Flamin' and Arcade Myself!

There are a number of deprived animals for adoption that it is at times simply hard to believe that lots of people patronize the pet shops. On the other hand, we humans have done a terrible job caring for the animals that we claim to love. We allow so many unwanted new ones to be born and then just have them put to sleep when they become difficult to take care of. For those who are considering of getting a new animal companion, I personally would like to advise as strongly as possible that you must think of getting one of the animals for adoption to care for. At the end, you will still have the all the benefits of caring for a pet, as well as will be making an important difference in the life of an animal.

In fact there are as many animals for adoption as there are animals for sale, and perhaps even more. Back then, one of my first pet I ever had was a rabbit that was up for adoption. It was simply adorable – a cute brown lop=eared one from a neighbor down the street. He actually had two pet rabbits and, so, soon had a number of baby bunnies. A bit too many for them to handle. For sure, there is never any shortage of animal lovers for adoption especially if those animals are small, furry, and delightful.

Of course, the circumstances are much different in the case of adult animals that have been put up for adoption or critters who have had a hard go at it. The same applies to traditional pets, like cats and dogs, become much less popular once they grow up. Now this isn’t due to the fact that people at times find adult animals for adoption to be less playful or cute than the babies. People are often faced with several difficulties adopting a full grown animal and hence people are not prepared to deal with. It isn’t just that people find adult animals for adoption to be less cute and playful than the babies. Adopting a full grown animal poses many difficulties that people are simply not prepared to deal with. Generally they are already trained to a particular master, and can quite often have problems getting close to a new owner.

Furthermore, the problem is even worse if the animal for adoption has suffered abuse at the hands of its previous owners in the past. Just like human beings, dogs, cats as well as other animals can be emotionally scarred by being brought up by abusive people, and in contrast to human beings, animals stand a very small chance of completely recovering from this early abuse. Now if you choose to look after animals for adoption that have been either abused or beaten up; you will more than often have to anticipate all sorts of problems when raising them up. Some of them can be downright dangerous! Nonetheless, caring for a wounded animal can be a surely be a rewarding and a wonderful experience.

Surely children and pets go together like .. well, jelly and peanut butter, a horse and cart, strawberries and cream? ….. but that’s not always the case. When children and pets are with each other you might be led to believe that whilst your kids aren’t made of snips and snails, they have been created to pull puppy dogs tails. And to tease sleeping cats, chase flocks of pigeons away from the crumbs someone’s scattered for them and squash stranded worms on the pavement.

Regrettably young children and pets don’t naturally interact well, toddlers often see animals, like other objects in the house, as toys to be manipulated for their own entertainment. The long ears, tails, fur, feathers or other interesting features make yanking, tugging, squeezing, squashing and chasing them even more enjoyable.

But because toddlers see this kind of behaviour as fun, that most certainly doesn’t mean that it’s acceptable. After all you want your children and pets to get along together so you’re going to have to teach your toddler respect for animals. Not teaching them to be kind to their pets can have a negative effect on both the children and pets – many creatures have no defence against curious toddlers or alternatively an animal who can defend itself may do so. Try the following to begin to teach your child empathy with and respect for animals:

Find different kinds of animal friends

If your toddler meets different kinds of animals in different settings, they will begin to feel more comfortable around them. Make sure that the owner is present though, and happy for your child to interact with her animals – safety is of course paramount when children and pets are together. Never, ever leave your toddler unsupervised with a pet, no matter how docile you believe that creature to be.

Books

These are a great place to find new animals to introduce to your child. Start with simple books with large, easy to distinguish pictures of familiar animals. Then move on to more exotic and unfamiliar species. Toddlers particularly enjoy books about baby animals or about children and pets like themselves and their pets, which will including animals they are familiar with. Visit my website Scruffy’s Bookshop for a good selection of instantly downloadable animal stories.

Teach your child the art of petting

When children and pets are together, the child’s natural response is to smother the animal with their own particular brand of love. You are responsible for showing your child how to safely pet an animal. You can begin by using your toddler’s collection of stuffed animals to paractice on. “See, this is how you pet Rabbit, gently and slowly, just how he likes it.” Or for even more fun, get your child to pretend he or she is a baby animal that you can pet gently. If you’re feeling really brave, then you can pretend to be the animal yourself and let your child pet you!

Explain that it hurts

Tell your toddler that animals have feelings too, and that tail pulling, ear pulling, kicking and squeezing will hurt the animal as much as it would hurt them. Be very firm with them and absolutely clear that such actions are completely unacceptable.

