Many cat owners believe that their good little kitty would not even dream of going hunting.

After all, their cat is loved and well fed. Why should their pet bother hunting down birds, mice and other wildlife? If a domestic cat has any access at all to the outside world then it will hunt, no doubt about it, it’s all part of being a cat.

Here are some of the myths and old wives tales about cats and hunting.

Pet cats are just too lazy to hunt.

In no way is this true, domestic cats may sleep away two thirds of their day but they are shallow sleepers and alert to all sound, and movements, that take place around them. Cats are designed to use high levels of energy in relatively short bursts, and then rest to recuperate.

A cat that is well fed will not hunt.

This is simply untrue. A cat will hunt whether it is hungry or not, hunting is an instinctive need within your cat. The fact is a well fed and healthy cat is more likely to be an effective hunter of prey, than an ill fed feral cat.

Cats that have been declawed will not hunt.

This is a misconception. A cat that has been deprived of its claws will use its front legs to give a paralyzing blow to its prey, and then, as any cat does, use its powerful jaws and needle sharp teeth to bite its victims neck. Declawing a cat for this reason would be pointless – in any event declawing is a cruel and unnecessary process.

Domestic cats prefer hunting mice to hunting birds.

Cats are opportunistic hunters and in metropolitan areas where rodent populations are kept under control, the most plentiful supply of prey is birds. In country areas some studies have shown that birds make up only twenty percent of a domestic cats prey. You may see cats catching more birds than mice, voles and rats, this is because the birds are prey that is available during the daytime, rodents are usually caught at night.

Kittens must be shown how to hunt by their mother.

Only partly true. Kittens are born with a natural hunting instinct, but if the mother cat is on hand to teach her kittens the necessary skills, they will be able to become more proficient hunters.

About The Author

Larry Chamberlain is a lifelong lover of cats and lives in London England. He is the webmaster and owner of http://www.best-cat-art.com. If you have a pet related web site and you wish to reproduce the above article you are welcome to do so, provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this resource box and live link to http://www.best-cat-art.com.

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Although growing up you were fortunate to have a pet friend, its loss did make you suffer greatly and you decided not to risk exposing your kids to the same experience of them having to cope one day with the loss of their animal friend. But, life always finds a way to surprise you when you least expect it and one evening your son or daughter might enter the house accompanied by a stray dog. You will probably think that this is a very bad idea, but your son’s eyes will beg you to reconsider and allow his new friend to stay Please, just for a few days; until we find someone who wants to adopt it. Now you know how that story will go. The days will pass and your new visitor will still be in your house, messing around with your shoes and licking his plate all the way from the kitchen floor to the living-room carpet creating a mess. But when he will put his head on your lap for you to touch it on the head, you will catch yourself smiling and thinking that this is not a bad idea after all. Well, it is certainly not.

Researchers have found evidence suggesting that kids who grow up having a pet companion learn a lot from this relationship. The connection formed is not only beneficial to the animal, but also to the child. Kids that have pets become responsible sooner and behave proactively. These are just two of the positive outcomes your child will experience from your decision to allow a stranger to enter your house. The lessons a child will learn from being close to an animal can have a tremendous effect to its personality and behavior; today and in the future. Having to take the dog out for a walk, visiting the veterinarian’s office every six months, washing the dog or playing with it, will not only be some of your kid’s future cherished memories, but also some rather life-changing experiences.

Only good can come out from your child learning to be respectful and affectionate to an animal. By living with a dog, your child will for the first time in his or her life learn what it feels like to take care of another living-soul. Moreover, the happiness and comfort such a relationship will bring to your kid’s life cannot be easily ignored or compared with anything else he or she will later decide to experience. Respecting someone else’s needs and thinking of their well-being are extremely important lessons for the formation of your child’s future character and you will be later thanked for being tolerant and supportive.

Do not be intimidated from the fact that your child will consider his or her new pet friend just like he or she does with a new toy; fun and wonderful at the beginning, annoying and boring later. This is actually your chance to teach your child what it means to love unconditionally and to protect one’s life. From the trips to the nearby park to your family’s summer vacations, your child will have a first-hand experience on how rewarding and fulfilling it can be to cultivate such an intimate relationship and what it entails to keep it flourishing and rewarding.

