After writing yesterday’s post about keeping your pets safe
from household toxins, I came across an article from the TodayShow.com about going green with your pets.
The author mentions using dog shampoos made of natural ingredients and finding
leashes and collars that are free of pesticides. You can even buy pet beds and
blankets made from organic fabrics.

She also suggests buying organic and natural pet foods so
that your pets don’t consume hormones, pesticides or other drugs. I’m sure if
you have pets, you remember last year’s pet food scare when poisons
were found in cat and dog food. Organic pet food isn’t a surefire way to avoid
contamination, so you might even consider making your own (Google cat/dog food
recipe and you’ll be blown away at the volume of recipes out there). My mother
has spent many weekend afternoons filling the freezer with homemade packets of
dog food for the family’s beloved lab and chow mixes, and they get far more
excited over the homemade stuff than they do when a bag of store-bought chow is
hauled out.

Finally, this article hits the biggest issue that might
exist in pet care, and that’s adopting animals from shelters rather than buying
them from pet stores or even local breeders. Millions of dogs and cats are
waiting for their forever homes, and many of those future family pets will be
euthanized if they aren’t rescued. Why pay hundreds, thousands, even, for a pet
from a breeder or a pet shop when you can save an animal’s life? Most shelters
prepare their animals for adoption with immunizations and neutering, and you
usually pay just a small fee to cover the shelter’s expenses. No matter what
its pedigree, your new pet will love you from the second he meets you.