Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HELPFUL HINTS
DEAR READERS: Summer’s underway, and June is Pet Preparedness Month. Do you have a disaster plan for your pets?
You’ll need to put together a pet emergency kit. What should you include? Let’s take a look:
■ Water and bowl, food, a toy, leash and/ or carrier and meds.
■ Photo of the animal and history of vaccinations.
■ First-aid kit: Gauze bandages and hydrogen peroxide.
■ Pet tags should be up to date and secure on the collar.
■ Do you have your pet microchipped? A computer chip the size of a grain of rice can reunite you with your pet if it gets lost.
■ Make sure your neighbors know what pets you have. Notes about your animal’s behavior are helpful.
■ Have the phone number to your veterinarian programmed into your phone.
Talk with a pet-care expert for more hints.
DEAR HELOISE: For those of us with allergies, asthma and migraines, please, please, I beg all of your readers to not bring anything with a scent on an airplane.
We can become very ill from your beautiful fragrances. We know you love them, and they may smell wonderful, but they make us sick. Please use unscented everything when you will be in close quarters. Thanks.
— Patti H., via email
DEAR READERS: What does an ice cream cone have in common with an eggshell? They each can be used as a seed starter.
Poke a drain hole in the bottom of an empty eggshell or cone. Fill with rich soil and drop in a couple of seeds.
Mist often; you should see growth within two weeks.
DEAR HELOISE: We make fresh fruit pops by freezing lemon lime soda with different fresh fruits: pineapples, blueberries and watermelon. — Gaby E. in San Antonio DEAR READER: One caution: Not for the little ones; I’d recommend a plain pop. The fruit could be a choking hazard.
DEAR HELOISE: I love healthy wheat and oat bran cereals, but not just for breakfast; it’s easy to make a delicious trail mix snack with them.
To the cereal I can add nuts, pretzels, dried fruit, candy-coated chocolates, marshmallows, corn chips … the possibilities are many.
— Anne in Texas