Homesteader Depot

Tag: pets

  • 5 Critical Tips for Proper Pet Care

    5 Critical Tips for Proper Pet Care

     

    Pets are awesome. There’s no other way to say it. As long as you care for them properly, they’ll show you nothing but love. This doesn’t mean that you need to spoil your pets, showering them with food, treats, and toys. Yes, you can do that, but your pets will appreciate you much more if you care for them in these five ways.

     

    1) Spend Some Time Exercising With Your Pets

    Your pets want to spend as much time with you as possible. This involves playing and exercising with them. Depending on the type of pet that you have, for example, a dog, you can take yours to the park and play fetch or even go jogging. Your dogs will appreciate going for walks, playing fetch, and burning off any extra energy. You’ll feel healthier as well since you get to exercise along with them. If your pets are of the indoor variety, then use toys that they enjoy. Your cats will get a kick out chasing a laser light on the floor or batting at some yarn. This is good for your pet’s mental and physical health.

     

    2) Feed Your Pets Properly

    You probably already know that your pet needs to be fed daily. The real question is: are you feeding him or her the right foods and in the correct amounts? If you aren’t sure which types of pet food are the best, ask your veterinarian or the employees at your local pet store for recommendations. Depending on the breed of your animal, one type of food may be much better than another. You also need to take your pet’s weight, age, and activity levels into consideration when determining how much and how often to feed him or her. You can look at the back of the pet food bag for guidelines or ask your vet.

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    3) Take Your Pets to the Vet

    Even the healthiest animals need to go in for regular checkups. Yours are no exception to this. Many conditions can be caught early thanks to standard vet appointments. This will help you save money in the long run since these early treatments will cost less than more extensive ones. On top of this, regular vet appointments can help your pet live a longer, healthier life. The more time you have with your pet, the better, right? We all know that pets don’t live as long as humans, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do everything you can to make your pet enjoy every moment of his lifespan.

     

    4) Grooming Is Important

    While not every pet needs to see a professional groomer, many will benefit from home grooming treatments. For example, if you have a cat, then you can brush him regularly. This will prevent dandruff and hairballs. It’s also a great way for you to bond with your cat. Dogs require a bit more maintenance. You’ll have to bathe them and clip their claws. Some types even need professional grooming in the form of haircuts. Your dog will look better and be much happier.

     

    5) Set up A Schedule and Stick with It

    Pets need schedules just as much as humans do. They need to know when they’ll be fed, as well as when it’s time to go outside (if you own a dog.) Every pet, no matter the type, will adjust to a schedule well and will begin to anticipate when things will happen. Feeding your pet at the same time every day, going for walks at a certain hour, and so on will only stabilize your pet’s life in a good way.

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  • Cats as Pest Control on the Homestead

    Cats as Pest Control on the Homestead

     

    Homesteaders often find that they are at odds with a range of different pests, including rodents. You can find different methods to use when it comes to controlling those rodents. Some might use traps, while others might use poison. This tends to be a losing battle though. The traps are not likely to kill as many mice or rats as you have, and the poison could end up hurting your other animals or even getting into your food supply somehow.

    Using Barn Cats

    One of the best natural and truly organic ways to deal with your mouse problem is to have some cats on the property. Cats, so long as they are not soft house cats that have never seen the outdoors, can do a good job of helping you with your pest control problem. Just a couple of good barn cats can help to keep the levels of mice, rats, moles, voles, squirrels and other rodents to a minimum.

    The best option is to raise the animal from a kitten. Ideally, the mother would have been a barn cat as well and will have imparted some of her knowledge to the kitten before you get it. Those that are part of a lineage of cats raised in barns tend to have more of a killer instinct, as well.

    When you are keeping your kittens in the barn, during the first few weeks, confine them to a relatively small area that has a bed for them, as well as a litter box. This shows them that this is their area, their home, and they are less likely to wander away for long periods.

