Are you in the giving spirit for the holiday season? Consider donating to our shelter pets! Shelters  provide care to animals daily and with so many animals coming in to shelters, they are always in need of supplies. We created this Shelter Wish List of items so that you can be a part of FoMA’s mission of saving and improving the lives of homeless pets in Miami-Dade County by making their lives a little better while they wait for forever homes!

Keep reading to the end of the article for a link to our wishlist on Amazon where you can easily select any items on this list and directly benefit shelter pets.

Enrichment Toys

Our County’s only open-intake shelter in Doral can be caring for as many as 400 pets at any one time so it can be hard for them to get extended time outside or to have human interaction through playtime. Enrichment items such as durable toys, feeding toys and comfort items can help with an animals’ mental stimulation and overall well-being. Dogs and cats can use the toys in their kennel while they wait for their forever families to adopt them!

Bedding and Blankets

Since the animals can be in their kennels for long periods of time, we want to make sure they have comfy bedding. These items can help pets be adopted faster – According to Operation Blankets of Love, shelter pets that appear in more home-like settings have higher rates of adoption!

Snacks and Treats

With the number of animals in their care, shelters are always in need for snacks and treats for both dogs and cats. These come in handy as volunteers use the treats in working with and training as well.

Kitten Cuddlers Supplies

Kitten Cuddlers care for neonate kittens around the clock, ensuring their survival during their most vulnerable period. With donations of kitty formula and supplies you are truly helping save the lives of neonate kittens!

Collars and Leashes

According to PetMD, dogs need to be walked from 30 minutes to 2 hours each day, depending on the breed and need for exercise! Volunteer walkers use donated leashes to walk dogs while fosters receive all the items necessary to take a shelter into their home.  So collars, leashes and harnesses are vital for our shelter pets.

And Lots of Other Items!

Our Wish List has so many items to choose from and items in every price point.  For as little as a few dollars you can make a pet’s holiday by sending them a gift and helping make their lives better.  It’s so easy to do through our Amazon Wish List. Just click the link below and select the holiday gifts you want to send our shelter pets.

Plus, if you start your shopping via smile.amazon.com don’t forget to select “Friends of Miami Animals Foundation Inc.” as your charity of choice.  You’ll be helping shelter pets and will be giving back to FoMA with every purchase, too, at no extra cost to you.  

Get started HERE: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/22OCXV3I6W4CY?ref_=wl_share

We hope you can be a part of bringing happiness to a pet in need and help make their holidays brighter!

Pet obesity is a prevalent threat to many animals’ good health. According to the Association for Pet Obesity, it is estimated that 60% of cats and 56% of dogs were overweight or obese in the United States in 2018. That’s more than one-in-two! While it may seem harmless or even “cute” if your pet has a few extra pounds, excess weight can pose serious threats to pets’ health in the short and long-term.

Below, we’ve mapped out how to tell if your pet is overweight, the dangers of pet obesity, and what to do if your pet is obese, in order to help you keep your pet healthy and happy.

How to Tell if Your Pet is Obese or Overweight

While we recommend taking your pet to the vet at least twice a year to get a professional’s opinion on their weight, here are some ways to check on your pet’s weight at home.

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To see if your cat is overweight, there are 4 areas you should look out for: their ribs, stomach, spine, and waist. When checking your cat’s ribs, run your hands along your cat’s side. If you can easily feel their ribs along with a little covering of fat, your cat is most likely a healthy weight. If you can’t easily feel the ribs, it’s possible your cat is overweight. Checking the abdomen is a visual test. If you look at your cat from the side and notice a layer of low-hanging fat, that could be a sign that your cat is overweight. When checking the spine, run your hands across your cat’s back. If you can’t easily feel the bones, your cat may be overweight. Finally, look at your cat from above. If you can’t clearly see their waist, and they’re more oval than hourglass shaped, your cat may be overweight.

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When checking to see if your dog is overweight, you will be looking for many of the same things. If it’s difficult to feel your dog’s ribs because they are covered in a thick layer of fat, then it’s likely that your dog is overweight. When looking at your dog from the side, their stomach should appear to be tucked in right before the hind legs rather than hanging down. Some overweight dogs will also have fat deposits that hang between their front legs.

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Why Your Pet’s Weight is Important to Their Health

Just like in humans, obesity in pets may shorten their lifespan, and can lead to other life threatening diseases or ailments. For instance, obesity commonly leads to many types of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension in dogs. Obese cats are no exception. They are at a higher risk for many diseases such as diabetes, liver disease, arthritis, urinary problems, and skin problems. Like obese dogs, overweight cats also experience a decreased quality of life and an increased likelihood of cancer. Being overweight will shorten your pet’s life, likely by years, and dramatically decrease their quality of life. Clearly, for both you and your pet,  it’s not worth it if your pet is overweight to let them continue on that way.

How to Help Your Pet Lose Weight

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Also like humans, there are two key factors to look at when helping your pet lose weight: exercise, and diet. Exercise or play can help your pet lose weight by burning extra calories. Take walks with your dog once or twice a day, play fetch, take them to the dog park, or go for a run in your neighborhood. For cats, a great way to help them stay active is with a simple laser pointer or other toy. You’ll have them running around the house to pounce in no time! However, it’s important to consult your veterinarian before starting any type of exercise regimen for your pet. If your pet is “out of shape” (literally!), then it is important to ease them back into an exercise routine so they don’t overexert themselves.

