Natural Flea Control: Outdoors and Inside

The articles about flea control, writes veterinarian Dr. Laura Pasten, will always remind you that you must treat all the dogs and cats in and outside the household - not just the ones that are scratching.  Otherwise, fleas will reside and breed on the untreated animals and constantly re-infect your home.  Both the outside and inside of your home needs to be treated - if you merely treat the pets, fleas will continue coming into your home or onto your pet from the environment.  You must practice flea management continually; otherwise, you will kill the adult fleas, but flea eggs and larvae will continue to hatch. The best way to manage fleas is to practice flea control in your yard, in your home, and with your pets.

There are some effective environmental things you can do naturally.  Ants can be our friends!  That’s right - ants love to eat flea eggs and larvae, so don’t use poisons or toxins to discourage ants in your yard (these products kill butterflies and birds, so you don’t want to use them anyway).  Many garden stores and Internet sites sell nematodes which eat fleas and other pests; they are microscopic worms which you mix with water and spray in your yard-they gobble up both the adult fleas and larvae, and never bother you or your pets.

Indoors, be sure to vacuum carpets, pet bedding, sofas and chairs (don’t forget to vacuum under the sofa regularly), and alongside the walls, especially in the corners (you will vacuum up many adult fleas, as well as larvae).  It’s a good idea to keep a flea collar inside your vacuum cleaner bag to kill any fleas you sucked up (cut the collar up into 2-inch pieces, putting one piece in the vacuum cleaner bag, and wrapping the rest of the collar in foil inside a plastic baggie to keep it potent; put a new 2-inch piece in the bag every month).  By the way, never use a flea collar on a Persian cat-they are particularly sensitive to chemicals and will oftentimes develop reactions from them.

In addition to engaging in indoor and outdoor flea control, it is vital to use a form of flea control with your pets as well. While tomorrow’s posting will contain suggestions for natural flea control, Dr. Laura Pasten writes that she personally recommends one of the monthly flea prevention products, such as Advantage, Frontline (although there seems to be a number of people complaining about their pets developing a resistance or the product not working very well lately) or Revolution. She writes “I use these products because they are easy to use, so I get good owner compliance, and because they have been tested and used successfully for years and seem to be safe.  In my opinion, there is no question that it is safer to use one of these chemical products once a month, rather than have fleas transmitting diseases to pets, children and adults.”

Curing Dandruff in Cats

We’ve all seen the Head & Shoulders shampoo commercials where one day some is walking around with little white flakes on his jacket, and the next he’s tossing his head and grinning like a maniac.  Well guess what - dandruff is not limited to humans.  According the website How Stuff Works, Those same little white flakes that sell millions of dollars of medicated shampoo to human consumers can afflict cats as well. Since a cat has hair all over her body, dandruff is easy to spot. The flakes are dead, dried-out skin and usually the result of some sort of allergic dermatitis — a reaction to something that makes the cat’s skin dry, itchy, or scaly.

Suggesting for Solving the Dandruff Problem

• Dry, cold weather is a very common cause of cat dandruff.  Even if you have an indoor-only cat, turning on the heat can cause the air in your house to be dryer than normal.  If your skin is feeling dry and tight and sucking up moisturizer, odds are good that your cat’s skin is suffering too.  Since humidifying the whole house may not be an option, put a humidifier in the room where your cat spends the most time. 
• Even if you are religious about using flea control, it’s worth checking your cat for fleas or mites.  You can look for fleas yourself using a flea comb, or you can ask your vet to conduct a brief and painless check for fleas and other mites.  Depending on the findings,  you may need to take some steps to eradicate these pests in your other pets and in your carpets and bedding.
• Flaking around the tips of the ears or anywhere on the face can indicate sunburn.  Yes, like humans cats can get sunburned and even develop skin cancer.  At the very least, cats that have had a sunburn or are especially at risk for it (cats with thin, sparse, or white coats, for example) should be kept indoors during the most intense period of ultraviolet (burning) sun rays — generally from about 10:00 o’clock in the morning to 3:00 or 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon.

If the flaking and itching seems to be consistently getting worse, or if your cat is scratching him or herself raw, it’s definitely time for a visit to the vet.

Caring For Your Pet During Tough Financial Times

The economic recession is hitting home to both humans and animals alike.  The numbers of animals being put up for adoption is steadily rising as more families are forced to confront the fact that they have to choose between being able to afford a meal for their family, and a meal for their pet.  Giving up a pet is never an easy decision and it is usually the last resort of the truly desperate.  In an attempt to help families and pets stay together, websites are springing up with suggestions for easing the financial burden of caring for a pet.  The Pet Fund, a website dedicated to providing needy pet owners with financial assistance for veterinary care, has some excellent suggestions for helping to develop some financial resources including:

• If your pet needs expensive medical treatment, ask your veterinarian about setting up a payment plan.
• Exchange services with family, friends or neighbors.  Perhaps you can babysit in exchange for your neighbors watching your cat for a few nights when you have to be away.
• Evaluating your monthly budget can be useful - cutting “extras” like cable television fees, eating out, etc. can add up quickly. Make a list of essential needs; then temporarily cancel all extra expenditures.
• Hold a garage sale to get rid of old or unused appliances, furniture, and other household goods.
• If you are unemployed, contact your local Employment Development Department to see if you qualify for benefits, including unemployment insurance, disability benefits, and employment assistance. Many EDD offices also offer paid training in a variety of fields which may help you to find both training and employment in a new field.

