We will cover a variety of topics about all kinds of pets. It’s basically potpourri of miscellaneous information for you and your pets. If you have a topic in mind, let us know.
When I was doing research for my previous blog, I did a
search for images of pets and purses, thinking there would be lots of images of
pets getting into purses.I was surprised
by the lack of images.What I did come
across was images of pets in purses, pets as purses, and purses that looked
like pets.Here are some of my
favorites:
Does your pet like to get into your purse?I had a cat that used to dig through my purse
to pull out my tissues.One of my grandmother’s
dogs used to dig in her purse for her lipstick. He loved to chew on the
container.I don’t think she had one
tube that didn’t have tooth marks on it.At the time I used to think it was cute and funny.I’ve since learned better.If you have a pet that likes to dig through
your purse there are some dangers you need to be aware of.
Purses can be danger zones for your pet. Most women carry
quite a few things in their purses.Anything from gum and candy to makeup, to medication, and hand
sanitizer.All of these things can be
dangerous to your pets.
In a previous blog
I told you about the dangers with sugar free gum and candy.Xylitol is poisonous to your pets.Most of the time they will eat the whole
package, wrapper and all.Just a couple
sticks can make your pet very very ill and a whole package of gum can kill them.
If you carry prescription medications or other drugs in your
purse and your pet ingests them, this is bad as well.My cat used to bat my pill bottles around
thinking it was a toy.Not bad in
itself, but if the lid wasn’t sealed correctly and the cat ate one of the pills…this
would be bad.Asthma inhalers if chewed
through can also kill your pet.
Most smokers carry cigarettes in their purse as well. Most people know that second hand smoke is bad
for people and pets in a household, but ingesting
the tobacco can kill your pets as well.Nicotine can cause illness and even death.According to Dr.
Wendy Brooks, "a 40 lb dog
would get very sick after eating one cigarette but would need 11 cigarettes to
die from nicotine poisoning."
Hand sanitizer is also dangerous.They contain high concentrations of alcohol.Ingestion is like drinking a shot of hard
liquor and causes hypoglycemia in pets.A
little 2-ounce bottle = 4 shots of vodka.Ingesting a little bit could get your pet drunk.Ingesting a lot could kill you pet.
Do you have pets that photo bomb?Do you know what photo bombing
is?I read this
article the other day where a couple rented their apartment within 24 hours
because of their dog photo bombing.That
got me to checking the photos I’ve taken to see how many of my photos have been
bombed.It’s quite amusing really.Here are some samples:
In this one, I was taking a picture of Princess and Bumble
laying under the trumpet vine when Sophia came bolting in like a streak of
lightning and sat right in front of them.
In this one, I was at the Great Iowa Pet Expo taking a photo
of some chickens in the petting zoo when this goat stuck it’s head right in
front of the camera.
In this one, I was taking a photo of Snowball getting her
tummy rubbed when Princess came to see what was going on.
And this has to be my favorite.I was taking a picture of Jazmyn when
Princess came to see what was going on…again.
I’ve learned over the years that people are passionate
about their pets.Over the last several
weeks I’ve had a first-hand lesson in this.
A company was hosting a Cutest Pet Contest.They had close to 3,000 entrants.The contest was being hosted and run through
a third party company.A few people
found a way to cheat the system.Due to
multiple complaints and after a thorough investigation it was decided to
cancel the contest and draw winners at random from all the entrants. This has garnered passionate responses both for and against this action. And I mean passionate.
Whether I agree with someone’s opinion or not, it’s nice to see how much
people truly love their pets.Animals bring out the best in us and we
can learn so much from them. We talk about the incredibly strong bonds between
humans and animals, and how owning a pet can change our life in so many ways.I know I would not be the person I am today
if it were not for the animals in my life.
So…how do you
show your passion for your animals??
Today I thought I would share some of our rescue work with
you.My husband and I rescue American
Eskimo Dogs.We do take other breeds if
there is a need and we have room, but specialize in American Eskimo Dogs
(Eskies).Over the last several weeks we
have taken in 3 dogs.Two have already
been adopted. Here are videos of the three.
Prince Charming
Julius
Toto
Prince Charming and Julius were both adopted a week after
they arrived.Toto just arrived March 20th.
