Natural Ant Repellent

This summer while we were painting the outside of our house I had, for the first time, issues with ants in our kitchen. It seemed to be a combination of the wet conditions early in the summer and the lack of paint on the outside of our home. I tried several things before I found a solution that actually worked.I tried cleaning with vinegar, Dr Bronners soap and I finally resorted to Lysol spray. However nothing seemed to work. Whatever I used would clear the ants out for about five minutes then they would be back. I really did not want to try any sort of ant trap since those contain highly poisonous chemicals. I finally was able to track the ants down to a single hole at the base of the kitchen backsplash and that’s when I decided to try something drastic. I decided to try cayenne pepper. I had seen this fix in a couple of places on the internet but it seemed too good to be true.I placed a small amount of cayenne at the opening of the hole and used a paper towel to spread it up and down the backsplash. I wanted to make sure the ants could not just skirt around it and come in another way. Once I had placed the cayenne I used my homemade cleaner to clean as much of the counter as possible.This remedy has worked incredibly for me! I have not seen any more signs of ants, at all, in my kitchen. I noticed an immediate difference and have not seen any additional ants in my kitchen since placing the pepper. One thing to note, cayenne pepper while not toxic to furry babies, can burn them if they get too much on their paws or noses. You will want to be very careful if you have pets or children around that they do not come into contact with this ant remedy. Since the hole I was covering is at the base of my backsplash and pretty much continually covered I felt very comfortable using this method. Keep the cayenne to the smallest portion of your counter possible to avoid it coming into contact with people or pets.

Bathing your Cat (Easily!)

I don’t know about you, but Rory HATES to be bathed. However both Alex and I are slightly allergic to him and he often gets into things that get him pretty dirty. This necessitates a “deep cleaning” on a regular basis.When my parents got their second cat about 10 years ago they talked to their vet about bathing since my Dad is highly allergic to cats. When you bathe a cat it keeps the dander low so they are less likely to trigger an allergic reation.

The vet they spoke with suggested putting the cat is a delicates bag for washing.  This keeps the cat contained and they can’t escape or claw you. Your cat will hate this when you start. Every time I put Rory in the bag he mews pitifully and acts like I’m killing him. However, his reaction is a lot more violent when I wash him without the bag. Last week he got into something and his belly was all nasty, so because I needed to scrub his belly I couldn’t put him in the bag. After that bath was done I had scratches all over my arm and back (he got out of my grasp and climbed over me).

Of course you want to be very careful about getting water or soap in your cat’s face. It is easier to do this when they are in the bag since they are constantly squirming. But the benefits of keeping them contained outweigh that fact. After your cat's bath be sure to towel him dry. This will help him not be so angry with you since you are essentially "grooming" him.

If you are careful and train your cat eventually your cat won’t hate this as much. It will take time though, don’t give up if your fuzzy baby is all dirty!

Pond turns 1!

Pond turns one year old today! She has come a long way in the last year. We first saw her advertised on the shelter’s website in mid-April. We were moving and we really wanted to adopt a dog once we had bought our house. We never thought she’d still be available after we had moved at the end of May. We went and picked her up five days after we had moved into our house. It was love at first sight! She had a roly-poly belly and gorgeous blue eyes.  From the moment we brought her home she has been an amazing dog. Here are some pictures from her first year of life.

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How to get your Dog to wear a coat!

As we are starting to enter the coldest parts of the year you may be concerned about keeping your furry friend warm. When we adopted Pond we got her from a rescue that had brought her all the way up from Texas. Because of this her fur is very thin, she wasn’t really made for the harsh northern winters!

I noticed with the last cold snap that she was quickly getting cold when we took her outside. So cold in fact that she was shivering after just a few moments out. I started looking at dog coats in order to add an additional layer of warmth for the cold months. When we got her coat I tried it on her and she HATED it! From what I’ve heard this is a pretty normal first reaction for dogs to have when they wear coats.

