As the unofficial start to summer, Memorial Day is a
great excuse to get outdoors. But whether you’re partying, barbequing, or just
soaking up some rays, it’s important to keep your pet’s safety in mind at all
times. To prevent any Memorial Day mishaps, we’ve put together five tips to
help protect animals during the “Dog Days” of the season.
Party
Smart
Barbequing is one of the best parts of Memorial Day,
but remember that the food and drink you serve your guests may be poisonous to
pets. Keep alcoholic beverages away from animals, and remind guests not to give
them any table scraps or snacks. Raisins, grapes, onions, chocolate, and
avocado are all common at barbeques—and they’re all especially toxic to
animals.
Be
Cool Near the Pool
Don’t leave pets unsupervised around a pool or
lake—not all dogs are expert swimmers! Introduce your pets to water gradually
and make sure they wear flotation devices when on boats. Also, try to keep your
dog from drinking pool water, which contains potentially dangerous chemicals
like chlorine.
Skip
the Spray
Unless specifically designed for animals, insect
repellant and sunscreen can be toxic to pets. Signs of repellent toxicity
include drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst, and lethargy. DEET, a
common insecticide in products for humans, may cause neurological issues in
dogs.
Made
in the Shade
Pets can get dehydrated quickly, so if you’re
spending time outside, give them plenty of fresh, clean water and make sure
they have a shady place to get out of the sun. Note that animals with flat
faces, like Pugs and Persian cats, are more susceptible to heat stroke since
they cannot pant as effectively. These pets, along with the elderly, the
overweight, and those with heart or lung diseases, should be kept cool in
air-conditioned rooms as much as possible.
IDs,
Please
Time spent outdoors comes with the added risk of
pets escaping. Make sure that your pet is fitted with a microchip or ID tag
with identifying information, or both. It’s always better to be safe than
sorry.
Pets aren’t always easy to take care of, and they often require a
substantial time commitment (something you’re all too aware of at, say, 3 a.m.,
when Bing Clawsby is finally ready to go outside and do his business). But pets
provide an amazing return on that time investment, especially when it comes to
your health. Case in point: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, pet owners tend to have lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and
triglyceride levels than non-pet owners. But that’s not all. Pets also model
many surprisingly healthy behaviors that humans would do well to emulate. Here
are just a few, according to veterinarians, dog trainers, and other pet
experts.
1. They focus on what matters most. You
may get grumpy after a bad day at the office, but your pooch never does.
“Companion animals mostly care about food, love, and shelter (not always in
that order). As long as they have those things, they don’t need much else,”
Mary Gardner, DVM, a veterinarian and cofounder of Lap of Love Veterinary
Hospice tells Yahoo Health. “Pets also don’t complain much at all. People
believe they hide their pain; I simply think they manage it differently.” If
humans could model these behaviors, Gardner adds, we’d be healthier, happier,
“and more people would want to be around us.”
2. They practice portion control (even if
not by choice). Snowball might not want to limit her kibble intake any more
than you want to limit your tortilla-chip intake. Nonetheless, she typically
eats reasonably sized helpings of nutritionally balanced food — and never gets
to eat straight out of the bag. Follow her lead. “Both animals and people need
structure and regulation when it comes to portion size,” says Jme Thomas,
executive director of Motley Zoo Animal Rescue based in Redmond,
Washington.
3. They know how to de-stress. Your pooch
doesn’t pour a glass of cabernet when the going gets rough (though, yes, it
would make a very popular YouTube video if she did). She may, however, start
begging for a walk or to play a game. Smart dog! “Actively seeking healthy
activities — that function as de-stressors when stress levels are high — helps
to reset people as well as dogs, and bring us back to a productive and
functional status, from which many things feel a lot more ‘do-able,’” Marisa
Scully, a certified dog behavior specialist in Philadelphia, tells Yahoo
Health.
4. They hit the hay. People don’t get
enough sleep: According to a 2014 survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 45
percent of Americans said that a lack of sleep had impaired their activities at
least once in the previous week. Learn from your cat or dog, who knows just how
important it is to get enough shut-eye, says Jeff Werber, VVM, president and
chief veterinarian of Century Veterinary Group in Los Angeles. “Whether it’s a
lazy dog day afternoon, or a quick cat nap, you won’t find them burning the candles
at both ends.” 5. They stretch! There’s a reason one of the most common yoga
moves is named downward dog. Dogs (and cats) stretch constantly — and we should
do the same, notes certified dog behavior consultant Russell Hartstein. Why?
