Why Pets Are Not Good Gifts

We see lots of Christmas puppies this time of year at the veterinary practice I work at. New pets seem to be popular gifts. But unless you know, with 100% certainty that the recipient of the pet wants and has the ability to care for the pet, it is probably a better idea to choose a different present. Last spring we visited the local animal shelter and were very saddened by the huge influx of rabbits and bunnies they shelter had to take in after Easter.

There are a lot of differences between giving a pet as a gift and giving something else. Pets as gifts are unusual in that they make a lot of demands on the gift recipient that other types of presents do not. To give a pet to someone is to give them something that will demand a great deal of their time and money in the months - or in the case of a cat or dog, or some other pets - years to come. That's placing some serious demands on the receiver of a gift.

New puppies and kittens can be especially expensive. They require a series of vaccinations that spans many weeks until they are 16 to 20 weeks old depending on where you live and the biggest health threats around your area. By the time these series are complete, including dewormings and other routine puppy and kitten preventative health measures, the person who receives the gift will likely spend several hundreds of dollars. Then there is spaying or neutering surgeries, that will again be in the hundreds of dollars for most new pets. Food, training classes, beds, litter pans, and scratching posts all add into what the new owner will have to pay for as well.

The cost to buy a puppy or a kitten as a gift to someone else is actually the smallest cost associated with owning that new pet.

Where and when I think giving a pet as a gift can work, are in cases such as when a family had decided that they are ready to have a pet, but the parents decide to time the arrival of the new pet (that they would be getting anyway) with a holiday or birthday. They knowingly are taking on all the additional expense and labor involved with getting a new pet onto themselves, not placing that burden onto someone else.

Tips for Keeping Your Pet Safe on Halloween

A lot of people worry about the dangers from Halloween tricksters, or other strangers, with more evil intentions, to their pets on Halloween night. Some shelters stop adopting out black cats, or all cats, for the month of October. From my research, I was not able to find any evidence that animal cruelty increases around Halloween. It seems that the people who intentionally hurt animals don't limit themselves to October to do so.

However, it seems that no one has ever really studied the issue in a serious way either, and lack of good evidence may be due more to a lack of any well done study. That's why many rescue organizations take a 'better safe than sorry' approach by setting limits on adopting out pets that may be at risk.

This Halloween danger to pets seem to get a lot of press, and a cause a lot of worry in the minds of many pet owners. However, there are many very real, and much more common Halloween hazards for cats and dogs that many owners never think about. I've written about many of the major Halloween hazards to cats and dogs in this article:

Pet Safety Tips on Halloween

Office Chairs: Selecting a Pet Proof Chair, Or Pet-Proofing the Chair You Have

This is my cat on one of our destroyed office chairs. Through a lot of trial and error, I've learned what makes a great pet-proof office chair. When Associated Content asked for an article on the subject of selecting a pet-proof office chair, I knew I had some useful tips to offer. I've been down this road more than once with my own *cough* sweet and loving *cough* cats.
Click here to read the full article.
If you have your own tip, I'd love to hear it. I know there's more than one (or tow) ways to pet-proof a chair! Please share your pet-proofing tip here, or in the AC article comment section.

Safe Summer Outings With Your Dog

Have fun in the summer sun while keeping your dog safe from heat stroke.

Heat stroke can strike when you may not suspect it. Those 100-plus-degree-days at the end of July are sometimes less dangerous than the first few warm days of summer when your pet is less acclimated to the heat. Making judgments based on your own comfort and exertion levels is a good start but there as significant differences in how a person's body copes with heat, versus how a dog's body can. Unlike people, dogs can't sweat. Their only real means to lower their body temperature is through panting. If they get into a situation where their temperature is rising faster then they can pant, they'll be in serious trouble in a matter of minutes.

You would never risk the safety of your beloved pet. You know not to leave him in a car on a warm summer day, you make sure he has plenty of fresh water, and you make sure he has a cool, shady place to rest in the yard. Yet many dog owners, just like you, end up racing to the emergency room every summer anyway, with their dog suffering from heat stroke anyway.

A dog's normal body temperature should be between 100 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. According to veterinarians Roger W. Gfeller and Michael W. Thomas, temperatures over 106 degrees is a life-threatening emergency. At high body temperatures in dogs, organ and brain damage start to occur. The longer the temperature remains elevated determines the severity of the damage. Certain factors can put a dog at greater risk of falling victim to heat stroke, such as age (older dogs are more susceptible,) size (a larger body mass increases risk,) and breed (short nosed breeds such as pugs and boxers cannot pant as efficiently).

