There is a certain sense of pride that comes along with having a good looking pet. It’s kind of like having an attractive car or working in one of the fastest growing careers in the world. It just makes you feel better about yourself and your life. If you want to make sure that your pet looks her best at all times, you need to make an effort to keep the coat shiny and soft. Some animals naturally have softer coats than others, but there are a few things you can do to make your pet look paw-fect every time. Here are some tips to help you get your pet’s fur as show-stopping as it can be.

Buy Healthy Foods
If you’re still buying whatever the cheapest brand of pet food is for the month, you need to think about upgrading. Yes, this will raise your bills a bit, but that is for the greater good. If you can sacrifice a few extra dollars for some high quality pet food, you will see a significant change in your pet’s fur. I used to feed my cat Science Diet, but he didn’t really like the taste of it. I switched to Purina Pro Plan Selects, and he eats like a starving toddler now. Look for foods with all-natural ingredients, and see if you can find something that is formulated to improve your pet’s coat. The right food will provide a great foundation for you to build on.

Bathe Your Pet
You shouldn’t have to worry about bathing a cat if you have one, but you will have to think about bathing a dog. Some people only do this once every few months, but you need to try a lot more often than that. Think about how nasty your hair gets after not showering for a few days. Your pet’s fur gets the same way if you go weeks on end without bathing him or her. You need to make an effort to wash your pet down at least once a month, if not every other week. That will ensure that your dog looks his best at all times.

Brush Your Pet
Try to run a brush through your pet’s fur a few times a week. If you have a pet with long hair, you may want to make that once a day. When the hair gets matted, it can start to frizz and get coarse. That will not make for a soft or shiny coat. Some pets love to be brushed, and others absolutely hate the experience. You just have to hope that your pet loves being brushed. I had one cat that would literally attack me if I came near her with a brush, but my current cat begs for the same experience. You’ll have to see how your pet reacts.

Clean the Bed
If your pet has a special bed that he or she sleeps in, you need to keep that area as clean as possible. You wouldn’t go a month without washing your bed sheets, right? Why should your pet have to? Ideally, you need to get a cover for the bed that you can wash like a pillow case, or you need to have a bed that can be folded to fit in the washing machine. That will depend on how large of a pet you have. I have a small white bed for my cat that is about the size of a large pizza box. I usually wash it with my white bath mats so I can take care of two problems at the same time. Just make sure to wipe out the hair when you take the bed out of the washer so that it doesn’t get on your clothing in the future. Do this often enough, and you should be able to keep your pet’s coat healthy, shiny, and soft.

If you have a passion for animals and a genuine desire to care for them, you may want to consider a career as a veterinarian or vet tech. These men and women are the ones responsible for keeping pets as healthy as they can be, and they provide a great service to their community. If you want to pursue this kind of career in the future, you will need to get some kind of degree in veterinary medicine. This will provide you with the training you need to start work. Here is a look at what that degree program may entail so you can determine if it is right for you.

Different Types of Veterinary Degrees

Ever wonder what you can do with a biology degree? Believe it or not, you could use that to start a career in veterinary medicine. This is one of many degree programs that you could use to start your career, so you might want to check out your options. Here are some of the many degrees you might pass through on your way to working as a vet:

Bachelor’s Degrees

• Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Animal Science
• Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences
• Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Medicine
• Bachelor of Science in Zoology

Master’s Degree

• Master of Science in Physiology
• Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine

Doctoral Degrees

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Animal Science
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Biology
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Biomedical Sciences
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Chiropractry
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Pre-Veterinary Medicine
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Science
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Zoology

Courses in Veterinary Degrees

Every degree program is a little different in terms of the courses that it will contain, but the information you learn for veterinary medicine should be the same across the board. The chart below shows some of the most popular classes in vet degrees, just so you can get a feel for what may be in store for you.

If you really want to go with this career in the near future, start looking for a school that can help you succeed. With the right educational program backing you, you should have no trouble working as a veterinarian in the future.

Veterinarians work every day to protect animals and keep them healthy. You probably are well aware of the work that these men and women do on a daily basis, but what you may not know is where they work, how much they make, or what sort of education they have to go through for their careers. That is what this article is all about. Let’s take a look at the work that goes into being a veterinarian, just to give you a new perspective on the career.