We get a lot of questions about where we get our dogs.Most are what we call owner surrenders.People who can’t keep the dogs for whatever
reason and find us online.Instead of
taking the dog to a shelter they want to try and find a place that specializes
in that breed and are no-kill facilities.
Realistically, most of the animals turned into animal
shelters are euthanized.The ASPCA
estimates that approximately 5-7 million animals enter shelters
annually.OF these 5-7 Million, 3-4
million are euthanized.Shelters are not
required to keep statistics on this information, so it is hard to pinpoint.Of all the animals entering a shelter, less
than 2% are returned to their owners.
This is where breed specific rescues come in.Every breed specific rescue that I know of is
no-kill.Any dog we take in will live
with us the rest of their lives, unless they are adopted, thus the Sanctuary
part of our name.Many of our population
are seniors or unadoptable for one reason or another and are residents in our
sanctuary program.We list our dog’s
availability on our website, on Petfinder.com, and post them on our Facebook
pages.Social Media has really become an
integral part of our rescue efforts.
That’s why Prince Charming and Julius were adopted so
quickly.People saw our posts on
Facebook.Toto already has several
people’s interest.Here are some photos
of our ‘sanctuary’ residents.
Tucker
Sangha
Princess Noel
Sophia
If you are thinking about getting a pet for your family, a
good option is to either volunteer at a shelter or foster rescue dogs.If you are looking for a specific breed of
dog, search for a breed specific rescue.
One thing to note.Breed Specific Rescues do charge a higher adoption fee than most animal
shelters.A lot of people balk at this.There is a twofold reason for the higher
adoption fees.One, we want to make sure
the person adopting the dog is serious about giving the dog a Home.Secondly, we usually incur higher vet bills
because we have the pet spayed or neutered before they are adopted and make
sure they are up to date on all their vaccinations.We rely 100% on donations to run our
rescue.
Our average adoption fee is $185 (set by our Board of Directors).We took Julius to the vet when he arrived and his vet bill was over
$200.As you can see his adoption fee
did not even cover the cost of his vet bill.This is not always the case, but the fee does help us maintain our
rescue efforts.
So, this is a small glimpse into our rescue.I will continue to give updates from time to
time.But for now Sophie and Tinkerbell say Good Night.
In an earlier blog, I told you about my bird Socrates.He was a peach-faced Lovebird.Such a comical little creature who loved to play with the dogs and with me.He had this brass bell in his cage that was hanging from a long chain.I would flick it with my finger and he would try to catch it and throw it back to me.I have had parakeets in the past and really didn’t know that much about birds.I used to feed him bird seed all the time because that is what I thought birds ate.I kept his cage clean and gave him fresh water a couple times a day.I notice that he just wasn’t himself and thought I should take him to the vet.
That was a problem in itself.I had never had to take my bird to the vet and when I called to make the appointment my vet told me he didn’t treat birds.Then began a round of calls to all the local vets.I finally found one about 25 miles away and made an appointment.This in 1998 and the vet was with Kindness Pet Clinic in Indianola and they are still our vets to date.I put Socrates in a travel cage and took him to the vet.We found out that he had liver disease from being on an all seed diet.The vet recommended I change his diet to pellets, which had more nutritional value than seed.I also had to give him a series of shots every day.
Well…that was an interesting experience, to say the least.Have you ever tried giving a bird a shot?I had to hold him in one hand, holding his head between my thumb and forefinger and give him the shot in his breast muscle.Socrates used to come sit on my hand and visit with me until I had to give him those shots.He never trusted me again after that.
Changing his food was another experience.He hated the pellets.I found an alternative with Nutriberries, which was better than straight seed, but still not optimal.Did you know that birds can eat people food?They love fresh fruits and vegetables.At least all birds but Socrates do.They also like rice, pasta, beans, etc…No matter what I tried, Socrates wouldn’t eat it.He wanted his seed.
I was reading this article when I thought it would make a great blog, because how many people know that birds should eat a wide variety of food and just eat seed as a treat?This is one reason I always stress doing your research before you get a pet.Socrates would have had a much longer healthier life if I had known how to properly care for him.He did live another 5 years after this illness and always made me smile.
I read this article the other day about a dog that inadvertently
got sent to Ireland…the country…when he was supposed to be going to
Arizona.This got me to thinking about
the times we have adopted dogs long distance and had them flown to their new
owners or even had dogs flown here to us.How many people know what is involved in transporting pets?
