We all worry about our memories - and some of the early scientific studies that have been done on Alzheimer's patients shows that you can delay the onset of the disease by keeping your mind active.
So I like playing different mind solving puzzles, or strategy games with my children. It also keeps their minds thinking of different scenarios. We play some of the classic games- Scrabble, Monopoly (We don't like that because my wife always seems to win there), and Card games progressive Rummy, and Michigan Rummy. We will also sometimes play team chess, which is very interesting.
But this web site came across my email box from Kim Komando's cool site of the day newsletter, and I found it a bit of fun, so I thought I would share.
games.people.com
But be careful, and set a timer! It can really soak up a lot of your time.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Christmas in July - use of glitter
An interesting patient came in today; Esmeralda (the names have been changed to protect the innocent;-)), who was having trouble hitting the litter box. The problem was, there were 3 other house mates, and we could not be sure if Esmeralda was truly the culprit.
Enter Christmas in July.
We all know the glitter projects we made as kids, or our kids now do for us ( my favorite is the hand shape). We can use this to our advantage in the cat and dog world when we are trying to see who is a culprit.
What we suggested is to feed a certain colored glitter to each individual cat in their food. You may have to moisten the food with water to make sure the glitter will stick. You definitely do _not_ want to use glue - especially not the Gorilla glue. We'll be operating to remove that from them.
So put a bit of glitter on the food with some water, and then keep track of which glittery poop is missing the box. Then we know who is the offending litter box misser.
Fun little facts to learn who is doing what in the house!
Enter Christmas in July.
We all know the glitter projects we made as kids, or our kids now do for us ( my favorite is the hand shape). We can use this to our advantage in the cat and dog world when we are trying to see who is a culprit.
What we suggested is to feed a certain colored glitter to each individual cat in their food. You may have to moisten the food with water to make sure the glitter will stick. You definitely do _not_ want to use glue - especially not the Gorilla glue. We'll be operating to remove that from them.
So put a bit of glitter on the food with some water, and then keep track of which glittery poop is missing the box. Then we know who is the offending litter box misser.
Fun little facts to learn who is doing what in the house!
Monday, July 14, 2008
travel with pets
With the summer travel season upon us, I know many of you are making vacation plans. I know those plans also involve what to do with your dog or cat. There are several options that you may or may not be aware of.
House sitting is becoming a very common popular way to have your pets stay in familiar surroundings, and be taken care of on a regular basis. Cats are a bit easier with this method, as typically they can be taken care of with once a day care.Dogs can be done with home care, but usually it is recommended at least 2 visits per day to take care of the dogs.
Many folks will board their pets. We do some boarding here for our clients as a service, and there are some precautions we take for our hospitalized boarders. We recommend in addition to the 'core' vaccines of Rabies and Distemper / Adenovirus / Parainfluenza and Parvovirus, and a negative heartworm test (and on preventative) that our boarders also be inoculated for Bordatella, and have a negative fecal test (for intestinal worms) within the past 6 months.
What if you want to take your pet? It can be a fun time, and on study notes that nearly 40% of pet owners travel with their dogs.
So what should you do to get ready? It is important to get these things in order to make the travel less hectic and stressful for you.
parts taken form VeTeam Advisor June 08 - www.cliniciansbrief.com
House sitting is becoming a very common popular way to have your pets stay in familiar surroundings, and be taken care of on a regular basis. Cats are a bit easier with this method, as typically they can be taken care of with once a day care.Dogs can be done with home care, but usually it is recommended at least 2 visits per day to take care of the dogs.
Many folks will board their pets. We do some boarding here for our clients as a service, and there are some precautions we take for our hospitalized boarders. We recommend in addition to the 'core' vaccines of Rabies and Distemper / Adenovirus / Parainfluenza and Parvovirus, and a negative heartworm test (and on preventative) that our boarders also be inoculated for Bordatella, and have a negative fecal test (for intestinal worms) within the past 6 months.
What if you want to take your pet? It can be a fun time, and on study notes that nearly 40% of pet owners travel with their dogs.
So what should you do to get ready? It is important to get these things in order to make the travel less hectic and stressful for you.
- A method of confinement for the pet - both in the car and at the destination.
- Identification - tags & microchip
- Proof of Rabies vaccination
- Contact information for your pet's regular veterinarian
- Finding out what rules apply for their particular travel plans (eg, airline rules, health certificates, quarantine, etc)
- Making reservations or obtaining a list of accommodations that will accept pets before starting out.
- Planning for pet rest stops and potty breaks
- Brining the pet's usual food along, or ensuring its usual food will be available at the travel destination
- Taking along food and water bowls, familiar toys and bedding, and extra leashes
- Planning for pet care at the destination during times the owner will be unable to bring the pet along (eg, restaurants or amusement parks)
parts taken form VeTeam Advisor June 08 - www.cliniciansbrief.com
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
What to do for July 4 if your pet gets upset by noise
July 4 is a wonderful celebration. If you're like me, I love the large firework displays that grace our nighttime sky's. The day of celebration of our nations birth is something that should definitely be treasured.
