Plants to Avoid When You Have Kids At Home

I love plants. I think that they’re the most fabulous things for cleaning up your indoor air and making a lovely environment in your living room, kitchen, bathroom, or other space. However, I also have a smallish child, and other smallish children visit my home on a regular basis. While I don’t think that they’re prone to eating random plant leaves any more, it’s always good to know what I have in my home so that I can make sure that no one ingests something that would make them sick. What house plants should you avoid when you have a … Continue reading

Plants That Are Dangerous For Cats

Many years ago, when I lived in a small apartment with two cats, I had a friend over for the first time. She was looking around our lovely little apartment, when all of a sudden my cat started to vomit violently. Oh yes, and things were coming out the other end of the cat too. It was full on cat festivities, and the friend looked moderately horrified as our chat came to an abrupt end and I packed the cat into a carrier to take to the emergency vet clinic – it was a holiday, of course. Several hundred dollars … Continue reading

Safe Holidays For Pets and Children

The holiday’s are such a joyful time, no one wants to think that they can also be such a hazardous time as well. Our homes are filled with things that are not usually there, Christmas trees, poinsettias, holiday foods and other decorations. If you have a little one in the house you know how hard it can be to toddler proof your Christmas. Toddlers will pull over Christmas trees, pull tablecloths off tables and eat anything they can get their hands on. Most of us are hyper vigilant about the kids this time of year, but what about our pets? … Continue reading

Caring for Pets in Cold Weather

In June I posted about the dangers of heatstroke for animals. Now that we’ve entered the opposite extreme of seasonal weather, I’d like to take a look at ways to keep our pets safe when it’s cold outside. The ASPCA has a list of several things to remember when looking after pets in the winter. Just as leaving a dog in the car is dangerous in the heat the same is true in the cold. Especially when it isn’t sunny outside, cars trap the cold and can drop to dangerous freezing temperatures. If you must leave your pet in the … Continue reading

The Basics of Horse Care, Pt. 3

Today I conclude my interview with Professional Hunt Seat Horse Trainer Holly Stello on the basics of horse care, and why anyone who wants to can own a horse. You can work your way up to having the knowledge needed to have a horse as a pet. Having that knowledge influences the cost, because then you could pay less to board it by doing more for your horse on your own. Or you could always just be a working student and still get to spend a lot of time around horses. Holly says working students are common in the equestrian … Continue reading