Maslow's hierarchy of psychosocial needs

[labelwench]

Thanks for pointing out this potential problem. I'm hoping by then they would respond to their selected first name and more so by the radio name convention.

For those who may not be familiar with the calico cat coloration, there are numerous variations depending on how the genetics are expressed. This photo is a good example of a well marked calico, which is a color pattern that can be expressed in many breeds, though it is not a specific breed in itself.



The State Cat Of Maryland.

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/0.../html/cat.html

[AntonioLao]

LW, throwing caution to the wind I'm posting 4 poor images here

[labelwench]

LW, throwing caution to the wind I'm posting 4 poor images here
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Thank you for sharing pictures, Antonio. That is a colorful family that you have there, lol..... You could do your own chapter in Mendel's Laws of Heredity, I'm thinking. Bean Bag would be the larger cat in photo #3 with a hungry kitten in refuel mode is my guess. The darker calico in photo #4 looks to be quite patterned and tabby markings displayed on most. Is the white kitten all white or is it a bi-color?

The pet food industry is a big business. Check out this commercial for Friskies.....No wonder the cats look so happy all the time!

http://boingboing.net/2010/03/31/str...for-frisk.html

[labelwench]

I'm expecting that you have audio now, Antonio. Should you not have such capability, this commercial is pretty much self-explanatory on the visuals.

[AntonioLao]

LW, your comments are most encouraging for me to keep them instead of giving them away or if luck allows get a lot of money in return. Before they were born I was feeding BB with farm raised cooked shrimps which prices and availability were not affected by the disastrous incident in the Gulf. No one expected that many kitten but I think BB has enough stamina to bear them. During their development, she moved them to 2 different locations in the house before she moved them back into my room and settled for over a month now. It was difficult at the outset until they trained themselves to use the litter boxes. The white one named G Cat has faint stripe orange tail and looked to be a tomcat. However, a common feature is all of them have white paws. I am starting to feed them with Friskies signature blend hard dry food. They have no problem adjusting to the taste of this cheaper brand of cat food. But I will still give them raw meat and cooked shrimp once in a while. I will try to snap better pictures as I learn how to use the webcam which I bought for about $10 at Radio Shack within walking distance from the house.

[AntonioLao]

LW, thanks for the video clips. When I played them the 9 cats were sleeping and they were slightly startled by the sound and music but settled back down just as quickly to sleep.

[labelwench]

The discussion of cats and pet ownership fits very well on this thread as the reasons that people keep pets very much relates to our psychosocial needs. The number of pets owned in North America is quite astounding and the amount of economic resources devoted to their feed and shelter, legal rights, health and documentation as relates to travel, pet day care, pet kenneling, veterinary and dentistry is BIG BUSINESS. Just a few numbers to illustrate:

In 2008, Americans spent more than $43.7 billion on pet supplies and services. This figure is projected to approach $46 billion in 2009 and $56.5 billion by 2014, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2% from 2009 through 2014.
Pet food is the largest segment of the market, with sales of $19 billion in 2009. While market share is expected to slip to less than 41% by 2014, the market value of pet food products will increase to $23 billion in 2014, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%.
Nonfood pet supplies make up the fastest-growing segment of the market, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% over the next 5 years. This segment was valued at $11.3 billion in 2009 and in expected to reach $15.3 billion by 2014.

Why do we willingly invest so much time, energy and money in our pets? Perhaps it is because for many, the relationship shared with a dependent, interactive, non-judgmental creature, is actually demonstrably good for our health and sense of well-being.

Pet ownership engages us, and gives us purpose, a sense of being connected. It gives many their best sense of actualization.

Ten ways that pets can improve human health

1. Pets encourage people to exercise. If you have a dog, you need to take it for a regular walk.

It's recommended that the average dog should be given 25 minutes of exercise twice daily, and there's no doubt that many people would not head off down the street, into the park or along the beach if they didn't have a dog to accompany them.

2. They act as social catalysts, boosting our mental health by connecting us with other people. The most obvious example of this is when you take your dog for a walk. It's very easy for people to strike up a conversation with you by commenting on your animal ("He's magnificent: what breed is he?")

3. Research shows that children who grow up with pets are more confident and more socially adept than those without animals in their lives.

4. Pets can be especially helpful for children with psychological difficulties. Pet therapy started in the 1960s after a psychiatrist observed the rapid progress that took place when he was accompanied by his dog in sessions with severely withdrawn children.

The dog served as an ice-breaker, softening the children's defences and providing a focus for communication.

5. Prison inmates who are allowed to take care of birds and small animals become less isolated, less violent and more responsible.

6. Pet-ownership reduces the risk of heart disease. Petting a dog or a cat, or even just being in the same room as an animal, can have a calming effect on people, reducing blood pressure and heart rate.

7. They improve recovery rates in humans after certain types of surgery. One study followed the progress of human patients who had undergone major heart surgery. Patients who shared their lives with animals lived for significantly longer than those who did not keep pets.

8. Pets are helpful when dealing with psychiatric illness, including depression. They've been shown to build self-esteem, increase mental alertness, and they also lift the spirits of people with Alzheimer's disease.

9. They help older people to be more self-reliant. One study measured how many hours of 'paid care worker time' were needed for elderly people living alone. At the start, an average of 40 hours a week of human help was needed per patient. Six months after each patient had been given a pet, the amount of carer time had reduced to about 10 hours per week.

10. When pets are allowed to visit nursing homes, there's a strong positive effect, with elderly residents smiling and talking more, and experiencing more symptoms of well-being. In Ireland, an organisation called PEATA (www.peata.org) offers this type of pet-therapy service.

[AntonioLao]

I'm wondering if it is not too late to go into the pet business to get a million-dollar shares of this multi-billion-dollar money pie?

[labelwench]

Humor, comic relief, would seem to be among our most basic needs. Even animals have been observed to participate in play, and even seemingly, pranks.

http://www.treelobsters.com/2010/07/...of-comedy.html

[labelwench]

The need to understand and to also be understood may be one of our strongest psychosocial needs.

Though we share a common language, the unique experiencing of each may be difficult to convey to others when they have no similar frame of reference. Language is constantly evolving as new words are added daily and each direction of exploration develops words, acronyms and symbols that become familiar to those who may pursue such discipline yet may as well be foreign to others.

We use the mediums of music, poetry and imagery, often in conjunction, as we endeavor to convey the full meaning of that which we wish to express, with lessor and greater success depending on the audience.

On rare occasion, we do indeed encounter others who may comprehend our message and it is a delightful sense of connection when we do.

For the most part, we are not unlike individual 'radio stations', each broadcasting our message in the hopes that (an)other(s) may receive same and respond.

The experiencing of life seems like the ultimate game of 'connect-a-dot' as we seek to gain an overview that satisfies us, yet the 'dots' are ever moving and increasing, and each of us may connect them in a variety of ways, so that the resulting perspectives, though they originate from the same working data, may be not easily recognizable to others.