Pet Care Tips

Follow these pet care tips to ensure that your dog or cat is kept happy and healthy. These basic tips are intended as a resource for those of you who are new to pet ownership or are thinking of getting your first cat or dog. Experienced pet owners will know most of these details already!  Food and drink

• Make sure that your pet has access to clean, fresh water. Filtered water is preferable to chlorinated tap water. Change this every day. 
• Feed puppies and kittens on small amounts of soft food 3 to 5 times a day until their teeth are strong enough for dried food. 
• Dogs and cats should eat a high quality diet that contains as much raw unprocessed food as possible. Where food is manufactured, ensure that it is of the highest quality possible.
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Treatments

• Give your pet a daily natural supplement to help boost his/her immune system. This can help to stave off many common minor illnesses. Look at our pet health advice page for general health products.
• Give your pet an anti-parasite supplement periodically. The dangers of worms are not to be underestimated.
• Use natural health solutions to keep fleas, ticks and mosquitoes off your dog. Please see our page on treatments for pet fleas.

Training

• It is critical to train your dog. Obedient dogs won't soil your house, bite, jump up on guests, chew your shoes and ruin the couch. They are more hygienic and less likely to be involved in fights and accidents. Once trained, you can give your dog much greater freedom as you know that he/she can be trusted. If you need help with dog training, this program is excellent. 
• Cats should be toilet trained as soon as possible and taught that a scratching post is the only allowed place for them to sharpen their claws.

Exercise and play

• Dogs need to be exercised every day without fail. Ideally twice a day. Letting him run round the back yard on his own doesn't count. Enjoy the time that you spend walking with your pet and it's good exercise for you too!
• Cats kept indoors at any time need a litter tray and this needs to be changed daily. Cats will exercise themselves sufficiently if you let them outside each day. Better still, fit a cat flap and allow them to choose when they go out. But keep them inside from dusk till dawn. This makes them less likely to be run over and they pose less danger to other small animals.
• Keep an eye on your pet's weight and attitude to food. If he's getting overweight, then you need to cut down on the food a little and get him some more exercise. If he's off his food entirely, then there may be an underlying health problem that needs attention.
• Make sure that your pet has a few toys to play with. Dogs love rubber bones or balls to chew and squeaky toys too. Cats love scratching towers, toy mice and string.
• Take time to get to know your pet. When you really get to know your pet's character and physical appearance, you will find that you can quickly spot any injuries and illnesses that are developing.

Grooming

• Grooming is important for all dogs and cats. Long haired cats need to be groomed more often than short haired breeds, but you should groom shorter haired ones too. Dogs and cats both like to be stroked. It is a good bonding exercise that also lets you examine your pet's hair and skin for any problems.
• Dogs need to be bathed periodically and use a special dog shampoo for this purpose as many human shampoos or shower gels will irritate. Once every two months is about right. Their skin can become irritated with bathing too often. Cats clean themselves so don't try to bathe your cat!

Reproductive

• Spay/neuter your animal. Neutered animals are better behaved and don't contribute to the countless thousands of homeless cats and dogs. Dogs and cats that have not been neutered will be at the beck and call of their hormones. They will roam far and wide looking for a mate and are more likely to get into road accidents and fights.