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Fifi
Kate Wyatt-Burrows took a head-on approach to helping her son Wyatt conquer his severe fear of spiders in 2008: She bought him a tarantula. Nearly five years later, Fifi is a beloved family pet, and Wyatt (right), 10, and brother Raymond, 12, are very proud arachnid fans.
"We read up and learned as much as we could about spiders," Kate says. "The journey of fear conquering ended up in purchasing a rose-haired tarantula for Wyatt's 6th birthday. We don't know the sex, so we called it a him and named him Fifi."
Fifi had been a comfort word for Wyatt when he was little.
Fifi lives in Wyatt's room in Abingdon, and the boys love showing him off to guests, some of whom are more than a little surprised when they meet the spider. "They feel tough having a pet tarantula," Kate says. "Guests are excited or scared to see him. The boys don't hold him, but two friends of mine have. Fifi is very shy and skittish."
He does assert himself, though, when the family cat walks by his tank, raising his front legs in a threatening manner.
Fifi gets water regularly and crickets every two months, and when he molts, he leaves behind a skin that looks like another spider. The family thinks he's about 8 years old; he'll probably live to be about 20.
Kate says Fifi is easy to live with and care for, but she knows spider ownership isn't for everyone and cautions others to do their research before committing. That said, it was the perfect thing to get Wyatt over his fear. "He sleeps in the same room blissfully with Fifi every night," she says.
To have your pet considered for Collared, email information to sun.unleashed@gmail.com.
--Kim Fernandez (Christopher T. Assaf, Baltimore Sun photo /June 3, 2013)
Kate Wyatt-Burrows took a head-on approach to helping her son Wyatt conquer his severe fear of spiders in 2008: She bought him a tarantula. Nearly five years later, Fifi is a beloved family pet, and Wyatt (right), 10, and brother Raymond, 12, are very proud arachnid fans.
"We read up and learned as much as we could about spiders," Kate says. "The journey of fear conquering ended up in purchasing a rose-haired tarantula for Wyatt's 6th birthday. We don't know the sex, so we called it a him and named him Fifi."
Fifi had been a comfort word for Wyatt when he was little.
Fifi lives in Wyatt's room in Abingdon, and the boys love showing him off to guests, some of whom are more than a little surprised when they meet the spider. "They feel tough having a pet tarantula," Kate says. "Guests are excited or scared to see him. The boys don't hold him, but two friends of mine have. Fifi is very shy and skittish."
He does assert himself, though, when the family cat walks by his tank, raising his front legs in a threatening manner.
Fifi gets water regularly and crickets every two months, and when he molts, he leaves behind a skin that looks like another spider. The family thinks he's about 8 years old; he'll probably live to be about 20.
Kate says Fifi is easy to live with and care for, but she knows spider ownership isn't for everyone and cautions others to do their research before committing. That said, it was the perfect thing to get Wyatt over his fear. "He sleeps in the same room blissfully with Fifi every night," she says.
To have your pet considered for Collared, email information to sun.unleashed@gmail.com.
--Kim Fernandez (Christopher T. Assaf, Baltimore Sun photo /June 3, 2013)
What's in a name? According to the records of Veterinary Pet Insurance, Inc. (VPI), quite a lot, and the top dog and cat names for 2012 reveal some interesting tidbits about pet owners.
VPI recently sorted their database of more than 485,000 pet names by popularity. The biggest trend they saw was that the top five cat and dog names were also top on Babycenter.com's list of 100 most popular baby names of the year. At the same time, traditional dog names -- think Fido or Fuffy -- trended toward the bottom of the list or slid off completely.
VPI spokesman Curtis Steinhoff says he thinks the name trends are "testament of the bigger trend of pet owners viewing their pets as members of the family."
I suspect residual fur on our couches and beds could also testify to that.
Without further ado, the top names for dogs are:
1. Bella
2. Bailey
3. Max
4. Lucy
5. Molly
6. Buddy
7. Daisy
8. Maggie
9. Charlie
10. Sophie
For cats:
1. Bella
2. Max
3. Chloe
VPI recently sorted their database of more than 485,000 pet names by popularity. The biggest trend they saw was that the top five cat and dog names were also top on Babycenter.com's list of 100 most popular baby names of the year. At the same time, traditional dog names -- think Fido or Fuffy -- trended toward the bottom of the list or slid off completely.
I suspect residual fur on our couches and beds could also testify to that.
Without further ado, the top names for dogs are:
1. Bella
2. Bailey
3. Max
4. Lucy
5. Molly
6. Buddy
7. Daisy
8. Maggie
9. Charlie
10. Sophie
For cats:
1. Bella
2. Max
3. Chloe
