rabbits in the morning

What better on a partly-sunny Sunday morning, when one's heart needs solace, than this pastoral work by Frederick Stuart Church? This is Girl with Rabbits, 1886. The Smithsonian American Art Museum owns it. Lucky.

Church (American, 1842-1924) served in the Union artillery during the Civil War, then moved to New York and became an artist. He provided illustrations for Harper's Weekly and produced commerical art before developing his allegorical style in the 1870's. I find it touching that he could move from the violence and terror of war to this winsome fantasy.

little dog, what do you see?

This is a detail from The Vision of St. Augustine, an oil on panel in the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice. This soulful little dog is courtesy of the Italian painter Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1460-1525/26), a member of the "Venetian school" at that time. Most of his work stays right in Venice, and he is considered a more conservative stylist rather than an innovator, so he's not as well known as others of that school. (For example, Gentile Bellini, much better known, was his teacher.)

Carpaccio's dogs, when you can find them, are often stylized, not always as specifically rendered as this little guy. But he does portray them with a gentle kindness and pity that leads me to think he must have liked dogs very much. Take a look at what's probably his best known piece, Two Ladies, and see what you think about their pets.

where's whicky whuudler?

I do like to learn a little about the folks who stop by at the Museum. So I'm pleased to have found a snippet of info about commenter Whicky Whuudler, who had already admitted he was a cat.

From a tough life to the good life!

My favorite quote: ". . . Whicky will not hesitate in giving the bitey." Would he like to meet Elizabeth, by any chance?

A little cross-cultural exploration here: I gather Whicky is a United Kingdom-type cat. If you are reading this, W.W., would you feel like telling me:
1. What are your favorite cat foods and treats called?
2. Does anybody call you a moggie?
3. What other nicknames for "kitty" do they have over there? (I knew an Italian woman who called her kitty by saying "micino, micino" -- means "kitten"?)
4. Where other than the armchair do you like to be? Do you like to sit on the newspaper? Which one do you like to sit on most?

Thanks a lot!

how did "get fuzzy" happen, anyway?

Where I live now, I don't get the paper every day. This means I can't keep up with my favorite cartoons every day - yes, I DO have some.

One of my top faves is Get Fuzzy.

I always wonder, who is this Darbey Conley guy and how did he get around to creating such a perfectly realized universe of cat/dog/single owner? Obviously he knew his cats, since he created Bucky, one of the greatest cats you love to hate and hate to love. Then there's darling Satchel, whose simple and sweet attitude to life we could all stand to borrow more often than not. (Except for the garbage eating thing.)

In 2002 PopCult Magazine sat down with Conley and asked him a bunch of this same stuff. And here's his answers.

more finch and robin: slumberland

As always, courtesy and copyright of the lovely and talented Tara Mc Dermott.

Mmm pink jellybean kitten pads!

Chinnie. And that nose could not be pinker.

Best. Sleeping kitten. Photo. Ever.

robin and finch take over the world!

(All photos courtesy and copyright Tara McDermott, you best believe.)

First one must wake up. In fact two must wake up.

Then Robin finds ducks that need surveying from his handy human-type post arrangement.

Meanwhile Finchy feasts on feathers.

I dare you to say that 3 times fast.

There's more where this came from! Later.

I think I'm in love . . .

. . . with a bunch of big, scary-looking, tattooed, cycle-riding dudes. And if you went by CuteOverload today you're probably in love too. You see, CuteO featured an article from the New York Times about a group of guys called Rescue Ink.
Working closely with law enforcement agencies in NYC and points near, they're not a gang or a pack of vigilantes. What they are is persuasive. And they would rather you not abuse your animals. Pit bull? Tiny kitten? Duck? Doesn't matter. You want not to mistreat that animal or they will find you.

Here's their website. And here's a YouTube of the guys in action.

pedro from porvoo

Porvoo is in Finland. Pedro is a big brown poodle.
Pedro splits his time between training to be a search and rescue dog, and being a sled dog.
Plus he travels. A lot. And he's very socially conscious.

Finnish dogs are cool. See here.

PS: I can't figure out what an SAR dog is. . . Can you?

jim's dog elke goes for a nice long ride

It's called The Big Dummy Project, and it's the means by which friend Jim Perkins is raising awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. "You're being kinda hard on yourself, aren'tcha, Jim?" I thought, but then I discovered the title refers to the bike model he's using.

Going on the road is he? What upstanding American hits the road without a dog?
Jim has a dog. Meet Elke.

Dislikes: shelters
Likes: Frisbees, Jim, travel

Hooray for Jim and Elke!

just for laffs (from graphjam.com)

more graph humor and song chart memes

justine osborne: paintmydog.co.uk

Fresh, insightful, modern: all these adjectives suit Justine Osborne's oil paintings of dogs. Fascinated by their varying shapes and colors, she finds them not just exercises on form but on the evoking of each loving doggy soul. Read her words upon this here. And feast your eyes here.

a cheering baby turtle post

Hi folks,

This isn't strictly a pet post per se, but what with everything going on, I couldn't help but be delighted by a story about newborn Italian sea turtles taking over a restaurant in Rome.

ROME (Reuters) - About 60 newly hatched sea turtles lost their way during their
ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead, a
conservation worker said on Monday.