Finally, the risk of loosing the dog, or the reality that it will one day die, cannot be underestimated. It is true that kids become psychologically attached to their pets, but so do adults. There is no easy way to say goodbye to a beloved companion, but no bigger lesson exists there in life. Understanding what death is, learning to accept it, and finding ways to cope with it, are not processes one has to go through when he or she is an adult. Perhaps then it will be too difficult for your child to become conscious of the loss.

Pets can be the most fulfilling experience a kid can have and it is always time to open your door and your soul to that stray dog he or she will bring in. Life gives no guarantees that happiness and bliss will last forever. Nevertheless, your kid will become a better individual if he or she is given a chance to experience life through the eyes of a dog.

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You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. – Colonial proverb

Fancy having a cat at home? It will depend on you throughout its life around 15 years with proper care so properly budget for visits to the vets and other costs before making a decision to get a cat. You have to budget for cat food, cat litter and scoops and other accessories to make the cats life comfortable at your home.

Kitten or adult? A difficult choice since the kitten of today is going to be a member of your household for a long time. Perhaps it is better to get an adult cat since it has already developed a personality and you will know what you are getting. Adult cats easily adapt to a new home and get attached to the new owner as easily as a kitten. It does not matter whether you get a male or female because their behaviour is not dependent on their gender. Neutered and spayed cats make pleasant companions. For more information visit www.felinefunk.info

Any good animal shelter will have healthy cats available. Remember a cat you picked up from the shelter is actually saved from death by you.

To convey a proper image, choose a name for the cat from Abby, Achilles to Zummo. There are lots and lots of fancy names to choose from.

OK, you got your cat so now what? Open up your purse so that your cat can feel pampered. You can get elegant and lavishly designed dining bowls with a price range of 8 to 80 To promote their health and well being encourage your cat to drink more water. Drinking fountains for cats which re-circulate water and provide fresh tasting filtered water are a great idea. Like humans, pets require water as a vital element for survival. Water constitutes approximately 70% of a cat’s or dog’s body.

Apart from feeding the cat we have to provide mental and physical stimulation and keep them active and happy. A ball dispensing cat nip or any other small treat once in 2 to 4 hours (preset depending upon the need of your cat) is one of the accessories which are fun to watch when the cat plays and eat.

Colorful place mats for the cat with some hilarious or funny drawing make a great gift and liven up the cat pen.

To make your cat enjoy the outdoors along with you buy a pet stroller which costs from 40 to 150 or a cat harness. Vaccinations, also known as kitten shots will help protect the cat from various diseases. Remember to keep your cat healthy by changing the litter box frequently.

Lucy Bartlett is a proud contributing author. Find more articles here. For more info visit Cats or Cat Apparel.

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In February of 2005 my girlfriend and I rescued a Great Dane from the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue. She was six months old, severely malnourished and cute as can be. We already had 2 rescue dogs (Henry and Morgan) so we had some experience with the behavior, diet and socialization anomalies that adopted dogs can bring with them. The night we picked her up, the foster family told us how she spent her first six months of life. She and her two sisters had been found in a garden shed in Nebraska. They were all scared and emaciated but completely adorable. Our baby, LuLu, was the worst of the three. She was afraid of every noise, walked with a tucked tail, never barked or whimpered and didnt know how to play. She didnt understand typical canine social cues: Week two in our house when she approached Henry while he was eating a bone, he gave her a warning growl. She didnt have any idea what it meant. She didnt recognize play behavior and didnt understand why Morgans tail was always wagging. The rescue advised us to get her some formal socialization. Since LuLu was our baby (still is, really), we wanted to find a worthy dog daycare and kennel to take her one or two days a week to help her understand the fundamentals. Thus we embarked on a thorough search of the Denver dog daycare market.

We used the typical search tools to identify our prospects (yellow pages, Google, Yahoo, etc). Dog daycare isnt a new concept in Denver there are several establishments operating all over the metro area. We identified the ones closest to us, asked everyone we knew for ones we may have missed and visited each one asking the most detailed questions possible. We may have spent more time interviewing these places than some people do looking for child care.

