While many people frown upon the practice, a lot of pet owners, myself included, enjoy sharing our beds with our furry companions. As someone who has always shared a bed with housepets, it is something I would never dream of disallowing. Plus, a practical side to this tradition is that it can help you save on your heating bill because our furry friends are a good source of warmth in the wintertime.
While unpleasant to speak of, this is a fairly important issue to consider. Many pet owners think that dogs don’t need their bottoms wiped unless they have a health issue that requires it and because dogs in the wild don’t have their bottoms wiped. However, dogs in the wild also don’t get groomed, have their teeth brushed, or get checkups and vaccinations either.
While Aesop represented ants as an example of hard work and perseverance, these qualities don’t seem so admirable when they persevere right into your home. Not only can ants contaminate your food with bacteria and pesticides, but they can bite you and Fido as well as eat small baby animals (such as pet rabbits and mice).
While spraying a line of insecticide across a doorway is enough to stop cockroaches, the ants in my neighborhood can walk right over these barriers and survive. To make matters worse, these uninvited guests also make their own entrances by chewing holes in walls and floorboards. After 5 years of home ownership (and battling with colonies of fire ants), I have finally developed an effective method to deter them from my home without poisoning myself and my pets. Continue reading
