Please keep in mind for the upcoming holiday season–

Holiday Pet Safety For Your Australian Labradoodle

By KAREN B. LONDON, Ph.D.
London Zoo
Monday, December 07, 2009

Safety during the holidays is an issue for everyone: Drinking and driving is as dumb this time of year as at any other, candles on trees pose an extreme fire risk and old fruitcake is a bad idea according to four out of five dentists who want their patients to have pain-free teeth over the holidays.

Safety issues also abound for animals during the holiday season. Amid the beauty of the festivities reside many perils for our pets.

Fire is a risk for pets, especially rambunctious young or even older athletic ones. Whether the candles in your house are kindled for eight days, serve as a reminder of the light that appeared in the east, or simply provide ambiance, open flames require constant tending. Put all candles out of reach of pets and make sure neither the flames nor the pets are unattended.

If your decorations involve electricity rather than fire, be aware that power cords can look like chew toys to many animals. Keep them taped down or out of reach to lessen the chance of burns or shocks. Keeping holiday lights unplugged when you are not home is another way to help protect your pets.

Many holiday plants are poisonous to pets. Among the most dangerous are mistletoe and holly, especially the berries of these plants. Ivy and poinsettia are also dangerous to pets, but their toxicity levels are lower. Even the seemingly angelic lily is poisonous. Poisoning risks are not limited to plants. Chocolate can be deadly for both dogs and cats. Theobromine, the toxic chemical that causes the damage, occurs in especially high levels in baking chocolate — 8 to 10 times the level of milk chocolate. Consuming chocolate makes many cats and dogs vomit or get diarrhea, while still others react with convulsions and seizures. Grapes and raisins can lead to kidney failure in dogs and are therefore potentially fatal to them. Cats are thought to be susceptible to this toxicity as well, but fruit-loving cats are rare. To be safe, keep grapes and raisins away from your pets as diligently as you keep chocolate away from them. If you even suspect that your pet has ingested any of these items, contact your veterinarian immediately to find out what to do.

Food doesn’t have to be ingested to cause harm to your pets. For example, hot turkey and ham drippings smell so enticing that many animals leap onto the counter to get them, and in doing so, tip the pans and get scalded. Many holiday items, including food, pose choking hazards for dogs and cats. Among the most common threats are candy canes and other sweets, ornaments, small toys and turkey bones, which splinter easily. Both ribbons tied around pets’ necks and tinsel can strangle pets, and though this may be rare, it does happen to some dogs and cats every year.

Avoiding the potential hazards of the holidays allows the celebrations throughout the season to remain joyous for all the species in your home.

Karen B. London, Ph.D., is a certified applied animal behaviorist, certified pet dog trainer and author who specializes in the evaluation and treatment of serious behavioral problems, including aggression, in the domestic dog.

http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/12/07/news/local/pet_column/20091207_pet%20c_208835.txt

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 4:29 pm and is filed under Advice, Australian Labradoodles, Labradoodle Health, Manor Lake, Manor Lake Customers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.