As we discussed in the last article posted on the blog, having cats and dogs living together can be pretty complicated. They are two very different species with a two sets of completely different standards. Cats and dogs need some time to get adjusted to one another. However, with a bit of patience, hard work, and the ever present consistency required for pet training you can have a multiple pet household that gets along famously. To begin getting your cats and dogs living together, it’s important to focus on training the dog rather than the cat. An adult feline will almost always reject a forced friendship. Dogs are like tornadoes of instability to a cat. To a dog, a cat is either a new friend or a very different breed of squirrel that is still meant to be chased. That’s why it is imperative to have a fairly well behaved dog if there is any hope of this process progressing beyond step one. Your dog should be able to successfully and consistently perform the “sit,” “stay,” and “leave it” commands. Once your dog is capable of behaving itself, begin introductions via smell. Keep the cat in a separate room with some toys, food/water, and a litter box. This will help the animals to start recognizing each other’s scent. You can also crate the two of them and place the crates near one another. This is so the cats and dogs can see and smell one another without threatening the cat’s security. These introductions should be treated with caution keeping the dog under close watch, for at least a week before going any further. After this initial smelling out phase, you should begin bringing the dog into the same room with the cat on a leash, or perhaps allowing the cat to roam freely around the house with the dog on a leash. Be forewarned, this step can take weeks, even months, and some dogs will have such a drive to hunt that you’ll never be able to reconcile the presence of a cat. In such a case, you’ll have to admit you made a mistake and rehome one or the other. Be sure to keep them away from each other’s food dishes, or any other spots/toys that they might feel especially protective of. Every time the dog sees the cat, pay the dog lots of attention and praise. This is to make the dog understand that having a cat around is a good thing. As soon as your dog can become acclimated to the idea of leaving the cat alone with your supervision, you can let it off the leash. You may want to consider buying a remote control collar for even further assurance of a dog’s good behavior. Once all this is accomplished, you’ll have pretty  much succeeded getting your cats and dogs living together. However, there is still a lot more involved in the process. Check back in next time for the final installment of this three part guide on socializing cats and dogs.

Dogs and cats have been at each other’s throats since time immemorial. They are natural born enemies with polar opposite social habits, structures, and attitudes. The cat is a graceful, lithe, clever, and independent animal. It is completely capable of handling its business, and seems to think it’s doing humans a favor by allowing care to be given. Meanwhile, the loyal dog is an intensely social creature, craving affection and praise. They are hard workers, constant companions, and fierce guardians over all mankind’s endeavors. Each animal was domesticated for distinct purposes that will sometimes clash with one another. They are both hunters, with powerful predatory instincts, which have often led to conflict. Even more so, their individual methods of interaction cause a great deal of friction. Understanding the disparities as well as the similarities between these two very different pets is absolutely essential to teaching them both to get along. So in the interest of unity, here compiled for your reading pleasure are some difficulties of dogs and cats living together. To begin with, most dogs are OCD. They have very little patience or self-control unless it is drilled into them with constant repetition and training.  This makes them, quite literally, dogged hunters. They will chase a target until there is absolutely no gas left in their tanks. With a cunningly clever escape artist like a cat, this can be a real problem.  Since cats are so good at being elusive, a dog’s determined predatory instinct is likely to go into overdrive at the presentation of such a ripe challenge. A constant and consistent struggle will arise from a dog’s persistence and a cat’s evasiveness. Another set of major factors contributing to an un-harmonized relationship between the two are the standards of social interaction. Dogs greet one another with close contact, a lot of sniffing, licking, barking, and furious movement. This kind of greeting is overwhelming and off-putting to even the friendliest of felines. Even similar body language portrays a completely different message for each species. A wagging tail for a dog means happiness and contentment. A cat’s twitching tail is another thing entirely, as it is meant to display agitation or even aggression. The point is that dogs and cats are on opposite ends of the spectrum in many respects, which makes it a little easier to understand why they might have more trouble getting along. Fortunately these differences are not irreconcilable. Many households have more than one variety of pet. You don’t have to pick a side, a dog person or cat person can definitely become an interchangeable pet person. While dogs and cats have their differences, with the right amount of love, supervision, and intelligent restraint they can quickly become fast friends. However, this process is usually neither quick nor especially easy. Like most methods of training, it takes time to get dogs and cats living together. Check back tomorrow, for an in-depth look on how to teach your pets to successfully cohabitate.