Secondly, your pet’s diet plays a huge role in their weight. Consider buying food and treats with a lower concentration of fat, as this will essentially act the same way as a diet does and should help your pet lose weight. Yes, you can find these foods at any major pet food store or at Chewy.com or Amazon.com! Remember that if you shop on Amazon, shop at Smile.Amazon.Com and make Friends of Miami Animals Foundation your charity of choice to support homeless pets in Miami-Dade County with every purchase. Also, no matter what type of food you are giving your pet, it’s better not to free feed. “Free feeding” is when you leave a bowl of food out all day for your pet, filling it at random times. Keep your pet’s feeding schedule to specific times of the day, twice a day.

Finally – you know what we’re about to say –do not give human food to pets, except for very rare and special occasions, even if your pet is already a healthy weight. Not only does feeding your pet human food greatly increase their chances of becoming obese, it can present serious health issues and also teaches them behaviors such as begging and stealing food, which of course you do not want to see in your pet.  If you absolutely cannot resist treating your pet, instead of fatty or carb-heavy food such as bread, cheese, or peanut butter, try feeding your dog one of these healthy fruits or veggies instead: apples, carrots, peas, green beans, bananas, sweet potatoes, or oranges.

We watched as China, then Italy, then the rest of Europe has grappled with the novel Coronavirus, aka COVID-19. Now a global pandemic, the virus has made its way into our home county and has affected each of us in one way or another. During this time, we need to draw together to protect the most vulnerable among us—and that includes the many of homeless pets who live in Miami-Dade.

Our open-intake county shelter has been forced to change their hours of operation and operating procedures, like many other organizations; this means that adoption events have been cancelled, and there are fewer adopters and volunteers coming in to help with the socialization of pets. Yet animals are still arriving on their doorstep daily, either found as strays, confiscated in cruelty or neglect cases, or surrendered by owners. As a community, we must help these innocent souls who will suffer unnecessarily if we don’t step up.

Here’s what you can do:

Foster a Dog or Cat

Right now, the county is doing one-on-one foster trainings in a sanitized, conscious setting for individuals and families who want to foster a shelter pet. You can even apply to foster from the comfort of your couch, right here on our website! Use your extra time and energy during social distancing to care for an animal in need. Plus, a pet can provide companionship, physical touch, stress relief, and mental stimulation during this difficult time.

Host a Social Media Fundraiser

With many people out of work and the economy slowing down, non-profits will no doubt take a hit in fundraising this year. Facebook has made it easy to create a fundraiser for your favorite animal non-profit and share it with all of your friends. You can select FoMA (Friends of Miami Animals Foundation, Inc.) or a rescue that you trust.  You can use the money you are saving on not eating out, deferred travel, and other activities to help save and improve the lives of our homeless pets! The funds will be used to provide supplies to our shelter’s pets during this time.

Send Supplies to the Shelter

Miami Dade Animal Services pets have needs that don’t stop during the Covid-19 pandemic. We’ve created a wish list of the most urgent needs of the shelter on Amazon, so you can click the link and purchase any item you choose. Some are only a few dollars, and every item makes a difference! Once you purchase the item from this Amazon wish list, it will be sent directly to the shelter, so you can #StaySafe and #StayHome while providing for our homeless dogs and cats from afar. Even better—shop at smile.amazon.com and select FoMA as your charity of choice to give back to our foundation with every purchase. Here is the wish list:  https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2ZU0DB1G3Q8PL?ref=cm_sw_em_r_wl_dp_Ur9yNX4B2A056

Adopt a Dog or Cat Virtually

What’s better than online shopping while sheltering-in-place? Online adopting! Even if you can’t go to the shelter or to an adoption event to find your furever best friend, or the next four-legged addition to your family, you can browse dogs and cats at Miami-Dade Animal Services completely online here: bit.ly/petharbor. Once you find the dog or cat of your dreams, you can fill out an adoption application on our website, and then we will connect you with an adoption counselor at Miami-Dade Animal Services to arrange your meet-and-greet and pickup in a health and safety compliant manner. Now is a great time to introduce a new member of your family to your crew: with added time at home, your new pet will have a better adjustment period and the “getting to know you” phase can be accelerated. You’ll also have more time at home to train your dog as well.

Keep Yourself and Your Pets Safe

If you are already a pet owner, there are certain precautions you need to take in order to keep your pets safe and healthy during the social distancing time period. Make sure that you have reviewed the below checklist with the other members of your family and that you have plans in place should the worst happen:

• Contact your vet and get an update on their schedule so you know when they are open if you need to call or take your pet in
• Refrain from letting others touch your pets; there is not enough evidence to yet determine whether a pet can contract COVID-19, but we do know that pets can spread the disease when petted by an infected person through pet-to-human contact
• Make sure you have several weeks of supplies on hand for your pets, including food, wee-wee pads, and especially medications
• Try to keep your normal routine as similar as possible despite being home all day, so that your pet does not have anxiety about your schedule change when you return to work: Keep walk times, feeding times, etc. the same
• Make sure you have an emergency contact who can take your pets or help you care for them in the event that you contract COVID-19 and need to be quarantined

It goes without saying that this is no time to surrender your pet to Miami Dade Animal Services or any other shelter.   Everyone in animal welfare is urging pet owners to make plans for any eventuality so they may keep their pets in their homes and families and in their care.

We know this is a scary time for all of us, but we also know the strength of our community and that if we come together, we will be stronger than ever. Let’s make sure our animals are not forgotten during this difficult time.