Veterinary Industries

There are many industries that vets can work in, more so than most people realize. If you are thinking about becoming a vet in the future, you might want to explore several areas of the job market when you do so. Possible industries of employment include:

• Animal Shelter
• Education
• Healthcare
• Hospital
• Medical Research
• Veterinary Care

Veterinary Employers

Some vets work on their own, but others find employment wherever they can. You might be surprised by the sheer amount of employers in your area that have veterinarians working for them. Here is a quick list to illustrate this:

• Colleges
• Companies
• Animal Hospitals
• Government Offices
• Foundations
• Franchises
• Law Enforcement Offices
• Non-Profit Organizations
• Private Practices
• Personal Vet Clinics

Veterinary Benefits

If someone goes through the effort of learning how to become a veterinarian, they can look forward to a variety of benefits in their career. These benefits tend to increase their pay rates, as well as their incentive to stick with the career. Here are just some of the benefits you might find in veterinary studies:

• 401(k)
• Education Reimbursement
• Life Insurance/Disability
• Malpractice or Liability Insurance
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Sick Leave
• Pets/Dog at Work

Veterinary Salary

I always thought that vets made just as much money as medical doctors, but that’s not the case. They get paid well, but not nearly as well as I would have expected. You can see that for yourself in the charts below.

Salary by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year of experience: $39,199 – $78,894 per year
• 1-4 years of experience: $44,386 – $84,880 per year
• 5-9 years of experience: $46,227 – $101,022 per year
• 10-19 years of experience: $47,205 – $108,762 per year
• 20 years or more of experience: $50,120 – $119,028 per year

Salary by Company Size

• 1-9 staff members: $40,670 – $89,499 per year
• 10-49 staff members: $49,604 – $96,782 per year
• 50-199 staff members: $39,149 – $113,767 per year
• 200-599 staff members: $45,958 – $121,013 per year
• 600-1999 staff members: $42,200 – $115,224 per year
• 2000-4999 staff members: $37,500 – $133,500 per year
• 5000-19999 staff members: $50,417 – $105,417 per year

Well, I think that does it. Now you know all the little info surrounding the career of a veterinarian. The only thing left is to do is assess the career on your own and possibly jump into it. Think you can handle that? If so, I wish you all the best in your professional pursuits.

Fish have the potential to make good pets, but they require a lot more attention than most people realize. If you’re looking for an easy pet that can basically take care of itself, don’t get any fish. They are much more of a hassle than a cat or dog would be, and they can get pretty expensive over time. I would never discourage you from getting a pet you would truly love. I just want to give you a reality check about fish care.

Before you decide to spend hundreds of dollars from your medical assistant salary on an aquarium, you may want to figure out what you are getting yourself into. Let’s look at the basics of caring for fish to determine if you are cut out for the job.

Daily Feedings

Fish obviously need to be fed at least once a day, and some of them have to be fed multiple times to stay healthy. Goldfish, for instance, don’t have a regular digestive system, so they basically pass food straight through their bodies. As a result of that, they need to be fed several times a day to sustain their body weights. If you have aquatic frogs mixed in with your fish, you may need to feed them directly to ensure that they get food. Otherwise the fish will eat their food. If you cannot handle feeding animals on a regular basis, fish are not the right choice for you.

Tank Cleaning

Cleaning an aquarium is a lot harder than it looks. If you have rocks at the bottom, you have to use a special tool to vacuum the poo from between the rocks. If you don’t have algae eaters in the tank, you may have to scrub the sides down in order to keep it clean. There are some magnetic devices that you can use to make this process easier, but it can still be a pain in the butt. Only take on the responsibility of fish care if you can truly maintain a tank the way you need to.

Temperature Maintenance

You have to keep a certain temperature in your fish tank at all times. Water is more susceptible to temperature fluctuations than air is, so your tank water may be significantly colder than your home. You can keep the balance with a heating device in the tank, but you still have to make sure that the heater is working. I got one from Petco that didn’t work for a couple days, and all of my fish died. I didn’t know that until it was too late. This is just something you always have to worry about as a pet owner.

pH Balance

You also have to maintain the pH levels in your tank in order to keep your fish alive. If there is a chemical imbalance in the tank, your fish could die from living in a bad environment. You have to test the water constantly to make sure that everything is the way it needs to be, and that can become a big hassle really quickly.