Looking for an effective heartworm medication? Are you looking to save some money as well? Valuheart might be the perfect 2 in 1 solution to all your travails. The active ingredient in Valuheart is Ivermectin, which also happens to be the kicker in popular heartworm preventative: Heartgard. The simple fact is that Heartgard and Valuheart are nearly identical except for the packaging. The only major difference is the money you’ll save purchasing Valuheart.  For almost half the price of the better known Heartgard, you can grab a packet of Valuheart and provide your pets with the same protection while paying 50 percent of the price. Symptoms of heartworm are extremely difficult to identify until the very late stages of the disease’s onset. That’s why it is very important to get your dog or cat checked for the disease regularly, and to always treat it with a monthly preventative. Because it is much easier and cheaper to avoid heartworm than it is to cure it. Heartworm is one of the most debilitating and devastating diseases for a family to contend with when it comes to their pets. It is a serious problem that senselessly cuts down many beloved family pets in their prime. Since heartworm is such a painful, sneaky, and pervasive disease in the pet population, there are a variety of medications on the market and in consistently in development for its treatment. This huge variety can make a purchase decision very difficult. That’s why it’s important to identify your criteria for the buy. If you’re looking for a cure all medication, a “net” to take out worms, fleas, ticks, mosquitos, mites, sarcoptic mange, and all other possible threats then you’ll probably have a short list of expensive pet meds that can actually handle your needs. However, if you’re looking for the specific problem of heartworm prevention to be solved, you’ll need a “harpoon” type of treatment to make a single swift strike against the biggest enemy you or your pet are likely to encounter, then Valuheart may be your most attractive option. Valuheart has the same efficacy, delivery system, and legitimacy as Heartgard. The only difference is in price. Both these ivermectin fueled pet meds are powerful, effective, and fast acting, but one is definitely much more affordable than the other. Many customers consider cost as an indicator of how effective a medication can be, but in this case nothing could be further from the truth. Superior marketing, an established name brand, and an excellent product have all contributed to the success of Heartgard. However, the well-known pet medication doesn’t have much to boast over its generic competition. Everything that Heartgard offers can be duplicated and appreciated by users of Valuheart. Because they share the same active ingredient and tablet type delivery they’re virtually twin brothers in the world of veterinary medicine. They treat the same animals, (either dogs or cats) and they come in the same size variations. The only real difference is image. Take a closer look at Valuheart today!

