Pleasing 4 Pets

Does your cat’s breath smell like mouldy sardines and poo? That’s probably because they don’t clean their teeth. There’ll be bits of food from a week ago stuck there, and is only going to become dislodged by chance. And, oh yes, they clean their bottoms with their tongues. Nice.

Getting a cat sized toothbrush is pretty difficult, and harder still is finding cat friendly toothpaste and allowing your furry friend to let you stick a foamy stick in its mouth repeatedly. Go figure.

So, there are some wonderful treats for cats that brush their teeth whilst they eat. Whiskas dentabix are just one of the many varieties, and they really do work.

The new breath may not be minty fresh, or smell like roses, but at least it doesn’t smell of shit any more. That’s the key. And, no, I don’t think you can give them to your boyfriend in the morning.

Hamsters, given their small, chubby, scuttling selves, are actually quite resilient little critters. I had a hamster, called Louise, who had cancer.

Poor thing had a tumour on its face, on one of its pouches. It went into hamster hospital for an operation and had the tumour taken off.

The vets said that it would have a hole in one of its pouches but would quickly learn to eat in the other pouch. They didn’t know how long it was likely to survive.

To our surprise, Louise got better, and became her own lively self.

The only real difference was that she ate in circles, and span round until she got dizzy and feel over. Whoops.

She’d eat, and store food in both pouches. One pouch, however, was a big hole, so the food fell out. Once she’d eaten the food in her pouches, she’d notice the little pile of food to her left. So she’d eat that, and exactly the same would happen; a little less falling out each time.

It ended up that she just kept turning around – i think she got paranoid and though there was someone placing food just out of her eye line to taunt her. Poor thing.

Have plenty of sellotape, a lint brush or a sticky roller. At all times. A spare small blanket on the back of the sofa, a folded up towel by the bathroom radiator, removable cushions on your dining room chairs.

Cat lovers everywhere will love it when their feline friend curls up on their knee for a snooze. They will not love it when they get uip and find their long-haired calico has left a closely knitted thick layer of white fur on their trousers when they get up. It is a hazard of owning cats. But, if you’re prepared, it isn’t too much hassle.

The blanket: to put on your knee as soon as you cat jumps on the sofa.

The towel: a comfy sleeping place, and a towel you don’t mind getting trashed when you have to dry your tufty tortoiseshell after she comes in from the rain.

Removable cushions: so you don’t sit down to your breakfast in a smart black suit only to get up and look like your cat’s been sleeping on your bum for weeks.

Dogs are very responsive creatures: they play with you, cuddle you and generally just want to please you. If you find this all a little too difficult to discipline them, remember you can say wonderful things to them in an angry tone and they will still get the picture.

That’s why you can sometimes insult a dog, but making it sound like you’re about to say ‘walkies’ will have them chasing their tail around the kitchen or reaching for their lead immediately.

Likewise, you can tell them ‘Benson! I love you!’ as though you’ve said ‘Benson! Get off the settee!’ and you can feel better for not telling them off, but knowing that they will listen to you.

It may take some practise not getting tongue tied, but Good Luck!

Most cats pretty much look after themselves looks-wise. They may need drying off with a towel after they’ve been out in the rain, but they’re usually pretty good.

Long haired cats, however, get into all sorts of messy situations: twigs in the fur on their legs, knots on the side, ‘dreadlocks’ under their chin etc etc…

A pair of sharp scissors and a soft-bristled brush. The brush is pretty self-explanatory – run it through your moggy’s fur every week or so, to keep any monster knots at bay. If you do get a massive knot, just snip it out with the scissors: there’s no point hurting the poor thing by trying to brush it out.

The scissors are also for trimming that hair below the tail. Yep, around their bottom.

It isn’t always mud that clings on to that particular area of hair, so it’s on my kindest advice that you trim the hair to reduce the possibility of any… unwanted extras.

No, I didn’t think so. Neither do cats.

There are so many bowls for cat food on the market that are rectangular or stretched oval shape, split into two compartments. One of these is for food, the other for water. How often do you see a rogue biscuit, or meaty chunk in the water? What do you do? Pick it out and throw it away? Tip the water out, wash the bowl and re-fill? Or just leave it until they decide to eat it?

I don’t know about you, but I think I might change my glass of whine if a bit of my gravy covered roast beef fell into it. I think, in fact, that I wouldn’t like it at all. I don’t even think I’d like it if my glass of water had been stood next to smelly food all day, as it picks up scents and flavours of what’s around it. Never had cheesy milk?

Put their water around the corner from their food; on the other side of the room, or just a few feet away. They’ll be far more likely to drink it, and will be healthier for it too. It’ll also prevent that horrible slimy gunk that forms on the water side of their bowl when you go to wash it. Nasty.

Many of us absolutely adore our feline friends and their weird and wonderful habits. Some will enjoy sitting on your lap only at the most inconvenient times, others will not be picked up or cuddled no matter how gently or politely you do so.

One of the funniest things that one of my cats does is chase his tail. Now, that may not seem so strange, but the funniest bit is when he launches himself, all four paws off the ground to pounce on his own back end. Again, this may not seem so bizarre. His problem is eye contact, or even perceived attention. If he thinks that anyone – human, feline, fish or canine – is watching, he will stop and clean himself (but always keeping an eye on that pesky tail). No matter what he’s playing with, if he thinks you’re watching, he gets all bashful and embarrassed.

This could be because he is the only male out of our four cats, and so usually he’s the Boss, the big man, the one who gets the cream (metaphorically, of course). He may feel that ‘playing’ is beneath him. Either that or he’s just a bit mental. I think I prefer the latter.

Cat hair has crafty ways of sticking around. If you have a chair that your prize kitty likes to sit on, you’ll have noticed that it gets thick with fur.

Also, you’ll notice that if your cat is on the sofa next to you, and you give them a bit of a stroke, you can see swathes of fur flying about in the air. The cats don’t like it if their ‘released’ fur falls back onto them (especially their faces) so if generally drops onto the floor or your clothes.

Hoovering is the best way of getting cat hair from carpets and upholstery, and a lint brush or roller is by far the most effective way of removing fur from clothes. Some will have been intertwined with the fabric so you’ll have to manually pick them out, but putting them in the wash will not get rid of them, but rather cover other clothes with hair and exacerbate the problem.

Getting a puppy is an exciting time for the whole family. You’ll have years and years with a beloved companion who will become one of the family.

There are plenty of considerations to make, and one of these is the breed of dog.

Here is a list of different typical characteristics of different breeds of dog. Make sure you have a think about this before you buying one ‘just because it’s cute’.

• Playful / disinterested in toys and games
• Friendly to other animals (including cats / intolerant of any ‘competition’
• Friendly with humans / reserved or maybe hostile with strangers
• Energetic and lively / cuddly and gentle
• Affectionate / aloof

Do your research and even talk to some dog breeders to see which breed would suit you and your family. Remember that some dogs – like beagles – require at least 3 walks a day, so make sure you have the time and energy to commit to getting a dog.

If, like many amateur tropical fish owners, you feed your fish once a day with store bought tropical fish flakes, you need to be very careful to not overfeed them.

We all panic about underfeeding our pets, as we do not want them to become undernourished and, therefore, ill or even die. However, you are more likely to damage your fish’s health by overfeeding them.

If there is too much food, it will break down in the water and become harmful to the fish. It will clog up the pump and filter, and will lead to more dark green scum all over the tank. You can always give them a second small feeding if necessary, but it is very tricky to remove excess fish.

A general rule is to only feed as much as will be completely consumed in three minutes. Stick with that and your fish should be healthy and happy.