Froze Toes
Oh boy, It sure is
cold! I didn’t think it was supposed to get this cold here. I don’t like
being out in this weather, but since I have short hair, and my lovely
Labrador coat it’s not so bad. I feel sorry for some of my pals, though.
You remember Floyd,
don’t you? Well, Floyd has hairy feet, and his family forgets
(how could they!) him
outside in the cold, wet, snow. Sometimes the snow and ice makes balls in
the hair on his feet and between his toes and freezes. He got bad frostbite
last winter.
You humans have to be
aware of this problem. I’ve heard some of you people say, “Just let the dog
lick his own feet clean.” Well, that might seem tasty to you but all that
licking can cause sores between the toes, what Dad calls a “pododermatitis”,
and this really hurts!
But it is great fun
when my humans load me in the car with blankets, towels, snacks and fresh
water and take me up in the hill to play in the snow. I love to jump, run
and roll in all that white stuff. It’s really fun to take a running jump at
Dad and let him wrestle with me in the soft snow.
Remember to always
bring fresh water; cause snow is too cold to drink when we really need a
drink of water.
Warm Cars
And speaking of cold
days, remember that when you people come home your car is still warm and
your cats like to sleep in a warm place. Dad says that often a cat will
climb up under a car hood to sleep in a warm spot, and then later when
people start their car the cat becomes trapped by the fan belt and will be
severely injured or even murdered! Even though my pals Mike and Grape Juice
are mostly inside kitties, Dad still always sounds the car horn before
starting the car in case a cat has climbed under the car hood.
Frozen Ice
I heard about this
retriever dog from up the hill who lived on the lake, and loved to swim
during the summer. Well, his humans thought it was funny when the lake
froze and they let Sam slide around on the ice! (Not very nice people, were
they?) Sam thought he could go swimming and nobody told him that he was on
ice. One day the temperature rose and the ice got thin. Sam broke through!
Luckily a neighbor noticed this and called the fire department who pulled
him out and saved his life. His humans sure learned a lesson that day!
Antifreeze
I love that stuff!
Antifreeze is like candy, to us four legged people! When it starts to get
cold all my neighbor humans get their cars out and pretend to fix them up
for winter. Floyd and me, we like to sneak around to see if we can get a
sip of that candy, antifreeze. I heard Dad tell Floyd’s Dad how poisonous
antifreeze is and that it would be safer, cheaper, and easier if he just too
his car to one of those drive through lube places. The antifreeze leaves a
precipitate in the kidneys and causes kidney failure.
Winter Fleas
Scratch, scratch,
itch, itch ! That’s all I am still hearing from Floyd. He’s even getting
bald from all the scratching. My Dad says Floyd has fleas and needs
“Advantage Flea Control.”
Dad told Floyd’s Dad
this, who replied, “but it’s too cold out for fleas to still be a problem.”
Dad said that it
really has to be below zero for a couple months for fleas to be killed off
and that fleas can over-winter in these milder temperatures we have. He
said that August through November are usually the worst times of the year
for flea problems.
Holiday Season Chocolate
Oh Boy, All that
beautiful food! I love those sweets. Course they’re a little hard on my
girlish figure, but so tasty. I especially like to sneak chocolate treats.
Dad got mad at Mom the other day for giving me a chocolate cookie. I heard
him say that it could poison me if I got enough chocolate! I didn’t like
hearing that! I wish Dad hadn’t said it around me.
The less sweet the
chocolate is the more toxic it is. Toxic symptoms are more pronounced with
baking chocolate over semisweet chocolate over milk chocolate. Toxic doses
for an average 60-pound dog are as follows:
Milk chocolate: 60
oz.
Semisweet chocolate:
18 oz.
Baking chocolate: 6
oz.
Symptoms can proceed
from hyperactivity, vomiting, diarrhea, increased thirst and urination, to
lethargy, heart problems, seizures and death. If your dog eats chocolate
make sure you write down exactly what kind of chocolate it was, the amount
ingested
(In ounces if you can
get it from the package), and how much your pet weighs. Then call your pet
Emergency Veterinary Clinic
Holiday Season Turkey
I like turkey and
stuffing but every time Mom gives me a little I get that diarrhea. Then I
get real sleepy and my tummy hurts. Dad said turkey has an amino acid
called tryptophan, which makes me sleepy just like it does to him! The
worst thing was when my friend Floyd got into the garbage and ate the turkey
bones. Well all those little bones crushed up into small rocks and blocked
him up. He couldn’t poop! Dad ended up having to use an anesthetic on
Floyd and manually empty his colon. Ughh!
Beside upset
stomachs, diarrhea, and intestinal blockages, those small bones can actually
splinter and pierce the intestine! So it’s a good idea to secure the
garbage and don’t give your dogs or cats any human food, even when they look
at you with those big, sad, begging eyes.
Christmas Presents
And what about those
presents? We little folks like presents and all the excitement of Christmas
just as much as you humans. Here’s a few hints. Some of us like clothes,
some of us don’t. Personally I love it when I get to have a new collar and
leash. I even have a Hawaiian shirt that I wear sometimes!
Almost all of us like
treats, and chew toys, but make sure these items are pet treats not human
and especially not fattening or chocolate!
Christmas is a great
time, but I still remember the time that Floyd drank from the Christmas tree
water and got very sick because it had a preservative in the water, which
can be very toxic to dogs and cats and birds. And remember about foil!
Foil wrapping paper, tree-trimming tinsel can cause gastro-intestinal
upsets, blockages, etc. If swallowed tinsel can cut the inside of the
intestine. Tree flock is pretty but can be toxic to a dog or cat. Wires
from lights can wrap around a pets neck, or can be chewed causing
electrocution. I once heard Dad talk about having to surgically remove an
ornament from the stomach of a puppy whom had swallowed it. Those nice and
shiny decorations are very attractive and even I want to play with them.
Keep your tree decorations higher where that puppy can’t reach them.
Love your pets, but
be smart about it!
Fat Guys and Gals
While we’re talking
about Christmas treats Dad said I should talk about getting fat.
I know he’s only
saying this cause he’s lost 30 pounds, and is feeling pretty good about it.
But it is true, both you humans and us real people tend to pack on the extra
pounds in the winter. It’s cold and wet outside and nobody feels like
exercising. It’s much nicer to just lie beside the fire and snack. I say
so what if I gain a couple pounds, I’ll lose them later.
But then I think
about my friend Bosco, who gained 20 pounds last winter. He’s a medium size
dog and now he looks like a blimp, like a barrel on sticks. He is even
having a hard time getting around, won’t play and chase things anymore, and
he used to be a champ! It’s not fair that his humans let him get this heavy
but they don’t even seem aware of the problem. My Dad says that all this
increase in weight just puts more load on his heart and other internal
organs along with his spine and hips. It will shorten his life span and
cause him to have trouble with his joints as he ages. He said it’s time to
talk to Bosco’s “owners” (owners, who is he kidding, Bosco is still the
boss) about a diet.
Once again
Yours truly,
Lots of puppy paws and wet kisses,
Kati
(with help from Snowy on the hard parts)
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