Hello and welcome! It’s time for another product showcase in the ongoing war against fleas. This week’s item presented for your perusal goes by quite the contented moniker: Comfortis. Comfortis is a highly effective chewable monthly flea killer. This stuff is extremely potent against fleas, but relatively easy on a dog’s system. Comfortis begins working as soon as digestion starts, around 30 minutes after the initial administration, and it keeps working for thirty days after ingestion. It actually causes fleas to have a seizure before they shove off the mortal coil. It’s a dramatic sight, if you’ve got a microscope and the free time. According to a study from 2011 put forth by Ipsos Forward Research, Comfortis has the highest overall satisfaction rate for monthly flea control products among veterinarians. That’s mighty high praise for a chewable. Usually, a digested treat doesn’t go to work as quickly as the spot on alternative, owing that delayed reaction to digestion and transmission through the blood stream rather than the sebaceous glands in their skin. It’s efficacy can’t be understated, the fact that you can actually witness fleas seizing and dying within a half hour of feeding the dog a tasty treat, is nothing short of incredible. Also incredible, is the chewable delivery system for this drug. That means no more chasing the dog or cat around the house and applying the back of the neck death grip in order to apply one of those irritating spot ons. Those of you with more subdued pets might not understand such travails, but if you’ve ever had to deal with a half feral cat that doesn’t like the smell of a spot on, you’re more than a little familiar with the difficulty described. You can also cease to worry about getting any of the chemical on your hands, furniture, clothing, or carpet. Comfortis works by regulating the growth of the fleas as well as the all-out brutal genocide it commits upon the adult blood-suckers. What this means is it keeps flea larvae, pupa, and eggs from ever entering into the next stage of life. Without any way of growing up they don’t really die of old age, but just sort of expire because they can’t fend for themselves at any point before adulthood. As far as fleas are concerned, Comfortis is a nightmare grotesquery that eliminates silently, violently, and almost instantaneously. To sum it up, Comfortis is a tasty chewable delight for dogs and cats alike, which horribly maims the unborn fleas, cantankerously annihilates the adolescent ones, and vehemently exterminates the adults—all in a timely fashion. It’s chemical warfare at its best; giving the maximum benefit to you and your pet, with no fuss for you and a delicious reward for them, but also taking swift and total vengeance against your microscopic enemies. So if you are looking for a fast, effective, and ferocious chewable alternative to a spot on flea control medication, then give Comfortis a once over today!

Surprisingly enough in our in the era of information inundation, it’s somewhat difficult to ascertain the leading cause of death for pets. Despite being an immensely popular area of interest for millions of people around the world, pets have yet to garner their own database detailing the various means of their demise. While this is a morbid thing to consider, it certainly bears consideration. Because we don’t have this crucial information readily at hand it’s more difficult to safeguard our pets against potential pet threats. What little information that does eventually float to the surface of public consciousness seems to reach a consensus concerning the major reasons for the death of a dog or cat. These causes usually center on old age, shelter euthanization, cancer, and traffic accidents. Being in different species usually means slightly different brackets for most criteria in mortality rates. With cats and dogs, this maxim doesn’t seem to hold true. Because of the high level of care and good quality of life in many developed countries, (the only places on earth where this sort of data is compiled,) old age is actually one of the leading causes of death for dogs and cats alike. Unfortunately, there’s no preventing an end that isn’t premature; the same can be said of shelter euthanization.  Everything has its allotted time, and when that time comes, there’s only so much that science and even prayer can do to delay it. Other than giving your pet plenty of exercise and a healthy diet, there’s not too much you can do to delay the inevitable. Another of the leading causes of death in pets is canine and feline cancer. In fact, it is a massive problem. More than any other disease, cancer in dogs and cats is running rampant, significantly increasing the mortality rate of dogs and cats alike. Dealing with the death of a dog or cat is hard enough. Dealing with the death of a dog or cat due to a degenerative disease is downright heartbreaking. Luckily, there are some ways to help prevent cancer in dogs and cats. Keeping pets safe from cancer, while not a fool-proof process, is certainly a simple one. How simple? As simple as avoiding known carcinogens. Here’s a quick list of some easy steps to safeguarding pet life: -Provide pure water Either filtered or distilled if you’re feeling especially fancy. This purification process eliminates potentially harmful agents in your pet’s water. -Avoid pollution—If your city issues a smog alert, it might be best to skip the daily walk. Try not to smoke in front of your dog or cat either. They’re lungs are just as sensitive to pollutants as yours are. -Keep them away from lawn treatments—Pesticides, herbicides, etc. -Provide a stress free environment—Pets are social creatures and sensitive to the moods and emotions of their surroundings. -Plenty of exercise—A fit body is a healthy body! Remember these tips, and keep your pet life around longer and stronger!  

