The Truth About Declawing
June 30, 2007
There seems to be an alarming trend to have cats declawed…whether it’s due to personal convenience, apartment house rules and regulations, or simple lack of knowledge on the part of responsible pet owners.
There are many fine vets out there that actively discourage declawing, but there are also many who perform this surgery on a regular basis while never completely informing the pet owner what this really entails nor explaining the possible dangers of the procedure. If people were more informed, perhaps this trend would reverse itself.
Declawing a cat is a major surgical procedure, performed under general anesthesia. It is actually amputation of the last joint on each toe, not a simple removal of the claw itself as many are led to believe. The following article explains the procedure of declawing.
Cats walk on their toes, unlike most mammals who walk on the soles of their feet. Their musculature, joints, tendons and ligaments are all designed to distribute their body weight to their toes.
The claw is not a nail like human fingernails or toenails. It is actually a part of the last bone in a cat’s toe. If you were to “declaw” a human in the same way a cat is declawed, you would be amputating all 10 fingers at the last joint!
Grieving Our Pets Death
June 29, 2007
Our pets give us so much. They entertain us, listen to our secrets, and give us unconditional love. Losing a pet can leave us with a muddle of other feelings in addition to the sadness: anger, anxiety about other problems we couldn’t address because we were so busy caring for our sick pet, and even guilt, especially if your pet died suddenly or of an unknown cause. We may think to ourselves, "My pet trusted me to take care of him/her. Should I have taken him/her to the vet sooner"? Or maybe we are not convinced our pet got the right medical attention. Losing a pet can also bring up pain from previous losses we have experienced.
When we lose a pet, we may encounter well-meaning people who do not understand why we are so upset about losing "just an animal." They may encourage us just to "get another one.” Not everyone is bonded in the same way to their animals, and that’s okay. But it’s not whether our loved one was a person or an animal that determines our "right" to be upset. It’s the quality of the relationship and the level of our love. It’s hard to recover fully from the loss of a long, possibly many-year, relationship in just a few days or weeks.
Tips on Choosing a Boxer Dog…
June 29, 2007
An easier and more pleasant journey with your chosen Boxer starts with checking out the parent dogs for unbecoming traits like aggression, hyperactive and extreme shyness.
This is easier to do when you get your Boxer from a reputable breeder or from a pet shop that get their animals only from known breeders.
Exercise prudence if you are getting your Boxer puppy from pet stores, which often get their supply from breeders of unknown reputation.
These “puppy mills” as they are called are not known to put much emphasis on the quality and health of pups they are producing.
Reputable breeders would adhere to the accepted standards for Boxers in terms of uniformity in the breed, good health, temperament, size and color.
Reputable breeders would be able to show the pedigree and registration papers and/or pictures of the parent dogs that may reside somewhere else.
Professional breeders are also there to produce dog show champions or prospects.
Even if you are not looking to raise a show champion Boxer, known breeders can provide you with some “best buy” puppies because not all the puppies in a litter are show prospect/champion materials.
Dog Obediance Tips…
June 28, 2007
Training your dog can be time consuming and frustrating at times, but it’s well worth it. Here are several tips that should help things go much smoother and faster… plus reduce the frustration both you and your dog feel!
Conduct “play training” where by the training tasks are made into fun games and your dog’s play drive is used as motivation. There are a lot of really good books available on this type of training.
Intelligent dogs can also be stubborn, so you may have to outwit them!
While training your dog, you have to make him want to do what you want him to. You can’t make him do stuff unless it is fun. Otherwise you are wasting both your time and his.
Try to make your dog’s training so fun that it becomes his or her favorite activity. This will make learning much easier and more enjoyable.
Most dogs love to play! You can make your dog the happiest just by spending some time with them, giving your undivided attention each day. Without this, your dog will feel ignored, bored, or think they’re in trouble. When this happens they’re more likely to chew, tear things up, and not listen to you.
How to Start a Pet-Sitting Business
June 27, 2007
Everyday someone asks me, "How do you start a pet-sitting business?" I try to answer their question succinctly. But the truth is, starting a pet-sitting business, or any business is not always a succinct process. Following are 21 tips that I know can lead to pet-care business success in any economy.
1. Accept what you don’t know. Not everyone who starts a pet-care business is an expert on every type of household pet. Be honest with clients who call requesting care for a pet you’ve never cared for. Your honesty and commitment to learning from them will go a long way in building long-term trust in you and your company.
2. Commit to learning about business. Unless you’ve run a series of successful small businesses before, you must create a self-education plan for yourself. No matter how much you love animals (and they love you) your business will flounder without attention to the mundane details of accounting, sales, marketing and filing.
3. Have a realistic budget. Set up a realistic budget for running your business. Be honest about how much money you need in order to pay your bills and invest in your business. Many pet-sitting businesses close because the owner did not evaluate how many visits they would need to perform in order to meet their basic financial needs.
