All About Pets

Guinea pigs originated from the Andean region of South America, presently known as Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. They were a food source for mountain tribes around the year 2000BC. They are still to this day used as a food source in that area. They also live off of families scraps and are used as pets or collectors of evil-spirits in healing ceremonies. European trades transported quinea pigs to Europe, people saw them as exotic pets.

Where do Guinea Pigs get their name and why?

No one knows for sure just how the guinea pig came to be called a “pig”. They really are not pigs but are larger rodents. However they do tend to make noises that are very similar to that of a pig. They alos have some similar physical features with a pig. Their heads are large, with a rounded hind end, and with no tail. The guinea pig is also able to survive in cramped conditions such as a “pig pen” therefore they were easier to transport to England. Even in other languages they are referred to as pigs. The Dutch often called them “Guineas Biggetie” (Guinean piglet). In Germany they use the term “Meerschweinchen” (little sea pigs). The Germans gave the guinea pigs the name from when they would stop in the New World to stock up on provisions and would purchase large amounts of guinea pigs for their main source of meat.

What kind of environment do Guinea Pigs live in?

Guinea pigs are very social animals living in large groups consisting of sows (females) and boars (males), the offspring are called pups. Their life expectance is any where from four to eight years. In the year 1997 it was recorded that a guinea pig lived for a record of 15 years. Guinea pigs mate for life unlike similar rodents who have several different mates. Domesticated guinea pigs generally are kept in groups of two, either all females, all males, or one female with a neutered male. All male groups usually do well as long as there is no females brought into their environment and they have enough room in their cage.

When in the wild they can be found in little groups grazing grass a lot like a herd of cattle. They are more active during dawn and dusk making in harder for predators to see them. When the are frightened they can move surprisingly fast. Domestic guinea pigs are often more active for longer periods of time and taking little naps in between.

Domestic guinea pigs usually are kept in plastic cages with softwood chip bedding. They are kept indoors, they are not capable of handling exposure to the elements or predators.

Dane Stanton
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/all-the-secrets-of-guinea-pigs-99640.html

The giant green iguana is likely the best pet of the entire iguana family because it is the easiest to tame and does not show aggression in captivity as strongly as many of its relatives display. The giant green iguanas are generally acquired from a hot and tropical location and require very precise living conditions while in captivity or they can die a very horrible death. In order to house your reptile properly it is essential to understand and be able to provide the housing conditions in which it requires to sustain a good quality life.

Housing Conditions

The giant green iguana is a wonderful pet to own however there are some considerations to take into account before deciding if you can properly house one or not. It is no surprise that the giant green iguana gets it name because it tends to grow to quite large sizes and in fact can grow to weigh more than 20 pounds and can grow in length up to six feet long!

It is also necessary to consider when deciding on a giant green iguana that the life span of these reptiles are typically anywhere from ten to fifteen years. That is a very long commitment to take on when deciding on a giant reptile for your house pet. It is one of the most serious problems with giant green iguanas because a lot of potential owners think that they are very cute when they are small but they grow to be very large and the owners decide they can’t house the iguana that it has grown to become.

It is also imperative to know when deciding if a giant green iguana is the pet for you that it is a particularly good pet for children to be around for a variety of reasons. The first and probably most important that most potential owners overlook is that iguanas tend to carry salmonella on their skin. People that handle these creatures should be diligent in hand washing to avoid being sickened by the salmonella and children are not very disciplined in doing these things and as a result tend to fall ill to salmonella poisoning.

The giant green iguana holds yet another reason that children are not a good owner of these reptiles is because children have a way of scaring the iguanas by jumpy moves and not speaking softly as they tend to get excited easily as do the giant green iguanas and that won’t make for a good situation and the iguana will get very aggressive and mean with the children.

Dane Stanton
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/the-mysterious-secrets-of-the-giant-green-iguana-140459.html

Purchasing a fish aquarium may seem like an easy task however tropical and saltwater fish need special care and attention to live a happy life.

The first thing you will need to decide is whether you plan on keeping fresh water fish or saltwater fish. Generally speaking freshwater fish are a lot easier to keep so if this is your first fish aquarium I would advise a fresh water fish aquarium would be a good place to start.

You will need to make sure you do not add too much food to your fish aquarium, research the type of fish you are keeping before throwing in too much or too little food, adding too much food could be harmful to your tropical fish as they can over eat, also adding to much food could potentially pollute the tank.

