Meredith is feeding a neighbor's four cats while she's on vacation. And she has to use wet food because one of them needs medicine smushed in:

... There is something uniquely repugnant about wet cat food: The visceral smell upon opening the can, the squishy noise it makes as I mix in the powdered medicine, the slimy trace of congealed liquid left in the can that I must wash out so it can be recycled. ...

William is fed up with owners who tie their dogs up outside as they go into JP Cafe or City Supply and Feed for a leisurely repast - because the dogs start barking like nobody's business, annoying everybody else:

... IT IS NOT OKAY to leave your dog tied up barking for like 30 minutes while you have a Trucker's Breakfast or grab a coffee and a salmon bagel. You are violating one of the basic rules of the social contract. The Right To Quiet Enjoyment. ... Would you leave your child tied to a post screaming outside a restaurant? ...

A dog named Charlie retrieving a log in the Charles.

The folks at Pet Cabaret in Roslindale report:

There's lots of new pups and kitties (and even chickens!) in the neighborhood.

Liza explains.

Location

Boston Police report a domestic house cat captured on Park Street last weekend was euthanized after it was reported to have rabies.

Click on the link for way more info than you probably want to know about what to do if you think you've been bitten by a rabid animal (go figure: there are an average of 100 rabid cats reported in Massachusetts each year - people, get your pet immunized, will ya?).

Jeff Cutler reports on the phenomenon of new mothers leashing their dogs to their baby's strollers, at least as observed on Newbury Street:

... I'm pretty certain if a life-size Chuck Wagon truck or a wild deer dashed through downtown, these dogs would be galloping across busy streets dragging mothers, infants and strollers through traffic to certain doom.

And if not doom, definitely destruction.

Where did common sense go off the rails? The likelihood of the Chuck Wagon or the deer showing up on Newbury Street in Boston is a fantasy. But a pickup truck with dogs in the back could happen. And the reality of nearly identical mommy/stroller/puppy combos on the other side of the street is common. ...

The folks at Pet Cabaret in Roslindale report they had to break the news to a caller yesterday that they don't carry ants:

... "Ants?" I say, "Why, no...you can get them outside..."

"Oh." came the reply and a polite "Thank you" followed. ...

This comes about a month after somebody called the store to ask if they sold piranhas (answer: no).

Pomsmith spotted the above sign tonight in front of the Brook House in Brookline.

Rhea reports on the Footlight Club's auditions - for the role of Sandy in a performance of "Little Orphan Annie:"

... When the doggy semi-finalists were announced, they lined up, and guess what? The judges were definitely going for the authentic Sandy look. There were no Lhasa apsos or poodle mixes among them. The young actress who will be playing the part of Annie called each dog to her. The ones that responded became the finalists. ...