Flea Problems on Cats and Dogs

Most frustrating and dreadful of all pet problems is the flea problem. Ask any furry pet owner and they will tell you how much they dread these tiny trouble makers. If your pet has fleas,  you are into trouble. I can assure of that.

A female flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day, and the worst part -- they hatch very fast. Use some mathematics -the permutation and combination method - and you can understand their potential to become immortal.

Cat and Dog Fleas

 Fleas are miniature dark brown insects - nasty parasites - those thrive on pet mammals. They thrive at temperatures of 60-80 degree Fahrenheit and at humidity level between 75-85 percent. So, you see, these pest are not just  "summer" phenomena, they can be around the year at location with favorable humidity and temperature.

The Flea Test

Your pet veterinarian can diagnose the infestation from miles away - without even looking closely at your pet. With all that itching, your cat or dog will be restless. The "pruritus" is simply irresistible.

However, you can do a test at home to find that out for yourself.

• Take a white towel, something like your kitchen towel.
• Make your pet to stand / lie down on that.
• Take a fine comb and comb your pet for some time.
• If fleas fall down, you know what you got.
• If you find some dark colored powder or dust on your towel instead of fleas, you need one more step. Those may be flea droppings.
• Collect some of these flea dirt into a white porcelain plate and add few drops of water. They will turn reddish or dark brown when they come in contact with water, because that's digested blood.

That's it! You  pet has fleas. Time to consult your pet veterinarian.

Now don't worry about these tiny brats! You can get rid of them. It will take some time and effort, but it's possible!

Flea Life Cycle

If you love your furry pets, you're not going to offer your pet for adoption. I mean, out of sheer disgust or fear of these bloody parasites. Only adult ones are blood-suckers, by the way.

Time to know the ins and outs of your new enemy. If you understand how they live and die, that would be first step towards flea-control.

Cat and Dog Flea Life Cycle

There are different kinds of fleas - for cats, dogs, rabbits, humans, and for other mammals with furs. There are different species but they have a very common life cycle.

Adults lay eggs, each egg hatch and become a larva, then pupa or cocoon. It then opens to let the young flea get out. Now he / she needs organic stuff to feed on and grow till adulthood. At this stage the flea doesn't need blood, so it can survive without a host. Once they get a suitable nourishing host, they grow in leaps and bounds. The cycle is complete once it matures and lays eggs.

The duration of this cycle is not very predictable. The eggs can lie dormant till they get the right

temperature and humidity conditions to hatch. Similarly, all the stages are dependent upon environmental conditions.

When the conditions are perfect, the flea life cycle completes in only 14 days. Under average to unfavorable conditions it varies between a month and a year.

Thinking About Owning an Exotic Pet?

An amphibian exotic pet

What is common in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Anacondas?"

If you are scratching your head, don't worry. I'm giving you the answer.

It's the pet monkey that plays a role in the story. That  is a  Capuchin monkey. These monkeys are found in the region of Central America and South America, and sometimes as far south as northern part of Argentina.

What is so special about these monkeys?

They are very special  because they are exotic pets.

What's an exotic pet?

It's is an uncommon pet mostly considered suitable for surviving only in the wild. But due to special reasons, some people love to pet them. Our Capuchin monkey is loved because they are intelligent and are easy to train.

Another way defining such a pet is it's not native or indigenous to the pet owner's locality or geographical conditions. Such pets are procured with great difficulty and need enormous effort to be cared for. In US alone, there are 15,000 primates pets kept by private individuals.

If you love these pets, you can join these pet owners, but you must be ready for that. Every year so many pet owners abandon these exotic pets into the nearby wilderness. Because these wild pets are not native to the locality, either face the danger of death or a potential danger to the local flora and fauna. Certain species, like the Burmese python are very invasive to the local ecology, even to humans.

Difficulties for the pet owner / lover

• Difficulties in procuring them
• They are expensive to maintain
• They need specialized care
• You can't find a pet-sitter
• No local veterinarian for dealing with a sick pet
• Sometimes there are legal issues

List of exotic pets

A list of such pets is almost impossible to give. Here is a list of common pets that are considered rare and exotic.

