Tips on Trimming Your Dog’s Nails

If you hear your dog's paws clicking like they have on tap shoes…. it’s time for a trim! You can usually here it when they walk across a hard surface, like hardwood flooring.

Most dogs detest having their feet handled, however, if you, so clipping their nails at an early stage, they will get used to it. Always reward your dog with a treat after the trimming session.

A dog’s toenail is made up of the nail itself and the quick. The quick is the pink part of your dog’s toenails that provides the blood supply to the nail. Try to avoid cutting into the quick because it bleeds quite a bit and it’s quite sensitive.

If your dog’s nails does bleed, use kwik stop to stop the bleeding. Kwik stop is a sulfer product.  When packed on the bleeding nail it stops the bleeding almost immediately.

Dogs with black nails:

Both of my dogs had black nails.  I went out and purchased the nail clippers. After seeing that their nails were black,( I hadn’t noticed because hair usually covered their nails), I decided to let the professionals do it. I had them trimmed with they went for grooming.

The groomer told me that I can cut their nails, and showed me under the nail there is a groove and the quick has a more fleshy look to it. She said that I should always cut about an 1/8 of an inch in front of that groove.

Here is a step by step chart showing exactly how to cut dark nails. With dark nails when you trim just a bit off it will look chalky. That means you can trim a bit more. Then when you see a wetness appear and then a small dot appear stop! Usually the same length is good for all nails.

Please view the videos below showing how to properly trim your dog’s nails.

If your dog’s nails does bleed, use kwik stop to stop the bleeding. Kwik stop is a sulfer product.  When packed on the bleeding nail it stops the bleeding almost immediately.






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Tips on Trimming Your Cat's Claws

Trimming your cat's nails is the humane answer to declawing. The best time to trim your cat's nails is when your cat is  relaxed or sleepy. Never try to trim your cat’s nails right after a stressful experience or an energetic round of play.

The Humane Society of the United States says, trimming a cat's claws every few weeks is an important part of maintaining your pet's health and protects him, you, your family and visitors as well as the sofa, curtains and other furniture.

The more regularly you clip the claws the less anxious the cat will get. Always reward your cat with a treat when you are finished. Keep a barber's styptic pen or styptic powder handy in case you accidentally cut into the quick. If this should happen, apply the powder to the nail to stop the bleeding.

                 Gently press the cat's toe pads to reveal sharp nails in need of a trim.

                                   Trimming cat's nail diagram showing the quick

Videos:


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This Woman Helps Disabled Dogs Walk Again!

This story really got the tear ducts goin’.

In 2016, Butler, Pennsylvania residents Tanya and her husband adopted one-and-a-half-year old pup Joey, who had been found at six weeks with his legs intentionally cut off. Joey was rehabilitated and received prosthetics that have made a huge difference to his life.

They were so deeply affected by their experience with Joey, that in 2017, they started an organization, Joey’s P.A.W. (which stands for Prosthetics or A Wheelchair). Their goal is to help other disabled dogs achieve mobility through partial or full prosthetic and/or wheelchair funding.

To read more on this story, click here: This Woman Helps Disabled Dogs Walk Again!




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Thinking of Getting a Pet Turtle?

Consider the risks to your health, the earth and the animals

Turtles may seem like low-maintenance pets, but those about to rush out and bring one home should consider that they require years (sometimes decades) of specialized care. Turtles can also transmit disease. Like all wildlife, these reptiles belong in their natural habitats.

To read more on this story, click here: Thinking of Getting a Pet Turtle?



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Hamster Care 101: How to Care For Your Hamster

Hamsters are adorable, and if you had one as a kid, you probably remember them being easy pets to care for. That is, of course, because your parents likely took care of your hamster. As you can imagine, it isn't as easy to care for a hamster as it looked as a kid, but once you get into a groove, you may find that it isn't all that hard either. Consider the following your handy hamster care handbook.

How to Take Care of a Hamster: The Basics
If you are thinking about getting a hamster for your child, it would be best if your child is in elementary school or older.

“Unfortunately, this isn't the perfect small pet for young children. Hamsters require a lot of care, can get nippy [and] are not always great in tiny hands,” said Laurie Hess, author, exotic animal veterinarian and owner of the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics in Bedford Hills, New York.

