pet connection

Economic hard times have everyone scrambling — including pet owners. From this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature:

In recent months the worsening economy has had us all tightening our budgets. Pet lovers are no exception, and although our animals provide us with comfort and companionship during difficult times, there’s no doubt that many people are looking to make sure they’re getting the most “bang for their buck” when it comes to caring for their pets.

The most important advice we can offer you is to focus on prevention. Keeping pets in good health is the best way we know of to prevent illnesses that can make your pet miserable and cost you a lot at the veterinarian’s. Likewise, working to prevent accidents, such as keeping your cat inside and your dog on-leash in high-traffic areas, will spare you the most expensive pet-related spending of all: the late-night visit to the emergency veterinarian.

Gina Spadafori and Dr. Marty Becker have a long list of helpful tips on saving money for pet owners — and they want to hear your suggestions, too! Drop them an e-mail at petconnection@gmail.com. They’ll use the best tips in a future column and feature them on PetConnection.com!

What can you do about a puppy who chews? Susan Tripp, MS, and Rolan Tripp DVM have some thoughts:

With time and guided effort, you can help your puppy learn to chew on the right things and to leave your stuff alone.

Some puppies chew to alleviate the discomfort of teething. Try offering your pup a bowl of ice cubes or a washcloth that’s been soaked in water and then frozen. Take the washcloth away as soon as it thaws. There are also commercial dog products made for freezing, with one part rubber chew and one part reservoir for filling with water or broth.

Most puppies chew to explore, or to blow off steam when they are not getting enough daily mental and physical exercise. Before feeding your puppy, play easy games of “toss the kibble” so your puppy gets used to finding food. Put your puppy’s kibble into a food puzzle, instead of using food bowls, to add even more activity. Confine your puppy to a small laundry room or puppy-proofed area when you are gone to prevent chewing mistakes, and rotate chew toys to provide variety.

Read the rest of their suggestions here.

Think you don’t need to groom your cat? Gina says to think again:

Considering how much time your cat spends grooming, do you really even need to be involved in the process? Yes! Taking care of your cat’s coat keeps her healthier, makes her easier to live with and strengthens the bond between you.

Although many cats — typically longhaired, older or obese — must have some help with their grooming, any cat can benefit from human intervention. Even if your cat isn’t a high-maintenance type with silky, long hair, helping with grooming offers some benefits to you, as well:

• Shedding. The fur you catch on a comb or brush doesn’t end up on your sofa cushions, sweater or the cream cheese on your bagel in the morning.

• Hairballs. Regular grooming by you keeps the volume of fur swallowed by your cat to the utmost minimum, and that means fewer hairballs on your rugs.

• Bonding. Although your cat may not like you getting involved in grooming at first, if you’re persistent, especially with the praise, your cat eventually comes to enjoy the time you spend together at this important task.

• Money. Paying attention to your pet’s body not only helps avoid some health problems, but it also helps you detect signs of illness early, which is better for both your wallet and your pet.

• Allergies. Studies have shown that good grooming, including regular baths, can help allergy sufferers cope with their pets.

Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon point out that yawning is contagious — including between species:

Yawning is contagious among people, and now researchers from Birkbeck’s School of Psychology at the University of London have shown for the first time what pet lovers have known all along — that dogs can also catch our yawns. Researchers said the presence of contagious yawning in dogs suggests that dogs possess the capacity for a rudimentary form of empathy.

All this and more, in our Pet Connection newspaper feature, which you can read right here.

You can also see it exactly the way we send it to our client newspapers here. (PDF)

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