Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Helping Pets Survive Fires

Did you know that somewhere between 40,000 and 150,000 pets die in fires every year. I didn't, but given pet behavior, I'd be surprised if the actual number was closer to the high end. According to fire fighters, pets tend to hide when fire strikes which makes saving their lives that much more difficult. 

That job just got a little easier thanks to The Invisible Fence Company and a program called "Project Breathe". Invisible Fence is donating pet oxygen masks to fire houses around the country. In fact, they've given out over 1600 kits to fire houses around the country so far. Each kit contains a small, medium and large mask and the kit is valued at $60.

Figuring Out How Much To Feed Your Pet

In the last post, I went through a convoluted process tying to figure out how much food to take for Miles on our upcoming backpacking trip. It can be tricky, especially when you consider the tremendous variation in caloric need created by different activity levels.

For most people it should be easier.

There are basically two ways to arrive at a starting point for how much to feed a pet. I say starting point because there can be significant variation in caloric need even in dogs and cats of similar weight and activity levels. That's important because most problems with excess weight happen because an owner feeds slightly more than a dog or cat needs over a prolonged period of time. As few a 15 extra calories a day over a year can add up to several excess pounds.

How Much To Feed Miles?

My wife and I are having an ongoing disagreement over how much food we need to feed Miles to keep him in tip top shape. We are planning a seven day backpacking trip and I've been trying to figure out how much food Miles will be carrying in his pack. We disagree about how much food we need for ourselves, too.

I tend to see backpacking trips as more about being out there than gastronomic adventures. Chris's biggest fear is that we run out of food. Mine is that we have some left in the pack when we get back to the trail head.

I've been feeding Miles about four cups of Purina ONE a day. Two cups in the morning and two in the evening. That comes to about 1530 kcals a day. I figure that Miles is about seventy five pounds or 34 Kilos and that he qualifies as an active dog.

The Grumpy Old Lady loves...

her FURminator!

Wabby here... it's true.

I love my FURminator! I don't know why Mom was hiding it for all these years. Surely, she was...hiding it, I mean.

The Cost of Heartworm Testing and Prevention

I've been doing a series on heartworm over on the pet health insurance blog. The series deals with the reasons for the spread and general worsening of heartworm disease in the US. I cover the three factors primarily responsible including, a growing reservoir of heartworm infected dogs, the spread of the heartworm mosquito vector and the climatic conditions facilitating mosquito survival.

Studies show that, at best, only 44% of dog owners currently test and use heartworm preventive. That means that at least 56% don't and that we have lots of potential heartworm positive dogs out there serving as a reservoir of infection. These dogs host the microfilaria that mosquitoes spread to other susceptible dogs.

Miles Still Sheds, but....

He sheds a lot less. We started using a Furminator on him a few weeks back and I promised to report back with the results. 

Here we go.

 

First of all Miles, like many Labs, sheds an inordinate amount of hair. He has an undercoat that is supposed to keep him warm in frigid water. I'd have to say that is working out fine for him since he loves to jump in icy water and would swim all day if he could. 

A Keepsake for the Mom in All of Us

Happy Mom's Day a Little Early!

 If you're still wondering what to get Mom for Mother's Day, shame on you! Honestly, I've been there. Done that. Don't quite have the T-shirt, but close. So, I know how it is.

If you're still wondering (thank goodness this year, I'm not!) ... here's a fantastic idea you can use to show Mom long how much you love her - not just on Sunday, but all year long.

As a Mom, I can tell you we don't need another lipstick or bottle of perfurme or even sterling silver earrings. At least, I don't. I have enough of those.

 If you're still wondering what to get Mom for Mother's Day, shame on you! Honestly, I've been there. Done that. Don't quite have the T-shirt, but close. So, I know how it is.

If you're still wondering (thank goodness this year, I'm not!) ... here's a fantastic idea you can use to show Mom long how much you love her - not just on Sunday, but all year long.

As a Mom, I can tell you we don't need another lipstick or bottle of perfurme or even sterling silver earrings. At least, I don't. I have enough of those.

 If you're still wondering what to get Mom for Mother's Day, shame on you! Honestly, I've been there. Done that. Don't quite have the T-shirt, but close. So, I know how it is.

If you're still wondering (thank goodness this year, I'm not!) ... here's a fantastic idea you can use to show Mom long how much you love her - not just on Sunday, but all year long.

As a Mom, I can tell you we don't need another lipstick or bottle of perfurme or even sterling silver earrings. At least, I don't. I have enough of those.

A Hairy Dilemma

I'm kind of a frustrated neat freak. One source of my frustration is that I'm married to an artist with an artist's mentality. Part of her creative process is to leave stuff all over the house. I've learned to deal with that, she compensates for this short coming in many other ways.

Another source of mess anxiety is none other than Miles. He sheds all over everything.

We're here! BlogPaws™ is fab!

We arrived in Columbus late Wednesday nite after a fairly smooth trip. Just longer layover in Chicago. Which allowed us time for dinner. I guess the Fates were on our side! (I won't mention the turbulence on the way to Columbus from Chicago - some passengers were not amused by it!)

The Westin in downtown Columbus is wonderful. Great staff, friendly people, and just beautiful architecture. Our room is great.

But the best part of being here is meeting Elisabeth, our event planner from Destinations by Design. And seeing Caroline again. And slowly meeting our committee members, our attendees, our sponsors and all. We have such an exciting two days ahead of us, and then on Sunday, even more fun with PetSmart.

Stay tuned. Weather has cleared up, sun is out, and we are planning a day of fun activities - leading up to our opening pet art auction. And tomorrow - Dr. Larry speaks after lunch! W00t! 

Could Tyrone Be Traumatized for Life?

I got a frantic call a while back from one of Tyrone's chief benefactors. Tyrone was recovering from having his dew claws removed after snagging one and darn near tearing it off. The problem was the dreaded elizabethan collar poor Tyrone was forced to wear. Seems he had been chewing on his stitches and removing them prematurely before the incisions had healed.

 

Well, according to Steve and Alexandra, Tyrone's humans, the cure was worse than the original insult.

 

Tyrone was going nuts with this thing on his head. He'd back into stuff, paw at it, whine, whimper and generally protest. When he finally realized he couldn't rid himself of the device he settled into what Steve described as a state of "depressed resignation".