Pet Products Review - ASPCA's Pet Valentine's Day Tips
As you have seen, I love my pets, and want to do something special for them on Valentine's Day. There are important tips to know, lucky for us, ASPCA has put them all together for us. Here they are:
Pet Valentine’s Day Tips
Valentine’s Day can be as much fun for pets as it is for humans if dangerous foods and fauna and other items are kept out of paws’ reach. Each year our poison control experts see a rise in cases around February 14, many involving chocolate and lilies, a flower that’s potentially fatal to cats. So please heed our experts’ advice—don’t leave the goodies lying around on Lover’s Day.
Pet-Safe Bouquets
Many pet owners are still unaware that all species of lily are potentially fatal to cats. When sending a floral arrangement, specify that it contain no lilies if the recipient has a cat—and when receiving an arrangement, sift through and remove all flowers. If your pet is suffering from symptoms such as stomach upset, vomiting or diarrhea, he may have ingested an offending flower or plant. Use our online an online toxic reference libraries as visual guides of what and what not should be in your bouquets.
Forbidden Chocolate
Seasoned pet lovers know the potentially life-threatening dangers of chocolate, including baker’s, semi sweet, milk and dark. In darker chocolates, methylxanthines—caffeine-like stimulants that affect gastrointestinal, neurologic and cardiac function—can cause vomiting/diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures and an abnormally elevated heart rate. The high-fat content in lighter chocolates can potentially lead to a life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas. Go ahead and indulge, but don’t leave chocolate out for chowhounds to find.
Careful with Cocktails
Spilled wine, half a glass of champagne, some leftover liquor are nothing to cry over until a curious pet laps them up. Because animals are smaller than humans, a little bit of alcohol can do a lot of harm, causing vomiting, diarrhea, lack of coordination, central nervous system depression, tremors, difficulty breathing, metabolic disturbances and even coma. Potentially fatal respiratory failure can also occur if a large enough amount is ingested.
Life Is Sweet
So don’t let pets near treats sweetened with xylitol. If ingested, gum, candy and other treats that include this sweetener can result in a sudden drop in blood sugar known as hypoglycemia. This can cause your pet to suffer depression, loss of coordination and seizures.
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Don’t let pets near roses or other thorny stemmed flowers. Biting, stepping on or swallowing their sharp, woody spines can cause serious infection if a puncture occurs. “It’s all too easy for pets to step on thorns that fall to the ground as a flower arrangement is being created,” says Dr. Louise Murray, Director of Medicine for the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. De-thorn your roses far away from pets.
Playing with Fire
It’s nice to set your evening a-glow with candlelight, but put out the fire when you leave the room. Pawing kittens and nosy pooches can burn themselves or cause a fire by knocking over unattended candles.
Wrap it Up
Gather up tape, ribbons, bows, wrapping paper, cellophane and balloons after presents have been opened—if swallowed, these long, stringy and “fun-to-chew” items can get lodged in your pet’s throat or digestive tract, causing her to choke or vomit.
The Furry Gift of Life?
Giving a cuddly puppy or kitten may seem a fitting Valentine’s Day gift—however, returning a pet you hadn’t planned on is anything but romantic. Companion animals bring with them a lifelong commitment, and choosing a pet for someone else doesn’t always turn out right. If you're still not sure, make a donation to your local rescue.
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Say what you want about Pam Anderson, but the buxom bombshell loves animals.
The former "Baywatch" star jumped in and appealed to the Indian Supreme Court recently to prevent the killing of stray dogs in Mumbai.
Anderson, a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, supported PETA's opposition to a recent ruling by the Bombay High Court that nuisance strays could be killed. She appealed to the court, calling for sterilization programs.
"Dogs cannot use condoms, but with the municipality's help, they can be 'fixed' -- painlessly, quickly and permanently," she wrote in a letter to Mumbai city council leaders.
Last week, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that a dog can be put down only if it's rabid, mortally wounded or incurably ill.
"A dog cannot be exterminated because it barks," a lawyer told the court.
Makes us want to watch old re-runs of "Baywatch."
D is for DOWN
Your dog is NOT being stubborn. He really didn't understand you.
Sometimes fixing small mistakes can make a BIG difference.
If your dogs are not always listening to you when you tell them down, they may simply be confused. Here are some things to check. These common mistakes are usually the root of the problem. It is rarely that the dog is deliberately being stubborn; instead you are unintentionally being vague.
