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• Healthy stir-ins

When cooking, save the rich liquid from steamed vegetables and the drippings from meat and stir a spoonful or two into your cat’s food bowl, adding a little warm water to thin the juices if necessary. If your cooking session doesn’t coincide with pet feeding time, put the juices in a jar and store in the fridge for later use. Heat the stir-ins in the microwave to warm, not hot, before sharing them with your cat.

• Clean up a cat brush using pantihose

To clean up a cat brush with ease, slip a small piece of a pair of pantihose over the head of the brush before grooming, making sure the bristles poke through. Once grooming is finished, remove the pantihose, which should now be laden with cat fur, and discard.

• A mouse pad for a cat bowl

When you replace your computer mouse pad, use the old one as a placemat for your pet’s food bowl. It will be perfect for keeping it from skidding and for catching spills.

• Ant-proof your pet’s food

When you feed dogs or cats outdoors, keep ants out of the food bowl with this trick: put your pet’s bowl in the centre of a baking tray filled with water.

• Petroleum jelly = fewer hairballs

Just add 1 teaspoon petroleum jelly to your cat’s daily feedings to help ease hairballs through the digestive tract. (Note: vegetable oils and other oils won’t work because your cat will absorb and digest them.) To control hairballs, give your cat a good brushing every day.

• Foil litter-tray smells

Once odour penetrates the bottom of a litter tray, it is almost impossible to remove completely — a good reason to whip up this easy-to-make aluminium-foil odour-barrier. Cut a piece of cardboard box to size, cover it with heavy-duty aluminium foil and secure the foil to the cardboard with masking tape. When changing the cat litter, don’t throw away your homemade liner; instead, wipe over the foil with a wet sponge soaked in a solution of 2 parts vinegar to 1 part bicarbonate of soda. If you treat the liner gently, you should be able to get at least three or four uses out of it.

• Slice a lemon to neutralize odour

There’s nothing pleasant about the smell of a litter tray — but here’s a way to control odour in the area where the box sits. Place half a lemon, cut-side up, on a saucer and put it on the floor a few centimetres from the litter tray. (A scientist could explain to you why the smell of lemon in the air neutralizes unpleasant odours, but suffice to say that lemon gives bicarbonate of soda a run for its money when it comes to odour control.) For tough odours, place several lemon halves on a paper plate or try a combination of orange, lemon and lime halves.

• Three ways to sweeten a litter tray

If you’re buying the kind of cat litter that neutralizes litter-tray odours, you’re probably, spending a lot every week on this essential. Here are three suggestions that will help you to achieve the same result for less expense:

1. Add 1/3 cup (60g) bicarbonate of soda to ordinary litter and mix well.
2. Sprinkle 1/2 cup (60g) baby powder onto the litter to keep it fresh.
3. Stir a handful of dried parsley or other aromatic dried herb into the litter.

• No-cost litter-tray cleaners

Instead of using branded or supermarket own-brand cleaning products, choose one of these kitchen cupboard or under-the-sink items to keep a litter tray as fresh as possible. After removing the litter and liner (if you use one), clean the litter tray weekly with:

1. Vinegar
2. Household ammonia
3. Lemon oil
4. A solution of 1 part household bleach to 10 parts water.

Finish the job by rinsing the litter box with plain water. Then wipe it completely dry with a clean cloth before refilling again.

• A doormat for cats

To keep your cat from tracking dusty paw prints onto the floor when she leaves her litter tray, place a carpet remnant or an old placemat on the side of the tray where she makes her exit.

• File claws with sandpaper

Most dogs don’t like having their claws filed, but doing so will keep them in good condition and avoid splitting in cold weather. To ease your dog’s stress about the nail-filing devices used by groomers, cut a small round of medium-grit sandpaper, wrap it around your index finger and gently work at it, stopping frequently to praise your dog and reinforcing his good behaviour with a treat.

• Use tube socks for post-shampoo itchiness

Many dogs have skin that is sensitive to shampoos, leaving them scratching and irritated after their bath (which they no doubt didn’t I want in the first place). Keep a larger dog from scratching his neck and face by putting his back feet in cotton tube socks and pulling them up as far as you can; if you have a smaller dog (with shorter legs), try a pair of cotton baby socks.

• Use olive oil on matted hair

Loosen your dog’s matted hair by rubbing a little olive oil into the knot. Then gently comb through the matted area with a wire brush until the brush teeth glide smoothly through his coat.

