10 Rescue-Tested Pet Essentials We Can’t Live Without

Host: Amy Castro

Guest: Bev Brooks

Summary

Amy Castro and Bev Brooks share five dog essentials and five cat essentials, plus a bonus item for each, based on real rescue and pet parenting experience. The focus is on safety, behavior, and making day-to-day life easier, not trendy gimmicks.

Links

Show website: petparenthotline.com

Furbo Pet Cameras

Affiliate Disclosure

Some episodes may include affiliate links. This episode does not include affiliate links.

Veterinary Disclaimer

This episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Transcript

Amy Castro (00:00)
Whether you're grabbing a last minute gift for a pet parent or just taking stock of what you actually need at home, most pet supply lists miss the mark. They're either full of gimmicks or assume every pet lives the same life. But in this episode, we're sharing true pet parent necessities. Five for dogs, five for cats, plus a bonus item for each that we think every pet household should have. These picks come from our combined many years as pet parents and also running a rescue. And they're focused on safety, behavior, and making day-to-day life easier.

If you've ever thought, I wish I had that before something went wrong, this episode is for you.

You've reached the Pet Parent Hotline, your lifeline to practical solutions for your toughest pet parenting challenges. I'm your host Amy Castro, and I'm here to help you cut through the noise and turn expert advice into step-by-step strategies so you can stop chasing your tail and start enjoying life with pets again.

So welcome to the Pet Parent Hotline. I am your host, as you know, Amy Castro. And I have with me today Bev Brooks. Now, Bev, rather than me introducing you, let's just let you tell us who you are and what qualifies you to be on this prestigious pet parenting show.

Bev Brooks (01:23)
I wasn't prepared for that!

We're both qualified because we've had pets our whole lives, starting very young, but then consistently beyond that, I've always had pets in my life and on up to the horse. Giddy up.

Amy Castro (01:40)
Well, on some of it, it sort of becomes trial and error, So, when you know better, you do better. And what is our relationship? That's where I was really going. It's not necessarily your pet history, but who do you think you are coming on my show?

Bev Brooks (01:53)
I'm your bestie, yo!

Amy Castro (01:55)
Alright. Then I guess you can stay.

There we go. All right. So through our multiple years of experience with pets and having learned a lot of lessons along the way, we decided we're going to split this episode up

and Bev is going to tackle the cat parent items because she exclusively has cats and spends a lot of time ruminating on her cat's needs. I don't know, does she?

I'm gonna focus on the dog stuff because not only do I have three dogs of my own, but we've fostered quite a few dogs as well. And you learn a lot of things along the way. sometimes the new shiny thing is not the best thing and you end up throwing it in the garbage or re-gifting it. That could happen too. So we're gonna go from our on the list to the number one on the list. And stick around because we'll each share a bonus item at the end. But Bev, since you're the guest.

I will let you kick it off with what is your number five cat necessity?

Bev Brooks (02:53)
Definitely a necessity. Cats need places to climb up to and get away from, whether it's a toddler, another dog, another cat, high spaces. A cat tower For the life of me? Why are they so expensive? Why? It's just particle board covered in carpet. Make your own. Put shelves on the wall, you know, Cuzzy has the run of the house by himself. It's basically three floors, cause I have a basement. So he doesn't need to escape from anybody. But say you live in an apartment with two cats and it's just close space. That would be awesome. Their own little space they can call their own.

Amy Castro (03:02)
Okay.

Well, and don't you ever find him, like, up in your loft area, looking down at you?

Bev Brooks (03:29)
Occasionally he'll be on the railing looking down like a freaking gargoyle, but yeah.

Amy Castro (03:33)
So even though he doesn't have to, yeah, they like to be up and they like to be in that perching position for sure. And they like to look down on you. Let's just put it that way. And that's a cat for you. Condescending beasts. So yeah, and you're right. I mean, you could build those things.

Bev Brooks (03:41)
Ha

Yes, for sure.

