Looking For Entertaining Toys for Your Cat or Dog?

Here are some of the cat and dog toys that we get great feedback on. Most of them come from a company called Premier and you can find them online.

For Cats/Kitties

These toys randomly dispense kibbles and treats and they are adjustable for different levels of play.

the Egg.Cersizer-

the Doorway Dangli

the Twist'N Treat

the Twist'N Treat Teaser

also - not made by premier is a toy called the CAT Dancer- it's an action cat toy that you can find at most pet stores



For Dogs/Puppies

These toys randomly dispense kibbles and treats and they are adjustable for different levels of play.

the Twist'N Treat

the Magic Mushroom

the Waggle

also- not made by premier are the Kong- it's a stuffable, durable toy that can be found at most pet stores.

These toys come in different sizes as well as puppy/kitten versions versus adults so you can choose a toy size that is appropriate for your fuzzy furry:)

If you have any questions or want recommendations just give KAH a call!

Getting Your Cat to the Veterinarian

The following tips will help make veterinary visits easier for you and your cat.

Understanding your Cat’s Behavior

• Cats are most comfortable with the familiar, and need time to adjust to the unfamiliar. The visit to the veterinarian is often difficult because the carrier, car, and the veterinary hospital are usually unfamiliar. Respect your cat’s need for time to become familiar with new situations, people and places.

• Stay calm. Cats can sense our anxiety or frustrations, which may cause them to become fearful or anxious.

• Cats do not learn from punishment or force. Give rewards to encourage positive behavior. For example, if your cat is sitting calmly in or near a carrier, give a treat. Likewise, rewards can be given to help your cat become familiar with the type of handling that may be encountered at the veterinarian (e.g., handling paws, ears and mouth). A treat is what is highly desirable to your cat, which may be in the form of food, play or affection. Be persistent and reward every time.

Helping Your Cat Become Comfortable with the Carrier

The goal is for your cat to learn to associate the carrier with positive experiences and routinely enter voluntarily.

• Make the carrier a familiar place at home by leaving it in a room where your cat spends a lot of time.

• Place familiar soft bedding inside the carrier. Bedding or clothing with your scent can make them feel more secure.

• Place treats, catnip or toys inside the carrier to encourage the cat to enter at home. Often, you will first see that treats are removed from the carrier during the night.

• It may take days or weeks before your cat starts to trust the carrier. Remain calm, patient and reward desired behaviors.

• If you still have trouble, you may need to assess the carrier itself.

Getting an Unwilling Cat into the Carrier

If your cat needs to go to the veterinarian right away, and is not yet accustomed to the carrier, the following may help:

• Start by putting the carrier in a small room with few hiding places. Bring the cat into the room and close the door. Move slowly and calmly. Do not chase the cat to get it into the carrier. Encourage the cat with treats or toys to walk into the carrier.

• If your cat will not walk into the carrier, and your carrier has an opening on the top, gently cradle your cat and lower it into the carrier. Another option is to remove the top half of your carrier while getting the cat to go into the bottom half, and then calmly replace the top.

• Use familiar bedding inside the carrier. Consider use of synthetic feline facial pheromone (Feliway®) analog spray in the carrier at least 30 minutes prior to transport to help calm the cat.

Coming Home – Keeping the Peace in a Multi-cat Household

Cats are very sensitive to smells, and unfamiliar smells can result in one cat no longer recognizing another. Aggressive behavior can occur when one cat senses another as a stranger. These suggestions can help avoid problems between cats following a veterinary visit:

• Leave the returning cat in the carrier for a few minutes to see how all of your cats react.

• If all cats appear calm and peaceful, let the returning cat out of the carrier.

• If you sense tension between the cats, or if previous home-comings have
resulted in conflict, keep the cat in the carrier and take it to a separate room to avoid potential injury from an upset cat. Provide food, water and litter box for a minimum of 24 hours while it regains the more familiar smell of home.

• If there is still stress after this time, contact your veterinarian for more advice on slower introduction or medication to help the process.

• A synthetic feline pheromone (Feliway®) can help provide the sense of familiarity.

• For future visits: – Use familiar bedding or clothing with your scent, as it retains the smell of home and helps with reintroduction. – Use a synthetic feline pheromone (Feliway®). – Bring both cats to the veterinary practice together. This can prevent
future conflict as both cats will carry the scent of the clinic.


For more information visit the American Association of Feline Practitioners website, http://www.catvets.com/. For a copy of the handout Getting Your
Cat to the Veterinarian , visit:
http://catvets.com/uploads/PDF/2011FelineFriendlyClientHandout.pdf

Smooches for Pooches & Kisses for Kittens

Show your love and support in this month of hearts and flowers to all our furry friends by making a donation
and...
Help Your Favorite Veterinary Practice Win
The First Annual Campaign!

Simply make a donation and write your pet's name on the slip.

At the end of February the office with the most slips will win lunch provided by Dutch's Daughter and Crossroads Animal Referral & Emergency!

All funds will be donated to area animal charities and for each slip returned, Crossroads Animal Referral and Emergency(CARE) will donate $1 as a matching contribution.

Dog Birthday Cake Recipes

Peanut Butter Delight Dog Birthday Cake

1 cup white or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

Mix together flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a ring mold sprayed with a nonstick spray for 40 minutes.

Frost this cake with low fat cottage cheese and decorate with carrot pieces. Store in refrigerator.