You may be the perfect fish owner, so don’t let all of this information discourage you. I just want to make sure that you know how much of a hassle fish care can be. If you cannot take care of the fish the way you need to, you could literally kill them. That is why you have to weigh out all of the factors to make sure this is the kind of pet you want to have. If you think you can handle all of this and more, I wish you luck with your little swimmers in the future.

Most people do not realize that pets can get car sick until they have a pet that starts vomiting in the car. I had that happen to me with a dog before, and it really freaked me out. She just looked so upset, and she was drooling all over the place. I really didn’t know what to do. If you have a pet that gets car sick pretty easily, you may be worried about ever taking him or her out again. In this case, you just have to learn how to deal with the problem so that you can still do what you need to do in the day. Here are some tips that should help you get through pet car sickness without any trouble.

Do Not Feed the Pet before Leaving the House

If you know that your pet is going to get car sick, avoid feeding him or her before you leave the house. It may be the time of day when you would normally feed the cat or dog, but he or she is just going to throw all the food up anyway. You might as well not give the pet the food so that he or she has a minimal amount of it in the stomach. I did this with the dog I had problems with, and it helped her stay calm in the car. I had much less to clean up whenever we got to our destination.

Keep the Animal Caged

If your cat or dog is small enough to go in a pet carrier, you need to keep him or her there. This will limit the amount of movement the pet has, and it will ensure that any vomit will be contained in a small area. The last thing you need is for your pent to crawl in the back seat and just puke all over the place. That can smell really bad, and it may put a stain in the car’s interior. You have to think about the events that will happen in the car and reverse them as much as possible, even if that means caging your pet for the drive.

Avoid Bumpy Roads

Car sickness is a form of motion sickness, which means that it can be aggravated by excessive motion. If you have alternative routes to take to get to your destination, try to find the one that is going to be the least bumpy. That way the pet does not have to roll around in the cage and get even sicker than he or she is. This may cause you to drive longer, but it will improve the overall feelings that your pet has.

Turn on the Air Conditioner

Motion sickness can be somewhat relieved with cold air. I know this because I go through it a lot. Try to put the air conditioner on, and point the vents on your pet. This may not get rid of the problem entirely, but it will certainly help. You may be able to do this long enough for your pet to fall asleep. Then you can drive and hope the pet stays asleep for the whole ride.

Pet car sickness is never easy to deal with, but it is more common than you would think. If you are really concerned about your pet’s health, you can talk to your vet or pharmacy tech about possible treatment options. He or she may be able to recommend a medication to give to the pet for the problem. If you care about your pet, you will find a way to get this situation taken care of.

Picking the right food for your pet is just as important as picking the right food for yourself. There are tons of different products on the market nowadays, and they all have pros and cons to keep in mind. You may be used to buying whatever the cheapest product is on the market, but that is probably affecting your pet’s health overall. In order to keep your cat or dog as healthy as possible, you need to have the right food on hand. Here are some tips to help you find the right food to feed your furry friend.

Check the Ingredients

One of the first things you need to do when picking the perfect for your pet is check the ingredients. Make sure that real meat is the first ingredient on the list, not chicken meal, turkey biproduct, potato starch, etc. the ingredients are listed in order of prominence, so the first ingredient is the one that makes up the largest portion of the food. A lot of pet food manufacturers have changed their recipes around to make meat the most important ingredient in their products, so you should not have trouble finding several options to choose from.

I try to buy all natural food for my cat, or at least food that is pretty close to all natural. That gives him the best source of nutrients and all the good stuff he needs to stay fit and thin. You don’t have to use this kind of pet food because it can get expensive. It is just something to keep in mind. Some pets actually prefer the taste of processed pet food, so you may not have an option but to buy something that isn’t all natural. You just have to look around and see what you find.

