Dog Help

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Cat Care

Poll: A third say pets listen better than husbands
A third of pet-owning married women said their pets are better listeners than their husbands, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll released this week.

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Cat Care

Petside poll: Pets listen better than husbands
Husbands, if you end up in the doghouse, consider it a promotion. A third of pet-owning married women said their pets are better listeners than their husbands, according to an Associated Press-Petside.

Read more on Oakland Tribune

Dog Help

‘Perfect little dog’ makes a good life better for couple
Columnist Sheila Stroup on healing powers of a puppy.

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Cat Care

A healthy animal makes for a happy pet. If you are a cat owner and you want to make your pet happy, you need to make sure that your cat is groomed properly, fed on time and is given enough love and attention.

Here are some tips on how you can have a healthy and happy cat:

1. Take care of your cat’s health.

As a pet owner, it is your responsibility to make sure that your cat is healthy and free from diseases that may even be transmitted to humans.

Visit the veterinarian if you notice that your cat has become lethargic or less active than usual.

If you see them ’shedding’ excessively or has something unusual on their coat, immediately consult a professional.

Your cat might have a skin disease, or this could be a symptom of a sickness that you do not know about.

2. Groom your cat properly.

Cats are in the habit of grooming themselves. You will often see them using their tongue to clean their coat.

In spite of this, you should still do your part in grooming your cat if you want to keep them really clean.

Brush your cat’s fur regularly. There are several short-haired cats that need minimal brushing. For this, you can use a comb with soft bristles.

There are also cat breeds which have long, silky furs and this variety needs a much longer grooming time.

Use a wide-toothed comb initially then brush up with a fine toothed one afterwards. You can also use talcum powder in order to separate the hair strands.

Make sure that you brush with gentle strokes so that their skin will not be hurt or scratched.

Cats are also not that fond of taking a bath. But there are times when your cat would need bathing.

This is when they have accumulated a lot of dirt on the skin and coat. Bathing will help eliminate ticks and lice.

Also, there might be substances that could cling on the fur which can be poisonous and it is important for them to bathe.

When bathing your cat, use a shampoo that is specially made for cats. Do not be tempted to use your shampoo because of the great smell…it could have adverse effects on your cat’s skin and fur. Prepare the following before bathing:

-a small tub or sink
-slip-proof mat
-water spray attachment
-clean, dry towels
-shampoo
-comb

Adjust the water temperature, then place your cat in the small tub or sink before filling it up with water. It is better to attach a sprayer in the faucet rather than pouring water directly onto its body. Apply a liberal amount of shampoo on the cat’s body, and try to avoid the face, especially the eyes and ears.

After rinsing, towel them dry and comb the coat. Bathing time should build trust and create some quality time between you and your pet cat.

This should prevent your cat from making much of a fuss the next time it needs a bath.

Another part of grooming is keeping the eyes, teeth and ears clean. Also remember to keep the paws clean and the nails trimmed. Most cats can’t tolerate dirty paws and will lick them clean but they can’t yet trim their own nails.

Go to a pet store and you are sure to find products specially made to clean the eyes, teeth and ears. You can also look for a nail trimmer specifically designed to use on your pet cat.

Ask a professional groomer or a veterinarian so that you can learn how to properly clean your cat’s eyes, ears, teeth and nails.

3. Feed them on time.

Another aspect of keeping your cat happy and healthy is by feeding them well and on time.

Your feline friends can learn how to “stick” to a schedule with your guidance and training.

Make time in your busy day to feed them.

Along with homemade and natural cat food, you should give them plenty of clean water to drink.

If you have a lot of pet cats, give them individual feeding plates.

If there is just one dish, other cats might not be fed well because dominant felines will take the most part of the food that you serve. And a lot of cats are too finiky to eat after another one.

3. Shower them with love and attention.

By giving your cats your undivided attention while grooming and feeding them, you are already showering them with love and attention.

In addition to this, make their play time a lot more fun by appreciating the things that they do.

By following these tips, you are sure to have a healthy cat and be a contented owner.

Save your cat’s health and his life!

Lynne Gordon
I am striving to save the world – one person, one cat and one dog at a time.

Cat Care

As any experienced cat lover knows, cats are wonderful, but they aren’t easy. Cats are independent and live life on their terms. They’ll give their human plenty affection and love, but in their own way and only in their own time. If you want attention and obedience when you ask for it, get a dog.

Scratching is part of a cat’s nature, and no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to stop a cat from scratching. Some people try to prevent scratching damage by having a cat declawed, but declawing is never a solution. In many states declawing is illegal, and even where it isn’t, it is inhumane and causes the cat much pain.

To stop your cat from scratching, it helps to understand why they do scratch. Cats do not just scratch to sharpen their nails. They scratch so that they mark their territory. They want to let other cats that might come along know that this area is “taken”.

They also scratch for exercise, as you’ll notice that they always stretch as they scratch. In addition, scratching helps the cats to remove older layers of their nails, so don’t panic if you find pieces of nails around the house. This is quite normal.

