A Guide To Feeding Your Pet

iwellbc | Coalition | Saturday, 20 March 2010

This article will discuss pet feeding and how to properly feed your pet to ensure they receive all the nutrition they need to live a long and healthy life. However, more and more pet owners are resorting to making meals for their pets or feeding pets raw food.

Some people believe that pets should only be fed raw food, as the animal would have eaten in the wild, in order for the pet’s nutrition to be “balanced” in a more natural way. There are many articles available which discuss the possibility that the man-made pet food of today and straying our pets from raw, natural food is the cause for so many diseases that are cropping up in our pets. It is believed that most of these diseases are nutrition-based due to the lack of raw meat and other nutrients in our pets’ diets.

However, veterinarians usually recommend a well-known and trusted brand of pet food that has been specifically designed for your pet. This is where pet feeding can become difficult. The quality of pet food can vary tremendously between brands and can differ in the amount of animal nutrition, therefore it is usually a good idea to choose a brand with a good reputation. For instance, Science Diet dog food and Purina dog food are very well-known and trusted brands.

Pet Feeding for Dogs: Commercial brands of pet food for dogs include canned food, dry food and semi-moist food. Up to 50% of your canine’s diet can come from carbohydrates such as grain. Vets do not recommend semi-moist food because of the additives and chemicals in them. Adult dogs may be fed once or twice per day, while puppies require more frequent feedings. There are brands that specifically specialize in all natural dog food, so if you decide you do want to feed your dog a more natural diet, you may look into it.

Never feed your dog chocolate, onions or garlic in any form (fresh, powder, flakes), persimmons, plant leaves (potato, tomato, rhubarb), mushrooms, grapes / raisins, or macadamia nuts. Also, do not let your dog chew on dryer sheets or eat human vitamins. The chemicals are harmful to them.

Cats also have a variety of food to choose from, ranging from dry, to semi-moist, to canned (wet). As with semi-moist dog food, veterinarians do not recommend it due to the preservative chemicals it contains. Cats require a high moisture content in their food, therefore it may be a good idea to stock up on canned food, which has a terrific balance of moisture.

There are also foods which are unsuitable to feed to a cat, such as: dough that contains yeast, onions, mushrooms, plant leaves, garlic, sugary foods, raw eggs, salt, persimmons, macadamia nuts, and raisins/grapes. Regardless of the rumors that milk is good for cats, you should never feed a cat cow’s milk, as they cannot digest it properly. There are some brands of cat food which offer small bottles of milk, usually intended for kittens.

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The WoW Hunter Pet Guide Part 2

iwellbc | Coalition | Tuesday, 02 March 2010

In your quest to find the best WoW Hunter pet you will want to avoid using Caster pets. Caster pet are bad because their stat growth is inferior. Instead of having a pets essential Strength and Stamina stats, Caster pets use the unnecessary High Spirit and Intellect stats. There are a couple of ways to identify a Caster pet. If they have any magical abilities or they have a “Mana Bar” prior to taming them, it is most likely a Caster pet.

Now that you have had a brief overview of the pets available to the WoW Hunter class, let us study the two standard and most popular types of pets, the tank pets or the DPS Pets. In case you want or need your pet to do various things, perhaps the strongest selection for you is to go for the well-rounded pets, which are more generalized in their abilities and functions. Bears and boars are by far the strongest choice for Tanking. As boars and bears are easier to feed, they appear to be mere common Hunter’s pets. For Tanking, if you are looking for a pet with great endurance, then choosing a turtle sounds like a good idea.

Cats are thought to be the best overall selection when selecting a Hunters pet for DPS or fighting ability. The reasons why cats make the most powerful and best WoW Hunter’s pet is because they can master several powers rather quickly, they are easier to feed and can damage enemies in various and innovative ways. In addition to cats, you could also pick out ravagers, owls, wind serpents and spiders for fighting abilities, although my own personal favorite killing machines are raptors. Raptors will rip the face right off your enemy, chew it up and spit it out. So, if you’re feeling especially gory, raptors are the way to go.

Now, talk briefly about a very important subject regarding your World of Warcraft Hunter’s pets. What I want to talk about is the maintenance of your pets. Let me start by saying “Pets require a lot of maintenance.” It’s your job to keep your pet happy and to keep your pet happy you are going to need to keep it well fed, continuously level them up and teach them new skills. Not only will this plan of attack keep your pet happy, but it will also benefit you as well with a well trained and more powerful pet.

WoW Hunter Pet Guide – WoW Hunter’s Pets 3 Levels Of Happiness

Unhappy – This is the lowest level of happiness that your pet can be. Unhappy is also how you begin your relationship with your pet after you tame them. While in this state of unhappiness, your pet will only do about 75% of its regular damage as well as lose loyalty. If left in this state for too long, your pet may run away. I know I would! You can tell if your pet is unhappy by the frowning red face next to your pets portrait.

Content – When your pet is content, it will dish out damage at 100% as well as gain loyalty at a slow rate. You can tell if your pet is content by the yellow smiley face next to your pets portrait.

