Posted Fri, Jun 29, 2007, 12:26 pm PDT
Want your dog to enjoy the 4th of July festivities as much as you will? Here are some tips on keeping your dog safe in hot summer temperatures.
1. Keep him hydrated. Make sure your dog has access to water. If you're on the move, carry a portable bowl and bottle of water.
2. Different dogs have different needs. Darker coats absorb more heat than lighter coats, and overweight dogs dehydrate faster. Keep this in mind when taking your pack on a walk.
3. Never leave your dog in a parked car. A car retains heat, even in the shade. Add an overexcited dog to the equation, and dehydration can result. On long trips, keep the AC on or roll down the window, and make sure water is available.
4. Be innovative. A wet towel, a water spritzer, a kiddie pool, a fan in front of a pan of ice: these are all great ways to help keep your dog cool.
5. Dogs cool from the bottom up. Lay a wet towel under your dog instead of on top of her coat. Don't forget your dog's paws and stomach when spraying water.
6. Be vigilant! Watch for signs of dehydration. These include excessive drooling, lethargy, bloodshot eyes, and loss of skin elasticity. If you're concerned, get your dog into the shade or go inside, provide water, and contact your veterinarian.
Please consider sharing our page on how to keep your pets safe this 4th of July with your family and friends on Facebook. Here's the url: https://www.earthclinic.com/pets/how-to-protect-your-pets-during-july-4.html
Thank you!
WARNING!
WARNING!
If your dog has sound sensitivities (i.e., terrified of thunder), please consider keeping him or her inside once it gets dark on any holiday where there will be exploding fireworks. Do not trust your dog to be okay out in the yard!
Simple Solution for Sensitive Pets: We suggest you close the windows and drown out noises to the outside with loud fans or another kind of white noise. Speaking of white noise, you can buy an excellent cd for $10 on ebay.com called, yep, "White Noise" that will give you over an hour of waterfall-ish sound. Put the CD on "repeat" and you're good to go. While the CD might give you a headache, it is an excellent solution for pets who are terrified of loud and sudden noises. It's a must in our household!
I use a cd called Canine Lullabys. It has a heartbeat embedded in music. Hate the music, children's nursery songs but, the heartbeat is the key. Very calming.
This also works great for ear cleaning/meds. This way their claws are away from you and they can't run like hell when they see the medicine! Even the most honery and psycho of kitties can usually be dosed this way. After reading so many posts of people being bitten and scratched by their beloved furry friends I had to share this with all of you. I've got my fair share of scars trying help my furry babies so I totally understand how hard it is to get their meds in them. I hope this helps and bless all of you, two legged and four legged.
Peace!
ACV is very acidic so please be very careful that it does not go down wrong and enter the trachea or windpipe. This can cause alot of pain if your pet chokes on the acid. My mother had told me the story of how her friends once had played a practical joke on her by gaving my mother a drink with vinegar in it. As she started laughing with everyone else around her, she choked on the sour drink and it went down wrong into her windpipe. The result was WEEKS of miserable pain in her windpipe and lungs that she will remember for the rest of her life that she would warn us kids not to ever play this kind of pranks on anybody.
I totally believe in the healing power of ACV, but please, please be careful when forcefeeding it to your pet and know that if they choke on it and it goes down the trachea, the result could be pain that they can't tell you about.
Instead of adding Apple Cider Vinegar to my dog's drinking water, I add it to their food.
He is stumbling around with his head on one side, and it seems he's almost lost what little sight he had, as he peers at me as if trying to find me.
He is NOT eating or drinking. This is the 2nd day he hasn't eaten. He always had a very good appetite, and nothing seems to appeal, it's as if his sense of smell is distorted.
I syringed a few mls of water this morning and it's now almost 1 pm and that's ALL the water he's had today. I also put a few pieces of REALLY good beef in his mouth, he swallowed about 3 tsps, and that's all he's eaten in 2 days.
I would really appreciate any suggestions! Beverley N in Australia
I'm sorry to have to say this, but this really sounds as if it's the beginning of the end for your dear pup, especially since he's 16 and seems to have had a stroke. If money is tight for you, please find a low-cost vet in or near your area. He definitely needs to see a vet.