Test the Flavors

Pets can be just as picky as humans when it comes to the foods they eat. Most people think that they can just give their pets whatever they want and they will eat it. This is partially true, but most pets will only go to food they don’t like if they are starving. Do you really want to put your pet in that sort of predicament? Wouldn’t it be better to get him or her something that he or she actually enjoys eating? Of course it would be. Test out small bags of different flavored food and see what your pet likes. That way you know which direction to go.

Consider Activity Levels

Indoor cats and dogs tend to be less active than outdoor pets. Thus they need different food to keep their bodies lean and healthy. You should be able to find a pet food that is specifically formulated for your pet’s activity level, health conditions, and other character traits. If you need something really specific, Science Diet has a huge assortment of specialized pet food to choose from. You can get something for indoor pets, baby pets, senior pets, diabetic pets, and anything in between. Find the food that is specific to your pet’s lifestyle so he or she can get the best nutrition possible.

Find What You Can Afford

At the end of the day, you need to make sure that you can afford to keep your pet on a certain type of food. If you think you will only be able to buy him or her great food one time, you might as well buy a ton of crappy food to last you a little while. Ideally, you should invest as much money into your pet as it takes to keep him or her healthy. You have to assess the budget and see if it is possible though. Hopefully you can find something that works for your pet and your wallet at the same time.

Indoor cats live significantly longer than outdoor cats, and they tend to have a stronger bond with their owners. Nevertheless, there is one downside to having a cat indoors, and that involves his or her lack of exercise. Cats may be known for being fat and lazy, but they really shouldn’t be. It is your job as the owner to help your cat stay in shape so that he or she can live as long as possible. You don’t want to end up with a cat that looks like Tolstoy (pictured here), do you? I didn’t think so. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do with your cat to keep him or her healthy for years to come.

Laser Tag

Perhaps the easiest way to get your cat up and moving is to play laser tag with him or her. Just buy a little handheld laser and point it on the floor. 99% of cats will try to catch the red light that comes out. You can move that light all around, and your cat will chase it like a bug. My husband used to have our cat run up and down the stairs with the laser when we lived in our townhouse. Now that we live in a ranch-style home, he just moves it around the living room floor. Our cat gets a kick out of it still.

We used to have a floor plan that basically formed a look. Where the kitchen and the downstairs bedroom had a bathroom that connected them in a straight path. My husband would sit in the living room and shoot the light into the guest room, and then my cat would run all the way around to catch the light in the kitchen. Little things like that will keep your cat active, even if you have a small apartment or house to work with. If you get creative enough, you can keep your cat thin with a laser alone.

Healthy Food

The food that you feed your cat may also make a big difference in his or her weight. You are probably buying whatever you can afford on your paralegal salary right now, but you need to think about the health of your cat. There are tons of different cat foods in the world, and some of them have significantly better ingredients than others. I feed my cat salmon flavored Purina Pro Plan because it has a lot of natural ingredients and it still tastes good enough for my cat to enjoy it. I fed him Science Diet for a long time, but he really hated the way it tasted. The second I put the Purina in his bowl, he stopped what he was doing to eat. That was all the confirmation I needed. If you feed the cat something healthy that he or she loves, you will see a big difference in weight over time.

Kitty Games

Sometimes all you need to do is play games with your cat to keep him or her thin and healthy. My cat will run under the bed when I’m putting the sheets on, and we play a game where he taps on my feet as I move around the edges. It’s something simple like that that keeps him moving around enough to stay thin. My cat is a year and a half old now, and he is literally the perfect weight for his age (according to my vet). Keep the tips above in mind, and you will have a healthy cat to call your own.

Some pets are shier than others when it comes to human contact. They allow one or two people to come around them, but they aren’t too keen on the rest of the world. This may be the result of abuse in the past or a lack of exposure to humans. In some cases, a pet will just have a skittish personality. My cat runs and hides whenever someone new comes into the room, but he is the cuddliest little thing around my husband and me. I have found certain ways to get him to accept new people in the room, so now he is able to show his true colors when other people are around. Here are some tricks that I have learned over the years to get a skittish pet to accept human contact better.

Pick up. Pet. Put down.