Amy Castro (03:50)
I think the biggest thing that I have found with cat towers is the height. I mean, as high as you can get it is awesome and they will go right to the top. Even my cat with no eyes will go right.

to the top, but it also needs to be sturdy. if you go too cheap and tall, now you've got something that's wobbly and they don't particularly like to take a flying leap up on something that's then gonna fall over. Now you've kind of ruined it for them. So yeah, so definitely take that into consideration,

Bev Brooks (04:21)
I wonder if like, it's tipsy, if you're willing to secure it with a hole in the wall, like kind of bracing it, like why not? If you're gonna put a hole in your wall or put up a shelf, why not secure it? But yeah, they do need that perching.

Amy Castro (04:35)
you know, that brings up a good point though, because not only if you were putting things on your walls, but, you know, look around your house and look at what existing vertical space, like it could be the top of the kitchen cabinets. that might be something to build upon, you know, take advantage of those spaces and turn it into something for the cat.

Bev Brooks (04:54)
You know what, one more thing about it, I think age has something to do with it because when I first moved into this house, the kitchen has exposed beams and he was able to get up on the fridge, get up on the cabinets, get up on the beams and it was a chronic occurrence and now he hasn't done it in years, he's just getting older. You know, so you think about if you have a kitten or a senior, something to consider.

Amy Castro (05:14)
how much you really need and how high you need to go, that kind of thing.

All right, so my number five, my dog number five is gonna sound really, really boring, but it's very essential. And so my number five for dogs is having a slip leash. And if people are not familiar with what a slip leash is, it is basically just a leash that does not have any kind of clip that goes onto a collar. It just makes a loop at the end and the loop will adjust to the size of the dog when you pull it tight.

So it's definitely something we use in it's a one size fits all. And nobody can get out of it once it tightens up. So you may not be in rescue, but as a pet parent, to have a slip leash, especially if you have multiple dogs or you have a collar that you don't keep tight enough, to have something that your pet can't slip out of, whether it's...

stopping them from going out the front door or when you go to the vet as a backup. I just think it's an essential and easy, so cheap. You can get nice ones. I mean, I've got a couple of nice ones that are cotton, that have a good little slider that kind of locks down. And then you can get a cheap for a dollar nylon one

So I think every dog owner needs to have at least one slip leash in addition to whatever other doggy gear, harnesses, collars, things like

Bev Brooks (06:33)
so inexpensive. Get a bunch of them so they're always at the ready. Yeah.

Amy Castro (06:37)
Yeah, super, super handy. And that's why, you know, if you've ever gone to the vet and you you go with your nice collar and your nice leash and vet tech comes out, a lot of times if they're going to take your pet back, they'll put the slip leash, hand you back your own leash. They do that because too many times people buy collars for looks and then they don't fit them right. And a loose fitting collar is so dangerous, but we'll get to that in just a minute. Moving along to item number four.

Bev Brooks (07:04)
Cat item number four, I would have to say, is the UV flashlight. ⁓

Amy Castro (07:10)
The stink light, as we call it around here.

Bev Brooks (07:12)
Like that. Now, you know that I have the worst nose in the world. You smell stuff from a mile away I would need a UV flashlight for spotting accidents that I can't smell.

Amy Castro (07:24)
Yeah, and I do have one because although I do have the nose of a bloodhound, I will know it's somewhere, but trying to identify exactly where it is. And so, you know, it's basically just a black light and they come in a wide range of sizes too. I mean, it could be the tiniest thing or the one I've got's got a big head on the end. But ⁓ I will warn you though, if you have children, what the black light is picking up on is basically like

bodily fluids and proteins and things like that. So You know when the murder mystery, when they sprayed the luminol and the freaking house glows That's what it can look like. And so don't freak out because you're going to think, the animal has peed

all over the place. But it could just be like your kids spilled milk there and even though you cleaned it up, the protein molecules are still there.

I'm always looking. I did it in my bedroom the other day because I saw sort of like it looked a little discolored and it's like, okay, is that pee? And sometimes you just don't want it. So here's what happens to me all the time. You try to stick your nose close enough to smell it and the next thing you know, you've stuck your nose in the carpet or you pick up a cloth. Come on, you know you've all done it.

