Dogs, Cats, Rhinos & More

So now that dogs & more has committed to bringing more cat stories, we hope our readers enjoy reading those. In this issue we have Dr Sangeeta Vengsarkar enlightening us on Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease, a condition in cats that is incurable in the majority of cases, but treatable.

Did you know that there is a cat breed called the Bombay cat. Well, there is. And it doesn’t have anything to do with our beloved city. We also give you a cat person Saba Gaziyani who also happens to be a dog person! She has the most beautiful creatures surrounding her.

Aditi and Vishal Kamat, our cover people, swear by dogs and can’t have enough of them. For now, they live as a large happy family with three dogs and a hyperactive parrot. But you never know when they may adopt the next one. It will be interesting to see what the situation would be if they introduced a cat in this menagerie.

Another feature you will enjoy is the one on Dog A’Fair, our fun carnival for dogs. Set with the beautiful background of the Bombay Harbour with the cool sea breeze blowing, this is one enjoyable weekend that pet parents look forward to. The Doggie Personality Pageant is always a huge success. Likewise, this year. Judges, Harshita Narwekar and Catherine Barnes had a marvellous time, they said.

What we find rather interesting is our Other Animals pages. The world really is so blessed to have such a large variety of wild animals. It’s baffling when you shut your eyes and think of some of these; how different they look and behave and how differently they live. We have the rhino for you now. A huge beast we first saw at the Victoria Garden Zoo when we were really little. We would be perched on the high wall surrounding its large enclosure and we would call out to it, hands firmly holding the thick iron railing on the top. Fascinating. It always had a crow or a bird on its head or back. Years later we learnt they were there for the food; to pick off the insects on its thick skin.

For a great rhino experience, nothing quite like Gaida in Nepal. A small plane takes you from Kathmandu to the sanctuary over miles and miles and miles of dense forests to an airstrip with just a thatched hut and you go riding into rhino land on elephant back and watch these gentle giants peacefully nibbling on the greens. Worth going there.

Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected with the social instincts which in us would be called moral - Charles Darwin