Antifreeze and Pets

I’m sure you’ve all heard that Antifreeze is BAD for pets.  Ethylene Glycol is the ingredient in antifreeze that will hurt or kill your pets.  What many people don’t know is that this ingredient is not just found in antifreeze.  It is also found in brake fluid, condensers, heat exchangers, home solar units, and in the bases of portable basketball goals.  It is also used to winterize toilets in RV’s and summer homes.

It is the sweet taste and smell that attracts animals and children.  Because it is rapidly absorbed it is hard to treat.  Symptoms are harder to detect in animals, but here is what to look for:

 There are typically three stages of symptoms:

• Neurologic, in the form of “drunk behavior” from the effects of the alcohol
• Cardiopulmonary, as the result of severe acidosis and electrolyte disturbances
• Renal, due to renal tubular injury from calcium oxalate crystals

Here are some other symptoms to look for:

• Drunken behavior
• Euphoria/Delirium
• Wobbly, uncoordinated movement
• Nausea/Vomiting
• Excessive urination
• Diarrhea
• Rapid heart beat
• Depression
• Weakness
• Seizures/Convulsions/Shaking tremors
• Fainting
• Coma

 

What should you do if you suspect your pet has been poisoned by antifreeze? 

If you notice any of these symptoms the first thing you should do is rush your pet to the vet.  Treatment needs to be started as soon as possible to be effective.  The earlier treatment is started the greater the chance of survival. 

From the research I have done, antidotes for Ethylene Glycol poisoning are Ethanol and Fomepizole.  I just read this article where a black lab puppy was saved when the vet gave her Vodka over a period of time.  The vet said Ethanol is better, but the vodka worked in a pinch.  

I’ve read several conflicting suggestions for inducing vomiting.  Some say you should and some say you should not.  Ethylene Glycol is absorbed very quickly into the body unless vomiting is induced in the first hour, it is not really beneficial.  Fast response is key for treatment of antifreeze poisoning.  The first two hours are critical.  This article gives some really good information on antifreeze poisoning.  I highly recommend reading it.

The best thing you can do to prevent antifreeze poisoning is to keep your pet away from any potential danger.  Keep antifreeze containers sealed and away from any areas your pet may be.  Keep your pet on a leash when walking it and don’t let it drink from any puddles.  Use alternative antifreeze that does not contain Ethylene Glycol. 
 

 

If you notice an antifreeze leak in your car, repair it as soon as possible and wash down your driveway.  Look at your driveway after visitors leave to make sure their vehicles were not leaking.  You may be thinking “my pet is never in the driveway”.  Well…one of your neighbors pets might be or your pet may get loose.  Stuff happens and it only takes one small incident to become a disaster.
 

The good news is that many states are now requiring manufactures of antifreeze in the United States to begin adding a bittering agent to detour animals from tasting it.  This is very important because as many as 90,000 pets die annually from antifreeze poisoning.

I hope this never happens to any of my readers, but when I saw the news about manufacturers adding a bittering agent my heart jumped for joy.  Hopefully this will save many pets lives.

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri

UPDATE ~ Pet Treat Recall

I’ve just received word that there has been another brand of treats recalled due to antibiotic residue found in producing the treats.  I told you about Purina and Milo's Kitchen in a previous blog.

Hartz Mountain Chicken Chews and Oinkie Pig Skin Twists wrapped with Chicken.

 

 

Here is information from Hartz:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-hartz-mountain-corporation-is-voluntarily-withdrawing-its-hartzr-chicken-chewstm-and-hartzr-oinkiesr-pig-skin-twists-wrapped-with-chicken-for-dogs-188445741.html

I’ll keep you updated if I hear of anymore.

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri

Cold Weather and Pets

Baby its Cold Outside!!!  

For those of my readers who believe animals belong outside I have a challenge for you.  The next time the temperature outside falls below freezing, put on your coat, hat, scarf, and gloves and go outside and stay outside for at least an hour.

Now be honest.  Are you cold?  Can you not wait to get back inside where it is warm? 

Now thinking about your dog or cat…who you feel needs to live outside because they are an animal.  Don’t you think they get cold as well??  Sure, they have fur coats, but you were just out there with your coat, gloves, scarf and other cold weather gear…but you were still cold…weren’t you?

