Pets need Dental Care too!

Pet depot brings awareness to pet dental month

FLORENCE, AL:  Andrew, a Pet Depot employee, was having problems with his dog’s Halitosis also known as “Bad Breath”.  Tucker, his Boston terrier, was lovable and fun to play with but when he got up close and personal he was almost unbearable. “His breath really was very bad”, said Andrew. “I started using a Dental Fresh water additive and some Oral Care dental treats on a daily basis…and it worked! This and many other customer stories have inspired Pet Depot to begin celebrating Pet Dental Month to raise awareness of the health risks and problems of poor pet dental care.

In the Pet Industry, February has been designated as National Pet Dental Month.  Pet Depot is reminding all pet owners to care for their pets’ teeth like they do their own. “Most customers are not aware of the serious issues that arise from poor dental hygiene in pets”, said Kathy Flynt Store Manager at the Florence store location.

When we think of bad breath in a dog we tend to dismiss it as simply “doggy breath.” In fact, it could be a brewing periodontal disease. A periodontal disease is an infection of the gums, which is very common in pets, and it can become quite serious if left neglected. By the age of three, an estimated 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats have some form of periodontal disease. Periodontal infections have been linked to painful infections and other life threatening disorders.
The proper pet dental care begins with habitual brushing of your pets’ teeth and regular veterinarian dental exams, which should be done once a year. A home dental program should be implemented at an early age so he or she is use to brushing. Pet Depot offers various nutritional supplements, treats and specially formulated foods to purchase that are formulated to remove plaque and tartar buildup..

Pet Depot, established in 1994, is a pet supply retail store with seven store locations across Alabama. Pet Depot is a place where our customer service is core to relationship building. Pet Depot associates have the knowledge and the ability to meet the unique needs of your pet.

Preventing Dog Urine Spots in your Green Lawn

If you have dogs, you have probably experience some yellow or dead spots in your lawn.  This is mainly caused by the urine of the dog especially in larger female dogs.  Female dogs have stronger urine and often do their business in same spots.  Male dogs do it too but they tend to lift a leg wherever they are in the moment.  The reason behind the yellow and dead spots of your lawn is that dog’s urine is highly acidic.  This is similar to you over fertilizing your lawn.  So how do you prevent this?  Well, companies like Nutri-Vet have developed a formulation that helps lower the pH in your dog’s urine. Nutri-Vet’s Grass Guard combines the amino acid dl-methionine with B-vitamins in a liver flavor chewable that helps stop lawn burn.  This tasty chewable promotes a healthy pet and a spotless lawn..read more about it here.

If you do not want to go that route, use these remedies to protect your green lawn from Dead or yellow spots.

3 Ways to Combat Dog Urine Burn in your Lawn

1. The most common treatment is to saturate the urine spot with water. Enough water has to be used to dilute the urine or even completely wash it away. If you don’t use enough water, you may save the lawn from burning. This approach to control dog urine problems takes a lot of time and is difficult to get right.
2. Another way to combat urine burn is to train your dog to do his business in one area of the yard that has been designated as his area. This one shouldn’t be too difficult; afterall, you trained the dog not to pee in the house, and this is just another step along those same lines.
3. Another method is to alter the pH of the urine, which can be done by modifying your dog’s diet. Brewers Yeastis found in most dog food, but it’s not at a level that has enough effect on their urine acidity so supplementing it will help. 

Protect Your Pets

Don’t wait for a disaster to think about your pets’ well-being. Planning ahead can save much heartache and suffering down the road.

Here are some recommendations on how to keep animals safe and healthy from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States:

First off, get a rescue alert sticker that lists the type and number of pets in your house. Make sure you post it where rescue workers can see it. Include your veterinarian’s contact information on it.

Get Yours today:  Pet Depot Pet Rescue Alert Decal.

Make sure all pets wear collars and up-to-date identification tags. In an emergency, put a piece of duct tape on the animal’s collar with the name and number of a friend or relative living outside the immediate area. Disasters can wipe out phone service for several days.

Consider your pets when planning for emergencies. Know where to take your pets in an emergency and remember their needs when creating your family preparedness kit.

Before the disaster

• Find a safe place for your pets to stay. Emergency pet shelters, animal control shelters, veterinary clinics or friends and relatives out of harm’s way are all possible choices. Some hotels and motels may allow you to bring pets; others may suspend their “no pet” rules during an emergency. Check ahead to make sure you can bring your pet.
• Make sure your pets wear current ID tags all the time, and that carriers for each pet are labeled with contact information.
• Make sure your pets are current on their vaccinations. Pet shelters may require proof of vaccines.