To read more on this story, click here: Hamster Care 101: How to Care For Your Hamster

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Cats Are Apparently Terrible at Catching Rats

Cats are good at so many thing — napping, chasing laser pointer dots around the room, napping, eating, and napping, just to name a few — but apparently they’re really, really bad at catching rats. A new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution explains just how terrible they are at doing one of the things they’re supposed to be good at.

As Wired reports, researchers led by Michael Parsons set up shop at a waste disposal facility in New York City in the hopes of studying urban rats in their natural environment. The original plan was to catch and release the rats and then study their behavior so that they could come up with more efficient ways of curbing rat populations. That’s when the cats spoiled their party… well, sort of.

To read more on this story, click here: Cats Are Apparently Terrible at Catching Rats



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Holly Willoughby Horrified By Guest Calling For UK Cat Ban

A guest on This Morning is calling for cats to be banned in a bid to save the birds and 'help them thrive'.

Sally Jones appeared on the sofa to discuss a proposal to phase out cats in a New Zealand village to protect areas of The Bush and wildlife.

She admitted to agreeing with the idea of banning cats from some areas after she recalled watching one 'crunch' on a bird in front of her...

The journalist claimed that cats are 'evil' and that 55 million birds are killed each year by pets.

Sally told hosts Phillip and Holly, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: "I was watching a beautiful yellow hammer on our bird table... and within about five seconds a big grey cat had jumped on it and crunched it.

"There's something we can do about cats, I think there's lots of things we can be doing as humans... there's lots we can do but one easy thing we can do close to home is control the number of birds out cats kill."


To read more on this story, click here: Holly Willoughby Horrified By Guest Calling For UK Cat Ban



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Mini Cows For Your Mini Farm

Yes, miniature cattle are a real breed and yes, they really are this adorable.

If you don’t have enough room on your land for a herd of big cows, consider getting minis for smaller acreage. They still produce milk like regular cows but don’t need as much space and don’t do as much damage to your land as normal-sized cattle might.

Miniature bull cows generally stand at 36 to 42 inches at the hip, which means they are about half the size of a full-size cow.

To read more on this story, click here: Mini Cows For Your Mini Farm




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Mountain Goats Are Being Airlifted Out of a National Park Because They Crave Human Pee

Olympic National Park, located in Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, is faced with a daunting challenge: removing a ballooning mountain goat population that's developed a strong appetite for human pee.

Mountain goats aren't a native species in the park. Since their introduction in the 1920s, their numbers have blossomed into a staggering 700 ungulates. Now, with humans flooding the area and routinely relieving themselves on various hiking trails, the goats have developed an insatiable thirst for urine, which serves as a strong source of salt and minerals.

Acting in concert with the National Park Services (NPS) and the USDA Forest Service, park authorities have begun tagging, blindfolding and airlifting the goats to the nearby forests in the North Cascades via helicopter. Fitted with GPS collars, the goats are ferried in pairs to nine sites in the Mt.Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, per a Motherboard report. The sites should provide a more hospitable environment for the surging goat tribe where they can roam free of human interlopers.

To read more on this story, click here: Mountain Goats Are Being Airlifted Out of a National Park Because They Crave Human Pee


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Are You Thinking About Adopting a Kitten? - 10 Reasons Why You Should Adopt Two Instead of One!

Are you thinking about adopting a kitten? Here are 10 Reasons why you should adopt two instead of one!

1.  You're saving two lives instead of one.

If it's kitten season, that's one more kitten that will get a home instead of growing into an adult which will decrease its chance of getting adopted." It is entirely true that kittens are much easier to place than adult cats, and the 15-month-old cat you see in the shelter today is very likely a holdover from last year's crop of kittens. Another way of looking at it is that it's better to get all the kittens adopted out right away, to give the older cats a better chance at finding homes.

2.  One kitten can become lonely

A kitten left alone during the day can become lonely and bored, which sometimes can lead to mischief. Two kittens will never be lonely, especially if they are siblings. In fact, you'll often find situations in shelters and rescue group adoption where a cage will contain two kittens with a sign, "These kittens may be adopted only as a pair." Shelter volunteers recognize that siblings really need to stay together. And since shelters are often frightening, unfriendly places to small creatures, unrelated cats often form close bonds that should be respected when adoption time comes.

