Dogs and Cats

A Dog’s Life: Canine Heaven. With so much National Forest there’s lots of room to run and plenty of places to swim in Oak Creek.

Not much problem with fleas, ticks, or mosquitoes (the source of the nasty heart worm), but some. Foxtails (a grass seed with a curly, wire-like tail that works its way under the skin) can present a challenge for long-haired dogs at certain times of the year. My dear ol' now departed pal, Daphne, and I had quite a time with them our first month here (June '91), but she quickly figured out how to avoid them and was never bothered afterwards.

Most dog people worry about the heat. I did, too, since Great Pyrenees are cold weather mountain beasts and prone to heat stroke. It can get quite warm on summer afternoons in the sun. Daphne eventually adopted a strategy of hiding out in cool shady spots during that time of the day or just coming in doors. Even in the hottest months, though, the temperature drops into the 60s at night and the mornings are fresh and relatively crisp.

In their normal environments, Pyrenees are not swimmers. Here, however, Daphne changed her tune and delighted in taking walks to Oak Creek where she and I plunged in with abandon.   Her successor, Athena, now carries on this tradition and loves the water.

For some comic relief, go to:

Mother Goose and Grimm.

As For Cats:

Most cats in Sedona stay indoors.

The reason?

Coyotes!! With all of the open land around here, coyotes are common and unwary cats are fair game for them.

We “have” two rather unusual cats, though, who spend most of their time outdoors. “Farky” is a feral cat who adopted us and hangs out here for protection, food, and the company of “P.J.” He refuses to come inside pretty much at all.

“P.J.” goes both ways. He’s a former city cat from Houston, but he insists on being outside much of the time.

Farky was here first and, fortunately, after a period of territorial tension, they became good friends. Farky seems to have taught PJ how to avoid becoming dinner for a coyote and they've managed to dodge that fate for about four years.

So, it’s possible for cats to survive and stay healthy outdoors. It’s just not generally recommended.

Even for the indoor cat, life is pretty interesting. From a window, a cat can stay fascinated for hours with the large variety of birds, butterflies, squirrels, and even coyotes who wander by.

“In my next life, I want to come back as one of Roy dogs”
Dick Wood - Colorado Springs, CO