• Oil away tar

Remove tar from your dog’s foot pads by gently rubbing them with baby oil or petroleum jelly. Then wash away the residue with a mild solution of soapy water. To keep tar pick-up to a minimum on your walks, carefully trim the hair that grows between your pet’s toes.

• Dab off tear residue with baby oil

Some dogs’ tear ducts create a residue that collects in the hair below the corner of the eye. This may stain the hair of light-coloured dogs and, despite products sold to ‘whiten’ it, vets say there is little you can do — so it’s best not to fret. Still, you should remove the gunk. Pour a little baby oil onto a cotton ball and gently work it into the area to loosen the residue and make it easier to dab off. You could also use a very mild face-freshening toner, but take great care to keep it out of your dog’s eyes.

• Vinegar ear cleaner

All floppy-eared dogs — especially water dogs such as Labradors and retrievers — should have their ears gently cleaned at least once a week to prevent waxy build-up and infections, which result in both pain and odour. Mix 1 part white vinegar to 1 part water; dip a cotton wool ball into the mixture and carefully wipe out your dog’s ears, but without inserting the cotton wool ball into the ear canal. Use a separate cotton wool ball for each ear to avoid cross contamination in case of infection.

• Prevent dog-hair blockages with a kitchen scouring pad

At bath time, you can keep your dog’s hair from clogging the bath drain by placing a nylon scouring pad or a snipped-off section of kitchen sponge over the drain. This porous barrier will collect hair, which you can then easily remove and discard.

• Keep your dog on a ‘tight’ lead

Your dog will appreciate the elasticity of a lead that’s made from an old pair of pantihose. The idea is to knot it at 10-12 cm intervals and create a handle at the end by looping the pantihose and then knotting it.

• Cool him with a wet T-shirt

If you’re feeling the heat, your dog may be too. If you’re walking him on a very hot day, dampen a large (or small, depending on the dog’s size) children’s cotton T-shirt with cool water, wring it dry and fit it over his head, pushing his two front paws through the sleeves. Tie a knot on the side to take up the slack, making sure that the shirt fits comfortably — neither too tight nor too loose. (Check it periodically to make sure it stays that way.) If the shirt dries out after a while, give it a quick spray with water.

• Glow-in-the-dark collar

Even a few regularly spaced strips of reflective tape placed along your dog’s (or cat’s) collar will help drivers to see them if they happen to be out at night or at dusk.

• Plastic bag pooper-scooper

Never throw away plastic shopping bags. Among many other uses they make perfect pooper-scoopers and they’re free. Just stick your hand into the bag, pick up the mess with your gloved hand and turn the bag inside out before tying it off and disposing of it.

• Cardboard cleaning tool

 Cut a section from an empty cereal box to use as a disposable pooper-scooper whenever you walk your dog. Slide it under the pile of dog poo and put both the pile and your scooper directly into a plastic shopping bag. Tie the whole thing up and throw it in the bin.

• Soothe paws with petroleum jelly

Extreme temperatures can damage a dog’s paws during a walk. Hot pavements and freezing paths may irritate your dog’s foot pads, leading to cracking. To soothe his feet and help initiate healing, rub a little petroleum jelly onto his paws. Before he comes back into the house wipe any excess off his paws so that he won’t track it onto the carpet or upholstery.

• Go bananas!

Add about a third of a soft banana to 1-1/2 cups dry food. Slice it, mash it or stir it into the pellets. Not only does it add variety and a bit of healthy sweetness, which most dogs seem to love, but a bit of banana can also settle your dog’s stomach.

• Healthy snacks

If you have ever been on a diet, you know all about carrying around peeled baby carrots to satisfy a hunger pang between meals. The good news is that dogs generally love carrots, too. They’re sweet and healthy enough to make them a regular part of his diet in place of a biscuit.

• Yogurt pots as doggie travel carriers

Save larger plastic yogurt pots with fitted lids; when you’re taking your dog along on a journey, they are the perfect size for his favourite small treats. Though most dogs don’t like to eat during travel, you can reward him for his good behaviour once you have reached your destination.

• Put the jerk back in the food

Is your faithful friend a little finicky? Try this safe trick: put a stick of beef jerky into a new bag of dry dog food and reseal it for 24 hours. The scent might make the dry food more tempting to your canine.

• Get your dog to take a pill

There’s no reason to wrestle your dog to the ground to try to get him to take a tablet; this is what cheese is for. All you need is some strongly flavoured cheddar cheese. Grate a small amount or buy ready-grated. Warm a little bit in your hands and roll it into a cheese ‘pill’, then insert the medicine and it should go down in just a matter of seconds.

Credit: Reader’s Digest

Picture credit: Google