Zhu Zhu Pets

WoodCreek Pet Products asked:


Fleas

Flea Basics

Fleas thrive when the weather is warm and humid. Depending on your climate, fleas may be a seasonal or year-round problem. Your pet can pick up fleas wherever an infestation exists, often in areas frequented by other cats and dogs. Adult fleas are dark brown, no bigger than a sesame seed, and able to move rapidly over your pet's skin.

Adult fleas live their entire lives on your pet. Female fleas begin laying eggs within 24 hours of selecting your pet as a host, producing up to 50 eggs each day. These eggs fall from your pet onto the floor or furniture, including your pet's bed, or onto any other indoor or outdoor area where your pet happens to go. Tiny, worm-like larvae hatch from the eggs and burrow into carpets, under furniture, or into soil before spinning a cocoon. The cocooned flea pupae can lie dormant (inactive) for weeks before emerging as adults that are ready to infest (or reinfest) your pet. The result is a flea life cycle of anywhere from 12 days to 6 months.

Risks and Consequences

You may not know that your pet has fleas until their number increases to the point that your pet is obviously uncomfortable. Signs of flea problems range from mild redness to severe scratching that can lead to open sores and skin infections. One of the first things you may notice on a pet with fleas is "flea dirt" — the black flea droppings left on your pet's coat.

Fleas bite animals and suck their blood; young or small pets with heavy flea infestations may become anemic. Some pets can develop an allergy to flea saliva that may result in more severe irritation and scratching. Also, pets can become infected with certain types of tapeworms if they ingest fleas carrying tapeworm eggs. In areas with moderate to severe flea infestations, people may also be bitten by fleas. While fleas are capable of transmitting several other infectious diseases to pets and people, this is rare.

Treatment and Control

Your veterinarian will recommend an appropriate flea control plan for your pet based upon your needs and the severity of the flea infestation.

Fleas spend a lot of their time off of your pet and in the environment. In addition to treating your pet, reduce the flea population in your house by thoroughly cleaning your pet's sleeping quarters and vacuuming floors and furniture that your pet comes in contact with frequently. Careful and regular vacuuming/cleaning of the pet's living area helps to remove and kill flea eggs, larvae, and pupae. You may also have to treat your house with insecticides to kill the fleas; consult with your veterinarian about products safe for use around pets and children.

With moderate and severe flea infestations, you may be advised to treat your yard in addition to treating the inside of your home. Your veterinarian can recommend an appropriate course of action and suggest ways to prevent future flea infestations.

Ticks

Tick Basics

Hosting a tick is the price dogs or, less commonly, cats may pay for investigating shrubbery, brush, or wild undergrowth. Ticks have a four-stage life cycle, and immature ticks often feed on small, wild animals found in forests, prairies, and brush. Adult ticks seek larger hosts like dogs and cats who venture into these habitats. Tick exposure may be seasonal, depending on geographic location.

Risks and Consequences

Ticks are most often found around your dog's neck, in the ears, in the folds between the legs and the body, and between the toes. Cats may have ticks on their neck or face. Tick bites can cause skin irritation and heavy infestations can cause anemia in pets. Ticks are also capable of spreading serious infectious diseases (such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and others) to the pets and the people on which they feed. Disease risk varies by geographic area and tick species.

Treatment and Control

Prompt removal of ticks is very important because it lessens the chance of disease transmission from the tick to your pet. Remove ticks by carefully using tweezers to firmly grip the tick as close to the pet's skin as possible and gently pulling the tick free without twisting it. After removing the tick, crush it while avoiding contact with tick fluids that can carry disease. Do not attempt to smother the tick with alcohol or petroleum jelly, or apply a hot match to it, as this may cause the tick to regurgitate saliva into the wound, increasing the risk of disease.

Pets at risk for ticks should be treated during the tick season with an appropriate tick preventative. Your veterinarian can recommend a product best suited to your pet's needs. Owners who take their pets to tick-prone areas during camping, sporting, or hiking trips should examine their pets for ticks immediately upon returning home and remove them from their pets. If your pet picks up ticks in your backyard, trimming bushes and removing brush may reduce your pet's exposure to tick habitats.