3.  One kitten can just drive an older cat nuts.

Although it might sound contrary, an older, established cat will probably accept two kittens better than one. One kitten will seek out the older cat as a playmate, or worse, tease and pester the senior cat which can cause stress to an older cat. The kitten in return, will be "rewarded" for his playful efforts with hisses and swats. Two kittens will expend their energy in play with each other, leaving their older "uncle" to relax in peace.

4.  Two kittens will "self-train."

Kittens learn by copying. If one kitten is quick to learn appropriate litter box use, the other will be likely to copy. They also help each other with grooming; washup after meals soon becomes a ritual with two kittens.

5.  They help each other burn off energy.

Even the most devoted human caregiver can quickly become exhausted by trying to keep up with the energy of a single kitten. Two kittens will play until they wear each other out, leaving their human parent free to just enjoy watching them. The downside to this, of course, sometimes you have double trouble, too!

6.  Fewer behavior problems with two kittens.

Many people who experience behavior problems with kittens find that some of them go away when they adopt another playmate. What may be perceived as mischief is often just the result of boredom. Much like their human counterparts, kittens sometimes misbehave because "negative attention is better than no attention."

7.  Curiosity overcomes "food finickyness."

If one kitten is finicky about food, the distaste is often overcome by curiosity at what its sibling is eating. (Feed one cat Same Old, the other cat New Stuff, and they both end up tasting the new stuff.)

8.  They act as pillows for one another.

Kittens will often play so hard that they simply flop where they are, and more likely than not, they will flop next to (or on top of) each other. There is no sight so endearing as two kittens curled up together for a nap. Their peaceful innocence can soften the heart of even the grumpiest curmudgeon, and the sight of that blissful moment will wash clean the slate of their previous misdoings.

9.  Having two kittens is insanely fun.

They're just so much darn fun to watch!

10. They will each have a friend for life.

Two kittens who grow up together will almost always be lifelong friends. Although they will sometimes have their little squabbles (what friends don't?) you will more often see them engaging in mutual grooming, playing together, and sleeping with their best pal.

If you are considering adopting a kitten, think about your best friend and consider whether you would deprive your kitten of the enrichment a friend brings to life.

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Does Your Dog or Cat Have Allergies That Last All Year Long? - They May Have a Food Allergy

Just as in humans, dogs and cats can have certain allergies to a specific type of food.  In fact, food allergies account for about 10% of all the allergies seen in dogs and cats. It is the third most common cause after flea bite allergies. Food allergies affect both males and females and can show up as early as five months and as late as twelve years of age.  Food allergies in dogs and cats can be cured with a little time, effort and change in diet.

The difference between food allergies and intolerance to food
There is a difference between food allergies and food intolerance. Food allergies are true allergies and show the characteristic symptoms of allergies such as itching and skin problems associated with canine and feline allergies. Food intolerances can result in diarrhea or vomiting and do not create a typical allergic response. Food intolerances in cats or dogs would be similar to people who get an upset stomach from eating spicy foods or sometimes dairy. Fortunately, both food intolerances and allergies can be eliminated with a diet free from whatever food it is that is causing the allergy.

The most common food that causes allergies
Several studies have shown that some ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies than others. The most common food that causes allergies in dogs and cats are beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, chicken eggs, corn, wheat, and soy. Unfortunately, the most common offenders are the most common ingredients in dog and cat food. While some proteins might be slightly more allergy inducing than others, many proteins are similar and therefore the allergic reactions are associated with the amount of each in the food.

Symptoms of food allergies in cats and dogs
The symptoms of food allergies are similar to those of most allergies seen in dogs and cats. The most common symptom is itchy skin affecting primarily the face, feet, ears, forelegs, armpits and the area around the anus. Symptoms may also include chronic ear infections, hair loss, excessive scratching, hot spots, and skin infections that respond to antibiotics but reoccur after antibiotics are discontinued.  It is sometimes difficult to distinguish food allergies from the more common allergies. One sign is if the allergies last all year round, it is probably a food allergy.

Diagnosis for food allergies in cats and dogs
The diagnosis for food allergies is very straightforward. But due to the fact that many other problems can cause similar symptoms and that many times animals are suffering from more problems than just food allergies, it is very important that all other problems are properly identified and treated prior to undergoing diagnosis for food allergies.  Your vet can determine if your dog or cat is just have a normal skin allergy.