• Alligators
• Burmese Pythons and rare snakes
• Frogs and toads
• Kangaroos
• Lizards
• Large cats - lions, tigers, leopards, cheetah etc
• Flying foxes and squirrels
• Hares
• Hawks and Eagles
• Primates - monkeys, Lemurs, chimps etc.
• Porcupines
• Raccoon
• Rare Moths and butterflies
• Ring-tailed cats
• Turtles
• Zebras

If you really love exotic pets you must go ahead with procuring one. What's important is that one can't do that half-heartedly. Maintaining one such pet is quite demanding than you think in the first place. So, you must have enough research and experience before you invest money and time in them. There is no use in spending money and walking into legal trouble.

Issues with Your Puppy? It's Time for Some Training

When we bring our first puppy home, the first thing that bothers us is how we should train him. Checking into different methods employed by other dog owners might bring some insight, but but we need more than that to reach at a practical solution. We can try different tips from experienced dog owners but to train a puppy effectively, we need professional help.

Training Your Puppy

Before we hire a professional trainer, however, we can house-break the puppy. There are a number of things we can do to give him basic discipline. It can be done in the first week itself and it's better done sooner than later. The more you keep dropping off harder it become for you as well as your puppy.

Before you start with any training, you have to remember one thing. Your puppy is just like a kid. It will make mistakes before it is fully trained, and there is considerable time and patience involved in this. If you show impatience or you become upset with him, it will make it harder for you as well as for the puppy. Keep a cool head and expect mistakes.

If your puppy doesn't show enough enthusiasm immediately, put him back into the crate for some time, say half-an-hour before you start all over again. A fresh start gives good and fast results. It pays not to hurry them too much. The key is to do it again and again, so that your instructions become a habit. Till then, you have to keep the kennel clean yourself.

Slowly, the pup will start liking a clean living place and it will try to keep it clean himself. You know how habits work!

If you have picked up a healthy pup, half the battle is won. Healthy puppies keep their living place clean. Even otherwise, after some getting used to, a pup is not going to pee or poop in their crate.

Another thing you have to ensure is, you have to make the crate sufficiently big. Your puppy needs sufficient space so that it can stretch himself as ease. When the living space is too restricted, your pup is not going to like it. It would try to find an alternate space in your home and all your efforts to put him back into the crate would fail.

That would make the house-breaking very difficult. So, keep these 3 things in mind and your puppy will have no issues at all. After a couple of weeks, when the puppy is sufficiently old, you can hire a professional trainer to teach him the essential tasks.

Cats are Attached to Places

Cats are attached to  places

During my High School days, my English teacher mentioned something unique to us about cats during an essay writing exercise. The tip was so unique that it immediately aroused my interest.

Well, what was that tip?

"Dogs are attached to people whereas cats are attached to places."

Was that tip any good?

Well, let me tell you a real life story about my experience with cats, especially about one called Kity. I don't have a photo of her, but I think we can do without it.

When Kity came home for the first time, she was a small white fur-ball. Separated from her other siblings, she was hiding under a small bush when some kids discovered her on their way back home from school. My niece Lucy was the one to first stake her claim to the kitten. She even named her "Kity," en-route.


When she arrived home with her new pet, we couldn't say "NO" to her enthusiasm. So, Kity became the No. 1 member of our family and the center of everybody's attention.

The kitten came out of her timidity very fast and thrived. Within a year, she looked like a fully grown cat. She would go missing for a day or two, but would come back as unexpectedly as she vanished. Slowly, we grew accustomed to her game of hide-and-seek.

Before the completion of second year, she was a mom, with three litters.

The kittens grew fast and were adopted enthusiastically by three of our neighbors. But soon after we had to change house to a new location.

We packed and moved out as scheduled, but Kity was not to be found anywhere. All my nieces and nephew left with some  concern, but the consolation for them was that they can always find kitty later, in the very well-known neighborhood.

They found her, after repeated visits to the old vicinity. That was within a week. She was hanging around the old house, now without an occupant. She was her usual self, without a bit concerned about our absence. She was rather detached, but kids were too enthusiastic to notice it .

Their joy soon turned into dismay when she was not showing much of her old intimacy. But, the kids were too determined. They  lured the feline into a large bag with some food, and carried her struggling inside. It can be borderline cruelty to the animal, but their intention was noble.

