Search Results for: blog a pet first aid kit

Summer Reading Series: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

Summer and learning. For most kids, the two don’t go hand in hand. Fortunately, if you disguise the lessons with a fun-filled feline adventure, you can likely avoid summer brain drain. That’s where Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons comes in handy. The eye-popping picture book written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean combines reading, math, music and slew of helpful life skills in a delightful tale featuring a laid-back cat with a passion for wearing button-down shirts. Thanks to Pete’s panache for crafting catchy tunes your kids won’t even realize they are getting schooled in … Continue reading →

PETA Awards Celebrity Grinches

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has awarded the worse accolades for celebrities this side of the Razzies – the “Celebrity Grinch Awards.” This the first year for PETA’s “Celebrity Grinch Awards,” co-sponsored by the World Entertainment News Network, and the awards are used to call out the most animal-unfriendly celebrities of the year. Who made the Grinch list this year? It may come to you as no small surprise that Kim Kardashian ranked high on the list. Kardashian and PETA have crossed paths before due to her love of furs. In December, PETA sponsored a Beverly Hills … Continue reading →

Natural Disaster Emergency Pet Plan

The National Guard helps evacuate households, pets included My county was one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Irene in my state. Trees fell on power lines and even houses. Some people in areas right by the water had to evacuate and thousands of people lost power, with many not getting it back for days. I knew in my area I didn’t have to worry about evacuating – the only people who did so lived right on the beach and we’re 100 feet above sea level. But I knew we might face days without power, and because we’re on a … Continue reading →

Glow-in-the-Dark Cats Fight AIDS

The other week I saw an animal story all over the internet, from geeky blogs to big news sites: researchers have developed glow-in-the-dark cats as part of their efforts to combat AIDS. Your first reactions are likely similar to mine: a combination of “wait, what?” and “what are they doing to those poor kitties?” Animal testing is always a tricky issue, but in this case no cats have yet been harmed and the research is not only for a very worthy cause for humans, but for cats as well. There is a feline version of HIV and that’s with what … Continue reading →

How to Feed Pills to Pets

Let’s continue with the recent theme I’ve had of posting, in between stories about my new cat Chrestomanci, articles about pet health and how to manage it. I’ll start today’s topic with a story. One summer when I was a teenager my cat Boots contracted food poisoning. We took him to the vet, who gave us some pills for him. We had problems feeding him the pills. None of us had any experience doing so, and though we got those capsules into his mouth all right, he was a master at making us think he’d ingested them and then spitting … Continue reading →

Is Age Important When Buying Pet Food?

A recent survey conducted by polling company Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Iams found that most people consider ingredients the most important factor in what type of food they buy for their pets. The pet’s personal preference was frequently the second most popular factor, followed by price and then recommendations from friends or veterinarians. What’s got many pet websites and news agencies in a tizzy is the least most considered factor when people purchase pet food: age. Not the age of the food, but the age of the pet. Only one in ten people said that the age of … Continue reading →

Pet Foster Care

Today I surrendered my cat back to the shelter we adopted her from. I cried the whole way to the drop-off veterinarian. I apologized to her over and again. I kissed her goodbye and left her for her new foster mom to pick her up. We adopted Tori not long after we moved to Texas. She was a kitten when we brought her home. We kept her in a room separated from the other three cats until we felt everybody had adjusted to the new arrival. Tori was a bully. She hissed and spit and tried to assert dominance even … Continue reading →

Teething Pets

If you’re thinking of getting or currently own a puppy or kitten three-months-old or younger, then you’re soon in for a somewhat bizarre experience: teething. Puppies begin losing their baby teeth around four or five months old, and kittens also do so around the same time. Though sometimes later; my cat didn’t start teething until six months or so. I said bizarre experience because although it makes perfect sense that pets would lose their baby teeth and grow adult ones just like humans, I didn’t quite anticipate it when first adopting a puppy. I prepared for all the things I … Continue reading →

Do Your Kids Help in the Kitchen?

My 6-year-old loves to lend a hand (and a mouth) in the kitchen. The cooking classes I enrolled her in paid off in a big way, as her culinary skills are quite advanced for someone her age. Still, she has a way to go before she can whip up a five-course meal for the entire family unassisted. What’s more, she is still learning the finer points of food safety. If your kids like to assist with meal preparation, don’t let the opportunity to teach them basic health and safety tips pass you by. For example, my first grader already knows … Continue reading →

Pet Owner Poll Tackles Health Issues

Would you perform CPR on your pet? Do you know how to do it? These are just a few of the questions asked of pet owners in a recent poll. In October 2009, Petside.com and the Associated Press sponsored a survey of pet owners about health care and emergency care. Nearly twelve hundred pet parents participated in the phone survey, answering questions about emergency plans, health care, and common owner boo-boos. More than half of those surveyed would indeed try to perform CPR on their pets in the event of an emergency. (The number was higher in dog owners than … Continue reading →