Halloween Isn't Always a Holiday Treat for Pets

The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) would like to remind pet owners that although Halloween may be a fun holiday for humans, but it can be a potentially dangerous and frightening time for pets. Here are a few tips to keep your pets safe this Halloween:

•Keep pets indoors in a secure, comfortable area with a radio or television playing in the background. Many pets fear the noises of trick-or-treaters.

• Always keep current license and ID tags securely affixed pet your pet's collar. A license tag is the only voice a pet has if he or she becomes lost.

• Do not leave pets outside unattended. Loud noises frighten pets and they may panic, become confused, and go through great lengths to escape their enclosures.

• Keep pets away from all candy. Chocolate, which contains theobromine, can be poisonous to pets, causing nerve damage and even death.

• Properly dispose of all candy wrappers. Tinfoil and cellophane candy wrappers are tempting treats for pets and can cause pets to choke or to have intestinal blocks.

• Keep pumpkins or jack-olanterns away frompets. Pets can easily knock them over, which could result in a burn.

•Halloween pet costumers can pose safety hazards for pets. Do not dress your pet up unless he or she is used to it. Make sure the costume does not restrict their movement, vision, hearing, or the ability to breathe or bark. Halloween pet costumes should not have small or dangling accessories that can be swallowed by your pet.

• Post the numbers of emergency clinics as well as the number of your local animal control agency on your refrigerator or another location where you can easily find them in case of an emergency.

Read Full Entry

Halloween safety tips for pets

Pet parents beware. The fun of trick-or-treat night can quickly turn into a nightmare if you don't take precautions to keep your pets safe. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals asks you be on the lookout for potential dangers.

No chocolate treats: Keep candy out of your pet's reach. Chocolate, particularly dark and baking chocolate, and candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can be dangerous to dogs and cats. Call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, 888-426-4435, if you suspect your pet ate something toxic.

Decoration danger: Halloween décor such as pumpkins and colorful corn are relatively nontoxic, but they can cause stomach upset. Put carved pumpkins with burning candles where pets cannot easily knock them over. And prevent a life-threatening electrical shock by keeping wiring that lights your decorations out of pets' reach.

Wardrobe malfunctions: If you dress up your pet, make sure the costume doesn't constrict him. It should allow him to move, hear, breath and bark or meow. Also, be sure the costume is free of small pieces he might chew off and swallow.

Read Full Entry

Pets - nature's own mood enhancer?

Psychologist Fran Vertue has just written about how pets can make people feel secure and loved. It's well worth reading. And it made me think again about how having a pet can shift your thoughts and emotions.cI've nearly always had a cat in my house, for the past 20 years. But I didn't have a dog around until two years ago. And, maybe coincidentally, I think I'm a more cheerful person than I was two years ago.

True, I've asked my partner and he doesn't notice a difference: he points out that I still get stressed and grumpy when rushing for a bus or plane, and I can still be heard addressing the TV with bad-tempered comments such as "wankers". (In my defence I find this hard to avoid, most nights, and in this interactive age I view it as feedback.

But for me, from the inside, I feel less bothered, more smiley, more likely to laugh at things that don't matter. I think this would have happened anyway, as I've managed in those two years to rebuild my working day into one that's manageable and productive rather than a constant hassle, through the simple solution of working from home. Plus I'm two years older, past a certain milestone birthday, and with age comes calm wisdom, right?

Still, though, I'm sure that the impact of my dogs on me is to improve my humour and shorten any negative moments that happen. Each dog makes me laugh at least three times a day. Multiplied by two dogs, that's six laughs a day. They're also drop-dead cute, so that's at least six "awww" moments per day, easily outweighing the "ugh" and "ewww" moments. The dogs also need exercise, so that means a good deal more fresh air, movement and collegial conversation (with other dog walkers) than I would have had otherwise.So I can see how the dogs improve my wellbeing. But "secure and loved"? Hmmm, not sure that it applies to me. But evidently it does for a lot of people, especially those on their own or dealing with a big setback in their lives. Has the presence of a pet ever helped you through such a time? Or lifted your mood like a natural anti-depressant or tranquilliser?

I wonder about one more thing. You'd think that a person who feels more secure and loved, or whose mood is generally lifted and made more positive, will become a better or "nicer" person. They'd be less stressed than otherwise, more forgiving or cheerful. So do pets generally lift the quality and likeability of humanity? Or do they just make a person feel better about themselves, not about other people or the rest of the world, leaving them grumps who reserve their best behaviour for Marley or Miss Happy Paws? Research that one, psychologists.

