Dogs and Cats in Cold Weather

By Elyse Grau
In the summer we worry about keeping our pets cool, come winter and it's time to think about keeping them warm and dry. Here are some simple ways you can protect your pets this winter.

The easiest, safest way to keep your pets warm is to keep them indoors, especially overnight. Older dogs, puppies, and dogs with certain diseases such as diabetes, heart and kidney problems should never be kept outside. All cats should remain indoors.

Some dogs tolerate cold weather better than others. Some dogs can take cold better than others, such as Alaskan Malamutes and Huskies. Short -haired and toy dogs will have a particularly hard time in the cold.

Snow and ice can pose problems for dogs. Snow can get packed between dog's toes and freeze, causing pain and discomfort. To avoid this problem, keep the hair between the toes cut short.

Keeping nails cut short also helps. Shorter nails allow for better traction. If a dog is slipping on ice it tends to splay the toes, which causes more snow to pack between them.

If you are walking your dog on sidewalks or streets that have been salted to melt ice, be sure to wash his paws when you return. The salt can be drying and irritating to the paws.

If a dog must be kept outside during the day, be sure to provide proper shelter. An oversized dog house or shed will not retain enough heat. The house should be just large enough for the dog to stand up and turn around.

Do not use blankets for bedding. These will just get wet and freeze. Clean straw or hay is preferable.

Position the house on the south or east side of the house if possible, out of the wind. Raising it up off the ground helps, too.

Remember that the dog's water may freeze if left outside. Putting the water in a deep container helps keep it from freezing. Also plastic is a better choice in this case, as metal conducts the cold quicker. Dark colored dishes will absorb more heat than lighter ones, slowing the freezing action. Be sure to break up any ice on the surface of the water each morning.

Are you aware of the dangers of antifreeze? Ethylene glycol based antifreeze is deadly to cats and dogs! Be sure to keep containers tightly capped and out of reach. Wipe up any spills immediately. For the safest bet, use one of the alternative products made with propylene glycol instead.

Outdoor cats will look for warm spots to curl up. Some cats have learned that cars and trucks offer nice warm nooks. They will crawl up into the wheel-wells or engine compartments. Banging on the hood before you get in your car is a good idea in case you have a stowaway.

Indoors, pets will often curl up next to heaters or under wood stoves. Watch out for tails and fur getting too close to heating elements! Make sure your cat does not overheat.

Some extra vigilance may be needed if you will have a Christmas tree. Anchoring the tree to the wall is a good precaution. Tinsel can be dangerous to pets if ingested, so either don't use it, or place it well out of reach of cats and dogs. Start hanging decorations a few feet from the bottom of the tree.

If you have a puppy, don't leave gifts unattended under the tree. Don't use string or dangling ribbons on packages if you have a cat. Cover the base of the tree to keep animals from drinking the water.

There is debate over the toxicity of Poinsettias. Even if they are not deadly, the sap is an irritant and will probably make the animal sick. Holly and mistletoe berries are poisonous; so keep them out of reach of pets.

Elyse is the founder of The Original Dog Biscuit Company. She has extended knowledge of pet nutrition and feeding, as well as practical experience in the raising of cats, dogs and other animals. She is a herbalist, specializing in animals. Read more of her articles at: http://www.pethealthresource.com

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Taking Care Of Your Pet Cat

By Michael Colucci
Before purchasing for yourself a Siamese cat or a rag doll as your pet, make sure that one, you’re not allergic to cats and secondly, your place of living allows house owners to have pets. If you have a problem with any of the two options, you might have to reconsider your decision to own a pet after all.

But if there’s no problem with any of those, here are our general tips to help you take good care of your pet cat.

There’s a reason why cats are said to have nine lives so if you’re planning to own a pet cat, be aware that the normal lifespan of a pet cat kept indoors could reach up to 17 years or so. If that’s okay with you then great, proceed with your purchase of a pet cat.

