Pet Grooming Orange County

Keeping Your Pets Safe When It’s Cold

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Keeping Your Pets Safe When It’s Cold

As the cold weather sets in, it’s important to remember some of the problems that our pets face during this time of year. While some pets require only minimal care, others have a much harder time with the cold weather. Let’s discuss how to keep your pets safe when it’s cold outside.

Pets that spend most of their time indoors during the winter can face problems with their skin and coat. Indoor heat can cause moisture loss and dry skin, resulting in intense itching. When their winter coat becomes too much for them, they will shed in an effort to become comfortable again. Coat strippers can be used to remove the dead hair without damaging the coat. These are excellent for double coated dogs. After removing the dead hair, it’s important to bathe your pet to clean the skin and replace any lost oils and moisture. Remember that nails must be trimmed in the winter so they don’t become cracked or uncomfortable for your pet. A trip to the grooming salon can do wonders for your pet’s health and mood during the winter.

Because the skin is attempting to replace lost oils, ears tend to build up more waxy material during the winter. Ears should be cleaned at least twice a month to avoid any issues. If the ears appear to be inflamed or irritated, clean them daily until the issue is resolved. Most ear infections can be cured with daily cleaning when caught early enough.

Sometimes pets require additional support for their skin and coat during the winter. A good quality fatty acid supplements can help prevent cracking and irritation of the skin by replacing lost oils from the inside out.

Foot problems are extremely common in the winter and are usually caused by arthritis. Sore joints can cause limping and poor foot placement, increasing trauma to the foot pads. Offering your pet a high quality glucosamine and chondroitin supplement can increase joint fluid and ease fatigue and trauma to the feet.

We hope that this information has been helpful as we strive to provide education on all aspects of pet care.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers quality dog and cat grooming in Orange County, California. For more information, or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!

 

Pet Safety For The Holidays

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Pet Safety For The Holidays

Holiday festivities can create a variety of problems for both people and their pets. While you can’t always control every holiday problem, it’s up to you to take precautions on behalf of your pet. With a little thought and preparation you can make the holidays happy and safe for your entire family.

Eating the wrong thing is the biggest danger to your pet during this time of the year. In fact, it’s the number one reason pets end up in the emergency clinic. During the holidays there are a lot of temptations for your pet, including extra food and decorations.

The best way to prevent decoration disasters is to replace fresh greenery with artificial plants. If you must decorate with fresh greenery, be sure to use special care when hanging and removing decorations to ensure pets can’t access dangerous items. Always hang greenery (artificial and real) securely and out of the reach of pets.

When selecting gifts for your pet, be sure to choose things that are appropriate for their size, age and ability. Keep your pet’s allergies and weight in mind when selecting treats. Even though letting pets unwrap their gifts can be fun to watch, you should monitor them closely with ribbons and bows which can cause severe intestinal issues if ingested.

Remember to consider your pet when decorating your tree. Tinsel and ribbon might be intriguing to pets and can cause major problems if ingested. Ornaments, if chewed, can cause cuts in your pet’s mouth, throat and intestines. They can also create choking hazards. It’s a good idea to encircle your tree with an exercise pen to keep curious pets away from your decorations. You might also want to run extension cords through plastic pipes to stop pets from becoming electrocuted.

A feast, even just one day a year, isn’t safe for pets. Too much food, or too many fatty foods can cause severe and life threatening inflammation of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. Symptoms include sudden vomiting and pain in the abdominal area. Also, many holiday foods are poisonous to pets or can cause a choking hazard. Avoid offering table scraps and let your guests know that they shouldn’t share their meal with your pets.

We hope that this information has been helpful as we strive to provide education on all aspects of pet care.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers quality dog and cat grooming in Orange County, California. For more information, or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!

 

Are No-Kill Animal Shelters a Good Idea

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Are No-Kill Animal Shelters a Good Idea?06_02_08_5

As hard as it might be to imagine, homeless and neglected dogs and cats could face a much harder fate than a painless death at an animal shelter. In areas where no-kill policies have been put in place, shelters are often overrun, forcing them to turn animals away. These rejected animals are often abandoned. Many are hit by cars or eventually succumb to disease or hunger. Thousands of deceased animals are removed from the streets every year. Additionally, many “no-kill” shelters simply send less desirable animals to euthanasia shelters where they will be put to sleep by someone else.

Animals that are abandoned must fend for themselves on the streets or in unfit homes where they might starve, become sick with deadly and contagious diseases, be injured or killed by traffic, or be viciously attacked by other animals or people. During the time that they are alone, these animals continue to reproduce, resulting in even more homeless animals.

Many areas, under pressure to reduce euthanasia rates, will utilize self-styled rescues to house elderly, sick and disabled animals. Unfortunately, these facilities are often unable to provide the type of care that animals need. Pets at hoarding facilities posing as rescues are often found in filthy, stacked up cages without shelter or adequate food or water. After years of suffering and neglect, these poor animals usually die alone in their cages.

Reputable shelters and rescues worry about animals suffering slow, miserable deaths. They impose safeguards such as applications for potential adopters as well as fosterers and reasonable adoption fees. They also accept all animals in need, even those that are too sick, old or aggressive to find homes. Many no-kill advocates do not follow these safeguards and instead pressure shelters to give animals away to anyone that will take them.