However, many of our pets do not like the loud noises, so this makes this celebration a bit worrisome for many pet owners. For many pet owners this also coincides with the storm fears their pets have.
So what should you do?
The first thing is to make sure your pet is healthy. Just like for you and I, any chronic illness can make a normally fun activity very uncomfortable and painful. Those with arthritis can attest to how that low pain can take the enjoyment out of many simple and fun activities.
However, most pets, it is a fear of the loud noise. So how do we, as the pet's owners, help them?
The first thing to do is try to minimize the noise that your pet will hear. While the thought of the ear protectors sounds not very logical, we can still use the principal to help our pets. Keeping them in the home is best. Try to find them a room in the interior of the house that will muffle the sounds as much as possible. Also try to make sure windows and doors to your home are closed, so this will dampen the sound.
Once you have the sound reduced as much as possible by location and rooms, the next step is to make the pet comfortable, but not praised in that room. What does that mean?
If the pet has a favorite toy, blanket or bed, then that is helpful to have it in that room. It will help to give them peace of mind.
The one thing that is very common to do, and is actually counter productive, is to be petting the dog while they are scared, and telling them 'that is OK, it's all right'. What the dog hears from you is that they are right to be scared of this, and I ( the dog) need to be even more scared the next time.
It is a natural reflex for us to do comfort our pets. And I am not saying that it is bad to do so. But if anyone has watched the different Animal Planet trainers, they frequently remind us that our pets are not people. They do not hear the words, only the tone of voice and what we do. So they take the soothing tone of voice and petting as a reward, and that what they are doing (being very scared) is correct, and then the next time, those behaviors "get turned up a notch".
So what should you do?
Reprimanding the dog is also not appropriate.
The best response is to not acknowledge them, nor to pet them. Just let them 'do their thing, but ignore you. They will keep looking to you to see what you are doing in response to their reaction - espcially if you have been doing the comfort thing before. That is ok. but is important to stay the course, and not interact. The exception would be if the dog stops shaking, and comes up to you. Then calmly just pet them and say 'good dog'. Try to downplay any of the activities.
And sometimes tranquilizers are helpful. It is important to remember that the tranquilizers do nothing to reduce the anxiety of the pet. They will still react the same, but they will be sleepy and groggy, and will not react as much. If you do use medications, it is imporant to make sure you still do the other behavior modifications to help your pet cope with these loud noise reactions in the future.
I hope this information helps you help your pets not be so anxious with our enjoyable celebrations for this Fourth of July. Thank you to all our military men and women who have allowed us to enjoy these freedoms we sometimes take for granted.
And my God continue to bless our great nation.
However, many of our pets do not like the loud noises, so this makes this celebration a bit worrisome for many pet owners. For many pet owners this also coincides with the storm fears their pets have.
So what should you do?
The first thing is to make sure your pet is healthy. Just like for you and I, any chronic illness can make a normally fun activity very uncomfortable and painful. Those with arthritis can attest to how that low pain can take the enjoyment out of many simple and fun activities.
However, most pets, it is a fear of the loud noise. So how do we, as the pet's owners, help them?
The first thing to do is try to minimize the noise that your pet will hear. While the thought of the ear protectors sounds not very logical, we can still use the principal to help our pets. Keeping them in the home is best. Try to find them a room in the interior of the house that will muffle the sounds as much as possible. Also try to make sure windows and doors to your home are closed, so this will dampen the sound.
Once you have the sound reduced as much as possible by location and rooms, the next step is to make the pet comfortable, but not praised in that room. What does that mean?
If the pet has a favorite toy, blanket or bed, then that is helpful to have it in that room. It will help to give them peace of mind.
The one thing that is very common to do, and is actually counter productive, is to be petting the dog while they are scared, and telling them 'that is OK, it's all right'. What the dog hears from you is that they are right to be scared of this, and I ( the dog) need to be even more scared the next time.
It is a natural reflex for us to do comfort our pets. And I am not saying that it is bad to do so. But if anyone has watched the different Animal Planet trainers, they frequently remind us that our pets are not people. They do not hear the words, only the tone of voice and what we do. So they take the soothing tone of voice and petting as a reward, and that what they are doing (being very scared) is correct, and then the next time, those behaviors "get turned up a notch".
So what should you do?
Reprimanding the dog is also not appropriate.
The best response is to not acknowledge them, nor to pet them. Just let them 'do their thing, but ignore you. They will keep looking to you to see what you are doing in response to their reaction - espcially if you have been doing the comfort thing before. That is ok. but is important to stay the course, and not interact. The exception would be if the dog stops shaking, and comes up to you. Then calmly just pet them and say 'good dog'. Try to downplay any of the activities.
And sometimes tranquilizers are helpful. It is important to remember that the tranquilizers do nothing to reduce the anxiety of the pet. They will still react the same, but they will be sleepy and groggy, and will not react as much. If you do use medications, it is imporant to make sure you still do the other behavior modifications to help your pet cope with these loud noise reactions in the future.
I hope this information helps you help your pets not be so anxious with our enjoyable celebrations for this Fourth of July. Thank you to all our military men and women who have allowed us to enjoy these freedoms we sometimes take for granted.
And my God continue to bless our great nation.
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