They opened the bag only when all  doors were tightly closed. The cat jumped out of the bag and went straight beneath the bed. I witnessed the scene, personally. I knew what's wrong, but the children were too attached to her.

You can't keep your room closed forever...LOL!

Kity vanished as swiftly as she vanished before we shifted. Children learned an emotional lesson. They never went back in their "search and rescue mission" again.

They changed the strategy -- adopted a new pet, a puppy.

Now what does all this come to?

Cats are surely attached to places. If you move out to a far and different locality, and your cat isn't too social locally, this may work out for you. But naturally, your feline pet would prefer to stay at the older location, given a chance.

I'm not sure if this works for all the cat breeds, but ,at least, that had been my experience.

If you can share something in this regard, the comment section is all yours. :-)

How to Make Your New Kitten Comfortable at Home

A new pet kitten

Moving to a new neighborhood is tougher on your kids than on you. Change is stressful for everybody, physically and mentally. How can it be any different on your new pet kitten? A kitten, barely a couple of weeks old, is hardly prepared to handle this double trouble.

First, it has to deal with the separation with its mother, and secondly, it has to cope up with the new faces around. Adapting to the new environment and new food are additional troubles.

So, know beforehand that your kitten is going to be stressed, actually too pissed. So, how to make your new feline pet feel right at home?

Make him feel welcome in his new home of-course!

Prepare his private space

 

A pet is no different than your kid, both want their private place. That makes them feel as equals. When you prepare a separate place for your kitten beforehand and bring him or her right into that place, the pet is less stressed.

A personal space to sleep, warm and cosy, can be first positive step. It's not very difficult.

You can buy cat beds  locally at your favorite pet store as well as from any online store. You don't need a lot of imagination for that. However, if you want to do it yourself, it can be done with little imagination. 

It's too easy. 

If don't have a basket at home, use a cardboard box. Cut a nice hole entrance as per the size of your kitten so that he can enter effortlessly. Cats are quite capable of squeezing into restricted spaces, only if their head can be pushed in! The next thing to do is spread in a clean and comfortable blanket before you close the cardboard box top. See, that was easy!

Allow him some personal space

 

If your kitten is timid and withdrawn initially, remember it's only for time being. He is going to make hell a lot of mess when his curiosity takes over. Dogs are attached to people but cats are attached to places. So, don't be surprised if your kitten has a strong urge to explore. That's actually healthy sign, a sign that he is less stressed now.

Another sign your kitten is relaxed now is that he would want to walk around the place, ALONE! He would want to have first hand experience of odur or scent, visual cue, and different sound frequencies. Let him do it alone, rather encourage him. Don't follow him around.

I understand you would be as anxious as your cat, but allow him some personal space and time initially. Let him loose inside the home. After sometime, you can personally introduce him to special household noises and activities.

This is important! Don't allow your kitten to go out of your house for initial few weeks. It may be a victim of other pets or it may lose its way back home. 

Introduce him to the new family members. When the kitten is somewhat familiar, it would calm down. It may feed and take liquids.

Now is the time for some formal introduction

 

If you have purchased any toys, this is the time to introduce your kitten to the toys. This may look silly to some, but believe it, it's important. Your kids can introduce themselves one by one to the new pet. He may respond differently to each of your kids, and even to your spouse, but that's normal.

Lastly, you have to introduce him to other pets in the family, if you've any. That's the trickiest part. If you feel your kitten is not ready for that yet, delay it for sometime, but before you allow your new pet to interact freely with older pets, a formal introduction under your direct supervision is mandatory. You have to see how other family pets react to the new member.

Animals are territorial and they may react differently initially, but sooner or later they would develop a bond. Till then you have to be very watchful towards the inter-pert-relationship.  Cats are playful by nature, so a kitten may not understand the danger of playing with dogs especially the ones with a strong sense of territory. As the owner of the house you have develop a sense of cordiality among all your pets.

After a couple of weeks, you can introduce your kitten to the outdoors. Stay with for a couple of such visits, then your pet will remember the important outdoor landmarks.

A brand new pet gets a lot of love from all members of the family, but ADDITIONALLY you need to show a lot of patience in dealing with new pets. Teach your kids to be patient with your new kitten and draw your attention to unusual things. That's all you need. Your kitten is going to be right at home after a couple of weeks if you take care of these 3 things.