Grooming is a great way to bond with your pet to improve your relationship and trust with them, along with having the benefits of having a cleaner, tidier pet and a cleaner household as a result.
Brushing
There are several types of brushes available for dogs and cats. Generally soft and short bristles are good for short haired animals, they remove dead hair, dust and give your pets coat a good shine. Combs may be necessary for removing matts and tangles from long haired pets. When using a comb always be careful to avoid hurting your animal, you can prevent this by regularly brushing and combing to avoid a build up of tangles and by combing only gently and slowly.Ideal pets should be brushed out 1-3 times per week, depending on the length of the hair, shorter haired pets should be fine with once per week, but long haired animals should be brushed out 2-3 times per week. We do not recommend trimming your pet’s hair yourself as they have extremely thin skin which is easily caught in scissors and would require anaesthetic and stitches if cut. If you think your pet needs to be trimmed, please contact us as we have special clipping equipment to prevent injury or damage to the skin.
Bathing
Bathing is a good way of removing dust and dirt from the coat, as well as being useful to prevent fleas. Flea shampoo’s can be used weekly on dogs and act by killing fleas it comes in contact with. This can be useful to control fleas but it is important to note it has no lasting effects so if you think your dog has fleas it is best you visit the vet. When washing your dog, it is important you avoid getting shampoo in the eyes, ears, mouth or nose, as well as avoiding any open wounds. Make sure to always rinse your dog thoroughly so as not to leave any shampoo in the coat.
Nails
The best way to prevent overly long nails is to actually walk your dog. Your dog walking on hard surfaces such as the footpath naturally wears down the claws. If you feel the need to clip the nails, it is important you do not hit the vein in the nail, beside this vein is a nerve and so it is painful for dogs if you cut them too short. It is not possible to see the vein in dogs with brown or black nails so we advise you avoid clipping this nails. Nail files can be purchased to file down nails and take away any sharpness. If you are not confident clipping your dogs nails you can bring them to the SPCA and have it performed by a vet or vet nurse. It is not advised to cut cats nails as cats need their claws long to allow them climb and balance.
Tick Removal
If you spot a tick on your dog or cat you should remove them immediately. Ticks carry many diseases and suck the blood from animals causing them to feel weak and sick. Using a tweezers, firmly grasp the tick as close to the skin of the animal as you can. Then slowly pull the tick straight out, this prevents the head from coming off and staying stuck in the animals skin. If you spot one tick it is important you check for more as animals usually have more than 1 tick at any one time. If your animal has ticks it is best to come and get an over the counter product to prevent ticks, this will kill any ticks which are on your animal as well as getting rid of the head if it has been left behind from removal.