It is imperative to clip your cat’s claws on a regular basis. When this isn’t done, a cat’s claws can grow into its paw pads, which may result in pain and infection. A veterinarian will be happy to show you how to properly trim a cat’s nails in a way that will not harm the animal. While many people choose to have their cats declawed, this is not the only way to eliminate its scratching. It can also be very painful for the pet. Felines can be trained to scratch only in designated areas, such as a well-designed post.
cat owners should do as much research as possible regarding the proper care of cats. They should also own at least one book or pamphlet on emergency first aid. By familiarizing yourself with emergency procedures, you could possibly save your cat’s life. Do not attempt to treat your cat with any medications, like aspirin, ibuprofen or suphedrine. Many medicines intended for humans can be poisonous to cats.
Dogs may be a man’s best friend, but many animal lovers adore keeping cats as pets because of the animal’s warm yet independent spirit. There are steps that you can take to keep your pet healthy and to avoid any issues or concerns. By using a combination of care, prevention and pet health products, you can ensure your cat’s companionship for years to come.
There are two important ways in which you can maintain your cat’s health and happiness. Scheduling annual veterinarian check-ups allow a professional to give special care and attention to your cat. This allows the vet to stay current with the shots and regular exams that felines require. Paying attention to any physical changes in your pet will give you a better idea of your pet’s health. Investing in a few specialized, approved pet health products can also make a significant difference.
Conduct an overall evaluation of your cat when you are petting or sitting with it. Take a quick look at the animal from nose to tail. It is smart to do this on a regular basis and at a set time, your pet will grow accustomed to it and you will not forget its daily check-up. Alert your veterinarian if you discover any potential concerns. Begin with your cat’s head. Are its eyes clear and alert? Are its ears pink and clean? Do the ears give off a pungent smell that seems abnormal? Have bugs appeared as a dark, thick formation inside the cat’s ears? Are its gums pink and teeth healthy, clean and strong? Does tartar reside along the gum line? Has your cat developed unpleasant breath?
Gently feel and inspect your pet’s body for sores, lumps, puffiness, bumps, scratches, parasites or irregularities. Keep an eye out for flea dirt, which is similar in appearance to black pepper and appears red when dampened. Check your cat’s paws, ears and tail.
Feel free to ask your vet any questions that you may have. Don’t be afraid to verify what is and isn’t normal.
Regularly brushing your cat keeps it looking neat and tidy. Rubber brushes remove dead skin cells and loose hair. Combs that are specially designed for a cat help lift fleas and small bugs out of its hair
for:htt://www.pictures-of-cat.com
2008年9月17日星期三
2008年9月5日星期五
More and more Pit Bull owners are realizing the benefits of training their dogs. There are several reasons why an owner would like to train their pet, other than just the obvious housebreaking which is mandatory. A pet which is well trained, no matter the breed, is a pet liked and admired by any and all that come in contact with him. All pets, and certainly the Pit Bull, can not only benefit themselves, but their entire breed by making a good showing around company.
Responsible Pit Bull owners are now seeing the light that the only way to combat the negative attack campaign the media has launched against our misunderstood breed is to make sure our pets make a good showing no matter where they go.
As a responsible Pit Bull owner, you have several training options available for your use. Which method you choose to use for training your Pit Bull is solely left up to your own discretion. It is highly recommended that before you train your Pit Bull that you are up to the task at hand, and fully understand the training method you choose to use.
Here are several popular training types being used by trainers today.
After The Fact Discipline: This type of training is not recommended because it is not effective. It has been used for correcting behavior after an act has happened, rather than focusing on the prevention of the act.
Clicker Training: This type of training is a method of teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors with a motivational style. The goal of clicker training is to teach the dog obedience while avoiding harmful punishments.
Eclectic Training Method: Combines several different training methods, while emphasizing the method which seems to deliver the best behavioral results. This method uses the different methods to reinforce each other.
Koehler Method: This method has been deemed a heavy handed style of dog training which to many is simply too harsh. This method combines physical correction with the after-the-fact training style.
Lure Training: Lure training is great for nearly all dogs. It uses something that the dog likes, such as a toy or a special treat to teach commands. Over time, the lure is slowly removed from the training. Lure training is great for puppies as well as timid or dogs which are difficult to train. This method of training often succeeds where other fail.
Play Training: Play training is a motivational training method which takes two of the dog’s primary drives, play and prey, and combines it into a fun filled training session which the dogs love. You know your Pit Bull better than anyone, so it is up to you how you’d like to go about training him. By picking a method which you think would appeal to you both, you’ll insure a successful experience in training your Pit Bull.
Responsible Pit Bull owners are now seeing the light that the only way to combat the negative attack campaign the media has launched against our misunderstood breed is to make sure our pets make a good showing no matter where they go.
As a responsible Pit Bull owner, you have several training options available for your use. Which method you choose to use for training your Pit Bull is solely left up to your own discretion. It is highly recommended that before you train your Pit Bull that you are up to the task at hand, and fully understand the training method you choose to use.
Here are several popular training types being used by trainers today.
After The Fact Discipline: This type of training is not recommended because it is not effective. It has been used for correcting behavior after an act has happened, rather than focusing on the prevention of the act.
Clicker Training: This type of training is a method of teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors with a motivational style. The goal of clicker training is to teach the dog obedience while avoiding harmful punishments.
Eclectic Training Method: Combines several different training methods, while emphasizing the method which seems to deliver the best behavioral results. This method uses the different methods to reinforce each other.
Koehler Method: This method has been deemed a heavy handed style of dog training which to many is simply too harsh. This method combines physical correction with the after-the-fact training style.
Lure Training: Lure training is great for nearly all dogs. It uses something that the dog likes, such as a toy or a special treat to teach commands. Over time, the lure is slowly removed from the training. Lure training is great for puppies as well as timid or dogs which are difficult to train. This method of training often succeeds where other fail.
Play Training: Play training is a motivational training method which takes two of the dog’s primary drives, play and prey, and combines it into a fun filled training session which the dogs love. You know your Pit Bull better than anyone, so it is up to you how you’d like to go about training him. By picking a method which you think would appeal to you both, you’ll insure a successful experience in training your Pit Bull.
2008年9月1日星期一
Dog Fleas: Fido's Pesky Little Friends
When summer comes around, so do fleas -- those little creatures that can make your dog's life (and yours) miserable. There are things you can do to minimize the chances of flea infestation and other measures you can take if they have already invaded your home.
First let’s look at the steps necessary to keep the fleas away; without using chemicals. This natural flea prevention will work best to prevent fleas from taking hold and can also be used if you have a very light flea infestation.
Keep your carpets vacuumed! Vacuum daily and get some wide tape to seal up the vacuum bags as soon as you remove them from the vacuum cleaner. If you DON'T have small children around, use pennyroyal leaves either fresh (if available) or dried and spread them around your carpet to repel fleas.
Keep your dog's bedding clean by washing it in warm water and soap. When it is dry apply some cedar oil to the bedding to help repel the fleas. Keep the area around your dog's bed free of dust and dirt.
Give your dog a bath once a week with cedar shampoo (bathing more frequently may dry out its skin). If your dog does get dry skin it will attract fleas -- just what you don't want. Give a dog with dry skin some Linatone oil mixed with its food. Something else you can mix, in very small doses, with your dogs food to repel fleas is a mixture of garlic and brewer's yeast. With this mixture in the dog's system, it will give off a scent that you won't be able to notice but fleas will notice it and they hate it.
If you mix lavender oil (60 ml) with rock salt (2.8 liters) you will have a great flea repellent that can be spread around the places where your dog goes and can also be used as a dog shampoo.
Fill your outside flower beds with marigolds -- they have natural flea repellent properties and also repel other bugs.
