Our Favorite Cat Blogs of 2016

Here at Fetch! Pet Care, we are savvy purrveyors of cat content purrfection. It gives us the opportunity to stay in-the-know with what’s trending in the world wide web of cats be it a viral video, pudgethecat’s recent Instagram musings, or, the latest in modern day cat care — we have our proverbial paw on the pulse of what pet parents (like us) would consider bookmark-worthy. 2016 has been the year of the internet cat, purr se, with fresh faces popping up in the cat blogging world practically every other day. We’ve bookmarked, we’ve un-bookmarked, and bookmarked some more. At the end of the day, these five blogs are the cat’s meow in our humble opinion. Let’s have a look…

Love Meow

Love Meow’s creators tout: “LoveMeow.com is a cat lovers’ site dedicated to spreading the meowsage of love for our furry friends.” What we appreciate most about Love Meow is that it’s curators go beyond the blog by taking their love for cats offline and into animal rescues in and around Chicago where they are based. The Love Meow team is one of the biggest online supporters of cat adoption, and you are sure to have your faith in humanity restored by reading the incredible rescue stories they share.

Cat vs. Human

Yasmine Surovec is the talented illustrator behind Cat vs. Human’s endearing and clever comics. Fellow cat owners know how quirky, loveable and mischievous cats can be — Surovec has a knack for depicting daily cat ownership in just the right way. From “Places cats sleep but shouldn’t”, to, “Things my cats do while I’m away”, Cat vs. Human is a delightful reminder of how fun (and sometimes a bit challenging) it is to be a cat owner!

Modern Cat Magazine

All the cool cat owners read Modern Cat Mag. It’s like reading Vogue Living, but for cats. With article titles like: “The NoBowl Feeding System: Inspired by Nature, Based in Science, Loved by Cats,” and, “Bavarian Cat Toys Launched at SuperZoo 2015, Providing North America With An Alternative To Catnip Toys”, Fluffy will never get bored with you introducing her to these chic Modern Cat Mag-inspired concepts. Even if you don’t end up putting these findings into play, at least you learned something interesting and new. Digestible in lunch break-sized reads, Modern Cat Magazine is bookmarked here at Fetch! Pet Care for a refreshing mid-day information break.

The Conscious Cat with Ingrid King

This is THE blog to have in your library for all things cat health and well-being related. If you want to nerd out on cat anatomy 101, or you need advice on why your cat is behaving a certain way, Ingrid King’s Conscious Cat the blog for you. A former veterinary hospital manager turned writer, Ingrid King’s wisdom is one lauded by cat care elite singing her praises both on and offline. With a holistic approach to cat care, The Conscious Cat is a great read both when needed and when  you have a little down time, snuggled up next to your furry best friend.

GLOGIRLY

Don’t let the title and pink facade deter you, Debbie Glovatsky’s hilarious narrative of her two cats Waffles and Katie won BlogPaws’ 2015 Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Cat Blog. A photo blog with witty dialogue will tickle you pink (no pun intended) with it’s simplistic yet on-point humor. Don’t miss “Waffles and His Flawed Theory of Feline Invisibility” — one of GLOGIRLY’s best pieces.

We hope you enjoy these blogs as much as we do and if you did, we’d love to hear about it. Have a blog you’d like us to know about? Let us know what they are in the comments below…

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How to Help Your Pet Deal With Separation Anxiety

As summer comes to a close, things may start to change for your pet. The kids go back to school, your hours at work get longer, and the weather no longer supports long days spent outdoors. Your pet’s routine changes as a result, which in turn often causes separation anxiety for them.

Separation anxiety is an affliction that many pet owners may not even know their pet has. Separation anxiety affects more pets than you might think. If your pet exhibits any or all of the following symptoms, they may be suffering from separation anxiety: Howling or barking, excessive biting or chewing, increased excitability on your return home, scratching or digging to try to reunite themselves with their owners, and/or unexpected urination or defecation of housetrained dogs.

Before we share some quick tips to help your pet deal with separation anxiety, let’s first try to understand what causes it. No one knows exactly what causes separation anxiety because it varies so much case to case, but there are definitely some well-known patterns to keep an eye out for. Most of the causes are self-explanatory, and very similar to that of human children.

If your dog is used to having a companion around all the time, when you leave they may become distressed. Or if a dog from a shelter experiences a traumatic event linked to their separation, that may carry into their daily life after you adopt them. The most common form of separation anxiety for pets occurs when you switch up their routine. Although, you may think that your pet will not notice this, pets are hyper-aware to things of this nature.

Now we get down to really trying to solve the problem. Leaving your pet alone for a period of time is something that most every pet owner has to do from time to time. Although, it can be heart wrenching, it’s an unfortunate reality of being a pet owner in a busy world.

There are many ways to help solve your pet’s separation anxiety. One solution is to give them something that smells like you, or not making a big deal about your leaving or arriving. Filling up a toy, such as a Kong, with peanut butter or frozen treats will keep them busy for hours. If the problem persists, you might seek veterinary help. There are many medications for dogs with separation anxiety issues, but we would recommend avoiding these if other alternatives exist.