Puppy Preschool and Beyond: Choosing A Puppy Training Class

My mom’s puppy Shana has sit down cold, will come on command (9 times out of 10), and has never been one for jumping up on people. However we frequently walk her on off-leash trails and anytime she finds something disgusting to roll-in, she becomes mysteriously deaf and completely forgets that she actually knows the command “come.”  When she comes home from one of these walks, my dad frequently starts leaving sheaves of papers around with listings for local off-leash classes.

When it comes to obedience classes, there are about as many choices as there types of dogs.  In my experience however there are usually three types of “mainstream” obedience classes.

PUPPY 1 (sometimes referred to as Puppy Kindergarten)

These classes usually focus on basic training commands (e.g. come, sit, stay and lie-down), house-training and socialization.

PUPPY II (sometimes know as Intermediate or Advanced Manners)

These classes are usually still geared at dogs under 1 year of age, although it is worth calling the instructor to see if older dogs are welcome.  These classes tend to focus on building on the skills taught in PUPPY 1 (and prior obedience training is almost always required).  My advanced puppy class for example focused on coming off distractions (e.g. training your dog to come even when he is bound and determined to catch the squirrel across the street), adhering to the command “stay” even when the owner walked out of site, and distance commands (the dog is standing 6 feet in front of you and sits on command – very useful for later off-leash work).

OFF-LEASH TRAINING

This class is exactly what it sounds like.  Again, these classes are frequently geared towards puppies, but it is always worth asking if older dogs are accepted.  Even if you rarely walk your dog off-leash, this kind of advanced training is excellent for challenging your dog’s intellect and for continuing to hone your dog’s behavioral skills. 

Puppy Development Birth-4 weeks: A Surprisingly Critical Time

They are cute, cuddly, funny and frustrating! Puppies! In this month’s Tips from the Trainer series, trainer Gail Green takes a close look at puppy development.

When a puppy is born, it has two goals in life: eat and stay warm.  Mom will help with both, as well as cleaning him up, nudging to keep him stimulated, and providing him with a place to “belly up to the bar.”  If you watch and listen, you will hear small little grunting noises and see them wave their little heads jerkily back and forth, looking for that delicious milk.  For many years, we thought that these little guinea-pig-like creatures operated solely on instinct to survive until the learning and retention of information began at approximately 21 days.

Science has found that the learning process begins long before that.  Studies were done with litters of puppies, half of them exposed to new stimuli, and half treated as a “normal” litter.  The stimuli provided to these very young puppies - approximately 5-7 days old - was very simple:  surface under their feet and tummy.  The puppies would have their tiny paws manipulated to touch different surface textures:  rug material, linoleum and very fine sand paper.  When they were placed on the fine sand paper, they were allowed to nurse on Mom.  When they touched the linoleum, they were allowed to move and slip around, no Mom, and on the rug surface, they were snuggled with brothers and sisters.  Within a very brief time, the puppies were placed on the surfaces, and began to seek out the stimuli that were associated with that surface.  The linoleum prompted whining, the rug brought about sleep, and the sand paper surface caused the pups to grunt and wiggle and “look” for food.  Scientists were astounded at the results!  

These stimulated puppies were seen to develop and mature more quickly, assimilate training more willingly and be more willing to explore new environments.  The puppies treated as “normal” had to be coerced to explore new environments and were less likely to respond to training at a very young age.

Of course, there are also all of the physical developments happening at this important time for both groups:  fright and startle response is influenced by Mom, the eyes begin to open (they are always blue until about 5 weeks old), teeth begin to erupt, ears begin to take in new sounds, and smell becomes more acute.  These little ones also experiment with standing (wobble wobble, fall over), wagging and barking. And they (barely) begin to look like puppies!

Next week we will explore the time between ages 4-12 weeks old.  Until then, keep four on the floor!

Can Your Pet Get the Flu?

When I’m sick, all I want to do is curl up in bed with a bowl of chicken soup. And I am inevitably joined by my dog who is both lured by the possibility of receiving some chicken soup, and by the realization that I am essentially a captive audience and so he can demand 24 hour petting and attention.  Earlier today, a friend of mine posed the question “can dogs get the flu?”  I responded “absolutely not,” with absolute confidence, and then immediately scurried off to research the topic.

As it turns out, dogs can viagra edinburgh find search free get the flu - just not the strain(s) that infect humans.  The strain of flu that can infect dogs seems to be most closely related to a form of equine flu.  According to ThePetCenter.com, canine flu is most commonly passed between dogs when multiple dogs are in close quarters for an extended period of time.

Coughing, fever, and a distinct lack of energy are the most common symptoms of canine flu.  Canine flu displays many of the same symptoms as Kennel Cough which also affects dogs’ respiratory system.  If your dog has fever or unexplained coughing, it is mandatory to get him or her to a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Unlike with dogs, there does not to be appear to be a strain of feline flu.  Instead, feline flu refers to the respiratory infection cats get when they are infected with either Feline Herpes Virus-1 or Feline Calicivirus.  Feline flu symptoms typically include sneezing, nasal discharge, and red and swollen eyes.  Feline flu is passed from cat to cat - it cannot be caught by humans. If your cat is exhibiting any of these symptoms, take her to the vet immediately.  Vaccines do exist for both herpes and calicivirus, so discuss vaccination options with your vet as well.