Ear Mites

Mite Basics

Ear mites are common in young cats and dogs, and generally confine themselves to the ears and surrounding area. Mites are tiny and individual mites may be seen only with the aid of a microscope. Your pet can pick up ear mites by close contact with an infested pet or its bedding.

Risks and Consequences

Ear mites can cause intense irritation of the ear canal. Signs of ear mite infestation include excessive head shaking and scratching of the ears. Your pet may scratch to the point that it creates bleeding sores around its ears. A brown or black ear discharge is common with ear mite infections.

Treatment and Control

Treatment of ear mites involves thorough ear cleaning and medication. Your veterinarian can recommend an effective treatment plan.

Sarcoptic Mange Mites

Mite Basics

Microscopic sarcoptic mange mites cause sarcoptic mange, also known as scabies. Sarcoptic mange mites affect dogs of all ages, during any time of the year. Sarcoptic mange mites are highly contagious to other dogs and may be passed by close contact with infested animals, bedding, or grooming tools.

Risks and Consequences

Sarcoptic mange mites burrow through the top layer of the dog's skin and cause intense itching. Clinical signs include generalized hair loss, a skin rash, and crusting. Skin infections may develop secondary to the intense irritation. People who come in close contact with an affected dog may develop a skin rash and should see their physician.

Treatment and Control

Dogs with sarcoptic mange require medication to kill the mites and additional treatment to soothe the skin and resolve related infections. Cleaning and treatment of the dog's environment is also necessary.

Demodectic Mange Mites

Mite Basics

Demodectic mange caused by demodectic mange mites is mainly a problem in dogs. Demodectic mange mites are microscopic, cigar-shaped, and not highly contagious. A mother dog, however, may pass the mites to her puppies.

Risks and Consequences

Localized demodectic mange tends to appear in young dogs as patches of scaly skin and redness around the eyes and mouth and, perhaps, the legs and trunk. Unlike other types of mange, demodectic mange may signal an underlying medical condition, and your pet's overall health should be carefully evaluated. Less commonly, young and old dogs experience a generalized form of demodectic mange and can exhibit widespread patches of redness, hair loss, and scaly, thickened skin.

Treatment and Control

Your veterinarian will discuss treatment options with you. Treatment of dogs with localized demodectic mange generally results in favorable outcomes. Generalized demodectic mange (demodecosis), however, may be difficult to treat, and treatment may only control the condition, rather than cure it.

Important Points



Look for fleas, ticks, and coat abnormalities any time you groom your dog or cat or when you return home from areas that are likely to have higher numbers of these parasites.

See your veterinarian if your pet excessively scratches, chews, or licks its haircoat, or persistently shakes its head. These clinical signs may indicate the presence of external parasites or other conditions requiring medical care.

Prompt treatment of parasites lessens your pet's discomfort, decreases the chances of disease transmission from parasite to pet, and may reduce the degree of home infestation.

Discuss the health of all family pets with your veterinarian when one pet becomes infested. Some parasites cycle among pets, making control of infestations difficult unless other pets are considered. Consult your veterinarian before beginning treatment.

Tell your veterinarian if you have attempted any parasite remedies, as this may impact your veterinarian's recommendation.

Be especially careful when applying insecticides to cats, as cats are particularly sensitive to these products. Never use a product that is not approved for cats, as the results could be lethal.

Follow label directions carefully.

Leave treatment to the experts. Your veterinarian offers technical expertise and can assist you in identifying products that are most likely to effectively and safely control your pet's parasite problem.



Micheal

Jim Brown asked:


Many people that bought hamsters for their children did not heed the warnings of the pet store. They failed to check the sexes of all hamsters that they bought later on to put into one cage and now are faced with a multitude of hamsters on their hands that they are afraid that they can not care for properly. With a few pet products for hamsters in the cage, the hamsters will seem like one large family.

There are pet products for hamsters that are perfectly suited for creating a great environment for baby hamsters and homeowners do not have to worry about having so many of them in the cage either. One popular product for hamsters is hamster grass and this product should be liberally applied to the bottom of a hamster cage so that it is at least 4 inches deep. This pet product should be changed out once a week because hamsters soil the grass with urine and feces.

The only time that hamster grass is not replaced is when a hamster has given birth. There are hamster pet products that are birthing compartments. Some homeowners might not realize the birth occurred because the mother hamster will conceal the babies underneath her body for weeks. A pet owner will know if a hamster is pregnant if they watch them routinely during the course of a week.