Stretching can improve flexibility and reduce your risk of injury.
6. They’re open to new things. Animals are
naturally curious. “Open a box or empty a bag and before you know it, your cat
will have climbed in to investigate. Walk your dog past a gardener planting
flowers and chances are she will check it out before moving on,” Werber says.
“And they’re always up for some fun. A game of catch, a walk, a visit — bring
it on.” Since research has found that seeking out new experiences can keep
people feeling young and healthy, we’d do well to follow suit.
7. They’re comfortable getting zen.
Numerous studies have found a correlation between mindful meditation and
reduced stress, decreased heart disease, and a stronger immune response — and
that’s something your cat already knows how to do instinctively. “Each morning
I sit on the sofa with my cat, Turtle, while I drink my first cup of coffee,”
says Kristen Levine, a pet living expert. “We spend about 10 minutes together,
her getting neck and head rubs, me enjoying her purring and having a few
meditative moments at the start of the day.It sounds simple, and it can be, but
depending on the activity, it can have a powerfully relaxing or invigorating
effect for both human and critter.”
Science is proving what pet
owners have long believed: Dogs understand what we're feeling. Specifically,
dogs can recognize the difference between a happy and an angry human face, a
study published Thursday in Current Biology suggests.
It's the first research to
show definitively that dogs are sensitive to our facial expressions, says
coauthor Ludwig Huber, head of comparative cognition at Messerli Research
Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.
In the Austrian study, 20
pet dogs of various breeds and sizes were taught to play a computer game
through a series of exercises. In the first, the dogs were shown two touch
screens, one with a circle and one with a square. Through trial and error, they
learned that a treat would appear if they chose the right geometrical figure.
Eleven of the 20 dogs were
able to catch on to rules of the game and make it to the next phase, where they
were shown photos of faces. Half the dogs were rewarded for picking a happy
expression and half for choosing an angry expression. The interesting catch:
the dogs were shown only the upper half or the lower half of a face.
It was easier to teach the
dogs to choose a happy expression than an angry one, suggesting the dogs do
indeed understand the meaning behind the expression, Huber says.
As a test, the dogs were
then were presented with:
the same half of the faces
they saw during the training, but from different people
the other half of the faces used in training
the other half of new faces
the left half of the faces used in training
In the vast majority of cases the dogs chose the right answer 70 to 100 percent
of the time.
Dogs who had been trained
to recognize an expression of anger or happiness on the upper part of a face
could identify the same expression when shown only the lower part, and vice
versa, Huber says, adding “the only possible explanation is that they recall
from memory of everyday life how a whole human face looks when happy or angry.”
Dog owners know their pets
not only recognize emotions but also feel empathy.
Delilah, a 3-year-old
Chihuahua, always seems to know when her owner Eva Shure is having a bad day.
Delilah knows when her owner is having a bad day.
Making eye contact and cocking her head to the right, the little dog will stare
at Shure's face as if trying to assess her feelings. “It’s weird, I can see her
thinking and processing,” says Shure, a 35-year-old New York City business
owner. “I’ll say, yeah, it’s not a great day and she’ll come up and sit next to
me.”
Beverly Levreault, 57, says
her 6-year-old Australian Cattle Dog mix is always tuned in to her moods. “If
I’m not feeling well, like when I have the flu, Lacey is definitely lower key
and will not leave my side, ” says Levreault, a graphic designer from
Williamstown, New York. “If I take her for a walk, she’s not as rambunctious as
she usually is.”
Lynette Whiteman says she’s
not sure that her 5-year-old Yorkie-Maltese cross is using facial expressions
to gauge how she feels. “But she definitely reads my emotions,” says the
58-year-old from Toms River, New Jersey. “I run a therapy dog program and the
dogs are just amazing. They go into a room and immediately pick out the person
who needs help.”
Behavioral experts say the
new findings, while important, wouldn’t surprise anyone with an intimate
knowledge of dogs.
Coco and Lynettte
"This new work continues to build the case for just how sensitive dogs are
to our subtle behaviors,” says Dr. Brian Hare, chief scientific officer at
Dognition and an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke
University. “This is the strongest evidence yet that dogs are even reading our
facial expressions.”
