Animals Unfolded

Summer is officially here, and it's a season filled with a lot of fun for us humans — but from a pet's vantage point, it can prove to be quite difficult — especially during Fourth of July and other gatherings. Fireworks (and in some cases gunfire) are unfamiliar and frightening to pets of all species.   Independence Day isn't my favorite holiday because of that. It's hard to see so many pets frightened by the noise and lights associated with fireworks.   As we've all experienced, the noise of fireworks doesn't occur just on July 4, and that can be challenging. This time of year — along with New Year's Eve — are prime times for missing pets, as many become frightened and dart out open doors. Injuries from coming into contact with fireworks can pose a threat during this time as well.   The onslaught of extra people in the house — or lack thereof, if you're away — can bring on anxiety too, as can the noise that sometimes accompanies the fes...

Peanut butter is a staple on most pantry shelves, and in homes with dogs, it's especially useful. Most of my clients leave a jar designated for their canine family members, and I use that to fill their Kong toys to freeze and enjoy. The ubiquitous product is also a popular vehicle to help administer oral meds to dogs.  By and large peanut butter is a safe product to offer to our pets, so long as it's simply peanut butter and not coupled with other ingredients.  It's reasonable to expect that peanut butter and peanut butter spreads that are devoid of enhancements like chocolate or hazelnut spread are safe, but one peanut-based spread came to light recently and illustrates that reading ingredient labels is key when it comes to pet safety.  A popular line of peanut spreads by Nuts ’N More — most prominently the peanut butter flavor — might easily be dismissed as something safe and offered up without a second thought. Why are wholesome and healthy products li...

We've plenty of medications available to help keep or make our pets well, and to manage pain. When our veterinarian prescribes a drug for our animal companions, it might come in the form of a tablet or capsule, a liquid suspension or it may even be compounded as a transdermal. The latter is especially convenient and stress-free for both pet and human (as the medication is administered by applying to the inside of the ear flap), but unfortunately few drugs can be delivered into the body in this way. Thyroid and anti-depressant medications, as well as prednisolone are options, just to name a few. Another caveat is that this method is more expensive, making it prohibitive to many families.  Tablets and capsules are the most common way that medication is dispensed, and for good reason: they are the easiest to work with, and are the least expensive.  A well-cloaked disguise Getting most tablets or capsules down the hatch is usually easy if it's mixed in their food....

Dog bite: those words have an emotional resonance, don't they? If you've ever been bitten by a dog, you don't forget it. It usually happens so fast that it leaves you stunned. May 17-23, 2015 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, and with the holiday weekend upon us which is sure to include interacting with family pets, it seems important to talk about keeping dogs happy and everyone safe. The following statistics speak clearly: According to one study, half of children between 4 and 18 years old reported having been bitten by a dog.  The vast majority of victims were bitten by a dog that they knew, not a stray dog roaming the streets, contrary to popular belief. Children and seniors   are most likely to be bitten.  Dog bites are highly preventable, and it comes down to humans (both kids and adults) understanding what facilitates them and how to best deal with a dog who bites. These incidents happen in all sorts of scenarios. The tr...

Dogs are intelligent. They've demonstrated that their mental abilities are on par with that of a 2-3 year old child, but in one area, dogs leap ahead: their ability to pick up on when they are being misled. Canines have lived alongside of us for a period of time that would make it seem unlikely that they wouldn't be able to figure out many things about our behavior, but some concepts are quite complex, for example, untruthfulness. A research team from Kyoto University wanted to delve into whether or not dogs could recognize that behavior (or how long it would take to do so). The researchers, led by Akiko Takoka, decided to keep things simple, and the payoff was surprisingly telling.  A pair of experiments were done in a study titled,  " Do dogs follow behavioral cues from an unreliable human? ", with the results appearing in an October 2014 issue of Animal Cognition. In the first experiment, 24 dogs were used, and it worked in three phases.  (I...

Dogs love to chew. They need to. It's satisfying, and can mitigate anxiety. Indulging this healthy behavior is usually not a problem nor something that we give a lot of thought to since there are so many products on the market that are safe for supervised chew time or when our favorite pups are alone.  Of course, we need to take some things into consideration, including how powerful of a chewer a dog is or what their preferences are.  Traditional choices Beef rawhides are the ultimate in chewing pleasure for dogs, there's no doubt. They're tough, long-lasting and provide they kind of satisfying mouthfeel that dogs crave. They do get a bad rap for their indigestibility and the potential hazard for choking, but honestly I've found that with my own dogs and charges whose owners supply them, they are quite safe so long as chew time is supervised carefully. I simply take the rawhide away when they show evidence of being dangerous.  Bully sticks, tracheas, b...

With the warmer weather making its way to much of the country faster than you think, it brings uninvited guests with it. Those who share life with birds can relate to the increase in indoor pests with the weather changes, but one culprit is at the heart of attracting insects: our feathered friend's penchant for not only enjoying their fresh food — which often includes vegetables, fruits and eggs — but flinging it about enthusiastically as they dine.  Getting things cleaned up after chow time is certainly helpful in preventing an infestation, though doing so isn't always possible, as birds aren't always in the mood to eat right away when they're given a meal.  The good news is that getting things under control can be a lot easier — and safer — than one might think. Birds are a sensitive species, and when it comes to any product, chemical or ingredient that is effective in keeping pests at bay, being choosy is essential. Fortunately, there are some safe altern...