Friday, January 29, 2010

ASPCA's Top 10 Poisons of 2009

Great post on Paw Nation! It's not just about trouble-making pets eating or getting into something they shouldn't. A lot of what you'll see in the ASPCA's Top 10 Poisons of 2009 are man-made causes and errors on the part of us humans.

For instance, if you wouldn't walk on your lawn after applying fertilizer, why would you allow your pets to? The same with newly cleaned carpets and freshly mopped floors (unless only water is used to clean them).

If you wouldn't apply toxic chemicals on your skin and allow them to seep into your body through your skin's pores, why would you apply them to your pets' skin and fur? Spot-on flea and tick products and even flea and tick shampoos can be more dangerous to your pets than you think. They can cause serious and sometimes irreparable medical issues, including neurological problems and even death. They can cause chemical burns so severe that your pet's burnt skin needs to be surgically removed, with the good skin and fur sewn back together.

Click the above link from Paw Nation and take the time to learn more about what can harm your pets in and around your home. Be informed, not sorry!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

E-mail Service to Remind You When to Give Dog Medications

In case you forget, RemindMyPet.com is a service of Novartis Animal Health to remind you to give medications to your dogs. It's an electronic tap on the shoulder, if you will.

"The idea is to hound owners into doing what the veterinarian said. It's easy to forget what the veterinarian said. It's easy to forget when to give monthly treatments and preventives. An American Animal Hospital Association survey, for example, showed that less than half of dogs got their heartworm prevention medication as recommended. It's even easier to quit giving medications such as antibiotics when a dog seems well again, even though the drug is still needed."

The service is free. Your personal information is not supposed to be sold or distributed. You can sign up at www.remindmypet.com.

For all of you who give your dogs heartworm "prevention," here is now no excuse for forgetting and another reason for not EVER getting your dogs the ProHeart 6 injection just because it's "convenient"!