The Siamese Fighting Fish is a native of Southeast Asia. It is scientifically known as Betta Splendens but is more commonly known as Betta. It is a popular pet fish for aquarium hobbyists because of its vibrant coloring and the ease of its maintenance.

Caring for Betta fish is very simple and is similar to caring for other fish. You have to keep your fish in a bowl or tank that has adequate space so that your fish has enough space to swim around. You should not fill your tank with bric-a-brac as your fish can be caught which would cause injury upon themselves. Decorate your tank with flat surfaces that will not cause an accident and of course, keep the top covered with a lid because a Betta fish can and will jump out of the tank.

You also have to keep your fish tank water clean by regularly changing it. You should keep the water at the pH level of pure water, which is 7.0. When you wash your fish tank or anything in it, do not use soap because it could pollute your water and kill the fish.

When it comes to feeding, your Betta fish would prefer to eat meat for their diet but it is fine to feed them fish pellets. However, you should feed your Betta fish some frozen worm (thaw it first) from time to time for variety.

One last thing, do not keep more than one male Betta fish in a tank. If you do, you’ll probably end up with only one anyway. They are not called Siamese Fighting Fish for nothing.

Birds have shown that they can be quite intelligent, and can communicate their needs and wants through their body language. So it’s a requirement for any bird owner to study your bird’s body language so that you can respond to your bird’s needs in an appropriate manner.

Can you remember when you were young, when you were afraid that you had done something wrong that deserved punishment, you tried real hard to be invisible? Well, birds do that, too. When a bird is afraid, it will try its best to be unnoticed. He’ll stare straight ahead, without blinking. He’ll make believe he doesn’t know that you’re there. He’ll keep his wings close to his body, and will stand perfectly still, hoping you won’t notice him!

You can’t fail to notice when a bird is excited. He is quite animated, and his head will be bobbing up and down and he’ll be screeching as loud as he can.

An angry bird will be standing in an attack position, all puffed up and leaning forward. He’ll probably also be weaving from left to right. He’ll be just as noisy as an excited bird.

It’s really important to recognize your bird’s body signs, so you know when your pet bird isn’t feeling well, and when he’s upset or angry. You want to be able to react appropriately, so you can avoid getting bitten.

Do pet cats need to be vaccinated? The short answer to this question is yes. If that was all you needed to know, the rest of this article is perhaps meaningless and you should go immediately to your veterinarian to get the annual shot for your cat right now. However, for those of you still unsure of whether or not you should get your cat vaccinated, I have a little story for you that may help round up your emotions to make a good decision.

Imagine little Fluffy running through the forest. Out of nowhere, a feral cat attacks little Fluffy. Little Fluffy seems fine and you do not take him to the veterinarian. A year passes and Fluffy decides to bite your next-door neighbor’s child because Fluffy did not like his tail being pulled. Because Fluffy was not vaccinated, little Fluffy, regardless of who’s fault it was, will probably be put down because he did not get his vaccination. Continue reading »

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a big supporter of pet rescue.  With the exception of 1, all of the dozens of cats and dogs we’ ve had the pleasure to share our home with have been rescued from either a shelter or an abusive or neglectful situation.   A good portion of our yearly charitable contributions go to animal rescue organizations.

The other day, I became aware of an organization that I had never heard of: The Blind Cat Rescue and Santuary, a no-kill, no-cage shelter in St. Pauls, NC.  Their main focus is caring for blind cats that probably would otherwise be euthanized because of their handicap.

Although I have had a couple blind dogs in the past, it never occurred to me that there were rescue organizations dedicated mainly to caring for blind pets.  In retrospect, it seems silly that I never considered it.  After all, it takes specialized knowledge to know how to care for a blind animal (never mind multiple blind animals at once).  I can attest to that.

You should take some time and check out their web site.  You’ll be amazed at what they’re doing. for these pets that would otherwise be forgotten.  And please make a donation if you can.  These folks are doing some great work.

http://BlindCatRescue.com

Nick Bulka “The Pet Supply Guy”

Finding the right medication for horses is a tricky business, taking into consideration the possible side effects and for racehorses, making sure that the drugs taken would not affect the horse’s performance in the race. However, the challenge definitely does not end there. Getting the drugs into the horse’s mouth (and making it stay in) is a different matter altogether.

