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Dog

Natural Remedies For Cats With Fleas

If you live in a damp climate, chances are your pet, house and lawn have fleas. Fleas are the toughest parasite to get rid of and it takes a little work. Fleas are worse in the summer months, but they still hang around in the cooler months. Cats and dogs are warm-blooded animals, so fleas live in their skin to eat, breathe and make more fleas. If your pet has fleas, there are hundreds living on his skin.

They suck the pet’s blood and more fleas multiply. Your cat or dog is going crazy scratching and biting to get rid of these pesty invaders. There are spot on vials to kill the fleas, but they are loaded with toxic pesticides that can cause serious long-term illness to your pet. The best solution is to use natural remedies for cats with fleas that are safe and non-toxic.

When cats groom themselves, they ingest the fleas that turn into tapeworms affecting their health even more. Dogs and cats with fleas experience anemia, diarrhea, vomiting, fur loss, dull looking coat, loss of weight and loss of appetite. By using natural remedies for fleas will alleviate these problems.

Cedar Oil kills fleas on your pet, in the house and in the yard. Triple Sure by Natural Wonder has an amazing product for pets. It is a spray, so you need to lightly mist your pet, run a flea comb through her to spread it out. You may need to reapply the cedar oil spray two to three times.

The house and yard need to be treated also. Vacuum carpet thoroughly and mop floors with vinegar and borax. Borax kills fleas by dehydrating them. It is available in the laundry isle of your grocery store. Sprinkle and cover carpet and furniture with Borax. Grind in with a squeegee or sponge mop. You can leave it until the next time you vacuum. It is safe and will not harm the kids or pets.

Wash all the bedding including any pet beds and spray cedar in and around the pet area. You can purchase a stronger solution of Cedar Oil at your local feed and seed store to treat the outside of your home. Cover the perimeter of your house, gardens bushes and lawn.

These natural remedies for fleas are 100% safe for your family and pets. You may notice scratches, loss of fur and scabs on your pet. Purchase some Aloe Vera Gel at the health food store and apply it to your pet twice daily until she is healed up.

Your pet will feel and look great once she is flea free. I have used these natural remedies for fleas on all my cats and had great success. The cats, house and yard are flea free and stay that way because I keep it treated throughout the seasons where I live in the Midwest.…

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Dog Rescue

Is Your Cat Getting Enough Of This?

Water is a basic element we all need and cats are no exception. It accounts for up to 75 percent of your cat’s weight and it helps her digest food, eliminate waste and regulate body temperature.

The amount of water your cat needs will vary based on a few things including their activity level and diet, but ensuring she is getting enough water is important. Hydration is one of the factors that can contribute to urinary tract problems, which can in turn lead to other problems. But there are a few things you can do to make sure your cat is regularly getting enough water.

Ways To Encourage Proper Hydration

Fresh water should always be available to your cat, ideally in more than one location. You may even try moving one source of water around to see where your cat likes it best. Having more than one water dish is especially important if you have more than one cat.

Consider getting a re-circulating water fountain. Many cats like to drink running water. These water fountains encourage some cats to drink more often.

Another great way to get more water into your cat’s diet is by feeding her wet or canned cat food. This is especially important if your cat has had a feline urinary tract issues in the past. You can even add a little extra water to the food if you feel she isn’t drinking enough on her own.

What You Feed Your Cat Is Important

Besides adding some wet cat food to your cat’s diet the type of food you choose is important as well. If feline urinary tract infections are of concern choose a food that is low in magnesium.

To keep your cat as healthy as possible choose a natural cat food that uses whole food ingredients instead of by-products. Companies that make natural and organic cat foods often pay more attention to the ingredients in the food and in most cases they use better quality ingredients to encourage optimum feline health.

Litter Boxes

The other side of hydration of course involves litter boxes. Having clean litter boxes in out of the way places is important as well. If you have multiple cats you should have more than one litter box.

Taking a few easy steps to ensure your cat is eating and drinking well will help keep her healthier and it may cut her risk of some common cat health problems down the road.…

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Dog

Getting Your Cat Ready for a New Baby

Having a new baby join your home is a change for everyone there. It is no different for pets that you have. Indoor pets are, especially, affected by the new bundle of joy. They may see a new baby as an intruder to their territory. There are some things you can do to get your cat ready to share the home with a new child.

Before you begin your training make sure that your cat is healthy. A check-up with a veterinarian is a good idea if your pet hasn’t had one lately. A couple other basic things to do are to play sounds of a baby to let your pet get used to the sound of a newborn human and to let him or her explore the nursery. Don’t let the cat set up camp in the nursery, though. This will make the situation worse when the baby starts using the room and displaces the cat.

If the child isn’t born yet and the pregnant woman is the person that does most of the caring for the cat, the responsibilities should be shifted before delivery. Cleaning the litter box should have already been a duty given to someone else for health reasons. Feeding and playtime should also be taken over by someone else in the house. This will keep the cat from feeling as jealous of the baby taking all of the mother’s time after the child comes home.