For animals not eligible for adoption, a painless death at a city shelter is a better option over abandonment, suffering and abuse. However, if we really want to end the homeless animal crisis we must start with the cause of it. The only way to prevent overcrowding of shelters is by ensuring that all pets are spayed and neutered.

We hope that this information has been helpful as we strive to provide education on all aspects of pet care.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers quality dog and cat grooming in Orange County, California. For more information, or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!

Thanksgiving Safety for Dogs

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Thanksgiving Safety for Dogs

Typically, dogs enjoy Thanksgiving as much as humans do. After all, there are many delectable smells drifting around the house, bits of food dropping on the floor and lots of new people to love and pet them. However, Thanksgiving shouldn’t be a free for all when it comes to our dogs. There are several items that are simply not safe for dogs to consume.

During the holiday season, veterinarians experience a high number of calls regarding digestive issues. While it’s tempting to offer our dogs a big bowl full of turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, these foods can cause upset stomach, diarrhea or a life threatening condition known as pancreatitis. A few strips of turkey on your dog’s normal food is fine, but too much can cause serious issues. Additionally, turkey skin is extremely tough on a dog’s digestive system.

A great way to keep your dog happy during your Thanksgiving feast is by putting a bit of their regular food and a very small amount of boneless, skinless turkey inside a Kong toy. This will keep them occupied for quite a while. It’s also a good idea to walk your pet before the festivities begin.

Cooked turkey bones are dangerous for your pet. You might not find out for several days if your dog has a turkey bone lodged in their digestive system. Always keep plates, bones and leftover turkey far away from your dog. In addition to bones, anything that contains onions or herbs should be kept away from pets. Eating onions can lead to a dangerous form of anemia and sage and other herbs can cause upset tummy and central nervous system depression if eaten in large quantities.

Occasionally, dogs are attracted to alcoholic beverages. If consumed, the dog can become disoriented and ill. Too much alcohol can lead to coma or death. Make sure that you keep a close eye on alcoholic beverages that might be left within your dog’s reach.

We hope that this information has been helpful as we strive to provide education on all aspects of pet care.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers quality dog and cat grooming in Orange County, California. For more information, or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!

Pets and House Guests

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Pets and House Guests

The holiday season often brings a steady stream of house guests. The holidays are a wonderful time to open our homes to distant relatives, friends and other guests. However, mixing holiday guests with your pets can result in a number of problems. While you should be able to entertain guests you don’t want to make your pets feel unwelcome in their own home.

Make sure that all of your guests know that you have a pet before they arrive. Even though your close family and friends probably already know about your pets, check to see if they will be bringing anybody else. Informing guests of the type of pet that you have will give them the opportunity to alert you of any allergies. Although guests with severe allergies are likely to decline an invitation, less severe allergies will require you to spend some extra time vacuuming and cleaning. Informing your guests of your pets can go a very long way towards making holiday visits run smoothly.

Prepare a special place for your pet ahead of time. While it might not seem fair to keep them away from the festivities, you must consider their comfort and safety. It might sometimes be better for your pet to spend a few hours in a safe and comfortable place. Prepare the space with a water bowl, food and toys and remember to check on them regularly.

If you decide to keep your pet out during holiday get-togethers you will need to monitor them closely. Make sure that your pet is not bothering your guests or begging for food. Also, watch for guests that feed your pet from the table. Kids often don’t realize when they are playing too rough, putting themselves and your pet in danger. House guests that engage in behaviors such as roughhousing or improper feeding might be putting your pet at risk. As the host, it is your responsibility to ensure that your guests are following the house rules in regards to your pet.

We hope that this information has been helpful as we strive to provide education on all aspects of pet care.

Claws N Paws Day Spa offers quality dog and cat grooming in Orange County, California. For more information, or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!

 

Choosing the Right Groomer

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Choosing the Right Groomer

Responsible pet parents want what is best for their pets. However, choosing a pet groomer can be a little confusing. Currently, pet groomers in the United States are not required to undergo any special training before handling sharp instruments around pets. While even the best groomer will sometimes nick an animal, an inept groomer can cause serious injuries. This is why it is so important to find an experienced pet groomer that is both skilled and kind. Currently, there is an estimated 30,000 grooming businesses in the U.S. Finding the right one for your pet requires more than just a quick search through listings on the web.

Claws N Paws Day Spa opened in 2001. Unlike many other Orange County grooming shops, we are not a chain store that is required to follow corporate rules. Instead, we are able to bend certain policies in order to better accommodate you and your pet.

Pet safety and comfort is always our number one concern. We are not a small or un-established grooming shop that must purchase only bargain shampoos and discount grooming supplies. When it comes to the health and safety of your pets, we will always choose quality over cost. In addition, our four groomers each have between five and twenty years of grooming experience totaling a whopping fifty years of combined experience!

Grooming appointments are scheduled throughout the day so that each pet can receive individualized attention and go home as soon as it is finished. We will never keep your pet all day. Our grooming shop is sprayed for fleas every single month. In fact, we will not accept pets that are infested with fleas, without de-fleaing them first. This ensures that other pets will not bring fleas home from our establishment.

Claws N Paws is one of the few grooming shops in Orange County that is recommended by several local veterinarians. While we might not be your cheapest option, when shopping around for a grooming shop please keep in mind that you will always get what you pay for!

For more information, or to schedule a grooming appointment, please call 714-962-1005.

Receive a free teeth brushing for your pet when you mention our blog!