Ani-mail Post@ Animal Designs May 2005
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1. What's New
2. Pet Journals
3. Featured Item
4. Animals Laugh Too
5. Drawing and Fun Stuff
6. Comments-Questions-Suggestions
7. How to Unsubscribe

"WISHING YOU THE BEST MOTHER'S DAY"

1) WHAT'S NEW
Looking for a unique or unusual gift? Call, using our toll-free
number 1-866-468-1739 to get some great ideas. That special someone
will be happy you did. To visit us online, stop by
www.animaldesigns.com

2) PET JOURNALS
Our two year old black cat, Otie, has discovered the bathtub. For two
years, he's lounged on the toilet carefully observing my husband and
me taking baths, but other than sniffing the water a few times, he's
never made a move toward the tub. This week, after studying the tub
all that time, he suddenly
figured out what it's for -- it's for tail-chasing! Each morning
after we drain the tub, the cast iron stays toasty warm, so Otie has
taken to playing in it. Otie's a big heavy cat with a 14 inch tail,
solid muscle. And very fast. Last week we heard scuffling in the
bathroom and when we hurried in, we found him tumbling around in the
tub. He starts with a grand LEAP into the tub. Once in, he gets a
running start by scrubbing out on the bottom and then GRABS his tail
and slides up and down the sides of the tub while still running in
circles. Whatever you are imagining in your mind, play it at double
speed and it probably looks like the whirling wild fur show we see.
After a half dozen tail rolls he does patty-cake. He puts his paws
up on the sides and digs as fast as he can, really really fast. For a
full minute, like punching bag practice time. Then he chases his
tail again. This can go on for a nonstop 20 minutes as he gets
dizzier and dizzier, falls down, gets up, chases, slides down the
side, dives between his legs to chase his tail in the OTHER direction
(top to bottom), and then hammers the sides of the tub with his pat-a-
cakes again. Whenever any one goes into the bathroom through the
day, he DIVES past and leaps into the tub. All the better if you
went in there to sit on the toilet because then he knows you'll stay
to watch him do his fancy dancing. This morning after Joseph had a
shower, I went in to run a bath but Otie was in the tub playing.
Ten minutes later, still there. 20 minutes later I went in and asked
him how much longer he'd be because I really did want to take a bath
some time soon. Knowing his weakness for drawers, I finally went in
the kitchen and opened the dishtowel drawer. He leaped out of the
tub and nestled himself down in the drawer for a nap. When I was
sure he was snoozing, I went in and started running a bath, being
careful to shut the door behind me going in and going out. A few
minutes later, I opened the door to check the tub and WHAM -- Otie
BLEW past me, leaped onto the toilet and FLEW gracefully right into
the tub. I didn't have even a nanosecond to grab him -- SPLASH! --
he was immersed in water halfway up his shoulders. Otie is a BIG cat
and our tub isn't that deep, so he was in no danger. His feet were
firmly planted on the tub bottom, solid in a John Wayne kind of
way. A normal cat would have said, "Water? I'm out-a-here!" and
leaped out, right? Not Otie. He stood in the water, completely
calm, not the least bit upset. In fact, he looked sort of intrigued,
like he thought the tub was playing a new kind of game back. I
yelled to Joseph as I scooped the drippy wet boy up and, with much
fussing on our part, we toweled him off as we oohed and aahed about
his magnificent leap off the toilet diving board. After we dried him
off, I arranged my bathrobe on the toilet lid so it was all plush and
comfy and then I put him on it so he could watch me bathe, which he
did, with a big ole' cat smirk on his smug black face. You've never
seen such a I'm-so-pleased-with-myself cat face. Otie, the high-
diving, tail-chasing, over-and-under, rub-a-dub-dub tub cat.
www.petwarmers.com
We all have stories that we like to tell our friends about our pets,
so send us your favorite "tail", and we will select one each month
to feature in our newsletter.

3) FEATURED ITEM
A smartly styled baseball style cotton hat with a flexible brim. This
handcrafted unique cap/ hat can be folded and stored in your pocket
or purse until needed and it will return to it's original shape.
Washable, fully lined and back has an adjustable velcro closure for a
perfect fit. Don't see the pet or animal pattern hat you want,
contact us with your special request. Order yours today at:
http://www.animaldesigns.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?
Screen=PROD&Store_Code=animaldesigns&Product_Code=cap001&Category_Code
=18

4) ANIMALS LAUGH TOO
Life can be funny, and not just for humans. Studies by various
groups suggest monkeys, dogs and even rats love a good laugh.
People, meanwhile, have been laughing since before they could
talk. "Indeed, neural circuits for laughter exist in very ancient
regions of the brain, and ancestral forms of play and laughter
existed in other animals eons before we humans came along with
our 'ha-ha-has' and verbal repartee," says Jaak Panksepp, a
neuroscientist at Bowling Green State University. When chimps play
and chase each other, they pant in a manner that is strikingly like
human laughter, Panksepp writes in the April 1 issue of the journal
Science. Dogs have a similar response. Rats chirp while they play,
again in a way that resembles our giggles. Panksepp found in a
previous study that when rats are playfully tickled, they chirp and
bond socially with their human tickler. And they seem to like it,
seeking to be tickled more. Apparently joyful rats also preferred to
hang out with other chirpers. Laughter in humans starts young,
another clue that it's a deep-seated brain function. "Young
children, whose semantic sense of humor is marginal, laugh and shriek
abundantly in the midst of their other rough-and-tumble activities,"
Panksepp notes. Importantly, various recent studies on the topic
suggest that laughter in animals typically involves similar play
chasing. Could be that verbal jokes tickle ancient, playful circuits
in our brains. More study is needed to figure out whether animals
are really laughing. The results could explain why humans like to
joke around. And Panksepp speculates it might even lead to the
development of treatments for laughter's dark side: depression.
Meanwhile, there's the question of what's so darn funny in the animal
world "Although no one has investigated the possibility of rat
humor, if it exists, it is likely to be heavily laced with
slapstick," Panksepp figures. "Even if adult rodents have no well-
developed cognitive sense of humor, young rats have a marvelous sense
of fun." Science has traditionally deemed animals incapable of joy
and woe. Panksepp's response is, "Although some still regard
laughter as a uniquely human trait, honed in the Pleistocene, the
jokešs on them."
by Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
adapted from www.petwarmers.com

5) DRAWING & FUN STUFF
Congratulations to Lynette T....the winner of the pawprint travel
kit. May's drawing is a pawprint tissue box cover. After entering
your name, check out the rest of the fun page at
http://www.animaldesigns.com/trivia.htm Thanks to Jo G. . for this
month's pet photo of her adorable pets Rags, SamiSue and Ladybug. ..
We want to honor your pet next month, so send us a copy of their
photo either by email or snail mail. April's question was: Does your
pet like visitors? The reaction of our pets to visitors was split
fairly evenly with Yes, greets them eagerly(39%), Shy but very curious
(32%), No, runs and hides(27%) with other (2%).

6) COMMENTS-QUESTIONS-SUGGESTIONS
I am looking for a cosmetic bag in a flamingo print for my daughter.
Do you have a pink flamingo print available? We work with many
fabric suppliers and will send you several electronic photo samples
to choose from. We will then custom make your cosmetic bag for you.

All the best,
Jeanie
Animal Designs-When You Want Truly Unique
Toll-Free 1-866-468-1739
www.animaldesigns.com