So now I’m sure you’re wondering how to go about getting your fur baby used to their coat to keep the cold at bay. The key I found was getting Pond used to the coat while she was distracted. This kept her from trying too hard to eat the coat when she had it on.

We started out putting the coat on her when she was eating, when we took her for a walk or outside to go potty. When she was done we would take the coat off immediately. This kept her from realizing that she actually had the coat on and got her used to wearing it.

She loves her coat now! Her butt will start wiggling whenever she sees the coat because she knows it means she is going outside. This tactic will also work for getting a dog used to sweaters or boots too.

Pumpkin, Bacon, Peanut Butter Dog Cookies

When we first got Pond I decided I wanted to try making homemade doggy treats for her. I had been looking on the back of the treats we were purchasing her and I couldn’t pronounce half the ingredients. I happened on this awesome site with a bunch of great recipes! So far I’ve made two of the recipes, the pumpkin/peanut butter cookies and the carrot/applesauce cookies. Pond enjoyed both kinds but she REALLY loved the pumpkin and peanut butter ones.I decided to play around with the recipe a little bit in order to get something tailored to Pond’s tastes. She adores these cookies! We are planning to take them to the Thanksgiving family gathering to share with her “pack” (there are three dogs in the extended family that “Pond” wants to share these with).Because the ingredients are all natural you don’t have to worry as much that your dog will overeat these treats. They are healthy for the dog. I’ve tried them too. They are pretty plain but have a pretty good flavor if you aren’t expecting a sugary snack.

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Pond's Cookies Recipe:1 Cup Pumpkin Puree2 Eggs2 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil3 Tablespoon of All Natural Peanut Butter1 Teaspoon Bacon Grease½ Teaspoon Cinnamon (optional)½ Teaspoon Salt (optional)½  Cup Oats3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour1 Tablespoon Oat BranDIRECTIONS:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Stir first three ingredients together in a bowl.Slowly add the remaining ingredients. I don’t have a cute bone cookie cutter so I simply rolled the dough out on my counter to the approximate size of my  baking sheet. I then transferred the dough to the greased baking sheet and filled in the cracks. I cut the dough into cookie sized chunks before putting in the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.These cookies will harden as they cool. Make sure that you start breaking them apart before they are completely cool. As they bake they will puff up and fuse to the cookie next to them so you need to make sure to start breaking them apart while they are still warm. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. They should last about a week and a half this way. The salt in the recipe will help them last slightly longer than cookies without it.

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Source:Adapted from: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/homemade-dog-treats/

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Make sure you only use cinnamon for the cookies. Don't use any sort of pumpkin spice blend. Nutmeg is poisonous to dogs. 

Natural Cat Litter Deodorizer

When we got a kitten several months ago we had to decide what type of litter to purchase.  Since we have our budget and didn’t really want to go overboard on the litter we decided to go with the inexpensive unscented litter at the local farm store. Our kitten doesn’t seem to mind the unscented stuff but we noticed that there was a little bit of a smell issue. We had fantastic results with this deodorizer but it is fairly expensive for the amount you need to use and the frequency with which you use it.So I searched and searched the internet for another solution. One thing I kept coming across was using baking soda since it is a natural deodorizer. So I tried this out and it has been working great for us! We’ve been consistently using baking soda for over a month and so far the cat box smells infinitely better.This is how I’ve found it works best for us: Each time I change the liner and litter in the box I start with a layer of baking soda on top of the liner right under the litter. Then I put a second layer of baking soda in the middle of the litter. Finally I sprinkle baking soda on top of the litter and mix it in. Every time I scoop the litter I sprinkle baking soda on top and mix it in. This seems to give me a few extra weeks with the litter not only making it smell better, but more cost effective since I’m not emptying the cat box as often.Our kitten has had no negative response to this method. He still uses the litter box with the same consistency as before. Since we only have one cat I can’t speak as to how effective this would be with multiple cats. But it seems to work very well for a single cat and the cost for approximately a month of cat litter is around $3.50 for both the litter and deodorizer.