Ralph Waldo Emerson famously wrote, “All diseases run into one: old age.” This statement applies to both people and pets; after all, our pets age faster than we do. Though there is no perfectly accurate human-to-dog or human-to-cat age comparison, it’s can be startling to realize that a 3-year-old pet is roughly equivalent to a 30-year-old person.
Dogs are naturally social animals, but that doesn’t mean they all have the necessary social skills to meet each other politely. Why would you want shelter dogs to meet and get along with each other? Well, shelter dogs can experience stress when housed in runs individually, so one way to provide some social time for the dogs and reduce stress is to take them for walks together or set up play sessions. The first step to providing these types of enrichment is to introduce the dogs carefully and safely, with the awareness that dogs often lack social skills when meeting each other.
Separation anxiety in dogs is anxiety that manifests itself as visible stress in the dog when they are left alone. It’s not uncommon for a dog to display anxiety when in a new situation; often those dogs will eventually settle into their new home/environment and that anxiety will subside. True separation anxiety is severe, and your dog will exhibit one or more of the signs listed below without stopping until you return.
As happens with humans, older dogs often slow down both physically and mentally. So senior dog care requires different considerations compared with the days when the dog was young and spry. Being aware of a senior dog’s limitations is an important first step in ensuring that the dog's golden years are indeed golden. Here are some general tips to care for a senior dog.
One of the keys to bringing about a time of No More Homeless Pets is reducing the number of cats currently dying in shelters nationwide. In most communities, at least 50 percent of the animals entering shelters are felines and on average only three out of every 10 cats leave alive. Sadly, in many shelters, only one in 10 cats survive.
Birds are active, playful, and curious. Creating an environment that will fulfill some of their natural desires to fly, forage, and socialize is necessary to keep pet birds mentally content and physically fit. So, in addition to providing daily socialization and out-of-cage time, you’ll want to provide your feathered friends with a variety of safe bird toys and enrichment activities that will simulate the kinds of experiences they would have in their natural habitats.
If you need to give up your pet, we recommend that you make every effort to place them directly into a new home. It is even possible to place animals with special needs. It might take time and patience, but fortunately quite a few animal lovers are drawn to pets with special needs.
There are many strategies that you can use to find a new home for a pet with special needs. First, you'll need to get your pet ready for adoption. Here are some tips to help you do that:
Relocating community cats (also referred to as free-roaming or feral cats) — especially as a group — is an enormous undertaking. It can be very stressful for the animals, as well as for the people who care for them. Therefore, relocating feral cats should be considered only as a last resort, usually when the cats are in immediate danger.
To investigate commercial dog-breeding operations, check out these puppy mill links:
Animal Welfare Act (link to USDA National Agriculture Library website)
USDA 2010 Breeder Inspection Audit (link to 69-page PDF on USDA website)
Have you found a stray dog or cat, or do you need to find a new home for your pet? This comprehensive guide to rehoming a pet will show you how to get the word out. We’ll talk about how to create an effective flyer, how to take a good photograph of the pet, and how to write imaginative text (to capture the attention of a prospective adopter) for a flyer or take advantage of the networks already established to advertise your animal online.