8 Things You Can Do to Protect Your Dog This Summer
- Never leave your dog in the car;
- Make sure your dog has unlimited access to fresh water;
- Make sure your dog has access to shade when outside;
- Take walks during the cooler hours of the day;
- When walking, try to stay off of hot surfaces (like asphalt) because it can burn your dog’s paws;
- If you think it’s hot outside, it’s even hotter for your pet – make sure your pet has a means of cooling off
- Keep your dog free of external parasites (fleas, ticks) and heartworms – consult your veterinarian about the best product for your pet;
- Consider clipping or shaving dogs with long coats, and applying sunscreen to exposed skin. Consult your veterinarian to see if these measures would be appropriate for your dog
- If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call us!! We’re here to help both you and your pet.
Keep Your Pet Safe Year Round!
Mosquitos, fleas and ticks all carry diseases that can seriously harm your dogs and cats. Protecting your pet from these parasites is critical. Check out our summer buy more, save more offer today by calling (585) 344-4974.
Fireworks, picnics, and other Fourth of July traditions can be great fun for people but these festivities can be frightening and even dangerous for animals. Noisy fireworks and sparklers can startle animals and cause them to bolt and run away; more animals are lost on July 4th than any other day of the year. Barbecues are wonderful to share with people but be cautious about sharing with your pets. Corn cobs and steak bones can get stuck half way through the digestive tract, causing a foreign body obstruction, which requires surgery to remove the stuck item. Summer heat can cause heat stroke in our pets quickly after sitting in a hot car or lots of activity on a hot day.
Whether or not you’re planning your own Independence Day celebration, it’s important to take precautions to keep your pets safe both during and after the July 4th festivities.
Make sure your pets – cats and dogs alike – have identification with up to date information. If your pets aren’t already micro chipped, talk with your veterinarian about microchipping. This simple procedure can greatly improve your chances of recovering your pets if they become lost. We are running a microchip special until July 3rd and discounting microchipping $10.00.
Remember that too much sun and heat (and humidity!) can be dangerous to pets. Keep them inside when it’s extremely hot/humid or make sure they have access to shady spots and plenty of water when outdoors. Signs of overheated pets include increased panting, lethargy, and vomiting. NEVER leave your pet in the car when it’s warm outside. Vehicle interiors heat up much faster than the air around them, and even a short time in a locked car can be dangerous to pets.
We at State Street Animal Hospital hope you have a great Independence Day with your friends, family, and pets!!
“Your pet ate WHAT? Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
How often we want to say this but don’t want a client to feel worse than he or she already does. Many people think that when a poison is consumed their pet will fall over frothing at the mouth in the first hour. While this can happen, it is rare. Many poisons take hours or days to show their evil effects. Antifreeze toxicity shows few signs in the first few hours after consumption and during this time, the effects can be treated with potentially little permanent damage. After 12 hours the poisoning is almost irreversible and will cause severe, usually fatal, kidney failure. Rat poison may not show symptoms for several days. The most common symptoms are bleeding, bruising, and signs related to severe anemia, seen 2-3 days after consumption – at this point, toxicity may be expensive to treat.
Both of these examples are important because if we know a pet has gotten into these substances right away, we may be able to reverse or prevent problems, saving both your pet’s life and money (from more extensive treatments that would have been needed to treat the toxicity). If your pet consumes something it shouldn’t, PLEASE, don’t wait. Call your Veterinarian or the Animal Poison Control Center
Lately, a common question posed to the doctors at State Street Animal Hospital has been about the use of essential oil in our pets. Essential oils, which are concentrated oils extracted or cold pressed from plants, are used for many purposes in humans including as skin and digestive remedies. People use these oils in aromatherapy and sometimes in direct application to their skin. So, if people find these products useful, why not use them to benefit our pets?
While there may be some benefits to using essential oils in veterinary care, it is important to remember 2 things:
- “All Natural” does not mean safe! Many natural agents such as snake venom and arsenic are highly toxic. Many essential oils, likewise, are irritating, toxic, or may even cause cancer, while others are more safe to use.
- Animals have a much better sense of smell than humans – anywhere from 40 to 100 times more acute. A pleasant odor to us may be overwhelming and unpleasant to our pets.
What does this all mean? Certain essential oils may be a great addition to your pet’s care. Please consult with your veterinarian to discuss any concerns or questions you have to help pick the right oil for your pet.
What is Xylitol? Xylitol is an alcohol used as a sugar substitute for its sweetness in diet and diabetic-friendly foods. It’s in your sugarless gum, sugarless mints, and sugarless desserts like pudding. Xylitol is safe for us but very toxic to your pets, especially dogs. Even a small amount can be lethal.
How can xylitol affect your pets? Xylitol causes a life-threatening drop in blood sugar, followed by severe liver damage. Because Xylitol is quickly absorbed – it can enter a dog’s blood stream within 15 minutes of consumption! A single stick of gum can cause life threatening problems for a small dog and one pack of gum can kill a large dog. Even when caught early, treating xylitol toxicity requires close monitoring for 72 hours, which may be expensive and is not always successful.
Protect your pet—keep sugarless products out of reach. Beware of purses and book bags because dogs can often smell the gum and may go searching through such areas to find the source of that yummy smell. Lastly, be aware of what human tid-bits your dog is getting. If the product is labeled sugarless, then most likely it contains xylitol. If in doubt about whether a product contains xylitol, wait to feed it and always check the label!
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