Holiday Safety Tips for Pets

Kitten-indoor-playtime

The holiday season is upon us, and many pet parents plan on including their furry counterparts in the festivities. As you gear up for the holidays, it is extremely important to try to keep your pet’s routines as close to normal as possible during the holiday madness. Also, for your safety (and sanity) and theirs, make sure to be careful with how far you go with your holiday decorations. Here are some tips to make sure your pets have a safe and happy holidays with the rest of the family.

Secure Your Christmas Tree

Make sure you securely anchor your Christmas tree so it doesn’t tip and fall, causing possible injury to your pet. This will also prevent the tree water from spilling which can cause your pet to get sick.

No Meeting Under The Mistletoe

Mistletoe and Holly can be poisonous or sometimes deadly to your furry holiday companions. Opt for safer artificial plants made of silk or plastic, or a pet-safe bouquet.

Wires, and Batteries, and Ornaments Oh My!

Keep wires, batteries, and glass or plastic ornaments outside of a paw’s reach. Wires could give your animal a potentially lethal electric shock, and a punctured battery can cause severe burns to their mouth and esophagus, while shards of broken ornaments, outside of being a pain to clean up can be a safety hazard to your pets’ paws.

No Desert for Fido

Of course, it’s a no brainer to never feed your pets chocolate or anything sweetened with xylitol, but, to make sure your pets don’t get into anything they’re not supposed to, make sure to keep your pets away from the table and unattended plates of food, and be sure to secure the lids on garbage cans.

Careful With The Adult Beverages

If your celebration includes some extra booze in the eggnog or other cocktails, be sure to place your drinks where pets can’t get to them. Alcohol can put your pets into a coma which can ultimately lead to death.

I know this sounds extremely gloomy for the holidays, but making sure your pets are safe can make sure your pets help you bring in the holidays without worrying about what trouble they can get into.

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Rainy Day Fun With Your Cat

Kitten-indoor-playtimeWith Fall now in full swing, the rainy days have once again come to Upstate New York. However, just because you want to curl up with your favorite blanket and binge the latest season of your favorite show on Netflix, doesn’t mean that your feline friend wants to as well. So, here are some great ways to entertain yourself and your cat at the same time. Plus, you get to add to the multitudes of cat videos on social media.

The Treasure Hunt

Cats are hunters by nature, so an excellent way to stimulate your cat is to set up a treasure hunt for your indoor cat. You can hide special treats for your cat inside puzzle feeders for your cat to discover. Also, spread a few around the house so that they never know when they’re going to find a treat. This is a great option to break up boredom for the cats when left home while their humans are at work.

The Agility Course

Creating a homemade agility course for your cat sounds complicated but actually isn’t at all. Start by making a paper bag tunnel and then give them a treat when your cat goes through it. Then add a second obstacle, then a third, and so on. Cats love being active and love the exercise. More important though, is to make it fun and stress-free, for yourself and for the cat. One of the nice things about a homemade agility course is that you can customize it as you see fit and build it to match your cat’s physical abilities.

The Paper Bag

One of the great things about cats is that it doesn’t take much to entertain them. Sometimes, all you need is a paper bag and they’ll be entertained for hours on end. One thing you can do is take 3 or 4 and put them around the room and sprinkle a little catnip inside the bag and watch your cat dive, pounce and generally act silly.

iPad Playtime

If you’re feeling particularly tired from the day, you can also set up an app (yes, they have apps for cats) that lets them hunt after bugs and fish. Some of the apps, even interact when the cat catches a fish or bug.

Whatever indoor games you decide to set up with your cat, keep in mind that your furry feline friend was born to move, and they have highly tuned senses. While it’s important to keep them safe indoors, it is also very important to provide them with adequate stimulation and environmental enrichment. After all, indoor games and activities may go a long way in preventing behavior problems down the road due to boredom or separation anxiety.

