We are excited to announce that we have added our first human child to our family, Juniper Eve. We were worried about how our furrier children would react to the new addition, so we did a bit of research on how to smoothly integrate Juniper into our pet loving household. Below are some of the tips we learned along the way.

Bodhi & Juniper

1. Make sure your dog knows the commands SIT, DOWN, and STAY. Use lots of praise and positive reinforcement to get these commands rock solid before the baby is born.
2. Your dog must learn that guarding objects is unacceptable behavior. When the baby comes, he won’t know which toys are babys and which are his.
3. Try to find a soundtrack of a baby screaming to get your dog used to the noise.
4. Familiarize your dog with your baby’s sent by bring home a blanket or towel that your baby has used. Speak encouragingly and in an upbeat voice as your dog smells the item.
5. Let the new mom enter the house first and greet the dog without the baby.

And a few things we learned through our experience…

When Juniper went through a rough colicky patch, my husband would hold her and kick a ball for Bodhi, our dog. This bounced the baby, which she loved, and made the dog happy. Now when the baby cries Bodhi actually gets excited and brings us a toy.

For the first few weeks it was really hard to get out of the house making Bodhi bored and depressed. We had our dog owning/loving friends steal Bodhi occasionally to keep him from going stir crazy.

Both Juniper and Bodhi love going on walks now, so it’s a great bonding opportunity and we get them out together as often as we can.

View the previous post in this series:
Fleas and Ticks and Mosquitoes- Oh My!
Fleas: Eradicating Them Naturally

While I always prefer to be as natural as possible, sometimes, especially with pets that have bad allergic skin reactions to fleas, we need to use more powerful, synthetic flea medications.  It is important to remember that “natural” does not necessarily mean “non-toxic.”  Mercury, lead, arsenic, and uranium are quite natural, after all, and quite toxic too!  We want to get rid of the fleas while using the product that is least toxic to our beloved pets.  The common, old-school pesticides (mainly organophosphates and pyrethrins) are toxic to everything —fleas, dogs, cats, people— which means that you can’t put enough on to kill the fleas without having toxic effects on your pet.  That’s not what we want.

Fortunately, there are a couple of products that are extremely effective against fleas, and actually quite non-toxic to mammals. The active ingredients in Advantage (imidacloprid) and Frontline (fipronil) kill fleas by blocking channels in the flea’s nervous system, but don’t fit into the mammalian versions of those channels.  As a result, they are very safe for dogs and cats (not to mention the people who snuggle up with them in bed at night!).  I have seen some reactions to Advantage and Frontline, generally in the form of hair loss or irritation at the site of application, but that is unusual.

But be careful —there are many “spot-on” products that are much more toxic, and which are marketed to make them seem “just like” Advantage or Frontline —but there are no other non-toxic products currently on the market, so don’t be fooled; those products may be cheaper, but they are going to be less effective and much more dangerous.

This article was generously contributed by Dr. Stanley of House Call Of The Wild.

Diatomaceous Earth Flea Powder

View the previous post in this series: Fleas and Ticks and Mosquitoes- Oh My!

Warm weather brings out the bugs, bugs, and more bugs!  Your kitty may enjoy chasing butterflies through the garden, but when those fleas hop aboard, suddenly the bugs are a lot less fun.  Did you know that fleas are a leading source of tapeworm infestations?  I see a lot of skin issues in dogs and cats related to ecto-parasites, so don’t wait until there’s an obvious problem before you think about flea control.  Fleas are sneaky little buggers who make their living by hiding, being fast and hard to catch.  I always tell people that if you are actually seeing fleas, it means there are a lot of fleas —they’re running out of places to hide!  So check your pet regularly and carefully for signs of infestation: part the fur and look down to the skin, especially on the hindquarters above the base of the tail, and in the area behind and below the ears.  Even if you don’t see fleas, you might spy their droppings in your pet’s fur —flea poo looks like dark specks of sand or dirt (we often call it “flea dirt”).  If you’re not sure whether you are looking at flea dirt or real dirt, put some on a paper towel and wet it: since flea dirt is digested blood, it will stain the towel a reddish brown.  Sometimes you literally need to go over your pet with a fine-toothed comb to find evidence of fleas.  In fact, for small animals like kittens, a good flea comb is the safest, most effective way to eliminate fleas —comb them out and dunk the comb in a bowl of alcohol to kill the fleas.  Don’t bother trying to squish them between your fingers —they’re really tough, you have to get them between your fingernail and a hard surface to crush them.

Essential Oil Flea Repellent

Beyond the flea comb, there are a variety of less toxic approaches to flea control, including diatomaceous earth (found in The Modern Pet’s Funky Dog Flea Powder).  Diatomaceous earth is nontoxic, and works by scratching the flea’s outer coating, which causes them to dehydrate and die.  It also kills the larval fleas that are lurking in your home, before they can mature into adults and attack your pet.  Certain essential oils (like citronella, tea tree, and neem) are flea repellant, but remember, it is not safe to use such products on cats.  Likewise, an old ‘natural flea remedy,’ garlic, can cause damage to the red blood cells of cats, and is not recommended.