You stick it right up against your nose and then you realize it smells like pee, but you've now touched it to your face. Ew. I know, it's disgusting. Yeah. So, you know, don't worry about what it is. If it glows, it goes. Right. And then you go get your cleaner and get that taken care of. Stink light. Yeah. I think everybody needs them.

Bev Brooks (08:50)
stink light. I like that.

Amy Castro (08:54)
Especially like you're maybe you're wondering if your dog's lifting its leg. You got a new dog or something like that So there you go All right, I'm up now so my number four mine are kind of boring yours yours involved crime scenes and everything else So my number four is that I think every dog owner should have on their dog a martingale collar and what a martingale collar is is

Bev Brooks (09:03)
Alright, you're up.

Amy Castro (09:19)
a dog collar and instead of having a buckle or a, you know, a latch that clasps and you have to adjust it to the size. Oftentimes it is adjustable, but then it has this loop of the collar material. So it's a loop attached to the collar. And so what it does is it allows you to keep your collar on your dog quite loose.

But when you need it to be tightened and not slip over their heads, that extra loop pulls the two sides of the main collar together and tightens the collar up. Got it. Got where it works, and

I just saw this the other day, a person's in the parking lot trying to get their animal to go into the pet shop and it backs right out of the collar in the parking lot. It's like, that's just, you're gonna get your animal run over by a car. So the martingale collar avoids that and they come in all kinds of materials. They come in pretty ones, they come adjustable ones. And what it also does when you adjust it properly, it provides an even pressure.

without choking your dog. You it doesn't continue to get tighter. has limits to how tight it can get. I discovered it when I had a Doberman, because my Doberman's neck was significantly wider than his head.

So there was no way you were ever gonna get a collar that would fit him properly and not slide over his head. So anytime you've got a dog with a head that's smaller than their neck, you absolutely need to have a Martin Gale collar.

Bev Brooks (10:44)
What do you have with Gunny?

Amy Castro (10:46)
It's a martingale, even though her head's big. But the reason I like the martingale is because the actual loop at the top of the martingale becomes a good handle. It's just an easy way to grab hold and then you get that control. So let's just say, for example, we're at the door and I want to stick my head out the door to see who's at the door. I can grab that martingale collar, you know, she can't slip out of it and I get better control over

So the only time you really can use a regular collar is if it's obvious that your dog's head is significantly bigger than their neck. Sometimes people call it a greyhound collar too, just so you know. Why?

Because Greyhounds have bigger necks than they do heads. know that. Think about those long skinny heads

Bev Brooks (11:22)
Aha, did not.

Are they any more or less expensive than a regular collar or they're in the same price range?

Amy Castro (11:29)
definitely in the same price range.

Bev Brooks (11:31)
Okay,

so yeah, it should be a no-brainer. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. It's a little bit more control, a little bit more safety. You don't want your dog getting loose in the parking lot of Stop and Shop.

Amy Castro (11:39)
my gosh. Yeah. I've seen it recently at the vet. Going into the vet, your dog is like, hell no. I'm not going in there. And now the dog stops and you're still pulling and then off goes the collar and bye. Dog's gone.

Bev Brooks (11:51)
Yeah.

my God. Yeah. Yeah. Do yourself a favor and get one for sure.

Amy Castro (11:56)
Yep.

Alright, so that was my number four. So we're on what, three for you?

Bev Brooks (12:02)
For

three, the heating pad. Cuzzy loves his heating pad and I love Cuzzy so I got him two.

Amy Castro (12:10)
Whatever, us why it's so important.

Bev Brooks (12:13)
for his comfort now that he's...geriatric

Amy Castro (12:17)
Is he geriatric? How old is he now?

Bev Brooks (12:19)
I think he's 14. I'm not sure. I Massachusetts on Cape Cod and I like to keep my house cool. Like 61, 62. It's really cool.