During a disaster

• Keep pets in the house as emergency situations develop so you can locate them.
• Don’t wait until the last minute to get ready. Warnings may be issued hours or days in advance.
• Pet shelters will be filled on a first-come first-serve basis. Call ahead to check availability. Bring the items in your pet’s emergency supply kit.
  

If you evacuate, take your pet

• If it’s not safe for you to stay in the disaster area, it’s not safe for your pets. Don’t leave animals inside your home, chained outside or roaming loose. They can easily be injured, lost or killed.
• If you leave, take your pet even if you think you’ll be able to come home in just a few hours.
• Leave early — if you wait for an evacuation order, you may be told to leave your pets behind.

If you don’t evacuate

• Keep your pets with you in a safe area of your home.
• Keep dogs on leashes and cats in carriers, and make sure they are wearing identification.

• In case you’re not home during a disaster, arrange well in advance for a trusted neighbor to take your pets. Be sure the person is comfortable with your pets, knows where to find them and your pet emergency supplies, and has a key to your home.

After the disaster

• Don’t allow your pets to roam loose. Pets can get lost if familiar landmarks and smells are gone.
• For a few days, keep dogs on leashes and cats in carriers inside the house. If your house is damaged, they could escape and become lost.
• Be patient with your pets. Re-establish their routines as soon as possible. Be ready for behavioral problems. If problems continue, or if your pet is having health problems, talk to your veterinarian.

Emergency supply list for pets

Have everything ready to go. Store supplies in sturdy easy-to-carry containers. Include:

• Medications and medical records stored in a waterproof container, and a first-aid kit.
• Sturdy leashes and harnesses. A secure carrier large enough for your pet to stand comfortably, turn around and lie down. Add blankets or towels for bedding.
• Photos to help identify lost pets and prove ownership.
• Food and water for at least seven days for each pet.
• Pet Bowls, cat litter and litter box, and a manual can opener.
• Information on feeding schedules, medical conditions, behavior problems, and the name and number of your veterinarian.
• Pet beds and toys, if you can easily take them.
• Newspapers, paper towels, plastic trash bags, grooming items and household bleach.
• Canned (pop-top) or dry food
• Extra leash
• Travel bag or carrier

 

Microchipping in Pets is Gaining Popularity

Microchipping pets gaining popularity

By Sarah Carlson
Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 6:44 p.m.

Three months have passed since tornadoes ripped through Alabama on April 27, but not everyone — or everything — has found a new home.

Click to enlarge

Photo illustration

On the Net

shoalspaws.com

Members of the nonprofit Shoals Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) organization still are fostering close to 20 kittens and cats displaced during the storms. The overabundance of cats is so great, PAWS President Terri Whalen said, the organization is considering a special feline adoption clinic in the fall.

And as with all animals PAWS works with, they will come implanted with microchips, tiny transponders that carry an identification number that can help reunite lost pets and owners.

“There are situations that even with the greatest of pet owners things can happen,” Whalen said. “The microchip is at least one way where you know your animal is likely to be found and reunited with you.”

In addition to avoiding the heartbreak of lost pets, some lawmakers believe microchips can save money by cutting costs at shelters where lost cats and dogs are cared for and sometimes euthanized. California lawmakers will vote later this summer on a bill requiring microchips in every dog or cat adopted or claimed from a shelter. If passed, the measure, introduced by state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, would be the first of its kind enacted in the U.S., according to Sharon Curtis Granskog, spokeswoman for the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The size of a grain of rice, a microchip is a radio frequency identification device with a unique number. It does not have a battery and is considered inert, but it does have a capacitor, which stores an electrical charge. The chip is injected into the tissue between an animal’s shoulder blades.

Pet owners must register their pets through the particular chip brand they purchased. When an animal is scanned for a chip, the registration number and the phone number for the registry appear, and the shelter or clinic can contact the registry to receive the owner’s information.

Whalen is a proponent of microchips. Eight of her nine dogs have one, the exception being elderly and least likely to stray from the house. PAWS has so far teamed with Petco and area Pet Depots for three microchip clinics, where about 130 pet owners had their animals implanted for a reduced fee.

