Your Animal Friends

Welcome to you and your Pets in 2012

2012-01-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

I hope you had a fun, happy and safe new years eve and none of your pets ran away because of all the noise in the neighborhood and the fireworks.

Make 2012 the year where you and your pets are very happy. Reduce stress brought on by work, family and other issues by spending more time with your dog or cat. (or rat, mouse, bird etc)

Sit down and brush your pet, pat your pet, they will love it and re pay you in love and affection. Take your dog for a walk to maintain a healthy weight for you and your dog.

If you are in a colder area now in winter, remember to think about your pets, does your aged pet need a bit of help from the vet to help manage their arthritis. Is your pet warm enough? Do they have a good, waterproof shelter or coat? You may want to consider a warming pad or heated bed.

If you pet is lucky enough to live inside make sure they don't sit too close to the heater that they burn themselves.

Caring for your Kitten / Cat ....... Part 1

2011-02-16T18:14:00.000-08:00

Bedding
Food
Teeth
Vaccinations
Microchipping
Litter box training

Bedding

When you have taken your kitten home, you must find an area where it will sleep. A kitten only needs a padded box or basket to call its own. Put their bedding in an out-of-the-way corner of a room.

After you have spent your hard earned money on their perfect bed & found the best spot for it – your kitten will disregard it and choose to sleep wherever it likes (which will probably be your bed!)

An outdoors cat needs a tight, dry house for protection from wind, cold and rainy weather. The cat house should be big enough for your cat to stand up & turn around easily. It needs to be easy to clean & treated regularly with insecticides to control fleas, ticks & worms.

Quote:"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." - Ellen Perry Berkeley

Food

To get the best start & to ensure that your kitten is healthy, at:

· 0 – 6 weeks old - fed them continuously as they need it

· 6 – 12 weeks old - Feed them 3-4 times a day

· 3 – 6 months old – feed them 3 times a day

· 6 – 7 months old feed them 2 meals a day

The everyday diet should consist of canned or dry food, table scraps (incl. eggs). Cats do not need high levels of cereals in their diet.

Brands such as EUKANUBA, ADVANCE and IAMS are concentrated and contain only amino acids and proteins derived from animals, both are important in your cat’s diet. They are more expensive than the mall brands but well worth buying as you actually need less food (because it’s more concentrated), it helps clean their teeth, & their breath & results in your kitten/ cat having less smelly poo.

Cats should have raw meaty bones 3 – 4 times a week, the best bones are from the upper body of cattle or sheep (lamb cutlets, chops). Do NOT feed them chicken bones as there is a risk of gut infections in your kitten/cat.

Now everyone loves to give their cat a bowl of milk, but you should AVOID milk & other dairy products – as these can lead to stomach upsets. Water is fine for cats. Fresh, clean water should always be available.

Also avoid feeding your kitten or cat liver, raw fish or meat by itself regularly.

How to look after your kittens teeth

If you feed your kitten the raw meaty bones suggested above this will minimise the amount of dental calculus & gum disease.

Cats usually shed their temporary fang teeth at 6-7 months old teeth.

Quote:"It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens."Cynthia E. Varnado

Microchipping

This is essential – in the unlikely (but probable) event that your kitten goes wondering or gets lost (if you have just moved house or it freaks out during a storm & just runs & runs). Any vet or animal control can scan your pet & retrieve the number from the microchip & find your details & contact you so that you can be reunited. A scary statistic is that 80% of all pets without microchips who are separated from their owners never make it back home!

The microchip is a painless procedure that implants a microchip the same size as a grain of rice just under the cats skin around the back of the neck/shoulders area.

Keep your original paperwork when you microchipped your kitten & Don’t forget to change your contact information when you move or change your phone number. So that you can be contacted if your pet is lost – there is nothing worse for a vet than ringing the contact information and it is no longer valid!

Litter-Box Training

Mother cats usually teach their kittens to use the litter box.

You can reinforce this training by placing the kitten in the litter box after feeding or playing. Repeat this several times until the kitten uses the litter box automatically

Quote:"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." Hippolyte Taine

Vaccinations

The following schedule is suggested, but ask your vet for their advice & the vaccinations that they would recommend for your cat & your area.