Amy Castro (12:25)
WHAAAAT?

Bev Brooks (12:31)
I have found him several times leaning up against the baseboard heater like, ⁓ just a little heat.

Amy Castro (12:39)
I got a picture of that too, I'll put that in the video.

Bev Brooks (12:42)
So yeah, he gets one in the window because every cat needs a window to look out and cackle at the birds and the squirrels he has a heating pad on the couch next to me because it's not soft enough. and I got it specifically for pets. So

you can leave it on. I do not, because I'm the kind of person who unplugs the toaster when I go away, you know,

Amy Castro (13:02)
Well, and you know,

cats in general, they like to be warm. They don't like to be cold. And their normal body temperature is like 102, right? Isn't it 102, somewhere in that zone? So, you know, if your house is 60 degrees, they're gonna feel that cool, I would think. And so, you know, having something warm to lay on, they're gonna love it.

But I would say just be careful if you are gonna be using it with baby animals, make sure that there's space in their enclosure that they can get off of it if they need to. I mean, you can overheat them. All right, so that was your number three. So my number three.

Bev Brooks (13:33)
Yeah, Pretty good. Yeah, that's a good one.

Amy Castro (13:40)
And we haven't really necessarily thrown out brands, but I am going to sort of throw out a brand on this one. So a nail grinder. I think if you've got a dog and you're paying somebody else to cut your dog's nails, I think it's definitely something if you're looking to save money, cut your own dog's nails and you can do it more frequently and get them used to it and do all the things that we've talked about before, as far as getting them used to the nail.

but what I will say is an easier, safer method rather than using nail clippers is to use a grinder. I just recently got a new one, which I'm a huge fan of. So it's a Dremel specifically for pets and it's cordless. So it's so convenient and it's powerful.

Now, if you want to get some kind of like pedi paws those are okay. But I will tell you that if you're trying to do a larger dog or a dog that has harder nails, those cheaper handheld battery operated ones that they advertise on TV, it's not going to be powerful enough.

it's be less intimidating for the user from a clipper standpoint. You're less likely to make the nail bleed or hit the quick. you could totally maintain your own pet's nails that way and save yourself a trip to the groomer or the vet or wherever you're getting it done and also maintain proper.

nail length for your pet so that they don't have mobility issues or get arthritis in their feet because or listening to the clicky clacky if you're hearing the clicky clacky on the floor your dog's nails are too long. I mean that's the bottom

Bev Brooks (15:06)
You've got to be disciplined about that and start early, start young, Who is the biggest drama queen when it comes to clipping in your house? Gigi I knew it. I knew it was going to be Gigi.

Amy Castro (15:14)
GG.

Yeah, so it's funny you bring that up or ask that question because I did Gigi's nails yesterday and I did not use the Dremel her nails are weirdly long and kind of straight out. They're very odd. And I thought, I'm just going to clip the ends of these. I made two nails bleed. ⁓ Because their quicks are really long.

So I should have been using the grinder. And it was of course the last two nails, right? That's always the way it is.

Bev Brooks (15:41)
white powder stuff that you should, so buy the styptic powder.

Amy Castro (15:43)
Styptic powder.

yeah, well, you know, the thing, here's the thing though. with the grinder, if your technique is

you'll see the change as you're getting closer to the quick. so I've never made anybody bleed with a grinder. trickiest part with the grinder is getting them used to the noise.

They're never gonna love it, but it's a lot safer. Yeah, for sure.

Bev Brooks (16:06)
All right. All right. We're up to number two. OK. One of my essentials is a high walled litter box. So back in the day when Cuzzy was younger, had instead of a litter a giant tote, like a 64 quart or 64 whatever, something you put Christmas decorations in, like huge, and fill that up with litter. And Amy brought up a good point.

about number one, the litter might be too deep to make, to feel safe to be in there. Number two, an older cat is not going to have an easy time getting in and out of that box, whatever. So I did change it. to a shallower box, but to me, a bigger box is easier for everybody. He has more room. the high wall is good for a cat who's not very good at aim.

or he tends to not squat when they're peeing.

