Time to get on your party clothes! It’s National Poison Prevention Week! Seriously, the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center has compiled a list of the top 10 categories of pet poisoning that they get calls about. Read through it and think about what you can do to make your home safer for your pets (and probably your people, too)!
I have been feeding my new kitten, Ebenezer, regular dry and canned kitten food and he seems to be doing OK, but I keep reading the ingredient lists and they are, to be honest, sort of gross. I mean, “chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, animal liver flavor, pyridoxine hydrochloride.” What’s that all about?
Can you help me? I am 13 years old and I really really really want a dog, but my mom won’t allow it. She says they are dirty and we can catch diseases from them and that she would end up taking care of it and blah, blah, blah. What can I tell her to persuade her?
My dog, Sheba, has been limping a little for the past few days and I was reading on the internet that I should try just giving her some pain medication on my own to see if she gets over it before I spend a lot of money taking her to the vet. I do that when she throws up, which she does every once in a while. I give her Pepto-Bismol and it seems to settle her stomach. Do you think this is OK
Help! I don’t mean to sound shallow and I really really love all my pets, but I dread the coming of spring, otherwise known as the “mud season.” No matter how hard I try, I just cannot keep them from constantly tracking mud into the house and all over the carpets and it is so frustrating. Do you have any practical suggestions?
My next door neighbor came home with a new puppy a few weeks ago that she had gotten from a “free to good home” ad. I use the word “free” advisedly because a week after the puppy arrived he was at the veterinary hospital with parvo and almost didn’t make it. Now $2,300 later, he is home and I guess OK. But, should I be worried? My kids were playing with him and I have my own (fully vaccinated) dog.
I read about Major earlier this week, the poor little kitten who may lose his eye because of an infection. I didn’t know that could even happen. What caused it? Could it have been prevented? Will he be alright if he does lose his eye?
I was talking to a friend about my plans for a new garden this spring which I want to make safe and enjoyable by my cats, Tom, Dick, and Harry. (It is how I get through January and February without going nuts.) Anyway, I mentioned that I planned to include a big patch of catnip and she launched into a long and angry lecture about how I should not do that because it is a “drug” that makes cats “high” and is not good for them.
We were hoping that winter would be over by now, what with global warming and all that, but apparently not. Darn it! So you probably already know much of this, but reminders about how to protect pets in the winter weather never hurt. The basic rule of thumb is this: If it is excruciatingly cold for you, it’s the same for your best friend.
So act accordingly.
I have terrible sad news and I thought maybe you could give me some advice. My beautiful golden Retriever, Sadie, has just been diagnosed with bone cancer and my vet is referring me to a specialist but says she will probably recommend amputation of her leg to try to save her. I am just devastated. Should I put my already sick dog through all that trauma?
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