WHAT’S NEW IN THE CAT WORLD

WHAT’S NEW IN THE CAT WORLD

The U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007 Edition), a source for pet statistics, announced in 2007 there were nearly 82MM pet cats and 72 MM pet dogs in the US.  In 2006 the average veterinary expenditure per household for all pets was $366.  In 2006 nearly half of pet owners (49.7%) considered their pets to be family members.

A RECENT New York Times article gave examples for cat owners of a new trend to safely bring their cats outdoors, “CATIOS.”  There are photos and stories about folks who build outdoor fenced areas onto their patios and backyards to give their cats room to roam outdoors.  They range from minimal to huge areas, especially when there is more than one cat.  Sometimes owners share the space, eating out among their cats in this environment that is safe from predators.

Cat beds include the Over-the-Door Hanging Cat Bed with Portholes, cat hammocks, Kitt-In Box, and

Contemporary Cat Towers.

Here is a new contemporary design award winning litter box idea  in an attractive assortment of colors, referred to by the New York Times as the "I-POD of litter boxes."

 or a more formal corner cat litter box .

Cat trees are very popular, including the Little Lotus Cat Tree - or consider the simple alternative above.   

 New and cat-friendly and comfortable hanging bed is the soft pillowed Trapeze Hanging Cat Bed.

For those of you among the readership who want to invent or design a new product, the cat world is a good place to start as cat owners are a dedicated bunch of folks who are looking for ways to enhance the lives of their “fur-babies.”

CITY OF BOCA EYES POSSIBLE NEW $2.5MM ANNUAL INCOME THRU ANNEXATION

CITY OF BOCA EYES POSSIBLE NEW $2.5MM ANNUAL INCOME THRU ANNEXATION

A formal study of annexation of nine Boca communities is being studied in order to bring county land into the Boca city limits, yielding additional revenue because providing services to largely residential areas is less costly than the income from property taxes.  The total annexation package under study contains $1.575BB in taxable property, 2018 acres, 4,319 population, 1,720 employed people, 2,478 homes and 48 commercial properties.

The addition in 2003 of Town Center mall, Via Verde, Coach Houses at Town Place, Santa Barbara and Fairfield Court was involuntary requiring approval by referendum vote that was almost unanimously in favor.  Voluntary annexation requires communities to be contiguous to Boca Raton city land, so if some of the communities drop out, others may be required to drop out that are not linked to the city.  Voluntary annexation only requires city council approval.

The areas being studied are Boca Grove, Boca Country Club, Costco, St. Andrews, Newport Bay, Fieldbrook, Boniello Acres, Polo Fields and Le Lac.  One positive aspect is that many Boca city services are not as expensive as county utilities.  One negative aspect is that Le Lac, on the north side of Clint Moore Road between Military Trail and Jog Road, has wells and septic tanks, which the city has been trying to eliminate for years, according to a Councilwoman. 

Estimates are that the Costco-Boca Country Club segment would generate a net gain of $268,000; the communities in the northwest would have a net revenue of $1.9MM; Boca Grove would have a net revenue of $332,000.  Commercial properties are included along Clint Moore approaching Mlitary Trail and on Powerline and Glades.   Upgrades would have to be made to bring road medians up to city standards, with an expense of $400,000 a year.

This proposal was a result of inquiries from St. Andrew’s Country Club and Boca Grove.

VOTE TO HELP !

PLEASE VOTE and help the 

BENGAL CAT RESCUE GROUP

Get a grant to help them enlarge 

the wonderful work they do
to find "forever homes"

for unfortunate pets 

who have been abandoned

And cannot help themselves.

Bengal Cats have baby Asian Leopards

some generations back

are very tame from F4 (4th generation) on

and fun, faithful, loving and SMART.

Some have spots, some have rosettes on their backs.

THINK YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE?

Enjoy the wonders of  this creation.

 

Amazing Tiny Apartment...very interesting... 

A Hong-Kong architect designed a 344 sq. ft. apartment that can change into

24 different rooms, all by just sliding panels and walls. This is worth watching.

 

  http://www.wservernews.com/3AQOO8/100503-Tiny-Apartment

HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE PALM BEACH ZOO LATELY?

HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE PALM BEACH ZOO LATELY?