There are several things you need to do to make sure your
pet is transported as comfortably as possible when traveling by plane.The first thing to do is check with your
airlines to find out what their requirements are for traveling with your pet.Smaller animals may be able to
travel with you on the plane.They must
be in a carrier that will fit under the seat in front of you.Of course the fees will vary.Often it is cheaper to fly your pet as
checked baggage or cargo than in the cabin.Expect
to pay $200 or more, one way, to travel with your pet.
Most airlines will have the requirements for pet
transportation on their websites.There
are also temperature restrictions on pet travel.Certain breeds are restricted from flying due
to possible medical issues.For example,
most airlines will not accept snub-nosed or pug-nosed dogs or cats because of breathing
difficulties.There will be size
requirements for the size and type of kennel used to transport your pet.How soon before a flight your pet must be
checked in.Most will need a health
certificate and vaccination records.Depending on your destination, some vaccinations will be needed.It is best to find out as much beforehand as
you can so that you have sufficient time to get the vaccinations and records
required to transport your pet.
Here are links to some of the most popular airlines for
pet transportation:
The number of people traveling with their pets have
increased, and accordingly incidents of injury and death have increased, as
well as those of pets getting lost. According to this
article, 35 pets died during airline travel in 2011.19 of these were on Delta Airlines flights; 5
on American Airlines, 3 on Continental Airlines, and 2 on United Airlines.I’m not sharing this information to scare you
or make you decide not to travel with your pet, but to let you know that things
do happen and pets do get injured or die during transport.Not belittling the folks that have suffered a
loss but to let people know there is a risk, but with upwards of 500,000 pets
or more being flown annually, the odds are in your favor.
There are services available that will help you make your
travel plans.One is PetRelocation.com.Their motto is Any Pet, Anywhere, Any
Time.Here are their pet travel
statistics comparing 2011 to 2010.There is also an airline that specializes in pet travel.They are called Pet Airways.This airline began in 2009 and covered the
northeast United States.As of 2011 they
flew to 14 destinations.
I came across this
article when researching and they offer a list of websites offering
information on safe pet travel.
As I always say, do your research.As soon as you know you want to travel with
your pet, find out what you need to do and what requirements must be met and be
prepared ahead of time.This will make
it less stressful on you, the airline staff, and more importantly on your pet.
Natura Pet
announced yesterday that they were making the first recall in their 21 year
history.The affected products are
Innova, EVO, California Natural, and HealthWise.These products are being recalled due to the
presence of salmonella.No incidents
have been reported, they are voluntarily recalling these products because of their
commitment to provide healthy natural pet food.
Click on the links below to see details on the recall:
Did you ever see a movie where an animal was hurt and
cringe and think to yourself Oh I hope that animal wasn’t really hurt.I have done this often.But did you know the American Humane
Association has a group called “No Animals Were Harmed” that monitors thousands
of productions every year just to make sure no animals were harmed during
filming of movies and television shows?
This group has been protecting animals in the
film industry since 1939 when a horse was killed after being forced to jump off
a cliff during the filming of Jesse James.There are a set of guidelines that film makers must follow and there is
always a No Animals Were Harmed team on set to assure the safety and wellbeing
of any animals involved.
There are reasons why
producers and filmmakers work with the American Humane Association.They care about human and animal safety, they
care about the credibility of their productions, and they want to promote their
films.Working with a team from the
American Humane Association is beneficial to everyone.
Interested in joining the No Animals Were Harmed
team?Films aren’t just made in
Hollywood.You can trained to be a Certified
Animal Safety Representative and work on film sets in your area.Check out the information here.
The American Humane Association even gives out PAWSCAR
Awards during the Academy awards.The
2012 award winners include Uggie, the Jack Russell Terrier in the movie, The
Artist.He won the Best Scene Stealer
award.
Then there was the horse Joey in
the movie Warhorse.His really name is
Finder and he won for Best Perception vs. Reality.Best Dressed were the penguins in Mr. Popper’s
Penguins. Best Inspirational “Tail” went to Winter, the dolphin in Dolphin
Tale.There were several other winners
for Best Use of Technology, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Animal Speaking Roll, and
Best Doppelganger.
Hope you enjoyed learning about the safety of animals in
movies.I learned some things I didn’t
know either.Wonder if hubby will let me
train to be a Certified Animal Safety Representative?J
