“Maru” is a fairly common Japanese pet name because it is slang for “demon” or “spirit.”But of the many Japanese pets named Maru, only one is a bona fide Internet star - a mischievous male Scottish fold* that loves to climb in or under things and to explore boxes, holes, and small spaces. We’ve posted a Maru video before - it’s the top one in this post about cat adoption. But like most people on the internet, we can never get enough Maru so here are a few of our favorite clips:
Question: I have a Boston Terrier and she is about 3-4 months old. She is starting to chew on furniture and anything she can get ahold of. We have given her several rawhides to chew on. How do I keep her from chewing on everything?
Answer: Chewing is a natural behavior for puppies as they go through a teething stage just like babies do. Even after their adult teeth come in they still need to chew in order to set the permanent teeth in the jaw. You mentioned that you have given her several rawhides to chew on. You may want to try some other types of toys as well if she is still chewing on inappropriate things. Some other tips include:
1. When she is left alone in the house confine her to a crate or puppy-proof room (see next tip)
2. Puppy-Proof your home (or at the very least the area where you confine her while you are away if not using a crate). Remove all items she can chew on, it may be helpful to crawl around the room so you can look at it from her perspective.
3. Make sure you give her a variety of appropriate toys to chew on so she does not get bored and also to help teach her things that are appropriate to chew on. Refrain from giving her old shoes or other inappropriate chew toys as she will not be able to distinguish between old and new. You want to avoid giving her mixed signals. You will want to find toys that cannot be chewed apart or accidentally swallowed. The Dog Guide website has a list of 8 Great and Durable Dog Toys you may want to check out.
4. Train her to not chew on inappropriate items. To do this place a tempting (but inappropriate) object on the floor along with a toy. When she starts to chew on the inappropriate object, quickly correct her with a firm “NO!” and point to her toy. Once she gets the hang of this with you in the room it is time to leave the room for short intervals. If you catch her chewing on the inappropriate object after you leave the room quickly enter the room and correct her. NOTE: you only want to correct her when you catch her in the act, if you do so after the fact she will not associate the correction with the undesirable chewing behavior. Training her using this method can take time so be patient and try not to get frustrated.
5. If, after working with her as in steps #1 through #4, you are still having issues with her chewing, you may want to consider contacting a professional dog trainer for assistance. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers website has a nice tool you can use to find a trainer in your area.
In our news feed today, we see that Veterinarian Roger Smith of the Animal Medical Center has written some great tips on how to be an environmentally friendly pet owner, which appears in The Star Press. We especially like his first tip of starting with a “recycled” pet by adopting from a shelter or rescue group. His other tips on waste disposal, dog treats, toys, and other matters, are well worth a read too.
More great environmentally friendly tips for your pets:
ASPCA’s Go Green for Pets has more suggestions for how pet owners can protect the environment - many that may not be quite as obvious, such as donating older bedding, towels, leashes, pet toys and litter boxes to your local shelter next time you clean your closet, and taking off your shoes while at home to avoid tracking in pesticides, fungicides and dirt that might harm your pets.
PlanetGreen’s Top Green Pet Tips offer a wide range of suggestions on everything from using natural foods and products to baking your own food and composting waste.
Question: I have a male cat who will turn 3 soon. He was a shelter cat I adopted a few years ago and I love him dearly, but there is one major issue — he cries constantly. I have taken him to the vet and he has a clean bill of health. He is well fed, but seems very anxious about food: he can never get enough. I know he can’t possibly be hungry, but he pesters me for food night and day. He has a lot of toys, but he doesn’t usually play with them and seems very bored, which also makes him cry. I would get another cat to keep him company, but the rules of my lease have a one-pet limit. I don’t know what to do to make him happy and keep him quiet. I have tried spraying him with water when he cries, but it doesn’t work. He just hides and cries from somewhere else. Do cats get anxiety disorders? If so, is there anything I can do to help calm him?
Answer: You are certainly not alone. Too much cat vocalization is one of the most common complaints of cat owners. It can be pretty difficult to understand why they are mewing, whining, or howling too much. You have concluded that it is because the cat is unhappy and that may not be the case - sometimes it is to get attention; sometimes it is because they are in pain or discomfort; sometimes they are just a breed that is known to be highly vocal, such as a Siamese. When is the cat quiet? Try to observe those conditions and compare them to the times when the cat is crying.
One of the first suggestions we would normally make would be to take him to a vet to rule out medial problems so it is good that you have done that. So now you have to look at behavioral issues.
Often, cats are good at training owners rather than the reverse. Without meaning to, the way that you are responding may have been reinforcing the negative behavior rather than discouraging it. Reinforcing negative behavior patterns only helps to ingrain those behaviors. If you have reacted to attention-getting behavior - either positively or negatively - you have been giving the cat a payoff. Some people suggest that spraying water will stop the cat’s meowing - we are not so sure about that and favor the “ignore” method, even though that isn’t easy. Don’t respond to your cat when he is crying - you must learn to ignore the meowing because if he has learned that his crying gets attention, food, water and other rewards and responses, he will keep using that behavior. It will be hard to break this pattern and it may take a very long time if the behavior pattern is established, but you should respond to him and reward him only when he is quiet.