No teasing

When children and pets are together they often want to play. But what a child sees as an enjoyable game, may in fact be teasing the animal. Teasing animals is not only unkind but potentially dangerous. Actions such as waving a bone out of a dog’s reach or pretending to eat from its bowl may bring about an aggressive reaction from the animal.

Of course children and pets do get along together, and once your child has learned respect and love for the animals in his or her life, you will have laid the foundations for them to enjoy lifetime of happiness and love with members of the animal kingdom.

What do most of us know about animals? The answer is very little. There are almost two million species of animals on this planet today and their continued survival after one billion years is testament to their endurance and brilliance. At one extreme they are the big cats and elephants that most of us are familiar with, to the unknown animals somewhere beneath the sea bed.

Animals are usually easy to distinguish from other forms of life because most of them have the ability to move. This rule works very well for most of the animals that live on the land but it is not always the case for those that live in water. Here they live in water and in some cases have trailing arms or tentacles that make them look like plants. A reliable way of identifying animals is by their basic biological features. Their bodies are composed of many cells and they have nerves and muscles that enable them to respond to the world around them. They get the energy that they need by taking in food.

Animals are highly complex and responsive compared to other forms of life. Even the most simplest of animals react quickly to changes around them, shrinking away from potential danger or reaching out for food. The animals that are able to learn from experience and are unique to the animal world, are those animals with well developed nervous systems. The worlds largest living animals, baleen whales can live up to 25 metres long and weigh 120 tons. At the other end of the scale are microscopic organisms and sub microscopic flies and beetles. These animals are so tiny that their weight is negligible but they still possess the body systems that are needed for survival.

The different body sizes allow animals to live in different ways. Whales have few natural predators and the same is true of elephants, which is the largest land animal. They are able to process food on a very large scale because of the massive size of their bodies. However they take a long time to reach maturity, which means that they are slow to reproduce. Insects on the other hand are easy prey for many animals and their small size means that their bodies are not as energy efficient as large animals. But because they can breed very quickly when the conditions are in their favour, their numbers can rise at a very fast rate.

Almost all of the world’s largest and most familiar animals are vertebrates; these are animals that have backbones. They include the fastest animals on land, sea and air and also the world’s most intelligent species (homo sapiens). Vertebrates are all related to each other, sharing a common ancestry that goes back millions of years. However despite the fact that vertebrates lead the animal kingdom in many fields, they only make up a small minority of the animal species known today. The vast majority of species are invertebrates – animals without backbones.

Invertebrates often have very little in common with each other (unlike vertebrates), apart from their lack of a backbone. The giant squid which is the largest invertebrate, can measure over 16 metres long but it is very much an exception. Most of the invertebrates are very small and live in inaccessible habitats.

Most animals are cold blooded (ectothermic), which means that their body temperature is determined by that of their surroundings. The ability to generate their own heat and to maintain a constant internal temperature, regardles of the conditions outside, is particular to warm blooded (endothermic) birds and mammals. This difference in body temperature has some far reaching effects on the ways that animals lead their lives; this is because animal bodies work best when they are warm. Reptiles, amphibians and insects are cold blooded animals. They can exist very easily when the conditions are warm but if the temperature drops, there work rate and energy slows down. They are able to absorb some heat by being out in the sunshine but if the temperature falls below about 50 degrees fahrenheit, their muscles work so slowly that they find it difficult to move. Mammals and birds are hardly affected by this kind of temperature change. When the temperature falls below freezing, their internal heat and good insulation helps them to remain active.

In a physical way vertebrates function as separate units even though they may live together in families or in larger groups. In the invertebrate world it is not unusual for animals to be permanently linked to together, forming clusters that are known as colonies. These colonies often look and behave like single animals. Most are static but some, particularly those that live in the sea, are able to move around. Colonial species include some of the world’s most amazing invertebrates. Pyrosomes, for example, form colonies that are shaped like test tubes which are large enough for a diver to swim enter. However in ecological terms the most important colonial animals are reef building corals, which create complex structures that provide havens for a range of other animals. In reef building corals, the members of each colony are usually identical. But in some colonial species, the members have different shapes that are designed for different tasks. An example of this is the Portuguese man o’ war which looks like separate animals, called polyps that capture food, digest it, or reproduce. They use a giant filled polyp as the colony’s float and dangle beneath it.

Animals obtain their energy from organic matter or food. They are able to break food up by digesting it and then absorb the substances that are released. These substances go into the animals cells where they are combined with oxygen to release energy. This process is called cellular respiration and is a controlled form of burning, with food acting as the fuel.

