Traveling Without Your Pet

It is never easy to leave your pet behind when you have to go away. I have left my cats successfully in responsibly run kennels when I was only away a few days but it is hard to find one that you can feel comfortable with. I look for facilities that have someone living at or next to the kennel - in case of emergencies. I always go by and check out every aspect of the place - runs, cages, staff, that sort of thing. Even in the best of places you still run the risk of the pet getting sick - catching something from the other animals. I stopped using kennels when my two cats came home with a upper respiratory infection after one stay.

Now I hire a pet sitter to check on them while I am away. I felt so strongly about this way of caring for pets that I started my own pet sitting company to do this for others. Check with your vet, groomer, pet store for fliers or listings of pet sitters in your area. Some will stay overnight if that makes you feel most comfortable but even having someone come twice a day will be fine for your pet. Dogs need more sitter visits unless they have a fenced yard or invisible fence. Cats can make do with once a day. Ask for references from previous customers - you can tell a lot from these testimonials. Here are some things you can do to make the pet sitting process go smoothly.

Introduce the sitter to your pets before you leave. I always go to the pet's house and meet everyone, get the layout of the place and where things are kept before I sit for them. This way they know who I am when I come back again to sit for them.

Make certain the sitter you hire will follow your direction for feedings, water, exercise and attention. If you are preparing their food yourself, make up some ahead and put in freezer to thaw when needed. People can be very particular in when, how and what they feed their animals and you need to find someone who will work with you.

Explain about any medications that need to be given to your pets before you leave. If possible let the sitter give it to them if you think it might be a problem. Sometimes pets will allow the owner to give meds but when a new person tries to, it is nearly impossible. I know!

Leave money and necessary instruction for emergencies. Make sure the sitter knows who your vet is, and if needed where the travel case is located. Provide phone numbers where you, a friend or neighbor can be reached during your trip.

Add anti-stress vitamins to your pet's diet. Starting about a week before, add a B complex or nutritional yeast to their food, and vitamin C. Put a few drops of Bach Flower Rescue Remedy in their water daily. Ask the sitter to continue this supplementation and keep doing it for about a week after you return home.

Talk to your pets long before you bring out the suitcases. Let them know when, where and why you're going and with whom and for how long. They can sense something is up. Put their minds at ease.

Say goodbye to your pet calmly and with an untroubled mind. They pick up on your anxiety and you end up leaving them in an unsettle mood. Visualize a happy reunion scene with them.

While you are away, think about your pet everyday. Send a mental telegram in the form or words or a picture. He will receive it.

Whenever possible phone home to speak with the sitter. I encourage my customers to do so and tell them when is the best time to call. If the sitter is staying at your home, ask to have the phone put next to your pet and talk to him as if he were a person. They like to hear your voice. You can call and talk to them on the answering machine if the sitter is not staying with your pet.

The best you can do for your animal while traveling is keep in mind he understands your thoughts, words and behaviors. They know way more than we think so expect more from them. They will surprise you!

Recommended Pet Products: Hairball gel

My vet turned me onto pet products made by Vetbasis. This is a great company with natural additive free products for cats and dogs. My cats love the hairball gel which is petroleum and sugar free and enriched with vitamins, antioxidants and taurine. Unlike other hairball gels this one you can even squeeze some on their food. A lot easier to give that way.

Vetbasis also makes shampoos for cats and dogs that are DEA and alcohol free, water free foaming cleansers and other products. You can purchase them at their website or other natural pet products vendors online.

"Women and cats..." Quote of the day

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should just relax and get used to the idea."

---Robert A. Heinstein

Book Review: Goodbye Friend - Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Lost a Pet by Gary Kowalski

Losing a pet is very difficult and not everyone understands the heartache we go through. This thoughtful, supportive book, written by a Unitarian Universalist minister from Vermont, offers sound comforting advice for dealing with the death of a pet. Kowalski provides helpful insight for the period before death enabling us to make better decisions about the final stages of our pet's life. He includes a section on ritual and ceremonies as well as spiritual guidance. Well worth reading and an excellent gift for other animal lovers.

Book Review: Animal Talk , Interspecies Telepathic Communication by Penelope Smith

This is a short book and an easy read. The author Smith has been communicating with animals throughout her life. Educated in social sciences and trained in human counselling, Smith has found a way to offer her expertise to animals too. She explains how animals communicate telepathically and then offers suggestions for humans to learn to do this too. I have had some success at this so I know it can be done. I can get my cats to do what I want but don't seem to be open enough to hear them communicating back to me. Probably my fault, not theirs.

Smith also includes some behavior problems and suggestions to try. If you have not read anything about animal communication this would be a good first book to get. Explanations are simple and straightforward. In the back of the book are other books and tapes on similar topics by the author.

Hyperactivity in Dogs

Does your dog pace constantly, follow you around or chase his tail in circles? Puppies can be very energetic up to 2 years of age but some dogs never slow down. Traditional vets tend to treat this with mood altering drugs if it is a chemical imbalance. Holistic vets offer different alternatives.

Calm them with aromatherapy. Sprinkle a few drops of lavender oil on your dog's bedding once a day to take the edge off.

Impatience is a flower remedy that can help your dog relax. Put a few drops into each fresh bowl of water and she will sip it all day long.

Playing music in the house helps too. A slow even tempo is best - soft jazz, New Age and country.

Exercise your dog. Take extra walks, spend time playing fetch with him. Wear him out with play.

Milk contains a natural sedative called tryptophan which promotes sleep. A quarter cup of warm milk once or twice a day will lower his energy level.

Blue is a calming color. Try using a blue light bulb in the area where your dog sleeps. Blue can stimulate the pituitary glands to produce calming hormones.

Finally, relax her with herbs. Some vets sell a herbal combination called Calm Pet with kava kava, St. John's Wort, chamomille and valerian root which may help your dog be calmer.

Fur Balls

Cats come with one issue that never goes away - fur balls. Cats spend hours each day grooming themselves. That is good for their coats but the fur sticks to their course tongues and they swallow it. Some hair gets passed through their system but some forms a gooey wad in their stomach. When the fur accumulates, they vomit it up - usually on your best furniture. Long haired dogs also have this problem too. What to do to prevent this mess?

I give my cats butter - it lubricates their insides and things just go right through. Another option that my vet suggests is to feed them an oily fish like salmon or mackerel once a week. If you prefer to use a hair ball product - I recommend ones by Vetbasis, made without any petroleum products.

Give them extra fiber in the form of canned pumpkin. Give small pets between one half and one teaspoon with every meal. Medium and large dogs can have between a teaspoon and two tablespoons with meals. Another fiber source is psyllium and flax seeds. I give my cat Minnie who has irritable bowel symptom a product made by Flora for humans with oat bran, ground flax seeds and psyllium. It softens her stools and her fur balls pass right through. Small pets take about one quarter teaspoon. Larger dogs take up to a tablespoon.

If they seem to be constipated, I give them the homeopathic remedy Nux Vomica 30c once and they will cough it up or pass it through. Sometimes the fur balls get so large they cannot move in either direction. These large masses are called bezoars, can form life threatening blockages. If you pet's stomach swells, he's vomiting and can't pass stools, see a vet right away. This is an emergency.

The most effective way to prevent fur balls is for you to brush them every day. This will remove loose fur before it causes a problem and also be quality time spent with your cat or dog.