Happy – A happy pet will gladly slaughter your enemy by inflicting 125% damage upon them. Your pet also gains loyalty very quickly while in this happy state. You can tell if your pet is happy by the green smiley face next to your pets portrait. Obviously, this is where we want to keep our pet.

WoW Hunter Pet Guide – WoW Hunter’s Pets 6 Levels Of Loyalty

Your pet’s Loyalty is a very important stat that affects a couple of other key areas dealing with your World of Warcraft pet. Here are the six levels of loyalty: Rebellious, Unruly, Submissive, Dependable, Faithful and Man’s Best Friend. There is no hidden secret here. The longer you keep your pets happy, the more loyal it will become towards your WoW Hunter class character.

The higher your pet is on the loyalty ladder, the less food will be needed to keep your pet happy. This next bit of information is important so please pay attention. Each and every new loyalty level increase made by your pets results in points being given to you so you can train your WoW Hunter pets. Conversely, it all works in reverse too. For instance, if you fail to keep your pet happy, it will lose loyalty. If you are constantly getting your pet killed or failing to feed it properly, there is a chance your pet may run away.

WoW Hunter Pet Guide – About Feeding Your WoW Hunter’s Pets

In order to increase your pets happiness, it will take more than just feeding it. You will need to feed it something it enjoys eating. To see what your pet prefers to eat, click on your profile to open it up then click on your pet tab and locate the green smiley icon with your mouse pointer. Now that you know what your WoW Hunter’s pet likes to eat, make sure you feed it enough to keep it happy and loyal. Each time your pet levels, his preferred diet will increase, and if you continue to feed him the amount he was eating prior to leveling up, he will gain happiness at a much slower rate, while feeding your pet the correct amount will allow it to acquire a great amount of happiness. So, make it a habit to click on your pet’s tab often.

WoW Hunter Pet Guide – How To Feed Your WoW Hunter’s Pets

1. Click on the “Feed Pet” Icon.
2. Click on the food you wish to feed your pet.
3. Allow your pet enough time to eat the food (about 10 seconds).

If you do not allow your pet ample time to finish its food prior to clicking on the “Feed Pet” icon again will only waste the food you previously fed it. All of the happiness left on the previous piece of food will be lost.

WoW Hunter Pet Guide – Training Your WoW Hunter’s Pets

In the World of Warcraft there are a couple of ways available for you to feed your pet. One way is by taking your pet over to a “Pet Trainer”. You can find the Pet Trainer over by your Hunter’s Class Trainer. The name Pet Trainer is somewhat of a misnomer. The Pet Trainer will teach you new skills and abilities on how to buff up your WoW Hunter’s pet with Health, Armor and/or Attack skills. These skills and abilities are put into your spell book, not on the pet. If you ever change pets, you won’t have to locate the Pet Trainer when your new pet is able to use the skills and abilities.

The other way for you to learn additional pet skills and abilities is by taming wild animals. For your Hunter to learn the pet abilities “Prowl” and “Claw”, he would have to tame a wild cat. By taming a wild bear, your Wow Hunter would be able to learn the pet ability “Claw”. Not every cat will know the Prowl skill and not every bear will know the Claw skill. There are different types of cats like there are different kinds of bears. Specific wild animals will know specific skills and abilities as well as higher levels of the different skills and abilities.

A good rule of thumb to follow here is: The tougher the wild animal, the tougher the skills or abilities you can learn from it. If you do tame a wild animal with a skill or ability that you want to learn, it will not come to you automatically. For you to learn the Prowl skill from a cat you just tamed, you will first need to ascertain if the cat has the skill and if it does, you must use the cat and his Prowl skill as often as possible in battle. When you have finally learned the skill or ability, a message will pop-up on the screen stating “You have learned the Prowl skill”. Now that you have learned the Prowl ability, you no longer need of that particular cat to use it. You can now use it on any tamed Hunter’s pet you want.

WoW Hunter Pet Guide – Training Your WoW Hunter’s Pet

Now that you have learned some skills and abilities from taming wild animals or the Pet Trainer it’s time to teach them to your favorite pet. If you don’t already have him out, take the pet you want to train out of your stable of pets. Now open up your spell book and click on the general tab where you will open up your Beast Training ability. There you will find out how many training points you have available along with all of the WoW Hunter pet abilities and skills you have learned. The training points are used for purchasing new abilities and skills. These are the training points you get as bonuses when your loyalty goes up. So, make sure your pets are very happy so your loyalty goes up and you get training points to use. Easy, isn’t it?

Next, you’ll want to choose a skill or ability you want your pet to learn along with the rank of that skill or ability. Remember, not all pets can learn every skill or ability. For instance, while all bears can learn Claw, boars can’t. Also, higher rank skills and abilities cost more points and if you teach your pet a skill or ability with a high rank, you won’t be able to teach it any of the lower ranks of the same skill or ability. Sometimes, a lower ranked skill will be all your Hunter’s pet needs to get the job done. That’s all there is to it. For many Hunter’s, the fun part is planning on what skills and abilities will be needed to make the ultimate super pet, then going out and taming the beasties who have the skills and abilities on my list, then putting my super-pet together and see how it performs.

