Holiday Safety Tips

‘Tis the season for friends, family and holiday feasts—but also for possible distress for our animal companions. Pets won’t be so thankful if they munch on undercooked turkey or a pet-unfriendly floral arrangement, or if they stumble upon an unattended alcoholic drink.

Check out the following tips from ASPCA experts for a fulfilling holiday that your pets can enjoy, too.

Talkin’ Turkey

If you decide to feed your pet a little nibble of turkey, make sure it’s boneless and well-cooked. Don't offer her raw or undercooked turkey, which may contain salmonella bacteria.

Sage Advice

Sage can make your holiday stuffing taste delish, but it and many other herbs contain essential oils and resins that can cause gastrointestinal upset and central nervous system depression to pets if eaten in large quantities. Cats are especially sensitive to the effects of certain essential oils.

No Bread Dough

Don't spoil your pet’s holiday by giving him raw bread dough. According to ASPCA experts, when raw bread dough is ingested, an animal's body heat causes the dough to rise in his stomach. As it expands, the pet may experience vomiting, severe abdominal pain and bloating, which could become a life-threatening emergency, requiring surgery.

Don't Let Them Eat Cake

If you’re baking up holiday cakes, be sure your pets keep their noses out of the batter, especially if it includes raw eggs—they could contain salmonella bacteria that may lead to food poisoning.

Too Much of a Good Thing

A few small boneless pieces of cooked turkey, a taste of mashed potato or even a lick of pumpkin pie shouldn’t pose a problem. However, don't allow your pets to overindulge, as they could wind up with a case of stomach upset, diarrhea or even worse—an inflammatory condition of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. In fact, it’s best keep pets on their regular diets during the holidays.

A Feast Fit for a Kong

While the humans are chowing down, give your cat and dog their own little feast. Offer them Nylabones or made-for-pet chew bones. Or stuff their usual dinner—perhaps with a few added tidbits of turkey, vegetables (try sweet potato or green beans) and dribbles of gravy—inside a Kong toy. They’ll be happily occupied for awhile, working hard to extract their dinner from the toy.


 Adapted from an article posted by the ASPCA.

How to Stimulate Your Puppy's Growing Brain

Puppies continue to explore and learn all their lives. Though we may think of our dogs as being mostly instinctual, their brains react to stimuli whether it's a cool Spring breeze or obedience training. Because they're so aware of their environments, their actions, even to a stimulus they've experienced before, can change. A puppy raised in isolation will wind up with an atrophied brain while a puppy raised with hyperstimulation is not overwhelmed but instead develops more than average.

An understimulated puppy will appear apathetic. He will overreact to small changes and his instincts start to get screwed up. For instance, an understimulated puppy when faced with something fearful, only reacts with fear or fear-aggression - he does not seem to know that flight is also an option. It is during this time of your puppy's life that his cognitive system is rapidly developing so it's a good time to make sure he has enough stimulation in his life.

Ways to Provide Stimulation for Your Puppy

1. Take Him to New Places - This doesn't mean you have to attend an opera with your puppy or find something exciting like a carnival. Every new place you go is a myriad of new smells and sounds, a variable cornucopia of stimuli.
2. Take Him to Old Places - Places change constantly. The park at 6:00 a.m. is nothing like the park at 10:00 a.m. to a puppy. People and dogs have come and gone and the wind blows from a different direction.
3. Introduce Him to New People - This is a great time to socialize your puppy further and throw some new faces in the mix. This can be done as easily as walking him and allowing folks to meet him. You're bound to come across at least one dog person on your walk.
4. Play Mind Stimulating Games with Him - From simple games such as hide and seek to mental twisters such as which cup is the treat under, there are many games you can play with your puppy. You can also make training a game.
5. Hook Him on Brain Teasers - There are many mental exercise toys now available such as the Doggy Brain Train, Dog Activity Chess and Dog Activity Kicker. These games really challenge your puppy once you have shown him how to play with enthusiasm. You can also give your dog simpler toys such as a Kong filled with peanut butter or a treat toy by Busy Buddy.
6. Teach Him Well - Continue adding commands to your obedience training and teach him new tricks as we covered in a recent tip.