8 weeks:

Pneumonitis
Distemper vaccine
Intestinal parasite screen
Worming (for intestinal parasites)

8 to 10 weeks:

Calcivirus
Feline Leukemia Virus/FIV test
Feline Leukemia vaccine (only for cats at high risk)
Panleucopia
Rhinotracheitis
Distemper vaccine
Intestinal parasite screen
Worming (for intestinal parasites)

12 to 14 weeks:

Calcivirus
Feline Leukemia Virus
Panleucopenia
Rhinotracheitis
Distemper vaccine

2 to 4 months:

Feline Leukemia Virus

One Year:

One-year Rabies vaccine (For rabies, some states require annual revaccinations or revaccinations from 1 to 3 years.)
Worming (for intestinal parasites)
Feline Leukemia vaccine (only for cats at high risk)

Flea Facts or "that's why it's so hard to get rid of fleas"

2011-02-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Usually animals pick up fleas from flea infested environments, NOT by fleas jumping from one animal to another.
A flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day and up to 2000 eggs in its lifetime. During this time, the eggs are laid on the host, but they fall off into the environment where the eggs develop to mobile larvae then to pupae (dormant encased young fleas).
All stages of the flea lifecycle are sensitive to dryness and low temperatures. To develop normally,the eggs require humidity and protection from sunlight. The best humidity and sunlight protection places are typically the carpets, floor mats, in between the sofa cushions, under indoor furniture, under the house, under the kennel, in between cracks in floorboards and pet bedding.
Only 5% of the flea's life is spent actually on your pet, the other 95% of flea life stages live in the environment and can survive for up to 12 months.
Flea larvae are very mobile and they will move away from high traffic areas to under appliances and furniture and other sheltered areas in the house.

Stop Fleas with these Strategies!

2011-02-08T19:31:00.000-08:00

***The aim of any successful Flea Rid Program is to kill all the immature lifecycle stages of the flea. ***
The problem with the immature life stages is that they are almost invisible.

You need to not only treat all household pets but the environment they live in as well. Unfortunately this phase of treatment can take about 1-3 months to complete.

Three areas need to be treated at the same time:

1. the animal,

2. inside the home &

3. outside the home (including under the house & the garden)

1. The Animal

Use a monthly flea control treatment - such as Advantage, Advantix (treats fleas & ticks), Frontline plus (fleas & ticks), Revolution (fleas & heartworm). They are available for both dogs & cats, and need to be applied every 4 weeks, and sometimes more than that. Apply the product at least 1 day after a bath - try not to bath your animals too much as you will wash away the product.

Use Comfortis or Capstar tablets as needed.

* Capstar can be used every 1-3 days initially to kill adult fleas, which should prevent further egg production and reducing overall environmental contamination. It can be helpful to the monthly topical products above, if given at the end of the 2^nd and 3^rd weeks in the monthly cycle after their application.

* Comfortis is an exciting new product given monthly and which should not need the use of the monthly topicals.

* Both drugs are especially useful for dogs that need washing, or swim lots. Compatible with all other insecticides used concurrently.

* or use a natural pyrethrin rinse

You need to continue to treat your pet with the monthly treatment all year round to help prevent further infestations from developing.

2. Inside the Home ... Treat all areas in your house by:

Vacuuming all accessible areas, move furniture if necessary, and remove cushions from sofas. Use the nozzle end for hard to reach places.
Then use a hand held insecticidal aerosol SURFACE spray to spray where the immature flea stages may be (eg. Raid etc). Make sure you spray horizontally under indoor furniture & appliances, because the flea larvae hate light (eg. under dishwashers, inside cat scratching towers, bookcases & washing machines).
Then repeat this vacuum & surface spray application again 2 weeks later

No need to buy the “flea bombs” are not as effective as the hand held sprays because their active ingredient only falls vertically. The most effective treatment is to spray horizontal. The average home with pets accessing all areas will need about 2-3 cans per application

Pet Bedding...
Pet bedding can be shaken well to remove immature stages, vacuumed, and then surface sprayed, and left in full sun for the day. Get rid of any bedding where it would be difficult to dislodge the immature fleas stages eg. carpet, old mattresses, bedding in the kennel.

3. Outside the home ... try to stop your pet from getting underneath the house.

Using a watering can or garden pump spray - Spray the following areas with a “wet” insecticide. (Any other brand of insecticide designed for use outdoors & can make a large volume.) Read the manufacturers instructions! Spray these areas:

the garage/carport, paved areas, under/around the dog kennel.
any outdoor/under-house areas including under barbeques & outdoor furniture that are away from full sun
Consider professional pesticide control if the problem is severe and persistent.

Don’t allow your pet to contact any sprayed area while it is obviously damp with insecticide. Cats are especially sensitive as they groom themselves continuously.

***Repeat the treatment outside the home two weeks later

2011-01-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2011! I absolutely love animals especially dogs and cats, and fish. Life is so much more enjoyable with a pet.

There is nothing better than sitting down watching tv with a purring cat on your lap and a happy dog at your feet. Have you spent time with your pets today? Go and pat them, walk with them, play with them- you will feel great !

Get a dog, improve your fitness and your state of mind! They are always happy to see you and they are fun to have around.