Found an article recently about serving your pets raw food. As a pet sitter, I have never been asked to feed this to a client’s pet. Here are some tips from the article if you are thinking about doing this:

-Don’t leave out meat for extended periods of time
-Freeze raw food until you’re ready to use
-Use utensils dedicated to pet food prep and disinfect after each use.
-Wash and disinfect bowls immediately
-Throw away leftover food your animal does not e

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Experts Warn What Needs To Be Done Before Putting Pets On Raw Food Diet

I thought I would share an “alarming”, yet comical situation from my last dog sitting assignment!

i was about 5 days into caring for Spud and Moses, two adorable dogs owned by a good friend. She and her husband had traveled to Italy to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. While they were enjoying a romantic gondola ride in Venice, I was catching the local news at their home. Suddenly, the evening quiet was interrupted by a screeching sound with an ominous voice saying, “evacuate, evacuate.” The smoke and carbon monoxide alarm was going off! I quickly checked for smoke and fire but could find nothing. I knew that I had to find the cause as I wanted to make it through the night!  I quickly summoned my husband from our home and he came to disarm it. We opened the windows and I felt comfortable going to bed!

The next morning I knew I had to get to the bottom of this. Since the alarm had been deactivated, it could no longer be used. I called the manufacturer of the device and learned something new.  I asked the representative why the alarm would go off when there was no apparent danger. She advised me that the alarms will go off if they get dust in them, or if there is condensation or humidity where they are located. They recommend that the alarms be dusted every 3 months using a blow dryer or an air can.  What a good thing to know! I don’t think that I have ever dusted the alarm in my home!

There was a happy outcome to this. The representative offered to send my friend a new device since the other could no longer be used. I was so pleased that my friends could return from a glorious vacation without having to worry about the alarm.

Mobile Pet Nanny to the rescue!

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As a pet owner, you should monitor some key signs to assess the health status of your dogs. For example:

• If your dog has continuous nasal discharge, it indicates the presence of nasal congestion and if the discharge is thick, it could be that your dog may have pneumonia.
• If your dog vomits one or two times occasionally, this may not be taken as a serious sign of a health issue but if the dog continues vomiting, then this is something that might require a visit to the vet.
• If your dog has continuous itching, then one needs to check the dog first by closer observation and examination of the skin by separating the hair (especially in case of long haired breeds). You may discover a lot of ticks or lice on skin, which may look apparently normal at a distance.
• If the dog passes loose stool one or two times, this need not be given more emphasis but if there is continuous passing of loose stools, then the dog is may be suffering from bowel disorders. If the dog does not pass stool for two to three days, there could be digestive issues.
• If your dog is limping, the animal may have foot lesions. Similarly, if an aged dog is to walk, and is less interested in eating, accompanied with repeated vomiting, then acute renal disorders like nephritis needs to be ruled out.
• If there is whiteness in eyes, suspect the corneal opacity that may occur in diseases like trypanasomosis. If a dog becomes anemic, the mucous membrane of the eyes becomes paler and in severe cases, this may have white color.
• If your dog bites at his chain or bites at owners or other people, look for behavior disorders, and rabies needs to be ruled out.