The majority of animals are either herbivores who eat only plants, omnivores which eat both plants and other animals and carnivores which eat other animals. There are also scavengers that feed on dead matter. All animals, regardless of their lifestyle ultimately provide food for other animals. All are connected by food chains which pass food and energy to one another. 90 per cent of an animal’s energy is used to make its own body work and therefore food chains are rarely more than six links long.

Stuffed animals are one of children’s most favorite toys. These fun animals are great to have around, and sometimes go everywhere with your youngster. Since these animals are around for almost every event, even they get dirty and will need an occasional bath.

So how do you keep stuffed animals clean? Well here are some tips to keep them clean and in great shape:

First and most importantly read the care instructions that come with the stuffed animal on their label. Also take note of all materials the stuffed animal is made with.

Retailers of stuffed animals never personally recommend washing stuffed animals in the washer or dryer. What is highly recommended is to spray on a mild all-purpose cleanser or simply use soap and sponge it clean with a little water. Then leave your stuffed animal in the sun to dry.

However, many parents really feel like they need to wash stuffed animals in a washing machine to make them completely clean. So here are more tips if you desire to do so:

First, make sure none of your stuffed animals have the following before putting it in the washing machine:

* If a stuffed animal has excelsior, styrene foam, or any other form of foam material, such as foam beads, they must not be washed in the machine.

* If a stuffed animal has joints, or cardboard or any other form of stiffeners, do not put into a machine or they can be destroyed.

* If a stuffed animal has a sound box, please do not put this into a machine or any other form of major water.

* If a stuffed animal is really large, very firm, or has a lot of stuffing please remove the stuffing by cutting a 5-6 inch area in the bottom of the animal. This is important because the stuffing will most likely shift and cause the animal to lose its shape. Plus washing this much stuffing will take a very, very long time to dry. After cleaning, sew up the area and make sure no stuffing will fall out.

After reading the above and your stuffed animal does not fit into the first three categories, you may wash your animal in a washing machine. Before putting a stuffed animal into a washing machine, please make sure there are no loose items, such as button noses or eyes. Please also check to make sure that there are no openings where stuffing can come out, if so please sew up these areas securely first.

Before putting the stuffed animal into a washing machine, find a big enough pillow (or a sheet for big stuffed animals) and fasten all ends with rubber bands, safety pins or string. Please make sure all ends are secure to protect the fur of the stuffed animal. Plus it will keep any loose stuffing inside the pillow or sheet in case any falls out and can be re-installed.

After placing the stuffed animal into the washing machine, please only set the most delicate cycle to be washed. Fabric softener can be added and will make a softer and fluffier stuffed animal. Please be careful when washing other items with the stuffed animal, that there are no items that may bleed onto the stuffed animal making it a different color in the end. Also, if your stuffed animal is wearing clothes, please remove them and wash separately. This is important because the color of the stuffed animal’s fur can sometimes bleed onto the clothes they are wearing.

Tips on How to Clean Stuffed Animals without Using a Washing Machine:

* A great way to keep those precious stuffed animals fresh is to give it a dry bath with baking soda. Just sprinkle the baking soda on the stuffed animal. After 20 minutes simply brush the baking soda off. You may also use baby powder. This process will get smells out and clean off any surface dirt.

* For stuffed animals that have been badly stained or soiled, use a soft scrub brush with an all purpose cleaner.

* For stuffed animals with plastic parts that have spots or stains, you can use rubbing alcohol to remove them.

* For stuffed animals that have dust mites you can do the following:

Place your stuffed animal in a plastic bag. Then place it in a freezer overnight. If you have a big stuffed animal or do not have room in the freezer, you can wait to place it outside on a very cold night. The temperature has to be below freezing. The next day, remove the stuffed animal and vacuum gently but thoroughly.

Tips on How to Dry a Stuffed Animal:

When you have washed your stuffed animal or somehow the stuffed animal has become very wet, please never use a clothes dryer. This can damage the fur of the animal and can sometimes never be repaired. Please don’t risk loosing your child’s favorite animal, instead do the following:

The safest way is to let the stuffed animal air dry. This could take up to several days. However, sometimes you need that stuffed animal dry as soon as possible. So you can use a hair dryer, but be careful to not get too close to the animal’s fur and dry on the coolest setting available.

When a small amount liquid has spilled on a stuffed animal simply shake off loose liquid. Then pat dry with a towel or sponge.

With the care provided above, your clean stuffed animals will provide you and your child many years of fun and happiness. Good luck!

If your child loves stuffed animals, they may also love to play fun, free, family friendly online animal games at www.PlushQuest.com.