The way I got my cat to start trusting me is by picking him up, holding him for a moment, putting him down, and petting him to show that everything was okay. You obviously can’t do this with a huge dog, but you can with a lot of small pets. This shows your pet that you aren’t necessarily picking him or her up to put him or her in a cage or something. You just want to show him or her a little love. If your pet gets used to this idea, he or she will be more likely to come to you in the future. This will help you guys warm up to one another in the end.

Play Games from a Distance

Another way that I got my cat used to human contact is by playing games with him that did not require direct contact. For cats, this is something like laser tag or playing with a string on a stick. For dogs, it may be more like playing fetch or spraying the dog with the sprinkler. If you can get the pet to play from afar, you may be able to get him or her to play up close. Then you will allow him or her to be more and more familiar with working with humans.

Introduce the Pet to Other People

If your pet is comfortable with you but not anyone else, you can use your powers to help him or her get used to other people. Whenever I know someone is coming over, I will pick up my cat and let that person pet him on the cheek. The cat fights this at first, but eventually he gives in and at least tolerates the petting. By showing my cat that I trust someone else, I give him the confidence to trust that person as well. I tested this with my mother one time, and he was sleeping on her lap before the day was up. With a little bit of effort, you can make a big difference in the way your pet reacts to people.

Some cats and dogs never get over whatever happened in their past to make them skittish. Others just need to see that humans are good people, and then they turn right around. If you adopt a pet from a rescue shelter, just expect him or her to be scared for the first few days. Hopefully you can eventually turn your pet into the social butterfly you want it to be. My cat has done well with the tricks above. Maybe yours can too. You won’t know that though until you actually give them a try.

Picking a new pet is about a lot more than just finding something that looks cute. You have to select the right one for your lifestyle and schedule. If you are a forensic science technician that spends 50 or 60 hours a week in a lab, you may not have time to take care of a pet that needs to be fed four times a day. Maintenance is something that you really need to take into consideration before getting a pet because you may end up with more than you can handle. I have done this a few times over myself. Here is a brief analysis of the care that you will have to give for different kinds of pets. Hopefully it will lead you to the perfect pet for you.

• Cats: Cats, in my opinion, are the easiest pets to take care of. All you have to do is provide adequate food and water for them and clean out their litter boxes periodically. For long haired cats, you will need to brush their fur to avoid matting. Other than that though, you just have to keep up with their shots like you would any other pets.
• Dogs: Dogs are a little harder to take care of than cats because they have to go to the bathroom outside. Some dogs do fine when their food and water is left out all day, but others will overeat if given the chance. A dog needs to be bathed regularly, whereas a cat will bathe himself. As a whole though, dogs are relatively easy to care for.
• Fish: With fish, you have to worry about keeping them fed and keeping their bowls clean. I’d consider the work level about the same as that of a dog. If you have algae eaters in the tank with the fish, you can usually minimize the cleaning time for them. Then you just have to worry about maintaining the pH levels and temperature in the water.
• Birds: Birds require a lot of work, mainly in cleaning their cages. Feeding them isn’t exactly hard, but keeping their cages poo-free is far from easy. You also have to worry about letting them out to fly periodically, which is not always convenient to do.

• Reptiles (turtles, lizards, geckos, snakes, etc.): Reptiles require a certain amount or heat, darkness, water, and humidity in order to survive. You have to basically create a mini rainforest in your home. This is very time consuming, and it is not something I would recommend for a novice pet owner.
• Amphibians (toads, frogs, newts, etc.): Like reptiles, amphibians must have a certain amount of heat and humidity around them at all times. Feeding them is not tough, but maintaining a healthy environment for them can be. If you’re looking for a low-maintenance pet, this is not the option for you.
• Hermit crabs: Hermit crabs are super easy to care for. Jus provide a wet sponge, some food, and some shells for them to potentially move into. You’re good to go from there.
• Rodents (mice, hamsters, gerbils, etc.): Rodents are incredibly time consuming to care for, more than most people realize. They poop and pee all over the cage, and they fling their bedding all over the place. You have to clean out the cage and the bedding regularly, on top of feeding the rodents and maintaining water levels. This just isn’t an ideal situation for everyone.