    Keeping the Cats Safe

    Just as the cats can prey on the mice and other rodents, you do have to be careful of some animals preying on your cats. This includes things such as foxes and coyotes, so be sure you have methods in place for keeping those predators off your property. Having some large guard dogs, good fences, and a shotgun ready to go is often enough to deter these types of predators, and it can help to keep all your animals safe.

    Not All Cats

    Here’s something important you need to realize – even though cats in cartoons tend to have it out for mice and birds, some cats are simply too lazy to care. This means that not all cats are going to be great barn cats, and you might still be overrun with rodents. In those instances, you can find some other methods of keeping the pests out of your home, barn, and other areas. You could also try another cat, or get some help from the professionals.

    Keep in mind though that if you are a homesteader living in a rural area, the battle against pests will be ongoing. Even if you have pros come in and remove all the pests from your property, they will come back. This is why having some good barn cats that are always on duty is your best bet.

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  • 3 Ways to Save on Raising a Dog

    3 Ways to Save on Raising a Dog

    Dogs can be expensive to keep, but they don’t have to be!  You can maintain a high quality of life for your dog while cutting costs at the same time.  Here are three ways to save money on raising a dog.

     

    Selection

    The first cost to consider is the price of the dog itself.  A specialty breed can easily cost you thousands of dollars, and that’s just to get the dog.  Then there are the health complications that go along with dogs that have been bred for specific traits.  One the other hand, you can get a rescue dog from your local shelter, through the newspaper, or on Craig’s List  $100.  Not only will you have saved hundreds of dollars off the bat, but you will save thousands in the long run as well with a solid mutt that has a not been inbred for generations.  You will also save a dog’s life, and reduce the demand for unhealthy inbred dogs.  Large dogs also cost more than small dogs, they eat more, need more medicine, destroy toys faster, and can have more joint issues as they age.

    Alternative Medicine

    Medicine for dogs can be expensive.  But there are alternatives to the typical products for common ailments.  One common and expensive medication for dogs is heartworm treatment.  Depending on the size of your dog, you can spend $500 a year or more on heartworm treatment alone.  And then there are intestinal worms, and other parasites.  A money saving alternative for all parasitic worms is to go to your local farm supply shop or look online for Ivermectrin for cattle.  The active ingredient for nearly all anti-parasitic medicine is the same, only the dosage and price differ.  Be careful when using Ivermectrin with Collies, some people report that their collies have died after treating them with Ivermectrin, but some also report this with standard heartworm medicine because they both contain the same active ingredient.  Do some research into using Ivermectrin with your breed online; pet owner and farm forums can be quite helpful To get accurate dosage and save money on supplies, get diabetic syringes.  The medicine can be given orally, but you need a syringe to remove it from the sterile packaging.

    Toys

    One of the most commonly overlooked costs of a dog is toys.  Quality of life is important! Also, you don’t want an unhappy dog, for one it will cause you trouble by digging holes, destroying furniture, and being more difficult to train.  But store bought dog toys are ridiculously priced.  The cheapest alternative is the age old stick.  Wood is great for dogs to chew on, as are bones.  They clean their teeth and provide them with the satisfaction of destroying something.  Dogs love destroying soft fluffy overpriced toys, but they don’t know what you paid for them so go to the thrift store and grab some second-hand stuffed animals instead.  You can also add a level of fun to the basic game of fetching a ball by putting the ball in an old sock and tying a knot to keep it there.  This will allow the dog to shake it the way it would prey after catching it.

     

    Dogs are great, for companions, security, or working dogs.  Don’t let the potential cost keep you from enjoying all the benefits a dog can bring into your life.  A little planning and thinking outside the box can greatly reduce the costs of keeping a dog, while maintaining all the benefits.

