Natural living is healthy living, for animals as much as people. But it can be hard to find natural ways to take care of your pet, especially when those options can seem like a more expensive route to take. However, if the eco-friendly path is the one you want to walk, you can find reasonably priced and useful alternatives. It’s just a matter of learning what will make your furry friends’ lives long and happy.
First things first: if you haven’t already, neutering or spaying your dog or cat is important to his or her overall health. It provides certain health benefits, such as reducing the risk of certain infections and cancers. Recent studies showed that spayed or neutered pets live an average of a year longer than pets who aren’t.
The next step in coming up with a healthy lifestyle for your pet is to look at what he eats. A trend in the pet-food aisle is grain-free foods. Some pets do benefit from grain-free diets, having allergies to or intolerance for specific grains. Signs of such a problem include rubbing of face and ears, licking paws or anus, and diarrhea or more than three bowel movements a day.
However, average, healthy pets can do fine on dry food containing grains. Contrary to popular belief, today’s dogs and cats have evolved to be able to digest grains. When picking a food for your pet, the most important criteria is whether or not it’s nutritionally complete. Look for the Association of American Feed Control Official (AAFCO) seal of approval.
In general, a single meat source with as few as possible (easily identifiable) additional ingredients is the best bet. That way, if you do notice an adverse reaction, it’ll be easier to figure out what caused it. And it may not be the best idea to buy those mega bags of dry food at the wholesale club, especially if you have a small breed of dog or a cat.
Dry food that’s been opened starts growing storage mites after about a month. Those may seem like money-savers, but in the long run, it’s best to buy only as much dry food as your pet goes through in a month.
An easy and chemical-free way of cleaning your pet’s things (carrier, food/water bowl, toys) is to use baking soda. It’s odorless, natural, safe, and surprisingly effective at getting rid of grime. Simply combine equal parts baking soda, warm water and salt to create a paste. Work into a sponge or cloth, wipe, rinse, and viola! Everything’s clean and shiny for your fur baby.
If you’re a feline fan, you have one purchase to make that dog owners don’t: litter. Don’t overlook the natural litters now on the market. Formulas vary, but one of the most common is replacing the chemicals and silica dust found in mainstream cat litter with corn.
Depending on the brand, the store, and whether you buy it on sale, it may end up being just as affordable as traditional cat litter. This provides just as much absorbency while keeping your cat away from potentially harmful ingredients. And, if you’re a kitty parent, you probably have already discovered that litter travels. It sometimes sticks to paws and is tracked all over the house, all the more reason to keep chemicals out of the litter pan.
With these tips, you can help your pet live contently in a healthy, natural environment, just like you!
31 thoughts on “Help Your Pets Live Longer”
At this moment I am going to do my breakfast, once having my breakfast coming yet again to read further news.|
Always looking for ways to extend my best friends life so when I read your article with good advise I have to pay attention. Thanks
Great tips! I love my cats…they are my children! I would sacrifice a meal for me, for a meal for them! I have a cat who will be 18 this year! She is my “first-born”…my baby!
We are thinking about a pet for our kids – probably a dog and I really like this article. There is so much to think about so these tips are great. Thanks!
Great Tips! My Grandmother had too many cats and pets for me to keep count of but when any of them passed it was always too soon. Maybe a few tips like this could have helped them live longer…
These are great tips.i have a new grandpuppy
Wow, you just described my chihuahua to a T with the allergy signs. I never realized that may be what it is. I feed her a more expensive brand, but ashamed to say, I haven’t really paid attention to what exactly is in it. I guess I will take a better look and maybe switch her out!
Pets become such an important part of our lives. These are great tips to help them live longer and be a part of the family.
We have two dogs so it is so important that we take care of them. Thank you for the tips. I need to remember to implement them more often.
Many people often see the price tag of dog food and skip out on the foods with natural ingredients because it seems more expensive. However, the better the food that you buy the less they need to eat. Most dog foods have fillers and your dog has to eat more to fill up. If they eat more, naturally there is more waste too.
I can’t agree more with the tips you suggested/posted above. I can testify that they can truly make our pets live longer.
Great tips. This will be very helpful to pet owners.
we were devastated when we lost our dog at only 10 years old to cancer 🙁 wish we had him longer……
I did not know spaying and neutering prolongs a pet’s life. That is so interesting!
My dog is so important to me that I’m always looking for tips to show her I care! Food is #1 way I can do that. Great tips!
We strive to give our pets a healthy lifestyle with quality food, regular exercise, and lots of love. We want them to have a long, happy life with us!
I only have a parakeet, so you should do some tips on them! 😀
These are definitely great tips. All of my pets are part of my family, and I want to make sure they have the longest lives possible. I know there are a lot of great pet coupons too, for even the great brands.
Thank you for sharing. Our fur kitty Amber has been with us for a years and we love her to pieces. Their health is just as important as ours!
My fur babies are seriously like my children! My daughter even calls my cat Magic her sister lol. I definitely want to keep my pets around as long as possible
As much of a pain as they are, we definitely want to keep our furry friends around for as long as we can! Thank you for sharing these tips to help them stay healthy.
Thanks for sharing! We’re always looking for better ways to keep our two cats happy and healthy.
Such great advice, and I’m glad you included info about cat litter! We are thinking of getting a cat soon!
This is a great article. I found a lot of useful information that I hadnt know before. Thank you for posting this.
Didn’t know about the silica in cat litter. I think we are doing a pretty good job with our cats, but I think they need more of a meat source. I’ll have to improve on that.
These are great tips. We try to give our cats the most nutritionally sound food and treats we can.
It is so interesting to know how quickly dry food can get spoiled after opening it. We use an airtight container so hopefully that helps our situation–only the best for our girl!
These are wonderful tips. My Shih Tzu only lived with us for a few years. 🙁
Those are all great tips. I will start doing some of these for sure. I want to make sure my dog lives a long healhy life.
Mu cat, Baby, is one of those picky, obstinate cats who would rather go a week pr two with nothing to eat rather then eat something she doesn’t like! As a result I buy what she will eat. When I first adopted her they told me what she had been eating——–I bought it—–my training began–she did not like it and finally I found one she does.
As a life long animal lover, i wish there was some magic we all could do! To make our four legged loved ones live longer too! But they have their journeys to make and we can only help them with the best brands and products while they are still her to enjoy!