Think about the amount of time you could logically spend on pet care and select the right pet for you from there. Here are some other articles I have written about this process, just to help you truly find the perfect pet:

• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Cats, Dogs, and Fish
• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Rabbits, Rodents, and Reptiles
• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Birds, Bugs, and Hermit Crabs

As a pet lover, I see my vet as my hero. She is the one person I know can keep my loved one healthy and happy, and that is one of the most important things in life. If you have a love for animals and are thinking about becoming a veterinarian in the future, you may want to figure out what you could make in this career before committing to it. Most vets make good money, but a lot of them work on a voluntary basis because they have such a passion for animals. Check out the stats below, and you’ll see what I mean.

Salary by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year: $39,199 – $78,894 per year
• 1-4 years: $44,386 – $84,880 per year
• 5-9 years: $46,227 – $101,022 per year
• 10-19 years: $47,205 – $108,762 per year
• 20 years or more: $50,120 – $119,028 per year

Salary by Industry

• Animal Shelter: $40,963 – $96,972 per year
• Education: $44,385 – $112,100 per year
• Health Clinic: $42,668 – $103,646 per year
• Healthcare: $44,698 – $103,042 per year
• Hospital: $47,971 – $97,658 per year
• Medical Research: $38,810 – $112,341 per year
• Veterinary Care: $46,032 – $96,110 per year

Salary by Company Size

• 1-9: $40,670 – $89,499 per year
• 10-49: $49,604 – $96,782 per year
• 50-199: $39,149 – $113,767 per year
• 200-599: $45,958 – $121,013 per year
• 600-1999: $42,200 – $115,224 per year
• 2000-4999: $37,500 – $133,500 per year
• 5000-19999: $50,417 – $105,417 per year

Salary by Employer Type

• College or University: $24,433 – $96,329 per year
• Company: $46,913 – $100,115 per year
• Contract: $44,797 – $82,629 per year
• Federal Government: $30,639 – $111,573 per year
• Foundation Trust: $53,945 – $71,216 per year
• Franchise: $30,521 – $59,145 per year
• Hospital: $43,723 – $99,505 per year
• Non-Profit Organization: $40,789 – $103,664 per year
• Private Practice: $48,194 – $93,446 per year
• Self-Employed: $38,978 – $108,775 per year
• State & Local Government: $35,759 – $124,483 per year
• Team: $24,000 – $50,868 per year

Salary by Gender

• Male: $58,928 – $85,590 per year
• Female: $57,810 – $78,698 per year

Salary by Specialty

• 401(k): $50,081 – $100,652 per year
• Education Reimbursement: $51,229 – $99,340 per year
• Life Insurance/Disability: $49,164 – $101,753 per year
• Malpractice or Liability Insurance: $49,945 – $96,798 per year
• Paid Holidays: $50,720 – $98,507 per year
• Paid Sick Leave: $50,653 – $99,839 per year
• Pets/Dog at Work: $49,213 – $97,129 per year

Salary by Location

• California: $48,379 – $107,183 per year
• Florida: $45,891 – $101,779 per year
• Illinois: $45,907 – $91,660 per year
• New York: $49,931 – $107,198 per year
• North Carolina: $48,586 – $91,964 per year
• Texas: $40,133 – $91,300 per year
• Virginia: $49,105 – $97,283 per year

Salary by Annual Company Sales

• Less than 500k: $48,697 – $98,848 per year
• 501k-1999k: $49,316 – $99,362 per year

Veterinary medicine may not be the best paying career in the world, but it can definitely be considered one of the most rewarding ones. Good vets don’t work for the money. They work to help animals live the best lives possible. If that sounds like something you may want to do, this could be a great profession for you to be a part of. You can assess the salary statistics above, but the real determining factor is going to be what you want to do in life. Let your heart tell you if this is a good career for you.

Getting rid of fleas is never easy, but it can be a particularly tough challenge if your pet is not old enough for flea medication. There are some things you can do to ward off the problem in the meantime, but the fleas will likely come back until you can completely eradicate with the medication. My father is somewhat of a crazy-cat-lady (minus the lady part of course), so I have seen my fair share of kittens with fleas in my day. I thought it may be nice to share some of the information I have learned over the years with all of you. Here is a guide for getting rid of fleas on a puppy or kitten until you can use an actual treat the issue with medication.

