Care to Your Dog!

Have you ever tried to give your pet a pill?

Sure can be tricky…and scary too!

But when your pet is sick, it often has to be done.  That’s all part of pet heath care.

Next time you have to give your pet a pill, here are the 3 best, proven methods and some tips and tricks for each to make the job easier – for both you and your pet!

Method 1.  Encapsulate the pill in food.  If the medication can be taken with food, this is generally your best bet.  The best foods for dogs are butter, cheese, cream cheese, peanut butter, lunchmeat, liverwurst, bread, and bacon.  For cats, butter, tuna, cream cheese, baby food, and canned cat food work well.  Liverwurst works for cats too.

Experiment with different foods until you find something your pet likes and always praise them when you give it to them.  With the right combination, your pet may actually look forward to pill time.

Use a small bite-size amount of food.  Don’t bury the pill in your pet’s full meal portion because if he doesn’t finish it, he may not get the medication.

It’s often a good idea to occasionally give your pet the food without the pill, so he gets used to eating it quickly.  What you want is for your pet to gulp it down without a second thought.

Method 2.  Grind up the pill and blend it into some moist food.  Again, ensure that the medication can be taken with food.  Also, check with your vet to make sure crushing is OK.  The crushed pill will dissolve much faster in your pet’s stomach and some medications are intended to be digested slowly.

The best foods are those that are a little sticky and have a strong flavor of their own.  These include cream cheese, butter, peanut butter, liverwurst, and honey.  Again, use only a small portion size.

You can have your pet lick the food containing the ground medication off of your finger, or you can put it in their food dish, or spread it on a treat you already know they like.

Again, experiment until you find something your pet really likes and occasionally give them some of the food between pills.  Praise them lavishly whenever you give them the food, making it seem like they are getting a special treat.

Method 3.  Feed the pill to your pet directly.  Use this approach if the pill must be given on an empty stomach or if the pet won’t accept the pill hidden in their food.  Be careful though, as some pets can react badly to having the pill force-fed to them.  With cats, it is generally a good idea to wrap them in a towel to protect against getting scratched.

First, tilt your pet’s head back slightly, then carefully open their mouth and place the pill in the back part of their mouth.  Gently hold their mouth closed and slowly stroke them on their throat or blow on their nose until they swallow the pill.  With cats, it is a good idea to follow the pill with a small amount of water given from an eyedropper or syringe (no needle please).  This helps them to swallow the pill and protects against the pill abrading their esophagus.  Always be calm and gentle.  This will help your pet remain calm.

Whatever method you use to administer the pill, always check to make sure your pet has swallowed it.  Pets can be pretty clever in disposing of the pill when you aren’t looking, so never just assume it went down.

Important:  Learning how to administer pills is an important part of pet health care.  Find a method that works for your pet and always make sure your pet gets his or her meds on time every time.  As a pet owner, that is your responsibility.

Anyone who has ever started looking around for an animal to add to the family knows that getting a new pet can be very expensive, and it seems almost impossible to find a free pet. Many breeders ask for several hundred dollars, even for the smallest dogs or cats. Golden Retrievers are usually $700 to $800, Maine Coon cats can cost up to $900 or $1000, and rare exotic animals run much higher.

However, considering all of the pets in the world who are currently homeless, and are living in animal shelters without a loving family, it seems unreasonable and nonsensical to spend hundreds of dollars for a pet when there are so many who need to be saved.

While there are a number of animal rescue organizations and pet shelters around the country, there is only one resource which you should always start with, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Healthy Pets Aren’t Always Free

Before we examine why it’s best to start with the ASPCA, which does charge some fees for adopting and rescuing pets, it’s important to note that it is possible to find a free pet, if you are careful and follow a few important guidelines.

Searching through the classified ads in the newspaper or online classified ads like PetsAds or PetsClassifieds.us, you can locate listings for free pets that people are giving away. It’s critical to understand that most free pet ads are from people who are giving away their pets for the following reasons:

• They are moving to a place that doesn’t take pets.
• They can no longer afford to have a pet.
• They found a stray, but can’t keep it.