Profender Spot on for Cats is one of those rare pet medications that really just gives a customer everything he or she could possibly ask for. It treats a wide variety of intestinal worms, it actually treats lungworm-a notoriously dangerous pest, it goes easy on your cat’s delicate system—treatment can begin when a cat is only 3 weeks old, and it is incredibly affordable for all of the protection it offers. It’s quite a bargain no matter how you look at it. This Bayer product actually does what every sales pitch claims to do: gives you more for less. First let’s talk about Profender Spot on for Cats’ efficacy. It treats, prevents, and eliminates existing cases of all of the following: roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and the aforesaid lungworms. Every single major ascarid is wiped out with an added bonus of taking out a life-threatening lungworm infection as well. That’s a great deal of coverage for a single medication. What really sets the spot on for cats apart from the rest of the competition is that it isn’t even a monthly dosage! Think about every other medication you’ve ever heard about. How often can any of them boast one treatment per 90 days? That’s just plain excellent kitty cat coverage. Roundworms, tapeworms, and hookworms are always annoying and potentially harmful to an otherwise healthy kitty, but they pale in comparison to the threat posed by a lungworm. This insidious parasite resides, procreates within, and inflames the respiratory system of your cat. This can cause serious health complications for even the heartiest of cats. It’s a problem that can’t be tolerated, and they can be very difficult to treat. Which is what makes it amazing that such a simple and affordable treatment like Profender Spot on for cats can do the trick so easily. Another awesome attribute of Profender Spot on for cats is that it’s available to cats with worms of almost any size or age. As is previously mentioned, the earliest a kitten can be treated with Profender is at three weeks. That just goes to show how powerfully effective the medication is, while simultaneously remaining daintily sensitive and unintrusive to the cat’s natural processes. This is due, in part, to the easy delivery system for the drug to take effect. A single drop on the back of the neck and your kitty is covered for 90 days. Easier isn’t always better, but this is definitely an excellent exception! Perhaps you’ve noticed by now how often the term “affordable” keeps coming up in reference to this incredible spot on for cats. Well, there’s a good reason for it. One treatment which lasts for three whole months is just under $8.00. If you don’t have your jaw on the floor, then you probably haven’t been paying for cat medications very long. It’s a phenomenal deal and readily available as always at your favorite online pet supermarket: Petbucket.com. Having cats with worms is an unacceptable problem. Grab your supply today!

Everyone knows how difficult it is to keep your favorite pet worm free. Those pesky parasites seem to pop up wherever and whenever they’re least expected; and repeated vet visits can be a tiring and costly chore. Thankfully, many powerful worming medications are readily available at the vet’s office as well as online. Though the massive multiplicity of medications for dogs or cats with worms presents another problem. Which of these meds is best for your dog or cat? Well, the most popular and effective, according to most consumer reviews, are the products produced under the Drontal name brand which have a very high success rate, and near 100% customer satisfaction. Drontal has a lot of different products under its broad umbrella. Drontal plus, Drontal Allwormer  Cats, Drontal Chewables Dogs, and Drontal Worming Suspension Puppies are just a few of the flagship products made by the Bayer subsidiary. Since worms in dogs often share many attributes with cat worms, the same active ingredients can work in both species. These 3 active ingredients are: praziquantel, pyrantel pamoate, and febantel. Though one important exception would be that febantel isn’t present in the Drontal products for cats. These products are just as tough on the worms in dogs and cats as they are to pronounce. The first active ingredient in Drontal, praziquantel, starts off the treatment by roughing up the tapeworms. This stuff is quickly absorbed into a dog or cat’s system and metabolized through their livers. Once metabolized it enters into the digestive tract through the bile. There it begins the assault on tapeworms, rendering them unable to avoid being digested.  Tapeworms rely on their ability to withstand the acidic environment of an animal’s stomach. Once robbed of that ability they are ground up and excreted like so much waste. Next up the Pyrantel Pamoate goes after the hookworms by blasting through their nervous systems. Once Pyrantel Pamoate effectively paralyses the hookworms, it’s a simple matter of waiting for peristalsis to pass them on to the other side, or to the outside in this case. Finally, the clean-up hitter for Drontal Plus, febantel, finishes the job by whipping up on the whipworms. Febantel works similarly to the praziquantel in the way it’s metabolized, but then it eliminates the whipworms by blocking their energy processing power. Without the ability to metabolize their own energy the whipworms are forced to hit the bricks, or the grass, or the pine straw, or the litter box. Wherever your pet does its business. Drontal Plus is a three punch combination that sends these intestinal parasites flying out the backdoor without delay. Dosage is determined by size, species, and the age of the pet. So pay attention to the package labeling and remember to check your pet consistently for symptoms of these parasites. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve got cats with worms or worms in dogs, either way the wide variety of Drontal products will see you through to a healthier pet and a happier home.

