Smile!

Sorry I’ve been gone so long…  Moving across the country can be time-consuming and logistically crazy.  Mission completed and I am happy to report that we are now west coast creatures and loving it.  The air is crisp out here, smells clean.  I am back in touch with the mountains I so love and Buddy is hitting the trails once again like a pup.  Life is good.  I’m even getting all healthy and got a great email newsletter from petmd Fully Vetted this week on brushing our pets’ teeth that had a cool video that I want to share with you.  I have always found the idea a bit daunting, but this does make it look easy.  My Buddy is having some heart issues and so is one of my clients so I am really getting sensitive to the implications of good oral health for our pets.  They have made the whole process pretty easy now with flavored pastes and finger brushes and all.  I’m going to give it a try.  If you don’t hear from me again, you’ll know my typing fingers got a bit impaired BOL!

Great video on Pet Teeth Brushing!

 

Beach Cruisin’

You know, when I come hang out with Sam for a few weeks I have to be prepared to keep him entertained.  Really, as a pet sitter you need to always consider that.  Pets like to be stimulated and they are missing their family so just as you would have lots of activities planned for kids that you stay with you should do the same for pets.  Sam makes it easy because he is really smart and he lives on the beach so there’s lots to do.  Today we went for a bike ride on the beach which is one of his favorites.  Sure it is tempting to just go out and get exercise on my own in the morning, but I can assure you it is a ton more fun with this little guy along.  You should see the smiles on all the faces as we ride by and his head pokes out of his basket with his ears straight up!  He does not miss a thing, and I have to tell you all of the shore birds are lucky he can’t fly…

We get out and walked around once in a while just to stretch our legs and we saw some dolphins this morning which looked huge to both of us.  Met a few other dogs along the way.  Sam feels it is important to inform all other dogs that he is a big dog too and most of them readily believe him.

 

 

Finally we headed home just in time before one of those beachy showers blew in.  No worries, we had an indoor activity planned.  Sam loves to Skype my dog Buddy and tell him what he’s been doing.  Thank goodness it’s free; used to cost me a fortune when they were texting.  My career really has gone to the dogs, ya know…

Salmonella Alert

Hey folks, one of our friends out there in readerland was kind enough to draw some important information to my attention…  The Merrick Company has had to recall its Jr. Texas Taffy Pet Treats for possible Salmonella contamination.  This could be passed on to your dog or to the human handling the treats, so you might want to pay attention to this for sure!  To read the whole release, just click on this link: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/about_us/news_article.php?tid=438

Thanks Ryan for sharing this important safety info with us.  Together we can all keep our Fur Family members safe and happy which makes us happy right?  They trust us to look out for them after all, so let’s do our part.  We know they always do their part; give unconditional love every day in every way.

Das Fritz

Would you just look at this innocent face?  This is a face that could do nothing but sit on your lap and purrrr and maybe, just maybe lick your fingers once in a while right?  Well….  meet Fritz.  Fritz IS an absolute love but he is also just a kitten still and has a lot of energy to go along with that charm.  That charming gaze is just the pause before the storm.  He is standing right in front of the stairs that became my challenge during the two-plus weeks we spent together while his parents visited the South Pacific.  Not once did I make it up those stairs before Fritz.  I could leave him sound asleep in the den and tip toe ever so quietly in my bare feet up those stairs and half way up, this black streak would go flying by.  Whooooooooosh!  Same thing going down.  Morning, evening, anytime…  did not matter.  He would come from anywhere and race me.  I am sorry to admit I completed my stay without one win in my column.

And can we talk cat wake-up calls here for a minute?  Everyone coos about how easy it is to stay with cats.  Ever try to sleep through a cat alarm?  First there is the gentle stretching and bathing as if “oh, are you awake??”  I’m a veteran at ignoring that, have 2 cats of my own.  Fritz would then slither up ever so delicately and place just one paw directly on my face.  I have to admit I burst out laughing more than once, and once you do that you have lost all control of the class folks.

The best times, though, and we had a lot of these…  were sitting curled up together.  Cats can really make you slow down and settle in.  I like that.  You kinda get your breathing in sync and a warm cup of tea and just enjoy the view.  Ahhhhhhhhh, das good!

Orange Dog’s Freedom Flight!

Orange Dog has planned another Freedom Flight to take over 60 dogs from a shelter in California that would be euthanized to a no-kill shelter in Edmonton on February 11!!  Learn more about this wonderful organization and how to support this cause by visiting them at:  http://www.orangedog.ca/

Sit ‘n Stay Global is honored to be donating our services of a flight attendant on the flight to help things go smoothly and add our in-flight animal safety expertise to the trip.  We are collecting fleece dog blankets for the little ones to have on hand when they land in (brrrrrrrr) Canada, so let us know if you’d like to help out in some small way!!

Winter Sitting

It has been a fun 6 days with Sammy, which was a little more challenging than usual considering the weather we had here on Hilton Head Island.  You see Sam lives on the beach and we usually spend a lot of our time walking the beach or hanging on our chairs watching the other dogs go by.  This week no deal, Lucille.  It was cold and windy and when you are only a few inches off the ground that sand blows right up in your eyes which makes the beach no fun at all.  No problemo, Senor Skamper…  Auntie knows how important it is to have a backup plan and so should every good pet parent and sitter this time of year.  Pets are just like kids and they get bored and restless if they can’t go out and play and do their usual things so be sure to make life interesting indoors!

We played the obvious games of throwing the tennis ball and fetching and rolling around with it and tug-of-war with some of our stuffed toys.  That was fun for sure.  Chihuahuas are smart, though, and auntie had to get up pretty early to think up some new things for this one.  She took a tip from her pal Surf Dog Ricochet and played “launch the carrot” which combines chase with getting to eat what you hunt down.  Now THAT’S fun!  That game is a keeper!!  We wound it all down with doggie yoga and then a nice easy walk to the mailbox and the icky days were full and complete.

So don’t forget the furry ones next time the weather is bad outside.  It’s tempting to just get lost at your computer and turn the TV on for them…  but launch the carrot is a lot more fun for both of you 🙂

Alarming Pet Sitting Gig

 

There is a certain bond of trust necessary between a pet sitter and client for the relationship to work.  Let’s face it, the pet sitter is moving into the client’s home and living with and caring for their family member(s) in their absence.  It is only natural for the client to want to do their due diligence in securing the very best and trustworthy of pet sitters…

Now I don’t want to give anyone out there ideas, but I had a client come up with a pretty creative idea to detect whether or not I was actually staying over night with their two cats.  There I was enjoying a peaceful slumber as a “sitter sandwich” all snug between the 2 aforementioned kitties when at the stroke of midnight, an alarm starts going off somewhere in the house.  Being in a strange house, it scared me to death of course and I hunted it down just as it stopped and gladly returned to what was to be an uninterrupted remainder of the night’s sleep.

The next day I examined the clock and found no external alarm dials and did not want to disturb the clients on their trip, so buried the offending clock under some pillows in the living room far from my room.  Once again, at midnight the sitter sandwich was disrupted by the alarm ringing loudly just outside my bedroom at midnight.  Ok, this cannot continue this way so I call the clients the next day to ask about the strange midnight alarm situation.  Mrs. Client is totally baffled by this but decides it must be the weather station going off when the temperature drops below a certain point.  Sure enough the weather station is right outside of my room so I thank her and vow to get the instructions out and reset the temp.

While going through all of the settings on the weather station I discover that the alarm function has been specifically set to midnight!  Well now, that is one way to discern if the sitter is actually staying all night with your cats…  If she doesn’t ever call you about the alarm, she must not be staying in your house right??  Dude, couldn’t you just do what most folks do and have your neighbors notice how often my car is there?

Fortunately I was loving hanging with those cats and I do what I promise so had nothing to hide, but wow…  that was kind of creepy.  Next time I’ll discuss ways to select a good pet sitter and what you should look for.  It is a big decision and honesty and integrity are so important in addition to their ability to spoil your furry ones rotten!!

CHRISTMAS PRESENCE

 

It’s Christmas Eve and I am just finishing up another stay with Oliver and Bentley.  Oliver, the senior statesman in the house was very grateful for his Christmas presents and found them to be yet another source of comfort once they started to develop the right smell.  Bentley, the beloved youth in the house gave the squeekers a good workout and then did what most toddlers will do tonight and tomorrow…  opt for something you never really thought they would consider a “present.”

 

And so, once again, I learn some of life’s real lessons from dogs.  Mostly from the wise one who comes to us in a form that is no longer strong and magnificent.  Oliver is blind and does not hear well, so a lot of colorful bouncy presents don’t really mean much to him.  You can’t even simply call out to him from wherever you are and phone it in with “I’m right here for you big guy.”  You have to care enough to stop what you are doing and softly touch him so he knows you are there and he can stop “looking” for you.  You are found and he is safe.  Oliver doesn’t really care about “presents,” all he wants is “presence.”  It is the best gift you can give to those you love.  Merry, Happy Peace to all and to all a good night.

 

 

Pedro’s Story

As professional pet sitters we are trained and qualified to care for animals with special needs.  Meet Pedro, a special-needs dog.  Here is Pedro’s story:

Pedro was adopted by his family as a puppy from an animal shelter.  He is a border collie/australian shepherd mix.  When his family arrived at the shelter to look for a new furry family member it was love at first sight for Pedro and 5-year-old Aaron.  The entire family knew that Pedro was going home with them!  Pedro was a happy, playful pup, and did his job to keep track of and be the best companion to Aaron.  He loved to go on hikes with his Mom, a Wildlife Biologist, running and jumping all along the way.

When Pedro was about 9 months old he became very sick with a serious GI infection and a very high fever.  Pedro was put on strong antibiotic therapy.  When his fever went down and he had improved, the vet sent him home.  Several days later his fever spiked again, and after having a grand mal seizure, Pedro had to be put on a ventilator to be kept alive.

Pedro did survive, but had a very long and arduous journey ahead of him to regain his health.  He had nerve damage at 3 locations along his spine: in the neck causing Korner’s syndrome (one pupil dilated more than the other), above his shoulder causing his left leg to contract, and near the tail causing hypersensitivity in his back.  Pedro was paralyzed and couldn’t move…not even to lift his head!  With many hours, weeks, and even months of therapy, being driven many miles to and from specialists, and the undying love and support of his family, Pedro slowly began to gain his strength back.  Sadly, his front left leg had sustained so much nerve damage that Pedro couldn’t straighten it past a 90 degree angle at the knee-joint.  Prior to his illness Pedro’s loyalty was to Aaron and he never left Aaron’s side.  Now, Aaron’s job was to encourage Pedro to walk!  With Aaron’s help and the support of a wheeled cart Pedro was eventually back to running in circles, spinning Aaron in his hammock chair, and making him giggle!

During the next several years, though, due to the fact that his leg was bent and constantly hitting against things as he walked, Pedro endured many serious infections in his left elbow and his family was forever treating and bandaging it.  Unfortunately, Pedro’s doctor eventually recommended amputation.  The family was very concerned that if Pedro lost this leg, he wouldn’t be able to get around at all considering the other issues with his gait due to the nerve damage along the spine.  But they trusted their veterinarian’s advice and scheduled the amputation.

When Pedro’s Mom came to the clinic to pick him up after surgery, her heart broke for him.  The poor guy was shaved on his left side and had 47 staples in the shape of a large “Y”.  But after getting him home, comfortable, and out of pain as much as possible, Pedro was able to sleep.  The very next morning he was up and getting around better than before!!  By that afternoon Aaron had to encourage Pedro to rest and let himself heal!

Today, Pedro is again a healthy, happy and very playful dog.  He cannot go for hikes or long walks, but he can do his job: looking after his now 13-year-old buddy, Aaron!

It is always a joy for me to spend time with Pedro.  After all he has endured in his 8 years, his spirit has not been broken.  He is an inspiration to all who meet him, and I feel blessed to be included in his life!  Pedro…he is special indeed!

Don’t Blame the Poinsettia!

For whatever reason, Poinsettias have gotten a really bum rap over the years as being extraordinarily toxic to pets.  In fact, they are only mildly toxic to the mouth, stomach and skin…  you’ll have a sick puppy or cat and the incidence of direct contact or ingestion is reportedly rare.  Same deal for Mistletoe, only mildly toxic…  just like a lot of plants in the yard that they eat and yak up on your favorite rug.

So let’s talk about the real threats and place our focus there this season and keep our pets safe ok??

FRUITCAKE: Ok, you really shouldn’t have this in your house at all, but I digress.  Dropping it on your foot could cause injury to yourself and your flooring…  Now if your pet starts nibbling on it the alcohol and the raisins can cause a drop in blood pressure and blood sugar levels and acute kidney failure.  ‘Nuff said.

SUGAR FREE FOODS: Xylitol is great for diabetics, but gram for gram the most dog-toxic ingredient on the supermarket shelf.

LIQUID POTPOURRI: Can smell sweet and tempting.  Cats especially are likely to try a taste out of these nice little bowls and suffer chemical burns in the mouth, fever, difficulty breathing and tremors.  Be careful where you place this, or use the wicking sticks instead.

CHRISTMAS CACTUS AND ENGLISH HOLLY:  Dogs and cats can develop serious GI upset, though death is unlikely.  You’ll get to know your emergency vet in a whole new way and ruin the holiday for everyone involved.

and I believe the winner is…

LILIES: These are highly toxic to cats!  The petals, leaves and even pollen can cause kidney failure.  Don’t even THINK about it!

Of course don’t let down your guard and leave the Christmas M&Ms down next to the dog dish or some such nonsense.  Watch out for electrical cords so you don’t go all “Christmas Vacation” on us, and now have some fun with the holiday.  Remember that the furry ones love to unwrap presents too, and don’t forget those in shelters who need a home, or at least a toy this season…

Joy to the FUR!