It will be a good idea to watch hamsters very carefully because another cage will be needed to transfer hamsters to when a mother hamster is breeding. A fish tank is an excellent pet product for fish that works well as a living environment for a hamster. The lighting used for fish will serve to keep hamsters warm but care must be taken to use a bulb suitable for growing plants so that it will not burn their eyes.

Other hamster pet products that are standard for any hamster are water tubes. These tubes can be easily refilled and hung at various places around the cage to allow all hamsters access to a water source. There are many watering products for hamsters and it is up to the taste of the individual owner on which one is best.

Hamsters are natural escape artists and born to explore at every opportunity. A handy pet product for hamsters that will keep your hamster Houdini inside the cage are made of mesh or plastic coverings which can be purchased at many pet stores.

Some people that use fish tanks as a living environment choose to use hamster pet products like fish covers which have locking mechanisms on them that are perfect for keeping a hamster inside where they belong.

There are exercise wheels that are hamster pet products for fitness and happiness. Hamsters are cold natured and will run for long periods of time. Some people think that they are exercising but they are really trying to raise their body temperatures so that they can be comfortable. Some hamster wheels are quite large and care might have to be taken to ensure that all hamsters have enough room to roam about at will.



Ciera

Jason Richards asked:


It doesn't problem if you have already decided to obtain shape jacket for the family pet or if you are easily. When you are comparing the figure of one strength indemnity estimate to another recollect that the source doller total is not the only number you have to believe. Besides the monthly payment make assured you also invoice out precisely what mode of veterinary concern and treatments are enclosed (some simple assurance tactics do not embrace scourge remedy), what kind of deductible you, the pet vendor, will be estimated to pay, is there a yearly cap on medicinal expenses, and what type of discounts are untaken.

At the jiffy there are only a handful of companies that recommend pet wellbeing contain. Five of the most admired companies Pets Best Pet Insurance, Veterinary Pet Insurance, ShelterCare, Pets Health and PetCare.

An indemnity diagram through Pets Best Pet Insurance will price about $32.00 a month ($384.00 annually). Pets Best will shell pet sterilization provided the pet possessor purchases an additional wellness graph. Pets Best does not assurance pre-presented medicinal conditions a pet has so it's best to insure them early in life before troubles use. Pets Best has a lifetime perimeter of $99,750 dollars per pet. Pets Best fitness indemnity tactics come with a $75.00 deductible. Multiple pet discounts are vacant. Pet's Best pet vigor disguised does encompass menace.

Veterinary Pet Insurance is a group that offers pet possessor a $14,000 a year cap on an indemnity table that only outlay about $20.00 dollars a month. Veterinary Pet Insurance offers devices with a $50.00 deductible (after the deductible they pay ninety percent of the price) on diplomacy that enter pet sterilization and evil coverage. Veterinary Pet Insurance does not accept pre-free conditions and does not proffer multi-pet discounts.

ShelterCare is a pet assurance that detriment pet's owners about $29.95. For that $29.95 there is absolutely no deductible and growth treatments are enclosed. ShelterCare will not pay for pet sterilization nor will they cover any pre-open conditions. ShelterCare does not have a help cap. ShelterCare offers premium discounts for multi-pet procedure, remedial advantage, and micro-chips. A pet wellbeing assurance procedure through PetsHealth assurance group will loss the pet owner about $37.17 dollars per month. PetsHealth covers 80% of the pets vet bill after the $100.00 doller deductible is paid. PetsHealth has a $13,000 doller cap on each per year. PetHealth does insure pre-free conditions after ninety time. Multi-pet discounts are available through PetHealth. PetsHealth does offer pet vigor cover diplomacy that cover disease on a project by container basis. PetCare is a pet wellbeing cover band that estimates the average detriment for a sketch for a pet is $29.95 a month. This planned includes a fifty doller deductible. While PetCare is cheery to cover the loss your pet's menace treatments they will not pay for any pre-existing conditions nor will they pay for pet sterilization. PetCare offers discounts for multi-pet plans and wellbeing service. None of the estimated monthly prices for these insurance companies include any treat insurances riders.

Any one or all these companies can change their policies between now and the time you obtain a pet shape insurance plan.