Just like humans, animals need to be protected from the cold weather.  They need shelter and warmth just as much as we do.  You may be thinking, there’s a dog house out there.  They can go inside there and get warm.  Ok…next challenge.  Go stand in your unheated garage for about an hour.  Still cold?? 

Sure…some dogs are bred to tolerate the cold weather better than others and they can handle it.  But unless you have an Alaskan Malamute or Husky, Samoyeds, or other arctic breed, your dog needs shelter.  And even these breeds need shelter in bitter temperatures.  No breed of cat is able to tolerate freezing temperatures.  If you must leave your pet outside, make sure they have adequate shelter.  Insulated dog house, plenty of unfrozen water, and warm dry bedding.

Here at the rescue, we turned our garage into a shelter.  It is somewhat heated because the fire box for our wood burner extends into the garage.  However, it is not insulated and it still gets cold in there.  When the temps drop, we bring all the dogs into the house and put them in kennels inside to keep warm.  If it is cold enough for their water to freeze, then it is too cold for them to be out there.

I read and hear horror stories every day about pets left outside in all kinds of weather.  One story just yesterday was about a puppy and kitten found huddled together on the side of the road trying to keep warm. They had icicles hanging from their noses and were almost dead.  They were rescued and are now trying to find a home together, but not every pet is so lucky.  Please use your common sense and shelter your pet in this frigid weather.

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri

How Did Pets Become Pets?

Did you ever wonder how Pets became Pets??  The child of a friend of mine asked me this the other day and it got me to thinking.  We all know dogs are descended from wolves, but what make people decide that wolves could become pets? 

I often think it might have happened as it did in one of my favorite book series.  I think it’s the 3^rd book in the Clan of the Cave Bear series (The Mammoth Hunters) where the heroine, Ayla, kills a wolf that has been stealing animals from her traps.  She discovers the wolf was a nursing mother who had given birth out of season.  Ayla tracks the wolf to her den, where there is one surviving wolf puppy.  Ayla decides to save the puppy and he becomes an invaluable friend and helper to her.

According to Wikipedia a pet (or companion animal) is a household animal kept for a person’s enjoyment, as opposed to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals, and sport animals, which are kept for economic reasons.  The most popular pets are dogs and cats, but there are also rodents, avian, reptile, and aquatic pets.

The earliest record of dogs as pet can be found in ancient Egypt where greyhounds originated.  Killing a greyhound brought about the same penalty as killing a man.  Domesticated cats were bred from wildcats in Egypt.  They were believed to be akin to gods in ancient Egypt and the property of pharaohs.  They were ranked above humans and were the first saved in a catastrophe before humans. Of course this all changed in the middle ages when cats were believed to be familiars to witches and burned at the stake along with them. 

Before the era of the radio (early 1800’s) birds were popular pets, especially song birds.  Bird food was actually the first mass produced pet food.  Dog food wasn’t mass produced until the late 1800’s.

Buddhist monks in seventh century China were the first to raise gold fish in ponds.  By the fourteenth century Chinese were keeping goldfish in bowls as pets.  Reptiles weren’t popular until the 1920’s when central heating was invented.  Before that owners couldn’t keep their homes warm enough to keep them as pets.

My friends child didn’t know what she was getting into when she asked me how pets became pets.  J

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri

Pet Treat Recall

You may recall from a previous blog that there have been concerns that pet treats containing overseas ingredients were believed to have caused the death and illness of several pets, both dogs and cats.  Earlier this month several treats from Purina and Milo’s Kitchen were recalled because of a trace amount of antibiotics.   The antibiotics found are not approved for use in the United States but are permitted in poultry in China and parts of the European Union.

Authorities are saying that there is no proof this is what has hurt the pets in the complaint and that they do not believe it poses a health risk.  There is still no definitive cause for the loss of life, but this is a step forward in protecting the health and wellbeing of our beloved friends. 

 

Purina Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brand treats and Milo’s Kitchen brand treats are removing Chicken Jerky and Chicken Grillers dog treats from production.  Hy-Vee has pulled all the treats in the recall from the shelves, however not all Waggin’ Train, Canyon Creek Ranch and Milo’s Kitchen treats were affected, so you will still see these brands on store shelves.