Puppy Basics: Potty-Training, Reprimanding, and Rewards…
June 26, 2007
Potty Training Your Puppy:
Make sure you feed your dog at regular times every day as this makes bathroom breaks regular as well. Feed your puppy 2-3 times a day.
As soon as he is finished eating, take him to a grassy “potty area”. Speak the words “go potty” or “go in the grass” before and while he is eliminating. Be sure to praise him when he is done.
What you are doing is building word associations with the dog that will allow you to encourage his potty activity on command.
This comes in handy when you and your dog are at unusual locations and at pit stops during long haul travel. It also saves you from cleaning unwanted fecal material off the carpet at home.
It is a good idea to train your puppy to use a place where you can easily clean up and dispose of the droppings into the sewer. This is because worms that infect dogs and make them sick get spread around through the eggs or larvae found in the feces. Some, like the roundworm, can also infect children.
Reprimanding Your Puppy:
Talk to puppies like you would to children when they do something wrong.
So are you ready for a Boxer Dog?…
June 25, 2007
An easier and more pleasant journey with your chosen Boxer starts with checking out the parent dogs for unbecoming traits like aggression, hyperactive and extreme shyness.
This is easier to do when you get your Boxer from a reputable breeder or from a pet shop that get their animals only from known breeders.
Exercise prudence if you are getting your Boxer puppy from pet stores, which often get their supply from breeders of unknown reputation.
These “puppy mills” as they are called are not known to put much emphasis on the quality and health of pups they are producing.
Reputable breeders would adhere to the accepted standards for Boxers in terms of uniformity in the breed, good health, temperament, size and color.
Reputable breeders would be able to show the pedigree and registration papers and/or pictures of the parent dogs that may reside somewhere else.
Professional breeders are also there to produce dog show champions or prospects.
Even if you are not looking to raise a show champion Boxer, known breeders can provide you with some “best buy” puppies because not all the puppies in a litter are show prospect/champion materials.
Dog Health Conditions and Terms You Should Know, Part 3…
June 24, 2007
Continued from part two.
Epilepsy/seizure disorder
When your Boxer is between 2 to 5 years old, he may develop seizure disorder.
When he has an epilepsy attack, he’d be unconscious and may look like he is not breathing but he is. He is not suffering.
The information that would be important to your veterinarian regarding such episodes includes:
> Duration of the attack
> The type of muscular activity your Boxer exhibits during seizure
> Any abnormal behavior during the attack
> Frequency of the seizure
What you do in such instances is not panic and time the attack by actually looking at a watch or clock.
It may only take place for 30 seconds but may seem forever to you. You need a veterinarian if it lasts more than 5 minutes.
Emergency treatment is definitely called for if your Boxer goes into seizure for 10 minutes or longer, twice in the span of 24 hours, or if he has a second attack before he could completely recover from the first seizure attack.
Remain by your Boxer’s side; be there when he comes out of the seizure to calm him. Stroke and comfort him.
Dog Health Conditions and Terms You Should Know…
June 24, 2007
Some Dogs like Boxers unfortunately, are prone to several potential health problems such as:
- Skin allergy
- Food allergy
- Cancer
- Hip dysphasia
- Bloat
- Heart ailments
- Hypothyroidism
- Fleas
- Worms
Knowing what they are will help you to better monitor your pet’s health and to gather the pertinent information, in case of an illness, that would assist your veterinarian to administer the correct diagnosis and treatment. Below are some common afflictions of Boxers.
Alapechia (Lost of hair on the trunk)
Seems to be more common in male Boxers.
One, which died at the age of 12 years and 4 months, was diagnosed with seasonal alopecia. “He used to go bald once a year but the hair always grew back on,” said its owner.
Bloat
Gastric torsion or GDV or bloat in your Boxer can be life threatening so bring him to the veterinarian immediately.
The stomach gets filled with air and twisting and this can happen suddenly. The symptoms include restlessness, drooling and nausea and the stomach is bloated (distended abdomen). Your Boxer may vomit and continue to retch but nothing would come out.
Dog Health Conditions and Terms You Should Know… Part 2
June 23, 2007
Cryptorchidism is peculiar to male dogs and a condition present at birth.
The testicle/s, which developed in the abdomen, fail to descend into the scrotum. The usually underdeveloped and non-functional testicle/s should be removed, as it could turn cancerous later in life.
If the condition remains after the puppy is more than 2 months old, then the chances are it will remain so permanently.
Eye ulcers, if caught early, are easy to treat. Late treatment can be expensive for you as well as painful for your Boxer.
Dermodicosis or non-contagious mange first appears as numerous patches anywhere on the Boxer’s skin. The hair will fall off, leaving bald patches in large areas, and the bald skin starts to break down, turning into crusty sores.
Atopy is itchy (pruritic) skin disease caused by allergy to something the Boxer breathes in or touch.
It cannot be cured and is the number two common allergic skin condition in dogs, after flea allergy dermatitis. Having fleas would make it worse for your Boxer.
A Boxer suffering from atopy would have itchiness particularly on the hands and feet.
