Kats and Dawgs

When its too cold for a walk outside, we have to turn to something different. Spent the afternoon at a pet fair. Now, my expectation was to go and see the different breeds of cats and dogs, pick up some good literature, maybe talk to a couple of vets and see what the latest food type was available for our animals. Healthy animal food, that's what i was thinking. So, we jumped into the car and drove off to the pet show. Arriving at the entry gate I spot a sign above the cashier window...parking $12.00. Twelve dollars!!, heck, i figured i was only go to be there for and hour or two at the most. $6.00 an hour, outrageous, but i was in the line-up, couldn't turn around, and besides, i really did want to see what the show had to offer. I waited in line, observing the cashier in her small booth. Something was wrong. The tape in her register had run out and there she was, while cars were stacking up, trying to figure out how to change the tape. She did glance up once to see how long her line-up was, then buried her head into the task of reloading the tape. Mission accomplished after trying for five minutes and the line started to move. Coming up to give my parking fee to her she wanted to know if i had a ticket. Ticket i wondered. You need a ticket to park here? No ticket i said. She replied it was $12.00 to park, i gave her my cash and and she handed me my ticket, which represented $2.00 off the price of getting into the pet show. A deal, already getting money off and i haven't even parked my car yet.

Now, living in the cold, you try to stay out of it as long as possible, so, we drove around the parking lot, looking for the elusive spot next to the main entrance. We call it rock star parking. If you drive around long enough, your bound to get that spot. We did!! Thank God for my discount ticket. At the booth inside, i scanned the price list looking for a seniors discount. Nope, not at this trade show, but, i had my ticket for $2.00 off. A real deal.

First stop after buying the ticket was...go to the bathroom. You can't walk around on full. You have to be empty to really enjoy your time. Inside i saw a mismash of tables, booths, and lots of people, wondering around. First booth was the reptile booth. In front a guy was standing in the crowd, a huge snake wrapped around his neck, people petting the snake. I wondered if this guy hadn't heard about a scarf. Not my type of pet for sure. Moving down, following our system of doing the perimeter then up and down the inside, we stopped at the kats. Cute things they were and some very different ones. There was the main coon tabby, which looked like a miniature lion, a Persian cat, a Sphinx cat and a rag doll cat. All adorable and I'm sure great pets.
I was looking for the dogs. I was sure there had to be some dogs, because what would a pet show be without them. There were. What struck me funny though was the number of booths that were set up by volunteer organizations seeking donations and giving information about stray animals and adoption centres for animals. These organizations occupied most of the trade fair. Made me realize there is a real need out there for someone, anyone, to open their heart and let mans best friend in.

I didn't find any vets there, wondering why not? What i did find though is a new cat litter product that is biodegradable. Its made out of barley. Let the cat do its business in this litter, scoop it up and voila, flush it down the toilet. Its clean, reasonably priced and the next time i need litter for my cats, I'll try this.

Two hours at the show was enough. It was interesting, perhaps worth the price of admission, but certainly not the price of parking, but what would you do when its too cold to go outside for a walk?