Amy Castro (16:56)
Yeah, well, and it also helps. I use them around here because, some cats will go in, do their business, and then just leave. They're like, yeah, that's your problem. Take care of that. Other cats will, like they're trying to dig a hole to bury a body. And they're kicking buckets of litter outside the litter box all over the place.

So I would say definitely if you're somebody that has an issue with either A, like Bev said, the cat doesn't squat and just kind of pees and shoots out the litter box and you're constantly wiping up pee off the side of your dryer or your shower or on the floor. Or if you've got someone that kicks litter everywhere, having those high sides.

Bev Brooks (17:35)
Yeah.

Amy Castro (17:36)
Yeah, I don't think I would ever, and they have some that have lower cutouts or like you said, make your own and then you can make the opening if you need it. You could cut an opening to whatever height your animal can handle to hop over and go in and use it.

Bev Brooks (17:50)
You want it to be easy for them to not have an issue using it. And you don't want to have something that's difficult for you to use.

Amy Castro (17:56)
I

think it's just something you have to experiment as to what will your cat use. But one of the key things with the high sides at minimum, if you're like me and the area around the litter box becomes a big mess, it makes you want to deal with it less and less. And that's bad. That's bad because then you're leaving a dirty litter box or litter all over the place or whatever and your cat doesn't want to use it either. by knowing, okay, I've got this high sided litter box.

everything's gonna be contained to the inside, you don't have to think about, I gotta get the mop and I gotta mop the floors and the walls and I gotta pick up the litter box and clean the pee that went under there. then you're just like, yeah, maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

Bev Brooks (18:34)
Exactly. And everyone's different. Every cat is different. And if you live in like a little apartment, you're going to be limited in what you can have, what's going to work for you and your pet.

Amy Castro (18:45)
Yeah. So, okay. So that was number two. All right. So my number two, now we're getting up to the good stuff. this one I could not live without. And that is a spot cleaner. So the one that I have now is a little green clean machine, but it's the max. It's smaller and more compact than my previous little green clean machine. So I just think it's essential because when you do find those,

glow in the dark spots. Like, yeah, you could spray some cleaner on there and some enzyme stuff, but do you want to just leave all that in there? Or for dogs, especially, they throw up on the carpet, they throw up on a chair, I don't want to just put some cleaner on there and rub it around. I like to get it out of there. And that's why I like this.

Bev Brooks (19:29)
I never thought of that. You're absolutely right. Yep.

Amy Castro (19:32)
Yeah. mean, it's, but it's surprising the people that will say, yeah, I cleaned that up. it's like, but did you really clean it up? Because some things you might be able to clean up okay with some spray and a, and a paper towel or a rag, but I want it sucked up and out. what I will say about the spot, ⁓ the spot cleaner too is number one, I think

you need to look for one that's easy to clean. So that's one of the things that I hated about my previous dirty tank on the thing had a small opening and it was very hard to get it to actually be clean clean.

And I don't want to see that sitting around. It was disgusting to look at. So I love the new one because the new one has a much bigger opening in the dirty tank. So once I dump that out and rinse out the dirty tank, I can actually get in there with a brush and scrub it out. And the other thing that I will say as far as the spot cleaner, don't get a giant one because that's the other thing that I find with cleaning stuff.

is that you think, oh, I'll just get the big one, right? Because it's just almost as cheap or whatever, but now you got to store it. And then when you have something big, then you're like, oh, do I really want to drag that out? Maybe I'll just spray the spray and hope for the best. So take that into consideration. think that could be a cat or a dog product too, because cats obviously puke on the carpet and...

Bev Brooks (20:41)
Yeah. ⁓

Amy Castro (20:49)
He's not a carpenter. Yeah, he does. Don't lie.

All right, down to the number one.

