PetLvr.com - [The Blog]

Play is an important daily activity for your pet, especially if that pet is a puppy or kitten. It’s easy to forget playtime in the hustle and bustle of daily life with pets. There’s feeding, potty breaks or litterbox cleaning, training, walking, and socializing to do, and sometimes it’s tempting to repeatedly put off play sessions. But in reality, playing with your pet daily can help to solve and prevent many problems, while making training easier and strengthening your bond. It’s critical that you make time for daily play with your pet.

Pets Learn Through Play

More →

Kittens can be almost as difficult as newborn human babies when it comes to letting their caregivers get a full night’s sleep! If you’re a pet parent to a young kitten or two, you’ve probably been roused at least once by a playful mew or pounce. Unfortunately, that behavior isn’t very cute at 3:00 AM after a long day. Here are a few ways to encourage kittens to let you sleep.

If It’s Not Cute at 3:00 AM, It’s Not Cute, Period

More →

Dear PetLvr Mailbag,

My 4 month old kitten totally dominates my 8 year old Australian Shepherd.

The kitten, Freckles, is 4 months old. She’ll walk up to the dog, Luke, and he’ll freeze in panic. She’ll rub around his legs, purr, snuggle against him, and he’ll stand in one place with the most pathetic look you’re ever seen on a dog’s face.

Dinner time? If she’s in the same room, she runs to his dish and starts to eat his food, even if he’s already there. She’ll whap him on the nose, and start to eat his food. The kibbles are bigger than her mouth, but she’ll chew on one until it’s eaten, and them move on to another one. It’ll be a good 15 minutes of this before she’s finished and the dog can eat.

And no, I don’t under-feed her. She’s got a dish of her own Iams kitten kibble that’s kept full at all times.

Is my dog just a big wuss, or is there more to it than I’m seeing?

Signed,

Erich

More →

Many people seeking a new pet bypass the adoption option for one reason or another. While there are certainly some situations in which purchasing from a reputable, responsible breeder is ideal, consider this list of five myths about pet adoption before bypassing rescue to look for a breeder.

1. Shelter dogs are all mutts.

More →

Aw … Kittens .. Ferrets .. together …

Kitten Vs Ferret - Click here for this week’s top video clips

How To Determine The Sex Of a Kitten

Now that you are about to pick out a kitten from the shelter you will surely want to know what sex it is. I have seen many tiny kittens with names such as Tommy or Rex or Brutus who actually were female! You should see the look on the faces of the kitty’s owners when I have to tell them the truth. Misty, Sheba and Twinkle were actually male kitties, too, and most of the time as soon as the owners found out the true sex of their pal, they changed it’s name immediately!

It can be difficult to determine the sex of cats especially if there is no other kitten with which to compare the anatomy. In most litters there will be both male and female kittens and sex determination is easy. Take a look at the photos below and it will make determining the sex of a kitten much easier. Then choosing a name will be easier, too!

More →