We asked about outdoor terrain, playgroup segregation, permissible toys, dog to staff ratio, operating hours, incident handling procedures, feeding and medication procedures, nap time requirements, water intake monitoring, staff education and cleaning habits. We werent surprised to find that many places have similar setups. There were a couple of great places that we loved but they were either too far or booked out three weeks in advance. We just werent satisfied with the level of care provided in the places closest to us that had immediate availability. Thus, we decided to start our own establishment.

My girlfriend and I approached a fellow dog lover (she too has two rescue dogs) with our idea to start a dog daycare and kennel. We all three volunteer with rescues and other dog organizations, have a passion for animal care, donate to several animal causes and want our babies to be spoiled at all times. These philosophies created a strong foundation for Mile High Canine Club.

The three of us spent weeks searching for the perfect facility. We wanted something with a large outdoor and indoor area. We wanted something close and convenient but far enough from a major intersection (just in case a dog got off leash during drop off or pick up). We wanted something with multiple outdoor access points (to allow playgroups to go out different doors). After 2 months of searching, we found the perfect place. It was zoned correctly, the landlord welcomed our application (many others denied us based on the animal aspect), and the indoor area was huge (4,800 sq ft) with multiple access points to the 7,500 sq ft outside space (already enclosed by a 6 foot cedar fence!). We immediately signed a lease and hired a contractor to begin building our dream canine palace at 1346 W. Cedar Avenue.

We hired a designer to do our space planning and building layout. She measured the place, designed a beautiful lobby with lots of windows (so owners could view the playgroups), and created four distinct play areas that could be collapsed into two (in case we had larger playgroups). She designed the entrance door on one end and the exit on the other to eliminate the congestion of dogs in one opening. She picked great colors, great materials and the build out began.

During the construction phase, we joined a few email group lists for dog daycare and kennel owners. This provided valuable information and lessons learned from around the nation. One of the advantages to working in the dog care field is the willingness of others to share information. After all, we do have the same goal in mind: canine care. Through these email discussions we learned best practices for interviewing dogs, feeding restrictions, effective operating procedures and much more.

We used all of our research and past experience volunteering with rescues and humane societies to create our own operating procedures to support our philosophy. We are differentiating ourselves by spoiling our members the way we spoil our own dogs. We do this by providing more amenities like purified water and filtered air, dog beds, lots of toys, healthy treats, plenty of playtime and cuddle time, a trained and educated staff, an onsite manager with Veterinarian Assistant training, partnering with a knowledgeable vet, an outdoor area without pea gravel (to minimize irritated paws) and calling customers to provide updates on their dog while they are out of town. Our web cams provide customers with the ability to view their dogs while they are away. We ask owners to provide food to mitigate unnecessary gastrointestinal disruption. We administer medications and dont charge a premium to do so. Our kennel rates are the same 365 days a year; we dont charge more for holiday stays. Our goal is to make the dog and owner happy. We believe that a well socialized and loved dog is a happier dog. We created an environment that allowed our LuLu, to gain confidence and make friends (she actually wags her tail, fetches and barks now!). We would like to share that environment with your babies.

In addition to providing exceptional canine care to our customers, we also continue to assist the rescue organizations. It is our mission to partner with area rescues and assist in facilitating fundraising events as often as possible. In our first month of business we hosted a dog wash to benefit the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue. We charged $10/wash and 95% of the money was given to the rescue. In November 2005 we are hosting the Good Samaritan Pet Adoption Center Holiday Open House. We are allowing them to use our facility free of charge. We have also contacted other local rescues and humane societies offering our facility and time. Promoting these worthwhile organizations is important to us. After all, they started this mission by bringing LuLu into our family.

If you are in need of dog daycare and/or kenneling, give us a call. We would be happy to provide your dogs first day free of charge, after they pass the initial behavioral interview, that is. Come in today to see what a day does for your dog!

Mile High Canine Club
1346 W. Cedar Ave
Denver, CO 80223
303-722-2011

info@milehighcanineclub.com

http://www.milehighcanineclub.com/

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If you’re like most dog owners, you probably assume that commercial dog foods with brand names that are easily identifiable – Purina, Iams, Pedigree, etc. – must be good for your pets, right? After all, millions of pet owners buy them and feed them to their beloved pets, and surely they wouldn’t all give their dogs something harmful. Unfortunately, this may just be the case.