Here is a link to the Purina Waggin’ Train recall:

http://www.waggintrainbrand.com/index.html

Here is a link to the Milo’s Kitchen recall:

http://www.miloskitchen.com/assets/psds/Milos%20Kitchen_Final.pdf

If in doubt, ask the store manager or research the product on the web to see if it was recalled.

As always, treats are treats and should be given in moderation.

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri

Basic Training ~ Part 1 ~ Potty Training

 

Now you have your new puppy, dog, cat, etc.  It’s time for some basic training.  You can train your dog, cat, bird, or guinea pig to do basic commands that will make your lives together much easier.  Birds can be trained to potty on command and to go in certain places, just like dogs or cats.  Guinea pigs and other rodents are also very intelligent and can learn basic commands.  In this blog, I will concentrate on potty training your puppy.

Potty training a puppy is really very easy.  It just takes a watchful eye and repetition.  The key thing to remember is that puppies can hold it for approximately one hour per month of age.  So an 8 - 12 week old puppy can go about 2 to 3 hours between potty breaks.  So take your puppy out every 2 to 3 hours and stay outside with them. 

Use the command ‘Go Potty’ or ‘Potty’ repeatedly until you see your puppy go potty, (When we were training Mirage we used the command ‘Go Potty’ to go pee and ‘Finish Your Business’ to go poopy).  Then immediately use a high pitched tone of voice praising your puppy for a good job.  “Good Girl!!!  You are such a Good Girl!!! You went potty!!!”  Give you puppy lots of love and petting and voice telling them what a good job they did.  Go overboard!!  They love it.

You can also train your puppy to go potty in the same spot in the yard every time.  This is good so you can see when you puppy potties and easy clean-up of the yard.  If your puppy does have an accident in the house, and they will, do not let the puppy see you clean it up. 

If you catch the puppy in the act, in a low pitched tone of voice (do not yell or shout), tell the puppy they were bad.  “Bad Girl!!  Shame on you!!!  You go potty outside!!!”  Then immediately take the puppy outside…and stay out with the puppy till you see it potty.  Then when you bring the puppy back in, put it in time-out in a kennel.  Then go clean up the mess.  Take the paper towel and mess outside and put it in the spot in the yard you want the puppy to go potty. 

Then the next time you take your puppy outside, take it to that spot and put it down.  When the puppy sniffs at the paper towel, in a high pitched tone of voice, praise the puppy.  “Good Girl!!  Yes…that is where you go potty!!  Good Girl”.  Keep steering the puppy back to that area until you see the puppy potty.  Then again go overboard with the praise.  Repetition is key.

If you do not see your puppy make the accident, do not punish the puppy.  They have short term memory and will not know what you are unhappy about.  Just clean up the mess and take it out to the spot in the yard you want the puppy to potty in.

We highly recommend crate or kennel training your pet.  This will keep your puppy safe and out of trouble when you are not home, and limit the mess to clean up when they have accidents.  Put your puppy in a kennel when you are leaving or going to bed for the night.  This will also help hasten the potty training as they will not want to lay in their mess.  When you do let your puppy out of the kennel, immediately take them outside.  Teach then that when they get out of their kennel they have to go outside and potty before they can come in and play with you.  Play time can also be a reward for a job well done.

You should also keep an eye on when your puppy drinks and eats.  About 20 – 30 minutes after eating or drinking, take your puppy outside to do their business.  Kennel training is also good for this.  You will know when your puppy is eating and drinking if you keep their food and water in their kennel.  We do not recommend free feeding for puppies (leaving a bowl of food down at all times).  We recommend feeding on a schedule.  This way you will know when your puppy needs to potty.  We feed once in the morning and once in the evening.

Follow these steps and before you know it your puppy will be potty trained.  Be patient, be consistent.  Tone of voice is key.  Do not yell or swat your puppy with a paper.  Use high tone for praise and a low tone for disappointment.  They will understand.  One hour for every month in age is how long they can hold it, so don’t expect your puppy to be able to hold it all day until they are 6-8 months old.  Good Luck and Be Patient!!

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.

-Unknown