That Pet Blog That Pet Place Pet Blog

Offering your pet a sweet or savory treat seems like it would be a simple gesture of affection, but with so many treats and chews to choose from sometimes it can be rough to find the right one to buy.  If you’re fortunate enough to be able to take your pet inside your local pet store to pick out his or her own favorites you’re a step ahead, but if you’re on your own while shopping it may be a little tougher to navigate to the the right products. Here is a brief description of some of the best dog treats and chews and why they may or may not suit your pet. Please remember that no matter what tasty tidbit you offer your pet, observe them closely to make sure they’re enjoying their snack safely.

Chances are you know your pet better than anyone, so you probably have a good idea what they might like and what will be appropriate to offer. Your dog may already show an affinity for certain flavors or textures, or he may have some habits or behaviors that need to be considered while you shop. For example, if your dog is a strong chewer, you’ll want something that doesn’t break or splinter. If your dog is a little “chunky” low calorie snacks may be just the ticket. Small breed and senior pets may only want bite-sized, soft or chewy products that are easy to break apart. It may even be possible your pet has some medical issue, sensitive stomach, allergies, dry skin, ect. that steer you towards supplemented or specially formulated creations. Read More »

Does your cat go cuckoo for Catnip? If you have you know how much fun it is to watch them rolling and twisting, rubbing, batting, clawing and biting those fuzzy and aromatic leaves. But have you ever wondered why cats react the way they do to the plant? Read on to find out more about your cat’s favorite flora!

About the Plant

Catnip, Nepeta cataria, also known as Catmint, is a member of the mint family, one of about 250 species. It is native to Europe but has naturalized here in the US and in many other places. You can often find it along roadsides and in fields if you know how to recognize it, most of us would see it as nothing more than a roadside weed. The plants grow up to about 40 inches tall, with angular stems, soft, fuzzy, triangular-shaped leaves with scalloped-edges, and clusters of tiny pinkish-purple flower heads through summer. Of course, the easiest way to identify it is that characteristic smell! Your cat reacts to the potent essential oil, nepetalactone that gives catnip its distinctive aroma and has a powerful effect on the behavior of many cats.

It Only Takes a Little Whiff

Researchers aren’t sure why a cat’s brain responds as it does to this herb, but it’s thought that the oils in catnip mimic the feline “happy” pheromones.  When they smell that oil it stimulates the receptors in the brain that respond to those pheromones, triggering the behaviors and physical responses you love to watch. Read More »

I have 2 main loves in my life (aside from my husband and family, of course): My pets, or furchildren as I like to call them, and gardening. From time to time these two loves clash. Most of my friends’ cats don’t bother the garden or the houseplants. Mine, on the other hand, have a knack for grazing on just about everything in sight. My dogs are equally mischievous. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to hear a crash in the kitchen only to find a beloved houseplant lying on the floor, dirt everywhere, and the culprit(s) nowhere to be found or found a pup trotting towards me in the yard with a seedling or two in tow.

So what is a plant enthusiast to do? First and foremost I always consider the safety and health of my pets. Before I decide to bring home a new plant, I check the ASPA’s list of poisonous plants.  The list may seem daunting at first, but there are still a lot of plants that you can bring into your home or garden that are safe for pets.  Another thing to consider is that some plants are only mildly toxic to pets, while others can be highly toxic.

Secondly I do a mental check of where the plant will reside in my home or garden, and determine if those areas are accessible to my pets. There are few places inside my house that my cats can’t reach, but they do exist, and that is where my most prized plants reside. I also have a lot of hanging baskets that the cats can’t reach.  I’ve unofficially classified my dogs as ‘diggers’ and because I know their behavior around potted plants usually leads to a muddy disaster in my house, I avoid placing plants in dog territory at dog level. A lot of keeping the peace between pets and plants requires proactive planning. Read More »

It’s the middle of July, and as we brace ourselves for the next heat wave, I’m thinking of ways to keep my pup cool, too. The evening news features footage of zookeepers serving frozen treats to captive animals – from frozen bananas and fruit juice to whole frozen fish and bloodcicles (awesome if you’re a tiger, I suppose) none of the animals deny a frozen treat for a few minutes of relief from these oppressive temperatures. So, what can we offer our pets at home? There are plenty of options. Read More »

I’ve owned my female gray cockatiel, Charlie, for 13 years, and still I haven’t developed the knack for figuring out what toys she will love and hate. She is a very picky girl and can take weeks to even glance at any new toy I give her, let alone play with it. Needless to say, this has resulted in a lot of perfectly good bird toys being stowed away in the cabinet never to be enjoyed. I thought I was wasting a lot of money on things that Charlie didn’t even like, and decided to experiment. Read More »

For those of you following this blog, you may have read some of my previous posts about Gatsby, my incredibly destructive, adopted German Shepherd mix. I’d like to share some of the techniques I used to help curb Gatsby’s destructive tendencies.

