Here we are in the month of April, which also happens to be Pet First Aid Awareness Month.

Last year in this column I wrote about the need for every pet owner to have a pet first aid kit. With pet first aid awareness month upon us again, I want to ask all the wonderful pet owners reading this…do you have a pet first aid kit? If you do, that’s great!

Now, let me ask those of you who have a pet first aid kit…have you inspected the contents of your pet first aid kit lately? If not, now is the time to do so. Take a few minutes to locate your pet first aid kit. If it has been sitting in the back of your closet longer than you can remember, take a moment to dust the cobwebs off (we won’t tell on you!).

Now open your kit and inspect each item in your kit. Have any of the dates on the antiseptics or ointments expired? Is the individual packaging of every item still intact? Or is the packaging so old it has now become “one” with its contents, and any chance of separating the packaging from its contents is but a wishful yearning? Or has an item been in the kit for longer than you would admit to anyone and you aren’t quite sure what said item originally was (it’s OK, we promise not to reveal your identity!)? If you answered “yes” to any of these it is time to replace these items!

This is also a good time to check your kits contents to remind you exactly what actually is in your pet first aid kit. Maybe there are some items you need to add to your first aid kit? Since you last checked did your son “borrow” all of the bandaging supplies for his scout project? And, I know what you’re going to tell me… despite “juniors” promises to return all of the bandaging supplies to your pet first aid kit, quicker than you could say “abracadabra” those same supplies have vanished into thin air never to materialize again! It’s time to replace those items that have magically disappeared.

If you are reading this and feeling a bit guilty because you still have not put together a pet first aid kit, now is the time to act! You can put together your own pet first aid kit or buy a kit that is ready made. If you decide to purchase a readymade kit do check the contents to make sure you are not buying something that is just a bunch of bandages.

Optimally I recommend you have two pet first aid kits. One kit should be in your home. You should have another kit in your car for when you are traveling with Rover. I also recommend you have a smaller pet first aid kit in a waist pack…take it with you when you and Rover go hiking.

Some items to include in a pet first aid kit are bandages, tweezers, ointments, disinfectants, and a muzzle. Space does not allow me to list every item, however, if you would like me to email you a detailed list of suggested items for your pet first aid kit, please send an email to me and put “Pet First Aid Kit” in the subject line.

Get your pet first aid kit before you need one! You can never predict when you will need such a kit, so make it a priority to get a kit together today. By having a pet first aid kit you have taken steps to become a caring and conscientious pet owner.

–Jan Brown

Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting and is a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor.

I thought it might be beneficial to have a “be prepared” list to help your pet sitter do their job more efficiently.

• Food: It’s great when you leave the food on the counter for us; it makes it much easier to find. However, if your cats or dogs are anything like mine, leaving food — even an unopened bag of food — is an invitation to a huge eating binge. So, we understand if you need to leave the food in the cupboard.
• Treats: Yes, if you think food left on the counter can be a temptation, treats can even be more so. If this is the case, please do keep the treats in the cupboard, but preferably in the same cupboard as your animals’ food. It makes it makes it much easier to find especially when Fluffy is giving me that “you forgot my treat!” look!
• Medication: Please keep this in a secure area and be sure your sitter knows where to find the medication. Often the dosage written on the label of the medication has changed. For example, your vet may have initially told you to give one pill per day. Now, 6 months later, your vet has reduced it to ? pill every-other-day. Please be sure to verify with your sitter the proper dosage and, in the case of every-other-day medication, please be sure we know which days of the week we are to give said medication.
• Paper Towels: When we have clean ups, paper towels are a necessity. Please be sure to have plenty of paper towels on hand. Having an extra roll on hand does not hurt.
• Extra litter and food: Please leave enough litter and food. We recommend you leave more than you think your sitter will need. Trips do get delayed.
• Dustpan/hand vacuum: We are more than happy to sweep up the litter or food that has fallen on the floor, but it is difficult to do so if we can’t find a dustpan and broom. A hand vacuum works great too, but not if we don’t know where you keep yours.
• Old Towels: We really want to dry off Fido after a walk in the rain. And, even if it is not raining we would like to wipe off his feet before we bring Fido back into your home. If it’s the rainy season please leave us more than one towel for this purpose.
• Are you leaving on ‘Monday’ at Noon and asking your sitter to do the first visit that evening? Please be considerate and leave an outside light on for us. There is nothing more disconcerting to arrive at your home after dark and there are no outside lights on.
• Poop Bags: Please be sure to leave an adequate supply of poop bags and let your sitter know where to find them.

Your sitter will thank you for remembering the above items. And, the less time your sitter has to spend looking for these items, the more time we can devote to giving your fur kids our undivided attention.