Banana Carob Chip Dog Birthday Cake
2 cups water
2 ripe bananas
1/8 tsp vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 Tbs baking powder
1 egg
2 Tbs honey
1/2 cup carob chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

In a mixing bowl combine water, bananas, vanilla, egg and honey. Add whole wheat flour and baking powder. Mix well. Pour mixture into an 8-inch cake pan sprayed with a nonstick spray. Sprinkle carob chips on top. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Decorating suggestion: Make both the Cinnamon and Carob frostings (below), then ice the cake with one, and use the other as a decorative trim.

Cinnamon Frosting:

Combine the following ingredients and blend thoroughly:
12 ounces nonfat cream cheese (room temperature)
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp honey

Carob Frosting:

Combine the following ingredients and blend thoroughly:
12 ounces nonfat cream cheese (room temperature)
3 tsp carob
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp honey

Makes One 8-inch cake.




Banana Peanut Dog Birthday Party Cake

2/3 cup ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup softened safflower margarine
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Water
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

In mixing bowl, beat together mashed banana and butter until creamy. Add eggs and water. Beat well. Stir in dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Add nuts. Spoon batter evenly into oiled and floured bundt pan. Bake for about 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes, remove from pan, replace on rack and cool.

To make Banana Carob frosting, combine the following ingredients and blend thoroughly:

2 cups ripe banana, mashed
1 Tbs butter
6 Tbs carob powder
2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbs Unbleached flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and enjoy!!

Environmental Awareness

It is a hot topic in our nation and people on many levels are trying to be more aware of their carbon foot print.
From at home recycyling programs to major corporations making an effort to reduce, reuse and recycle we have come a long way but still have a lot of work to do.

Kingsbrook Animal Hospital like any other small business uses a lot of resources on a daily basis to conduct our business. As a small business we have tried to minimize our carbon foot print by implementing the use of many environmentally friendly products such as Biokleen floor and surface cleaner and laundry detergent, Ecover cream scrub, glass cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner and fabric softner, Marcal toilet paper, Seventh Generation paper towels, and Earth Friendly Products dish soap.

We also recycle as many resources in the hospital as we can. We recycle plastic, metal, paper and cardboard. We encouraged our property manager to install a cardboard recycling bin in our waste collection area which is now being used by us as well as the other businesses in our center.

No act is too small and we as a community should all take part and do what we can. Here are some helpful online resources.

www.frederickcountymd.gov
www.biokleenhome.com
www.ecoverdirect.com
www.seventhgeneration.com
www.marcalsmallsteps.com

Check Your Vaccine Routine

While today's cat and dog vaccines are extremely safe, there's a growing concern about ovarvaccination and potential problems this may be causing in our pets. The majority of core vaccinesfor cats and dogs in the U.S. are approves for every three years. While the vaccines may work for longer than three years in many individuals, this is the minimum amount of time they've been shown to be effective. It's basically a safety net to make sure all pets are protected, regardles of their individual immune responses.

So, how would we know if your dog has an immune repsonse to distemper that lasts five years instead of three? It is possible to test the level of antibiodies in the bloodstream of some of these diseases. Of course, this is not a perfect system and circulating antibodies do not necessarily mean there is an adequate immune response (esentially, there are just too many "moving parts" for this to be a direct relationship).

However, testing these antibody levels can give us enough information that many veterinarians are comefortable foregoing some annual vaccinations. The specific tests are called antibody titers-the blood is diluted, or "titrated," and then tested at each dilution level until it tests negative for antibodies. Positive tests at a high level of dilution (a high titer) indicate a higher level of antibodies in the blood.

While many pet parents (and veterinarians!) are comfortable receiving core vaccines at regular intervals, antibody titers offer a possible alternative. As with many areas of veterinary medicine, interpretation of vaccine titers is a contentious issue-discuss it with your veterinarian to see wether they feel it might be a viable option for you and your pets.

Fetch 2011 no.2 issue 9

Urban Potty Adventures

When you gotta go, you gotta go. But's that easier said than done when you've got four paws in the heart of a sprawling metropolis. Housebreaking a puppy or newly adopted adult dog can be a frustrating challenge, especially when you add in the element of an urban environment.

it's a (concrete) jungle out there
As with housebreaking a puppy anywhere, urban pet parents should rely on a consistent schedule and lots of patience. Expect your new addition to make mistakes, especially early in the training. And expect housebreaking to take at least a month, often more (especially if your new dog is an adult). While your dog is learning when and where to eliminate, it is important that you either actively watch him, or keep him in the comfort of his crate to avoid unwanted accidents.

out of bounds
One drawback of housebreaking in a condo or apartment can be a lack of quick access to the outdoors. In the early stages of housebreaking in the city, it's best to have a backup potty place indoors, such as a piddle pad, for your puppy to use if he can't get outside in time.

holding their own
Remember that puppies can't be expected to hold their bladders as long as adult dogs. A good rule of thumb is one hour more than your pup's month of age. When it's time, take your pup outside to the same spot each time. Talk to your dog and let him know that it's time to go potty, using the smae phrase each time to cue him. Praise him when he's done a good job, and reward him afterwards with playtime or a long walk.

are we there yet?
If your pet is new to city living, you may face and additional challenge-the lack of green space. Many dogs understand that grassy areas are the place to go, and a move to the concrete jungle can be confusing. In these cases, find the closest dog park or grassy area (not the nearest flower bed if you'd like your neighbors to welcome you) and gradually acclimate your dog to city life.

no train, no gain
Many urban dwellers can train their dogs to use a litter box, much like a cat. Real or artificial grass boxes are available and can be very convenient, especially on cold winter nights. Don't let this stop you from continuing training, though, so your pet understands it is also apporpriate (and preferred) to go outdoors.

Fetch 2011 No. 3 Issue 9