Link Library
Darker Cats and Allergies
Last updated: Monday August 23rd 2010
A study found that people with dark colored cats are more likely to have allergies than those with lighter colored felines. Joan Stephenson, PhD published an article entitled “Cat of a Different Color Kinder to Allergies” in the Journal of the American Medical Association a study that looked at patients with allergic rhinitis: 145 with dark-colored cats, 96 with light-colored cats, and 80 with no cats. Her study concluded that:
Those with dark-colored felines were two to four times more likely to report severe or moderate symptoms than those who had light-colored cats or no cats at all
Read more: The Claim: Dark Cats Cause More Allergies Than Light Ones
Is Your Toddler Ready for a Pet?
Last updated: Thursday June 10th 2010
Little kids see them everywhere… in the neighborhood, on play dates with friends, in pre-school, and in mall pet shops. Puppies, kittens, guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, birds, rabbits, gerbils – there’s an unlimited supply of animal companions for children and adults alike. Eventually your toddler is going to utter those dreaded words, “Daddy, can I have …” Then you’ll have a difficult decision to make: is your child ready to have a pet?
Child development experts have long believed that children should have exposure to household pet companions. Having a pet has many advantages:
- Pets teach children about the existence of other living creatures first-hand rather than on television.
- Pets help children understand nature’s ways and the authentic natural world rather than animated cartoons where all the animals, predators and prey, get along famously. Nice, but it teaches a false perception of the ways of the animal kingdom. Perhaps your toddler is not ready to watch the National Geographic channel where predators mercilessly run down their prey and eat them alive. But the misconceptions of movies such as “The Lion King” don’t prepare your child for the real cycle of life.
- Owning and caring for a pet teaches your child responsibility and accountability. Fish die when they aren’t fed. Hamsters squeal in pain if they’re squeezed. Puppies have housebreaking accidents that need to be cleaned up. Animals aren’t like stuffed Teddy bears; they need food, water, veterinary care, and a clean environment.
- Pets die. Children often have their first brush with death and grief when a beloved pet dies or must be euthanized. Understanding a pet’s death is a dress rehearsal for the death of Grandmother or Uncle Bob. Coping with death is an important part of a child’s socialization.
- Having a pet teaches toddlers the essential skill of empathy with other people and with animals. At this age, children should be developing a sense of compassion and emotional intimacy with others. This is how they learn to make friends and to avoid doing things that hurt others. Caring for a pet is the perfect opportunity for toddlers to learn kindness and tolerance.
- Pets are a lot of fun! Toddlers are endlessly fascinated watching hamsters run on their wheel, the crazy antics of ferrets, the playfulness of puppies and kittens, the graceful movements of goldfish, and the chattering of birds. Having a pet is not only great fun, but pets also provide valuable knowledge about the way real-life animals function in the world. With puppies, they find the only unconditional source of love in their lives.
If you think your toddler is ready to care for a pet, first consider what kind of pet is appropriate for your child’s age, degree of understanding how to care for the pet, and the child’s comprehension that these are living creatures that need daily care. For example, it would not be appropriate for a toddler to care for a large hookbill parrot such as a Macaw or African Grey. These talkative birds live a human lifespan, require special care, and have unpredictable natures; they can snap off a curious child’s finger in seconds! These birds are pets for adults, not children. If you feel your child is ready for a puppy, remember that the puppy will grow into a full-sized dog. Dogs known for aggressive temperaments such as American Pit Bull Terriers, Rotweilers, Chows, and Akitas aren’t good choices for a toddler. Good-natured dogs like Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Dachshunds, Poodles, and spaniels are a much better choice.
Not ready for puppies and kittens? Fish, guinea pigs and hamsters make outstanding first pets. Children learn to feed them, clean their environments, interact with them carefully and gently, and they provide hours of fun. Parakeets are also good choices; their bright colors and cheerful chattering are interesting and entertaining for a small child.
Pets can enrich your child’s life and teach many valuable lessons. If you believe your child is ready for a pet, choose carefully and teach your child how to care for another living creature. Pets are wonderful teachers!
About the author:
Article by Edmund
Health Care Tips For Your Older Pet
Last updated: Thursday June 03rd 2010
Pets are living longer due to advances in veterinary care, diagnostics, and earlier intervention. Even so the key to enjoying our “older” pets lies not only in increasing their life span, but also in helping them enjoy their later years to the fullest. Just like people, cats and dogs can be vulnerable to incapacitating health conditions as they grow older. Kidney failure, heart disease, arthritis, oral disease, malignant tumors, and cognitive dysfunction can take place through the typical maturing process. In earlier times, simply because quite a few health conditions weren’t recognized until the pet was in the advanced stages, veterinarians could do nothing more than make a pet’s golden years a tad bit more comfortable by caring for the symptoms of age-related health issues. If the pet was lucky, the issues could advance slowly. Most pet owners merely accepted the fact that their four-legged buddies were only able to survive a relatively brief life, get old, and pass on. Yet breakthroughs in technical advancements in modern day veterinary medicine, surgery, diagnostics and nutrition, not only do pets survive longer but their quality of life has increased enormously as well.
