Pet Care: Ratty Pinata

I'm always looking for ways to make my ratties lives more exciting. They tend to be a little withdrawn, and they don't much like coming out of their cage. So, when I can find ways to do something to enrich my ratties sheltered lives, I try to take advantage. Tonight, I made my rats a pinata of treats from instructions I found on this site.

 

This is about as far as my ratties will venture outside the cage.

So, to make a ratty pinata, I needed some treats, paper towel, string and a length of tape. I opted for corn and black-eyed peas as the treats for my rats. My rats haven't actually had these as treats, but I've read on the internet that most ratties love them.

First, I spread some corn and black-eyed peas in the middle of the paper towels. I used two paper towels for a little bit of strength.

Next, I bunched the sides of the paper towel up creating a ball at the bottom where all the treats rest. I wrapped the length of tape around the bunched up part of the paper towel at the top to secure it.

Next, I wrapped some string around the taped part, tying it into a secured knot. This string will act as the anchor to hang it in the cage.

Finally, using the long pieces of string, I tied the pinata to the top of the cage. It's still low enough that the rats can reach it when they stand on their back feet, but not so low that it's too easy for them to rip it open.

By the time I went to bed, the ratties still hadn't explored the pinata, but I'm sure it will be a great treat for them when they are ready for it.

Deal Day: Vetco Clinic

As you are all very much aware, I really love my pets. And I have a lot of them, which means that vet care can get expensive. While I haven't found a way to get a better deal and save money on an emergency vet visit, I have at least found a service that helps offset some of the high costs of their annual vaccinations. Petco offers mobile vaccination clinics at some of their stores. These clinics are called Vetco, and they visit select stores about once a month. You can check out the clinic schedule by visiting this website and typing in your zip code to find the store nearest you.

If you live in a metropolitan area like I do, then you may have several different clinics from which you can choose. The good thing about this is that not all stores have their clinic on the same day of the month. So, if you miss the clinic this weekend, perhaps you can get Scraps or Muffin over to another store next weekend to get their shots.

I find the price for vaccinations from the Vetco clinic to be very affordable. I've taken my dogs and cat there for vaccines, so I've gotten prices on both types of pet. I will say that the last time I took one of my dogs in for vaccines, I dropped well over $300 for just that one dog. At Vetco, I think I spent roughly $100. That's a huge savings. It's still expensive, but if the vaccines are the same, I might as well take advantage of of a 66% savings.

Vetco is nice because it offers individual vaccines for a cost, or if your pet is due for the whole gambit of shots, you can opt for one of their all-inclusive package deals. To see what deals are offered in your area, click here. And if the package doesn't include a shot you like to get for your pet, you can still add the individual shot on after the package deal.

I haven't had any problems with Vetco, thus far. The line moves quickly, the vet techs and doctors are very friendly and not having my pet waiting at a vet's office is a little less stressful for him/her. I highly recommend saving a few bucks next time you need to get Fido's rabies tag re-upped.

Pet Care: Sugar Glider Bags

Sugar gliders love having a nice bag to lie in when they sleep. The bags we get for them become their little nests. Here is a picture of one of the bags we purchased for them.

But at $6-8 a pop, these little bags can start costing a pretty penny. All it is is fleece sewn into a square with boxed corners. After watching a tutorial video on YouTube, I knew making a cage bag would be a snap (sort of).

First, I started with a bandana. It is a large size, and I knew it would hold my family of 4 gliders with room to spare. I placed the bandana on top of a large piece of fleece and cut around it to have 2 equal cloth sizes.

Next, I folded over the bandana and pinned along each of its sides.

Then is was time to send it through the machine on both sides.

Then I had to box the corner. To do that, I turned the bandana on an angle and sewed it about 1 inch from the bottom.

After sewing the corner, I cut off the excess from the bottom of the bag to box the corners.

Then I had to sew up the sides and make box corners on the fleece cloth.

   

Next, cut out a couple of small strips from the leftover fleece to make loops for hanging the bag in the cage.

Then I turned the newly sewn fleece inside out. Place the sewn bandana right-side out inside the fleece, lining up the seams. Fold the strips to make a loop and place in between the bandana and the fleece at the seams.

Sew around the top of the fleece and bandana to attach together, leaving a 1.5-inch gap between the beginning stitch and ending stitch.

Turn the bag inside out by pulling the fleece, bandana and loops through the gap. Then stitch up the gap using a hand stitch or machine stitch (I opted for the machine). Voila, the cage bag is complete.

Although I don't have a picture with a glider inside of it, my Gizzy was quick to examine the bag once it was secure in the cage.

Pet Care: Puppy Pal

This brainchild started with this.

You might see this as just another ordinary water bottle. But as I was swigging back a few bottles of nice, cold water, I had a brilliant idea. Why not make a Bottle Buddy toy for my favorite poochies? Otherwise, this bottle is just going to end up in my recycling bin.

I'm sure you've seen Bottle Buddy toys at your local pet store.

This item retails for $8 at PetSmart, so I know I can save some money. I have no grand delusions that my Bottle Buddy is going to look as professional as this. But I am confident that my pups will love what I make for them just as much as anything I buy for them.

To get this project started, I needed to raid my store of old clothes just waiting to be refashioned. I chose these 2 dresses to use some of the fabric for my Puppy Pal.

