Tips for Traveling with your Pet

Traveling with your pet during vacation or holidays takes some special planning to insure your pet's safety and happiness. I found a great article by Travel Hacker called "Traveling with man's best friend: 20 tips for a dog-friendly vacation, which also can be applied when traveling with your cat. I hope you find it useful.

To read the article, click here

The Friday Funny - cat interrupted

Never interrupt a cat's grooming ritual.

Safe alternatives to antiperspirants

There has been some question as to whether ingredients in antiperspirants, namely aluminum chlorhydrate and aluminum zicarnium, could contribute to alzheimers and breast cancer. They are synthetic compounds that block the pores and keep them from doing what they are supposed to do - rid your body of toxins through perspiration.

Here's an article from Health Sciences Institute on the subject. The article also offers some safe natural alternatives to antiperspirants.

My husband and I stopped using our antiperspirants about 2 years ago, and have had good luck with a holistic formula called "Real Purity deodorant." The ingredients are simply purified water, minerals, guar gum, irish moss, glycerin, aloe, seaweed, vegetable silica, grapefruit seed extract, olive leaf extract, vitamins A & E, sandalwood oil, lavender oil and grapefruit. It rolls on very nicely, dries fast, has no fragrance, and it really works all day, with no reapplying. If you're interested in checking it out along with their other natural products, here's their website: Real Purity

Another alternative is coconut oil, as it is great at killing bacteria, while being good for your skin.

Furry Friday

May you have as much fun as you can before someone makes you stop.

(photo origin unknown)

Losing sleep because of your cat?

A cat's nighttime antics can cause their owners to lose precious sleep. Some cats just naturally adjust their sleep schedule to their owners, and you'd think it would be easy to get a good night's sleep, with your cat sleeping or napping up to 20 hours each day. But because of their natural internal clock, most will become more active and want to play or practice their hunting skills around 10:00 pm and again just before dawn.

My cats Gidget and Lola are pretty good throughout the night, but they begin to roam around 4:00 A.M. and Gidget will loudly announce promptly at 5:30 A.M. that she's ready to eat. Lola isn't as interested in eating as playing with the curtains or her toy mice. Our previous cat Fritz on the other hand prowled and wanted to play at all hours of the night, and would also show up at 5:30 A.M. to antagonize Gidget on the windowsill in our bedroom. Locking Fritz out of our room did no good as he would bang and scratch at the door relentlessly until we let him in.

I did some research on the subject and found suggestions that may help any of you also in this predicament. Try playing with your kitty right before bedtime until he or she is ready to quit, usually about 10 minutes. Throwing a ping pong ball around, or interactive toy like Da Bird will use up a lot of your cat's energy. Also several times during the day, if you see your cat sleeping, wake him or her up and encourage them to play for a bit. You can also try feeding a bedtime snack, such as turkey which contains tryptophan. All of these tips should help expend your cat's energy and help him or her sleep through the night. It can also help to pull the shades so your cat won't automatically wake up when it starts to get light outside.

If the behavior persists, don't yell at your cat when he disturbs your sleep. Chances are he is doing it for your attention, and yelling just gives him what he was after. Experts suggest closing the cat out of your room at night, and you may have to endure a few nights of crying, in which case ear plugs could help you get through it. A final suggestion is a squirt gun or spray bottle with water, aimed at your cat whenever he disturbs your sleep. Chances are the sound of the water will be all that's needed to make him stop acting up.

If you've had this problem, I'd like to hear what methods worked for you and your cat.

Best positions in bed...

(photo origin unknown)

Chemical-free flea control

Chemical-free flea control...try saying that 3 times. Flea season is fast approaching us here in the Northern U.S. With my dog's skin allergies, I was concerned that the chemical flea products I was using couldn't be helping the problem. I read somewhere that the skin is the largest organ of the body, and you shouldn't put anything on your skin that isn't safe to eat because it absorbs into your system. This applies to our pets as well.

I've used a natural alternative for flea control that contains diatomaceous for the past three years, and it has worked well on both of my dogs. It looks very much like standard chemical flea powder, and is rubbed into the dog's fur. You can also shake it on carpeting, bedding, and furniture. It is odorless and completely safe, even if eaten by the animal. I would caution you to apply it on a still day in order to assure the tiny particles don't get into your pet's eyes. The specific product I've used is sold by OnlyNaturalPet.com. Ingredients are: diatomaceous earth, sage, eucalyptus, yellowdock root, fennel seed, and rosemary leaf.

Here's the reason it works: it's based on a centuries-old insect remedy used in gardening and other applications. Diatomaceous earth is actually tiny fossilized skeletons of microscopic organisms, and are razor sharp at the microscopic level, but feel like a fine powder to humans and animals. When a flea comes in contact with it, their protective coating is pierced, they dehydrate and die.

The pesticides in standard flea products are made from toxic chemicals. There is evidence that long term use can significantly harm humans and animals. So why take the risk when a natural remedy works just as well.

Dogs and cats living in harmony

Love your neighbor as yourself. Give to those less fortunate...