One example follows human medicine in the development and use of the new generation of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs.Because our older pets often develop arthritis and joint disease, these newer drugs help alleviate the aches and pains of many senior pets while keeping unwanted side effects to a minimum. Chondroitin and glucosamine supplements also seem to help older dogs with their arthritis. Advanced veterinary technology includes MRI’s, cat scans, radiation treatments, chemotherapy, advanced surgery with laser scalpels, laparoscopy, hip replacements, orthodontics, root canals, crowns, and much more. Physical therapy, water treadmills and even acupuncture can help pets recover from surgeries and gain their mobility quicker. More and more veterinarians are pursuing specialty practices to address the needs of those pets whose owners want the best treatment available.
Several age related problems will still be viewed as unavoidable, however the attitudes of both veterinarians and pet owners have changed. The belief now is the fact that “age is not a disease”, and veterinary medicine is adding greater emphasis on senior pet health through preventative health plans.
The sooner we can detect a problem, the more likely we can manage or even correct the problem. Lumps and bumps if surgically removed when they are small may prevent the tumors from spreading throughout the body. Advances in oncology now makes chemotherapy and radiation therapy almost a normal course of treatment for pets that do have cancer. By addressing dental disease early on, you can extend your pet’s life span by nearly 3 years. Diabetes can be managed with insulin and special diets and heart disease also has newer medications available to help the heart pump better. Cats with renal failure can benefit by many of the newer drugs released and fluid therapy to help them reduce the build up toxins that their kidneys can no longer flush out. There are even drugs that can help with cognitive dysfunction in dogs. These dogs seem to get “lost” or whine for no reason. There are specialists that can even remove cataracts so your pet won’t go blind.
At what age is a pet considered a senior? Generally, smaller breeds of dogs live longer than larger breeds, and cats live longer than dogs. Life spans vary with individuals, and pets, like people, grow older at different rates, some more gracefully than others. A few smaller breeds of dogs, like Bones, are considered geriatric at fifteen. Large and giant breeds like Labrador retrievers and rottweilers are considered seniors as soon as seven years old. Cats, especially if they are kept in the house, frequently live to their early twenties and do not attain their golden years until their teens.
The single most crucial way a pet owner can take to keep their pet happy and healthy as long as possible is to pencil in regular veterinary exams. As pets age, these exams tend to be more critical than ever, because as with people, quick detection is essential for disease and problem intervention. Younger pets need routine examinations once or twice yearly. However as dogs and cats approach middle age, these exams should be much more frequent because each year in a pet’s life is equivalent to 5-7 people years.
To detect potential health problems earlier,veterinarians recommend routine lab work, electrocardiograms, blood pressure monitoring, and x-rays to detect early conditions like thyroid, kidney, heart, and liver disease. With early detection, pets with organ function conditions can be treated with prescription medication along with specific doctor prescribed quality diets that not only prolong their life span but the quality of their lives. Sometimes, health conditions could even be reversed.
In general, quite a few early warning signs that your family pet might be having a problem are:
* drinking more water than usual and urination
* urinary incontinence or having mishaps in the house
* recurring throwing up
* terrible breath, drooling or difficulty eating
* excessive panting or tires more quickly when exercised
* lumps, bumps, nodules or alterations in areas of skin color, bumps that bleed or are ulcerated
* change in appetite – ingesting more or less than normal
* changes in behavior for example “spacing out” or increased whining
* abnormal bowel habits – diarrhea or constipation
* fluctuations in body weight – gaining or reducing weight
Watch pets closely and convey any abnormal behavioral or physical problems to your veterinarian without delay. Veterinarians also recommend purchasing pet insurance so that if problems are detected in your pet, you will be able to afford the advanced therapies that are available. Talk with your veterinarian and develop a specific senior wellness strategy for your pet’s special needs so that your precious pooch or kitty can enjoy getting old gracefully.
About the author:
Dr. Debra Garrison is a small animal veterinarian. Her primary practice is the Treaschwig Veterinary Clinic in Spring, Texas.. Learn more about senior pet care at Senior Pet Care
Tips on Training a Dog
Last updated: Saturday March 06th 2010
Among the several key responsibilities dog owners have, training a dog is among the most essential. A dog that has been trained properly will be able to form a more fulfilling relationship with its owner and other people or pets. This article will give you some tips and advice on how to train your dog.
