Julia K Cole

Is Paying  It Forward on your Christmas List this year?   Well, here are just a few ways you can check it off! Volunteer at your local Homeless Shelter.  Serve a hot meal to a neighbor or a stranger. Visit/Volunteer at  a Nursing Home and/or Children's home. Your Local Shelter Is In Need Year Round! Foster, Rescue or Adopt a Pet from your Local Shelter.Shelters are Always looking for donations in the form of money, blankets, cleaning supplies, food, toys.  Volunteer to hold and play with kittens and pups and/or walk a dog. Donate food and/or money to your local food pantry (both human and animals)   Hold the door open for someone Let someone go ahead of you in line! If you ride the public bus, pay the fare for the person behind you (You can also do this at your favorite fast food hang out,  coffee shop, grocers, etc.) Read to the elderly, to children, to the blind, to the home bound! PET FOOD BANK: Donate Food for Needy fam...

Halloween can be a festive and fun time for children and families. But for pets? Let's face it, it can be a downright nightmare. Forgo the stress and dangers this year by following these 10 easy tips. 1. Trick-or-treat candies are not for pets. All forms of chocolate -- especially baking or dark chocolate -- can be dangerous, even lethal, for dogs and cats. Symptoms of chocolate poisoning may include  vomiting ,  diarrhea , rapid breathing, increased heart rate, and  seizures . Halloween candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar and subsequent loss of coordination and seizures. And while xylitol toxicity in cats has yet to be established, it's better to be safe than sorry. 2. Don't leave pets out in the yard on Halloween. Surprisingly, vicious pranksters have been known to tease, injure, steal, and even kill pets on Halloween night. Inexc...

Pop-up cat cafes have been taking over cities in Europe and Japan, but Saturday, North America got its very own permanent feline coffee shop with the grand opening of Le Café des Chats in Montreal. Youssef Labib, one of the café’s owners who loves both cats and coffee, will soon be opening similar themed shops in San Diego, Portland, New York and Seattle, according to  Eater . The cat cafe will be a feline-lover's paradise.  In addition to getting a cup of coffee and some snacks, the restaurant will be home to about a dozen cats that have been adopted from shelters or groups. Each cat will receive veterinary care, vaccinations, and be microchipped and spayed or neutered. If you’re allergic to cats be wary: These felines roam free throughout the shop, playing with toys and leaping on specially built apparatus. CLICK HERE TO  READ MORE Click HERE Source:   http://www.foxnews.com

1 in 3 pets will go missing during their lifetime! Are you doing EVERYTHING you can to protect your pet??   Our partners at TagaPet are donating $0.50 of every tag sold to No Kill Louisville. Head on over and check out their new site and get your tag today! Visit Tag A Pet at   www.tagapet.com

Dress Warmly and Stay Dry Dress in layers.   Wear a hat. Be sure the outer layer of your clothing is tightly woven, preferably wind resistant, to reduce body-heat loss caused by wind. Wool, silk, or polypropylene inner layers of clothing will hold more body heat than cotton.   Stay dry —wet clothing chills the body rapidly.   Excess perspiration will increase heat loss, so remove extra layers of clothing whenever you feel too warm.   Avoid getting gasoline or alcohol on your skin while de-icing and fueling your car or using a snow blower. These materials in contact with the skin greatly increase heat loss from the body.   Do not ignore shivering. It’s an important first sign that the body is losing heat. Persistent shivering is a signal to return indoors.   Infants less than one year old should never sleep in a cold room because infants lose body heat more easily than adults. Hypothermia When exposed to cold tempera...

Is Paying  It Forward In 2014 on Your List Of Things to Do?   Here are just a few ways you can check it off! Volunteer at your local Homeless Shelter.  Serve a hot meal to a neighbor or a stranger if you so desire. Visit/Volunteer at  a Nursing Home and/or Children's home. Your Local Shelter Is In Need Year Round! Foster, Rescue or Adopt a Pet from your Local Shelter.Shelters are Always looking for donations in the form of money, blankets, cleaning supplies, food, toys.  Volunteer to hold and play with kittens and pups and/or walk a dog at Your local shelters. Shovel snow, salt down sidewalks, walkways of neighbors, local restaurants, stores Clean public toilets Check in on your Elderly and/or disabled neighbors to make sure they have what they need with respect to heating (or cooling during warmer months), blankets, plumbing in working order, etc. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~* PET FOOD BANK: Donate Food for Needy families with pets. Fin...