Read Full Entry

Pets of the Week

Ginny is a female black and smoke-colored, short-hair tabby cat. She is under 1 year old. Ginny loves people and is very social with them. She is not a fan of other cats, but she is OK as long as they don’t come up to her and try to be her friend. Ginny is a lap cat and is looking for a loving home where she can lie in someone’s lap to her heart’s content.

Butch is a 1-year-old neutered male white and red boxer mix. He is very sweet and active. Butch would be good with other friendly dogs and older children. Shelter staff do not recommend him with cats or children under 5.

Ginny and Butch are available at the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter. Adoption fees are $85 for puppies under 4 months old, $92 for dogs over 4 months and $55 for cats and kittens.

All adoptions include at least one vaccination and a rabies vaccination for dogs over 4 months. All animals are spayed or neutered and are microchipped prior to adoption.Dogs receive a new collar and all cats go home with a pet carrier.

Read Full Entry

Pet Care - There's No Other Job Quite Like It

"Pets are such agreeable friends, they ask no questions and they pass no criticisms" said George Eliot about pet animals. Pets often reciprocate the love that their masters lavish on them by demonstrating various forms of affection including licking, hickeys, even love-bites.

There's no other job quite like keeping a pet. Pet care is in fact a permanent job, and includes the very important functions of grooming and striving to maintain good pet health care. General pet supplies could be considered a definition of useful tools for grooming and keeping your pet in good health.

Pet Supplies:

An essential list of pet supplies for purchase could include the following: pet food and food dishes, pet id tags and collars, pet medications, supplements and tonics, etc. Some other items to consider are animal carriers, pet houses and furniture, pet beds, clothes, and pet jewelry.

Online Pet Supplies:

Online pet supplies are supplies that can be purchased from pet stores over the Internet. There are numerous pet grooming product manufacturers and pet-grooming stores selling their products online through their individual official websites.

Pet Grooming Supplies:

Pet grooming supplies include items such as grooming clippers, pet hair care products, soaps, shampoo and perfumes.

Pet Health Care:

Pet health care is a very important responsibility of pet ownership. For puppies and kittens, or any other four-legged pets, important treatments would include giving a hygiene bath, cleaning, combing, brushing, checking ears, paws, teeth and underside of the tongue, nail trimming, removing fleas and insects, and fixing regular meetings with a professional veterinary. A good pet owner should follow a regular schedule of grooming sessions.

Pet care can require a lot of patience. Like children, pets often require special attention. A puppy, kitten or any other pet in its infancy needs to be handled with extreme care. In particular they must be groomed properly, fed carefully, and bedded properly.

Choosing A Pet:

The process of choosing a pet is very important. Choosing a pet depends on one's preferences, but there are still some important things that should be kept in mind. One should always choose an animal of good breed. Secondly, the pet should be healthy especially if it is still in the initial stage of its life. A healthy young pet shows good fast growth.

Pet Grooming Business:

The pet grooming business is a flourishing business today. There are numerous pet grooming schools offering the equivalent services of a pet grooming professional. People hire the services of these professional experts for the proper grooming of their pets. Professional pet grooming is becoming quite popular in United States, Canada, and European countries.

Read Full Entry

Humane Society announces free rabies clinics

The Waldo County Humane Society will host a series of rabies clinics in towns around Waldo County this fall. The first clinic will be held Saturday, Oct. 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Waldo Pierce Reading Room, Main Street (Route 1A), Frankfort. Dr. Blake of Blake Veterinary Hospital will be the attending veterinarian.

The rabies shot will be free to animals residing in Waldo County. Pets from other counties are welcome to come for their shots for a small fee. Remember to bring all animals on leashes or in portable pet carriers.

The clinic will also serve as a fundraising and awareness event for Miss Millie's Cupboard, the Frankfort-based food pantry for domestic companion animals. Miss Millie's Cupboard was opened last March to help local families in need of assistance feeding their pets.

"I kept hearing about people who needed to surrender their pets because they couldn't afford to feed them. I knew I could to do something to help," founder Reba Stewart remembered. "The need has been overwhelming. Times are hard, people are losing jobs, and whatever I can do to help pets stay with their families is a good thing."

To help support the pantry a bake and book sale (with books donated by Waldo Pierce Reading Room) will take place on the day of the clinic across the street in the parking lot at the Frankfort Town Office from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Miss Millie's Cupboard will be open from noon to 2 p.m. that day. Donations of cat or dog food, as well as any monetary donations, would be gratefully accepted.