The best solution is to get someone to take care of your pet, and give them the love, attention and daily exercise they need when you’re not able to do that yourself. Fetch! Pet care provides pet sitting and dogwalking services to provide you with peace of mind, and your pet with the care and love they deserve when you’re away. We can provide at-home care of your pet when you’re at work, on vacation, traveling for business or otherwise, and can be their best friend when you’re away. Our well-trained staff will help to make sure that your pet will never even feel stressed when you are at work or out of town. Your pet will be just as happy as when you left.

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Cold Nose News’ Tips for Caring for Your Pet Holistically

You’ve probably heard about holistic medicine for humans, but for your pet? Holistic living for our animal companions is quickly gaining ground in the promotion of optimal health and well-being. So popular in fact, Tuesday, August 30^th is Holistic Pet Day.

According to TheWholeDog.com, National Holistic Pet Day was founded by Colleen Paige of the Animal Miracle Foundation and it’s all about HEALTH and a more natural, integrative (“whole”) and preventative lifestyle which focuses on – and embraces – the whole animal, instead of just focusing on disease and the treating of individual symptoms.

Typically, traditional veterinarian medicine (also known as western or conventional medicine) focuses on an isolated health condition, disease, physical organ or system. Treatment often targets masking or relieving the symptoms instead of addressing and resolving the underlying issue. While both conventional vet medicine and holistic care are important, natural therapies and treatments may prove more effective especially when traditional animal medicine has failed to resolve a chronic, or lingering, health issue.

What is “Holistic Pet Care?”

Holistic pet care focuses on an “integrated” wellness approach to “whole” animal health and well-being and typically includes the following areas:

• Diet:
  • With an emphasis on nutritional whole and raw foods
  • Plenty of fresh water free of chemicals, fluoride and chlorine
  • 
• Lifestyle:
  • Physical (including plenty of fresh air, exercise and chemical-free grooming); and
  • Mental Stimulation, Proper Socialization and Emotional Balance
• Environment:
  • Both Indoors and Outdoors
• Medical History

Alternative Therapies

As commonly used with humans, holistic care for pets includes the following alternative therapies and modalities (healing interventions):

• Acupuncture:
  • Needle and Laser
• Laser Treatment:
  • For arthritis, back pain, trauma and wounds, surgery and inflammation
• Massage, Reiki and Chiropractic (spinal manipulation and manual therapy)
• Nutraceuticals:
  • Herbal (also known as botanical) and Homeopathic
  • Supplements, Minerals & Vitamins
• Aromatherapy
• Magnet Therapy
• Ultrasound Therapy

So on August 30^th, take the opportunity to re-evaluate the quality of life you are currently providing for your animal family member. Could you do something better, different or more natural? It’s not necessary (or even recommended) to change everything overnight when it comes to your pet’s health. Just take some time to prioritize their health and educate yourself on best practices especially from a holistic perspective. Changing even one thing toward a better life for your pet) is priceless.

9 Ways to Care for Your Pet More Holistically

1. Learn more about the foods and treats you feed your pet (most are made with “feed-grade” ingredients permitted to have higher levels of toxins). Do some research and with that new information, focus on more natural, whole food and human-grade options. (Here are two great places to start your research: TruthAboutPetFood.com and PlanetPaws.ca.)
2. Evaluate the cleaning products you use inside your home and make sure they are chemical-free and as natural as possible.
3. Also be aware of potential dangers outside your home; including the use of any potentially toxic lawn fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or insecticides.
4. Regularly exercise with your pet (this is a win-win for you both!).
5. Reduce your pet’s reliance on prescription medications (that often create mild to severe side effects) by implementing an overall holistic lifestyle encouraging whole body health regardless of age or past health history.
6. Find a local holistic vet.
7. Learn and take advantage of new holistic healing interventions; like massage, supplements, acupuncture and more (refer back to the list of Alternative Therapies above).
8. Use titer testing (a simple blood test) to check for current levels of vaccine immunity instead of over-vaccinating.
9. Use natural tick and flea repellants instead of options that contain potentially toxic chemicals.

For more information about holistic pet care, go to these websites:

FetchPetCare.com

Veterinary Institute of Integrative Medicine (VIIM.org);

EarthClinic.com;

HolisticPetInfo.com; and

Doctors Foster and Smith’s PetEducation.com.

To find a holistic veterinarian in your local area, search the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association’s database at www.ahvma.org/find-a-holistic-veterinarian/.

Cold Noses News is a K9-exclusive newsletter created and published by a lifelong dog-lover (presently owned by two Great Danes) and former dog business owner (a mobile doggy daycare service, the first of its kind in Denver in 2001). Now “paying it forward,” the Cold Noses News blog and monthly newsletter offers the best up-to-date and relevant information dog guardians need to make better informed decisions for their beloved furry K9 family members.

Originally created for dog businesses to give to their clients, starting in September, subscriptions to the Cold Noses newsletter will also be offered to the general public of dog-lovers and owners.

To learn more, go to ColdNosesNews.com.

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