That sensitivity may be the
result of generations of selective breeding for a true partner, says Dr. Carlo
Siracusa, director of the behavior service at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Veterinary Medicine. “We have selected animals that are able to perceive
our emotions and communicate with us at a level that no other animal can,”
Siracusa says.
Dogs may not talk, but they
are very good communicators, says Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a professor in the
department of clinical sciences at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
at Tufts University and director of the animal behavior clinic at Cummings.
“Just as we are masters of
the spoken word, dogs are experts at reading body language,” Dodman says.
“It’s almost impossible to
hide your feelings from a dog.”
Turns out, reading facial
expressions isn’t the only thing dogs have in common with us.
They can be bitten by the
computer gaming bug. “They can really become freaks for it,” Huber says with a
chuckle. “They don’t want to stop playing. It’s incredible. They’ll play till
they are exhausted and fall asleep.”
Petcube is a box with a laser pointer,
speaker, and light that you can control from anywhere in the world via the
Petcube smartphone app.
You control the laser by moving your
finger around your iPhone or Android phone’s screen. Anywhere your finger
moves, your pet will follow, as long as she likes lasers.
You can also take screenshots of the app
and share them via Petcube’s social network. What’s more, you can make your
Petcube open to the public, so you can let anyone play with your pet while
you’re home or away.
To be honest, letting
strangers get a view of your home when you’re away (or home) sounds kind of
strange, so maybe you’ll just want to stick with the lasers.
Motorola Scout 5000:
The Petcube
isn’t the only Internet-connected pet tech at CES 2015. Motorola’s Scout 5000
attaches to your dog’s collar and features a camera, speaker, microphone, and
GPS tracker.
Basically, it
lets you see exactly what your dog sees; lets you talk to your dog when you’re
not home — which is probably very weird for your dog — and even make sure your
dog is safe when you’re away all from a companion smartphone app.
The Scout 5000
is fairly large for a pet-tracking device, so it will fit only medium to large
dogs. This is not for your teacup designer dog. It goes on sale this summer for
$200.
If these two
gadgets are any indication, your pooch or kitty will soon be as connected as
you are. And for pet lovers who can’t stand to be away from their little furry
ones for even a minute, that’s pretty great.
Most pets do not tolerate spicy seasonings
very well or large quantities of food. Avoid giving pets a sampling of
everything on the human menu.
On the morning of the holiday, exercise the
dog to try to wear it out before guests arrive.
Make sure to dispose of turkey bones where the
pet cannot get to it. These bones will splinter when chewed. Bones can get
caught in a pet’s esophagus or intestinal track and could be life threatening.
Rancid food is full of bacteria and can make a
pet very sick, so make sure garbage is not accessible to the pet.
Turkey stuffing may contain onions, garlic, or raisins—all toxic
to dogs, so resist the urge to feed your dog human food.
Remind guests not to offer table scraps or
appetizers to the dog.
If the family pet is skittish around people,
noises, sudden movement then containing the dog away from the stimulation is
recommended.
Offer special chew toys during the time people
are buzzing around.
An open door or open garage may be an
invitation for your pet to bolt. Keep your pet contained while guests are
coming or going.
Make sure your pet has ID and license on a
collar just in case it bolts out an open door.
Feline
leukemia (FeLV), a widespread, incurable virus that typically suppresses a
cat’s immune system, is the most common cause of cancer in cats. FeLV is
species-specific, so humans and dogs are not at risk.
Causes
Research
indicates that feline leukemia virus is highly contagious among cats of all
ages. Among cats, it is spread by saliva, urine, and blood. The
disease is spread from cat to cat through bites, mutual grooming, and sharing
food or water dishes and litter boxes. A cat can also pass the virus along
to its kittens in a number of ways before they are born. Current research
indicates that it does not affect humans or other species.
Symptoms
·Anemia, lack of pink
or red color in the gums
·Weight loss
·Recurring or chronic
illness
·A progressive weakness
·Lethargy, fever,
diarrhea
·Breathing difficulty
·Yellow color in the
mouth and/or the white of the eyes
Diagnosis and treatment
Avoiding
exposure with infected cats and updating vaccinations are the best tools of preventive
medicine. FeLV is highly contagious, so it is important to have your cat
vaccinated if it could be exposed to other cats. The American Association
of Feline Practitioners recommends all kittens receive the vaccine.
