Hayley de Ronde

Animal Welfare & Behaviour Specialist

Covering Beds, Herts, Bucks & Beyond

Guest post for Let’s Talk Pets, by Emily Parker of Catological

While most of us have heard it takes a village to raise a child, it’s become more and more apparent in recent years that it also takes pets to raise great kids. Whether it’s helping to teach children compassion, responsibility, or help them become healthier or even future entrepreneurs, pets play a pivotal role in making sure our children have healthy and happy lives.

So even though it may look like only playtime when your child is playing fetch with Fido or sitting around petting Fluffy the cat, there may be much more happening than you ever anticipated. To learn more about how pets help raise great kids, here are some fascinating facts for your consideration.

Even though it may take some extra effort on your part to clean up the dirt and other stuff your pet brings in from the outside, they may actually be doing you a favor by helping to boost your child’s immune system. According to the Journal of Pediatrics, kids who had dogs or cats in their home during their first year of life experienced 31 percent fewer respiratory problems and 44 percent fewer ear infections.

If you’re like any parent, you want your child to grow up feeling confident and having numerous friendships. While this may happen even if they don’t have a pet, ones who do have a much greater chance of meeting both these goals. Based on research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, children who spend time playing with a pet often feel more confident in social situations.

While there could be many reasons for this, researchers believe the fact that the animal shows a child unconditional love no matter how many mistakes they may make has something to do with it.

In addition to this, pets also increase the likelihood of kids developing friendships. For example, shy children are often seen running up to other kids with pets, or groups of kids in a neighborhood may gather together to walk their dogs or even organize a pet talent show.

Since pets need daily care to lead healthy and happy lives, they can help kids learn how to be responsible in these and other ways. By feeding their dog, cat, or other furry friend on a regular basis, filling up the water bowl, cleaning the litter box, or any of the other daily duties pet owners have, your kids will learn a sense of responsibility that will last them a lifetime. Kids will also learn how important it is to maintain a regular schedule each day not just with their pet’s activities, but their own as well.

Believe it or not, cat ownership has been related to children becoming smarter adults. According to a study conducted by the University of Bristol, cat owners are more likely than non-cat owners to possess degrees from colleges or universities. And when you think about it, that should be no surprise. After all, between figuring out how to outwit your kitty now and then (a seemingly impossible task), along with finding new and creative ways to entertain them and keep them from getting into trouble, your child is sure to find they have enough brainpower to make them feel like a superhero.

With bullying being such a problem in today’s world, any parent wants to make sure their child is able to understand how it feels to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Because of this, studies have shown that owning a pet can help a child develop empathy toward others.

According to the American Humane Society, kids who become pet owners at an early age learn the importance of kindness, love, and respect, enabling them to gain a greater understanding of how to treat both humans and animals. By forming an emotional bond with their pet, they learn to transfer these behaviors to other places such as school, sports teams, or other situations. In many cases, the kids will decide they want to become volunteers at local animal shelters, where they can help even more animals.

While kids who want to be their own boss early in life are known for starting lemonade stands and other similar businesses, kids who own pets have been found to be very ingenious when it comes to making a profit.

While some choose to start such businesses as dog walking or pet sitting, others start such interesting businesses as designing animal costumes or building homes to be used in feral cat colonies. So along with helping animals and making a profit at the same time, you may have the next Bill Gates living under your roof.

Whether your child grows up to be a successful entrepreneur, obtains a college degree, or simply develops friendships that last a lifetime, it’s clear giving your child a pet early on can work wonders in many important areas of their life for years to come.

Emily Parker is a proud cat mom to 2 black cats, Gus and Louis. Gus only has one eye, but that makes her love him all the more, since he was rejected by so many other people at the shelter. When he’s not exploring the city on foot with her fiancee, she spends too much time researching and writing about cats for her blog, Catological.

I am a strong believer in avoiding chemical products wherever possible however, where animal hygiene is concerned, chemical products are a necessity for the prevention and reduction of disease.

Vitec Global Limited has launched two new products onto the UK Pet Market through Debonaire Exotic Animal Supplies, Pet Shield™ and Zoo Shield™.

These non-toxic, antimicrobial cleaning products use hydrophobic technology to destroy pathogens on contact “continuously killing 99.9% of bacteria”.

Pet Shield™ can be applied to;

• Bedding & Pet Clothing
• Cages & Carry Cages
• Hutches & Runs
• Crates
• Stables   
• Kennels

About the Company

Vitec Global develops, manufactures, markets & supplies a range of innovative, environmentally friendly antimicrobial products worldwide. “Vitec Global is a UK registered company, owned by a range of institutional investors, private investors and employees.”

Vitec Global Limited has three subsidiaries which include;

Vitec Speciality Chemicals: Formulating, manufacturing and marketing a range of antimicrobial chemical for the global market. Customers are able to purchase the chemical in additive form, or as a bespoke formulated product.

