When I think about Turtles, I usually think of one of two things; either the rather comical little turtle floundering around in the shallow waters trying out his new found flipper skills (reminiscent of the movie, Finding Nemo’s, turtle family) or a majestic and splendid giant of the seas who casts a huge shadow on the bottom of the clear blue Bahamian water as small fish scurry away from the imposing figure above.

I quite certainly DO NOT think of some poor pathetic creature hauled up from the sea, tied by his flipper, dragged behind a boat, and thrown or dragged on his back to the side of a dusty main Nassau road...

Sometimes the most wonderful things happen right in your own home when you absolutely least expect it.

About ten days ago I came home in the evening, after the funeral of my dear friend, Mr. Vincent d’Aguilar, it had been a sad event and I was perhaps not quite as vigilant and observant as I usually am.

I went into my study, heard my little birds singing and talking busily to each other in their big Victorian wooden cage, but I didn’t spend too much time thinking about them.

Buddy!!!!    D O W N!….. Buddy!!!! No, No Buddy, Nooooooooo!!!!!

I can be heard daily with my voice, a plaintive cry, a strangled memory of what it used to be, trying to get my adolescent puppy to do what I tell him… This is quite definitely NOT the easiest age, but at the same time, it sure is cute.

Buddy still has not really learnt how to give his human proper “dog” kisses. He thrusts his sweet, square little face up to you pushing with all his might and then he licks you. He is so earnest and determined to show you his intense puppy love that it is the most endearing and comical of displays of affection....

As the warmer weather comes our way and the rainy season moves in, we need to be especially vigilant for those nasty, pesky, and fruitful fleas and ticks and other parasitic insects that like to plague our pets.

As reported in a previous article by Dr, Grant; ticks, in particular, can carry various types of very difficult to cure and debilitating diseases. Just the tick on his own can carry

Ehrlichiosis (the most common in The Bahamas), Babesiosis, Bartonellosis, Lyme's Disease and Anaplasmosis. All those diseases are difficult to control and cure...

You temporarily forgot “Godzilla Jr.” lurking within the sweet, innocent and adorable persona of your puppy or kitten curled up innocently on the floor watching you. "Watching me?" you say. No, they are sleeping!  WRONG! You are being observed and careful commando-type plans are being secretly made behind those innocent yawns and sighs.

So we got through Christmas without too many disasters (watch for Buddy’s Story next week for his latest brush with disaster) and now it’s New Year’s Eve we have to worry about. FIREWORKS !

Buddy sits there looking frightfully grown up, back straight, tail wagging, whilst he tries to contain himself and NOT jump up in a tremendously excited frenzy! Most of the time that grown-up, adult dog, veneer doesn’t last more than a few seconds and suddenly, that super sophisticated “Big” dog is replaced with a wagging, smiling (yes! Smiling) sniffing, squeaking uncontrollable mass of wiggling black puppy!

“My, Buddy, how you’ve grown!”   This is how all our friends, who visit our home, greet Buddy...

The holiday season is almost upon us and we are all going over our Christmas lists, or should be, in preparation of the Christmas rush. We all want to get that perfect gift and especially, we want to give our children something that will light up their little eyes and make them jump up and down in pure and utter joy!

So we all know that the kids have been begging for a pet: Was it a puppy, kitten, a pair of turtles or a fish, perhaps a bird, hamster, or gerbil? STOP right now!

Do you really want to have a pet, or another pet, in the house?

Sometimes when I am picking up after Buddy and Chief, I think to myself ”what a lot of work puppies are!”  As I bend down to retrieve something or other that they never should have got hold of in the first place, I am surprised with a soft nose and a huge lick. When I stand up, the two of them are sitting to attention in front of me, looking like little doggy angels. I think to myself, “Yes, they are a lot of work, but the love and happiness that they bring into this house is worth so much more than the effort that goes into caring for them and cleaning up after them” I wouldn’t have life any other way!

Buddy is now a glowing 61/2 month old Black Labrador puppy. He has all the attributes that you would expect to see in a healthy puppy...

A couple of weeks ago I told my friend Dr. Val Grant, who is Veterinary Surgeon and currently practices medicine at the Palmdale Veterinary Clinic in Nassau, Bahamas, that I wanted to do a comprehensive article on some of the medical issues facing our small animal pets.

I emailed questions to Dr. Grant, fully expecting to have to paraphrase some very medical data. Not at all, Dr. Grant emailed me the most complete and comprehensive answers I could have wished for. I have decided to publish his answers verbatim, and wish to publicly thank Dr. Grant for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to enlighten us...

On Thursday, October 4^th, churches all over the world will be celebrating St. Francis of Assisi Day. This much loved Saint was born in 1181 and died in 1226. It is truly remarkable that we are still celebrating his love of animals some 800 years after his life. It certainly goes to show what a remarkable person he must have been. I thought it would be interesting for the animal lovers if I did a little research and wrote about St. Francis.

You walk into the house and there is no music blaring, no spilt juice on the counter (sorry, I forgot to clean it up Mom!). Their bed is made, the desk is neat, and you feel EMPTY! Your child has gone away to school and the nest is empty. You look for things to do to fill your days.

Haven’t you forgotten something? Your child’s pet is waiting for some long over due attention. You miss your child but what about Spot the dog, or Fluffy the cat, Bubbles the goldfish or Smudge the guinea pig? They miss their owner / friend and don’t understand what’s happened and why they didn’t walk back through the door after school like every other day in the pet’s life...

I was going to write an article this week on how to care for your kid’s pets when they go off to (boarding) school or University, away from home. That is until a friend of mine showed me an article in a local newspaper written by their Sports Editor, on Monday, September 10^th, 2007.

At first I really couldn’t believe what I was reading and found it difficult to understand the reasoning to start a sports article by announcing that he (Mr. Sports Editor) will now (and I quote directly from his article) “ think twice before kicking the (profanity) out of a stray dog for turning over my garbage and creating an unsightly mess.”  ...

Like humans, animals have a very definite aging process and every stage of their lives brings new challenges and joys.