Traveling with pets needs careful planning and consideration so that the trip will be pleasant and problem free for both the pets and the owners.

For an excellent and thorough article on traveling in a car or truck with your pets, please see this website:

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/traveling-by-car-or-truck-with-pets/

If you, or someone you know, would like to have a pet altered, but are unable to afford the expense, try contacting your local shelter to see if they have a cost-share spay/neuter program available.

If not, contact Friends of Animals or The Doris Day Animal League for assistance.

Keep this number handy in case you ever have reason to think your pet has been poisoned. 1-800-548-2423. It is the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center. If you suspect your pet has been poisoned, you should seek help immediately.

The service costs $45 per case, payable by major credit card only. Try to have any information on the suspected poison available to inform the expert you are talking to. Also be sure to contact your veterinarian immediately.

A really easy way to apply flea spray to an uncooperative cat or small dog, is to soak a ball of cotton or a piece of cloth with the product and then rub it next to the skin by stroking in the opposite direction to the growth of the fur.

Soft Rehabilitation Collar

Let your dog or cat recuperate in comfort from medical treatment.  Plastic elizabethan collars cause stress for pets and owners. Dogs and cats become depressed when wearing a plastic cone (elizabethan collar).  They bang into walls and owners and are generally disoriented.  Your dog or cat can see, hear, eat, sleep and carry out normal activity with the Soft-E-Collar. 

The Soft-E is wonderful for pets with hot spots (acute moist dermatitis), dermatitis, allergies that cause skin eruptions, itching, other skin problems or who are recovering from surgery.  Whenever your pet needs a plastic elizabethan collar, choose the Soft-E instead.  The Soft-E is lightweight, flexible and comfortable. The Soft-E-Collar is a lightweight foam pillow covered with a durable, attractive vinyl.  It is an effective alternative to the plastic elizabethan collar ("E Collar"). It is easily cleaned and will not stain.  The pillow passes over the pet's head and ties around the neck with a drawstring.  The Soft-E will prevent a dog or cat from licking or biting most parts of his body.

Go to Bonafido for the collars.

If you or someone you know needs monetary assistance for medical help for your pet, check with United Animal Nations. They have a program to help pay for operations, procedures, rehabilitations, medicines, and other medical needs. Click on their LifeLine link.

*In an emergency, (such as a home fire, etc.) if you have nothing to carry your cat in or if it will not go into the carrier - pick it up in a sheet, pillowcase or laundry bag, and carry it to safety.

*Instead of using metal hooks to attach ornaments to the Christmas tree, tie the ornaments on with green colored pipe cleaners. Your pets cannot easily dislodge them from the branches, but if they do, the pipe cleaners pose much less of a hazard than the hooks.

*To easily remove pet hair from ANYTHING ...... just slip on a rubber dishwashing glove and simply wipe in one direction. The hair will roll right off.

* To encourage your pet to drink adequate amounts of water (especially if you have a multi-pet household), put water dishes around in several places both inside the house and outside. Always change the water at least once a day.

*To keep ants from climbing into outside pet food bowls, rub petroleum jelly around the bottom of the bowl.

Breed Specific Adoptions. Why Buy When You Can Adopt?

If you are looking for a dog or cat, and you have your heart set on a specific breed of animal, did you know that there are rescue groups all over the country set up just to find homes for adoptable cats and dogs of specific breeds? Many of them come complete with pedigree papers.

Please consider adopting one of these animals instead of contributing to the pet over-population by buying an animal from a breeder or a pet shop. Just contact one of the groups or ask at your local animal shelter. Not only will you be saving a life, but you will save money as well.

Below are links which which take you to lists for specific breeds.
Cat breed rescue groups list - http://www.netcat.org/rescue.html 
Dog breed rescue groups list - http://www.thepoop.com/search_rescue.asp
Horse breed rescue groups list - - http://www.netpets.com/horses/horsresc/horsgrp.html  

Approximately 25% of animals entering shelters each year are purebreds.

As more and more people move out of the cities, they are coming in contact with more and more wildlife. Learning to live side by side with wild animals and dealing with them in a non-lethal way is sometimes difficult. 

Living With Wildlife is a project of the Massachusetts SPCA. They can be an excellent source of information and assistance. Contact them at MSPCA Living With Wildlife

This might seem to be a off-topic article for this web site but I just have to share how great Swiffer dusters are for everyone - especially people with pets. This hand-held item will pick up animal hair (in addition to dust and other debris) better than anything I've ever tried. They even get pesky spider webs.

These nifty little helpers combine the best of both the synthetic nylon bristle dusters and the lambs-wool and feather dusters together. (Which is particularly gratifying for those of us who prefer not to use products made from animals.) They are slender and nicely flexible, and will reach places no other duster can reach. They don't scatter dust but there are no smelly chemicals on them, and they leave no residue behind. 

Best of all, when they are dirty, you don't have to wash them. Just slide the used duster off of the handle and replace with a new one. This reasonably priced product comes with one handle and five replacement dusters in each box. 

Hint: Save the old ones for really dirty jobs you don't want to use a new one for. Like under the bookshelves, or the garage storage bins, or the outdoor furniture, etc.

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM: Although the Swiffer Duster is safe to use, a caution is in order regarding a related product - the Swiffer Wet Jet. I have seen reports that this product is for cleaning floors and comes pre-filled with a cleaning agent which is potentially deadly to animals. One of the ingredients in the cleaning fluid is chemically very similar to antifreeze - a known poison. When the Wet Jet is used, animals walk on the floor and then clean their feet by licking them, thus ingesting the chemical. Fatal liver failure can result from this. Also, the fumes can be toxic to the point of being deadly to birds and other small creatures. The manufacturers of Swiffer Wet Jet deny there is any truth to the reports. For myself, I prefer to err on the side of caution and therefore, I recommend AGAINST using Swiffer Wet Jet at all. For a more detailed article, click here and See "Swiffer Wet Jet Potentially Deadly".

Find out more.