Why Getting a Pet for Christmas Can Be a Mistake

 

It can be very exciting for a child to get a pet as a gift for Christmas. But, giving a pet as a gift for Christmas really may not be the best thing to do. This video will explain why that may be so.


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Halloween Pet Safety Tips for Your Dog or Cat

Halloween Pet Safety Tips for Your Dog or CatHalloween Safety Tips for Keeping Your Dog or Cat Safe

Even though Halloween can be a fun and festive time for your children and family, in many cases that is not t same for your pet. In fact, for many pets Halloween can be a nightmare for these family members. Stress and danger can be very real for many pets. Please take the time to read this article and hopefully your pet will have a happy Halloween also.

 

Candy and Halloween Treats Safety Tips:

“All forms of chocolate, especially baking or dark chocolate, can be dangerous, even lethal, for dogs and cats.
Symptoms of chocolate poisoning may include vomiting, diarrhea, rapid breathing, increased heart rate, and seizures.
Halloween candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar and subsequent loss of coordination and seizures. And while xylitol toxicity in cats has yet to be established, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Halloween Safety Tip – Confine Your Pet – Keep Inside and Away from the Door

Keep your pet inside. Don’t put outside. It has been known that pranksters have teased, injured, stolen, and even killed pets on Halloween night. Be careful and avoid this potential tragedy.

Keep your pet away from the door. Your door be constantly opening and closing on Halloween. Also strangers will be dressed in unusual costumes and yelling loudly for their candy. This could be scary for your pet. Dogs being territorial may become anxious and growl at innocent trick-or-treaters. Putting your dog or cat in a secure room away from the front door will also prevent them from darting outside into the night and who wants to be searching for a lost pet on Halloween?

Especially, If your pet is scared of strangers or has a tendency to bite, be sure to put it in different room when trick-or-treating is occurring or give your pet a safe place to hide.

If you have an outside cat, keep the cat inside a few days before and after Halloween. Do not let cat to be outside on Halloween. Black cats are especially susceptible to pranksters and most humane shelters do not adopt out black cats in October.

Plants and Pumpkins Halloween Pet Safety Tips

All pumpkins, corn and any other Halloween plants need to be out of reach to all pets. Even though these are generally nontoxic, these can induce gastrointestinal upset if your pets should ingest them in large quantities. Also, Intestinal blockage can even occur, especially with corn cobs, if large pieces are ingested.

Also don’t keep lit pumpkins around your pet. They could possibly knock it over, burn themself or even start a house fire. A curious kitten is especially at risk of getting burned or singed by candle flame.

Halloween Decorations Pet Safety Tips for Dogs and Cats

If you have electical decorations be sure wires and electrical cords out of reach. If chewed, your pour pet chews on the decortions it could be cut from shards of glass or plastic. If the electricl cord is chewed the peourt could get possible life-threatening electrical shock.
If you use glow sticks and have glow jewelry, be sure to keep it away from your pets. Even though the liquid material in these products is non-toxic, the taste is really bad and will makes your pet salivate profusely and act weird.

Halloween Pet Costumes Safety Tips

It is best not to put a pet in a costume unless you know that they love being dressed up. Also place the costume on your pet the before Halloween. This will give a chance to see how your pet reacts to the costume. Take the time to get your pet accustomed to the costume before Halloween, and don’t leave your pet without supervision while wearing a costume.

If your pet gets distressed, becomes nervous, or demonstrate other abnormal behavior, just let go in their “birthday suit”. Use a simple festive bandanna instead.

“The ASPCA recommends that you don’t put your dog or cat in a costume unless you know he or she loves it. If you do dress up your pet for Halloween, make sure the costume does not limit his or her movement, sight or ability to breathe, bark or meow. Check the costume carefully for small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that could present a choking hazard. Ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.”

Pet Halloween Safety Tip – Have Proper ID

While opening and closing the door for trick-or-treaters, be diligent that your dog or cat doesn’t rush out the door. Just in case, be sure your pet is wearing proper identification, a collar with ID tags (be sure that the information is up to date) or a microchip can be your best way of finding a lost pet.


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Microchipping Your Pet | A Pet Microchip May Can Prevent Heartbreak

Many pet owners love their pets as a member of the family. They would be devastated and heartbroken if their pet ran away or somehow got lost. Having a microchip implanted in your pet is a great way to assure that, in the event that your pet does run away or get lost, he will be returned.

Problems with Dog Tags that a Pet Microchipping Eleiminates

It is often required that pet owners have tags put on their dogs with the address and contact information for the pet’s home. The idea is so that if the dog is lost, anyone who finds it can contact the owner. There are quite a few problems with this idea. First, the dog might not have their collar on. If the tags have been removed for any reason, anyone who finds the dog cannot see the owner’s information. Secondly, with an increase in dog attacks, people who do not know a dog are less likely to get close enough to check the tags on a dog. They are much more likely to call the local humane society or pound.
Microchipping

The brilliant idea of placing a microchip into the skin of a beloved pet has been a routine practice for many years. A vet simply can inject a microchip, which is about as small as a grain of rice, into the pet’s skin. The microchip is then matched with the owner’s name, address, and phone number. In a way, the pet is linked to the owner with permanent tags.

How Does A Pet Microchip Help?

When a pet is lost, it often ends up in the pound. Most pounds or humane societies are equipped with a machine that can read the microchip beneath the skin. This allows for the pound to contact the owner. Many times lost pets can get mixed in with those to be euthanized, and, with no way to contact an owner, this can be the sad fate for many pets.

Microchipping allows for the pound or veterinary hospital to get in contact with the owner and to let them know they can come pick their pet up. This can be a great relief for the owner as well as the pet.

Things to Consider for Microchipping Your Pet

Well, with any advancement in a field, there are problems. There are pets that end up in rescues and are adopted into a new home. When they are adopted into a new home, the new owner might not be aware of the pet’s history. The pet might be linked to its previous owner, and when the pet is lost, the pound would then get in contact with that previous owner.

The good news is that you can update the new owner’s information and link it to the microchip. Many companies who do this, do it for free to owners who adopt through a rescue.

When deciding to own a pet, there are many things to consider. Microchipping is a wise decision that will insure that your pet remains a part of your family. It is the simplest and most efficient way to keep track of your pet and make sure he returns to you in the event he is lost. Do your pet a favor, get him microchipped. The quick, easy, and painless procedure could be the difference between reuniting with your pet, or losing him forever.

 

Bell Shoals Animal Hospital
1401 Bell Shoals Road
Brandon, FL 33511
1.813.654.6600

Looking for a veterinarian and animal hospital in the Brandon FL area with professional and compassionate pet careo?
Call us for the best the veterinary pet healthcare in Brandon.


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