Top Ways to Keep Your Dogs and Cats Entertained

People often believe that if their pet has lots of love, water, food and proper medical care then they are set for life. Two items we often forget about are:

Giving them adequate physical exercise, and,

Plenty of mental challenges to stimulate their brains.

These two factors can increase their quality of life by leaps and bounds. ASPCA Animal Trainer, Kristen Collins, touts that “Pets need jobs.” Both dogs and cats have a need to be engaged and stay busy. Keep in mind that animals were created to take care of themselves by foraging or hunting for food and shelter. Although our pets have been domesticated, their energy levels and natural instincts still exist. More often than not our pets are bored and spend the day laying around waiting for us to return home from work. This is why animals get into mischief while we are away. They need simulation to deal with the overwhelming restless feeling. Much like children, dogs and cats that are left to their own devices must find new ways to entertain themselves. When you find your cat or dog gnawing or scratching on furniture or shoes, eating houseplants, tipping over the garbage can or spending excessive amounts of time barking or meowing, then it is time to take action (or, consider taking action before these behaviors occur). Several different workouts are recommended:

For Dogs:

Get moving — Healthy dogs need a minimum of one hour of aerobic exercise per day. Kristen recommends breaking this into 2 separate 30 minute sessions. Great ways to burn off that energy are jogging, playing at the dog park and swimming.

Games — Combine exercise with a lesson by involving your pet in structured games. These can be games such as tug-of war or fetch. These types of …

So you just got a pet and you’re preparing for your first vet visit! For many pets, a trip to the vet can be an extremely traumatic experience causing lots of anxiety; unfortunately the reason for this is often unknown other than simple fear of the unknown.   As a caring pet owner, you can’t just avoid the vet as that would put your pet’s health in jeopardy!  But there are some helpful steps you can take to ease your pet’s stress and make the appointment go as smoothly as possible.

1)    Avoid peak hours

Peak hours can vary depending on the day and clinic, however; most veterinary clinics are the busiest early in the morning and in the late afternoon-evening and on weekends.  You may be tempted to schedule your pet’s appointments during these times because they’re convenient.  But this can increase an animal’s stress level due to the crowdedness and other animals that will be around.    If possible, arrange your appointments for a less popular time.  You can even ask an employee at the clinic to figure out a day when there aren’t very many appointments booked!

2)    Bring treats

Dogs and cats love their treats and they are more likely to be obedient towards you if you have a reward.  You can guide your pet’s interest away from whatever chaos is going on around them by offering them treats.  You don’t have to bring treats every time, but consider it for the first vet visit, make it a special trip for your pet!

3)    Familiarize your pet

If you go to a local clinic that is within walking or quick driving distance, it is possible for you to drop by the office casually to get your pet acquainted with the area.  You should first explain your …

Most individuals place a significant amount of focus on the health and well-being of their family pet. If this is a concern for you, then it is important to take advantage of as many resources as possible, in order to improve the health and happiness of your animal friend. The utilisation of vets for pets is a necessary investment that every pet owner must make to avoid many potentially catastrophic health risks, which animals can fall victim to. Two of the most important veterinary services that a pet owner can take advantage of are the utilisation of vaccines and neutering.

Most individuals understand the incredible importance associated with taking advantage of vaccines during a person’s youth. These vaccines represent sources of defence for your body and help to encourage a strong immune system. Vaccinations for dogs act in the same way, as they help to prevent several important diseases from being transmitted to your pet. These diseases could otherwise prove to be catastrophic to your pet’s health. By taking advantage of the knowledge of a trained veterinarian, you will be able to identify the appropriate time periods in which vaccinations should be pursued to maximize the health of your pet.

In addition to the advantages that exist with vaccinations, another important health factor to take advantage of is found with desexing dogs and cats. Unless you have the intention of breeding your pet, it is vital that you take advantage of the opportunities that are available with neutering. There are a tremendous number of animals who are abandoned each year, as a result of uncontrolled breeding. When you take the time to have your pet desexed, you will discover a wide number of advantages that will prove beneficial to both the pet and the pet owner.

For your …

Here’s some statistical food for thought: according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA) 2009/2010 National Pet Owners Survey, 62 percent of U.S. households own a pet. In its pet ownership breakdown, the APPA reports that American households include 77.5 million dogs, 93.6 million cats, 13.3 million horses and 15 million birds. Clearly, a lot of pets are living with families that will experience divorce.

How does divorce law deal with pets? By law, property acquired during marriage is presumed to be community property. If one spouse proves that a pet was acquired before the marriage, for example, it is considered separate property and the community property presumption is overcome.

In a divorce or legal separation, community property must be divided, resulting in the property settlement. When the pet is community property, the animal’s best interest doesn’t apply, at least not directly. But that is changing.

Earlier this summer in Maryland, Judge Graydon S. McKee III made national news when he ruled that divorcing spouses Gale and Craig Myers would share custody of “Lucky,” their adopted Lhasa Apso. Lucky will spend six months with Gale and six months with Craig. As neither party objected to the judge’s novel decision, it is final. As McKee noted, “It was very clear that both of them love this dog  only fair thing to do was to give each one an equal chance to share in the love of the dog.” Love of the dog? Now that is something novel in the law!

The more time spent debating the future of a family’s furry or feathered companion, the more rancorous a divorce can become. So, if a prenuptial agreement is in the works in contemplation of marriage, consider designing your pet’s future in advance. And if a divorce is imminent or pending, …

Finding the Cat of Your Dreams

Cats are pretty amazing creatures. They’re one of the two most popular pets in the world. And unlike dogs, they pretty much made a choice to share their lives with us. It’s led to a shockingly independent but also loving companion animal. 

Finding the Cat of Your Dreams

In fact, they’ve been such a part of human life that there’s a number of different breeds out there. And there’s some things to keep in mind when deciding on a particular breed of cat. One of the biggest is medical need. Different breeds of cat tend to have different requirements. 

Some breeds of cat even do better with a daily walk outside. Others should be kept indoors. And sometimes it’s highly dependent on the climate. But there’s one other thing to keep in mind. Different breeds of cat also come with different prices. 

Take a Bengal for example. Although, with any Bengal Queens for Sale you probably won’t spend $5,000 or more. But you should expect price ranges to sit somewhere on that level. And if you’re intending to use the queen for breeding than there’s a host of other issues to consider. For example, consider how much medical intervention is required for human births. This isn’t something totally unique to our biology. Instead, it’s about the fact that we place so much importance on the life of both mother and child in that situation. 

If you’re focusing on breeding a queen than you’ll be working just as hard on her pregnancy. This means regular visits to the vet, special food and a lot of extra attention. But if you keep that in mind there’s benefits as well. 

One of the biggest is the simple fact that Bengals are among the most beautiful house cat in all the world. They have the graceful appearance and coloring …