When the weather outside is frightful, these winter pet tips can keep your precious pets snug, safe, and warm. Keeping Warm: Fur Isn't Flawless We may admire our pets' plush coats, but as beautiful as fur is, it's not a perfect insulator, especially when it's very cold. In winter, pets can suffer from the weather extremes "for the same reason that mountain climbers can get hypothermia no matter what type of protective clothing they are wearing," says Oregon veterinarian Marla J. McGeorge, DVM. "Mammalian systems for heat retention and regulation can be overwhelmed by excessive cold." And, if an animal's coat gets wet, the fur loses much of its insulating ability, McGeorge tells WebMD. For cats and dogs with short fur, the protection is even more minimal, "sort of like wearing a T-shirt when it's below freezing."  Click HERE to Read Entire Article

Design Basics There are many ways to build adequate shelter will all good designs sharing two qualities: strong insulation and minimal air space. The insulation is needed to trap the cats’ body heat, effectively turning the cats into little radiators. Empty air space needs to be eliminated in order to keep the amount of space that needs to be heated to a minimum. A well insulated large dog house will not work because there will be too much air space for the cats to warm. Likewise, a tight fitting space with thin, uninsulated walls won’t work either because the cat’s body heat will pass right through. Smaller Shelters Provide Warmth – Build More, Smaller Shelters With these design factors in mind, it is better to build two smaller shelters which will each hold three or four cats than one large shelter to house six to eight felines. With smaller shelters, even if only one or two cats go in, enough heat will be generated. But with the larger shelter, if only a small number of the c...

Halloween can be a fun event for families and their pets. However, if safety precautions aren’t taken, it can also be a hazardous time for our four-legged companions. According to Dr. Justine Lee, a critical care specialist and associate director of Veterinary Services at Pet Poison Helpline, calls increase by 12 percent during the week of Halloween, making it the call center’s busiest time of year. Here are some practical yet potentially life-saving tips that can help protect your pets on Halloween. 1. Dangerous Pet Costumes Your safest choice in a pet Halloween costume would be a loosely tied bandana; however, if you choose to dress up your pet, outfit your dog or cat with a simple approach. Pets can become tangled in elaborate, tight-fitting costumes with strings, ties, belts and sashes. Difficulty in mobility can lead to bodily injury, including strangulation. Never leave a pet unattended while wearing a costume. Small (or large) parts of a costume can become chew...

You can help animals affected by the Colorado flooding. On September 15, 2013, the president declared a major disaster in Colorado. Weather patterns conspired to generate massive flooding that damaged homes and businesses and destroyed critical infrastructure, including roads and phone lines. The National Guard and other emergency responders have rescued more than a thousand people from areas cut off due to washed out roads and high waters. When natural disasters strike, pets as well as people are affected; they too need emergency shelter, food, and water. Shelters need help providing for the animals in their care, repairing facilities, providing food and medical care, and replacing water-damaged supplies. Every donation makes a difference in the lives of animals. You can help.  Donations through this Gift That Gives More™ are earmarked for emergency rescue and recovery efforts for Colorado's animals in need, and the shelters caring for them. Click HERE to make your D...

Domestic violence turns a home into a place of terror. Many justifiably believe that their beloved pet will become a victim of retaliation if they leave their tormentor. To help break this cycle of violence, Red Rover provides Safe Escape to enable victims and their pets to find a safe place to begin again. Founded in 1987, the mission of RedRover is to bring animals out of crisis and strengthen the bond between people and animals through emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and education. RedRover accomplishes its mission by engaging volunteers and supporters, collaborating with others and maximizing the use of online technology. P lease note:  We are not a shelter or vet clinic and cannot accept animals. Find a  Sacramento-area animal shelter . RedRover is committed to: bringing animals out of crisis and into care  by: caring for animals displaced by natural disasters or rescued from mass cruelty situations providing financia...