Bev Brooks (20:56)
Number one is the water dish, which to me should be a bubbler, something that has moving water in it. As long as the water is moving, everybody loves moving water. And when you think about it, they're living out in the wild, living their best life as wild animals, stagnant water is going to have issues. It's not going to be clean. Running water will be clean. And that's, one of the reasons that they want the moving water. So, mean, the bubbler that I've had, gosh.

easily 10 years old and it's just plastic. It's just a little plastic square bubbler. It has a green lid and it usually has a flower on top.

Amy Castro (21:33)
Yeah, but aren't those a pain in the butt to clean?

Bev Brooks (21:35)
This one I would say is medium issue. I try to do it at least once a week, if not at least once every two weeks to clean it out. But again, I only have one cat.

want to make it easier on yourself because otherwise you're not going to use it, you're not going to clean it, nobody wins. Otherwise, if I gave him a bowl, he's one of those guys who's batting it around. A big water bowl, he'll just play in it.

Amy Castro (21:55)
I'll be digging it.

Bev Brooks (21:56)
Yeah, well they're trying to-

Amy Castro (21:58)
I think they're trying to... ⁓ Maybe, or if you think about a puddle, there could be debris or something on the top, so I'm trying to get down to the clean water or clear water. So what ⁓ I would say with the pet fountains, I think that they're awesome, but I'm telling you right now, don't get one if you're not gonna clean it

either find one that's going to be easy to clean and there are they've evolved as time has gone on that they become easier to clean. But if you think it's one of those things where you're just going to set it up and leave it, the biofilm and bacteria that ends up built up in those. know, you're offsetting any benefit of the moving water. And if you do have multiple cats, cause I've got three, that filter that you think you only have to change and clean once a week, it's more frequent than that.

Bev Brooks (22:48)
And if you think, I don't want to do it, it's a lot of work, would you want to drink out of it? You got to have clean water. And that's the least you can do for your pet is to have clean water.

Amy Castro (22:52)
You know?

Yeah, I had a fountain for the dogs too. And I went back to the bowl because it's so much easier for me every single day. at the end of the day, I take that stainless steel bowl and I scrub it out with soap and water. You can't just keep putting water in it. It's got bacteria and slobber. then I fill it with fresh water and I do it every single day. and it's not a hassle, right? Cause I got to put the water in it anyway.

but that fountain that I had for the dogs, you you had to take it apart and you have to take the propellers out. You know, it's like you got to clean the actual pump that's in it. It was just, I just couldn't. I'm too lazy. Yep. ⁓

Bev Brooks (23:32)
⁓

So yeah, just find what's going to work for you.

Amy Castro (23:36)
All right, so my number one is, and I struggled on this one, but ⁓ a pet camera. Okay, so it doesn't really matter which one you get, but I think it depends on what your intention is with the pet camera. So we've had on the show before Ruth Hegarty, and she's a dog trainer, and she's a big believer in the Furbo

And I think the Furbo is awesome because depending upon what you do with the Furbo, whether you just buy one and you just have access to look at your pet or you have the subscription. that's an ongoing thing where you can do more with it.

Bev Brooks (24:15)
What do you mean a subscription? does that do?

Amy Castro (24:17)
the Furbo can be used as a standalone camera and you can talk to your pet, you can toss your pet treats, but the subscription has more advanced features like alerts and video history.

And there are obviously lots of different types of cameras out there. I've even used game cameras that we've had. You know, it's like if I'm trying to figure out who's peeing in the living room, go set up that game camera. It's motion sensitive. And, then you've got to pull the memory card out, put it your computer, and then look at the video. And there's everything in between as far as cameras go. But I think the, the point is, is that if you are wanting to know what is my pet doing when I'm not there?

how are they spending their day when I'm at work? Or like I'm having an issue right now where my dog has discovered that if I leave the house, she can knock down the baby gate and go eat all the cat food.