Any time spent with your puppy can be stimulating. Just chasing him around the yard or petting him offers stimulation. You can increase the mental stimulation in any activity by engaging your dog, from a simple "Watch me!" command to teaching him to track smells while hiking. Problem solving abilities are more than possible with dogs and they're something that can be nurtured and increased. You can see the possibilities at the growing number of Canine Cognitive Facilities around the U.S.

The more we stimulate our dogs' brains, the more we learn about them. They also learn more about their environment and gain confidence in handling new situations. Who knows, you might find that after a while, your puppy can even beat you at Scrabble.

Originally posted at Dogster.

Can owning a pet help you live longer?

People love their pets. More than 60 percent of U.S. households include pets, and those pet owners pour $41 billion a year into pet care [source: APPMA]. This may seem like a lot of money. But when you consider the fact that owning a pet could very likely add years to your life, a pet can quickly seem like a wise investment.

According to a study by the Minnesota Stroke Institute that followed more than 4,000 cat owners over 10 years, owning a cat can dramatically reduce a person's chance of dying from heart disease [source: Mundell]. Specifically, people who owned cats were 30 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack. Although those researchers cannot make the same conclusions about dogs based on the data they gathered, they suspect a dog study would provide similar results.
That study merely adds to the existing evidence that shows how animals can benefit human health. For example, psychologists have found reason to believe that owning a dog helps lower your blood pressure and your cholesterol [source: BVA]. And other research shows that pets help us feel better overall and help us to deal with stress, which can be a source of illness [sources: Laino, BBC News].

And let's not forget the benefits for the elderly. For example, one study observed neural activity in seniors while they walked or interacted with a dog [source: Motooka]. It turned out that walking with a dog gave seniors a boost in parasympathetic nervous system activity, which is good because the parasympathetic nervous system helps calm and rest the body.

For whatever reason, pets certainly can have a special effect on their owners. On the next page, find out more about pets' amazing ability to improve our health. Is it really possible for a dog to foresee its owner's seizures and even detect cancer?

Other Health Benefits of Pets

Stories abound about the healing abilities of pets. For instance, one boy who did not talk for six years finally chose to start talking after a therapy dog visited his school [CBS News]. Organizations, such as the Delta Society, train dogs to help disabled people perform tasks. The Delta Society feels so strongly about the health benefits of animals to humans that it is dedicated to spreading knowledge about the issue as well as services.

The psychological benefits of pets can make a big difference in someone's life. This seems to be especially true for kids who are struggling to deal with death or illness in the family. Certain studies have concluded that children with dogs cope better with these serious situations [source: Howie]. Researchers believe this probably has to do with the obvious fact that pets provide love and with the fact that the structured routine required for taking care of a pet is a positive for the child. Kids aren't the only ones who benefit from pets during these difficult times; the spouses of cancer patients said they believed pets helped them cope as well.

The health benefits of dogs go beyond psychological factors. As it turns out, dogs might be useful in the field of medicine to detect and predict medical problems. In one study, trained dogs were able to identify patients with bladder cancer by smelling their urine [source: Willis]. Although the dogs were not accurate all the time, they identified the right patients at a rate much better than chance. This revealed surprising evidence for the use of dogs as well as further knowledge about the effects and detection of bladder cancer.

What's perhaps more amazing, however, is that certain dogs can predict when their owner is about to suffer an epileptic seizure. Trainers can teach some dogs to help a person in various ways during a seizure. In addition, some of these dogs end up developing the mysterious ability to actually warn the owner before he or she suffers a seizure [source: CBS News]. The group that trains these dogs, Canine Assistants, claims that most dogs develop the prediction abilities within merely a year of being with their owner. Researchers are at a loss to explain how exactly dogs can do this.


Originally published by Animal Planet.

