Category Archives: Tips

Top 10 People Medicines that are Dangerous to Pets

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There are many things that are dangerous to our pets, from foods to plants, from cleaners and household supplies and, of course, people medicine. There are some people meds that work great for pets, given in the appropriate dosage but there are others that can cause serious harm and even death.

Often people have a tendency to leave meds around, especially if they don’t have children to worry about getting into them but pets are curious and can get into thing too. So for their safety, always keep medicine and prescriptions put away. Even a child-proof cap is not going stop a dog determined to get into a bottle. To those teeth dismantling is a challenge.

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Heat Stroke in Dogs – Do You Know What to Do?

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This from For the Love of the Dog, it’s definitely that time of the year that we really need to take care of our furry companions.  I’m already seeing too many stories of dogs succumbing to the heat and dying, in yards but most especially in cars!!

Please, take the proper precautions and know what to do and above all, leave your dog at home in the coolness and safety of the house!

First, Know the Signs of Heat Stroke

The signs depend upon the extent of heat stroke. In the early stages, your pet will pant rapidly, have thick, ropey saliva, and have bright red gums. His body temperature will be between 104-106°F.

As the body temperature climbs above 106°F, your pet will go into shock with subsequent organ shutdown.

He will have pale gums, be weak and dizzy, with vomiting and diarrhea. The brain becomes affected and he may seizure or fall into a coma. In this case, he requires immediate, life-saving veterinary intervention.

The normal body temperature of a dog or cat ranges between 38 – 39°C or 103°F. Our pets maintain this temperature through panting, however sometimes they are unable to lose enough heat. Dogs and cats probably do suffer from heat cramps and heat exhaustion like us humans but the symptoms are mild and we don’t recognize them. The condition that we see is heatstroke, and it may cause the death of a pet.

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Parvo – How Can You Give a Puppy’s Immune System a Boost?

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Carried and transmitted by dogs, parvovirus has a 20% mortality rate in dog treated in time, an 80% mortality rate for those who are not. Much more common in puppies than older dogs, parvo grows best in the rapidly dividing cells of the dog’s intestines. As the virus attacks and kills these cells it causes massive diarrhea and halts or slows the creation of white blood cells. In young puppies it can often directly infect the heart, leading to death.

So what can you do to give your puppy’s immune system a boost to help enable them to protect their selves?

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Dognapping on the Rise – Protect Your Pets!

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This article comes from my For the Love of the Dog site and is well worth taking the time to read, for the safety of your canine companions;

Lately, if you watch the news, you will have noticed an increasing rash in the number of stolen dogs; from pets stores, shelters, vehicles, people’s homes and even off the street when someone may leave their dog unattended. The largest majority are smaller, purebred dogs because they have turned into a commodity. They’re easy to grab, transport and turn into cash. their popularity has risen dramatically recently especially with the celebs and their pocket pooches. It’s chic and thieves are taking advantage.

Here’s some information and advice to help you protect your canine companion and don’t think it can’t happen to you, it can happen to anyone! Don’t take the chance, be prepared!

Dognapping on the Rise

As the value and profile of purebred and crossbred dogs are on the rise, so are incidents of dognapping. The theft of pet dogs was once a rare occurrence, but has become a specialized criminal enterprise. Like car thieves, dognappers tend to target specific types of dogs. Toy breeds such as Chihuahuas, Yorkshire terriers and Maltese are especially desirable to dognappers as they are in high demand and can fetch upward of $2,500.

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Plants – Poisonous or Toxic to Our Pets – VIDEO

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Poison I’ve done numerous articles and posts on different things that are poisonous and toxic to our pets; plants, household substances, even trash, as well as other things, not so common, that you might not know about; xylitol, cocoa bean mulch and other substances which are more well know problems such as chocolate. As pet parents and companions, it’s important for us to know these things for the safety of our pets.

Here’s a great video by the ASPCA on problem plants. They go over 17 different plants that are poisonous or toxic to our pets. With spring here and plant season coming on full force, it is more than worth the few minutes it takes to watch the video to safeguard our furry friends from possible disaster and even death!

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Let’s Talk Chocolate Toxicity and Dogs

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Here’s an excellent article about chocolate toxicity and dogs from For the Love of the Dog. Cat owners, you have little need to worry, it seems that cats avoid chocolate for some reason. Maybe dogs could take a lesson in this!

As a dog owner, you should know by now that your dog should not eat chocolate. It is toxic and in a large enough quantity, it can kill! So let’s talk a little about chocolate and what’s in it that’s the problem.

  • The toxic component of chocolate is theobromine.
  • The half life in the dog is 17.5 hours.
  • The Toxic dose in the dog is 100-150 mg/kg (kilogram (kg) = 2.2 lbs, milligram(mg) = 1/1000 of a gram).

So for a 50 pound dog, a toxic dose would be roughly 2.2 grams (2200 mg) of pure chocolate. For a 10 lb dog, the toxic dose is 500mg.

