Posts Tagged ‘Pet Safety’

How Many Cats is too Many?

Monday, April 13th, 2009

How many cats do you think is too many? Most people have between one and three cats, which seems reasonable, but there are those people who go overboard. If you’re adopting more cats than you can possibly take care of, remedy the situation before law enforcement does.

Recently, a woman in New Jersey was found with nearly 100 cats running around her $1 million home. Law enforcement got a search warrant, and went in to check out the situation. They immediately took over 20 cats out of the house, and plan to take the remaining 70 or so in the near future.

Some of the cats had health problems, while others were thought to be offspring of feral cats that got in the house and bred with the pets that lived there.

This shows that you can’t have as many cats as you want, even if you live in a $1 million, 12 bedroom house. It’s simply too much for one person or one family to care for while still leading healthy lives themselves.

People like this seem to believe that by taking in any cat that needs a home, they are doing good in the world, but this isn’t the case. By taking in a cat when you don’t have the means to support it, you are effectively making that cat’s situation worse.

While the cat may have food and shelter, it has the share those things with dozens of other cats. Having so many cats under one roof can cause respiratory problem, fighting and an inability to clean up all of the spots where the cats will vomit, urinate and defecate.

If you know of cats that need a home, find a good shelter for them. Don’t take the responsibility on yourself to care for all of the cats, you’ll just make their lives, and yours, worse than they should be.

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Chocolate and Dogs: How and Why it Effects Them

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Easter is around the corner, and that means more chocolate in the average household. While you’re scarfing down that creme egg or solid chocolate bunny, it’s important to keep that kind of stuff away from your dogs.

Chocolate doesn’t agree with dogs in the same ways it does with humans. While it tastes good and makes us feel happy, it can affect the central nervous system of your dog and possibly be fatal if large amounts are consumed.

There is a chemical compound in chocolate called theobromine, which has negative effects on dogs and cats. In small doses, this will cause some digestive problems, but large doses can be much more harmful.

Some of the effects theobromine can have on dogs include excitability, irritability, an increased heart rate, muscle tremors, vomiting and diarrhea. If a combination of these symptoms start to appear in your dog, it’s possible that your pet consumed some chocolate.

Different kinds of chocolate have different levels of theobromine. While the amount of theobromine in each kind of chocolate can’t be pinned down, there are some general guidelines to go by. Milk chocolate has the lowest levels of theobromine, and will most likely only cause digestive problems. Semi-sweet chocolate has the next highest level of theobromine, and the largest amount can be found in baker’s chocolate. If your dog consumes a couple of ounces of baker’s chocolate, it’s time to worry.

If it’s only been an hour or two since the chocolate has been ingested, inducing vomiting can be helpful. If it’s been longer than that, you’re best bet it to call a vet and see what they have to say.

Here’s a video that explains a little bit more about chocolate poisoning:

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Effects of Marijuana in Dogs

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

As marijuana becomes more acceptable in society, it’s important to realize what kind of effects the substance has on your pet. It’s possible for your pet to be under the influence of marijuana in a couple of different ways. These ways include ingesting it by eating, or inhaling second-hand smoke.

Marijuana affects dogs differently when compared to the effects humans experience. It isn’t just that dogs feel the same effects to a greater extent, THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) has a different effect on their biological functions.

When a dog ingests marijuana, a few different things can happen: the dog may get woozy, vomit, urinate involuntarily, and in some extreme cases, marijuana can cause seizures, comas and even death. During a study done in 2002, 250 cases of marijuana ingestion were reported to the ASPCA and two deaths resulted in those cases. While death is not a common occurrence, it shows that marijuana and pets are not something to take lightly.

Some people think it’s funny to get their dog high, but they probably don’t realize what the dog  is going through. It isn’t just the physical effects that damage the dog, mentally the dog doesn’t know what’s happening. The dog becomes fearful and scared when under the influence, even if just from second-hand smoke. It may look cute, but the amount of mental and physical damage to your dog is not worth the risk.

