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Four Ways To Help Your Local Shelter

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Most animal shelters are always desperately looking for help: volunteers, donations, and good homes for their animals. If you are wanting to make a difference in an animal’s life, consider doing any of these for your local shelter to help out:

-Donate needed items like food, cleaning products, bedding, towels, toys, etc.

-Donate money- every little bit helps, even if you only have a few dollars to feed. That $5 bill may have fed a hungry cat for a week.

-Donate your time- volunteer to feed animals, play with them, or walk them. You can also donate your skills to a shelter! Are you a web designer? Offer to make them a web page, or run their social media account! Use what you are good at and you can make a real difference in an animal’s life.

-Adopt or foster a pet!

Photo Credit: Austin Community College 

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How To Help Animal Shelters This Holiday Season

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If you are in the giving spirit this season, consider helping out your local animal shelter. They need donations (food, money, cleaning supplies, toys, etc.) and volunteers year round to take care of pets without a home. For more ways that you can lend a hand, check out these ideas by Jaymi Heimbuch at Mother Nature Network:

-Share adoption profiles on social media, or hang up fliers for events.

-Walk dogs and play with cats.

-Get crafty- create toys and bedding using old t shirts and blankets

-Raise funds at your job, school, or even a birthday party or other celebration.

-Adopt! Consider bringing a new dog or cat into your family. It’ll be the best gift they ever get.

Photo Credit: MapHobbit 

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What To Buy Before A Hedgehog

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One of my friends just adopted a rescue hedgehog, and is slowly trying to socialize him. She had owned a hedgehog for several years before, but that one recently passed away. The point is, my friend is basically the hedgehog whisperer and I’m around them a lot now. They can be finicky (that may just be the rescue hedgehog who is still getting used to being handled by humans), but are still fairly easy to care for if you know what you’re doing (I wouldn’t recommend them to families with young children, though). If you are looking for a new pet, consider a hedgehog! They are totally adorable and loving creatures- don’t let their spines intimidate you! If you are thinking of adding a hedgehog to your family, check out this post by Emmy at Frank Loves Beans for supplies that you need to get before adopting one:

-A cage that is at least 18”x24”

-An exercise wheel

-Liner, pee pads, or bedding. Plus an actual bed/igloo

-Food. Hedgehogs actually eat certain types of dry cat food!

-Moisturizing lotion- hedgehog skin can get extremely dry

-A heat emitter and thermometer to keep them at a comfy higher temp.

This post is dedicated to the memory of Amy the Hedgehog. <3

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons 

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Friday Fun Video: Rockstar Rescue Puppy

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Three types of videos that ALWAYS make me cry: 1. Deaf people getting ear implants and hearing the voices of their loved ones for the first time. 2. Soldiers surprising their kids by coming home early, and 3. Before and after videos of rescue animals. I love seeing how drastically a lot of love can affect an animal so physically. I know, I’m a big crybaby :’)

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Why You Should Adopt A Black Cat This Fall

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Most people know the old superstition that if a black cat crosses your path, you’ll have bad luck. But did you know that people actually that superstition seriously? It may seem crazy in our day and age, but just because of that, black cats are far less likely to be adopted from shelters, and are more often victims of abuse. So, if you are thinking of welcoming a cat into your home any time soon, consider a dark furred friend! For more reasons why black cats rock, check out this post by Petco:

-In Scotland, a stray black cat arriving at your home may mean you will win a jackpot!

-Fishermen and their wives thought black cats were good luck, and would keep them in their homes and boats.

-You won’t see black cat fur on black clothes. Win!

-In Japan, black cats are thought to be good luck- particularly for single women. They are said to attract suitors!

Photo Credit: PentaxSLR 

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What Kind Of Pet is Right For Your Family?

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Almost 62% of American families have at least one pet. That’s a lot of furry little animals! And for good reason. Even though pets can be a lot of work, they teach your kids responsibility, independence, and give them even more unconditional love. Some of my best childhood memories include my cats and dog. So, if you’ve decided to adopt a pet for your family, congratulations! I recommend ALWAYS going to a shelter, instead of funding pet stores or puppy mills. But what kind of animal should you get? The most popular, obviously, are cats and dogs. Check out this post by Sarah at Frugal Fun For Boys for the considerations you need to think of before buying cats and dogs, as well as some pets you may not have thought of:

-Dogs- need two vet visits a year, grooming, they chew things up, and need to be house trained

-Cats- allergies may be an issue, vet visits, they like to scratch things, and need to be litter box trained (though some cats already naturally know)

-Reptiles- You may need to feed it live food, so you need a place for the food to live, they need special habitat considerations like temperature and humidity, you must wash your hands after handling them.

-Small animals like gerbils- cage will need to be cleaned once a week, they eat constantly and need to be fed one or two times a day, they are social and will do better with two or more others.

Photo Credit: Cristian Bortes 

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