Search Results for: blog pets and pregnancy

Pregnancy and Heartburn

One of the most common pregnancy – related discomforts is heartburn. About half of all pregnant women experience heartburn to some degree during their pregnancies. I experienced it rather severely during both pregnancies. In fact, when I was pregnant with Blake (who is now almost five months old), I started having heartburn a few weeks before I even suspected that I was pregnant. One day, I found myself reaching for the Tums that I had not used since my first pregnancy. I blamed it on the pepperoni pizza that I had just eaten, and I figured that all of the … Continue reading →

Preparing Pets For A New Baby

As you prepare for the arrival of your baby, it is important to make sure that others in your family are also prepared to welcome the new arrival. Pets are an important part of many families, and the arrival of a new baby is a big adjustment for them. In order to keep both the human and animal members of your household happy and safe, check out these tips for preparing your pet for a new baby. It can be helpful to think of your dog or cat as an older child who, up until now, was your only child. … Continue reading →

Introducing Pets to Newborns, Pt. 2

Last week I started a series on how to introduce your newborn children to the household pets. I stressed that the most important thing you can do to make the transition as smooth as possible for all family members, human and animal alike, is to make sure pets still receive some exclusive attention. Today I’ll look at some other things you can do before the baby arrives to help prepare your pet. Both expectant and new parents have several options to prepare and properly train pets to be around babies. The nine months of pregnancy afford you invaluable time to … Continue reading →

Introducing Pets to Newborns, Pt. 1

I am currently babysitting the newborn of a friend until the baby is old enough to go to daycare. The baby will only be at my house for six days, but this is a good opportunity to begin training my dog in how to behave around infants once the time comes for me to have a baby of my own. My dog behaved better than I feared when my friend arrived with her newborn. Our previous experiences with Chihiro at the houses of friends with babies indicated that she might constantly try licking the baby’s face, something she does with … Continue reading →

“Psychic” Pets

A recent poll reported by Newser.com and conducted by The Associated Press and Petside.com concluded that many American pet owners believe that their pets are psychic or have a sixth sense on some level. The actual details vary depending on what questions people were asked. According to the poll, 2/3 of American pet owners believe that animals have a sixth sense about bad weather, and 43% of the people polled say their pets can predict bad news. Owners of both cats and dogs claimed that their feline or canine pets warned them either about poor weather or upcoming bad news. … Continue reading →

Why I’m Blogging My Health

I’ve talked about “liveblogging” your health: writing openly and publicly about your health issues as they happen (or as close to “live” as possible). A writer friend of mine blogs his experiences with cancer — the good, the bad, and the ugly, no holds barred. Former Pets Blogger Courtney Mroch wrote very openly about her experiences with her cancerous “hitchhiker”. One advantage of liveblogging a health issue — or other important goings on in your life — is that lots of people can get the news quickly and easily. They can stay up to day with your progress without you … Continue reading →

Encouraging Panda Repopulation

There are less than two thousand giant pandas living in the wild. What’s worse is that pandas are notoriously difficult when it comes to breeding. They are shy about getting together, and can have real trouble conceiving. At the National Zoo in Washington D.C., two resident pandas recently attempted to mate. Yay! But it didn’t work. Boo! So the zoo officials artificially inseminated the female, Mei Xiang. Yay? Last year’s artificial insemination attempt did not take, but zoo staff is hopeful that this year’s attempt will be a success. (Mei Xiang already has one cub, so here’s hoping for a … Continue reading →

Secondhand Smoke and Pets

There’s a lot of evidence out there that secondhand smoke is bad for you. It can cause issues with fertility, your heart, your lungs, and more. But it’s not just people who are in danger — secondhand smoke is also bad for your pets. When you inhale secondhand smoke, you’re getting all the bad stuff that’s in cigarettes… without the benefit of the cigarette’s filter. The same goes for your pets! Their lungs are in danger from the same stuff, for the same reason. But there’s a secondary danger with pets and secondhand smoke. Many animals groom themselves — and … Continue reading →

A Good Scare… and Your Hair

I wish I had thought of this one before Halloween: can a fright actually turn your hair grey or white in an instant? Literature and even history has tales of folks whose hair went white overnight. The earliest account comes from 83 AD, and describes a seventeen-year-old student whose hair went white overnight. Experts of the day determined that his strenuous studying was to blame. Marie Antoinette’s hair supposedly woke up with white hair on the morning of her encounter with the guillotine. Western legend Annie Oakley’s hair is said to have turned white after a train accident. The shock … Continue reading →

Probiotics for Pets?

Doggie digestion is a subject near and dear to my heart — thanks to my dog Moose and his very sensitive stomach. According to a recent article in Scientific American, GI issues are one of the top problems dog owners bring to the vet’s office (skin issues are tops on the list, according to a professor from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville). I can believe it! There’s a wide range of stuff that can cause gastrointestinal distress — everything from “garbage gut” (getting sick after eating stuff they shouldn’t) to parasites to infection and more. … Continue reading →