When training a cat, the sooner you start, the better. Cat training is most effective with kittens, since older cats may have already formed bad habits. If you have an older cat who has not been trained, just start as soon as you can and hope for the best.

If you want your cat to stop scratching your furniture and rugs you must give them something different to scratch. Pet stores carry a large selection of scratching post and mats. Choose a type according to whether your cat prefers to scratch up high, or out flat.

It is important while cat training that you show your cat the new scratching area. Sprinkle it with catnip and place your kitty in front of it. If he scratches, give him some praise or a tasty treat. Be patient, it takes time to train a cat.

Training a cat goes beyond trying to get cats to use the fancy new scratching area that you’ve set up. At least equally important is getting the cat not to scratch where you don’t want him to. One successful technique has been to cover areas you don’t want scratched with aluminum foil or soda cans with pennies; the rattling of the foil or the falling cans will frighten your cat into not scratching there again.

Above all, the most important rule of cat training is to always show your furry friend that you love him. Never make him fear you. And remember, you can never, ever, make a cat do something he doesn’t want to do.

Cats make wonderful pets, but many potential cat owners are put off by the instinct cats have to scratch. They scratch partly to sharpen their claws and remove the older layers of nail, but mostly to mark their territories. To train a cat most effectively, start early. Kitten training is easier, as they have not developed bad habits. Cats must scratch; it’s instinctual. Give the cat something attractive to scratch, and make scratching furniture or rugs unappealing with aversive tactics. Cat training takes patience and affection, but it is worth the trouble to have both a loving feline companion and a home free of claw-marks.

Dog Help

Grooming your dog is an essential and rewarding part of ownership. Although many people are familiar with grooming basics, such as removing tangles and shampooing. There are many benefits you may not have thought about before.

The first thing is grooming is not just for improving the look of your dog’s coat. There are many health benefits as well when done regularly:

1. Grooming takes away dead hair and skin. It not only removes an unsightly and unwanted mess, it improves air circulation to your dog’s coat. This is essential in the summertime when it’s hot and humid.

2. You’ll also find that grooming increases the blood flow to hair follicles, which will improve the health of your dog’s whole coat.

3. It stimulates the lymphatic system, similar to the results a human would get from a deep tissue massage. We humans know how good that feels.

4. Another benefit of grooming, it will put your dog in a great mood. Combine this with your gentle voice and you’ll be helping to strengthen the bond between you.

5. A benefit many people don’t think about is that you will become more familiar with your dog’s body. You will be able to detect many health problems before these become serious issues.

6. Make sure that you brush and check every part of your dog. This includes their ears, eyes, coat and skin. Finding ticks or other insects attached to your dog can be extremely serious even deadly, so keep an eye out for these freeloaders.

7. While you’re at it, clip their nails. This gives you a chance to check the pads of their feet, noting any problems.

If you don’t have the essential tools or materials, no worry they can be found at your local pet supply stores. If you would rather shop online there are many sites that offer the equipment for sale as well, an added bonus to online shopping is most provide a lot of great information and advice.

If your interested in learning more, check your local community college, they may offer a program to teach dog owners how to groom.

You may find that you enjoy it so much you move beyond the basics and become an excellent groomer, you might think about starting your own service. Many pet owners don’t have the time to groom their dogs themselves, but know it is a necessity. Turn your passion into dollars as you groom others’ pets.

Providing this service could become a part time or even full time business venture. Either way, as a business or just personal satisfaction you will be confident knowing your own dog is being properly cared for. Set aside a regular brushing grooming appointment time, you’ll be surprised to find how quickly you best friend will learn this scheduled appointment and be anxiously awaiting.

Begin when they’re puppies; many rewards go hand in hand with grooming, so start as soon as possible.

Patricia Ellison is an experienced Chihuahua Breeder and dog lover, her kennel is located in Chiloquin, Oregon. Patricia provides vital dog care and training information to dog lovers worldwide at Patz-Dogs.com Although she exclusively breeds and sells Chihuahua, info is provided on many breeds

Cat Care

Your cat will always rely on you for food, water, safe shelter and regular veterinary cat care even though they appear independent. By doing this consistently you place yourself in a much better place to develop a mutual and rewarding relationship. The guidelines in this article should allow you to consistently perform optimum cat care.


Make it a point to get a cat ID tag and collar that has your address,name and telephone number information. By ensuring that your cat is wearing one you ensure there safe return home in the event they find themselves lost and outside in strange surroundings. Some of the ID tags have a radio responder built into them and by making sure your cat is wearing one you make it possible for another person can read it and bring your cat back to you.


Keep your cat inside if at all possible. This action will ensure that the community, your cat and you are doing what’s best for all involved. Plus if you have gone through all the trouble to find and train your kitty why risk losing them?


Make it a point to get your cat neutered or spayed. This will assist in reducing the problem of cat overpopulation and will keep them healthier.


It is up to you to train your cat from doing things you don’t like like jumping on counter tops and scratching furniture. They can be trained like any other pet if you also keep in mind a bit of understanding, effort and patience when doing so. If you set up a simple system of rewarding and praising them when they perform as you want will go a long way toward them acting and behaving the way you would like.