Infected
cats may harbor the illness for several years with no signs of illness. Over
time, they may lose weight, become depressed, or develop a fever. Their coats
often deteriorate, and they may develop skin, bladder, or upper respiratory
infections.
An
accredited veterinarian can diagnose the disease by conducting a simple blood
test called an ELISA.
Your
veterinarian will talk to you about the importance of maintaining a balanced
diet. Also, he or she will ask you about your cat’s lifestyle and look for ways
to reduce stress, both of which are key to managing your cat's disease.
Infected
cats should be kept indoors so they won’t spread the virus. If you have
multiple cats, have all of them tested, vaccinate any that are not infected,
and consider housing infected cats separately.
Your veterinarian
can determine the best program for your cat. Although some cats are able
to eliminate the virus on their own and develop immunity, many others die as a
result of cancer or opportunistic infections. Cats infected with the virus
live an average of three years.
With all the excitement of the kids going back to school, many
families may not think about what it means to the dog or cat. What you may
notice are changes in behavior, a sad dog or cat, who mopes around or sleeps a
lot more. Or your dog may suddenly started chewing things he shouldn't, or your
cat does a lot more meowing. And you may not even connect the unusual cat or
dog behavior with back-to-school time. Dogs and cats love routine, it makes
them feel secure. They like knowing that certain things happen at about the
same time each day, and they know where they want to be when it happens. If the
kids have been around all summer, playing outside with the dog, or giving kitty
extra love and snuggles, and suddenly they’re gone all day, it's upsetting. For
some pets, they just feel sad and confused, and others feel real separation
anxiety and may act up.
Kids can help your pet through the back-to-school blues The first
thing to note is that this is a family matter, and a good opportunity for the
kids to take more responsibility for the care of their pets. Let your kids know
that their dog or cat is going to miss them when they're gone all day, and
discuss what they can do to help their pets through it. One of the best ways
for a pet to get over the loss of one routine is to replace it with another.
Your pet may be sad all day at first, but if he knows that at 3:45 your kids
will be home from school and will actively play with him soon after each day,
your pet has something new to look forward to. If your child has a set time to
do homework or read, that's an excellent time for the dog or cat to curl up
next to her and "help" with studying. Ask your kids to think of other
ways to include their pets in their routines.
More than just sad, it’s separation anxiety If your pet exhibits
true separation anxiety, as in, he goes crazy when he sees your kids put on
their backpacks to leave for school, or is destructive when everyone is gone,
you'll have to do some gentle training to ease his stress. Your kids may feel
sorry for their pet and do a long sad goodbye. This only reinforces your pet’s
fears and builds up the anxiety. It’s better to make the goodbye upbeat and
brief, or eliminate it completely. Depending on your pet, he may respond well
to a goodbye petting, a little goodbye treat, or simply leaving with a cheerful
"good boy!" as your kids go out the door. This should happen before
your pet gets upset. If your pet is freaking out, absolutely do not reward with
anything. If you can get your pet to calm down รข€“ if it’s a dog, a simple
"sit!" command may help. Then reward with petting and telling him
he's ok once he’s calm. If your pet gets upset just by the backpacks or car
keys being picked up, pick those items up and walk around the house with them
several times a day, but don't leave. Your pet will learn not to associate
those items with the pending doom of your kids leaving.
When back-to-school means an empty house If everyone is gone all
day, both parents included, your pets are going to be bored on top of being
upset. It's important to leave them some interactive toys to help them pass the
time. Eventually, they will get used to the new reality, and will likely sleep
most of the day. You can balance the boredom by providing vigorous exercise
each day when you or your kids are home. Remember, you and your kids may have
had a very busy day, but your pet has done virtually nothing, unless there is
evidence to the contrary, as in a shredded or chewed up sofa. Providing your
dog or cat active, vigorous play each day will help them burn up their pent up
energy. Take your dog for a run or go outside and throw a ball or flying disk.
For your cat, run around the house with a little toy on the end of a string.
You may also want to consider getting your pet a little buddy to keep him
company when no one is home. Even an aloof adult cat is likely to accept a
kitten into her life, and the kitten will entice the older cat to play. And
dogs, being true social animals, nearly always accept another dog to play with.
Remember, your pets can get nervous, upset, anxious or lonely just like people,
only they don't have the benefit of knowing that you’ll be back when you leave.
It's up to you and your kids to make your pets feel secure in ways they
understand.