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How to Prepare for a Summer Road Trip with Pets

dog in windowSummer is all about having fun, right? But when you plan your summer road trip, there’s more to it than just packing up your stuff and driving away. Your pets need to be planned for as well! Make sure your pets are comfortable and taken care of for your vacation by following these tips for summer road trips!

Familiarize yourself with animal travel gear

Responsible passenger, wearing his seatbeltIf you’ve never traveled with your pet before, pay close attention to this tip. Having the right pet travel gear is a must for long trips! First step is to go and visit the local pet store to see what types of harnesses they have. Look for a dog harness with a handle on top, which makes it easier to walk with your dog as well as strap your animal in the car by running the seat belt strap through the harness handle. Just remember – a harness might be uncomfortable for your pet to wear for the first time, so make sure you give them lots of praise and treats!

Check your pet’s health prior to traveling

Niya @ the vet'sBefore taking your pet on a long road trip, have them examined at the vet for any health conditions. You want to make sure that your pet is updated on all of their shots and vaccinations, especially if you’re traveling to an area that will have other animals your pet might be in contact with. Finally, stocking up on your dog’s medications is a great way to ensure you’ll be prepared throughout your travel, especially if the trip ends up lasting longer than anticipated.

Test your pet in the car

It was, apparently, an exhausting weekend!If your pet has never really traveled in the car for long periods of time, you want to test out their behavior over time. Practice by taking pretend road trips that are in short bouts of time, but are long enough to test your pet in the car. During these short trips, check your pet to see if they’re nervous or are drooling excessively or panting. If this is happening, you might want to consider treating your dog with anti-nausea medication for the real trip to prevent over-heating or discomfort.

Potty-train

Tongues outIf you’re bringing a very young animal on your trip, it might be more difficult simply due to potty-training. If your animal hasn’t yet learned to use the restroom on command, you might want to make this a priority before your road trip. While you might be able to pull over every hour to make sure your animal doesn’t go in the car, you’ll be more efficient and effective if you can hold off stopping that often and having inner peace knowing your dog can hold it for longer.

Toys

southbound MA to FLALastly, don’t forget to bring the toys for your road trip! Toys will help keep your pet occupied and more comfortable on the long trip. They’ll also help to be distracting during any potentially stressful situations in the car.

 

 

Lisa Podwirny is the owner of Ketchum Mfg. Connect with her on !

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It’s National Pets Are Wonderful Month!

April is officially Pets Are Wonderful Month (PAW), a time to honor the animals that bring love and happiness to our lives. There’s no question that our pets give us love and companionship daily, but they are also benefit our physical and mental health too.

Research has shown that pets can improve our cardiovascular health, reduce stress, decrease loneliness and depression, and facilitate social interactions among people who have pets. That’s why pets are so frequently used in nursing homes, for people with disabilities and children with autism. Here are five benefits of having a pet:

Good for the heart

In one study, people who never owned a cat were 40 percent more likely to die of a heart attack than those who did. Another study showed that people who owned dogs had a significantly better survival rate after one heart attack. In general, pet owners have a lower risk of dying from any cardiovascular disease than non-pet owners. Owning pets has also show to lower your blood pressure too.

Natural mood enhancers

Pets are natural mood enhancers; just a few minutes of watching your cat or dog play will instantly reduce your anxiety and stress levels. Therapists have even prescribed pets as a way of dealing with depression. Because no one loves you more unconditionally, or listens to you talk without interruption, than your pet. Having a pet can brighten even the worst of days!

Better physical fitness

While this one may be a given, people who have pets tend to be more physically active and less obese than those who don’t. And exercising with your pet will benefit both of you! Just two 15-minute walks a day will ensure you meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity. Plus, who makes a better exercise buddy than your four-legged friend?

Social interaction

Having an active social life is key to staying healthy. And pet owners have a tendency to interact with other pet owners. A dog is an instant conversation starter. Bring your furry friend to the local dog park and the social interaction will blossom.