Having a balanced diet is essential for aquarium fish, I would recommend that you buy any fish food in small bags or containers rather than bulk buying, this is because over time the vitamin content will gradually decline so to keep your fish food in optimum condition and as fresh as possible buy smaller bags and keep them in a cool dry place.

Anything that is introduced into your fish aquarium should be properly taken care of and monitored, it is important to keep the water in the tank clean by checking for parasites, fungi and bacteria.

Although maintaining a fish aquarium is an ongoing task certain fish can lighten the load, it is well worth investing in fish that scavenge as they will clean the tank for you however it is vital to research the type of fish you buy to ascertain if they can live peacefully with the other fish residing within your tank.

It may be a good idea to create yourself a daily monthly and weekly ‘to do’ list so you can be sure that you have made all the necessary checks on the temperature control, lighting and feeding.

Toxic and harmful products can be caused by the breakdown of protein, investing in a protein skimmer can be extremely effective, a protein skimmer will remove impurities and residue from the aquarium and will purify the water.

Never keep your tank in direct sunlight, this will increase the growth of green algae making your tank unattractive and hard to see into. Having a fish tank in direct sunlight will also cause the water temperature to rise making it harder to control

The bigger the fish aquarium the easier it ill be to maintain a stable water temperature, having a larger tank will also give your fish more room to move, it is also very important to give them lots of places to hide, believe it or not the more places they have to hide the less they will hide.

If you can keep on top of the maintenance then you are sure to have a clean and happy tank.

Allen Jesson
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/how-to-look-after-your-fish-aquarium-134660.html

Older dogs are like newborn babies. When these lovely creatures are feeling pain, they cannot tell anyone. The poor old dog gets slower and less active on a daily basis. Though they can not tell anyone, sometimes you can visibly see that they are in pain. Often this pain is the result of arthritis. Arthritis is quite common in older dogs, and it appears more frequently in larger dogs than it does in smaller ones. The larger dogs also have a more difficult time moving around when affected by arthritis than the smaller ones do.

Like arthritis in people, arthritis in dogs can appear in different forms with differing amounts of pain and symptoms. Dog arthritis, like the disease in people, is often caused by the inflammation of the joints. Dogs get the disease, and then it continues to get worse over the course of time. The joints that were once cushioned have lost this comfort, and the dog begins to have trouble getting around. The nerve endings are affected, and this adds to the pain of the aging animal. The dog will just not be the same frisky dog that it used to be.

What The Dog Owner Can Do To Help

The pain in the dog’s joints is caused by the deterioration, and this impedes the dog from getting around. The owner will notice that the dog begins sleeping more and becomes less active. The dog that went running up the stairs before will no longer want to do this. The old dog with arthritis will also have trouble jumping into the car. The owner will probably find themselves doing a lot more for the dog than they had to previously. A good vet will be able to determine the problem, and then make suggestions for the care of the dog.

There is help for canine arthritis from a vet and the pharmacy. There are medications including some that will start to make the dog feel better right away. These will help the way the dog feels, but they will not necessarily eliminate the disease. Some of the drugs for a dog with arthritis are expensive, and some may cause unwanted side effects. For this reason, all natural herbal and homeopathic remedies have become quite popular. Each dog lover should work carefully with their vet to make the dog as comfortable as possible. The vet will be able to give plenty of advice to help the dog. Each owner should remember that dogs do not live as long as people so dogs are much older than their years.

John Wollitz
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/older-dogs-can-suffer-from-arthritis-129027.html

Because there are so many kinds of cat’s claw supplements, such as: cat’s claw leaves, cat’s claw bark, and cat’s claw twigs, cat’s claw is one of the most confusing nutritional supplements currently available in health food stores. Although all cat’s claw supplements claim to help the immune system, only the root of Uncaria tomentosa gives the true health benefits by possessing the healing power to treat and prevent diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, degenerative diseases, and also providing anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-microbial benefits. However, only those Uncaria tomentosa roots that contain “good spirits,” seen by Ashaninka healers of the Ashaninka tribe contain healing properties. If these good spirits are mixed with any root that does not contain good spirits, the healing power is lost. With the use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), scientists can now see the “good spirits” too. These good spirits are actually medicinal compounds called pentacyclic oxindole alkaloids (POAs).