Did you know that March 6 to 12th is Professional Pet Sitters Week? Take a moment to tell your pet sitter how much you appreciate them — you will make their day!

–Jan Brown

Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting and is a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor.

The holidays are over…I’m sure many of you made resolutions for the New Year to lose some weight. I won’t ask you if you’re sticking to your resolution, but what about your animals? Do they need to lose some weight? Are you aware of the diseases and medical conditions that an overweight pet are susceptible to?

According to the Association of Pet Obesity Prevention’s website, slightly more than 51% of dogs and cats are overweight or obese. Risks of pet obesity include osteoarthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, certain types of cancer and heart disease to name a few.

As consumers, we are subjected to the ads for the latest and greatest pet foods and pet treats on a daily basis. For some animals, even one treat a day can pack on those extra pounds! Now, I’m not bashing treats, there are some very good ones out there, but before you purchase another bag of treats stop and look at the ingredients! I recently came across a list of calorie counts for some of the more common dog treats. While not every treat had a high calorie count, I found some that were over 300 calories! Wow! If you give Fido one of those heavy calorie treats every day, the pounds will start showing before you know it.

So, what’s a person to do? Maybe it’s time to start increasing the number and length of Fido’s walks! I am not talking about a “stop and smell the roses” type of walk, but a walk where Fido is really moving!

If Fido isn’t used to power walking I suggest you start off gradually at first. The first 5 minutes could be the “stop and smell the roses” part of the walk, then do a 5 or 10 minute walk at a brisk pace, then slow the pace down. Over the next few days and weeks increase the length of time of the power walks. Hey, you might be surprised to find it’s helping you keep that New Year resolution as well!

Of course, any weight loss plan should be discussed with your vet first! And, always check with your vet, to rule out any medical conditions your dog may have that would make a power walk inappropriate.

— Jan Brown
— Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting & a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor. She can be reached at 

Now that the holiday season is here, I want to give you some tips to help you and your companion animals have a safe holiday. Being aware of some of the hazards and taking steps now to prevent those hazards will help make sure an emergency trip to the vet is not on your holiday “to do” list!

Is your Christmas tree sitting in a stand full of water? If our dogs and cats could talk, I’m sure, many of them would tell us they thought you put that extra water “bowl” under the tree just for them … their own personal drinking bowl if you will. But are you aware the pine sap from the tree is toxic to your animals? If you do have your tree in a stand full of water, be sure to cover the stand with heavy towels so that Fido or Fluffy do not try to make it their own personal water bowl and worse become sick!

And, while we are on the subject of Christmas trees, no ornaments on the lower branches please. Cats and dogs are all too often enticed by the bright, glittery balls. They — think these “balls” are a present for them — they knock them down, play with them and break them. I’ve seen dogs eat these broken glass ornaments! Just as dangerous is if your little rascals should step on the broken glass ornaments. Stepping on these ornaments can result in an imbedded object, as well as cuts and bleeding.

The same caution should be used with those brightly ribboned packages you may put under the tree. Marmalade, the kitty, will think you put all those pretty bows and ribbons under the tree just for him. You don’t want Marmalade eating those ribbons and bows, so think about keeping your decorated packages in the closet until gift giving time.

And, for those of you especially with members of the feline family, tinsel is a big no-no! Merlin, the cat, will be very intrigued by this shiny stuff. If you cat is unfortunate enough to eat tinsel, you have a vet emergency! That piece of tinsel your kitty just ingested can cut his intestines as well as cause an intestinal blockage, requiring an emergency trip to the vet and often will require emergency surgery. Most everyone knows that chocolate is poisonous for dogs. Some dogs can even sniff out chocolate at 20 paces, even when it has been wrapped. Better to keep that box of chocolate you want to give Aunt Sally in a closet until gift giving time.

And, let’s not forget the family dinners you will be hosting! It is very easy to get distracted and not really pay attention to what “Fido” is doing. A friend of mine called me one holiday in tears because something was very wrong with her dog, Mango. The dog was lethargic and not eating. She rushed her beloved Mango to the vet. After emergency surgery to remove what they were calling a “foreign object,” the vet came out and showed my friend the offending substance. It seems at her holiday dinner, when no one was looking Mango was having a dinner of her own choosing. She foraged through the kitchen garbage and found and ate a whole corn on the cob (sans corn)! No one had seen Mango eat it, but there was no disputing it as the vet produced the “foreign object”.

Just taking some small steps and being made aware of potential hazards will help ensure you and your animals will have a safe holiday!

I wish everyone — human and animal — a very wonderful holiday!

