Pet Health

My neighbor got home from work late the other night and discovered that his big goofy dog, Rudy, had eaten a bag full of chocolate chip cookies. He had to take him to the emergency vet and hundreds of dollars later Rudy is OK. Was that really necessary?

Fred was rescued from under a trailer out in the country after his elderly owner had to go to a nursing home. You would think he had been a pampered house cat his whole life (well except for his bunged up ear, probably from being attacked by an animal or maybe frostbite.) He is a sturdy handsome Tuxedo who loves people, complete strangers even.

It’s that time of year again here in Oswego County when we start to get phone calls about dogs left out in the cold. We can use the help of kind-hearted animal lovers with this problem. Here is what you need to know. Section 353-b of the New York Agriculture & Markets Law requires that if your dog spends any time outdoors, you must provide shelter to protect the dog from direct sunlight, rain, snow, wind, cold weather, hot weather, and other inclement conditions.

Callie was a teenage mother, probably unwed, as we used to say in the “good” old days. But, she has done a great job of raising her kittens, all of them feisty little calicos, just like her. Now she is ready to be a teenager again and would like to come and play with you. She loves people, snuggling with them, playing with them, following them around.

We assume you are all clearing out your accumulated junk to get ready for the holidays so you can go buy more. As long as you are doing that, take a look inside the dark recesses of your medicine cabinets. In 2016, human prescription medications topped the list of pet toxins most commonly ingested by pets. So it stands to reason that proper storage of current medications and then disposal of expired or unwanted medications is an important way to help keep pets safe.

Precious was found by one of our fosters, injured and afraid. After she was brought to us and we got her the medical attention she needed and got her back up to a healthy weight, she is as happy as can be and beautiful to boot. Whether sitting in your lap or nuzzling her face against yours, she is always wanting attention. Still energetic and an explorer, she is not destructive and just wants to see what is happening in the world around her.

I was horrified to see that the Oswego County Humane Society just featured Pearl, an adorable black kitten, as Pet of the Week – just a few days before Halloween! Don’t they know that black cats are used in Satanic rituals on Halloween? All responsible animal welfare organizations suspend black cat adoptions for the month of October.

Pearl is a bundle of energy and curiosity and fun. She can leap tall buildings (well furniture), ride on your shoulder and purr in your ear, play with her brothers and sister non-stop until they all suddenly stop for a nap. Then, it’s up again to race around the house and entertain you.

Two things. We realized that the column we wrote about the new rehoming website, which we called Adopt-A-Pet.com, was confusing because we had the name wrong. It’s rehome.adoptapet.com. Our apologies for that. Do check it out – it’s a great new resource. The second thing. It’s time for our annual party pooper column in which we try to ruin Halloween for pet owners. It’s our job and the message is simple. Pets HATE it when their people start acting weird and other people, also acting weird, start showing up at the door uninvited.