives better. Come find out!

Dr. Becker and PetConnection executive editor Gina Spadafori will also be signing copies of their latest best-sellers, “The Ultimate Cat-Lover” and “The Ultimate Dog-Lover.” The VCA folks will have free refreshments and tours of the facility.

The schedule:

2-3 p.m.: Tours of the VCA Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center. Free refreshments.

3-5 p.m.: Hear Dr. Becker and get your book signed. Bring your own copies of his books or buy them there.

The VCA Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center is at 9801 Old Winery Place, Sacramento 95827. Phone: 916-362-3111

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