First of all, you need to realize that training a dog is not simply about telling your dog what to do and expecting it to follow suit. Training your dog will require you to first understand how dogs behave. The behavior of a dog is the outcome of several factors. These will play a role in affecting the outcome of your dog training.
Some Advice On Understanding Dog Behavior
Note that dogs are individually different. Thus, you should get to know your dog as much as possible before training. For instance, try to find out why your dog keeps barking. There are numerous reasons for excessive barking, and these include separation anxiety, protection of territory, fear, and so on.
Observe your dog in social settings. Behavior is never completely acquired or inherited, but rather progressed based on the merged influences. Socialization is important in a sense that you”ll be able to observe how your dog will adjust in a dynamic environment and effectively handle unacceptable behavior.
Know that dogs are thinkers as opposed to animals that simply behave. While dogs are unable to solve complex problems, they are not behavioral robots, either.
Steps To Training A Dog
Understand that there are 2 parts to training, and these are behavioral training and command-response training. The first part is to correct behavioral problems (such as aggressive behavior) and the latter is to teach a dog to obey commands.
Prepare a quite place that has minimum distraction. During training, state your command in a loud (but not frightening) and firm manner. The usual advice is to use the same hand movements together with each command. Repeat yourself until your dog obeys your command. Every time it does, reward with a tidbit or nice pat. Of course, you should already have an idea what type of reward your dog is most motivated by. Maintain 10 to 15-minute training sessions at least twice a day. As you go along, work your way to training your dog in more public, less-confined locations.
Tips
Generally, reinforcement through consistency and repetition is key in training any dog. Both good and habits are developed when an activity is repeated over and over again consistently. So while training your dog, it”s important to be persistent and even if your dog already excels, training should be a continuous practice.
Tips For Training An Aggressive Dog
Behavioral training is slightly different in a sense that you’re attempting to modify your dog”s behavior. In any case, the very first thing to do is to spot exactly what is causing your dog’s unacceptable behavior and eliminating it or slowly turning it into something positive. For instance, if your dog has a fear of strangers, properly socializing it with other humans or dogs may help. Of course, this needs to be done with safety precautions, by using a muzzle first for instance. Behavioral training can be extremely challenging, thus, an advice would be to check out some dog training schools for assistance.
About the author:
Roger Thompson writes articles that offer the best tips on training a dog. His carefully thought articles about the topic will surely help you make your dog extra-obedient.
Boy or Girl Cat?
Last updated: Sunday July 06th 2008
Here’s a way to test out your ability to tell the sex of a cat from the face. Take the He-cat or She-cat quiz. The page lists photos for you to select whether the cat is a male or a female. If you need more mindless entertainment after the quiz, there’s an option to sign up for the site’s weekly Friday newsletter with more fun.
Try it: He-cat or She-cat photo quiz
Patron Saint of Dogs
Last updated: Tuesday October 16th 2007
I have always loved animals-primarily dogs. I have had four dogs in my life and each of them brought a different strength to my life…not to even mention the unconditional love. If humans were like dogs, the world would be a much better place.
I have always loved animals-primarily dogs. I have had four dogs in my life and each of them brought a different strength to my life…not to even mention the unconditional love. If humans were like dogs, the world would be a much better place.
With that in mind, I began wondering if dogs had guardian angels looking over them. While I was always sure that they did, I wanted to know if there were any Saints, as recognized by the Catholic Church, that particularly aided dogs. Here is what I found Read more
Daily Dose of Zap
Last updated: Saturday September 29th 2007
If you want a pick me up in the “awweee, how cute” department, head on over to Daily Zap! for daily pictures of Zapata the Chihuahua.
Mapping of the Cat Brain
Last updated: Tuesday August 28th 2007
Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida
Last updated: Friday June 29th 2007
At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty. The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the “apex predator”, can still fall victim to implemented teamwork strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and “survival of the pack mentality” bred into the canines. Read more
More Pet Food Recalled
Last updated: Sunday April 22nd 2007
The list of recalled pet food keeps growing. On the latest from the Humane Society:
Rice protein concentrate used in pet food has been contaminated by melamine, testing confirmed on April 18. Melamine was also found in corn gluten in pet food in South Africa on April 19. Melamine contaminated wheat gluten has already caused more than 100 brands of pet food to be recalled. FDA suspects that the melamine may have been intentionally added to the pet food ingredients to boost the protein content although that theory has not been confirmed.
Keep an eye on the list of recalled pet food to make sure you aren’t feeding your pets tainted food. There’s a recalled list here: Recalled Pet Food and Treats. Also important to visit (and sign up for the email updates) is the Ten Things You Should Know about the Pet Food Recall page.
Two brands that offer safe, high quality pet food are Wellness Food and Innova Pet Foods.