And it will happen within 40 seconds of me being outside the front door. As matter of fact, the other day it happened because she thought I was gone, but I wasn't. And I heard that gate being rattled and I went out and caught her in the act. So what I like about having a pet camera is you can catch things like that. You either trying to figure out who the culprit is that's peeing on the dining room rug or the floor or lifting their leg on something. if you have multiple pets or

If I've got a camera set up on the kitchen counter and see her busting in on that gate, I can talk to her and be like, hey, you know, and tell them to stop. You know, if you've got a pet with separation anxiety, you can see what they're doing. sometimes it might tell you there's a problem and sometimes it might be very reassuring for a pet parent who thinks, my dog's going to be devastated while I'm gone all day. And then they, you know, settle down and go right to sleep as soon as you leave.

So the camera can super helpful, and again, you get the kind that you need based on what your goals are.

Bev Brooks (26:10)
You jogged my memory, I bought a camera or maybe it was two, you could operate from your cell phone. So I'm like, I'm going to go to work and I'm going to look on my cell phone and see what Cuzzy's doing and everything. So I set everything up. I go to work and I'm looking.

You know what he does for eight hours when I'm gone? He sleeps. So all I did for eight hours is look at this little black lump on a couch. Yeah. So that didn't last very long.

Amy Castro (26:27)
sleeps?

Yeah.

was it reassuring to know that he wasn't like meowing at the door and pacing back and forth? Because sometimes people think that and sometimes they might be. And if that's the case, you know, if your pet is in distress the entire time, then maybe you need a dog sitter or you need doggy daycare. So the key is before you start camera shopping is to figure out what am I trying to accomplish by getting a camera?

What am I going to use it for? And then go look for the features because it is such a wide range. And maybe you don't need a monthly subscription for life. All right. So do you bonus item

Bev Brooks (27:10)
do It's an automatic feeder, a timed automatic feeder. How awesome is that? and I got it because when I was working, I had, you know, different shifts. So sometimes I'd leave the house at 615, 630. And there was times when I'm working at night, I didn't get home till 1130 or even later, So it would be nice to have something guaranteed for him. Why should he suffer? Because I'm working swing shifts.

But the auto feeders that are out now, yes, they can be expensive, but they can really make life more consistent for your pet when yours is not. So if you have a job that you might be asked to stay and work late, or go in early, or your life is just chaos, whether it's taking kids to practice or things like that.

And if it's not the regular meal, at least it's something to tie them over until you do get home. he's gotten into the habit of being used to it, so I just kept it. So he gets the same thing that he's had for years,

Amy Castro (27:58)
And he sits there and waits for it to go off.

Bev Brooks (28:00)
He does the poor thing. He'll sit there as long as an hour and a half and just sit there and stare at the feeder and then just leaps at it. Although now that he's getting older, there's times where it goes off and he's like, what's that? He has to get up and go get it. Yeah.

Amy Castro (28:11)
Well, and I think for dogs, I could see a scenario where you're gonna be home in 30 minutes. And so you feed the dog and that way when you get home, you can go out for a walk and take them potty as opposed to, you it's just like one extra thing. But you hit the nail on the head from the standpoint of consistency. I mean, I think pets love a schedule. And so keeping them on a schedule is good for them, good for you.

So my bonus one that I'm going to toss in is a DNA test for your dog. ⁓ so, you know, in rescue we use them, not a lot because they're not cheap, but why I would advocate for that for pet parents are a couple of things. Number one, if you're somebody that rents and

your apartment complex has a ban pit bulls and you your dog could look a lot like a pit bull and have no pit bull or very little pit bull in it. So.

being able to show those DNA results and to say, these are my dog's DNA results and he does not have any pit bull in him, then you might have access to housing that you didn't have before. The other thing that I think it helps with is for veterinary care, for your veterinarian to know that your dog is X percent. And of course, a lot of the DNA tests now do health prediction things, et cetera, et cetera.

based on your dog's DNA, but I think too many times we assume our pets are a certain thing and then we treat them as such, like, ⁓ this looks like a golden retriever. So this is what we know about golden retrievers and this is their health issues I have a friend who thought she had a golden retriever and I would have told her it was a golden retriever. has zero golden retriever in it. And again,

from the standpoint like what do you do with that data, right? but I think if you come back and your dog is 60 % something that's a pretty good chunk and so maybe of that breed you keep an eye out for certain health issues because a Good chunk of your dog has that breed in them. So it's Yeah, and you know and it's just kind of fun like my little Chihuahua who I thought would have had a lot of Chihuahua in her She's got all kind of weird stuff

Bev Brooks (30:06)
I thought of that.