Besides having to maneuver the 1,000-pound body to get a pill inside the horse’s throat, you’ll have to deal with the possibility of having that same pill spewed back at you in a less distinguishable (and practically unusable) form. Of course, the chances of this happening depend on expertise at handling horses and in experience at giving medication. Continue reading »

If you’re considering sharing your home with a pet canary, it’s probably because you’ve heard so much about their nearly constant, bubbly singing. Join the club! Since the seventeenth century, pet owners the world over have kept canaries for nothing more than the sheer pleasure of birdsong filling their homes. A canary is not merely a feathered music box, though, and pet canary care is so much more than the gilded cage of old. A canary is a living thing, dependent on you for food, shelter, and love, and canary care, while not rocket science, involves a certain level of avian expertise. Ready to become an expert? Study hard!

Thanks to selective breeding, there’s quite possibly a canary out there to suit every personality and desire. Some canaries are bred for their coloration, some are bred for their shape, and some, of course, are bred to produce a very specific song pattern. What kind of canary you purchase will depend on what canary resources are available near you. If you can find a reputable canary breeder, that will be your best option. Many pet stores now, however, commit to purchasing healthy birds only from reputable breeders, but check first to make sure that your canary was not wild caught or raised in less-than-desirable conditions. If the pet store manager can not account for where your potential canary came from, don’t buy a canary from that store! Oh, and be sure that the canary you purchase is a male, if it’s a strong singer you’re after. The females are incapable of producing the characteristic long trills and melodies that made canaries famous.

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Using the right grooming tools, cats are very simple to groom, especially once they get used to being brushed and combed.  This is true regardless of what type of cat you own: short haired cats, medium haired cats, and wire-haired cats. All you have to do is run the comb over their fur and follow through with a grooming glove or slicker brush to create a soft coat that is filled with luster and shine.

Grooming Short-haired Cats

One huge benefit of grooming a short-haired cat such as a Cornish Rex is that you can use a flea comb on their fur. Flea combs have very narrowly placed teeth that scrape up those pesky little fleas while at the same time giving your cat’s fur a thorough brushing.
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A dog can bring a lot of pleasure to a family’s home life.  These creatures are extremely intelligent, and can be trained to do many things, but they need us humans to take care of their health.

Dogs are prone to sicknesses from parasites, fungi, viruses and protozoa. Dog owner should be on the lookout for any problems,  since these animals are very sensitive, and if left untreated, could affect the dog’s health long term, or even become fatal.

The best defense against any disease is vaccination. This may not totally eliminate the threat, but it will decrease the chances of infection significantly.

There are many diseases, and the dog might not be the only one affected if proper care is not given. A person can die if bitten by a dog that has rabies. This is the reason that state laws require all dogs to be vaccinated to prevent incidents like this from happening.

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After getting a new puppy, probably the most important thing to learn is how to break his habit of answering nature’s call just about anywhere or any time he feels like it - your kitchen floor, the dining room carpet, the sofa in the rec room. To a puppy, one place seems as good as the next.

So if you’ve just brought a puppy home, here’s the info you need to save your upholstery and carpets by means of a simple training method called Housebreaking.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what housebreaking is all about. We want Fido to relieve himself in a place of OUR choosing, and we want him to wait until we take him there before he “lets loose”. But remember, this isn’t an instinctual thing. Animals don’t need to do things on a schedule in the wild. Nor do they really care where they do their business, for the most part.

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When choosing a bird cage for your African Grey parrot, the bigger the size, the better. Your parrot will love the extra space to move about and build its confidence. It is also a good idea to purchase a bird cage that opens from the top as this allows your bird to scale out onto a higher perch. And parrots love to scale.

Bird cages for the African Grey, Congo African Grey or Timneh African Grey parrots come in all shapes and sizes. However nice it may looked to be, do not purchase a round bird cage for your parrot as this will cause your bird to have psychological problems. This will affect its personality and ability to respond to your command in training. These parrots are known to be temperamental in nature and round shaped bird cages just don’t make it any better.

One important point to note when purchasing a bird cage for your beloved parrot is the width between the bars. If the width is too wide, your African Grey may injure its neck when it steps its head out between the bars in trying to escape. Ask the pet shop owner for bird cages specially made for African Greys. Ensure that the perch is made of soft smooth wood as this will make your parrot learn to climb about in the cage and be active. You can also make your own perch as nothing is more satisfying than seeing your own work of art in your bird cage.

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