Get your cat used to the sounds and smells that come with having a baby in the house. Set up the baby swing and let it swing empty. Put some baby powder on a couple blankets and play with some baby toys. Allow your pet to associate these sounds and smells with you or the other caregivers before the child is in the picture.

Crib covers are available to keep the cat from getting into the crib and thinking that is his or her new bed. These can be used after the child comes home, as well. Another idea is to replace the door on the nursery with a screen door. This will allow you to keep the cat from getting into the room but still allowing you to hear if the baby is awake or upset.…

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Dog

Animals in the Wild – Television Viewing at Its Finest

Some of TV’s finest moments come from performances that don’t involve trained actors. TV documentaries fascinate many people. News and information shows also serve to “entertain” those who thirst for knowledge.
Wacky programming that feature dysfunctional individuals with over-the-top problems help create an audience for people like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. Their shows are far-out and, while the problems presented may be real, live audiences don’t share in the pain shown by invited guests. They often squeal with laughter at them.
However, there is a TV format that is worthy of respect and the time it takes to watch an entire show unfold. This format, generally presented by National Geographic, follows the daily lives of animals in the wild. This is truly fascinating TV – educational and very entertaining, absorbing and often exciting – words from an encyclopedia that come “thrillingly” to life.
I, for one, believe that TV that educates often does a better job of entertaining than TV that intends only to entertain. In other words, trailing “gorillas in the mist” is far more entertaining than today’s hottest half hour sitcom.
Others may disagree, but that is what I believe… and feel. Education is intoxicating. Education you can “see” is almost irresistible. I love it and I’m not alone. When you tune in to one of these shows and see close-up footage of lions in their natural habitat – resting during the day, hunting in the night – you wonder (at least I wonder) what the photographer had to endure to get the film footage. Surely, there was no 5-star hotel nearby.
Moreover, “getting the footage” had to be incredibly dangerous. Wild animals follow their instincts and that can turn a photographer who is not careful into prey. In fact, that happened several years ago to a “naturalist” who had dedicated his life to living part of each year in the habitat of grizzly bears.
His experiences lasted for thirteen years until a grizzly turned on him, attacked and killed him. It’s a dangerous life, but it must be a satisfying life, as well. The film footage of bears… lions… wildebeest… crocodiles… and so many other forms of wildlife make TV interesting, entertaining, educational and incredibly compelling. I love it.…

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Dog Adoption

African Grey Parrots And Stress

The grey parrots may have many behavioral problems and most of them are caused by the human?s lack of understanding that it is first of all a prey bird and has little to do with a life in captivity. Many people fail to understand that and won?t allow that bird to manifest like a bird.

The grey parrots are exotic birds and come from strange lands. As strange as we find those lands, the same is for the parrots. They are not accustomed with the habits, the language or any other form of communication. A person should accept the parrot because the parrot also tries to understand the human behavior and tries to understand and live in peace with the human being.

Grey parrots caught in the wild are not aggressive when they are in a pair or breeding. They feel fear, which is justified, when they feel the presence of a human being, but they don?t have violent reactions. Usually, they share food, they play and they interact in a non ? violent manner. Strangely, the grey parrots who act more violently while breeding or in pairs are the domestic ones.

The domestic grey parrots have a few reasons to become aggressive:

* They loose the respect and consideration for themselves when they are in captivity.

* They loose the desire to live safe.

* They are affected by human aggression because avian species knows that pain or aggression mean death. Those animals are not used to touches, pokes, pushes, chasing, shaking or striking. Those actions are frightening and dangerous for the parrots.

* Their self confidence, their trust and their comfort are shattered if they are intimidated. Standing over them, or staring at them may have a strong impact on the birds.

* A grey parrot will never trust a person who tries to dominate him or control small aspects of the nature.

* Just as any human being, a grey parrot won?t trust a person who uses sensory deprivation as a mean of punishment for misbehavior.

A comparison between a wild animal and a domestic one would fail from the beginning in every way especially when it comes to birds, which are usually predators. Genetic inheritance eradication would require thousands of generations of selective breeding to obtain a domestic bird like a grey parrot and it is not always possible.

A bird that becomes stressed will start self mutilating or biting or will develop phobias. There are many factors that could induce stress to a bird. When it comes to grey parrots, a person should know what actions stress the bird and try to avoid them in order to keep the trust of the pet.