Amy Castro (30:14)
Gigi's got Yorkie and all this other stuff. And my bulldog, she turned out to be two thirds English bulldog and one third American bulldog. So she's got a ton of bulldog in her.

And obviously has bulldog issues. if you have a friend or a family member that has not DNA tested their dog, I think that would be an awesome gift. That would be gift.

Bev Brooks (30:37)
because people-

Yeah. Is it done the same way people like a swab inside the mouth? So easy. Easy peasy. Get it done.

Amy Castro (30:46)
Yeah, and we've done it a couple of times. had a dog ⁓ that that came through that had, you know, she's very shepherdy looking, And the way that this dog acted, I was like, that dog's got a lot of malinois on her.

It made a difference to the person that was potentially adopting her because that's not a dog for everybody. Let's just put it that way. It's 100 % not a dog for everybody. And a lot of people who have them shouldn't even have them. And I was right.

she wasn't 100%, but she had a very high percentage in there. it just means something different about how you're gonna raise that dog. So I think it's super helpful for somebody that's got a new puppy, especially if they adopt and they don't know what it is. And on that note, just a sidebar note, when you adopt from a rescue or a shelter and their paperwork or the online thing said they were a certain breed,

It's just somebody guessing based on their looks, okay? It's probably 95 % chance that somebody just went based on looks and it wasn't DNA tested unless you ask and say that it was. ⁓ And we know that identification of breed by appearance is very inaccurate So don't assume that that's what your dog is just because they said so, because it's probably not.

Bev Brooks (32:00)
Yeah,

that's amazing. Yeah. I didn't know that about apartment complexes either. Either. Is that like ⁓ a Texas thing or is that?

Amy Castro (32:07)
Pretty much everywhere. It's a Oh, here's another thing, too, though. Homeowner's insurance.

Bev Brooks (32:13)
No way!

Amy Castro (32:15)
Yeah, it can impact your homeowner's insurance certain breeds.

Bev Brooks (32:17)
You're telling me if I have like a golden retriever versus a malinois that's gonna might change my house insurance

Amy Castro (32:23)
Well, it's a liability thing. that's what they're basing it on is what are the odds that this animal is going to harm somebody and we're going to have to pay out.

Bev Brooks (32:31)
I had no idea.

Amy Castro (32:33)
So with the homeowners insurance, it's going to come up because they're going to ask you if you have dogs, what breed are they? And so, if you're going to take the hit and pay the extra insurance for the Malinois or the Pitbull, then I would at least DNA test them and confirm it. Because if you can show that they don't have any of that breed in them, you save yourself a bunch on your insurance.

Bev Brooks (32:54)
Had no idea. No idea. Yeah.

Amy Castro (32:56)
And there you have it, folks.

Bev Brooks (33:01)
Those are the essentials. Take care of your pets. Make it easy on you. Make it easy on them, right?

Amy Castro (33:06)
There you go. you know, and obviously if we had done a more extensive list we could come up with all kinds of things. But I think, you know, these are the kinds of things that can have a really big impact on your life. And they're pretty simple things that we can get to make our lives easier, make our pets safer, save ourselves some money. all of the above. All right, Bev well.

Thank you so much for being on the show and representing the cat people,

Bev Brooks (33:30)
I'm always happy to help you out and have me on any time.

Amy Castro (33:32)
If this episode helped you rethink what you actually need for your pet, do yourself a favor and save it, especially if the holidays or a new pet are on your radar. And if you know a pet parent who's overwhelmed, new to pets, or shopping for all the wrong things, send this episode their way. It might save them some money, stress, or an emergency they never saw coming. As always, we're here to help you make smarter, calmer decisions for your pets without all the noise. Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline.

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