Bleeding finally stopped for 2 weeks now but he stopped eating. Learned he had high fever and now he is only taken small dose of steroid to help make him want to eat plus antifungal Med. They had also put him on denamrin b/c his liver numbers are going io due to side effect of anti fungal med. Got him to eat raw food yesterday and actually take his pill but want him to get better! Think he is sick of all his meds! He previously was eating Now kibble and Taste of the Wild. Any suggestions? Tried hot dog (whole foods of course), rice and chicken, soup, steak, grilled chicken, canned dog foods (premium brands, all types), cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream. I've been told the anti fungal is his only fighting chance so the disease does not spread to his brain cavity. The med is a capsule 2xday and so far he will only take in cheese but I need a backup plan b/c finicky now. Also want him to get well and beat these to any holistic advice for what I can do is beyond helpful. I've spent a ton of money thus far and can only manage something at home now.
Most of our pets health issues are diet related. Do not give people food to animals, unless it is recommended like fresh veggies and lean meats and brown rice, etc... Do not give your dog grocery store food. Look up some good food alternatives.
It sounds like your dog may have been poisoned? Either someone deliberately did it or maybe it licked up some spilled antifreeze somewhere. It does not take much to kill an animal with antifreeze. It smells and taste sweet so they like it.
Dogs have a tendency to ingest things when their diet is not too good. If I don't watch my dog closely she will try to eat rocks or grass that may have been sprayed with poisons, etc...
Also, those rawhide bones can be very dangerous for some breeds, inc. Mine. She threw them up once and because it was in her stomach for awhile it was almost like pieces of glass coming up. It was a wonder it did not cut her intestines and she bled to death. No more for her.
I hope the best for your baby! Do your research before you feed him/her.
WARNING!
WARNING!
I will confess, I had short haired dogs, great danes. I NEVER shampooed them. In most instances a damp washcloth wiping down was sufficient. Of course, rinsing just w/ water and rubbing gently w/ hand for mud etc.. My dogs had gorgeous coats, lots of shine and no skin issues. All the chemicals they put in pet products are not good for the hair or the skin (just like w/ people)
First I tried to wash the wound out with peroxide and some antibiotic ointment. Probably NOT a good idea because I didn't want the bite to be sealed up and was not sure how the peoxide would affect the poison. Then I thought about what I had on hand here at the house. I mixed up a saltwater solution and washed the wound. I tried to get the saltwater in the puncture holes. Then I grabbed a box of baking soda and added a few drops of water to make it pasty. I applied this over the wound and covered the area around the wound. Next I got on the internet and scanned vet sites, spider sites, just ANYWHERE for a picture to help me identify WHAT had bit him.
Next, I got on EC and started scanning everything I could find about spider bites. I found the charcoal post and thought it may be worth a try. I went to Walmart and in the pet section they have activated charcoal for your fish tank. Comes in a large plastic jar. (asked the pharmacist about charcoal but they only had some capsules. ) I took some charcoal, about a tsp. , crushed it and added a few drops of water, and applied it directly over the wound. It seemed to stay on pretty good. I thought it might fall off but it didn't. I left it on for a day and when I went to check it and change the charcoal I found the wound had formed some kind of scab with the charcoal. It seemed bonded with it and I didn't want to tear it off, so I left it on. This was 48 hours after the bite and I could see the red ring was gone, the swelling was gone, and the wound area seemed to be much smaller. The next day the scab seemed like it was hardened and smaller. By the evening it had fell off and there was no swelling, no redness, no discharge, in fact, there were NO HOLES either. It was almost like he had not been bit! Like it had totally healed up under the charcoal and was gone. Total time from finding bite to scab falling off was three 1/2 days.
I am so glad that I found this site and so glad that my dog is okay! I still don't know what bit him, but it was just wonderful to have him healed up and alive. I hope this helps someone else. If I had to do it over, I would probably remove the scab and add fresh charcoal to the wound daily. As this was my first time dealing with spider bites, and as the charcoal was working so well, I was hesitant to mess with the process. I also live rurally and don't have access to a GNC or health food store, so Walmart pet section had to be the choice. Good luck to all....
I had a nasty spider bite like that a few years ago. It turned out it was a wolf-spider bite. I used a triple antibiotic and it healed quite nicely!