Vitec Products: Markets and sells a range of consumer products that are supplemented with Vitec’s antimicrobial formula. Including; Pet Shiled™ and Zoo Shiled™. I also hear on the grapevine a new antimicrobial wipe may be available soon!

Vitec Air Systems: Manufactures and supplies the Vitec Air Purification System, which incorporates the Vitec Antimicrobial Chemistry. It has been proven to eliminate 99.997% of airborne pathogens that have a harmful effect on indoor air quality.

About the Product

Pet Shield™ is a water based suspension containing millions of microscopic protectors. In water, the microscopic protectors (manufactured chemicals formed from non-toxic compounds), float freely looking to attach themselves to a surface as they dry out. Once dry, the protectors align their microscopic tails out from the surface forming a microscopic, long-lasting “bed of nails”. This bed of nails forms an impenetrable and deadly layer to harmful micro-organisms such as bacteria, mould and mildew, which burst from the pressure on contact, a process known as a “mechanical kill”. 

Pet Shield™ Trial

I was kindly provided the opportunity to trial this new product on its arrival to market here in the UK. With my cat having recently suffered from an unknown bout of illness, it was a trial I was more than happy to accept!

I decided before starting the trial, it was best I waited for my cats symptoms to clear. After the all clear from the vet and a thorough clean of my home, the trail could begin. I’m hoping the use of this product will ensure any further bouts of illness will be greatly reduced..

A 60 ml Vial arrived in the post, along with a spray bottle and information on guidelines and use. Products are available from Debonaire Exotic Animal Supplies in 500 ml ready-to-use spray bottles, or in larger 1 litre concentrated bottles.

As this was a trail, and with little knowledge of such a product, I decided it was best to treat surfaces that have little contact with my pets, but that were areas that were often in need of cleaning.

I decided upon the cat litter tray (the biggest potential from the spread of any disease in my home) and the walls surrounding feed areas. Would be the areas I would treat in the trial.

The Verdict

As I was working with the stronger concentrate form, a safe, well-ventilated area was chosen to make the solution. Gloves were donned and newspaper was laid down to catch any possible spillage.

The 60 ml sample I was provided with diluted to a total volume of 1 litre, my applicator bottle only held 500 ml, so I syringed 30 ml from the sample bottle and made the diluted mixture up in the applicator bottle . It’s not often you get a free trail with more product than you need!

The smell of the product is quite strong and unique, which wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but once applied and left to dry, the smell disappeared.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but from my use so far, the areas treated are much easier to clean and do indeed remain cleaner for longer…  as to the reduction of pathogens, all I can say is my cat is still in great health!

With a background working in many different animal establishments, I can certainly see the benefits of products such as this.  A little more info on how to dispose of any unwanted product and on the scientific evidence that backs up its non-toxic, environmentally safe claims, and it will be a product set to sell well here in the UK I’m sure. 

The Coca-Cola and WWF Arctic Home campaign was launched at the Science Museum Thursday 17th January 2013, with an interactive augmented reality experience that brought the issue of climate change, and the plight of the polar bear, to life. 

The polar bear has been an iconic marketing figure for the Coca-Cola company for 90 years, representing family and togetherness for the brand. It is for this reason Coca-Cola is pledging over £2.5million over 3 years to help conserve the home of the polar bear and to help ensure their plight is brought closer to home to consumers. 

The money pledged will be used to:

• Protect and manage what is left of the polar bears environment.
• Aid research into understanding polar bear population and habitat.
• Reduce conflict between man and polar bear, as habitat decreases.
• Fund a Polar Bear Summit, to highlight the issues it faces.
• Tackle climate change and educate on our interdependence with nature.

Raising awareness of climate change and the plight of the polar bear, Arctic Home forms part of a global partnership between Coca-Cola and WWF that began in 2007 to reduce the company’s carbon emissions and to facilitate water conversation and sustainable agriculture, by reducing Coca-Cola’s environmental impact. 

WWF are working to sustain the arctic home of the polar bear (and the many other species that require this unique environment to survive), but without government support their ability is limited. WWF is encouraging Arctic governments to hold a polar bear summit this year, to ensure the plight of the polar bear is highlighted.

The funds raised to aid the Arctic Home campaign, and the public interest generated, has the potential to attract high level attention from government leaders, with the potential to make positive changes to our future and that of the polar bear!

• ‘Global warming' describes long term increases in temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.
• 'Climate’ refers to the average weather in a region over a period of typically 30 years or more. 
• 'Climate change’ refers to the recent changes in climate, which have been observed since the early 1900’s due to global warming
• 'Greenhouse gases’ are essential to the earths atmosphere, but in the right quantities.
• Global temeratures have increased by 1oC since pre-industrial times. The last time humans saw a change like this was the dawn of civilisation.
• A rise of just 1oC will create huge problems in future, for man and wildlife, which is already being seen in the Arctic. 
• Even if all greenhouse gas emissions were stopped, global temperature will continue to rise due to the gasses already in the atmosphere.

Without IMMEDIATE action on climate change, both humans and polar bears face a very uncertain future!