When you do finally own a pet cat, do keep in mind that your pet cat has to be neutered or spayed before he reaches maturity. This is a necessity if you don’t want your house to be reeking of your pet cat’s urine. The best possible time for spaying would be before your pet cat is seven to eight months old.

With pet cats, you must have dry food ready for their consumption at all times. Letting your pet cat live on a daily and regular canned food diet will only result to having a malnourished pet cat and surely you don’t want that? And although dogs can certainly consume and stay healthy with cat food, this is not a vice versa thing with pet cats.

With pet cats, a vaccination is necessary to prevent and minimize the chances of your pet cat experiencing respiratory problems later on. It’s better to have your pet cat vaccinated as early as possible. In fact, your pet kitten must be vaccinated several times just to make sure that your pet cat will experience the desired outcome.

Always check and feel your pet cat for scratches, burns, wounds and other things that could result to infection or pain for your pet cat. If your children are fond of playing with your pet cat, there could be times that they’ve left a rubber band around the neck of your pet cat for a long time, long enough to form a bruise.

And that’s the end of our article on pet cats. Hope you have fun with your pet cat!


About the author:

Michael Colucci is a writer for a cat training website at http://www.cat-training.knowledgesearch.net which is part of http://www.knowledgesearch.net


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Loving Your Cat

By Bob Taylor Taylor
If you really love your cat – what you certainly do, should learn more about cat health. It would require a little effort from your part.
Cats are very vulnerable creatures and do not have nine lives, contrary to what we common hear that a cat has nine lives.
If your cat is sick, then he or she could die from such illness and would never come back. There is not such thing as cats having nine lives so if you have cat, you should know about cat health and learn to take care of your cat.
If you really love your cat and would like to keep it healthy, you should spend some time learning how to take care of it.

Now, where does one find literatures and reading materials about cat health? There are many books about cats that you can easily find in the libraries and bookstores. Most of these books would give some practical ideas about your cat’s needs.
You can also find many write-ups online on how to take care of your cat. There are even websites that are devoted solely on the topic of cats and how to take care of them. Most of these websites are really very informative and useful.

What are the things that you should focus on when learning about cat health? If you have the luxury of time to read and learn about cats, you can finish the whole book about cats but if you are pressed for time and would like to get back to work, you can just focus on the most important things that you should know about cats namely, their diet, their habits and their need for exercise.
You should make sure that you learn a lot about what cats should eat since good diet contributes much to the well-being of your cat. Learning about their habits could also help co-exist harmoniously with your cat.

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About the author:
Believing in good balanced diet, taking vitamins and minerals. Daily exercise, yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, drinking enough water, meditation, relaxation, positive thinking, and trying to be happy.

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The "Lovecat" Way to Networking

By Diana Long
Albert Schweitzer was quoted to have said: "One thing I know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve." I find these words to ring very true for me. I feel most "alive" and connected when I'm coming from a place of giving and sharing with others.

All of us have tons of opportunities to socialize and connect with different circles of people on a regular basis. If you are like most, you receive invitations to an assortment of gatherings hosted by family, friends, church, school, work, community and civic organizations every week, right? Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Maybe yes. Maybe no! Depends on your attitude.

These extra social dates can be viewed as a fantastic opportunity to meet and embrace new people into your growing network OR they may conjure up feelings of dread and visions of stale chips and stale conversation. I've got good news! Networking doesn't need to be anything but a positive win-win situation for you and those you meet. All it takes is a shift in your mindset from the "Old Business Philosophy" to the more human and attractive way of conducting business and managing your personal life.

Instead of buying into the concepts of winning at all costs, striving to get ahead, and learning how to "swim with the sharks", I challenge you to adopt a more comprehensive, authentic and potent approach. Learn specific success strategies that will provide you with a new way of interacting in the business world and reap the benefits of doing so. The "old" definition of networking defines networking as a random process of meeting people, remembering names and aggressively collecting business cards. The "new" definition is much more dynamic than that!

