Some pets love traveling while others can find it very stressful. Owners can prepare and minimize stress by knowing ahead of time what dangers and triggers affect their pets, and head them off at the pass. These travel tips from the American Humane Association can help ensure that holiday trips, and travels year-round, are safe and enjoyable for people and their pets!

1. Properly identify pets with ID tags and microchips: Make sure you have your pets’ ID, current rabies tags and that they’re microchipped. To be extra cautious, attach an additional tag with the address and phone number of …read more

During the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, many businesses and stores run food drives for canned and non-perishable food items to be donated to those who are less fortunate and not able to afford a Thanksgiving meal on their own.

For animal lovers, this can mean a double dose of giving: along with donating some canned goods or a sack of groceries at the grocery store, consider dropping off an unopened bag or cans of cat or dog food, or even a bag of litter to your local Humane Society or pet shelter as well.
Not only do the food and supplies …read more

I like to make my own treats for my dogs because I like knowing what goes into them. It’s not always something I can do on a weekly basis, though, so for weeks where I know we’re going to be busy I like to make a double batch. Make sure you let the biscuits dry out completely before sealing them up in a container or they can go moldy.

These would also make a homemade great gift for the four-legged family members that belong to friends!
Double Cheese Dog Treats
2 cups Wheat flour
1/2 cup Cornmeal
1/4 cup Romano cheese — fresh grated
1 Egg
1/4 …read more

This is one of those rare times where two of my passions — pets and chocolate — collide, and without doing any harm to anyone!

From now until the holidays, when you make an online purchase from one of my personal chocolate recommendations, Sucré in New Orleans, one dollar from every order goes directly to the Louisiana SPCA!
Sucré Executive Pastry Chef Tariq Hanna and his dog Bon Bon are making this holiday season even sweeter. Bon Bon knows what it is like to have a kind, caring owner and she wants all of her less fortunate furry friends have the same …read more

With the news last week of an Iowa cat that contracted the H1N1 flu virus, pet owners in China are becoming a little more fastidious with their pet care: they’re dressing their dogs up in jackets and masks donated by the FBI!

Though there have been no reported cases of canines catching the H1N1 virus, the extra precautions do decrease the airborne risks of catching any illnesses, and they also prevent the dogs from contact exposure with other dogs which can help keep them from catching the canine flu, or H3N8.
I know neither of my two dogs would stand for this, …read more

It’s been a few weeks since I did a round-up of pet links to other blogs, so there’s a lot to catch up on!

Unfortunately, a few links are for recalls, which we seemed to have gotten a break from for a little while. There is also some cute pet jewelry (for people), recipes, and one idea for preparing for the upcoming holidays:
~ FDA Warns Pet Owners About Pet Carousel Treats at Petsit USA
~ PetSmart Recalls Dentley’s Beef Hooves from UPI.com
~ Puppy Paw Jewelry at Celebrate Your Pet
~ Bulldog Gives Birth to 21 Puppies at Dogster
~ The Importance of a Good …read more

Up until today it was thought household pets couldn’t catch the H1N1 virus (also known as swine flu), but an Iowa cat has just proved earlier assumptions wrong!

The 13-year-old indoor house cat, who has fully recovered from the illness, reportedly caught the virus from one of two human household members who were sick with H1N1. It isn’t believed that the cat has passed the virus on to anyone — or anything! — else. An IDPH Public Health veterinarian says it’s actually not that unexpected, and that other flu strains have been found in cats before.
Up until today the H1N1 virus …read more

Thanksgiving isn’t typically a holiday that you think you need to worry about your pets, unlike say, Halloween or the Fourth of July. Though there isn’t much around to scare a pet (unless you have a lot of family ringing the doorbell!), there are hazards readily available that you might not even give a second thought to.

Last year I provided a bunch of tips that included info on feeding dogs bones and table scraps, which many people know about, to lesser known issues like hidden toothpicks and skewers that dogs can easily choke on.
Another thing that occurred to me last …read more

Talk To Me Pets brand pet treats have introduced a fun new pet product especially for the holidays:

These “howliday” greeting cards are not only a nice little thought for your favorite four-legged friends, but they come with treats built right in that they’ll appreciate even more!
The Talk To Me Treats greeting cards come filled with 0.7 oz of Talk To Me Treats Fresh Breath and Dental Care treats (which are the perfect size to put inside the Talk To Me Treatball), and dog-lovers can choose between “Happy Howlidays,” “Merry Christmas,” or a brand new “Tis the Season” cards.
The greeting cards, …read more

For this week’s pet link round up, I decided to not only keep an eye out for news and happenings in the pet world, but with Halloween just a week away I did some hunting for cute pets in costumes, too! Are you dressing up your pet next week?

~ Michael Vick declines invitation to see eight of his former dogs at Petville
~ Dogs are Bad for Global Warming from Dogster
~ Chihuahua in a Hat on Flickr
~ Cat Food from A to Z at Scratchings and Sniffings
~ Green Dog Resources from Raise a Green Dog
~ Princess Mojave on Flickr
~ Paris Hilton …read more