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  • Tried-and-True Recipe for De-Skunking A Dog

    Tried-and-True Recipe for De-Skunking A Dog

    Country dogs are by far the happiest dogs. Dogs take pride in protecting your other animals and maybe even helping to herd them. They will take their status as guard and protector seriously, and if you’ve got small animals that wild prey would very much like to eat, like rabbits or chickens, dogs will surely keep these predators at bay.

    Unfortunately, sometimes dogs will try to keep a skunk away and get sprayed. We still appreciate their duties as skunks can be predators too, but the skunk’s natural defense system,a putrid-smelling veil of wid-reaching spray, can be very unpleasant and difficult to get rid of.

    Fortunately, there is a surefire method for deodorizing a skunk-sprayed pooch. The classic method is a tomato juice bath, and this can definitely help, especially if you’d like to go a more natural route.

    The following recipe is still very non-toxic, depending on what ingredients you use. It is a scrub made of simply baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. If you use eco-friendly, non-toxic dish soap, it is still very effective and perfectly natural. However, if you need a little extra power, blue Dawn dish soap works wonders.

    A quick note on blue Dawn: If you keep one non-natural cleaning product in your home, it should  be blue Dawn dish soap. It’s a powerful de-greaser, so this is useful not just for skunk spray, but also if you spill petroleum products on your clothes or hands. There’s definitely a reason they brag that it’s used for oil spill clean-ups.

    So, in the case of dog deskunking, the choice of soap is entirely up to you, but you and your dog might really appreciate the extra effectiveness of Dawn soap.

    What You Need: 

    • Dishsoap
    • Baking soda
    • Hydrogen peroxide

    What You Do: 

    1. Combine the ingredients in an open container
    2. Put your dog in the bathing area, either a bath or outside by the hose (if its warm enough)
    3. Without wetting the dog, spread the mixture all over him or her, from their collar to their tail. Apply to the head very carefully, avoiding the eyes as the hydrogen peroxide can burn them
    4. Rinse thoroughly. Smell the dog and repeat above process as needed
    5. Rince one or two more times, then shampoo with a pH-balanced dog shampoo

    Remember, removing skunk smell can be quite unpleasant, but having skunks kill your chickens would be worse, so make sure to let your dog know how much you appreciate his loyal protection of your homestead.

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  • Homemade Dog Food

    Homemade Dog Food

    Our dogs are our best friends, and they deserve homemade meals too!

    Unfortunately, a lot of store-bought dog foods have a lot of preservatives and additives that you might not be so thrilled for your canine companion to be consuming. And high-dollar dog food, with real food ingredients, can be really pricey.

    So a great alternative is to just make your own at home!

    First, you’ll want to determine what the best nutrition is for your dog. Not every dog is going to have the same nutritional needs, but in general, dogs need protein, like from meat, fish, dairy and eggs, fat, like from meat or oil, carbohydrates, calcium and fatty acids. Grains are not always good for dogs, you might want to opt for sweet potato and vegetables as a carbohydrate source.

    A good starting place is to talk to your vet. The two of you can discuss what ingredients would be best for your dog, and if he has special health or nutritional needs that should be met and how to do that.

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    Next, pick a recipe that fits your dog’s specific needs. There are a lot of homemade dog food recipes on the internet, so odds are you will find something that suits you.

    A really great basic recipe consists of sweet potatoes, frozen peas and carrots, and chicken breast, at a 1:1:2 ratio. Cook all the ingredients in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours and then stir, let cool, and distribute into bags to freeze. You can pull out a bag every few days, thaw, and bam! Easy, healthy, delicious and nutritious homemade food for your dog.

    While this probably isn’t ideal for daily meals, making sure your dog gets regular helpings of raw meat is also crucial. Once or twice a week, throw your dog some raw ground beef. Occasional organ meats are also incredibly beneficial, but should not exceed 15%. Also, bones are great for their health, but try to get them from a butcher, not the pre-packaged ones that are full of artificial flavoring and preservatives.

    Our dogs are members of our family, and they deserve healthy, whole, real food ingredients too. Consider making your own dog food today!

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