I recently came across an incredible resource on this subject, which I highly recommend. A book by Tim Sanders called," Love is the Killer App". I'm a big fan of Tim's work and after you read his invaluable book; I know you will be, too! Tim Sander's calls his business and life success philosophy, The "Love Cat Way". The Love Cat's path to wild success is based on these 3 guiding strategies:

KNOWLEDGE ~ we should all be sharing our knowledge with one another without regard to our personal gain. We give to give. Simple as that.

NETWORK, Network, Network! ~ Connect others to your Rolodex. Share your valuable connections freely and widen your circles of influence exponentially.

COMPASSION ~ Be the best human being you can be. Be kind. Be caring. Be compassionate. Do good deeds! We are all in this together and our relationships with one another are the key. It truly is who we know and who knows us. Our willingness to authentically connect with others and help them achieve their goals can impact all aspects of our lives, our businesses and yes, even our love life!

This week's coaching challenge? Be a "Love-Cat" and touch base with your inner circle of connections and also make it a point to meet some new people and see how you might be of service to them.

Learn more about Diana and receive your FREE Report, "3 Huge Mistakes People Like You Make to Sabotage Their Success & How You Can Completely Avoid Them!" and FREE subscription to "Life & Work Design Secrets" e-newsletter, please visit http://www.DianaLong.com .

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Cat health insurance is all that your cat needs

By Robert Scott
Since veterinary costs are rising day-by-day, insurance policies have become the biggest necessity of all pet owners. In fact, these policies are helpful in lightening the financial burden of the pet owner; perhaps, this is the reason why most of the pet owners are buying health insurance policies for their pets. Such health insurance can be a topic of debate among pet owners but the fact is that all pet owners, who care for their pet's requirements and want to provide them with quality medical facilities, buy these policies to secure their pet's life. People, who are concerned about their pet's health, know that a health insurance can save their pet's life during serious illness or injury. These insurance policies cover a wide range of healthcare requirements of a pet, so that the pet owner may get relief from the burdensome medical bills of his or her pet. Owning a cat is the biggest pleasure of the world but one may feel really very bad when he or she is not able to take care of this sweet little creature just because of financial shortage. Cat health insurance is the only one solution that may help a cat owner in providing his or her cat with the best healthcare benefits.

Cat health insurance policies are just like human insurance policies and they also carry equal healthcare benefits. These policies cover all unexpected health expenses of a cat, so that the owner may not face sudden financial burden at the time of her injury or illness. There are people, who believe that paying premiums of their cat's insurance just increases their financial burden, as their cat hardly requires medical check-ups and treatments. However, life is unpredictable and no cat owner can predict that his or her cat will stay healthy forever; therefore, they should not deny the benefits of a cat health insurance.

However, it is wise to analyze every aspect of cat health insurance polices but it does not mean that these policies are not useful. Analyzing these policies can help a pet owner in getting a clear idea about the processing of these policies. With this, the cat owner can know whether the selected insurance policy covers pre-existing health problems of his or her cat or not. Since there are some policies that do not cover pre-existing conditions, it is always advisable to select a policy that covers unexpected and pre-existing conditions of the insured cat.

There are various factors that determine the benefits of your cat health insurance. Age and physical condition are one of those key factors that decide on the benefit level of a cat insurance policy. These factors also helps the insurance company in setting the premium amount, as older your cat will be the higher premium amount you will have to pay for her policy. However, this premium amount never goes out of the budget of the cat owner, as the cat owner gets the privilege to choose the cat health insurance policy as per his or her capacity.

About the author:
Robert Scott is a veterinary doctor and through ages having been dealing in pet insurance. If you want to know more about Pet Insurance, Cat insurance, Pet insurance Online,Veterinary pet insurance, Cat health insurance.you can visit www.insuranceforpets.net

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