Bathe the Kitten or Puppy

The easiest thing to do is to bathe your kitten or puppy in mild dishwashing soap like Joy or Dawn. Run some moderately warm water in the bathtub. Put on rubber gloves in case your pet scratches you. Then the shower hose to run the water over your pet. Pour a quarter size drop of soap in your hand and begin to lather the fur. Be sure to get the soap close to the skin. Rub it in all over, especially near your pet’s face. Do not get it in the eyes, but get as close as you can.

When the pet is fully lathered, wrap it in a towel for a moment and just sit there. This allows the soap to kill off the flea eggs. Use tweezers to pick live fleas off your pet’s face because that is where they will run to. You can also pull the fleas out of the rest of the fur, just to be on the safe side. Dip the tweezers in a cup of water to kill the fleas you pull off. Try to get them all if you can. This is usually the time that the cat or dog will calm down a bit and understand that you are helping him or her. As long as you are careful not to hurt the kitten or puppy when you pull off the fleas, you can do a lot of good at this time,

Once you have let the soap sink in, use the hose to thoroughly rinse off the soap. If you don’t have hose, you can hold the pet under a facet with running water. You may experience some squirming at this point, but you have to do all you can to get the soap and the fleas off. I usually repeat this process a second time over, just to make sure I get off as many fleas as I can. Then I towel off the animal and leave him or her to air dry for the rest of the time.

Vacuum the House

Try to vacuum the areas that your pet goes to as often as possible to pick up potential flea eggs. There are some mild carpet flea killers out there that are safe to use around kittens and puppies. Simply sprinkle those around and vacuum up as directed. You may have to do this several times over before you fully get rid of the pests, but that effort will be well worth the comfort you can provide to your pet. No animal should have to suffer from a flea infestation, but especially not a helpless kitten or puppy. Do all you can to treat your pet, and he or she will love you forever. You may feel like you know how to become a veterinarian when everything is finished.

In the world of pet ownership, there are two main categories you can fit into: cat people and dog people. I am undoubtedly a cat person, and I think I always will be. Nevertheless, I have been around dog people enough in my life to know the differences between them and me, so I thought it would be fun to write an article comparing the two pet owner categories. If you have been debating whether or not to get a cat or a dog, this information could help you pick the right option for your lifestyle. Let’s take a look at cat people and dog people to see which group you belong to.

The Makings of a Cat Purr-son

For the most part, cat people tend to be more laid back than dog people. I’m not saying that cat people are lazy, but they are usually less energetic than dog people. Cats require very little care. You just have to put food out for them and change their litter every once and a while. With dogs, you have to take them on walks so they can do their business, and then you have to let them run around to get all of their energy out. This is just not something that a calm cat person would want to do.

Cat people also tend to be very affectionate. They like having an animal that will sleep in the bed next to them, and they like spending time with an animal that will cuddle up on a moment’s notice. Cat people don’t mind spoiling their pets, which is why cats tend to eat better foods than dogs. Cat owners go out of their way to make sure their kitties are properly pampered right from the start.

The Makings of a Dog Paw-son

Dog people usually like to spend time outside. They enjoy running around with their dogs in the park or splish-splashing with them in the pool. Dog people also enjoy traveling because they can take their dogs with them. Dogs love riding in cars, but cats hate it. If you want a pet you can take with you on the road, you might as well consider yourself a dog person. I have seen a handful of cats that love riding in the car, but those are few and far between. Most of them just want to get the hell home.

The Kitty-Canine Hybrid

It is entirely possible that you are both a cat person and a dog person. If you have a love for pets as a whole and consider them parts of the family, you may fit into both categories. If you don’t like the idea of having a lap pet or a playful companion in the slightest, you may be neither a dog person nor a cat person. You just have to assess your lifestyle and your overall plans for the future and select the pet that is right for you. Don’t get a pet that you know you will not be able to care for or love. Think long and hard about what you want, and you should be able to select your perfect pal every time.

If you want more advice to help you find the right pet for you, check out some of my articles from another blog I write for:

• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Cats, Dogs, and Fish
• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Rabbits, Rodents, and Reptiles
• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Birds, Bugs, and Hermit Crabs