Now, before I get any further along, let me make it clear that I am not a veterinarian. I do, however, have a science background and education, and I’ve had more dogs in my care in one year than most people will have in a lifetime. As an observant and naturally curious person, I’ve paid close attention in the past 20 years to the general health of my pets and those I’ve had in my care through a rescue shelter I was involved with for several of those years. I’ve also picked the brains of several top vets in my state in my quest to get to the heart of the matter concerning the best dog diet.

What has become abundantly clear is that one type of diet stands well above all others in terms of fostering good health and long life. More on that later…

I’ve seen dogs fed commercial foods, both wet and dry, from the cheapest brands to the so-called premium brands. I’ve also seen dogs who were fed vegan or vegetarian diets, as well as those fed raw meat and bones (known popularly as the BARF Diet). While individual dogs will do just fine on any of these widely divergent diets, what I’ve looked for are general trends in population subsets. How do these 10 dogs fare in their lifetimes when they eat cheap kibble every day? How about those 12 dogs who are getting a vegetarian diet all the time? And what happens to those 25 dogs who are being given a raw meat and bones diet? These are the types of questions I’ve asked as I’ve dealt with large numbers of dogs and their owners or keepers over the years.

These have in no way been controlled experiments, and I would never attempt to pass them off as authoritative or as adhering to any strict interpretation of the scientific method. In other words, take my conclusions with a large grain of salt. I’m really just out to get the wheels turning in the minds of all dog lovers who read these words. After all of this careful observation and tracking, clear patterns have emerged time and time again…

Using Commercial or Wet Food

Dogs that eat commercial kibble or wet food have lots of health problems later in life and tend to die youngest. This is even true when they’ve been fed premium dog foods, sadly.

Using Vegetarian Diet

Dogs that are fed vegetarian diets do better, but must be given large amounts of alternative protein sources to make up for the lack of it in standard vegetarian fare. A purely vegetarian diet is difficult to provide that will satisfy a canine’s basic nutritional needs, but it is healthier and leads to slightly longer life spans than any commercial brand diet.

Dogs Best Feed

Without any doubt (based on what I’ve seen over many years and hundreds of dogs), the best possible diet to feed your dogs is raw meat and bones with an occasional slop made up of vegetables, fruits, and organ meat. I’ve seen clear and compelling evidence that this diet leads to three amazing results: much better overall health, excellent dental health, and longer life spans.

Dental Hygiene

Countless times, I’ve seen dogs with repeating, nagging health issues (obesity, allergies, etc.) turn completely around on a raw meat and bones diet. And it doesn’t take long to see how much whiter and cleaner their teeth become. This is actually very important (dental health), because a growing number of vets suspect a link between the bacteria produced by poor dental hygiene and internal complications as dogs age. Because dogs have to crunch through raw chicken, beef, or pork bones daily, they get and keep very clean teeth in short order.

It still amazes me to hear the feedback from a dog owner who has converted to the raw meat and bones diet. Virtually without fail, they all become true believers. In some cases, the improvement in their dogs is nothing short of startling.

A common fear voiced by many owners is the worry over the bones getting caught in their dog’s throat or splintering and cutting them internally. This is a common misconception that actually does apply to COOKED bones. Never give your dog a cooked bone (especially chicken bones)! Raw bones, however, are no more of a threat than any other mouthful of food your dog chews. I have yet to deal with even one case of a dog on this diet having any kind of serious problem with the bones (out of hundreds).

Handling Raw Meat and Bones

Yes, handling raw meat and bones requires a commitment many are uncomfortable with. You have to get over the ‘yuckiness’ and embrace the benefits to your dogs! Another issue is finding a good source of affordable products. It’s a good idea to locate a chicken processing plant nearby. They will often sell chicken cages (breast bones and related parts). Chicken cages are ideal because they provide a good balance of meat and bone – not too much of either in proportion to the other.

However, you should not always feed chicken. Mix things up to vary their protein sources a bit. Get some pork and some beef now and then to keep things lively and to provide your dogs with important nutritional elements that the chicken alone probably isn’t providing. And don’t forget to mix up a slop of green veggies, carrots, apples, bananas, and some raw livers or hearts at least twice a month.

[*Note: have your pet checked for allergic reactions to any of those ingredients before trying this for the first time. Adjust accordingly.

