Pet Blog - Pet Care Tip – Overweight Pets

Pet Care Tips Archive

Pet Care Tip – Overweight Pets

Friday, April 30th, 2010

This pet care tip is mainly for cat and dog owners, but does apply to just about all pets, including fish.

If you have a cat or a dog, and your pet maybe is getting on in years, you may notice that your pet has put on a few pounds. Dogs and cats, as they age, slow down in metabolism and are just not as active. Their slower metabolism combined with less activity may cause them to gain weight. Just like with us humans, too much weight gain can be very bad for your pet. With a lot of dog breeds, such as dachshunds, and other long bodied breeds, the back and spine can be hurt with extra weight around the middle. Extra fat on dogs and cats can cause many health problems. A little extra weight may not hurt much, but a lot of extra weight can be very damaging.

Try to limit your pet’s food intake by feeding a set amount of food, rather than feeding an unlimited amount. If your pet is older, there are many senior, low fat , foods that can be fed. Try to avoid table scraps, as they can cause your pet to become a little heavy. Even if your pet is not old, you can find lower fat, lower calorie foods for them. There are even special feeding bowls to help slow down your dog’s eating.

SLOW FEEDING BOWL MED

SLOW FEEDING BOWL LRG

SLOW FEEDING BOWL JUMBO

Tags: Cats & Kittens, Dogs & Puppies, Fish & Ponds, Small Animals
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Pet Care Tip – Keeping Your Pond Clean

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Now is the time to get your pond cleaned out and going. If you have an outdoor fish pond, you will want to get it as clean as possible before adding fish. And if you already have fish in the pond, it’s very important to these fish to make sure their water is clean.

Aside from the normal de-chlorinating products that you would use to get chlorine out of the water, you will want to use a bacterial enzyme product to help get the pond clean. This is especially important for ponds that have been full of water over the winter. They will be dirty, and in need of cleaning. After you physically clean out leaves, siphon dirt out, and change or clean the filter pads, then you will want to add some of the bacterial enzyme product to your water.

A product such as ECO Microbe Lift will create a healthy pond environment. It helps reduce ammonia and nitrogen levels. It contains bacteria which help clarify cloudy water. It improves dissolved oxygen levels, and digests organic sludge, thus reducing the frequency of cleaning needed. It reduces buildup of waste from fish and food and it breaks down dead algae.

A similar product is APH Pond Eco Fix, which is a bacterial pond clarifier. This product is a good one to use after you have treated your pond for any kind of algae killer. This will break down dead algae, and increase oxygen levels in your pond.

In short, it is important to use a good bacterial pond product on a regular basis to help keep your pond healthy.

Some useful pond maintenance products include:

Pond Microbial Algae Cleaner

Pondzyme Pond Cleaner

Pond Sludge Reducer

ECO Microbe-Lift Bacteria

Tags: Fish & Ponds
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Pet Care Tip – Lighting for Reptiles

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Most reptiles that are kept in captivity need some sort of artificial light and heat. Most of the light will come from a combination of fluorescent and incandescent lights. With incandescent fixtures you can provide some light or place a heat bulb in the fixture for some heat.

A lot of reptiles will need a certain spectrum of light that contains UVA and UVB light. UVA is long wave ultraviolet and is of significant importance for reptiles. UVB stands for medium wave ultraviolet B, and is the most important for reptile purposes.

In the wild, most reptiles synthesize their vitamin D3 from the UVB component of sunlight. Vitamin D3 is essential for the effective metabolism of dietary calcium in reptiles.

Carnivorous and omnivorous reptiles get a high amount of their vitamin D3 requirement from their food. However, plants do not contain D3 – instead they contain D2, which is far less efficient in calcium metabolism than D3. Herbivorous reptiles are therefore far more dependent upon the quantity and quality of artificial lighting than carnivorous reptiles.

If inadequate vitamin D3 is available , the animal will rapidly develop the condition known as Metabolic Bone Disease. In this condition, bone density suffers and various other serious problems occur. Symptoms include swelling, lethargy, general weakness, tremors, and softening of the shell in turtles and tortoises.

So, in general, if you are keeping a vegetable eating reptile, you will want to make sure that you are using a light with fairly high UVB levels. A light that has a UVB rating of 5, 8 or 10 is adequate for most plant eaters. Most of these bulbs will also have an adequate amount of UVA. A good example of a reptile that needs a high UVB rating is an Iguana, as these are primarily vegetarian.

If you are keeping a carnivorous reptile, you won’t need as much UVB in the light.

Some good bulbs to use for reptile lighting include:

REPTISUN 2.0 FLUORESCENT 36-INCH

REPTISUN 5.0 FLUORESCENT 15-INCH

REPTISUN 5.0 FLUORESCENT 18-INCH

REPTISUN 5.0 FLUORESCENT 24-INCH

REPTISUN 10.0 FLUORESCENT 18-INCH

REPTISUN 10.0 FLUORESCENT 24-INCH

REPTISUN 10.0 FLUORESCENT 36-INCH

Tags: Reptiles & Crabs
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Pet Care Tip – Vaccinations for Puppies and Kittens

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

If you have or are about to have a litter of puppies and kittens, it is very important that at about the age of 6 -7 weeks you take them to your veterinarian and get them vaccinated, checked for worms and checked for all other health issues.

Puppies and kittens that do not get vaccinated soon enough can be exposed to some very dangerous diseases. An un-vaccinated puppy will lose its mother’s immunity at around 5 or 6 weeks, and could then contract parvo, distemper, or other diseases, just by walking through the yard. These diseases can be life-threatening.

There are usually 3 sets of puppy and kitten vaccines. They usually start at around 6-7 weeks of age, then should be vaccinated again about every 3-4 weeks. At about 4 months of age, they should get their rabies vaccine, with their rabies tag.

After the puppies and kittens grow up, they then usually get an adult booster yearly.

Your vet will check your pet for worms and parasites, and will administer the proper product to get rid of these nasty parasites. Some of the more common parasites that puppies and kittens get are: coccidia, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and fleas. These are not usually life threatening, but they can cause your pet some trouble.

Tags: Cats & Kittens, Dogs & Puppies
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Pet Care Tip – Cats and Scratching Posts

Friday, March 26th, 2010

If you have a cat or kitten, or are thinking of getting one, it is very important to have something for your cat to scratch on. If you don’t want your cat or kitten to scratch up your furniture, then invest in a few scratching posts or some carpeted cat furniture. There are also cat posts and furniture made of other materials besides carpet. Sisal is one, and it makes a good scratcher.

Cats love to scratch on things. They stretch in this way, and it is important for them to have something to scratch. When you get a scratching post, or some cat furniture for your cat, you will want to make sure that your cat knows that it is for him or her. Put your cat on it, or spray the post with catnip, to help attract your cat. If you see your cat scratching on your furniture, pick him or her up, and put them on the scratching post or their furniture. Make sure that your cat knows that it is wrong to be scratching on your furniture.

Some good scratching posts include: