PETS AND ANIMALS

Choosing to bring a new pet into your home is never an easy fact. It’s not all about it’s price or type, but also it brings some new responsibilities to you - you have to take care of him.

First, you must ask yourself some serious questions: Why do you want to adopt a pet? Do you have time for a pet? Can you have a pet where you live? Can you afford a pet? Are you going to move soon? Do you have the right home for the pet you want? Are your children old enough for a pet? Do you have the financial resources for a pet at this time? Are you able to deal with any special problems that might come up with your new pet?

You must answer careful to these questions before choosing a pet.

When you think to get a new pet you think what type it should be. Well, the most common pets are cats and dogs. Some statistics shows that there are approximately 90 million owned cats and 73 million owned dogs just in the United States.

There seems to be more cats than dogs owned as pets. The main reason may be that cats are more easy to take care of than dogs. Cats are also more funny than any other pet. They have an amusing curiosity when you play with them. Every cat is a true individual. So it’s important to take the time to choose a four-footed friend who’s right for you. A cat’s personality, age, and appearance are all things you should keep in mind when making your selection.

But the fact is why you want a pet? For companion, entertainment or protection? If you need protection, of course you will choose a well trained dog as a pet, while, if you need some entertainment you’ll choose a cat. You should know until now that cats are the most funny pets.

But there is not only about cats and dogs. You may want an exotic pet like parrots, canaries (if you like to hear them singing),turtles, lizards, and other pets like fish, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rabbits, ponies or spiders.

If you want to impress your friends, you may choose an unusual pet like a spider or lizard. These pets must be kept in their own cages and you have to be very careful with them.

There are many places where you can get a pet. Pet shelters are the best idea, but you can adopt a pet from your friends or neighbors too.

If you want a real breed pet, you may choose to buy one, but you’ll see that many prices are around $500 to $1600. The easy way to get a pet is to adopt one. You can find them at animal shelters or rescue, or perhaps even a neighbor or friend.

Take care that owning a pet rise some important responsibilities for you.

1. You must feed him. There are many pet stores from where you can buy food for your pet. Some pets, like rabbits need vegetables and you have to provide them.

2. You must care of his health. Take your pet for regular check-ups from your local vet, and ensure you provide the required vaccination for him.

3. Keep a clean, fresh environment for you pet. It is necessary for your pet health. That’s obvious.

4. Take some time for your pet. You must take some time to play or just walk around with your pet. It’s very important for your new pet.

Things to consider before adopting a pet: how much space will be available for him, your expenses with him (food, care, vets etc), the time you will spend with your pet (the most important) and will he meet other pets of his kind? Good luck choosing a good pet.



By: Andy CI

About the Author:

Dogs and cats are said to be enemies but this is not true. A survey in 2002 said that over fifteen percent of every household in the United States had one dog or one cat at the very least. The survey also stated that almost fifty percent of each home that included a dog or cat actually had both a cat and a dog. That meant that half of all the dogs and cats in the world shared a home with the other species.

Behavior Issues Do Exist

Just because many families have a cat and a dog does not mean that there are no behavioral problems. Some family pets have fights that the owners have to break up and some even take their issues to a behavior consultant for assistance with these issues.

It is very rare that a dog will be scared of a cat because of its size compared to the cat, but many people allow their dog to bully their cat. There are some cases where the dog is smaller than the cat. In these cases the smaller pet may spend most of its time in fear. Often these pets spend the day hiding in the basement or under a bed. This can cause chronic illnesses and anxiety.

You should provide a safe, friendly introduction for the two species to keep their relationship friendly and healthy. If you have existing pets that are in fear of one another you should try to reintroduce them, if you are adding a new pet to your home you should start the relationship out on the right foot.

Things to Consider when Providing an Introduction

You need to decide which of the two pets are considered to be the main pet in your home. You then need to ask your self these kind of questions. What kind of past does this animal have with the other species? Have they ever been with the other species? How did they react when they were around the other species? This will help you to pick the right cat for your dog or the other way around.

The dog or cat you are thinking about bringing home, is it a friendly animal towards different types of animals? It is best to be on the cautious side when it comes to your cat. It’s better to think your dog would injure the cat rather than the cat injuring the dog. You should take caution even if the new dog is said to be friendly with other cats. They are going to get a little bit territorial and we don’t want anyone to get hurt.

When you introduce the animals to each other you need to have enough man power to keep both pets safe. You should keep your dog on a leash for the first introduction, and keep your cat under your control as well. Allow the pets to sniff each other, allow them to be near each other, but do not allow them to try to take over the situation. You need to make sure BOTH species knows you are the boss and they are guests in this situation. Do not allow either to be hurt. Let them know they are both there by choice but the choice is yours, not theirs. In the end spending some time with the two pets letting them get to know each other shouldn’t take long and will save your family a lot of problems.



By: Joann Henry

About the Author:

Anyone who has ever started looking around for an animal to add to the family knows that getting a new pet can be very expensive, and it seems almost impossible to find a free pet. Many breeders ask for several hundred dollars, even for the smallest dogs or cats. Golden Retrievers are usually $700 to $800, Maine Coon cats can cost up to $900 or $1000, and rare exotic animals run much higher.

However, considering all of the pets in the world who are currently homeless, and are living in animal shelters without a loving family, it seems unreasonable and nonsensical to spend hundreds of dollars for a pet when there are so many who need to be saved.

While there are a number of animal rescue organizations and pet shelters around the country, there is only one resource which you should always start with, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Healthy Pets Aren’t Always Free

Before we examine why it’s best to start with the ASPCA, which does charge some fees for adopting and rescuing pets, it’s important to note that it is possible to find a free pet, if you are careful and follow a few important guidelines.

Searching through the classified ads in the newspaper or online classified ads like PetsAds or PetsClassifieds.us, you can locate listings for free pets that people are giving away. It’s critical to understand that most free pet ads are from people who are giving away their pets for the following reasons:



They are moving to a place that doesn’t take pets.

They can no longer afford to have a pet.

They found a stray, but can’t keep it.



These are usually well-meaning people, but keep in mind that if they have a pet that they can no longer afford to keep, the pet may not be 100% healthy. If you do decide to take the classified ad route, just remember that most of the things that the fees pay for at the ASPCA, you will have to pay for anyway – including all shots, medical checkups and neutering.

It is perfectly okay to find free pets on your own, just remember that pets are never “free”. You will need to pay for the up-front (and continuing) health care for the rest of it’s life.

ASPCA and Pet Adoption

The ASPCA is a wonderful organization that helps to promote animal shelters and rescue organizations that take excellent care of animals across the country. At the ASPCA Website, you can adopt and save homeless animals in the following ways:

Find a Shelter

By clicking on the “Find a Shelter” link, you are taken to a search page where you can search for local animal shelters by city and state. The ASPCA doesn’t technically endorse the shelters listed by this utility, but it provides the search function to animal lovers who need a resource to find local shelters.

This is a very comprehensive National Shelter Directory, and it is a service to help families with lots of love to offer to connect with animals that need the love. Buying a pet from a local shelter is essentially like getting a free pet, because the fees to adopt a pet cover many of the upfront medical costs you were incur if you’d picked up the animal as a stray or free from a classified ad. Animal shelters take care of the upfront health concerns, so that when you adopt a pet from a shelter, you can be certain that the animal is healthy and well cared for.

In addition, many shelters offer a unique incentive for people to have their pets properly neutered by offering a discount or refund for the procedure with local vets.

ASPCA Adoption Center

The ASPCA Adoption Center provides listings of hundreds of cats and dogs who need a home. The main page of the adoption center explains everything you will need in order to adopt a pet. This is good to read even if you aren’t going to the ASPCA, because most shelters require the same information. Things you will need if planning to adopt a pet:

· Two forms of identification with your address on it (at least one picture ID)

· Two personal references who can be reached by phone

· Proof of vaccination for the pets that you already own.

· Proof of income

While this may seem excessive to some people, it’s important to understand that there are a lot of people out there who would not think twice about harming or being cruel to animals. The job of the ASPCA and all animal shelters across the country, is to protect animals from cruelty, and to make sure that animals are placed in homes where they have the best chances of being as loved and cared for as they deserve to be.

The benefits of adopting through the ASPCA (many animal shelters offer these same benefits):



14 days of free follow-up vet care

A leash, collar, and pet carrier to help bring the animal home

Educational literature about pet behavior and pet care

Free spay/neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and registration, all provided as part of the adoption fee.





Obviously, the only good option for finding a free pet is going through the ASPCA, or through a local animal shelter. This will ensure that you are getting a healthy pet, and you can feel good about doing your part to save an animal from a live without a home, and without love.

Support Animal Rescue Efforts With a Portrait

When you adopt your new pet, show people how much you love your new furry friend by having a pet portrait done by professional artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. She will accept photos through the mail of pets, and then create stunning portraits from those pictures. Pet portraits are ideal because they can be done from a photo (as apposed to getting the pet to “pose” at a studio.)

The great thing about Nikky is that she’s a pet lover herself, and this is reflected in how she runs her business. Nikki donates 5% of every commission to an animal rescue foundation. This is a wonderful way that you can help to support the cause of animal rescue – and receiving a stunning portrait of your new pet in the process.



By: Nikky Hughes: Pet Portraits

About the Author:

When it comes to adopting pets, there are many options. People have different reasons for adopting a pet, and often this reason influences where they look for their new friend. For some people, whether the animal is a purebred or not is important, so they will pursue breeders. Others are interested in saving an animal from the fate of a life without a loving family. These people will typically search animal rescue organizations or animal shelters. Both purebred and mixed breed animals can be found at these organizations, as well as older animals and animals that need special care. This guide will help you explore your options when considering the adoption of a new family pet.

Choosing a Breeder

You’ve decided that it’s time for your family to have a brand new pet. Everyone is ready to play with it, feed it, clean it, and care for it every day. You know that you want a purebred, and you’ve researched the genetic and behavioral disposition of every breed, and you know the breed that’s best for your family and your lifestyle. The final step is to find a good breeder.

First, avoid pet stores. It is a known fact that most pets that are offered in pet stores come from mass breeding facilities more commonly known as “puppy farms” or “pet farms.” This is not a business practice that you want to support. It’s best to do the ethical thing and avoid them at all cost.

There are several methods you can use to evaluate breeders. Initially, obtain a list of referrals of reputable breeders from your veterinarian or local dog shows. Always visit where the breeder raises the dogs or cats, and bring the following checklist in order to determine whether the breeder is a good one.

Does the breeder:



Raise the animals in a home, as part of a family?

Have animals that appear healthy and excited when visitors arrive?

Maintains a clean area where the animals are raised?

Shows you the animals parents when you visit?

Knowledgeable about the breed?

Can produce records of veterinary visits for the animals?

Provides references?

Offers guidance for caring for your new pet and for the particular breed?





Purebred Rescue

An even better option than buying a new animal from a breeder, is to invest in saving a purebred living at a purebred rescue group. Purebred breeding groups are wonderful organizations that accept purebred animals that are typically abandoned, found as strays, or from local animal shelters. Purebred rescue organizations typically have a great deal of knowledge about the breed they work with, and usually offer a great deal of guidance for adoptive families.

When you purchase a purebred from a rescue group, you can feel good about having saved an animal from living a life without a loving family. You can find local rescue groups in your area through the newspaper classified section. A great resource for rescuing purebred dogs is to search through the contact list at the American Kennel Club. Another great resource for both cats and dogs is AllAboutDogsandCats.com, which provides a list of hundreds of national breed rescue clubs and organizations.

Animal Shelters

An animal shelter is the best source where you can find a family pet. Family shelters are home to many wonderful animals who mostly are only there because of the humans who previously owned them, not for any fault of their own. Often life changes, unrealistic expectations, or other reasons force families to give up their animals to animal shelters. Half of these animals end up euthanized because there simply isn’t enough space. This is why, obtaining your family pet from an animal shelter is the greatest thing you can do, and it is something you can feel very good about.

It is a common misconception that the animals at animal shelters are all mixed-breeds, poorly behaved, or poorly kept. While this may hold true for a minority of them, many of the animals found at shelters around the country are actually purebreds, nicely kept, and very well behaved. Many shelters even offer adoption counseling, training classes, and even discounted or free neutering. Some great resources to locate animal shelters around the country include Pets 911, 1-800-Save-A-Pet, or Petfinder. Another good resource is the classified section of your local newspaper, or the yellow pages under “Animal Shelters”.

A Pet Portrait of Your New Pet

Once you discover that special pet that will become your friend for life, there is no better way to celebrate than to commemorate the beauty and overwhelming “cuteness” of your new family friend with a painted pet portrait.

Pet portraits are sweeping the country as a very popular form of recognizing how much your animal friend means to you and your family. Pet portraits can be especially meaningful because when you see a pet portrait on the wall, it is a statement that this animal isn’t just “another animal”, but it shows that your pet is a loved and cherished member of the family.

The best pet portraits in the country are created by artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. Her artwork is soft and romantic, and a portrait of your pet by Nikky will become a family heirloom for many generations.



By: Nikky Hughes: Pet Portraits

About the Author:

How to Choose a Pet Name

Coming up with good pet names can be very challenging sometimes, especially in a very large family where everyone has their own ideas about what the best name for a new pet would be. For other people, names like “Spot” or “Fluffy” get very old after a while, and people are looking for something unique and new. There are some wonderful websites online that can help with the process of selecting a special name for your new pet that reflects their character and personality well.

Bowwow Pet-Names With Personality

Bowwow is a website that is truly dedicated to the quest for the perfect pet name. There are a multitude of search options, including:

Top 20 names

Names of the month

Visitor suggestions

Single name search

Paired name search

Alphabetical search

There’s even a dog age calculator and e-Cards! You can search in categories such as cartoons, movie stars, or personalities for names of famous people that you might like to name your pet after. The website even features a “pet name search engine.” If you want to have fun with pet names, you should definitely make this one your first stop.

World Wide Pet Names Project

The world wide pet names project provides a list of favorite names that website visitors have submitted. You can even submit your own suggestion if you have an idea for a favorite pet name. Because it’s primarily user-driven, this list has grown exponentially to almost 7,500 pet names. If you simply want a comprehensive list of names to rattle off, hoping that one simply sticks out as the perfect name for your pet, then this is the website to visit.

Pet Names World

Pet Names World is another very fun pet name selection website. It is definitely geared toward children in that it features fun cartoon images and a cute poll where kids can select what animal the name “Ruth” best fits.

The list of names on this website is also fairly comprehensive. They are listed in alphabetical order. But one of the unique things about the list on this website is that the list also includes whether the name is intended for a male or female, the origin of the name (Latin, Hindu, Hebrew, etc.) and also the meaning of the name. This website is fun to browse just to learn the meanings of some of these names.

Cat & Dog Names

Cat & Dog Names is a somewhat simple website that allows you to browse through dog names, cat names, or mixed pet names. The unique thing about this website is that it also allows you to view lists of suggested names that are based on the appearance and features of your pet. Some of these lists are extremely long, and cover categories such as popular Irish dog names, unique Australian dog names, stray kitten names, and black cat names. There is a huge variety of other categories.

Cat Names

Cat-Names.us is a fairly large database of over 5000 unique cat names. This database allows you to search using a category of appearance or behavior, a sub-category if appropriate, and gender. These search criteria offer a list of names in the database that match those characteristics. The names in this database are actually fairly unique. Additionally, this website also offers visitors a free “custom naming guide” which walks pet owners through the process of selecting the perfect name for their cat.

Dog Names

Dog-Names.us is also a large database of over 6000 unique dog names. This database also allows you to search for dog names the same way the cat name search works. The names in this dog database are unique as well.

A Pet Portrait Featuring Your Pet’s Name

Once you’ve decided on a name that represents your pet’s personality and characteristics, there is no better way to celebrate this new name than with a painted pet portrait.

Pet portraits are sweeping the country as a very popular form of recognizing how much your animal friend means to you and your family. Pet portraits are an ideal way to preserve the name of your pet by asking that the name be placed somewhere on the portrait.

The best pet portraits in the country are created by artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. Nikky is more than pleased to accept requests for incorporating the pet’s name somewhere in the picture. Such a beautiful portrait of your family pet would become a family heirloom that would stretch for generations.

By: Nikky Hughes: Pet Portraits