• Oz is a Kaola who loves fresh Eucalyptus and requires six varieties for his diet, which the zoo has acquired.  The Zoo was approached to become a new facility for management and breeding of Queensland koalas, requiring staff training and construction of the new naturalistic habitat for koalas at the zoo costing over $100,000.  More construction is underway to accommodate these animals. 

• A newly constructed habitat for Wallabies allows you to watch for the baby joeys peeking out from mom’s pouch.  You can get wonderfully close views.

• Wings Over Water is an interactive daily show featuring 20 trained majestic and sometimes comical birds – 11 am daily and also 2 pm on weekends.
• There are two new otter pups to ewwww and ahhhh over.
• Howl along with New Guinea Singing Dogs, Mic and Sydney, who star in the Wild Things Show at 1 pm weekdays and 12 pm weekends.

The Zoo offers more than 60 animal enrichment and encounters weekly with additional special events every month on Friday nights, 5:30-8pm during June and August, come over for Safari Nights with live entertainment, nature workshops, children’s games, interactive wildlife shows, up-close animal encounters and complementary carousel rides.  Winter in July brings snow to the zoo July 10-11.

See the Zoo’s state-of-the-art animal care complex.  The Zoo also has green certification and has received Green Nonprofit Certification and is a “Going Green” Sustainability Leader.

Location is Dreher Park in West Palm Beach where there are over 1400 animals within 23 lush tropical acres.  Stop by and have a wonderful day.

HOW TO HELP SELL YOUR HOUSE...

STAGING YOUR HOME BRINGS A FASTER SALE AND MORE DOLLARS

Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes to sell your house quickly and for the highest possible price.  You may soon be a buyer yourself, so you must think like a buyer! 

1.      De-clutter.  Put yourself in the Buyers shoes… clutter in a house will distract buyers from seeing what the house would look like with their furnishings in it.  Keep in mind that they don’t care about YOUR COLLECTIONS, they want to see how large the rooms are, including volume ceilings, what the views are, and how they will be happy living in this property.

2.      De-Personalize.  You are selling your house, not your family.  Pack up ALL FAMILY PICTURES as they will distract buyers from looking at the spaciousness of your home.  Your family pictures are a distraction.  Start packing now, it will save you time later.

3.      Deep clean.  House must be immaculate.  Take everything off kitchen counters (EVERYTHING!) and pack it up or put it away.  New cabinet knobs can make a difference in appeal too.  Get rid of ALL PILES OF PAPERS, newspapers and other paperwork.  Put it in a drawer where it won’t be seen.  Make sure floors shine, carpets are vacuumed, windows are sparkling and floorboards are wiped clean.  Remove carpet stains.  If you have pets, get rid of pet odors… that is a huge turnoff… and keep pets out of the house when buyers are looking.

4.      Lighten and brighten.  Keep all lights on when showing to give a warm welcoming feeling, particularly on dark or rainy days.  If your home has neutral backgrounds, all to the good, but add small splashes of color with throw pillows and real flowers or blooming plants.  Artwork can add color as well.  Remove any damaged furniture as buyers will think, “If they don’t take care of their furniture, do they take care of maintaining the home?”

5.      Keep traditional rooms traditional.  If your dining room is not set up as a dining room, buyers may think there IS NO DINING ROOM IN THE HOUSE.  Set it up like a dining room.   If you have an office in the house, have a sofa bed in there and show that it can be a bedroom instead or an office/guest room and KEEP YOUR DESK UNCLUTTERED.  Position furniture NOT TO GET IN THE WAY of the buyer seeing a spacious room.  Remove furniture if necessary: MINIMAL is the name of the game.

6.      Curb appeal.  NO CLUTTER on the exterior property.  Have trees pruned, add colorful plants, perhaps have a splash of color at the front door.  Be sure front door is cleaned and painted, and every day sweep away any leaves on the steps and path to the front door.

7.      Patio.  Every day sweep off leaves.  Position furniture so buyers can envision how they will use the patio.  No litter boxes or pet toys should be in sight.  Move them when you are having a showing; put them back afterwards.  Big turnoff to buyers.

WHAT IS BP DOING RE THE OIL SPILL?

Here is a good illustration of the methods being used to stop the flow of oil from the well.  It runs about 13 minutes, well worth watching to understand what is happening right now.