3 Dogs and 2 Cats

When it comes to keeping your pet healthy there are many things to take into consideration such as making your home pet-proof.  As we all know, our animals can and will find something to get into when you aren’t around. So first and most important, anything that can physically harm them needs to be put away far out of their reach.  Things that are harmful to our pets are the same for children like certain foods, prescriptions/medicines and electrical cords that they could possibly chew right through. 

Dogs and cats just like humans need to get regular check-ups.  It’s important to ask your veterinarian questions while you are there to make sure you aren’t missing anything.  Even if you have pets that are strictly indoor doesn’t mean they can’t get fleas.  This is something you can prevent by giving them the necessary dosage of Frontline Plus. This can prevent your dog or cat from getting heart worm which can be deadly.

What you feed your animals makes a huge impact on their health so do your research or consult with your vet to make sure they are getting a balanced nutritional diet.  There are a few human foods they absolutely must stay clear of such as: grapes, chocolate, onion, garlic and whatever is in your garbage.

Make sure your pets have a steady exercise routine to keep them active and healthy.  Take your dog on daily walks and you can play with your cat around the house with toys.  This will keep them happy and in good shape.

Spaying or neutering your pet can keep them more healthy and prolong their life too.  The easiest way to take care of getting your pet fixed is to go to your regular vet or contact an animal shelter as many of them have programs that perform a spay or neuter for a low cost.

During the summer our short haired cats love to go in and out of the house. In the winter, it’s another story. Our cats gain about five pounds each and it seems like they just sleep all day. As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, these 2 cats rarely meow to go outside. Kenny is the gray fury cat in the pictures below. Sometimes it can be tough to keep an eye on her weight. She would graze all day long if we let her. Buy feeding her smaller amounts once in the morning and once the evening it’s been easier to control her cat health and weight. Indoor cats { like our cats Kenny and Milly} - especially apartment dwellers, tend to have more obesity problems more frequently than outdoor cats, due to less room to move around. If you were an indoor cat that only needed to wait and catch your dinner once it fell into the cat food dish, you’d likely gain weight too.

In or out? She can’t make up her mind….

Kenny entering through the window in the basement.

JUST SAY NO TO FREE FEEDING
If we didn’t our kittens would just get too fat! The main reason for cat obesity (as well as obesity in people) is the consumption of too much food. Deny it all you want but it is a fact. It’s not uncommon for cat owners to fill up the cat food bowl and let the cats have it at for a couple days. Many cats are fed “free choice”, which means there is food available all the time and the cat eats whenever it wants. (Pretty unnatural for a true carnivore that evolved as a hunting machine!) Free choice feeding has probably been the biggest single factor contributing to cat obesity.

If you were wondering how Kenny gets down from on top of the television, she puts her front paws on the screen and slides down the front of the tv. Once she’s about half way down the front she jumps forward and runs smoothly out of the transition from being vertical to horizontal

It’s easy to care for your cat, they don’t ask for much. They just need lots of love, excercise, good nutrition and vetrinary care.