— Jan Brown
— Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting & a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor. She can be reached at

We hear almost daily about the need to go “green”. It’s good for our planet. Did you know you can also go “green” with your companion animals? Here’s a list of 10 things you can implement now:

1. Use biodegradable bags to pick up dog waste. Many of us have long used the plastic bags from the grocery store for this chore. Did you know there are several different brands of biodegradable bags on the market? Try a few and see which ones you prefer. Cat owners, can use them for scooping the litter box as well.
2. If you bathe your dog yourself, use earth-friendly pet shampoos. Yes, there are pet grooming products on the market that are “green”. If you take your dog to your favorite groomer, encourage them to use “green” products if they don’t already.
3. OK, we all do itÉwe get in the car with our dog and then drive to the dog park. Consider walking with your dog to the dog park. Not only will you get some great exercise, you will save on gas as well as wear and tear on your car.
4. Use recycled paper towels for cleaning up of any messes your furry companions may have left for you.
5. The next time Rover or Kitty need a new food bowl, consider getting a stainless steel or ceramic bowl instead of a plastic bowl. Stainless steel and ceramic also will last longer.
6. Vacuum! Yes, you read correctly. Vacuuming is a great way to remove fleas and pet dander without having to resort to toxic chemicals.
7. Buy only “green” toys. There are many toys made out of recycled materials and also use green methods in the production process.
8. Buy cat litter made from recycled newspaper.
9. Hopefully, the products you use in your home are also “green”. Fluffy and Fido will often walk on not-so-dry surfaces you just cleaned. These cleaning products can be accidentally ingested when they clean and wash their feet and paws. Read the ingredients on your cleaning products. As a general rule of thumb, if you can’t pronounce it, it probably isn’t good for your animals either.
10. Do you have old towels, bedding, or pet toys you no longer have a use for? Call your local humane society or animal rescue group. Most groups would love to have your donation of items you no longer need.

By the time you read this, Thanksgiving will be just around the corner. While I wish all of your animal family (and the humans also!) a Happy Thanksgiving, please remember — do not give your animals any cooked bones. They can splinter and cause choking. For those counter “surfers”, make sure you keep the garbage and other food goodies out of reach — I want you to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and not have to make an emergency trip to the vet.

— Jan Brown

— Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting & a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor. She can be reached at

I am often asked by my clients what are some good toys for their animals. This is not always an easy question to answer. Animals will have their own likes/dislikes for favorite toys and you may have to do a little experimenting to see what sparks interest for your companion animal. Recently I asked some of my clients to tell me their favorite dog and cats toys.

For dogs, at the top of nearly everyone’s list is the Kong. Since its inception, Kong has added multiple sizes and shapes to their line of Kong toys. Some can be filled with treats which allow your dog to work at getting the “prize”. Kong even produces a booklet filled with recipes so you can create your own doggie “recipes” to fill your Kong with.

Another top favorite is a GoughNut. They come in different shapes and for the dog that likes to retrieve this is a great toy. GoughNuts float and like the Kong are quite durable. GoughNuts also have a special interior red-colored material embedded in the center of the toy to tell you if the toy needs to be replaced. If you see the red it is time to replace your GoughNut.

Chuckit! ball launchers are another favorite item. A plastic wand grasps a ball then releases it as you swing. Owners love it because they do not have to pick up the saliva covered ball, allowing hands to stay clean and dry.

And, cats … well, suffice to say cats can be very finicky. You may have just brought home the newest, greatest toy for your cat, only to have her turn her nose up in disdain and walk away. All of your pleadings and cajoling fall on deaf ears when it comes to trying to interest your cat in the newest and greatest (well, you thought it was great!) toy you just bought. However, there are some things that even the most hard core cat may find hard to resist.

For cats one of the top items mentioned was a laser light. Some cats just love to run after the light. An added benefit is it gives the cat exercise as well. After playing with the laser light for a few minutes, I eventually shine the light on a favorite stuffed toy. This allows them to pounce on said toy and to feel some satisfaction they “caught” their prey.

Furry toy mice are another big favorite with some cats, but with one caveat – if your mouse hunter tends to chew on the tails of these furry toys, best to remove the tails or only let them play with it when you are there to supervise. Some cats who love to dine on these so-called morsels may end up needing surgery – a very expensive surgery I might add – due to blockages that can occur from ingesting the tails.

Most cats can be easily entertained with everyday items. I have seen cats go nuts over the little plastic “tab” from a plastic bottle of juice or milk. Likewise, I have seen the cork from a wine bottle become the best item for kitty to play “hockey” with.

Whatever toys you buy for your dog or cat, please make sure they are well constructed and they do not have any parts that can accidentally come off during playtime.

— Jan Brown

— Jan is the Owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting & a Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor. She can be reached at