I have plans for these dresses, but they are so long, I can use some of the bottom length to make my Puppy Pal. So, I wrapped the bottle with some of the green fabric and pinned along its side.

Then I sent it through the machine for a nice tight fit around the bottle.

After that, I cut off all the excess fabric from the newly fitted bottle cozy.

Then, I folded over the flap at the bottom of the cozy so that I could insert some elastic so it would hug the bottle well. I sewed the flap leaving a small gap between the starting stitch and final stitch so that I could thread in the elastic.

Then, using a safety pin, I threaded the elastic round the interior of the flap.

I sewed the 2 ends of elastic together to secure it inside the flap. After adding a few embellishments to make the bottle cozy look more like a critter, the new Puppy Pal was ready to test on the pups.

I'm not sure what kind of critter this is. I'm thinking of it as an earless pig. Unfortunately, Tokie and Piper weren't sure of it either. Tokie refused to get her picture taken with it. Maybe she was just too embarrassed to be seen with a homemade toy. She is kind of a princess. I managed to get a couple of pictures with Piper, but he refused to get near it. He just kept barking at it and watching it from afar. I guess this toy is "Fail" for my dogs, but it would probably be a welcome addition to a house with dogs that like to play with bottles.

          

Pet Care: Cat Glove

For as long as I can remember, I have had cats in my life. I have come to love their aloof way. And I'm quite used to cats gracing their owners with affection instead of giving it freely. If ever there was an animal worthy of being part of the social elite, it would be cats. In other words, cats can be quite snobby.

I'm blessed with having two of these fancy felines in my life. Misser Kitty is definitely the more social and pleasant of the two. He comes on command and loves to give and receive affection. Bingbong, on the other hand, does things on his own time. He can be very affectionate, but it has to be his idea. And he has the most seniority of any of our pets, although he often wonders why we never ask his opinion before we add other members to our menagerie.

So, today's pet care post is for my shedding furballs. Until now, my other pet care posts have been about treats for whichever pet I feature. Well, cats are very finicky, so I didn't want to attempt a treat with them. Instead, I wanted to make them a toy. I got the inspiration for a toy for them from PetSmart.

This bundle of kitty fun retails for $8.99 at PetSmart. Really? It's just a glove with dangly things. I knew I would be able to make something similar that my little cougars would love. And trust me, when playing with Bingbong, you definitely want to incorporate gloves. Otherwise, his Freddy Kruger claws have no problem flaying the flesh from your hands.

In my enormous bedroom clean-up this weekend, I found a pair of gloves that I never wear. These would be perfect for the new toy. I'm going to start with one, but I'll have a backup in case I want to engage in ambidextrous play in the future. So, I went on a hunt for some cat-friendly dangly toys. I managed to find a couple of things that would work.

I clipped off the arms from the orange toy and removed the big eyes. I also clipped the white feathery thing away from the stick. Then, I turned one of the gloves inside out and snipped off the tip of each finger.

After snipped the fingertip, I fished one end of the toy inside the glove and through the snipped hole.

Next, I fed each finger through the sewing machine to secure the dangling toys to each finger.

I used the legs from the orange toy and the long, white feathery toy for three of the fingers. I still needed to use the goggly eyes, but I needed something long to attach to them.

It just so happens I had some elastic available in my sewing kit. After I sewed the elastic to the remaining two fingertips, I pulled out a needle and thread. I begin to hand-sew the goggly eyes to the free end of the elastic.

And voila! Just like that I have a brand new kitty toy.

 

And it looks like it might have gotten the Bingbong approval.

  

Pet Care: Sundaes for the Ratty-Roos

Rats are such smart creatures. My little menagerie includes two of these little guys. Doobie (pictured above) is my sweet little guy, while Kodo is a little more reserved (and camera shy). They really have a lot of personality. They always come to the front of the cage for a treat when we walk by. They are very interactive and really sweet. So, tonight's pet care post is dedicated to my sweet little ratty-roos.

For Christmas, I asked for a Yonanas. I had seen these cool machines at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and I knew it was just the kitchen gadget I needed. I love ice cream, but since it's so fattening, I've had to give it up for my new lifestyle. When I saw I could have ice cream consistency from frozen bananas, I was hooked on it. I started fixating on getting this new gadget. So, I was extremely happy when I opened a package from Cliff's mom and found my new Yonanas machine.

I actually just tried it out recently. I made myself frozen treat with bananas, peanut butter and Walden Farms chocolate syrup. It was so delicious. I made one for Cliff tonight, and he agreed it is quite good. Hmmm, this is starting to sound like a product review, but let me get back to the topic at hand: my ratties.

Tonight, I decided I would make sundaes for the rodents. The perfect sundae for them would be made of frozen bananas, frozen sliced strawberries and sugar-cinnamon almonds.

So, I put the frozen banana through the machine. If you haven't seen the Yonanas at work, here's what the banana looks like as ice cream.

This is a lot of banana for two rats, so I used about half the mixture and formed it into two small quinnelles (at least, as well as I could considering it's the first time I've done a quinnelle).

Then I topped each quinnelle with a sliced strawberry and sugar-cinnamon almond, using another cut up strawberry as garnish on the plate.

I presented the plate to Doobie for inspection. He immediately grabbed a bite with his little hands and begin blissfully eating away. I'd have to say these sundaes were a hit. And Cliff confirmed that Kodo was enjoying it as well.