As you learned yesterday, cat history is a multifaceted and complicated subject. As far as science is concerned, the earliest sign of cat domestication began in ancient Greece with the advent of agricultural societies. Later in the history of the cat, ancient Egyptians began to worship them as gods, and for the first time in the history of the cat, felines got a taste of the royal treatment. This history of the cat's worship began as a totemic practice, (the worship of an animal as a spiritual symbol) but was later further organized with the cat holding a legitimate spot in the Egyptian pantheon. There were three cat goddesses of note: Mafdet, Bast, and Sehkmet. Mafdet was the goddess of Justice. Bast began as a lion goddess but eventually became more cat-like as her role was marginalized. She was the protective patron deity of Lower Egypt, as well as a handmaiden and protector of the sun god, Ra. Sehkmet also began as a lioness, but ended up becoming more cat-like over time. She replaced Bast as the protector of Ra and the pharaohs. Around the year390 BC the main cult in ancient Egypt that worshiped cats was disbanded, and kitties began to lose their significance, although their influence never completely fizzled out. Because of their awesome hunting skills, cats have always been valued residents of whatever culture and time period they happen to inhabit. Cat history is filled with owners thankful to be pest-free. The history of the cat isn't limited to a single location though. They are valued companions all over the globe. During the Song Dynasty in China around a thousand years ago, cats were treated as the favored pets among nobility. They went so far as to advertise and sell fish exclusively for cat feeding in the ancient Chinese markets. In much of Europe and the United States, cats enjoyed a more infamous sort of notoriety. They became associated with witches as familiars and servants of the devil. This superstition persists in culture even today, as people will always assume a black cat crossing their path is an ill omen. Myths even include stories of cats sadistically smothering infant children by stealing all of the air from their noses. The crazy thing about that one is it may actually be rooted in reality. Cats have been known to lie on top of infant children for warmth, in some cases suffocating the child. However, in the United Kingdom it is considered good luck for a black cat to enter a home or climb aboard a ship. It seems human beings are often as ambivalent toward cats as they are towards us. It’s plain to see that cat history is a rich and varied subject of study. Throughout these two blog posts we’ve hardly scratched the surface of the multitudes of stories and folklore surrounding our favorite felines. One thing is for certain; whether it’s bad press or preferential treatment, our complicated relationship with these cats isn’t ending anytime soon.