This is the main idea behind the success of the raw meat and bones diet: it comes closest to simulating the exact types of foods dogs ate all during their evolution. Think about it. Did dogs eat processed commercial food from bags or cans? Did they grow and harvest vegetables, fruits, and grains? Did they dine on cooked meats? Of course not! They evolved eating prey the pack took down and scavenging the carcasses of former kills. All raw!

You might be wondering, given this evolutionary perspective, why I’m suggesting that you prepare and feed a veggie-fruit slop every now and then. Good question! It’s a bit unsettling to ponder, but consider the state of the prey (or dead bodies) that dogs ate all those years they were evolving. The animals they ate also ate, and more often than not, that meant their stomachs contained undigested vegetables, fruits, and other plant matter. The dogs dining on them didn’t ignore that stuff – it got eaten along with everything else that could be stripped from the body. So you see, this diet works because it mimics what dogs naturally fed on for tens of thousands of years. It really is that simple. There’s nothing deep or esoteric about it at all.

If you’re interested in premium dog food, then I probably don’t have to tell you about the importance of diet in keeping your dog active and healthy. You already know you want something better than average for your furry friend.

But how much do you really know about what’s in a premium food and what your particular pet’s needs are? I’m no veterinarian but I do know a thing or two about health and nutrition. (As a family dentist who practiced for twenty years, I saw first hand the effects of poor dietary habits on human health — and particularly on human teeth!!). Like you, your dog has to deal with the effects of stress, age, exertion, a polluted environment, and foods grown in nutrient-depleted soils. Unlike you, he has to get practically all of his nutrition from a single food. Sure, you may give him a few treats or the occasional table scrap (not too many I hope!), but otherwise he’s eating out of the same bag or can day in and day out. You want him to get complete nutrition out of that one food.

Sara Edan is a professional Dog Trainer in New York and provides free information on training your dog. For more free Dog Training Articles then please visit my site at: http://www.dogtrainingarticles.info/

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When it comes to keeping your canine companion healthy both inside and out, it’s important for owners to know which parasites see your dog as the perfect host.

One of the lesser-known parasites that poses a danger to dogs is the whipworm. Whipworms, like most parasites, are resilient. In egg form, their hard shells allow them to survive outdoors in the soil for years in the time. In many ways, whipworms are like hookworms, but instead of ending in a hook shape, one end of this worm tapers to a narrow, whip-like point.

Unlike hookworms, whipworms can’t enter the body through the skin. The only way for your dog to contract them is by eating the eggs. Whipworms exist throughout North America, and transmission is easy if your dog has any contact with other dogs. The long-lived eggs can show up in the soil, dog toys, discarded bones and water dishes. Once eaten, whipworms then grow to maturity inside your dog’s digestive system.

When they reach maturity, the adult worms fasten themselves to the large intestine and the cecum, a transitional pouch between the large and small intestine. Here, these nasty little parasites slash and puncture the intestinal walls in order to feed. The female starts to lay her eggs, which the dog excretes through the feces.

Symptoms for whipworm resemble those for other worms, such as hookworm. Many dogs can carry a certain number of whipworms without showing distress, but past a certain point, your dog may begin to exhibit signs such as a dull coat, anemia, rapid weight loss, and a loose and bloody stool. He may also begin vomiting up a yellow-green substance. In very severe cases, the worms may begin to puncture the intestinal wall, to the degree that the intestine begins to stick to the body wall. In this case, you might see your dog licking and worrying his right flank.

When you take your dog to the vet, it may take some time to diagnose him with whipworm. Whipworms lay eggs only intermittently, and even when theyre actively releasing eggs, any diarrhea in your dog can make the eggs hard to find. Typically, vets will perform four stool samples over four days before ruling out whipworm.

If your vet finds whipworm eggs, she’ll administer a potent dewormer. But the dewormers are only effective against whipworms in their adult form. As a result, you’ll probably need to re-treat your dog.

There are no simple, foolproof ways of removing whipworm eggs from the soil around your house. However, a contaminated environment can infect your dog over and over again. The best way to combat reinfestation is to make sure your dog’s quarters are sunny and dry, since whipworm eggs require moisture. Try to place him in an area of fresh new gravel, pavement or soil.

About the Author

Nathan Fischer writes for Poodle-oo, a site for small dog clothes and wedding dresses for dogs.

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