Beating Boredom - What Indoor Cat Owners Need to Know

Cats are predators, made for a life of action. As more and more cat owners opt for keeping their cats securely indoors, cat behaviorists are seeing a new cause for behavior problems: boredom. Many cats simply do not get enough stimulation in their secure indoor environments. That can lead to a myriad of behavior problems or simply to a bored, sleepy, and often overweight feline.

The right amount of stimulation is essential for our cat's physical and mental well-being. There are many ways in which we can enrich our cats' lives, so let's review our ten ideas for fighting kitty boredom:

1. A cat enclosure is a great way to let your cat enjoy the atmosphere of the great outdoors while keeping her safe. You can read more about cat enclosures here, and get some inspiration for building your own here.

2. A window sill shelf is probably a more viable option if you live in an apartment. Even if you have no access to a backyard, and thus can't build an enclosure, you can still place a cat shelf right next to a properly screened and secured window, allowing your cat a safe place from which to look out and check out the street.

3. Speaking of shelves, the more cat furniture you can put up for your cat, the better. Whether you call them cat trees, cat gyms or cat condos, providing your cat with solid and stable places to climb and perch on, will add more space to her territory and more places to explore. You can find more information about cat furniture here, and a list of quality cat furniture online shops here.

4. Cat toys are a great weapon in your fight against kitty boredom! Try a variety of toys, to see which ones your cat prefers. Keep the toy collection out of reach, and provide your cat with only 2-3 toys at a time, rotating them every few days. Read more about cat play and cat toys here. Don't just think about cat balls and fake mice here, try interactive toys such as the SmartCat Peek-A-Prize Cat Toy Box.

5. Catnip can be a great way to spice up kitty's day. Try it with your cat to see if he or she reacts to catnip, as not all cats do. If catnip works for your cat, you can use it in toys or just sprinkled around in a nice little heap, once in a while. If catnip doesn't work for your cat, you may want to try honeysuckle instead.

6. Interactive play is a great way to relieve kitty boredom while strengthening that special bond between you and your cat. Try fishing rod type toys, where you can simulate a hunting scene, by moving the object around as if it were a mouse or a bird. Make sure your hands do not come into contact with the cat during those games, as cats will naturally be aggressive towards prey.

7. Work-For-Treats type toys can be a great option for some cats. Instead of just giving out treats to your cat, leave them in a toy such as the Play-N-Treat Cat Ball, with some dry kibble treats inside. The extra play and work will keep Kitty entertained and happy while you're away.

8. Send your cat to the movies. Or rather, try letting Kitty watch nature-show DVD's produced especially for cats, such as the popular Kitty Movie DVD. Not every cat responds to recorded shows, but some do find them fascinating, so it could be worth a try.

9. Depending on your cat's character and your neighborhood, you may consider training your cat to walk on a leash for some joint outdoors excursion. This solution is not for every cat, and the training process can take a while, but some owners and cats find it a good arrangements and there's nothing quite like a supervised walk outside.

10. Lastly, if you're worried about leaving your cat alone for long hours, consider getting him or her a feline playmate. Obviously, there are more aspects to be considered when it comes to the decision of whether or not to adopt a second cat. Not all cats benefit from having another cat introduced into their lives, and you could be looking at a long and demanding introduction process. Usually, this is a better solution with kittens or younger cats, but it could also enhance the life quality of some older, more sociable cats.


Originally published at The Cat Site.

Cookout Safety

Do you spend your summers cooking out on the grill? There’s nothing like family dining time out on the porch, but don’t forget that it’s not as safe for your pet as it is fun for your family. There are many potential dangers for pets in a grilling environment, especially because they will want to spend a lot of time right near the grill. A pet can grab a fallen piece of food and may swallow it whole from excitement, or a pet can be burned by a hot piece of food or coals falling on them. Remember that most of the foods we grill are on the list of foods that pets should NOT eat, including chicken with the bones in it. Do your pet a favor, and keep them inside the house until the grilling is over. 