Preventing heat stroke is always better than treating it after the fact. Dogs with heavy coats can be kept trimmed short during summer months. When you're on an outing with your dog, make sure to provide them with plenty of rest, shade, and cool drinking water, even if you feel fine yourself. Don't count on your dog to limit himself. Many will literally play until they drop, so it is up to you to set restrictions. Signs of heat stroke to watch for include: increased breathing, heavy panting, excessive salivation that may progress to a dry mouth, grayish or red gums, disorientation, lethargy, and at the most severe, collapse and death.

At the first sign of overheating, you need to start helping your dog to cool off, and seek veterinary care immediately. If your dog can still drink, offer cool water. You can also use water to cool his body. Use water that is cool, but not cold. Don't use ice as it will cause the blood vessels in the skin to constrict, and actually slow the heat exchange needed. Good areas to focus on are in the groin, tummy, and armpit areas because there is usually less hair to get in the way. If you have any available, use rubbing alcohol on the pads of the feet or even the skin. It evaporates even faster than water does so it will speed up the cooling.

After doing what you can to lower your dog's temperature, get him to a doctor without delay. Minutes count. If you have a phone available, it's best to call ahead and let the veterinary hospital know you're on your way. They can then make any preparations necessary to treat your dog as soon as possible. Even if your first aid produces positive results it is still important to seek medical attention to determine how much damage, if any, has been done. Blood tests may be necessary, as well as hospitalization and fluid therapy depending on if any organ damage has occurred.

Summer outings are all the more enjoyable when your dog buddy comes along. Being aware of these danger signs, and knowing what to do should your dog get more heat than he can handle will make sure you have many, many more enjoyable summer days together.

Ear Infections Inside and Out

Common ear infections in children and dogs are different problems

Even though veterinarians and pediatricians both use the term “ear infection”, they aren’t referring to the exact same condition. Not all doctors are great at explaining exactly what is happening inside your dog, or child's ear.

There are ear infections, and then there are ear infections. My baby had an ear infection recently. I was shocked! There was no black debris in her ears. She didn’t shake her head, or have smelly ears like my dog did with his ear infection. Why would they say she had an infection without any of these symptoms?

I didn’t really think that, but it did get me wondering. The pediatrician made her diagnosis by looking in my baby's ears, just like veterinarians do for dogs and cats. Yet I know that unlike dogs, who most commonly get external ear infections, or otitis externa, children usually get middle ear infections (otitis media). If the infection wasn’t in the actual ear canal, what was the doctor seeing in my child's ear to diagnose the infection?

Dog ear infections can be caused by a number of factors: water getting trapped in the dog's ears from bathing or swimming, allergies, or foreign objects (like foxtails) to name a few. Some dog breeds may be more prone to developing infections due to differences in ear anatomy. Deep ear canals and large floppy earflaps can trap moisture and provide a perfect little breeding ground for bacteria or yeasts.

When the veterinarian looks into a dog or cat ear, they aren’t just looking at the debris. They are looking at the skin inside the canal, at the eardrum, and to see if there are any foreign objects present. Then they may take a swab sample from the dog's ear canal and examine it under the microscope. Treatment will depend on what type infections they find, but will usually involve an ear wash and a topical ear ointment. Oral antibiotics and steroids may be used for severe infections.

For babies and children the ear infection isn’t usually in the ear canal, it’s in the middle ear behind the eardrum. When human children get an external ear infection, it's called ‘swimmer’s ear’. When the pediatrician looks into a child’s ear they may see a bulging or inflamed eardrum. Puss may be visible through the eardrum as well. The child may pull or rub their ears, but mine did not. Frequently babies will run a fever.

Anatomy comes into play for the babies too. Their ears are not yet fully developed, and the Eustachian tubes (sometimes called auditory tubes) are short and lay more horizontal than those of an adult. Any bacteria or fluid that makes it into the Eustachian tubes of an adult normally drain right back out again when they yawn or swallow. In a baby, it’s easy for the fluid to get trapped, especially if the child has recently had a cold or other infection that caused the tubes to swell a little.

Some doctors will give oral antibiotics to a child for an ear infection, some will not. Topical medication wouldn’t be effective since the infection is on the inside of the baby's eardrum where the medication wouldn't reach it.

Babies and dogs can also get inner ear infection which affects balance and hearing. This can be more serious condition, but fortunately, is also much more rare both in dogs and children.

Regardless if it's your child or your dog (or both) that has the infection, you should make sure to follow the instructions from their doctor in order to clear it up. Understanding what is happening inside that infected ear will help you understand and follow through with any treatment prescribed.

Adopting a Stray

While few things sound simpler than the "He followed me home" method of acquiring a pet, sometimes it isn't so simple to take in a stray.

For tips on adopting a stray pet, and pitfalls to avoid, click here to read more

Are Puppy Classes Worth It?

With our already busy schedules, it may feel like puppy training classes aren't worth the time or expense. Your puppy's behavior isn't too awful anyway, right?

But puppy classes do more for your dog than just teach them to sit. Read more.