POAs directly interact with white blood cells, which fight diseases we catch, such as colds and flu, along with diseases that start in our own cells, such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. Some POAs also help white blood cells called macrophages, which engulf and digest foreign material, work faster by engulfing more bacteria and disease causing microbes. This medicinal compound also increases the production of interleukin, a chemical protein secreted by macrophages that alerts resting white blood cells and forces them into action and helps make other biochemicals that are helpful to the immune system. POAs also help increase the number of white blood cells that make antibodies that kill germs, or B cells. Most importantly, POAs increase the number of T cells, including: Helper T cells, Suppressor T cells, and Killer T cells, which destroy cancer cells. This increased number of T cells is also very important in a disease such as AIDS.

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), there are 3000 plant extracts that can kill cancer cells, 70 percent of these plants being found only in the rain forest. The fertile environment provided by the rain forest, due to the constant rain from January to December and the 75-80 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, allows the plants grown to be amazingly rich in alkaloids and other medicinal compounds. When the Ashaninka harvest the plant, they work intelligently to keep it perpetually healthy. Individual plants are never completely harvested. Only one third of their roots are collected at any time and then no more root is harvested from that plant for the next ten years, allowing re-growth in the remaining root. Because the Ashaninka are a generous people, they see no benefit in hoarding the cat’s claw for themselves. As their homelands continue to be destroyed by deforestation, they want to make sure that the plant’s healing properties continue on.

Some cat’s claw roots have good spirits, POAs, while others tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids, TOAs, which do not help the immune system at all. Since Uncaria tomentosa plants look almost identical, it is hard to tell if they contain healing properties or non-helpful properties. Plants containing POAs one year may contain TOAs the following year because their alkaloid chemotypes change at will. After scientists discovered that they could “see” the presence of TOAs using the HPLC technology, they gained the ability to harvest cat’s claw root extracts with POAs consistently. Because buying products that contain TOAs will only benefit the cat’s claw distributor due to its canceling effects on POAs, it is important to read the label of the cat’s claw root product you are considering buying.

In return for harvesting, the Ashaninka are directly paid by the distributors. This arrangement provides the Ashaninka with the ability to make their own decisions as to how to spend this income, allowing them to make improvements in the tribe’s water supply and in their living areas. This arrangement also protects the rain forest, which gives us its many nuts, fruits, oil producing, and medicinal plants. Because of all its products, the rain forest hold more economic value than if it was cut down and used for timber or grazing land for cattle. Cats claw can be purchased at any health food store make sure you check the label to ensure you are receiving the Uncaria tomentosa official Cats Claw.

Darrell Miller
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/boost-the-immune-system-with-cats-claw-86028.html

It seems that lately, we all know someone who has suffered from some form of cancer. From breast to colon to lung to stomach, it seems that every day there is someone else we know who has been diagnosed with the disease. While on the outside, our friends, family, and co workers all seem strong, on the inside, they are terrified, not knowing what the future will hold for them. Now, several different companies have come up with items to help them make it through. Cancer awareness stuffed animals have burst onto the scene with huge success, giving those who are diagnosed with the disease something to hug and talk to, when they just don’t feel like talking to anyone else. These animals, coupled with cancer awareness wristbands can help even the toughest cancer patient make it through.

Cancer awareness stuffed animals come in about every color that you can think of. From the normal black, brown, and white, to pinks, purples, greens, and blues, you can always find one with a unique message to help uplift someone’s spirits. Some of these bears, puppies, kitties, and other animals even have their own clothing lines that all sport wonderful pictures or sayings to help your friend or loved one make it through even the toughest of times. Cancer awareness stuffed animals can be a major helping hand to those in treatment.

Cancer awareness wristbands have been around for a while, and are still a favorite of cancer patients, survivors, and supporters. These wristbands come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some cancer awareness wristbands come in cotton, polyester, and rubber, and will fit anyone’s wrists. These wristbands are used for workout bands, jewelry, and just plain old fun to wear and support cancer research. You can also find these wristbands in a variety of colors, from pinks and purples to red, white, and blue, you are sure to find one to fit anyone’s style and needs.

The great thing about these cancer awareness stuffed animals and wristbands is that most of the proceeds go toward cancer research and other cancer programs to help cancer patients. So, not only are you getting a great gift for yourself or someone you care about, you are also helping the cause so one day there will be a cure. You can order these gifts online or you can find them at most stores throughout the country and across the world.

Gordon Petten
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/cancer-awareness-stuffed-animals-57724.html

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