As the stock market falls, people are looking for new ways to boost the economy. One way people are talking about is legalizing marijuana. This may or may not actually help our country’s financial situation, but either way, it’s making the drug more main stream. If your one of the people who believes it’s okay to partake in smoking the substance, just make sure to keep it out of reach from your dog.

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Retractable Dog Leashes Cause Serious Injury

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

People are losing their limbs and their vision because of retractable dog leashes, according to some reports.

Some of the leashes have metal pieces that break off and fly up to hit dog owners in the face, while others are causing cuts and, in some cases, loss of limbs because of the material that the leash is made out of. A thinner-than-average material is required to be able to retract into the device, and this can cause injury to humans and dogs that get tangled in the leash.

Some of the victims in these cases have settled out of court, and others are still in the process of suing the companies who made the allegedly faulty products.

Companies are defending themselves by saying the leashes were misused, because dog owners were using the leashes on dogs that were too big for the product. Some companies also said injuries were caused when a dog had behavioral problems, tried to run and snapped off a piece of the leash.

First of all, dogs are going to try and run off of the leash, that’s what they do, and that’s what the leash is made for. If a dog didn’t try to run off while on walks, there wouldn’t really be a reason for the dog to wear a leash. For a leash maker to blame his leash breaking due to a dog’s behavior doesn’t work.

That would be like a seat belt maker blaming his belt breaking on the person who crashed. When the car crashes, it’s the belt’s job NOT to break. The same can be said about a leash that snaps when a dog tries to run after something.

It looks like retractable leashes are a bad idea dog owners should stay away from. There are plenty of leashes out there that are a lot safer and won’t break as easily. Please don’t be cheap when it comes to something that’s so important.

Howard goes to the vet while on a leash

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Learn About Dog Depression

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Dogs that hang around the house all day can get depressed. If they aren’t getting enough mental and physical activity, they become bored and need something to cheer them up. One effective tool to help your dog can be food puzzles.

Food puzzles are dog toys that force dogs to work for their food. Instead of pouring food in a bowl and having the dog chow it down within minutes, the puzzles keep dogs occupied for hours. This can help with dogs that are bored or depressed due to lack of mental and physical stimulation.

In the wild, dogs spend hours hunting food. This is dramatically different from the simple lives pets have now where they don’t have to work for their food. The puzzles can help with that by forcing the dogs to figure out how to obtain food inside the toy.

Not all dogs are a good match for the puzzles. If your dog is skinny, sick, or is having trouble eating already, this might not be the right toy. Puzzles are for dogs who are energetic and need something to do during that day.

If your dog is tearing up the house while you’re gone, this might be the product for you. Your dog is probably messing up the house because it has more energy than it knows what to do with. A puzzle will expend that energy while you’re at work, leaving your house in the same shape you left it (hopefully).

If your dog seems depressed, and the dog toy isn’t doing the trick, it’s possible that something more serious is wrong. Sometimes, dogs that are in pain act depressed, so if you can’t seem to cheer up your pooch, it might be time for a vet visit.

Howard Huge laying around the house

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Pet Microchips: The Information You Need

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie or Big Brother, but it’s actually a good way to find your pets if they ever get lost.

Microchips are small scannable objects that are implanted under an animal’s skin. These chips store an identification number that can be traced back to the owner and how to contact him or her. The chip is about the size of a grain of rice, so it’s relatively unobtrusive to the animal.

At first, it seems like implanting anything in your pet could cause some damage, and it is possible. Although some people claim that it’s possible for tumors to form around the site of the implantation, other studies say this is extremely unlikely, and this might happen in one in a million cases.

Any pet can be microchipped, but that doesn’t mean every pet should be:

If microchipping isn’t for you, there other routes to take besides hoping a collar and tag will stay on. It’s possible to tattoo information on your pet that can be traced back to you. This procedure is a little controversial, but can be effective if you don’t want to inject anything in your animal.

A lot of pets that run away or get lost aren’t recovered. It’s a sad fact, but if you believe your pet is at a high risk of getting lost, the rewards of a microchip can outweigh the risk.

A way to make sure Howard doesn't run away

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