Let's kick off the week with a very timely post from Dr. Dan on how to keep your pet well around the holidays.
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With how we are all so busy during the holiday season, one of the last visits any of us want to make is an emergency visit to the vets office. In order to avoid the dreaded visit, take these precautionary steps to keep your pet healthy and safe during the holidays.
Food Overeating is not good for us but very common for humans during the season; however, it is even a worse idea for your dog. In order to prevent serious diseases such as pancreatitis or other gastrointestinal diseases, be sure to keep your dog eating only the food it normally receives.
Table scraps are not a good idea – most of the food we eat during the holidays has too much fat and can cause the pancreas to overreact and became inflamed. This will cause severe diarrhea and possibly vomiting and your beloved family member will most likely spend 3 days in an animal hospital fighting for its life - not a good gift for the holidays.
As for other eating problems, there are some items that are toxic to dogs such as chocolate, onions, and grapes. These food items, although OK for humans to eat, should never be fed to dogs, and even though you are reading this and now know you should not do this, be sure that if family comes over for a visit, they know that they should not feed the dog any table scraps especially these items.
Accidents
Injuries to dogs are not unique to the holiday season; however, there are specific accidents to try and avoid especially with the extra lights and electricity around.
The holiday lights are something new to your dog and especially if you have a puppy something they just need to investigate and check out. Electrical shock is very common to dogs that have a tendency to chew and discover that these new electric cords have a good texture to chew on. Be conscious of the placement of the lights and be sure that your dog can not reach them to chew on them or become entangled in them. You wouldn’t want your decorations being pulled down by your pup that just became caught up in them – some serious damage can be done to life and limb if the tree falls on your dog.
Chilly weather
Now if you live in the northern hemisphere, then with the holiday seasons comes snow and ice. Keep your walkways clear for you and for your dog - medium to little dogs can pull ligaments and big dogs can do that or even break bones by slipping and falling on the ice.
Frostbite can also occur in dogs so do not leave your dog outside with no protection for long periods of time. Even though they have a fur coat there is a limit to how long they can stay outside with no shelter.
And just as humans can, dogs can strain muscles by playing in deep snow. Now I am not saying to stop your dog from playing in the snow because most dogs absolutely love it but monitor how long they play. If you think your dog is getting tired, he probably is and the risk of injury dramatically rises when a dog is physically tired – a knee surgery would not help with the holiday spirit if your dog happens to blow a cruciate ligament because his quadriceps muscles are exhausted from playing in the snow.
As for keeping walkways clear for your pets be sure to use sand or at least a salt that is safe for pets. You would not want your dog to ingest some of the chemicals found in the ice melts after they come in and start licking and cleaning their paws.
Keep the holiday season safe and healthy for your dog. Remembering a couple of things will help you not visit your vet for the holidays - same food, keep electricity away, and keep your sidewalks clear.
Happy Holidays!
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