How to "Cat"ify Your Home

Cats are interesting and social creatures but they love to have their own space.  You can bring out your cats personality and help them have happier lives by making a few simple changes in your home.

1.  Provide lots of resting spaces

We all know cats love to nap, but what they love even more is to nap in a comfortable secure place.  Giving them a special bed with sides and is elevated off the floor is sure to make your cat purr with delight.  This can be as simple as a cardboard box with a fleece blanket, a cat carrier with the top taking off or as fancy as a cat tree with multiple resting spaces.  Be sure to provide one space for each cat in the home and remember to think vertically!

2.  Provide a food and water bowl for each cat

Cats are social and will sometimes enjoy spending time with their friends, but they really like to have their own stuff.  Imagine if you had to share your plate or water glasses with someone else in your home!  It is just an unpleasant for your cat as you can imagine it would be for you and can set your cats up to compete with each other or block access to food or water from each other.

3.  Provide a bathroom for each cat in the house plus one

Again cats don’t like to share their stuff and the bathroom is something they would prefer to have to themselves.  Having a litterbox for each cat in the home plus one extra means the chances of a cat making their own bathroom some place you find unpleasant less likely

4.  Scratching Posts

Cats need to scratch it is their way of leaving post its to let the other cats in the home know what is going on.  If you provide your cats with a centrally located message board that is appealing in a few areas around the house they will be less likely to turn your sofa or favorite chair into one.

5.  Feliway

All cats experience some stressors in life just as we do.  The problem is often times it is hard for us to identify what is upsetting them and many times they are upset by the tiniest things.  To decrease your cats ups and downs in life we can remove what stresses them if we can identify it OR we can use a little plug in that gives off a happy cat scent.  Feliway is a great product and can help to make your home a happier place for your cat.

Article written by:

Lorene Rockwell, DVM

Formerly of Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital

Choosing the right dog leash

The weather is finally warming up and we hope you are getting outside with your pets.  Becareful when choosing your dog leash as there are many dangers in using a retractable leash.

1.  They are too long! Some of these leashes can extend over 25 feet.  This allows dogs to get far enough away from their humans that a situation can quickly turn dangerous. A dog on a retractable leash could run into oncoming traffic or make contact with other dogs or people.

2.  What if the dog they approach is aggressive.  You are more than 25 feet away which means they will surely be injured by the time you get there.  It is much easier to protect a dog on a standard 6 ft leash.

3.  The thin cord of a retractable leash can break – especially when a powerful dog is on the other end of it. If a strong, good-sized dog takes off at full speed, the cord can snap. Not only can that put the dog and whatever he may be chasing in danger, but also the cord can snap back and injure the human at the other end.

4.  If a dog walker gets tangled up in the cord of a retractable leash, or grabs it in an attempt to reel in their dog, it can result in burns, cuts, and even amputation. In addition, many people have been pulled right off their feet by a dog that reaches the end of the leash and keeps going. This can result in bruises, "road rash," broken bones, and worse.

5.  Dogs have also received terrible injuries as a result of the sudden jerk on their neck that occurs when they run out the leash, including neck wounds, lacerated tracheas, and injuries to the spine.

6.  Retractable leashes allow dogs more freedom to pull at the end of them, which can look like aggression to another dog who may decide to "fight back."

7.  The handles of retractable leashes are bulky and can be easily pulled out of human hands, resulting in a runaway dog.

8.  Along those same lines, many dogs – especially fearful ones – are terrorized by the sound of a dropped retractable leash handle and may take off running, which is dangerous enough. To make matters worse, the object of the poor dog's fear is then "chasing" her, and if the leash is retracting as she runs, the handle is gaining ground on her – she can't escape it. Even if this scenario ultimately ends without physical harm to the dog (or anyone else), it can create lingering fear in the dog not only of leashes, but also of being walked.

9.  Retractable leashes, like most retractable devices, have a tendency to malfunction over time, either refusing to extend, refusing to retract, or unspooling at will.

10.  Retractable leashes are an especially bad idea for dogs that haven't been trained to walk politely on a regular leash. By their very nature, retractables train dogs to pull while on leash, because they learn that pulling extends the lead.

If your dog is well trained, gentle mannered and smart enough to master a regular leash and a retractable leash without being confused, you could be one of the rare guardians that can walk your pooch on any kind of leash without increasing risks to either one of you.

article written by:

Lorene Rockwell, DVM

Formerly of Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital, Kenosha, WI