These are usually well-meaning people, but keep in mind that if they have a pet that they can no longer afford to keep, the pet may not be 100% healthy. If you do decide to take the classified ad route, just remember that most of the things that the fees pay for at the ASPCA, you will have to pay for anyway – including all shots, medical checkups and neutering.

It is perfectly okay to find free pets on your own, just remember that pets are never “free”. You will need to pay for the up-front (and continuing) health care for the rest of it’s life.

ASPCA and Pet Adoption

The ASPCA is a wonderful organization that helps to promote animal shelters and rescue organizations that take excellent care of animals across the country. At the ASPCA Website, you can adopt and save homeless animals in the following ways:

Find a Shelter

By clicking on the “Find a Shelter” link, you are taken to a search page where you can search for local animal shelters by city and state. The ASPCA doesn’t technically endorse the shelters listed by this utility, but it provides the search function to animal lovers who need a resource to find local shelters.

This is a very comprehensive National Shelter Directory, and it is a service to help families with lots of love to offer to connect with animals that need the love. Buying a pet from a local shelter is essentially like getting a free pet, because the fees to adopt a pet cover many of the upfront medical costs you were incur if you’d picked up the animal as a stray or free from a classified ad. Animal shelters take care of the upfront health concerns, so that when you adopt a pet from a shelter, you can be certain that the animal is healthy and well cared for.

In addition, many shelters offer a unique incentive for people to have their pets properly neutered by offering a discount or refund for the procedure with local vets.

ASPCA Adoption Center

The ASPCA Adoption Center provides listings of hundreds of cats and dogs who need a home. The main page of the adoption center explains everything you will need in order to adopt a pet. This is good to read even if you aren’t going to the ASPCA, because most shelters require the same information. Things you will need if planning to adopt a pet:

· Two forms of identification with your address on it (at least one picture ID)

· Two personal references who can be reached by phone

· Proof of vaccination for the pets that you already own.

· Proof of income

While this may seem excessive to some people, it’s important to understand that there are a lot of people out there who would not think twice about harming or being cruel to animals. The job of the ASPCA and all animal shelters across the country, is to protect animals from cruelty, and to make sure that animals are placed in homes where they have the best chances of being as loved and cared for as they deserve to be.

The benefits of adopting through the ASPCA (many animal shelters offer these same benefits):

• 14 days of free follow-up vet care
• A leash, collar, and pet carrier to help bring the animal home
• Educational literature about pet behavior and pet care
• Free spay/neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and registration, all provided as part of the adoption fee.

Obviously, the only good option for finding a free pet is going through the ASPCA, or through a local animal shelter. This will ensure that you are getting a healthy pet, and you can feel good about doing your part to save an animal from a live without a home, and without love.

Support Animal Rescue Efforts With a Portrait

When you adopt your new pet, show people how much you love your new furry friend by having a pet portrait done by professional artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. She will accept photos through the mail of pets, and then create stunning portraits from those pictures. Pet portraits are ideal because they can be done from a photo (as apposed to getting the pet to “pose” at a studio.)

The great thing about Nikky is that she’s a pet lover herself, and this is reflected in how she runs her business. Nikki donates 5% of every commission to an animal rescue foundation. This is a wonderful way that you can help to support the cause of animal rescue – and receiving a stunning portrait of your new pet in the process.

What happens when you run out of pet food in the middle of the day? The quickest way is to dash to the nearest pet store and replenish your pet supplies, as most online orders are not delivered immediately.

It requires a lot of energy and time to provide the best pet care to our animals. The pet store is the most convenient place to purchase all the pet supplies for your beloved pets, as they will usually have stocks on the products or services that are in high demand or most commonly bought by customers.

In a large city or big town, there should be dozens of pet stores situated near every residential area. You should look for a store that keeps their goods in a neat and hygienic manner. Perishable products such as food or anything with a shelf date should be sold within the validity date.

In addition, an up-market store should have the latest products that may help pet owners minimize on the amount of time spent on pet care.

Firstly, there is a need to groom your pet under a daily, bi-weekly or weekly schedule, as the activity is necessary to keep the animal’s coat healthy and shiny. Grooming is also essential, as it will also eradicate fleas and other parasites. The pet store should have hygiene and grooming products such as shampoos, skin lotions, bathing foams, deodorizers as well as a good range of grooming tools like nail clippers/files, rakes, combs and brushes. It should also have products on dental care and commonly used medications.