To keep your cat’s coat healthy, soft and shiny make a it a point to groom them often. To keep your cat’s hair from matting it should be brushed. This will also decrease the creation of hairballs by your cat. Hairballs are produced when cats groom themselves and in the process they ingest hair. Too much of that at once can cause problems for your cat.


Conclusion


In closing just remember to be patient and loyal with your cat. Also remember that the majority of behavior problems can be resolved and make sure you have reasonable expectations of your cat’s behavior. Contact the local animal shelter or veterinarian if you are having major issues with your cat’s behavior.

James Redder is a loving and caring promoter of Cat Training. He created and writes for Expert Cat Care online cat care and training resource.

Cat Care

Adequate cat care is an important part of keeping your cat healthy on the physical and emotional levels, and basic cat care tasks like feeding your pet and making sure it is spayed and vaccinated are familiar to nearly every cat owner. However, there is more to cat care than just routine maintenance. The more you learn about cat care, the more you will begin to understand that cat care is as much about making your cat happy as it is about keeping your cat healthy. There are many benefits to offering your pet cat care that goes beyond mere maintenance. By giving your pet the best possible cat care, you are giving yourself the chance to learn about your cat’s unique personality, revel in greater understanding of the wants and needs of your pet, and increase your own personal happiness.

Cats can seem very mysterious and enigmatic, even to their owners. Many cat fans feel that this is part of feline appeal, but it can also be frustrating not to know what is motivating your cat at certain times, like when it is mewling loudly at your bedroom door at four in the morning. When you gain a greater understanding of cat care, you will also get a much stronger insight into how and why your cat functions the way that it does. The more you know about what motivates a cat to engage in the behaviors that can be inconvenient hassles in your daily life, the better equipped you will be to create a situation where those behaviors will be diminished or even rendered completely unnecessary. The study of cat care is the study of cat’s desires and demands, so the better you understand cat care the better you will be able to give your cat what it needs so that you and your pet can live together in harmony.

When you give your cat the best possible cat care rather than settling for a basic, run of the mill cat care routine, you are showing your animal companion how much you care for and appreciate its unique temperament. This process helps you and your cat bond more fully so that you can have a rich, enduringly affectionate relationship. As any cat owner who has rubbed a purring cat behind the ears will be glad to profess, the happier your cat is, the happier it will make you. By giving your pet the ideal cat care, you are sowing the seeds for your own satisfaction and joy. Going the extra mile to learn a bit more about cat care than you do today can translate into a better relationship with your pet that is a more than ample reward for a little additional effort on your part. If you can learn to provide the best possible cat care, you can help to forge a more peaceful, mutually beneficial future for you and your feline friend.

Find out more about how to care for your cat. Click here now!

Dog Help

Just imagine if you were walking your street and came across an obviously stray dog. Would you know what to do? What not to do? You could avoid the situation altogether, get nervous thinking the dog would do you harm or take the dog home and have it be your new pet. In this scenario you have a few options. The one you choose will really depend on the fact of you being an animal lover or not. For the sake of this article we will assume you chose to take the dog home as a pet. Read more about this . . .

General Tips

Always walk your dog on a leash. This ensures the safety of the dog, you, walkers, joggers, and people on bicycles. No one wants to be hurt on either side.

Caring For Your New Dog

There are two important decisions to be made at this juncture regardless of the dog’s breed. You can choose to temporarily shelter the dog by taking it in out from the elements and at the same time look for it’s rightful owner. Or you can keep it for your own pet. Again your choice will probably depend on how good of an animal lover you are.

It will be no easy task to provide care to the stray dog you have taken in. It will need to be provided with adequate shelter, food, medical care treatment and animal medical insurance in some cases. Oh yeah you should also plan to take it to a veterinarian as soon as possible to get it checked out for any possible diseases.

You will also want to maintain your dog’s health while it is in your care. To do this you should perform all of the necessary daily duties required to prevent your pet dog from falling prey to illness. This includes providing adequate and comfortable shelter and food. In some respects it could be compared to raising a small child before they reach the age of being able to communicate.

Dog Diet Tips

Eating habits are still based on the instinctual habits of the dog’s wild counterparts. some dogs feed on a “stuff-yourself-or-starve” mode and tend to eat more than they need when food is made available to them. for this reason, owners must be in control of their dog’s food intake. obesity is very harmful to your dog’s health at any age. it puts undue stress on vital organs that can lead to serious health problems. So be a responsible pet owner and monitor your dog’s food intake.

Conclusion

Now that you are armed with this information how will you best apply it? Just keep in mind that your new pet is also a new companion that can likewise protect you from harm’s way. But just like anything else that requires time and attention you should make sure you give your new companion comfortable and adequate dog care,food, shelter, love and attention. By following these simple guidelines you can and should enjoy your new pet immensely.

Orlando Smith makes it easy to perform effective dog training, quickly & easily. Learn the essential keys to pet dog training. To receive more information visit the dog care website.