How Pet Therapy Helps

It has long been proven that simply holding a cat or stroking a dog will actually lower the blood pressure of most people. What you may not be aware of is there are groups of people around the country who take pets to nursing home patients to help the residents interact and have some form of companionship.

In several cases, nursing home residents who had shunned human contact and were otherwise unresponsive, were found to respond very positively to the pet therapy animals that were brought in by petting, holding and talking to them. Another trend that is starting to occur in some nursing home facilities is for the home to adopt a resident cat or dog that lives in the facility. Most of these pets are absolutely spoiled rotten by the constant attention they receive from the residents.

If you'd like to volunteer your services with your own pet as a therapy pet, generally the nursing homes ask that your pet go through some training to ascertain that he or she is temperamentally suited to be petted and held by multiple people. A quick phone call to a nearby nursing home should let you know if they have a pet therapy program and if so, where your pet can get training nearby.

You will need a sturdy pet carrier to safely transport your cat or dog and a pet car seat is always a good idea if your pet doesn't want to exclusively travel in a carrier. This is a wonderful way to give back to the community and also give your dog or cat a chance to help others just by being their own sweet selves.

Many nursing home residents have no family and receive no visitors. A therapy pet is a very welcome visitor to many residents. Get involved in your community with your pet and see if your furry companion has the special qualities to be a therapy pet.
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Taking Proper Care Of Your Older Cat

Since your cat is a beloved member of your family, you will want to do all that you possibly can to make the older years of her life very comfortable and enjoyable. Just as with any of our older friends or relatives, taking care of them the right way can ensure that you will be able to have the gift of an extended time frame to spend time with them. If you happen to have a cat that has been getting up there in years, there are a lot of ways you can maintain her quality of life while accommodating some of her special needs.

As your feline gets older, you will begin to notice that her individual needs will begin to change a bit. During the aging process, it is very important that your cat still get the proper nutrition as well as a decent amount of exercise to remain healthy. Doing so could help them a great deal when it comes to them having to fight off certain diseases or illnesses. Older cats play a little differently. They no longer may enjoy running and jumping but will get a lot of enjoyment out of batting a feather dangling on a string or other hanging toy that will require a lot of paw movement but not a lot of running.

Many owners will make the decision to start keeping their cat indoors exclusively when they become older. This will eliminate some of the problems that could come about from vehicles, other animals or other dangers your cat may no longer be fast enough to avoid. You can further help a cat that is older get up in her favorite sleeping place next to you on the couch with a set of steps placed in front of the furniture.Some geriatric cats have difficulty jumping up to favorite sitting places in windows or other preferred places and a simple set of steps will go a long way to helping your older cat retain her independence for getting up and down herself.

Feed your older cat a good diet that meets her nutritional needs, give her fresh water, regular checkups and with plenty of love from you; your older cat will spend her later years in love and comfort.
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Fireworks Safety and Other Loud Noises

During this time of year, your pet is likely to hear fireworks. Many pets can disregard the loud noises and some other pets are absolutely terrified by the popping and zinging of the fireworks.

You can help your pet become accustomed to fireworks, thunder and lightening, and other loud noises by using positive reinforcement techniques.

To get your pet used to the sounds of storms, which will probably happen more frequently in your area than fireworks; a tape or CD of a storm played at a low level while you soothe and pet your dog will help. When your dog appears not to notice the CD at a lower level - up the volume by one. Continue doing so on a daily basis until your dog either seems bored by the thunder noise or otherwise doesn't appear to notice. During your next real thunderstorm, soothe and pet your dog just like during the tape and he will come to understand that he doesn't have to be afraid. This technique can also work with cats, but they would probably prefer a place of their own to hide. As a cat is more wired psychologically to hide when there is danger as opposed to a dog that is mentally wired to be a more social animal.

Fireworks only happen a few times a year in several areas so desensitizing your dog or cat to these noisemakers will take a lot of patience. When your pet is frightened, simply stroke and soothe them and reassure them there is nothing to fear. Never pull a dog or cat that is hiding out of their hiding place, you run the risk of being bitten by mistake or scratched by a panicking pet.

Take it slow and praise your pet for being calm and you should see a marked improvement in the reaction of your pet to fireworks and other loud noises in the future.

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When Your Dog Is Coughing...

You may notice that your dog will make a coughing noise every once in a great while. However, if your dog seems to be coughing on a regular and almost consistent basis, there could be an underlying problem that needs to be checked out. Often times, such a chronic cough in dogs can be caused by some type of bronchitis, a foreign object in the windpipe, pneumonia, tumors in the lung and even heartworm disease or heart failure. Because any of these problems can occur and some of them can be fatal, it is important that you seek the advice of your veterinarian as soon as you begin to notice a prolonged cough.

Basically, what happens when your dog coughs is that he or she is cleaning any matter from the throat area. This coughing can be of great concern after you have noticed that your beloved canine has been coughing persistently for two or more weeks. You may want to give your veterinarian a call first and explain all of the symptoms, then he or she may be able to better decide if you should bring your dog in for a check or not.

Canine bloat can cause your dog to make a coughing like noise as some dogs will forcibly "cough" to expel the pressure they are feeling. By simply providing your canine with raised food and water bowls, you can combat this problem of your dog swallowing air when eating or drinking.

If you do bring your dog in for a checkup, there are some tests that your veterinarian may want to perform. Some of these tests may include certain blood tests to detect any underlying problems, x-rays of the chest area, a complete medical examination and possibly even a heartworm test. As long as you have something like a chronic cough checked out as soon as you can, your dog will have a much better chance of a complete recovery.
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Basic Cat Training - Yes It Can Be Done!

Many people claim they like dogs better because cats cannot be trained. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is a dog is mentally wired to basically please. A cat simply is not psychologically geared to please you. However, cats do need affection, attention, and praise and by using these methods, you can train your cat.

Cats learn through experience. If your cat has a good experience with an activity, they will find it enjoyable and repeat it. If your cat finds they get scolded and not rewarded for certain behaviors they will learn quickly not to repeat them. Cats will normally choose to get negative attention as opposed to no attention at all and if you work, you might find you have a misbehaving cat simply because he misses you.

Never hit or "spank" your cat. This just teaches your cat that you are capable of hurting him and he won't trust you. Instead when you want to teach your cat not to scratch your favorite couch, simply tell him,"No" and pick him up and move him to a scratching post. Put his claws on it if you have to and praise him the entire time. Your cat dislikes being scolded and will quickly learn to use the scratching post for his claw exercising needs. Only do this if you catch him in the act of scratching. Otherwise he won't be able to build an association to what you want him to do and he will continue to scratch in areas where you don't want him to.

Another common misbehavior is a cat using something of yours as his litter box. If you keep his regular litter box clean, then your cat is probably trying to "call" you home. Because you show up after he does this, this further emphasizes this behavior. You can eliminate this behavior by first washing the towel, rug or bedspread he is using in an enzyme killing soap to remove all "his" traces. Then keep the door to that room shut when you're gone. Give your cat a lot of extra attention and playtime and if you work - try to give him a little time in mornings. Just 10 minutes of ball throwing or other activity in the mornings will show your cat the attention he is seeking in a positive way and doing this will usually quell this behavior quickly. When your cat uses the litter box instead of your rug, towel or other personal objects, praise him richly.

Be patient, reward and praise and you will find you have a very trainable cat!
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