Numerous veterinary clinics throughout the Shoals also provide microchipping services. So far this year, Helton Plaza Veterinary Hospital in Florence has implanted nine animals — a low number as far as the total pets the clinic sees, Veterinary Technician Dana Fowler said, but still an increase for the service.

“We have seen an increase in it than what it used to be in years past,” Fowler said. “We recommend it in case they get lost and end up at another shelter or another clinic.”

Education on the topic is just as important for non-pet owners, Whalen said.

“The one disadvantage of a microchip is that if someone doesn’t think to scan (pets) for it, it’s useless,” Whalen said.

Most vets have universal scanners that can detect microchips from various brands, she said, adding that if someone finds a lost animal without a tag, having them scanned is a good place to start when looking for the owner. And don’t just scan between the shoulder blades, she said: the chips can migrate in an animal’s body. The chips will not, however, become lost in an animal, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Microchips do have critics, many citing worries that the chips can cause cancer or tumors. In recent interviews with four veterinarians conducted by the AP, none would guarantee that a microchip could never cause cancer, but they stressed that problems are unlikely when chips are inserted properly.

Natural disasters don’t happen every day, but accidents do. A child can leave the front door open too long and let a dog escape, for example, and the dog may lose its collar.

“This is really a fail-safe way of ensuring that your contact information is going to be traveling with the animal,” Whalen said. “That’s where the importance of getting the shelters and individuals be sure to scan it comes in.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sarah Carlson can be reached at 256-740-5722 or sarah.carlson@TimesDaily.com.

 

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Dog Photo Contest for Alabama and Tennessee Residents

Going on now!  The Pet Depot and Eukanuba Dog Photo Contest 2011 where one lucky winner will get a year worth of Eukanuba Dry Dog food. Pet Lover’s galore have been submitting tons of photos in hope to win this awesome prize!  All entries must be entered by July 31st 2011 and a public vote to determine the finalist will begin on Aug 1st.  After the public vote, which ends August 7th, Pet Depot Corporate office will choose the winner from the finalists.  For the winner to get votes in the contest, they will have to use Facebook to share with their friends to get the word out.   Good luck everyone!

Enter the contest now!

Product Spotlight: Diatomaceous Earth for Pets

 Lumino Diatomaceous Earth for Pets

Lumino Diatomaceous Earth is a natural, non-toxic organic alternative to chemical flea, tick & parasite treatments.

What is Diatomaceous Earth? Food grade diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring fine organic powder composed of crushed aquatic freshwater fossils. Listed as an organic product by the Organic Material Review Institute, it is the highest-grade fossil shell flour available.

If you are wary of putting spot-on treatments on your pet to kill fleas, then try Diatomaceous Earth. It is not a chemical – it is a desiccant, which means that it actually penetrates and dries out the waxy exoskeleton of fleas and ticks so they dehydrate. Neat, huh? It has no chemical toxicity, just a simple, naturally effective solution for parasite control.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t stop there. It also has been shown to eliminate hookworms, roundworms, pinworms and whipworms within one week of being fed daily.

It can also be used externally, just simply rub the product into your pet’s coat and fur to kill fleas, ticks and lice. Can be used on bedding and furniture as well.

Benefits of Diatomaceous Earth: Not only is this product organic and non-toxic, but it is also good for your pet because it contains 15 trace minerals that are proven to boost your pet’s immune system.

This product can be used on any animal – kittens and puppies six weeks of age or older, dogs, cats, poultry, horses, etc. Find it now on our Website.

It’s a Green Thing! Live Catnip and Wheat Grass!

POWERED BY GREEN NUTRITION!

Dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and small animals all say yes to the taste of our 100% certified organic wheat grass. It’s an excellent source of green nutrition and the healthy, safe alternative to potentially harmful houseplants and chemically treated outdoor grasses.
And here’s the dirt on our soil: it’s an organic mix, custom blended then planted with top-quality seed to boost flavor and nutrients. Delivered fresh from the farm.

How To Get Your Greens On

Place Pet Grass by your cat’s feeding bowl or a window and give your houseplants a break. For dogs, add fine clippings to wet or dry food. It’s a nutritious alternative to munching lawn grass. Put Pet Grass where your birds perch for a tasty pruning and juicing treat, and sprinkle fine clippings in the feeding bowls of reptiles and small animals.

Inspire your cat to tumble, jump and race around in pure bliss. Safe and non-addictive, our premium live catnip is a highly aromatic anytime treat. Repeat it for a continual supply.

Information from http://www.bellrockgrowers.com