The grey parrots are intelligent and sensitive birds and they have the tendency to find in the human caregiver the qualities of a teacher, parental figure and mentor. They get attached to their caregiver and expect to be treated with respect and compassion. This is a method that works as well for birds as it does for humans or dogs.…

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Dog Adoption

How to Train Your Dog to Walk on a Lead

There is nothing worse than grappling to control your dog as it pulls you along, it’s tongue to one side of it’s mouth as it pants and pulls on the neck muscles close to strangulation. No matter what command you shout, nothing seems to work, until now!
Straight from the off, you need to show your dog who is the boss. You are the master and it takes directions and guidance from you. Make dog pulling a thing of the past with these proven methods. It’s going to take a little patience and a strong mind from you. You are going to have to give some simple commands and do some positive actions which your dog may not appreciate at first, but it’s necessary for long term success.
Place the lead on the collar before you go outside. Never allow the dog to bite the lead. If yours does this then say a firm ‘no’ command. Hold the lead in your left hand and let the lead cross your body down to the dog which will be at your right side. Your right hand should also be holding the lead in a gentle grip. Your dogs position should be slightly behind the lead just enough so it can see it in the corner of it’s eye. The dogs position should always be slightly behind the lead.
Proceed to walk, if the dog pulls and it probably will because it’s excited. It does not know where it’s going, it just wants to get there as fast as it can. When it starts to get ahead of the lead which you are holding across your body then stop quickly. Tell your dog to ‘heel’ and to position itself next to you. Some prefer to give the ‘sit’ command next before you start to walk again.
There is no need to yank the dog back sharply. The collar will hurt the neck and it may yelp, there is no need for this. Now it’s time for the patience to set in. You can give the command to ‘walk’ as you set off again. If the dog starts to pull again you do the same thing. Stop walking immediately.
Your dog will get frustrated of course. It wants to get wherever it’s going and you are not helping. But dogs are not stupid animals, they will soon work out that If they walk in a particular manner then they are going to make some progress on the journey. If it pulls you stop walking and go back to the sit command.
When you come to road junctions then you should always give the command to ‘sit’ and wait until the road is clear. All this is good practice which will educate your dog to be a very responsive animal. Success is not going to happen overnight, but trust me, this is a proven method of success that I am sure will work with you. Failure only comes when the owner feels sorry for the dog and gives it some leeway.
Never forget that you are the master and they look for you for guidance. Just be firm with your verbal commands and actions, be patient and you will get the reward of a dog that you are in complete control of when you walk together.…

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Dogs for Adoption

Raw Bones For Dog Health

Raw bones:

-will keep teeth clean and reduce tartar buildup, therefore great for reducing offensive doggie breath!

-are naturally high in essential fatty acids (EFA’s), fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, K, marrow (blood forming proteins), collagen, minerals (boron, calcium phosphate and phosphorus in the perfect ratio and availability)

-improve skin, coat and general wellbeing of your dog

-beneficial to muscle and bone development as it is an isometric exercise

-dogs can store stress in their jaw, chewing is soothing and serves as a stress release activity as it helps release endorphins which creates a feeling of wellbeing

-chicken bones are high in omega 6, essential acids and raw young bird bones are quite soft

-important for your dogs dental health as bones help prevent periodontal disease, gingivitis, and cavities therefore saving you expensive visits to the vet

-helps strengthen your dogs own bones, teeth and jaw

-will help anal glad problems, so if your dog scoots on grass this could be a sign that including raw bones in his diet would be of benefit

-dogs fed a proportion of raw meat and bone have much smaller, slightly harder and much less smellier stool

-good for dogs that are crated or confined for longer periods of time as it keep them calm and occupied

-ends of bones contain cartilage, great source of glucosamine which has anti inflammatory properties

Suitable bones MUST BE RAW and never cooked as they can splinter internally and cause impaction, also

-discourage your dog from eating old dried out bones

-avoid large marrow type bones as they can wear down teeth enamel and cause cracks

What type of bones to feed?

Always chose an appropriate bone size for your dog. Medium-large dogs: lamb shanks and necks, raw chicken and turkey necks, chicken carcasses and frames, pig’s trotters, beef marrow bones, kangaroo tails. It is always ideal for your dog to chew all bones a few times before swallowing , however if your dog gulps down rather than chewing the bones do not feed lamb shanks).

Smaller dogs, bull terriers, boxers: can be fed raw meaty bones but leave out the larger bones such as lamb shanks. Chicken necks are good for puppies and smaller dogs (or mixed up with other foods for larger dogs who chew well, otherwise they are most likely to be too small and swallowed without chewing. For puppies also try and include bones with some meat as it encourages them to use their front incisor teeth while trying to tear off the meat. This can help prevent further chewing of furniture, shoes it helps the puppy through the teething stage.

Please note that some adult dogs can’t eat any cuts of raw bone perhaps due to the shape of the head of some small breeds, or having an undershot jaw. Older dogs may have lost too many teeth and may be unable to chew bones.

Otherwise, generally feeding your dog raw bones twice weekly is a great start to introducing him to a natural form of food dogs have been accustomed to eating for thousands of years. Dogs are carnivores (meat eaters) so their entire anatomy and physiology is well adapted to digest bones. Their stomach acid is much stronger than humans so they can readily digest bits of bone and chunks of meat. Their strong stomach acid also kills any bacteria or pathogen that would otherwise be harmful to humans. Organic meat and bones are always preferable.

By feeding your dog what dogs would naturally eat in the wild you will be tremendously contributing to his welfare. Why not start by introducing a few different types of bone and create some variety to your dog’s diet this week, observe carefully when he’s eating, and come to your own conclusion!…