"Now exactly how will this "sabbatical" thing affect ME??"

Hey blog readers: I will be taking a brief sabbatical from the Happy Wag column and blog.

I am having my right knee replaced in 10 days and I need to concentrate on pre-surgical conditioning, surgery, recovery and rehab.

Once I am back home (and getting cuddle therapy from my critters) I am sure I will have lots of fodder for the blog and will be working on a column or two.

Expect the Happy Wag to be back in business with daily blog entries and regular columns — and some cool new features to pets.roanoke.com —  by mid-summer.

Since this week’s book giveaway is all about dogs and cats living together (click here to leave a comment for a chance to win two great books) I’ve been paying careful attention to how our trio of goofy canines and our sassy feline interact.

The dogs are pack-like, I suppose, but that pack definitely includes me and my husband (we’re the alphas — or as I like to think of it, benevolent dictators.) The dogs don’t really interact with each other very much though. Stormy will occasionally tug a toy with one of the greyhound girls, Melissa Moo will give Stormy love biteys all over his face and at least once a day, as a trio they will do hot laps around the backyard to burn off energy.

Otherwise, the dogs just kind of hang out quietly with us, vying for attention.

The greyhounds are unbelievably jealous of each other. If Coral is being petted, Melissa is compelled to butt in, and vice versa. It’s as if we may run out of love and one hound miss her share. Neither seems to mind if we are snuggling with Stormy though. It’s strictly a breed thing. One greyhound cannot have the affection advantage over the other.

All three dogs fear Thai, which is kind of crazy considering he’s declawed. What can I say other than the cat has swagger.  The greyhounds will not cross in front of Thai. Sometimes I have to chase him out of a room just so the greys can get from one point to another. And all the dogs will stay away from the community water bowl if Thai has bellied up to the bar.

Still, Stormy will, at least once a day, play bow to Thai, and Thai will reject him with a hiss, a swat and a hasty retreat. Stormy always gives Phil and me a disappointed look, as if to say “What? I just wanted to play.”

All four pets, when they are in a calm mood, will co-habituate in the same room, but Thai, in typical feline fashion, will usually take a spot up high where he can observe the dogs.

I admit to being a little jealous when I see other folks post photos on Facebook of their dogs and cats that get along so well they snuggle. That will never happen with my crew. If I want a photo of the four of them together, clearly I have to make a collage.

Still, I feel a pretty big sense of pet parent accomplishment that we have an inter-breed, inter-species household that, for the most part, live in harmony. It’s not easy and it requires a lot of careful guidance and attention from the two-legged members of the family, but overall, we have a happy home.

As far as I can anthropomorphize, anyway.

A few months ago, we took Stormy, a dog we adopted from the Roanoke Valley SPCA, to have his photo taken for the Puppy Love Ball, which was held last Saturday night at the Hotel Roanoke. Local photographers donated their time to take photos of adopted pets and that was used as artwork at the silent auction at the fundraiser. Needless to say, we had to buy the prints (there were two, you can only see one in this photo.)

The prints will eventually be framed and Phil and I will hang them in our respective offices. Until then, we are leaving them where so Thai can admire them. HA!

The first is “From Wags to Riches: How Dog Teach Us to Succeed in Life & Business” by Robert Vetere and Valerie Andrews.  I have always found that my dogs COST me money, so it’s an interesting thesis. Now, don’t get me wrong; my merry pack of freeloaders pay for their room, board and medical expenses in unconditional love and hours of family entertainment, so I am not hating. I’m just sayin’.

The second book is “Your Cat, The Owner’s Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises and Solutions for Raising a Happy, Healthy Cat” by Dr. Marty Becker. I came *thisclose* to keeping this one for myself, because you all know I have a lot of trouble figuring out my cat, Thai. Just the other day, as he was complaining about some unknown sleight, I reminded him that he has an abundance of food, clean water and hygienic bathroom facilities, which makes him more fortunate than HALF THE PEOPLE in the world.

He just turned up his nose and walked away. Whatever.

Since mine is a mixed household, I would like to give these books to another co-habituated home. Leave a comment about your cats and dogs and how well the do, or don’t, get along.

One random commenter will be selected as the winner on Friday at 9 a.m.

Former Capt. Luis Carlos Montalvan and his service dog, Tuesday, were scheduled to appear at PetEx tomorrow, but that appearance has been canceled due to unexpected travel delays.

Montalvan is the author of the book “Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him”, a New York Times bestseller about how a service dog can make the transition to civilian life better for returning veterans suffering from sever injuries and post traumatic stress disorder.

