Pet blood can be donated to aid ill or injured animals. According to Dr. Rachael Carpenter, a veterinary anesthesiologist director of the Transfusion Medicine Program at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, blood donations can be used either as whole blood, packed red blood cells, plasma, or platelets. The most common use for donated blood is as packed red blood cells, which contain the red blood cells necessary for transporting oxygen throughout the body. Many specialty animal surgery hospitals maintain a list of potential donors that can be called on if needed.

Dr. Carpenter explains that the donation process is relatively simple. When a volunteer pet is brought to a clinic to donate blood, the animal is given a general physical exam and survey blood work to ensure its good health. Donor animals generally should be young adults. Donors must be negative for any diseases, current on vaccines, and have normal blood work. In addition, a donor cat should weigh more than 10 lbs.

Cats and dogs that are eligible to donate blood will be tested to determine blood type. "For cats, blood typing is a critical step in the transfusion process in order to prevent dangerous and possibly fatal reactions to the donor blood," says Dr. Carpenter. The process for blood drawing is similar to that followed for humans except that animals are usually sedated while the blood is drawn since they are not willing to sit still during the process.

If you are interested in having your pet considered to be a donor animal, you should check with your veterinarian or local animal surgery clinic to begin the process.

Posted by Barbara.

Cats use play time to practice survival skills especially hunting. Typically young cats and kittens play more vigorously and more often than many older cats. Besides being preparatory, active play is great exercise for your cat. In multi-cat household, often the cats will be playmates to one another. But, in a single cat household, it is your responsibility to engage your cat in play activities. So, how can you be a good playmate?

According to Elizabeth Wasserman, a Washington DC area freelance writer writing for The Daily Cat, your feline will generally prefer one of two types of activities either ground hunting or aerial hunting. BTW – the cat wants to be the hunter not the prey in these games. You can place interesting toys around for the cat to discover and hunt, but that will not be nearly as interesting to the cat as a toy that you move to entice him or her.

You should choose toys with a string or wire attached that you can move back and forth to catch his eye and increase the thrill of the hunt. For maximum realism you should move the prey object slowly even partially hiding it. The slow movement is similar to prey trying to hide from the predator cat. Fast and continuous movements confuse your cat. Let your cat succeed by making contact with the toy. Then, you can move it slowly again and the cat will pick up the chase.

Also remember that cats can really get into this prey-predator game. So, never use your hand or foot as the prey. Your otherwise sweet, gentle cat once they are in hunt mode will pounce on and bite or scratch you just as he would a real toy. After a great game of predator - prey, you can reward your pet with a small treat that says – “now wasn’t that fun? Let’s do it again.”

Posted by Barbara.

Cats and kittens love to chase strings and follow objects that are attached to them. This curiosity and pseudo-hunting behavior is hard wired behavior in most cats. But sometimes those "strings" can be dangerous for your cat - they can be carrying electricity.Here is a product that can help - CritterCord.

CritterCord is a plastic tube infused with a citrus scent that discourages your pet from approaching or chewing. You can put the CritterCord on phone cords, computer wires, appliance cords, AV equipment cords, and holiday light cords. It is a heavy gage tube made from medical grade tubing. The citrus scent will not disappear because it is infused into the virtually clear plastic. The tubing is pre-slit for easy installation over your cords.

When asked how this product came about the inventors, David Danowski and Justin White report, "We came up with the idea because David’s family cat had an insatiable appetite for chewing on every cord she could find. Chewing on the previous cords was a nuisance (and expensive to replace) and the electric cords were dangerous, not just to the cat, but as a fire hazard as well. We spent just over 6 months testing different ideas until we pinpointed CritterCord? The idea generation started back in 2004 and final product testing went on into mid 2005."

You can purchase CritterCord at several pet retailers or online at the CritterCord website.

Posted by Barbara.