1) Was your dog taught to get into the down position from a sitting position and the standing position. For some dogs you must think of down as an action (moving the body from one position to the next). If the pup was only taught DOWN as a movement of the front end to the floor from a sitting position, then the dog may not understand you when you say down while they are standing. They might eventually figure it out, but you could help them it would be faster. Just teach the DOWN position using the Lure-Reward method from both a sitting and standing position.
2) Are you giving HUGE Body Language signals. Sometimes when teaching we bend down and get right in the dogs face as if this will help them hear us better. In fact it ruins the verbal command training. The body language we give (bending, staring, pointing, leaning, reaching) is too "loud" for dogs to ignore. Dogs are more adept than humans at reading body language and if we consistently signal our dogs with body posture or hand gestures BEFORE or DURING a verbal command the "very loud" visual signal cancels out the verbal command. The dog ends up spending so much time trying to decipher our body language that they can't concentrate on what we are saying.
The result is that during a training session the dog appears to do fine--getting the commands for sit, down and stay from our body signals. Then, when the handler's body signal is absent (almost always in real life) the dog can't perform. When we are on the phone, carrying a bag, looking away from the dog, sitting, holding a door it is impossible to signal our dogs with our body as we did when training. At this time all we have is our verbal command, which the dog effectively never learned (or never had to learn because we kept giving such loud hints with our bodies). The result is that it looks like the dog is being stubborn. It is OK to use hand-signals, but they must be given AFTER the verbal command and only after the dog has had time (Verbal Command... Pause... Hand Signal) to hear and think about the verbal command.
3) Are you doubling up on a command and expecting different actions?
Your dog is on the couch and you say, "GET DOWN!" What should happen? You probably intended for your dog to get down from the couch, but what can happen is that your dog lifts her head, looks at you and thinks: I am down. Then your dog puts her head down and goes back to sleep. It is really important to pick different commands for different actions. If DOWN means to assume the position of laying down, then you must pick another command for communicating to your dog that they can't jump, or that they must get off of something.
Pet Products review - Morris Animal Foundation Veterinary Memorial Program and Sympathy Cards
Recently, I had a friend who lost their kitten and to tell you the truth, I did not know what to say or where to find a suitable card. Well the people at The Morris Animal Foundation, one of the countries premier vet organizations is helping us with this difficult issue.
The Morris Animal Foundation Memorial Card Speaks Compassionately to the Sadness of the Pet Owner, and Builds Client Loyalty for Growing Practices. When veterinarians make donations in memory of pets, clients receive personalized cards that communicate grief and identify a commitment to finding future veterinary cures. There is a $10 minimum per card for veterinary memorial donations – a small price for a big gesture.
With the proceeds from the sale of the cards, The Morris Animal Foundation provides research at leading veterinary institutions. This research advances veterinary medicine, which enables you to provide patients with the best care possible. Memorial gifts make this possible. Make your confidential donation on behalf of your little one at: http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/pdf/memorial_card_flyer-1.pdf
or To send a card to by calling:
Morris Animal Foundation at
(800) 243-2345
Minimum donation is $10 per card.
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This is a story about two women who saved a dog's life. And how someone can help.
It was first told by a Cleveland TV station, then broadcast on ABC's "Good Morning America," and clearly shows how difficult it is for people during these tough economic times. But it could have a happy ending for someone looking for a companion pet.
One night, Cecilia Miller's grandson found a young dog curled up outside the basement window of her home in Alliance, Ohio. It was bitterly cold outside, but no amount of coaxing could persuade the puppy to come indoors.
Miller called her neighbor, Wanda Martin, a longtime dog lover. Martin carefully placed a pillow and comforter outside for the dog. The next day, she fed him some cheese.
"From then on, we were buddies," the 79-year-old Martin (pictured above) told a Cleveland TV station.
They bonded. When she finally got a chance to pet him, Martin found a note tucked under the dog's collar that read, "Hi, my name it Kujo. I am a nice dog. My owner can't feed me. Please help me. I'm great with kids too." There was a smiley face at the bottom of the note.
With almost 8 million pets given to shelters each year, this was nothing new. Pets can be expensive to feed and care for, especially now. But Kujo, who is possibly a mix of Boxer and a German Shepherd Dog, seems like a special dog.
"He walked right in the family room and made himself right at home with my grandson," said Miller, who is 77. "He's real gentle with the kids and my grandson. He can be real contented and minds well."
Trouble is, Kujo is a bit too big and playful for the two seniors, who share feeding and caretaking duties. They want to find him a good home.
ABC has asked that anyone who's interested helping or adopting Kujo to send an email. We're betting they get plenty of responses.