The Dangers of Treated Wood for Pets

Pressure treated wood was used for over 68 years in both residential and commercial applications. While it is no longer supposed to be used in residential applications, it’s been used to build decks, walkways, fences, picnic tables, raised garden beds, dog houses, and other structures where a wood that’s resistant to the elements is needed. However, pressure treated wood poses many dangers to our pets (as well as our families) that you may not be aware of.

The process for pressure-treating lumber was invented by Dr. Karl Wolman, and he was issued a U.S. patent for it on September, 29, 1942. The wood product created won’t decay or rot for over 20 years. The wood used was most prevalently preserved with chromate copper arsenate (CCA) and its use began to cease in 2004 due to safety concerns. However, it is still in use in several industrial applications and in some countries around the world. Arsenate is a salt or ester of arsenic acid, in short arsenic which is an exceedingly toxic chemical, as well as a known carcinogen. CCA toxicity can be caused by inhalation of gas created by burning CCA treated wood in a fire. It can also be caused by a dog eating the wood or ashes from a CCA wood fire. One tablespoon of ash from CCA wood contains a fatal dose of arsenic.

Splinters under the skin can cause an infection, and skin coming in contact with the treated wood or lumber can cause dermal irritation or a rash. One Wisconsin man reported his 85 pound Labrador began to show signs of lethargy, no energy and stiffness. It was thought that the dog was poisoned through inhalation of vapors inside his cage (made from CCA treated wood) or through skin contact or even ingesting the wood of the cage. A Pennsylvania man reported that he had been sawing CCA treated wood for about three months, and a few months into the project his dog died of unknown causes. Under certain conditions the chemicals used to preserve the wood can leach out. Arsenic is water soluble and can mix with rainwater puddling on a deck.


How do you protect your pet if there is CCA treated wood on your property? Make sure there are no puddles on your deck after a rainstorm; watering the grass with a sprinkler or power washing windows might also cause the deck to get wet. Never feed, water or give treats to your pet on the deck, and keep their toys off the deck. Limit their access to the deck; if limiting access is not possible, consider a rug for them to lie on. When laundering any rug from the deck wash it by itself to keep from cross contaminating any other items you launder.

Check the deck to see if it needs to be resanded to prevent paw splinters. Wash your pet’s paws and fur after their contact with the deck. Don’t let your pet play in wood chips or soil under or around CCA treated wood unless they test negative for arsenic.

If you’re building or buying a dog house, make sure it is not made with pressure-treated wood. To protect the wood, use paint, stain or oil that is non-toxic. If you have an outdoor project, consider vinyl alternatives or naturally resistant woods like cedar or redwood. Use reclaimed cedar or redwood. Use regular wood and treat with linseed oil or non-toxic stain or paint, and replace it more often.

As the use of CCA as a wood preservative is being discontinued, other preservatives that use the same process are taking its place: Amine Copper Quat (ACQ-D), Copper Azole (CA), Alkaline Copper Quaternary (ACQ) or Quat for short, and Amoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate (ACZA). There are pros and cons on both sides of the issue, and if you’re a pet owner I would suggest caution when using any pressure-treated wood.

If you believe that your dog or cat may have been exposed to CCA, you can contact the following poison hotlines for information on symptoms and treatment, as well as prevention of a future incident.

Pet Poison Helpline website, (800) 213-6680. Calls from the United States are answered 24 hours a day.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. Available 24 hours a day for emergencies at: (888) 426-4435.


Originally Written by Ruthie Bently, Published in 2010.

Cleaning Your Pet's Toys

Did you know that it's very important to clean your pet's toys, just like you'd clean your child's toys? Your pet's toys are carried primarily in their mouth, so it's important to clean and sanitize them periodically. We recommend disinfecting your NON-POROUS pet toys with a properly diluted bleach solution, followed by a thorough rinsing and airing out to remove any residue, would not be expected to cause harm to your pet. However, if you prefer to use an alternative without the potential for harsh fumes, you can try using hot water along with a mild liquid dish soap, such as Dawn or Palmolive, to clean your pet's toys. Just remember, keep the toy AWAY from your pet until it's been properly rinsed and dried.