Remember to read the dainty photocopy before you endorse up for a pet shape insurance plan.

All five of these pet strength insurance companies have their own websites where you can go to get up to court pet shape insurance quotes. There are other pet health insurance companies with different prices, discounts, stipulations, and benefit caps if you not matter with the earlier five comparisons.



Marlee

Robert W. Benjamin asked:


The Toy Poodle is one type of the breed of Poodle. There are three types of Poodles: Toy, Miniature and Standard, each type denoting a size. Poodles are considered gun dogs, for their bird hunting skills and ability in water. Though some dispute the claim, France is officially recognized as the origin of the Poodle. The Toy Poodle lives an average 12 to 15 years. To be considered a Toy Poodle, its size can only be up to 10 inches with a weight of 6 to 9 pounds.

Toy Poodles are considered intelligent and are among the easiest to train. Without consistent training, Toy Poodles will become willful, independent and may bark a lot. Toy Poodles like to be around people, but can be reserved among strangers, making them good watchdogs. Some Toy Poodles are known to be high strung and will snap. For this reason, it is important to socialize a Toy Poodle early and to exercise caution around small children. This does not mean that a Toy Poodle does not make a good family pet. Toy Poodles tend to be loyal to their families and some are good with children. This breed has a lot of energy, but does not demand a lot of exercise, making it a good choice for apartment dwellers.

It is a good idea to exercise a Toy Poodle at least once a day to alleviate any boredom that might occur. The familiar curly coat of the Toy Poodle grows constantly and must be clipped every four to six weeks to maintain it. Failure to maintain the coat can result in matted fur that can only be removed with scissors. The familiar 'Poodle Cut' was actually important for the dog when it was used for hunting. The cut helped protect vital joints and organs in the cold water. Now the clip is not necessary and many owners opt for an all around short cut.

There are a variety of coat colors for Toy Poodles and the coat tends to be relatively shed free, making them a good choice for allergy sufferers, though they will create dander. There are health concerns that exist with this breed. Toy Poodles are prone to ear infections, runny eyes, digestive tract and heart disorders, skin conditions, slipped stifle, PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy), IMHA (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia), cataracts, entropion, epilepsy, inverterbral disc degeneration, Legg-Perthes, patellar luxation, trichiasis and urolithiasis.

There is a website that has great information on Toy Poodles and most other breeds of dogs. It has details that pertain to a dog breeds health, grooming, living conditions, best food choices and more, the website is called: Dog And Cat Facts, and can be found at this url:

http://www.dogandcatfacts.com

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright © 2007

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.



Hayley

Christine Arbor asked:


There are plenty of toys on the market to keep your favorite pet entertained for hours on end, but there are also a number of factors to consider when purchasing toys for your pet. As with children's toys, safety should be first and foremost in your thoughts when considering a new toy purchase for your pet.

Be sure not to give your pet toys that can be broken up and potentially stuck in their throats! Dog toys, like dogs themselves, come in various shapes and sizes. Dog toys should be durable, fun, and safe. Hard rubber toys such as the "Kong" line of products can provide your favorite dog with endless hours of chewing fun.

The "Kong" can also be filled with a mixture of your dog's favorite treat and peanut butter! Please check with your veterinarian to ensure that it is okay to feed your dog peanut butter. Rope dog toys and rubber rings are always a bit hit with dogs that love to play fetch or tug-of-war. Playing "Frisbee" can also provide hours of entertainment for dogs and owners alike!

Dogs may also enjoy stuffed and furry toys, but be sure your pet cannot get at the stuffing inside as it can be a serious choking hazard. Toy birds and mice have traditionally proven to be very entertaining for cats. They especially seem to like the ones attached to string that you can pull and entice your furry feline to chase about!

They also seem to love simple cardboard boxes, tin-foil balls, and scrunched up newspaper! A recent favorite of cats and cat owners is the laser pointer. Cats never seem to tire from chasing that little red dot around, just be sure not to direct it at their eyes. The feather-and-pole type of toy is also very popular. Scratching posts are excellent forms of entertainment for cats, and they provide your cat something other than your furniture to dig their claws into! Hint: try sprinkling catnip on the post!!

There is also a series of catnip-stuffed toys and pillows that your cat will love. There are literally hundreds of pet toys on the market, just be sure to put safety first



Raquel