Donations to Miss Millie's Cupboard may also be mailed to: MMC, 67 West Hill Road, Frankfort, ME 04438. Starting in November, Miss Millie's Cupboard will be open the last Saturday of each month from noon to 2 p.m. above Frankfort Town Office for those in need of food for their pets. For more information about Miss Millie's Cupboard call Reba at 223-4334.

Additional WCHS rabies clinics are planned for Saturday, Oct. 30, 9-11 a.m. at the Freedom Town Office, and Saturday, Nov. 13, 9-11 a.m. at the Brooks Fire Station. In addition to the rabies shot, coupon discounts toward the cost of having your pet spayed or neutered can be picked up at any Waldo County Humane Society rabies clinic and used at local vets' offices.

Read Full Entry

Halloween's coming; keep your pets safe

The ghoulish holiday is still a few weeks away, but store aisles are filled with candy and decorations now. This most likely means many pet owners are buying the stuff now, and so it's time for the annual halloween advisory.

Keep holiday treats and candies out of your pet's reach as they can make your pet quite sick. Candy wrappers cause an upset stomach. Chocolate, particularly unsweetened, dark, bittersweet and baking chocolate, can be toxic to pets, especially dogs, who are more prone to eat it. If your dog eats chocolate, call your veterinarian or an animal poison control center, as treatment may be needed immediately. Symptoms of toxicity include excitement, nervousness, trembling, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst or urination, muscle spasms and seizures.

Keep gum, candy or breath fresheners containing the sweetener xylitol away from your dog. When a dog eats even a small amount of xylitol, it causes a surge of insulin, and the animal's blood sugar may drop quickly and dangerously. Cases of liver damage have also been associated with ingestion of xylitol. If your dog ingest xylitol, contact your veterinarian or an animal poison control center immediately.

If you plan to partake in Halloween festivities, such as answering your door to trick-or-treaters, keep pets in a quiet part of the house. Pets can become overexcited, confused or frightened by trick-or-treaters in costume. Watch for open doors and make sure your pets have ID tags and/or microchips in case they do get out. Remind your guests that your normally friendly pet may want to be left alone. Young trick-or-treaters may be scared of dogs who run excitedly toward them when the owner answers the door. Outdoor pets, especially black cats, should be kept indoors on Halloween. Halloween decorations such as fake cobwebs should be kept out of reach of pets. Glow sticks can be hazardous if chewed or ingested. Light strands, loose wires and electric cords can be a serious hazard to your pet, especially puppies, who may chew them.

Never leave candles, such as those in jack-o-lanterns, unattended, especially around puppies and kittens.

Never allow your pets to eat a leftover jack-o-lantern, as a rotted, moldy pumpkin can make them seriously ill.

Some pets might not mind dressing up for Halloween, but for others it could be a stressful experience. Costumes should fit properly and not hinder your pet's movement, vision or breathing.Have your pet try out the costume several times before Halloween so it can get used to wearing it.

Read Full Entry

Pet Care Supplies Is Essential

When you own a pet you have to take ample enough of time to treat your pet with love and tender care. Looking after a pet may be an easy job. But with it comes basic things that every pet dog or pet cat should have. Here are some of the things that every pet owner should have or own when they have a pet in their warm home.

1. Pet supplies- It is essential that the pet owner makes a list of what is good for the pet. Make it a point that pet supplies should include pet food, food bowls, collars, pet medications, and pet tonics. Other things that you can consider are pet furniture, pet houses, clothes and pet jewellery (accessories).

2. Pet Grooming Supplies- It is necessary that you groom your pet once in a while. It helps to improve hygiene and keeps your pet healthy. Some of the pet grooming supplies are that of clippers, pet hair care products, pet shampoos and soap.

3. Pet Health- When you own a pet it is your duty to see that your pet is clean and free from fleas. Regular visits to the vetniary is a must as it helps to keep a routine check on your pet's health. Important treatments related to pet health is that of regular baths, combing, brushing, checking its ears, brushing of teeth, nail trimming etc.

4. Care For Your Pet- It is very important taht you set aside time for your pet. Like how a child is loved and cared for, your pet should also be treated with love, care and respect. A puppy or a kitten has to be handled with alot of care and special attention is required. They have to be fed carefully and groomed properly.

5. Pet Insurance- Like how you get yourself insured. It is advisable if you get your pet insured too. There are many insurance companies that provide helath insurance for pets, so make use of it and secure the life of your adorable pet. These are some of the tips that every pet owner should keep in mind when they own a pet.

Read Full Entry