If you have a destructive pet, the first thing you have to do is find the root of the behavior. Does he have separation anxiety? Is he under-stimulated? Or maybe there was a recent change in routine or environment? All of these can be common triggers of destructive dog behavior. Your ‘treatment’ of the bad behavior will depend on the cause, and you may require some professional help if you are dealing with dangerous or extreme destruction in your home.
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As popular as these pets are, understanding the proper diet of our guinea pigs and rabbits is often cause for confusion, especially in first time owners. I thought it would be beneficial to compose a break down of the foods required of guinea pigs and rabbits for the overall health of these fuzzy little eating machines!

Hays and Grasses

Pellets used to be the main (if not the only) food offered to guinea pigs and rabbits. Studies have shown however, that feeding only pellets can affect the health of the animal. Rabbits and guinea pigs are grazing animals that spend a lot of their day eating. So why aren’t they all round as watermelons? The grasses and shrubs that these animals feed on in the wild are very low in nutrition, so they must eat a lot of them to obtain the amount of nutrients needed each day. Since this grazing behavior is instinctive, our furry friends from the pet store continue to eat all day long just like their wild cousins, except captive animals are eating nutrient-concentrated pellets that can cause obesity if consumed in large amounts. This is why the main diet of any guinea pig or rabbit should be hay, primarily Timothy Hay, which is closest to what they would be feeding on in the wild. Large handfuls of hay every day will help keep your pet in grazing mode which will aid in alleviating boredom, wearing down teeth, and keeping the weight off. You can also occasionally offer Brome, Orchard Grass, Meadow Mix, and Alfalfa to mix things up. Fresh grasses from the yard are also OK (in small amounts) as long as the grass is collected from an area free of pesticides, runoff and pet waste. Be sure the picked grasses do not contain wild mushrooms or berries, and rinse it thoroughly before giving to your pets. Read More »

When we left off last time I had a certified trainer come to my house and suggest some new behavior training to curb his destructive tendencies. Some of her suggestions seemed to help and others didn’t. This time I’d like to share a few products with you that I’ve found to be helpful.

Bitter Apple Spray – I used Bitter Apple Spray to deter the dogs from chewing on my furniture and the corners of my walls. It worked the way it was supposed to; they didn’t chew where I sprayed the furniture. Unfortunately they decided to chew elsewhere, where I didn’t spray Bitter Apple. If you are having a specific problem, say with chewing on table legs, I would recommend this product. If your problem is more severe, like mine was, you may want to buy it by the case!

Chamomile infused treats– There are several varieties of these calming treats on the market now. I noticed a difference in the boys about an hour after I gave them their treats. They’d calm down quickly after guests arrived, they would be calmer (and less destructive) during the day. Unfortunately the treats seemed to have less of an effect after daily use for a few weeks. I would save these for special occasions, such as when you are having guests over or know a stressful event is on the horizon.

Kongs – I started out using empty marrow bones as makeshift Kongs. I finally bought a couple of the real things and believe it or not, they seemed to make a world of difference. The food is harder to get out which keeps them occupied longer and they seem to really enjoy chewing on the rubber texture. To this day each dog gets his Kong with a special treat inside when I leave for work. They even seem to look forward to me leaving so that they can have it!

Homeopathic Anxiety Drops – I read some good reviews about these homeopathic drops helping other pet parent’s curb destructive behaviors and separation anxiety. So far the effects have all been positive.

Relaxation CDs for Dogs – Classical music specifically designed for dogs that calms them and reduces anxiety. It seems to work because it plays a limited number of musical notes in a minute which slows the dog’s heart rate and helps them relax. It also seems to work on humans! One of our local animal shelters uses this music to calm the dogs in the shelter at night. I highly recommend this music. It has been very effective in calming Gatsby’s anxiety while we are away.

It’s been a long road through puppyhood and what I suspect to be a mild case of separation anxiety. It’s a lot of work, but what wouldn’t we do for our fur-kids? I’m still hopeful that they will calm down even more as they enter adulthood, and that I won’t have to rely on so many commercial products in the future, but in the meantime they’ve been a lifesaver!

Last time I introduced you to my “problem child”, Gatsby. When I first noticed his destructive behaviors I chalked it up to puppyhood, since he was only 10 weeks old. I moved everything out of reach (or so I thought) and gated both dogs in the kitchen/dining area while we were away, to minimize their reign of terror. As the months progressed and he became more and more destructive, chewing the table legs and shredding areas of the carpet – I decided to step up my game. I bought him teething toys, assuming that teething was partly to blame. I also bought them each a filled marrow bone and slathered the inside with fresh peanut butter after they had eaten all the original filling. They got the marrow bones every time I left the house. Those seemed to keep them occupied and I (again) breathed a sigh of relief. Read More »

Now let’s talk a little about what you’ll need if you want to keep rats as pets.

All in all, rats need large wire enclosures with plenty of levels or lofts for climbing. You may want to look at cages designed for ferrets. Cages designed for hamsters and other small rodents will not be adequate for the much larger and stronger rat. The ideal cage for two adult rats will be at least 2ft L x 1ft W x 3ft H, but this is the minimum and bigger is always better. Make sure the cage bars are less than one inch apart so that small rats can’t get out. If their head fits through, their body will too! Also keep in mind that the size of the cage depends on the number of rats you plan to keep. They are very active animals and will utilize all the space you are willing to provide. Read More »