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General Helps

Ants
Having a problem with ants eating from your pets' bowls?  Try putting the food bowl in a larger bowl full of water, the ants will not try and cross the water to get to the food.  You can also try putting a dryer sheet under the bowl.

Hints for Kitties

Hiding Kitty
If your cat likes to hide from your caregiver try this before you leave:  For a short trip, take some of your dirty clothes and put into a large sealed plastic bag.  Everyday that you are out of town, the caregiver can take a piece of clothing out, and leave out around the house or near the food and litter.  This hopefully will tempt your cat out to eat and take care of business.  For longer trips, while you are out of town, take a sheet of paper, rub it all over your forehead, and mail to your home.  The caregiver can then remove and place on the floor.  You can also sleep with some of your cats toys before you leave and then seal in plastic.  See all the comfort options below too.

Comfort for Kitties
Harp music (CD player anyone?) calms an aggressive, sickly, or lonely kitty.

Feliway Spray:  http://www.catfaeries.com/feliway.html
* controlling urine spraying
* controlling urination outside of the litter box
* calming multi cat households
* ending or lessening fighting
* reducing cat's anxiety, stress, anger, fear
* deterring scratching of furniture

Snugglekittie www.snuggleme.com
* heart sounds
* can put in an item that contains your smell

Rescue remedy can be added to water or food to help relax your kitty.  This is sold on a lot of pet websites.

Preparing for Natural Disasters

To avoid tragedy during a natural disaster consider the following:

• Understand the possibilities - recognize the different types of disasters that can occur in your area and know how to effectively plan for them.
• Make decisions early - different disasters require different course of action.  The sooner you create an evacuation plan, the more time you will have to prepare.
• Update identification - make sure your pet wears current identification at all times.  This includes adding your current cell phone number to your pet's tag.  Better yet, have your pet chipped.
• Carry a picture - carry a recent photo of your pet with you in the event you need it for identification.
• Research animal friendly places - know where you can take your pet in the event of an emergency.  Evacuation shelters and pet friendly hotels outside a 60 mile radius of your home are a good place to start.
• Stock needed supplies - keep extra leashes, bowls, newspapers, trash bags, cat litter, litter pans, and at least a 5 day supply of pet food and water on hand.
• Get a carrier - have a properly sized pet carrier for each pet.  Carriers should be large enough for the pet to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably.
• Communicate your plan - make sure that the other people you rely on for your pet's care are privy to your specific pet care plan in case you are away from home when a disaster occurs.

Illness or Fire

Fire
Consider putting up a fire emergency sticker in your windows to let firemen know that there are pets inside.  These can be found online.

Your Illness
Consider getting a pet alert wallet card that tells emergency personnel that in case of your illness, injury, or death to contact your pet sitter (contact information included) or some other responsible party to care for your pets.

Cautions

Garlic, Onion, Chives
Garlic is sometimes added to pet food and treats.  In small amounts this is ok but large amounts of garlic, onion, or chives can cause Heinz body anemia in dogs and cats.  This causes the breakdown of the red blood cells and results in anemia.  Bulbs, flowers, and stems are all poisonous.