However the concentration of theobromine varies with the formulation of the chocolate so:

  • Milk chocolate has 44mg/oz (154mg/100gm): toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 50 oz of milk chocolate.
  • Semisweet chocolate has 150 mg/oz (528mg/100gm): toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 15 oz of semisweet chocolate
  • Baking chocolate 390mg/oz (1365 mg/100gm): toxic dose for 50 lb dog – 5 oz of baking chocolate

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Do You Know What To Do for a Choking Pet?

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This is some important and helpful advice from For the Love of the Dog

A choking pet is scary and something that requires immediate attention. If you don’t know what to do and how to do it, your pet may lost their life. Read on for information about what to do for a choking pet, including the Heimlich Maneuver and Pet CPR.

SIGNS

The signs of choking are much the same as a person. Your dog or cat is struggling to breathe, with their mouth open. They may be pawing at their mouth. They may be attempting to vomit. You may hear an unusual sound as they attempt to breathe and pull air through a foreign object lodged in their throat.

CAUSES

The causes of choking are with anything that can lodge in the throat. This is fairly exclusive to dogs – cats are usually more particular. An example would be a dog fetching a ball, and having it lodge in their throat. A variety of food objects can lodge in your pet’s airway.

SOLUTIONS

CALL YOUR VET IF NEEDED. Dogs are notorious for trying to swallow things that are a little too big. The result can be choking where an object lodges in the airway.

REMOVE THE OBJECT. When time is of the essence, you must act quickly.

For a dog

  • Open your pet’s mouth
  • Grasp the upper jaw with one hand over the muzzle.
  • Press the lips over the upper teeth with your fingers on one side and the thumb on the other so that the dog’s lips are between its teeth. Firm pressure may be required. The dog then can’t close its mouth without biting itself and is less able to bite you. Pull his tongue out of the way.
  • Reach deeply in to the back of your pet’s throat and try to grasp the object. If it is a ball, and you are unable to move it, try using some type of instrument; tweezers, pliers or even a spoon shaped tong.

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Does Your Dog Chew Grass?

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My dog crops grass like a cow. He eats it with gusto whenever he encounters it, to the extent that my friends have begun to refer to him, jokingly, as ‘The Ruminant’. This habit of his doesn’t bother me at all, since it seems to have no ill-effects on him whatsoever – although, when I’m standing outside in the cold waiting for him to relieve himself during one of his infrequent small-hours toilet calls (normally his timing is much more considerate), it’s hard not to hop impatiently from foot to foot while he enthusiastically tears out the mandatory five to seven mouthfuls of grass, chews thoroughly, and swallows, instead of just getting on with the task at hand.Unless your dog’s digestion is suffering unwanted upheavals from his grass-eating habit, it’s not really a problem. Dogs have been eating grass since the dawn of time (or at least, of the species) with few ill-effects, aside from the odd bout of vomiting – and really, this is one of those things that seems to bother owners a lot more than their dogs; most dogs, will simply re-ingest the vomitus and go about their day unfazed.

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Vet Advise – Part 7 – Blood Pressure, Kidney Disease, Anemia and a Pet First Aid Kit

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Dr. Andrew JonesI’m going to be passing along some vet advise from Dr Andrew Jones, author and creator of Veterinary Secrets Revealed.

Dr. Jones has more than a decade of experience and has his own veterinary practice.

Dr. Jones also has a great online vet site called ‘The Inner Circle’ where you can find some incredible information, answers to questions, a library and forum.

Now let’s hear from Dr. Andrew Jones!

Evaluation of blood pressure, treating kidney disease, treating anemia, plus how and what to put into a pet first aid kit.

Checking the pulse and evaluating blood pressure

Evaluate your pets’ blood pressure by palpating their pulse.

The best spot to do this is on the inside of the back leg (thigh). Place your three middle fingers across the middle of your pets inside thigh and apply moderate pressure. Here you are feeling the femoral artery. This is more difficult in small dogs and cats.

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Separation Anxiety and Your Dog

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Separation anxiety is one of the most common problems that dogs develop. It’s an anxiety disorder, and is defined as a state of intense panic brought on by the dog’s isolation/separation from her owner(s).

In other words: when you leave for work in the morning, your dog is plunged into a state of nervous anxiety which intensifies extremely quickly.

Dogs are social animals – they need plenty of company and social interaction to keep them happy and content. No dog likes to be left alone for long stretches of time, but some dogs do a lot worse than others: these are the ones most prone to separation anxiety.

There are a number of contributing causes to the condition:

– Some breeds are genetically predisposed towards anxiety and insecurity, which is something you should consider when deciding which breed you’re going to go for (particularly if you’re going to be absent for long stretches of time). A few of these breeds include Weimaraners, Springer Spaniels, German Shepherds, and Airedales

– A significant proportion of dogs from shelters develop separation anxiety. Most of these ‘shelter dogs’ have undergone significant trauma in their lives – they’ve been abandoned by their previous owners – and thus they have little trust that their new-found owner (you) isn’t going to pull the same trick.

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