People often ask me which World of Warcraft Hunter’s pet is my favorite. As for myself, I like the wolf for both its brilliant looks as well as its blood-curdling song. The assortment of attack speeds this awesome pet has will come in handy as well. With the many options available to you, it certainly makes your research a whole lot easier when you consider the two aspects of how easy is it to maintain and feed your pets. Here are some of the questions you should get answers to prior to beginning your career as a World of Warcraft Hunter. How expensive are the pets foods, how easy is it to procure your pets foods and what sort of food habits do these pets have or do they live on special diet regimens. For basic level huntsmen, spending too much cash on pet food fails to make any sense. The other things to think about are what sort of work you have to put in to increase the pet’s performance and to bring it even with your own level advancements. This can play a key role in your decision to choose a particular kind of pet.

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Pet Adoption Options

iwellbc | Coalition | Friday, 26 February 2010

When it comes to adopting pets, there are many options. People have different reasons for adopting a pet, and often this reason influences where they look for their new friend. For some people, whether the animal is a purebred or not is important, so they will pursue breeders. Others are interested in saving an animal from the fate of a life without a loving family. These people will typically search animal rescue organizations or animal shelters. Both purebred and mixed breed animals can be found at these organizations, as well as older animals and animals that need special care. This guide will help you explore your options when considering the adoption of a new family pet.

Choosing a Breeder

You’ve decided that it’s time for your family to have a brand new pet. Everyone is ready to play with it, feed it, clean it, and care for it every day. You know that you want a purebred, and you’ve researched the genetic and behavioral disposition of every breed, and you know the breed that’s best for your family and your lifestyle. The final step is to find a good breeder.

First, avoid pet stores. It is a known fact that most pets that are offered in pet stores come from mass breeding facilities more commonly known as “puppy farms” or “pet farms.” This is not a business practice that you want to support. It’s best to do the ethical thing and avoid them at all cost.

There are several methods you can use to evaluate breeders. Initially, obtain a list of referrals of reputable breeders from your veterinarian or local dog shows. Always visit where the breeder raises the dogs or cats, and bring the following checklist in order to determine whether the breeder is a good one.

Does the breeder:

Raise the animals in a home, as part of a family?

Have animals that appear healthy and excited when visitors arrive?

Maintains a clean area where the animals are raised?

Shows you the animals parents when you visit?

Knowledgeable about the breed?

Can produce records of veterinary visits for the animals?

Provides references?

Offers guidance for caring for your new pet and for the particular breed?

 

Purebred Rescue

An even better option than buying a new animal from a breeder, is to invest in saving a purebred living at a purebred rescue group. Purebred breeding groups are wonderful organizations that accept purebred animals that are typically abandoned, found as strays, or from local animal shelters. Purebred rescue organizations typically have a great deal of knowledge about the breed they work with, and usually offer a great deal of guidance for adoptive families.

When you purchase a purebred from a rescue group, you can feel good about having saved an animal from living a life without a loving family. You can find local rescue groups in your area through the newspaper classified section. A great resource for rescuing purebred dogs is to search through the contact list at the American Kennel Club. Another great resource for both cats and dogs is AllAboutDogsandCats.com, which provides a list of hundreds of national breed rescue clubs and organizations.

Animal Shelters

An animal shelter is the best source where you can find a family pet. Family shelters are home to many wonderful animals who mostly are only there because of the humans who previously owned them, not for any fault of their own. Often life changes, unrealistic expectations, or other reasons force families to give up their animals to animal shelters. Half of these animals end up euthanized because there simply isn’t enough space. This is why, obtaining your family pet from an animal shelter is the greatest thing you can do, and it is something you can feel very good about.

It is a common misconception that the animals at animal shelters are all mixed-breeds, poorly behaved, or poorly kept. While this may hold true for a minority of them, many of the animals found at shelters around the country are actually purebreds, nicely kept, and very well behaved. Many shelters even offer adoption counseling, training classes, and even discounted or free neutering. Some great resources to locate animal shelters around the country include Pets 911, 1-800-Save-A-Pet, or Petfinder. Another good resource is the classified section of your local newspaper, or the yellow pages under “Animal Shelters”.

A Pet Portrait of Your New Pet

Once you discover that special pet that will become your friend for life, there is no better way to celebrate than to commemorate the beauty and overwhelming “cuteness” of your new family friend with a painted pet portrait.

Pet portraits are sweeping the country as a very popular form of recognizing how much your animal friend means to you and your family. Pet portraits can be especially meaningful because when you see a pet portrait on the wall, it is a statement that this animal isn’t just “another animal”, but it shows that your pet is a loved and cherished member of the family.

The best pet portraits in the country are created by artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. Her artwork is soft and romantic, and a portrait of your pet by Nikky will become a family heirloom for many generations.

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