Try boiling either lemon peels or orange peels in water to create a solution that can be used as a dog dip and can be used on the dogs bedding before washing it.
Another effective dog dip, if you are experiencing a light infestation, is warm water, shampoo and laundry detergent; immerse the dog’s body in this for ten or fifteen minutes and then rinse thoroughly.
If you have a heavy flea infestation you may have to resort to chemicals -- all these products can be used safely if you follow the directions that come with the products.
Advantage. Advantage is a flea poison made by Bayer. Apply the Advantage (liquid) to the dog's coat as directed. Advantage should work for about one month, Advantage's active ingredient, imidacloprid, upsets the nervous system of any flea that comes in contact with it. Advantage kills flea's fast and should kill all the fleas on the dog in about two days; but it is not absorbed into the dog's bloodstream or internal organs. The active ingredient, imidacloprid is a chloronicotinyl nitroguanidine, integrated from the nitromethylene class of a compound. The imidacloprid affects the nicotinyl receptor sites of insects and upsets the flea's normal nerve transmission, resulting in death. Advantage costs $15 to $20 for a set of two vials.
Frontline. Frontline is very similar to Advantage but it is not water soluble; this means alcohol is required to wash it off the dog. Frontline is safe for use on puppies as well as adult dogs, kittens and adult cats and it will work for approximately four months.
The active ingredients in Frontline include: Fipronil 5-amino -1- (2, 6-dichloro-4 [trifluoromethyl]phenyl) -4- (1,R,S)- (trifluoromethyl0sulfinyl) -1H-pryazole-3-carbonitrile 0.29% inert ingredients 99.71%. Fipronil, from the new phenylpyrazole class, is very effective at killing fleas by attacking their nervous systems. Fipronil is safe for use on dogs and cats that are not allergic to it. Tests have shown that Fipronil will kill up to 95% of a pet's fleas within two hours and all the fleas within the first 24 hours -- ticks are killed instantly on contact.
Knockout. Knockout is as effective as Frontline and works in the same way but Knockout can not be used on cats.
Knockout's active ingredients are: Pyriproxyfen: 21[1-methyl-2-(phenoxyphenoxy)ethyoxy] pyridine....0.05% cyclopropanecarboxylate 2.00% inert ingredients 97.95% Knockout also contains NYLAR, a flea-growth regulator.
Biospot. Biospot is used topically, like the other products and, in tests, killed up to three quarters of the fleas, ticks and their eggs; like Knockout, Biospot can NOT be safely used on cats. Biospot works for about one month and can also be used as a mosquito repellant. Biospot has been known to temporarily turn the white hair on a dogs coat to yellow.
Biospot contains permethrins and IGR.
Proban and Prospot. The Proban (cythioate) and Prospot (Fenthion) products are also for use on dogs only and they are very popular. Proban and Prospot are actually absorbed in the dog’s bloodstream, poisoning any fleas that bite the dog. The fact that these products are poisonous to fleas combined with the fact that you are actually allowing this poison to be absorbed in the dog's blood stream, may be cause for concern. There are no published (or known?) side effects. Another factor to consider about these last two products is that they do not repel fleas, they will only work if a flea bites the dog -- if the dog has a flea allergy this would not be the product of choice.
First let’s look at the steps necessary to keep the fleas away; without using chemicals. This natural flea prevention will work best to prevent fleas from taking hold and can also be used if you have a very light flea infestation.
Keep your carpets vacuumed! Vacuum daily and get some wide tape to seal up the vacuum bags as soon as you remove them from the vacuum cleaner. If you DON'T have small children around, use pennyroyal leaves either fresh (if available) or dried and spread them around your carpet to repel fleas.
Keep your dog's bedding clean by washing it in warm water and soap. When it is dry apply some cedar oil to the bedding to help repel the fleas. Keep the area around your dog's bed free of dust and dirt.
