A worker at Wellington's SPCA says the music played by RNZ Concert provides "calming soundscape for rescued animals". Photo: Unsplash
Is your cat trying to tell you something? Quite probably, researchers say, but you might not be paying enough attention to understand what they mean.
A study has found cats use their ears, gaze and paws to point to what they are trying to communicate, Massey University sociolinguist and self-declared cat person Dr Julia de Bres says.
It is not good to treat dogs as if they're human, a pet expert says. Photo: Karsten Winegeart / Unsplash
The rise of the pampered petriarchy
Do you treat your pet like a person? Then you're setting yourself - and them - up for failure, a pet expert says.
"Believing you are making your dog happy by buying every treat under the sun and having them sleep on your bed is treating them as a human, which they definitely are not," says Matamata-based dog behaviourist and author Selina McIntyre.
Experts say there are ways to cut back on the costs of owning a pet. Photo: James Barker /Unsplash
Keeping a lid on pet expenses
Man's best friend is starting to look a little expensive, but it doesn't have to be that way.
The rising cost of living has hit pet ownership, amongst everything else, and animal shelters report more people giving up their animals because they can't afford to keep them.
But experts say there were ways to minimise the costs of owning pets.
Photo: Eleanor Black
Goodbye Scout, you were the best boy
With owning a pet eventually comes grief. Eleanor Black wrote about her experience of grief after the loss of her dog Scout.
But be warned, it's a tear jerker. Here's a snippet.
"I have always been a dog person, but for the past 15 years I have specifically been a Scout person. He was a mini-schnauzer/Jack Russell combo - a chatty, bearded little gentleman who loved swimming, chin scratches, children of all ages and dinner at 5pm sharp.
"When he died a few weeks ago, I felt utterly unmoored. If you don't share your life with a dog this possibly sounds melodramatic and embarrassing; otherwise you understand completely and dread the day your own dog dies."
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Cats prefer... RNZ Concert
Does your dog roll over when it hears Beethoven? Does your cat purr when it hears Puccini? Then it's in good company.
RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump, presenter of Three to Seven, has discovered some very discerning Concert listeners at Wellington's SPCA shelter.
It's a calming soundscape for rescued animals, many of whom are frightened of humans as well as their fellow animal refugees, says Mt Victoria team leader in charge of felines and small animals Josh Eastwood.
Fanta the pet possum. Photo: Gaby Bailey
Pests or pets?
A small number of dedicated possum lovers have invited the marsupials into their homes and their hearts.
But how exactly does one end up with a pet possum? Gaby Bailey's possum Fanta was a surprise arrival.
"Someone ended up picking him up for their dog and realised he was still alive, so handed him over to me and he's been my best buddy ever since.
"A lot of people find them already on their dead mothers on the side of the road, or that have been shot by hunters.
"Most people will get a possum that way and raise it."
Photo: Supplied / A Rats Tail
Perhaps one of the most misunderstood pets is the rat.
Belinda Clarke says while people tend to think they're vicious or disgusting animals, actually, they're really rather sweet. She has over 100 in her home.
"They're essentially like small puppies."
Billy Barton is allowed to keep a maximum of three neutered ferrets which he uses in his pest control work Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Billy Barton quite likes his nickname. "They call me the Ferret Man in town."
He has three ferrets, though they're not so much pets as they are workmates. He takes care of them in exchange for hunting rabbits as part of his pest control team. Ferrets are actually banned as pets in Aotearoa, Barton is allowed them under strict conditions.
Barton hails from Wales which he represented in rabbiting field sports, spending winter weekends at trials with his ferrets and his dogs.