Tips For Pet Owners

Outside Dangers | Tricky Ticks | Emergency Preparedness

Outside Dangers for your Dog

Don't forget the great outdoors when inspecting a dog's area. Of your job is to let a pet outside to relieve itself, try and think like a dog. Plants that dangle or are bright like toys may be poisonous when ingested. Because of this, make sure the plants in and around your home aren't health risks for dogs. The following common house plants are toxic to dogs:

Many dogs try to dig out under the fence, so it's crucial you regularly check for gaps around the fence perimeter. Using these simple tips to keeping your pet's safe during the summer months.

Partial reprint from a article by Jennifer McVey, Everyday Dangers: From Anti-Freeze to Wisteria. The NAPPS Network. Volume 17, Number 1. Spring 2007.

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Tricky Ticks: How to Safely Remove Them

• How to remove ticks: Being careful not to squash the tick, grasp it by the head with fine-tipped curved forceps and slowly pull straight out.
  
  
• How not to remove ticks: Don't remove ticks with your fingers. In many areas of the country the tick is likely to be carrying Lyme disease or other pathogens that can harm humans.
  
  
• Don't Squash the tick: The spirochete that causes Lyme disease hibernates in the tick's intestine, sometimes for years, waiting for a signal that a new host is available. The signal, an influx of fresh blood, triggers an enormous increase in the spirochete population. After filling the intestine, spirochetes move to the salivary glands and enter their new host along with anticoagulants and anesthetics produced by the tick. Squashing the tick spreads spirochetes everywhere.
  
  
• Don't try to burn the tick or smother it with Vaseline etc..: Once the tick is firmly fastened in place, it takes time for the tick to detach itself and depart. No matter how badly the tick may wish to leave quickly, it simply can't. A burning cigarette may kill the tick but won't make it fall off. Ticks can live without air for a long time, so attempts to smother it allow disease transmission to continue for several hours. Anything that upsets the tick without removing it can theoretically cause the tick to regurgitate its stomach contents back to he host, increasing the likelihood of disease transmission.
  
  
• Don't twist out the tick: Ticks aren't threaded. Your best chance of removing the head is pulling straight out with steady traction. Twisting invariably leaves the head behind. Because tick-twisters don't feel the head break off they think it has been removed.

Reprinted from The NAPPS Network. Volume 17, Number 1. Spring 2007.

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Emergency Pet Preparedness

Emergencies come in many forms and they may require anything from just a brief absence from your home to a permanent evacuation. Each type of disaster requires different measures to keep your pets safe. The best thing you can do for yourself, and your pets, is to be prepared.

Rescue Alert Sticker
You can obtain a free rescue alert sticker from the ASPCA or fro a local store to let people know that pets are inside your home.

Arrange A Safe Haven
Arrange a safe haven for your pets in the event of evacuation. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PETS BEHIND! Red Cross disaster shelters will not accept because of health and safety regulations.

Emergency Supplies and Traveling Kit
Keep an emergency kit handy for your pets.

Choose Designated Caregivers
This is something that should take considerable time and thought. You should make plans for temporary home for your pets in the event of an emergency. It is also a good idea to arrange for a permanent home in the event you can no longer care for your pet.

Evacuation Preparation
Time is of the essence when you must evacuate your home in a crisis.

Geographic and Climate Consideration
You may live in an area that is prone to certain natural catastrophes, such as tornadoes, earthquakes or floods. If so, you should plan accordingly.

Reprinted from NAPPS Network, Emergency Pet Preparedness. Volume 14-Number 3. pp. 12-13. Fall 2004

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BE ASSURED WHILE YOU'RE AWAY, SAFE AT HOME YOUR PETS WILL STAY!