Everyone knows that cats are great companions: aloof and precocious, as well as excellent hunters. However, not many people have as much knowledge on exactly how the common house cat achieved its position of influence and allure. The funny thing is the history of the cat and its relationship with humankind goes back so far, no one is really even sure of when it began. Cat history is an intriguing and diverting mystery with many questions unanswered, and plenty of fascinating recorded facts. Most scientists agree that every variety of common housecat and many of their feral cousins came from just five different ancient wildcats. The earliest record of their domestication comes from the Greek isle of Cyprus. This evidence currently goes back as far as 12,000 years!  That’s 7500 BC for those of you keeping track. What’s odd about that number is that it’s been pushed back several times. Every few years or so there is a new archeological finding of a fossilized cat small enough to be domesticated, and in close enough proximity to the remains of a human being as to start speculating on an even older starting point for the history of the cat’s domestication. With archeologists finding new large megalithic structures indicating that agricultural societies might have been around much longer than the current academic model assumes, it’s quite possible that the origin of domesticated cat history may get pushed back even further. While it’s fascinating to speculate on the beginning of our complicated relationship with domestic cats, we don’t have to guess as to how it happened. The overwhelming g consensus on the subject is that initially domestic cats took root at about the same time humans settled into agrarian societies. As soon as people started farming, they started storing surplus crops. When crops had to be stored, rodents and vermin began to start swiping valuable grains. Cats started moving into the storehouses and picking of the especially plump ones. Over time, humans began to breed the ones that showed more docility. From then on it was a rich and diverse history for domestic cats. They continued to interbreed with their feral counterparts, muddying up the bloodlines and making their exact origins difficult to pin down. This seems in keeping with their mysterious personalities, which ironically is probably why they were so endeared them to the human species. Another better known chapter in the history of the cat is their connection to and deification within ancient Egypt. Domestic cats were revered to the point of worship. Ironically, the Egyptian word for cat was “Mao” a bit of a cognate for meow. It’s said that there was even a death penalty for killing a cat. Cats were considered sacred animals, in all probability because of their ability to keep down the rodent population as well as their proficiency at killing cobras. Not bad company to keep when your fields are being overrun by asps. That’s it for today’s history lesson. Check back tomorrow for part 2 of The History of the Cat!  

Don’t you just love a fat cat? Aren’t you just smitten with kittens? When you get home from work, do you make a B-line for your feline? All cutesy kitty poetry aside, cats are great companions who can provide hours of entertainment. Don’t you wish you could share in some more group activities? Maybe you should teach them some cat tricks. You must be thinking: “How do I train cats?” Well, you’ve read this far basically on the momentum of the poetry, but what if you found out that learning to train cats is easy? While cat training is fairly easy, it can be frustrating as well. Cats are not dogs. They do not wait on your beck and call. Whereas a puppy might decide to play dead in order to get a smile and a word of affirmation, cat tricks will require a more substantial bribe. Finicky creatures that they are, you’ll have to choose your treats wisely. Tuna snacks are a popular choice, and there is no lack of cat treat recipes online. So how to train cats? Well, it’s a simple process that takes time and repetition to complete. First thing’s first. You’ve got to get kitty to sit. Sitting is a foundation of all other cat tricks. It’s required to get your cat’s attention. The cat will need to be standing still to begin any sort of training. Since Kitty is more likely to do this in a sitting position rather than standing, it makes more sense to teach this cat trick first. Secondly, a lot of the other tricks must be performed from the sitting position. To train cats to sit, utter the command and put light pressure on the cat’s rump. It may take time, but eventually the cat will either sit of its own volition or due to your prompting. Once that’s accomplished, immediately reward your cat with a tasty treat, a pat on the head, and exclaim in your sweetest tone of baby talk:” Good kitty!” You can also say “Good Sit!” Or “Hallelujah!” if your cat is particularly stubborn. Whatever you like, really. It’s your cat, go nuts. Once you’ve got sit down, (no pun intended) the other tricks come pretty naturally. After sit, learning how to train cats is a breeze. Begin with sitting, then just say the command while performing the following actions, and always reward with petting, treats, and kind words. You can have them shake by placing your hand behind their front leg and bumping a paw, You can hold out a hand palm upward for a “low five,” Hold it outstretched for a “high five,” Hold a treat above the cat’s head to have him “Sit Up,” And hold a treat at eye level to get the cat to “wave.” Remember while learning how to train cats, you must be patient and consistent, and never expect Mr. Mittens to perform for laughs. Always have those treats ready, or prepare to face the wrath of kitty! Need more help? Check out these helpful training videos!