Record pets.
Penny drops for fussy eaters
LIKE many people of my generation, I was always taught: “Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck.”
And so, to this day, despite a penny having virtually no monetary value of any significance, I will still bend down (slower than I used to) and pick up any penny that I happen upon without hesitation.
Then the other day, I was passing shops at lunchtime and saw, incredulously, that some schoolchildren were throwing coins at each other. Eventually they departed, leaving a plethora of pennies, 2p and 5p pieces lying around.
I was quite amazed but then the total quantity of money on the pavement wouldn’t even have bought a packet of crisps. And that got me thinking.
If you’re a multi-millionaire, what value of money would actually prompt you to go to October 5 ■ Cairn Terrier Club of Scotland’s open show in Thornhill Community Centre at 1.30pm. ■ Golden Retriever Club of Scotland’s open show at BY NEIL McINTOSH the effort of bending down and picking it up? A penny? A pound? A £50 note?
Does whether or not you pick it up depend on your underlying character or on how much money you have?
And what, I can hear you ask, has all this got to do with the pet page?
It is simple, really. To humans, money is a resource, just as food is to an animal. It is to be fought for, guarded over, stored when there is an excess and used wisely.
Every single day at the surgery, I hear owners telling me how fussy their pet is over their food.
He will only eat chicken. She won’t eat any dry food. He doesn’t like salmon or duck and will only eat turkey if it has gravy on it. OK, I 10am in Cochrane Hall, Alva. ■ Bullmastiff Society of Scotland’s open show in Hurlford Community Centre, Kilmarnock, at 11.45am. October 6 ■ Pointer Club of Scotland’s Championship Show in Barony exaggerate a little but you get my drift.
Almost invariably (because there are medical conditions that cause a poor appetite, even in skinny animals) the “fussy” patients presented to me are poorly exercised, marginally (or very) overweight individuals who are quite simply eating for pleasure.
To continue my analogy, their bank account is full and they have no inclination of stooping to consume a penny and will only eat when a highvalue note is flapped in front of their podgy faces.
I think you can tell, therefore, what the answer is to their problem.
Diminishing their “wealth” by increasing spending in the form of exercise, while simultaneously slowing down the gravy train by reducing food portion size, will soon have them bending for that penny. And that will be lucky for them, for sure. College, Parkgate, Dumfries at 10.30am. ■ Scottish Toy Dog Society’s open show in Lanark Agricultural Centre at 10am. ■ Scottish Breeds Canine Club’s open show at 9.30am in Lanark Agricultural Centre.