ASPCA Winter Pet Safety Tips

If temperatures are dropping and snow is in the forecast in your neck of the woods, the ASPCA recommends the following tips to keep your animal companions safe and sound: Never let your dog off the leash on snow or ice. Provide your companion animal a warm place to sleep. Keep cats inside. Wipe off youd dog's legs and belly when they come in from the elements. Puppies can't handle the cold as well as adult dogs.

 

National Pet Travel Safety Day

It’s National Pet Travel Safety Day! A day to remember that protecting your pet on the road is extremely important! If you’re traveling by car, remember your pet should always wear a seat belt or be strapped in in a carrier. If you have questions about travel safety, we’ll be glad to help!

Alcohol Dangers and Pets

Did you know that alcohol is on the list of substances that your pet should NEVER consume? Be sure to keep it out of their reach at all times, and call us if any accidental ingestion should occur, so we can help right away!

Holiday Candy & Pet Safety

There are lots of holiday dangers that could affect your pet, so it’s important to be aware! We recommend keeping all candy, chocolate, and other sugary sweets out of your pet’s reach at all times, because ingestion of these edibles can seriously injure your pet! Please contact us if you have questions.

Cats & Car Engines

Did you know that cats often climb under the hood of cars to get warm near the car engine? As the nights are getting cooler, it’s important to be aware of the potential danger to your outdoor cat, as well as any neighbors’ cats. As a courtesy, it’s important to knock on the hood of your car or open it and look inside every morning before you start your car, because you never know who might be lurking inside and in danger. 

Antifreeze Danger

Did you know that antifreeze is poisonous for cats and dogs? Pets may be attracted to the chemical because of its sweet taste and smell, so it’s important to keep it stored out of their reach and wipe up any spills on your driveway or garage floor!

Black Cat Safety

We would like to remind you to keep your black cat in a safe place at home this year on Halloween, because these poor, innocent creatures have often been targeted negatively on this holiday. In order to ensure your pet’s safety, we recommend keeping them inside until the holiday is over. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about this precaution!

Today is National Pet Obesity Awareness Day

Is your pet over their healthy, ideal weight? Today is National Pet Obesity Awareness Day, a day set aside for pet owners with overweight pets, or pets that are headed toward obesity. Just as a reminder, it’s important to get your pet out doing active things, and make sure they’re eating a good diet! Being at their ideal weight can help them live a longer, healthier, and happier life!

Top 10 Safety Tips for Pet Parents

Attention, animal lovers, it's almost the spookiest night of the year! The ASPCA recommends taking some common sense precautions this Halloween to keep you and your pet saying "trick or treat!" all the way to November 1.

1. No tricks, no treats: That bowl of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also cause problems. If you do suspect your pet has ingested something toxic, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

2. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, but they can produce stomach upset in pets who nibble on them.

3. Wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations should be kept out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet might suffer cuts or burns, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.

4. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.

5. Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don't put your dog or cat in a costume UNLESS you know he or she loves it (yup, a few pets are real hams!). For pets who prefer their “birthday suits,” however, wearing a costume may cause undue stress.

6. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow. Also, be sure to try on costumes before the big night. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go au naturale or donning a festive bandana.

7. Take a closer look at your pet’s costume and make sure it does not have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he could choke on. Also, ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.

8. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.

9. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.

10. IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and becomes lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip can be a lifesaver, increaing the chances that he or she will be returned to you.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-care-tips/halloween-safety-tips.aspx

Autumn Safety Tips

Ah, fall—there's nothing like crisp, cool air, the first months of school and luscious foliage to get you excited for the changing seasons. 

Your pet, too, is probably welcoming the break from hot, sticky weather. But pet parents, beware—fall is also a time of lurking dangers for our furry friends. From household poisons to cold weather hazards, the season is a minefield! Here are some tips to keep your pet snug and healthy during the autumn months.

• The use of rodenticides increases in the fall as rodents seek shelter from the cooler temperatures by attempting to move indoors. Rodenticides are highly toxic to pets—if ingested, the results could be fatal. If you must use these products, do so with extreme caution and put them in places inaccessible to your pets. 
• It's back-to-school time, and those of you with young children know that means stocking up on fun items like glue sticks, pencils and magic markers. These items are considered “low toxicity” to pets, which means they're unlikely to cause serious problems unless large amounts are ingested. However, since gastrointestinal upset and blockages certainly are possible, be sure your children keep their school supplies out of paw's reach. 
• Training tip: If you and your pooch haven't been active outdoors in a while because of the summer heat, do some remedial recall training. Dogs, like people, get rusty on their skills if they aren't using them. 
• Fall and spring and are mushroom seasons. While 99% of mushrooms have little or no toxicity, the 1% that are highly toxic (PDF) can cause life-threatening problems in pets. Unfortunately, most of the highly toxic mushrooms are difficult to distinguish from the nontoxic ones, so the best way to keep pets from ingesting poisonous mushrooms is to keep them away from areas where any mushrooms are growing. Contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center immediately if you witness your pet eating a wild mushroom. 
• In order to generate body heat, pets who exercise heavily outdoors, or who live outdoors, should be given more food during colder seasons. Make sure horses and other outdoor animals have access to clean, fresh water that is not frozen. 
• Autumn is the season when snakes who are preparing for hibernation may be particularly “grumpy,” increasing the possibility of severe bites to those unlucky pups who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pet owners should know what kinds of venomous snakes may be in their environment—and where these snakes are most likely to be found—so they can keep pets out of those areas. 
• Many people choose fall as the time to change their car's engine coolant. Ethylene glycol-based coolants are highly toxic, so spills should be cleaned up immediately. Consider switching to propylene glycol-based coolants—though they aren't completely nontoxic, they are much less toxic than other engine coolants.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-care-tips/autumn-safety-tips.aspx