Sense of security

Pets also provide us with a sense of security. Dogs in particular can alert us of potential hazards and intruders. They can also seek help in emergencies. For example, the “seizure dog” has been trained to live and work with people who have epilepsy. They bark to alert parents when a child is having a seizure. Some even lie next to a person having a seizure in order to prevent injury.

Here at Ketchum, we were thrilled to find out that April was National Pets Are Wonderful month. So, get out there and hug your furry friends today. We sure will!

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Preventing Hypothermia and Frostbite in Dogs

As the temperatures continue to drop into the lowest temperatures of the season, we’ve all started to pull out the warmest of sweaters, socks and any other accessory that will shield us from the cold. Unfortunately for our pets, there’s not much they can do to protect themselves from the freezing temperatures like we can. Hypothermia and frostbite are two of the most common winter problems that your dog can suffer from, which is why it’s important for you to know the facts and how to prevent these problems from happening to your beloved pet!

What causes frostbite?

DogFrostbite is the name given to tissue damage that’s caused by exposure to extremely cold conditions. In order for dogs to conserve their heat, they reduce the amount of blood flow to the peripheral parts of his body, such as his ears, paws and tail. Without blood in these areas, they lack warmth and oxygen and as a consequence, ice crystals may form in the tissue which can then cause that tissue to die.

Symptoms of frostbite

The difficulty with frostbite in dogs is that because dogs are covered in hair, it’s challenging to find areas that might be impacted by it. The signs to really look out for are very pale skin, usually found on the belly area, which will be very cold to the touch.

You’ll also notice that once the skin starts to warm up, it will become red and swell, which will also prove to be very painful for your pet. After just a few days, the skin will then become dry and will appear to be scaly.

How to treat frostbite

Trapper in the SnowIf you notice an area on your dog that you think might be frostbite, bring your pet to a warm area and put heat on the area immediately. Most importantly for frostbite, make sure that you resist the urge to rub or massage the affected area since rather than helping, you’d really be hurting your pet, releasing toxins that can further cause damage to the tissue.

Call your vet and describe the severity of the frostbitten area. The vet can then determine whether it’s better for you to bring your dog into the office or if it’s better for you to stay home and monitor him for the next few days. If you do see your vet, they will likely prescribe your pet pain killers and antibiotics to help ease your dog’s pain and look at removing any dead tissue.

What causes hypothermia?

Sally in the snowHypothermia occurs when your dog’s temperature falls and stays below its normal range of 100.5 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. When a dog is suffering from hypothermia, this means that he is losing body heat faster than he can replace it. This can happen when you’re walking your dog outside or even when he’s playing around outside in the backyard during the winter.

Symptoms of hypothermia

  • shivering;
  • lethargy;
  • muscle stiffness;
  • lack of coordination;
  • low heart and breathing rates;
  • fixed and dilated pupils;
  • collapse;
  • coma.

How to treat hypothermia

Wee Westie Under Wraps

In order to treat your dog for hypothermia, you must focus on warming them up so that their core temperature returns to normal. If you’re walking with your dog and notice he is suffering from the cold temperatures, you need to immediately prevent him from losing any further body heat by picking up your dog and running him into the house (if he’s small enough!) or walk quickly back to the house to warm up.

Once you’re in a warm environment, make sure you’re in a heated room where the floor is well insulated and find a blanket to wrap your dog in. It would be ideal to keep him in this position until his internal temperature returns to normal. If you don’t have a thermometer, don’t fret, as long as you pay close attention to him and get him to the point where he’s no longer shivering and appears to be acting normal again, it’s a pretty good indication that your dog’s temperature is back up.

The next time you’re getting bundled up to take a long walk with your pup, remember that while you might be able to go the distance in the cold weather, they might not be able to go quite as far. By reading the information above and preparing your pet for the cold, you now have the knowledge necessary to keep your furry friend safe from hypothermia and frostbite!

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