Give your dog a bath once a week with cedar shampoo (bathing more frequently may dry out its skin). If your dog does get dry skin it will attract fleas -- just what you don't want. Give a dog with dry skin some Linatone oil mixed with its food. Something else you can mix, in very small doses, with your dogs food to repel fleas is a mixture of garlic and brewer's yeast. With this mixture in the dog's system, it will give off a scent that you won't be able to notice but fleas will notice it and they hate it.
If you mix lavender oil (60 ml) with rock salt (2.8 liters) you will have a great flea repellent that can be spread around the places where your dog goes and can also be used as a dog shampoo.
Fill your outside flower beds with marigolds -- they have natural flea repellent properties and also repel other bugs.
Try boiling either lemon peels or orange peels in water to create a solution that can be used as a dog dip and can be used on the dogs bedding before washing it.
Another effective dog dip, if you are experiencing a light infestation, is warm water, shampoo and laundry detergent; immerse the dog’s body in this for ten or fifteen minutes and then rinse thoroughly.
If you have a heavy flea infestation you may have to resort to chemicals -- all these products can be used safely if you follow the directions that come with the products.
Advantage. Advantage is a flea poison made by Bayer. Apply the Advantage (liquid) to the dog's coat as directed. Advantage should work for about one month, Advantage's active ingredient, imidacloprid, upsets the nervous system of any flea that comes in contact with it. Advantage kills flea's fast and should kill all the fleas on the dog in about two days; but it is not absorbed into the dog's bloodstream or internal organs. The active ingredient, imidacloprid is a chloronicotinyl nitroguanidine, integrated from the nitromethylene class of a compound. The imidacloprid affects the nicotinyl receptor sites of insects and upsets the flea's normal nerve transmission, resulting in death. Advantage costs $15 to $20 for a set of two vials.
Frontline. Frontline is very similar to Advantage but it is not water soluble; this means alcohol is required to wash it off the dog. Frontline is safe for use on puppies as well as adult dogs, kittens and adult cats and it will work for approximately four months.
The active ingredients in Frontline include: Fipronil 5-amino -1- (2, 6-dichloro-4 [trifluoromethyl]phenyl) -4- (1,R,S)- (trifluoromethyl0sulfinyl) -1H-pryazole-3-carbonitrile 0.29% inert ingredients 99.71%. Fipronil, from the new phenylpyrazole class, is very effective at killing fleas by attacking their nervous systems. Fipronil is safe for use on dogs and cats that are not allergic to it. Tests have shown that Fipronil will kill up to 95% of a pet's fleas within two hours and all the fleas within the first 24 hours -- ticks are killed instantly on contact.
Knockout. Knockout is as effective as Frontline and works in the same way but Knockout can not be used on cats.
Knockout's active ingredients are: Pyriproxyfen: 21[1-methyl-2-(phenoxyphenoxy)ethyoxy] pyridine....0.05% cyclopropanecarboxylate 2.00% inert ingredients 97.95% Knockout also contains NYLAR, a flea-growth regulator.
Biospot. Biospot is used topically, like the other products and, in tests, killed up to three quarters of the fleas, ticks and their eggs; like Knockout, Biospot can NOT be safely used on cats. Biospot works for about one month and can also be used as a mosquito repellant. Biospot has been known to temporarily turn the white hair on a dogs coat to yellow.
Biospot contains permethrins and IGR.
Proban and Prospot. The Proban (cythioate) and Prospot (Fenthion) products are also for use on dogs only and they are very popular. Proban and Prospot are actually absorbed in the dog’s bloodstream, poisoning any fleas that bite the dog. The fact that these products are poisonous to fleas combined with the fact that you are actually allowing this poison to be absorbed in the dog's blood stream, may be cause for concern. There are no published (or known?) side effects. Another factor to consider about these last two products is that they do not repel fleas, they will only work if a flea bites the dog -- if the dog has a flea allergy this would not be the product of choice.
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