Some additional suggestions
Make sure your cat has sufficient food, water and clean litter.
If you feed your cat only once a day, try several smaller meals instead.
Try varying the food to determine what your cat likes best.
Ensure that your cat has a cozy, safe “hiding place” - sometimes cats feel safe under a pile of blankets or in a confined space.
Exercise your cat each day - play games with him and give him a good runaround.
If the cat meows at night, try isolating him. Use earplugs so that it doesn’t drive you crazy - and so that you don’t respond.
Some cat owners say that Feliway has helped to calm or relax an anxious cat.
OK, we know we are springing this on you a little bit late, but tomorrow is Take Your Dog to Work Day. Animal shelters and pet-care professionals from around the world are teaming up with employers to better the lives of shelter dogs everywhere. Many businesses will GO FURRY to promote pet adoption by opening their doors to employees’ furry, four-legged friends to celebrate the great companions dogs make.
Before you bring your dog to work, it would probably be a good idea to check with your employer … but if if you can’t bring Fido into your cubicle, you can still celebrate the spirit of the day by making a donation to your nearby pet shelter - or even better, adopting a dog from a shelter so you can have a canine companion join you on the job next year.
Also, see our post from a prior year for some guidelines on doggie work etiquette, work policies about pets, and HR issues: Has your organization gone to the dogs?
The poster of this video calls these kittens “the original popcorn kittens” and says they are rescued kittens who went crazy when they felt a plastic tarp on their feet for the first time. Their exuberance and cuteness should make you smile!
Associated Press surveyed more than 1,000 pet owners to learn how much they would spend to provide medical care for their pets. The poll shows that making decisions about the extent of care offered to a pet is a serious and agonizing decision for most pet owners, and that expense is often the deciding factor. They learned that:
“… most pet owners, 62 percent, would likely get vet care if the bill was $500, the percentage drops below half when the cost hits $1,000. The number drops to 35 percent if the cost is $2,000 and to 22 percent if it reaches $5,000.”
For many of those polled, it’s simply a question of economics, particularly in the bad economy. Some people simply can’t afford the cost, or need to devote that money to other priorities such as children or household expenses, such as the mortgage, heating or grocery bills.
Some pet owners suggested pet insurance as a method to deal with unexpected pet health costs, but 95% of those surveyed did not have a pet insurance policy.
For other pet owners, the question of quality of life for their pet was an important consideration in how much care to extend. Several expressed fears that if you are dealing with a serious medical condition, the treatment might be stressful for the animal and the outcome iffy. Several thought that when the pet’s quality of life diminishes significantly, circumstances might necessitate a hard decision.
“In the final hours, it helps some people to share one last special time with an animal — a trip through a fast food drive-thru for a hamburger, a bath, a dish of homemade ice cream — something familiar to the pet, she said.
Some will take a hair clipping or clay pawprint to help build a bridge and foster the grief process. Others will arrange for euthanasia to happen at home so the pet can be surrounded by every member of the family, including other animals, Shaw said.”
SimplySweat.com, a British sports and fitness site, features a very fun post about cats & yoga. They say: “Most of Yoga actually imitates what animals do easily and many yoga positions will require you to imitate some sort of animal. Old Yoga gurus believed that by taking the posture of a certain animal; we can embody the cosmic energy and thus achieve a stability of mind and body.” We advocate exercising with your pet, check it out!
Also, if you missed our prior post on Yoga Dogs, this would be a good time to check it out!
Cocoa bean mulch is an increasingly popular garden product. Made from the residue of cocoa bean roasting process, many find it a more environmentally friendly garden product than chemicals. Producers say that it is a natural deterrent to slugs and snails. Plus it smells like chocolate - and that’s where the problems can come into play … some pets, especially dogs, are attracted to the smell and might ingest it. And reports show that this product contains high levels of theobromine, an ingredient present in all chocolate products to one degree or another. Theobromine can be very toxic to pets.
If you have a garden or lawn, you need to be alert to the potential dangers that lawn care products pose to your pets - cocoa bark mulch is by no means the only dangerous garden product, but it may be one of the more tempting ones because of its smell. We’ve amassed some articles and links to help educate you about the issue of cocoa bark mulch.
Hershey’s supplies cocoa bark mulch, and their “frequently asked questions” deals with the issue of cocoa mulch toxicity and dogs - they acknowledge that it can be harmful in varying degrees, and that dogs might ingest it because it smells good.
ASPCA maintains a 24-hour a day Pet Poison Hotline. If you think that your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, you can call (888) 426-4435. A $65 consultation fee may be applied to your credit card.
