We live in a world chock-full of arresting — and often overwhelming — sights, smells and sounds. But while you can block all that background static with state-of-the-art Bose headphones, your pets have no choice but to soak it all in. From noise emitted by fluorescent light bulbs to overpowering air fresheners, there are many things that may seem innocuous to us — but can negatively affect your dog or cat's stress levels. Here's a look at some common sensory pet stressors. First, some background: Humans hear in the range of about 20–25,000Hz, while dogs fall in the 67–45,000Hz zone and cats in the range of 45–64,000Hz. Our voices come in at about the 300–3,000Hz range, so what this means is that there are lots of shrill sounds that can really bug your dog or cat. Excessive or loud noises can create what is known as acoustic stress, which affects felines, in particular, since they can hear very high tones — about 1.6 octaves higher than humans and one octave above dogs.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, light dimmers, some CRT and LCD displays (computers, televisions, etc.), and tea kettles are all potential sources of high-frequency noise pollution that you may not even be aware of — unless you can hear like a cat.Cheap Yorkie Puppies For Sale In Md If you really want to get serious about reducing ultrasonic noise pollution for your pets, start by turning everything down a notch — or three. English Bulldogs Puppies For Sale In Oklahoma CheapTVs, iPods, video games, washing machines and dryers can all stress out noise-sensitive species, such as dogs and cats. Delta Shower Head Increase Water PressureAnother tip that I practice with my own pets is to play low-volume classical music when they’re home alone.

Believe it or not, there are even pet-specific composers out there creating stress-busting music for pets! A cat’s sense of smell is estimated to be about 14 times more sensitive than ours. But that’s nothing compared with a dog’s powerful sniffer, which is thought to be 1,000 to one million times more powerful than a human nose. So there are plenty of aromas that could easily turn a dog or cat's tummy or tempt their taste buds — but we wouldn't even notice them. Some potential sources of offensive (and often stressful) smells include cigarettes, carpet fresheners, cleaning agents and disinfectants, potpourri, hair spray and perfumes, scented litter and a host of air fresheners. So instead of masking an unpleasant odor, try to remove the source of the foul smell. I know that's easier said than done, but a tiny trace to us is like an elephant-sized funk to some animals. I’m so sensitive about this that I even train my staff not to wear perfumes or scented deodorants to avoid upsetting my pet patients.

Although our pets don’t get stressed by the murder and mayhem plot lines of crime shows before bedtime, the bright lights and moving images can light up their visual cortexes. So even though your dog or cat appears to be snoozing at your feet as you watch TV, they’re actually in stand-by mode, monitoring all the commotion. My advice: If you want your pets to enjoy restful, restorative sleep, go to bed earlier, turn off the television and power down your smartphone, iPad and laptop. Help them (and you!) de-stress from a sensory-packed day by finally unplugging.Tips For Using Communal Laundry Facilities In our apartment building there are 15 units with roughly 40 people in them. On the main floor there are 2 washers and 1 dryer for everyone to share. Needless to say, laundry is always running around our place (even at 6am, which we have found to be the best time to do ours!) and because of it, there are a few tricks and tips we have picked up to insure our laundry turns out clean and timely.

We always, always use vinegar in our wash loads. Before heading downstairs to run a load of laundry we always fill our Downy Ball with a bit of vinegar. With so many people using the same machines day in and day out, you never know what your clothes are going to come out smelling like. The vinegar helps eliminate not only issues with our own clothes, but to rid the tub of any past cycle's smells. No one wants to smell like someone else's choice of morning-fresh-rain-shower-baby-lambs-in-a-meadow, especially when you pay for each load of laundry that is run. But then again, we enjoy the simple smell of clean laundry as opposed to whatever scent happens to be trendy at the moment. Machines that are always in use get dirty. When you live in a building where there isn't an onsite maintenance or janitorial crew, there are communal things that people have to chip in and help out with. Each time we go down to run a load of laundry, we always take a towel that has been wet with a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar.

While our load is filling, we take a few extra seconds to wipe down any surface that has some obvious grime on it. We live in an old turn of the century building and it can be a little dusty; in combination with tenants who don't always get all their soap in the machine, the two can make for a sticky mess. So rather than worrying that we are trying to clean our clothes in something that is dirty, we simply wipe things up and toss it in the load first before the rest of our clothes go in. Start a timer or leave a note. We always make note of the time each load starts so we can retrieve it shortly after it's completion. Knowing that the laundry facilities will always be in use means we must be prompt, but we have lived in buildings where tenants weren't so keen on the idea. We have also been known to leave notes, either in the bottom of our laundry baskets (that are left on the washer while our load is in) or stuck with a magnet to the washer itself. They usually have our first name and phone number on it so someone can call in case we space out or something happens that we forget all together.

Always leave a basket. Just in case someone is having a bad day and can't wait to run their load of laundry (even if you are on the stairs on your way back down to get it!), it's nice to have a basket so your clothes don't end up on the washer, closest chair or even floor. Plus, it's always a good sign that you are in fact coming back. If you don't have facilities on site and have to take your laundry to the laundromat, many of the same suggestions above do apply. A few that we might add are below: Check the rubber seal in the dryers where anything left in pockets builds up. Always pack a few extra pillow cases. They don't take up any space in your wash load, but just in case your towels dry fluffier than expected, it's nice to have another bag of sorts to get things home in without balancing your laundry like a leaning tower off the top of your basket. Check to see if the last load run contained bleach. Although it's not exactly an attractive manuever, it only takes a few seconds to determine if the last load run in the machine you will be using contained bleach.