So they rounded 'em up and took them down to a Calabrian beach. Tell me one thing about this story that is not adorable and lifting. I dare ya.

My brother always wanted to get to Italy...hmmm...This has his name all over it.

i'll be back soon

Well. . . I deal now with the loss of my younger brother, who passed on this past Thursday. I will be back to regular posting in a couple of days; and I thank you for your patience and your kind messages. My warmest regards to you all. - Curator

important message to my dear patrons

Dear friends and patrons of the Pet Museum,
For a few days here I won't be in a position to post.
Forgive me for sharing yet more sad news with you, but as you know I have been dealing with the grave illness of a close and beloved young family member. Things have taken a very poor turn indeed, and I do not know what the next week or so holds.

I will come back when I can, though I can't promise my posts will be too snappy for a while.

Care for your beloved ones, and hug those darling pets for me. I'll miss you till I get back. In the meantime, enjoy these lovable photos by photographer Lennette Newell, who among other subjects shoots some great cat and dog pix. (Look under "Portfolios")

Warmest wishes,

Curator

a kitten game for monday

Yes, it is Monday, and I find myself with a great need for pleasant diversion and kittens.

So I was pleased to come across this Kitten Solitaire Game, personalized by TruthPrincess with the cute mug of her very own Siberian kitten, Isabellina. (You want one with your own kitten/puppy/reticulated python? You can make one - she's given you the link.)

In case you'd like to see more of her kittens, and you know you do, here's her kitten archive. Plus a place to get some knowledge about the Siberian breed.

maggie

Friends and patrons of the Pet Museum,

Today I would like to pay tribute to a lovely little Cairn Terrier who has gone across the Rainbow Bridge. Maggie was 14 and the light of my friend Jill's life, but during this past week she began to falter, and Jill knew she had to let her go.

Here's a pageful of Maggie and her adventures. Here is Maggie and her partner in cairncrime Geordie's homepage.

Jill always wrote that if her dogs taught her one thing, it's:

"Do what you love, the muddy will follow."

Words I need to hear often. But then, Maggie always was one of the best therapists.

Please, would you send a loving thought to my friend and wish a sweet journey to Maggie?

late breaking news: adopt a seattle cat Saturday!

Got $87 and space in your home and heart for a new kitty friend? Get up to Seattle's Loyal Heights Community Center this Saturday, Aug. 9, for Seattle Animal Shelter's cat adoptathon. Noon to 3 PM.

a wonderful urban dog blog

"As I walk around San Francisco, I encounter dogs tied to things, take their pictures, and offer them up to the world with whatever commentary springs to mind. Enjoy."

So says the gentleman who writes Dogblog. And I do enjoy. Please note there's some very bad language now and again - don't say I didn't warn you. But the photos are worth the trip.

what ever happened to the owl and the pussycat?

"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy my love, what a beautiful Pussy you are, you are, you are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

You know those lines, of course! They are a snippet of song sung by Edward Lear's Owl to the beloved Pussycat, and I never fail to be moved by its simple shout of joy and love. Wouldn't you like to have someone sing about what a beautiful (insert whatever you like) you are?

Then of course they go off and have crazy mixed-up Lear type adventures, get married with a ring out of a piggy's nose, and eat with a runcible spoon (and somebody asked The Straight Dope what that was). Sounds pretty happy ever after right? But then there's the curatorial voice floating from the back middle rows. . . "And then what happened?"

As it happens, Lear was way ahead of me on that.

Our mother was the Pussy-cat, our father was the Owl,

And so we're partly little beasts and partly little fowl,

The brothers of our family have feathers and they hoot,

While all the sisters dress in fur and have long tails to boot. . .

Hooked? Thought so. The Owl and the Pussycat's kiddies, right here.

dog nurse

Did you see the late breaking story about the golden retriever nursing tiger cubs at a game park in Kansas? It's here if you haven't. Ahhh.

Dogs step in a lot to be foster mommies. A year ago in Tunisia, two tiger cubs got a nice pit bull to love and feed them. Then there were those cubs in Yugoslavia whose mother tried to eat them, but a police dog stepped in. And the older dog in Hefei China in 2005 -- you guessed it, 2 cubbies.

I could go on, but that's a lot right there. Dogs are built to love and be loved.

why not a cat butt museum?

Because I've found one. It's online here at The Cat Butt Museum, and there you may learn a thing or two about cats, their body communication, and their health in that particular regard. You recall BigCatHeads.com? That artist, Bruce Andrew McKay, is one of the driving forces at the CBM, in partnership with Kara Dahl - see something from each of them here. Don't forget to find out why cat butts. Why?

Oh and Cat Face 8 is out. Yippeee!

cats and oils: beware!

So it turns out essential oil may not actually be such a great idea in your kitty's care. Long story short, they can't metabolize and eliminate compounds they inhale with that delectable aroma. There's a well-explained page on it here at The Lavender Cat. This includes a list of therapies that you might come across which actually are no good for puddycat: "Many make the mistake of applying an essential oil dosage suitable for a human baby to a cat, thinking that, due to its small size, if it is safe enough for a baby, it must be safe for cats. Babies do not have a cat's liver!" Even if your cat IS your baby.

I couldn't help but free-associate the words "Laveder" and "Cat" and had a dreamy yen to see a cat in Provence, land of lavender... Well here's a cute one.