Foods and Plants that will Make Your Dog Sick

During the holidays, there are things that decorate the house and things that people eat that dogs should not eat.  Here are just a few health and safety tips.
 

• High-fat holiday foods that people enjoy can make some of animals sick.  Fatty foods can lead to pancreatitis in pets, just like it can in people, and perhaps easier in smaller dogs. This is a very serious illness, get and can mean staying in the animal hospital.


• Chocolate, coffee and tea contain something that causes cardiac problems and problems with the nervous system in pets, which can lead to seizures and gastro-intestinal upset.  Dark chocolate is even worse than regular chocolate, which is bad as it is.


• If you have a party and serve alcohol, be sure that pets don't get tempted to finish off the glasses, that can be fatal, every year hundreds of dogs die from alcohol poisoning.


• The pretty plant, Holly, causes digestive upset in dogs and cats.


• Mistletoe causes heart problems and digestive upset


• Poinsettias cause blisters in the mouth and digestive upset


• Secure your tree if you have a cat, especially if it's your first Christmas with the cat and you don't know their habits.  They will sometimes climb the tree, and knock ornaments off the tree to play with.


• Cats might swallow tree tinsel, ribbon and other things that can cause obstructions inside that might require surgery.


• Don't have batteries lying around or other little things that your dog might chew on and make them very sick because of the toxins inside.


• Macadamia nuts are not good for pets, they can affect the nervous and digestive system.


• Potpourri, the wonderful smell comes from oils, and those oils can be toxic to pets.

•   Xylitol which is in everything from gum, to candy, to toothpaste and more is very poisonous to dogs.

•  DON'T GIVE PETS AS GIFTS unless you have planned well ahead for them...so many pets end up in shelters or out on the streets because the family isn't prepared and gets tired of them, and that's just plain mean and sad.

A lot of these tips came from a vet in a town not far from here, his site is newtonvet.com.

Image: Pixabay

Have You Used Flea and Tick Protection On Your Dog?

Spring is here, summer is coming, and my owner treated me for the first time for fleas and ticks yesterday.  It should have been done as soon as the weather got warm, but we've had a cold spring this year, so we waited a bit.  I haven't had any bites.  Some of you live in climates that are warm all the time, so please, be sure to keep those itchy little pests away from your pets...it's miserable when they bite, I know!

I get terrible allergic reactions to flea bites, just one little bite is enough to cause a rash over almost all of my body, so I was really happy when she read the article listed in the "pages" section to the right.  Or, to make it easier for you, just click this link. 

Updated 2/27/17

Flea Repellent You can Make Yourself

My owner has used Frontline on me to get rid of fleas for years. She just gave me my first "dose" of it for the spring season a couple of weeks ago. I get a terrible rash all over my body with just a couple flea bites, so it's important to keep me treated.

While we were looking at information about flea repellents, we found that there is actually a natural herbal repellent you can use on dogs, cats and other furry animals as long as their skin is not sensitive to it.

What you do is combine 1 part eucalyptus powder; 1 part pennyroyal, sage or rosemary powder; 1 part fennel powder; 1 part yellow dock powder. Put all in something that has a shaker top...we keep a few emptied spice bottles that have shaker tops around to use for things like this.

Try a bit on your pet to make sure they are not sensitive to it. If all seems okay, sprinkle just enough so that the smell is evident on the fur, brushing hair against the grain as you sprinkle it on.

Do not get it in your pet's eyes...concentrate on areas like the back and "chest" area of the belly where they won't lick too much. You don't want to overdo it, and again, make sure it won't irritate your pet's skin.

You can also sprinkle this on carpets to repel fleas in the house, or around the perimeters of the room or outside of the house to keep them away. How often you do this is a matter of trial and error...you shouldn't have to use it every day on your pet unless they are particularly infested. I'd definitely put some on before going for hikes in the woods or grassy fields.

We have just discovered this, and are thinking of giving it a try. Have any of you ever tried natural herbal flea repellents for your pets? If so, tell us about it in a comment.

Things Dogs Should Never Eat

My owner visits a network of other humans that like to talk about all kinds of things.  The other day a woman named Kimberlee Leonard started a discussion with a story about her dog, Chewie, and from the story you can learn a valuable lesson about what dogs should and should not eat.  Here is some of what she shared:

Being a dog owner my entire life and having Chewie for nearly 14 years, I thought I had been through most anything regarding dogs....

Over the years I have learned onions can cause issues with their white blood cell count, grapes and raisins in small quantities can cause renal failure, and chocolate is fine for my PMS but