I spoke to someone a few days ago who mentioned to me that their daughter brought home a cat from college. She adopted the cat last year when she attended college away from home. This year she is at a commuter college and lives at home with her parents. Her parents have a dog. The cat stays in the basement. What’s wrong with this picture? Our pets should be part of our family and although cats are solitary creatures, they do get lonely, require exercise and need attention just like a dog. I have written several blogs about how to introduce a cat to a home with a dog. Lots of people don’t want to be bothered to go through this task. I feel that his is not right. Cats and dogs can get along together if they are given a chance to adapt to one another. Keeping a cat in a dark, damp, lonely basement is not providing a quality life for the pet.  It’s sad to see that lots of people really don’t understand how to care for a pet properly. Make sure that your pet has a quality life. If you are too fussy about things like them jumping on the furniture, vomiting on your rug or if you don’t want to make a commitment to spend time and train the pet properly, then do me a favor, don’t adopt one just because you thin it’s “cute.” This is not fair to these poor animals. Give them a good home, lots of attention, good food, lots of exercise, otherwise don’t take them into your home. Remember, your pets count.