Guest Blogger: Yvonne Divita, Lipsticking, Scratchings and Sniffings blogs, among others

A continuation of the guest blogger series, Me, My Pet, and I, where I ask bloggers to reveal their pet-loving side... This entry is from Yvonne Divita.

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I've been a pet lover since I was a child. I think most pet lovers start at an early age. But, I adopted pets (at least in my imagination, my Mom wasn't really into a whole house full of pets, just one cat and dog at a time, thank you) because I was lonely. We moved a lot when I was very young, and I always felt a bit out of place whenever we ended up someplace new. It seemed that the cat and dog were the only ones who cared.

As time went on, I received a dog of my very own, as opposed to being the 'family' pet, when I was 12. For 10 years she went everywhere with me. I do mean everywhere (except school). People knew that if they invited me over, I'd have the dog with me.

Today, I have a delightful Tabby cat named Wabby Wibby (that's short for baby kitty), and a warm, hugable German Shepard mix, named Carmel. They are my constant companions - around the house, anyway. I have to admit that the cat is an indoor cat. She does not go outside at all (though she pokes her nose out the back when we leave the screen open to call Carmel in). And Carmel only goes out with us on a leash. Which is daily, or twice a day. I cannot allow her to go with me 'everywhere' as I did the dog of my youth. Since starting my own business, I am out quite a bit - and Carmel would not like the office buildings, coffee shops, and such that I do business in.

Or, maybe she would! I guess I won't know, as I seldom take her in the car. She gets car sick!!!

Both Wabby and Carmel are 'elderly' now. They have their aches and pains (like I do!) and I give them vitamins and attention and special food. I expect them to be around for many more years, as long as I care for them just as I would care for my kids. Except, my kids are all gone and on their own, now. The dog and cat (and my sweet hubby-to-be, Tom) are all I have left. My son has asked me, "What will you do when... they're gone?" As if he thinks it could happen any day now.

Well, I don't like to go there. I don't have a clue... cause I don't imagine them gone, ever. They've been with me for over 12 years, both of them. They're fixtures in our household. They're more than companions - they're little parts of me. I cannot imagine losing them. So, I don't. They also provide a lot of fodder for my newest venture, a petblog I write for Purina, over at www.scratchingsandsniffings.com. But, of course!

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Small business and marketing expert Yvonne DiVita is the author of Dickless Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women Online (AuthorHouse, 2004), as well as president and founder of WMEBooks.com, an author services company that helps authors write, produce, print and market books using print-on-demand technology. She maintains a company blog, a blog focusing on marketing to women, and pet lovers blog . She is the president of the Rochester Professional Consultants Network, vice president of sponsorship at RAMA (the Rochester chapter of the American Marketing Association), and is a member of NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners), NAFE (National Association of Female Executives) and RWN (Rochester Women's Network). A frequent public speaker, Yvonne has been interviewed on WS.radio.com (a division of Entrepreneur.com), ABC, and on business blogs and Web sites. She is a strong advocate for women, entrepreneurs, and network-building via the Web.