Other useful innovations that can be found in an up-market store are the automatic feeders and watering gadgets. These products give your pets access to food and water whenever there is a need, without the owner’s presence to attend to their meals. In addition to convenience, automated feeders build in the control of releasing food to animals with dietary needs. As animals usually tend to dehydrate more quickly, it is important to have water readily available to them.

There should also be some varieties of traveling aids such as specially designed harness, car seats and soft cages in the pet store. Pet owners can buy these aids when traveling with their pets in cars. If you choose to bring your pet out in a bicycle, there should be a range of baskets with different safety and security features available in the store.

Most of the pet store will usually stock up a variety of leads and collars for dogs or puppies. In addition to holding your pet’s registration tags, collars also give the animal a unique identity whereas the leads can be belt around your waist as you jog or stroll with your pet. You can buy a pocket pouch from the store to carry your pet if is a small animal like the Chihuahua. A muzzle will most likely be necessary if your pet is a large or dangerous dog, especially on occasions when humans need to be kept safe.

You should be able to find a good range of bedding materials in a variety of sizes and styles in the pet store. These will probably include kennels and mats for dogs, basket and cushion products for cats, cages for the birds and rodents as well as aquariums for fishes and tortoises. Rugs and blankets are also needed to keep your pets warm during cold weathers. These accommodations will ensure that your pets are able to rest comfortably.

In addition, you should be able to buy secure enclosures such as safety pet fences or cat fences at the store. These are soft wire mesh enclosures that can be placed in backyards or on balconies. Such blocking enclosures will keep your pet safe and prevent them from wandering off while having a stretch of exercises outdoors.

Finally yet importantly, your pet will enjoy the endless list of toys sold in the pet store. These may include balls, Frisbees and bones for dogs, scratching posts and tunnels for cats, mirrors for birds as well as racing tracks for rodents.

You may even find more pampering products, unusual toys, specialty clothing and other ‘hidden treasures’ when searching through the bigger pet store(s). A trip there will bring you and your pets plenty of joy and fun together.

Pet services have come a long, long way in the last few years. With the popularity of pet daycares, spas, pet clothing, and much more, pets and their owners have never had it so good! There are a lot of options for pet owners out there – no matter what it is that they want to do with their pet. However, there are still some difficulties in certain areas when it comes to pets, and traveling is probably the biggest area in which there are barriers for people with pets.
One of these travel barriers is the fact that all restaurants – even truck stops – do not allow pets inside. Unless your pet is a working dog, he or she will have to wait in the car while you dine! If you feel bad about this, consider buying your pet a treat at the restaurant and giving it to them afterwards.
Another travel barrier is paying extra cash for flying with your pet. Most airlines allow pets to fly, but not with their owners. Granted, the animal’s airfare will not be as much as the owner’s, but it is still an extra fee that some people do not like paying. Before you complain about the cost of flying with your pet though, call around to your local kennels and do some research on kennel costs these days. Add that to your guilt about leaving him or her behind, and paying that extra flying fee suddenly won’t seem so bad.
When you travel with your pet, you tend to be very limited on where you can go. A lot of the popular vacation destinations are just not animal friendly, and many places will not even allow pets – especially at hotels. If you search hard enough though, you will eventually find a few places that might be pet friendly, but they will not likely be any of the places that you have seen advertised on the media.
Even if you do manage to vacation at a place that is pet friendly, you will not be able to take your pet sight seeing at many places, and this can definitely put up a barrier to your travels! It is no fun to have to call around and try to get someone to pet sit for you while you are on vacation, or even just traveling from one destination to another.
Another travel barrier that you may encounter when you elect to bring your pet with you is the matter of bathroom breaks. You can’t exactly pull over just anywhere, and you won’t always have a litter box or newspaper handy. This can be the most frustrating part of traveling with your pet, and there is really no good solution to this issue. The most you can really do is keep a careful eye on your pet and monitor when and how much he or she eats and take bathroom breaks accordingly.
Traveling with your pet can cause some problems and difficulties, but some people would just rather have these issues than be without their pet for a long period of time. If you fall into this category, make sure you do your research before you make any decisions as to where you want to go, and you will be fine.