TRACIE HOTCHNER’S PET TRAVEL TIPS AND HALO’S CLOUD NINE HERBAL SHAMPOO
July 29th, 2010 by Tracie Hotchner
I really had fun giving folks on local Sacramento TV some tips on pet travel when PETCO sent me to the West coast recently. If only they had asked me something like pet grooming when traveling – I was thinking that while the nice hotels give out sample shampoo and conditioners, it would be so cool if the pet friendly hotels gave out little bottles of Halo’s Cloud Nine Herbal Shampoo!
It is an absolute favorite in our house where all three of my gigantic dogs gets a bath at least twice a month and truly no shampoo comes close to Halo’s for easy rinse-ability, soft skin, and cleaning without being harsh.
Maybe one of the nicer hotel chains like the Four Seasons – which puts out bowls and beds and leashes for their traveling dog guests – could also pop some Cloud Nine Herbal Shampoo in there and people could take advantage of the nice low edges on hotel bathtubs to give their travelling four-leggeds a little bubble bath?
Here’s me, sent to Sacramento by Petco to chat about pet travel issues. You can see it’s pretty fun! Sacramento & Company TV Appearance.
Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible and The Cat Bible, guest blogs here every Thursday on healthy, natural choices for pets.
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August 23rd, 2010 at 7:40 am
Hello and thank you for taking my comment. My wonder Tuxedo Cat Jaco is 6 years old. He began over grooming first on his belly, moving to his hind legs and yesterday he started with his front legs. He is an only cat in our quiet household, just my husband and me. He is indoors only, but spends hours out on his chair on our screened in porch. I spend time playing fetch and hide and seek with him and he has lots of toys, free reign of the house and tons of love.
A friend suggests that he is under stress and that what he is doing is called fur mowing because he is just clearing entire patches away from his beautiful fur. I recently moved him completely away from Kitty Crack, Evo brand, so he is now on Fancy Feast because this is the only wet food for the moment he transitioned to.
When we first got him as a rescue, we had another older stateman in the house, but Taj passed after 19 full years as our pal. I am not sure about getting another cat, but I do wonder if Jaco needs a friend. My husband is opposed to another cat,for reasons too lengthy to go into here,but basically doesn’t want to upset the cart as Jaco is the most perfect anget with fur, but he is losing his fur and I am concerned of course..
August 25th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Hi Jane,
Excess grooming and “fur mowing” can have many causes…some medical and some behavioral/psychological. You didn’t mention if his skin is red, dry/flaky, etc—often cats groom excessively because the skin below is inflamed and itchy.
Skin and haircoat problems may be a result of a reaction to foods containing artificial dyes, additives and preservatives or even a true food allergy to specific ingredients. I would recommend a high quality natural canned diet as starters to eliminate his exposure to artificial or sub-standard ingredients.
Dry skin or haircoat problems may also be caused by a fatty acid deficiency or imbalance. Some pet foods are too low in certain beneficial fatty acids and fatty acids are relatively fragile and prone to break-down by improper storage of food. I would recommend a high quality essential fatty acid supplement (like Dream Coat) to insure he is getting all the vital ingredients he needs.
Other problems such as flea allergy, ringworm, mites, mange, yeast and bacterial skin infections can cause itchiness, skin redness and/or hair loss along with dry scaly skin. Ask your veterinarian about these conditions.
Behavioral grooming is more difficult to address…even though your cat seems perfectly content there can be things in the environment that are stressful. Check out the following website that can help you identify stressors and ways to enrich your cat’s environment: http://www.indoorcat.org
Good luck.
Dr. Donna Spector