Let’s start with PetEx, the big critter-related expo happening at the Roanoke Civic Center on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the event is $7 for adults and $5 for kids, but a little bird on Facebook said there are FREE kids passes at the checkout counter of your friendly neighborhood Kroger store.  That makes the event very affordable for families.

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Speaking of affordable, if your pet needs a rabies vaccine, the Virginia Department of Public Health is holding a clinic at Washington Park (corner of Burrell Street and Orange Avenue in Roanoke) from 9 a.m. to noon on May 12 and the vaccine will only cost $5. Pups must be at least three months old and all dogs must be leashed. Cats must be in a carrier. If you have a certificate of prior vaccination, your pet is eligible for a three-year vaccine.

You can save time by pre-registering online at www.tinyurl/rabiesclinic2012 by May 9.

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Got a pit-bull-type doggie and want to be a responsible pet owner? You can get your pittie fixed for the low, low price of $23 at Mountain View Humane in Christiansburg. The clinic got a grant to fix 100 bully-breed dogs and so far 19 people have taken advantage of this bargain. To get in on the deal, call 382-0222 to make an appointment. If you can’t make it all the way out to the New River Valley, ask about a free ride on the Hip to Snip trip when you make your appointment.

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Has your dog gotten into something potentially toxic? There’s an app for that.

The Pet Poison Helpline has launched a new iPhone app and a mobile-enhanced website, making it that much easier to get your questions answered when your pet has made a questionable edible call. The app has an index that allows users to search a full-color database for toxins, cross-referencing them by common and scientific terms.

The app costs .99 cents and is available through iTunes. For more information, go to www.petpoisonhelpline.com

Saint Francis Service Dogs trains dogs to become life partners to adults and children with disabilities, neurological conditions and veterans returning from service in the wars. The organization, which provides these highly skilled dogs to clients free of charge, is 100 percent supported by donations and this annual dinner is one of its biggest fundraisers.

This was the fifth year my husband and I have attended this lovely event, which features seven courses donated and prepared by local chefs. Among the wonderful dishes served last night, we enjoyed a cumin-scented crab cake served with an amazing vegetable ceviche (made by Jeff Doudiken of the Bonsack Kroger chef shop), a light and delicious beer and cheddar soup made by Chris Dye from Blue 5 restaurant), a refreshing quinoa salad (from Chef Prem Nath of Taaza and Elephant Walk restaurants) and a fantastic duo of lamb prepared by Aaron Deal, who is the chef at the new River and Rail restaurant set to open in South Roanoke next month.

If all this food talk is making you hungry, you can still enjoy some really great food and help a worthy cause.

A week from Saturday, April 28,  is the 11th annual Puppy Love Ball, an event that raises money for the Roanoke Valley SPCA. The event is held at The Hotel Roanoke and features dining stations (with some wonderful appetizers, entrees and desserts), a live band and dancing. Though I love to bust a few moves, a bum knee will keep me sidelined this year, darn it.

The event is a blast and my husband and I look forward to it each year. Each year the ballroom is decorated with pictures of pets adopted from the RVSPCA, and this year our Stormy’s smiling mug will be among the alumni photos.

We adopted Stormy as a wee pup from the SPCA in 2008.

Click here, call 339-9502 or email Kathy Perdue (kperdue@rvspca.org) for ticket information.

We get our pets meds from the Kroger pharmacy. We find that they are competitive on prices and it’s easy for me to remember to get their prescriptions filled when I get my own filled. Full disclosure, my husband is the director of finance for the Kroger division here in Roanoke, so we are pretty loyal to Kroger for a lot of reasons.

I think there is also some money to be saved shopping around online. A friend who used to shop exclusively at 1-800-PetMeds told me she found the same medications at a lower price at Drs. Foster and Smith’s website.

I know a lot of folks just get their medications at the vet’s office and frankly, I probably would too if I had only one pet. I would stock up and get a year’s worth at a time when I took my solo critter in for the annual checkup because it would be so convenient. But with three dogs and two cats, that’s a HUGE investment of cash all at once.

So, dear readers, where do you buy your pet’s prescriptions and where can your fellow pet parents find the best deals?

Let me add one more warning to that: Only use parasite preventatives specifically intended for cats. Flea and tick serums are NOT INTERCHANGEABLE between kitties and pooches.

There is a bug repellant in K9 Advantix, for example, that is extremely toxic to cats. I was surprised last summer to find this same ingredient, permethrin, was used on a hat I bought for my husband from Gander Mountain.

That hat, which he only wears at the beach or in the pool, is banished to the garage and he has to scrub his hands after he puts it away.

The takeaway here is to always be sure to follow label directions for flea and tick meds, which are certainly not created equally safe for canines and felines.