General Info:
Clip your cats nails every six to eight weeks. Your cat may be more dolcile after a nap. First hold your cat close to your body, lift a front paw and gently press on the center of the pad to extend the nails. Use a good quality clipper and clip only the clear hooked end of each nail, avoid the pink.
Cats
General:
Cats are generally very good at grooming and keeping themselves clean. If you need to bath your cat for example a flea bath, good luck! But seriously, you can use a treated pet shampoo available at most pet stores.
Tools & chemical:
cat shampoo or medicated flea shampoo, lots of towels and a friend to help.
Technique:
Try bathing your cat in the kitchen sink, or if that doesn’t work, get right into the bathtub with your cat in your lap be sure you are wearing long pants and sleeves if your cat is likely to claw you!
Note: A smelly cat or dog may indicate that your pet has a health problem. See your vet.
Fleas From a Cat
Groom My Cat
General Info:
While cats do a good job of grooming themselves there are good reasons for you to groom your cat.
1. Brushing sitmulates new hair growth and removes dead hair.
2. If your cat swallowing to much hair when grooming themselves they can get hairballs, which can be a health concern if the hairball becomes impacted in the intestine.
So brushing your cat frequently with a brush or grooming mitt will reduce the amount of hair your cat will consume.
Tools for grooming:
For short or medium hair use a flea comb and a slicker brush,fine tooth comb or grooming glove. For long haired cats use a pin brush or fine toothed comb and a detangling spray.
Dog Grooming
General Info:
Knowledge of basic grooming is a must for the dog owner. While many breeds can get by with regular nail trims, brushing, and bathing, some breeds need special coat care such as stripping or clipping of a to look their best. Here are some basic grooming hints and techniques that will help you keep your dog clean and beautiful.
Technique:
-
- We recommend that you brush your dog’s coat daily, whether she has a long or short coat. This will remove dead hairs and flaky skin, and it will distribute natural oils throughout her coat. It will also give you quality time with your pooch. Dogs usually enjoy being brushed, because it feels like vigorous petting. Rub your moistened hands through your pet’s coat to lift dead hairs to the surface where your brush can reach them. This is also a great time to check your pet for hair mats, burrs (especially between the toes), sores, or lumps under her skin.
- Shedding: All dogs shed to some extent. Some breeds, like the Poodle, Portuguese Water Dog, and Basenji, are light shedders. Others, like the Golden Retriever, Samoyed, Collie, and German Shepherd, are heavy shedders. Bichons, Cockers, and many terriers require clipping or stripping (a process that removes dead hair from the coat) to look their best.
- Inform Yourself: Check with breeders and groomers and read books specific to your dog’s breed to understand the best way to maintain his coat. You can learn to clip or shave your dog yourself, or you can pay to have it done professionally. If your pet sheds excessively, brush him daily and try switching to a high-quality diet. (Remember to switch to new food gradually.) A vitamin supplement that contains essential fatty acids might decrease some of the shedding and will add luster to his coat.
By Dr. Kim Robertson
Dog Hair From Upholstery
Here is a question from Marty:
How do you remove dog hair from sofa cushions?
I take it that a vacuum doesn’t work well for your dogs hair, this is also the case for myself. I have short haired dog with hair that really works its way into upholstery. I have a vacuum attachment which is actually a lint brush which can attach to my vacuum hose. You perform the lint brush motion and the vacuum picks up the hair. I find this effective, but the old stand by, and I find this faster in many cases I use plain old duct tape and tape several pieces together on the cushions and pull up and pick up dog hair until the tape is no longer sticky. I also have a rule that the dog stays off the furniture, however when no one is home that’s the first place she heads. So it is a never ending chore.
Dog Leashes
Technique:
From time to time your leash may get heavily soiled. If your leash is nylon just place it in your wash. Wash with plently of clothes to protect your washer or tie a towel around the clasp. Just hang to dry.
If your leash is leather use a lether cleaner or wet a cleaning towel with a mild soap and water and gently wipe the surface. Be sure wipe off any excess water.
Dog Poop From Running Shoes
Here is a question submitted by Lynda:
What is the easiest way to clean dried, caked-on dog poopout from between the grooves of my Nike shoes?
Here is a question near and dear to my heart 🙂 since I have a dog and a backyard I have direct experience with this problem. What I do is use a pointy tool like a nut pryer(used to get the small pieces of broken nuts out of nut shells) or a small screwdriver. It gets in the groves well and will with a little patience get most of it. I also clap the shoes together (outside) as I am working and the poop works free. For a final cleanup I get up early and walk my dog across a grassy field and the morning dew does the rest. Oh the things we do for our pets! I hope that helps and good luck.
Dog Shower
I installed a hand-held shower head because washing my white terriers in the tub can be back-breaking work. They don’t seem to mind the water as much and you can really rinse their legs and bellies well.
(This was submitted by Ely from Minnesota)
Dog vomit from fabric and furniture
How do I clean pet vomit from fine fabric and furniture?
Pets are great for companionship, but they aren’t so good about cleaning up after themselves….
The first thing to do is remove as much of the vomit as possible. A spatula and paper towels work great for the big chunky stuff, however it is the liquid portion that does most of the staining and smelling. The solutions for both surfaces are similar, however the furniture has the added dimension of cleaning the cushioning, or padding, which has soaked up this offensive liquid.
Depending on the type of fabric, there are different care guidelines. An excellent resource is www.fabriclink.com. The best general advice is to pick up an active enzyme (often marketed as enzyme based) detergent or additive. The enzymes will actually digest the proteins contained in the vomit. Allow the mixed enzyme to soak into the stain for at least one hour before laundering as normal following the regular care instructions for the fabric.
The furniture will require the same attention, however, since your sofa won’t fit in the washing machine, you will need to rent an upholstery extraction machine, which is just a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment. Once the surface residue has been removed, apply the enzyme mixture, and allow it to soak. The powerful suction from the extractor is needed to remove the vomit residue, the enzyme solution, and the rinse water from the padding. Using too much chemical, or leaving excessive rinse water in the area being cleaned, can result in mildew forming inside the cushion, so thorough extraction and proper drying is a must!
Good quality chemicals, specifically enzyme based detergents, can be found at commercial janitorial supply stores while an extractor can be rented at almost any large grocery store. Given the expense of renting the equipment, and the cost of chemicals, it is often a better value to hire a professional for the job. A reputable company will have much more powerful equipment, and so long as you alert them to the specific problem (vomit), they will be able to provide the proper chemicals for the job.