Try to feed your dog or cat a new source of protein
A way to get rid of a food allergy is to feed your dog or cat a new food source of protein and carbohydrate for at least twelve weeks i.e. a protein and carbohydrate that your dog or cat has never eaten before. Examples would include be rabbit and rice, or venison and potato. There are a number of such commercial diets available on the market. In addition, there are specialized diets that have the proteins and carbohydrates broken down into such small sizes that they no longer would trigger an allergic response. Regardless of the diet route you choose, the particular food needs to be the only thing that your dog or cat eats for 12 weeks. This means no treats, no flavored medications, no rawhide, cat nip, only the special food and water.

Treatment for food allergies in dogs and cats
The treatment for food allergies is avoidance. Once you have been identified the offending food through a food trial, then they can be eliminated from the diet. Short-term relief may be gained with fatty acids, antihistamines, and steroids, but elimination of the products from the diet is the only long-term solution. .

If you choose to feed your dog or cat a homemade diet, then you can periodically change the ingredients off your food and determine which ingredients are causing the food allergy. For example, if your dog or cat’s symptoms subsided on a diet of rabbit and potatoes, then you can add beef to the diet for two weeks.

If your dog or cat still showed no symptoms, then you can add chicken for two weeks. If your beloved dog or cat now has symptoms, then chicken is clearly one of the things your dog or cat was allergic to. The chicken could be withdrawn and after the symptoms cleared up, a different ingredient could be added and so on until all of the offending ingredients were identified. A diet could then be formulated that was free of the offending food sources.

You can also you the same principal with very pure pet foods that are on the market and are chicken or beef based, and then add or switch accordingly.

As with all diets, make sure to check with your veterinarian to make sure that they agree with your basic diet and that all other allergies have been ruled out.




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Woman Had to Put Her Dog Down - Boyfriend Gets Her a Puppy, See Her Reaction (Video)

This woman’s boyfriend got her a puppy when her dog had to be put down.  Her reaction is priceless.

When his girlfriend had to put down her beloved 10-year-old beagle, this thoughtful guy knew just what to do to cure her broken heart.

See her touching reaction to his gift below.

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Dog Eats 43.5 Socks and Lives

Portland, Oregon - A 3-year-old Great Dane was retching when its owners rushed him to a northwest Portland emergency animal hospital.

X-rays showed a stomach full of "a large quantity of foreign material." Nearly two hours of surgery later, Dr. Ashley Magee had the answer…the dog had consumed 43 ½ socks.

DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital spokeswoman Shawna Harch said it's perhaps the strangest case in the hospital's history, The Oregonian reported.

The DoveLewis entry summary says the Great Dane was discharged home a day after surgery. Harch says the owners aren't available for comment but she confirms the dog is alive.

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Are Cats Domesticated?

The cat does not offer services," William Burroughs wrote. "The cat offers itself." But it does so with unapologetic ambivalence. Greet a cat enthusiastically and it might respond with nothing more than a few unhurried blinks. Later, as you're trying to work, it will commandeer your lap, keyboard, and attention, purring all the while. A cat will mew at the food bowl in the morning and set off on a multiple-day trek in the afternoon. Dogs are dependent on us to the point of being obsequious, but cats seem to be constantly reëvaluating the merits of our relationship, as well as their role in domestic life. "Are cats domesticated?" is one of the most frequently Googled questions about the animals, based on the search engine's autocomplete suggestions.

It's a question that scientists have been asking, too. The latest answer, based on insights from recent archeological discoveries and genome-sequencing studies, is that cats are semi-domesticated. Conventional wisdom holds that the ancient Egyptians were the first people to bond with the cat, only four thousand years ago. In 2004, however, a team of French researchers working in Cyprus unearthed the ninety-five-hundred-year-old remains of a human and a cat buried side by side. Last year, an analysis of cat bones and teeth from a fifty-three-hundred-year-old settlement in China indicated that the animals were eating rodents, grains, and the leftovers of human meals. It appears that, following the advent of agriculture, wildcats in the Near East and Asia likely began to congregate near farms and grain stores, where mice and rats were abundant. People tolerated the volunteer exterminators, and wildcats became increasingly comfortable with people. Whether this affiliation began five or ten millennia ago, the evidence suggests that cats have not been part of our domestic domain for nearly as long as dogs, which have been our companions for perhaps forty thousand years.

To read more on this story, click here: Are Cats Domesticated?

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