Candy, costumes, caramel apples and pumpkins…what’s not to love about Halloween? It is definitely one of my favorite holidays (likely because I’m a self-professed chocoholic). Unfortunately, it can be a scary holiday for pets. After all, there are ghosts and goblins knocking on the door to their homes! To keep your pets safe and happy during Halloween, here are some important safety tips:

1. Black cats should be kept inside. Unfortunately, during Halloween black cats are often the targets of pranks or something even worse that may result in the cat’s death. Most humane societies will not adopt out black cats around Halloween because of the threat of malicious attacks on them. Be sure to keep your cat inside to keep them safe and alive.

2. Trick-or-Treaters can be scary! Your pet doesn’t understand that it is a human under that mask and may become frightened or aggressive. Unfortunately, many pets have run away from their own homes because they were scared of people in costumes continuously coming up to the house. Your always very friendly dog may snap or try to bite the scary zombie that is trying to come into his house because he thinks he is protecting you. Keep your pet in a safe and quiet place until the trick-or-treaters are gone. Poor Fido may really think that scary Frankenstein is there to hurt him.

3. Candy is dangerous for your pet, especially chocolate! It’s easy to get distracted with kids in costumes and trick-or-treaters knocking on your door. It only takes a spilt second for you to look away from the candy dish and your pet can gobble up all the goodies…wrappers and all! Chocolate is toxic and can kill them, sugar candy can cause major vomiting and wrappers can become obstructed requiring surgery for your pet. Keep the candy away from your pet. (more…)

I was raised by a family who taught me that to vote is to be an American, and to this day I still believe that. I like to vote because it allows me to voice my opinion about who is elected to office in this country.

There is also another great reason to vote: you get an opportunity to vote on your own state’s ballot questions. There are about 150 state questions being voted on this November. And while some of the states vote on controversial issues including immigration (AZ, CA, MO, OR), tax limitations (AZ, MA, ND, OR) and abortion (CA, CO, SD), there will be a handful of other states who will be voting on animal rights issues (CA, MA, OK).

This isn’t a blog telling you which way to vote; I am just talking about one of the many reasons to vote. Like every other American you have the ability to make your own decision. The most important thing you can do is to go out and vote on November 4th. Since the animals cannot vote, then we humans hold their future in our hands, and that is why it is so important. There are many state animal issues that did not make it to the ballots, but the three that did are listed below. (more…)

1. How Old Is My Dog?

It used to be thought that 1 human year equaled 7 dog years. That’s not necessarily true. Depending on the size of your dog, they may age slower or faster than that!

Based on a chart developed by Fred L. Metzger, DVM, Dipl. ABVP; State College, PA (metzgeranimal.com)

2. Dogs CAN See Color:

Dogs have dichromatic (humans have trichromatic) vision meaning they can only see part of the range of colors that we can see. Based on how their eyes are made, they should be able to see yellow and blue primarily. Besides blue and yellow, dogs can also see violet, indigo and red. Likely, the colors green, yellow and orange will look alike to dogs. Sadly, we will never know the answer for sure since our dogs can’t tell us!

3. Tug Of War Is NOT A Bad Game:

Many people believe, “If you let the dog win tug of war then it will become dominant.” False.

What happens when you play tug of war? You and your dog start to tug on the toy. If you let him “win” what does he do? He stands there and “asks” you to take it again. If it were a dominant game that caused aggression, then your dog will run off with the toy, guard it and not let you near it. Instead your dog stands there hoping that you will pick it up and play the game again! Your dog loves to play with you. As long as you have rules and boundaries, tug of war provides your dog a proper outlet for his energy.

4. You CANNOT Tell If A Dog Has A Fever From His Nose:

A persistent old myth is still out there: A warm dry dog nose does not mean your dog has a fever. In fact, you cannot tell if your dog is sick based on his nose. A dog’s nose may be very wet and cool one minute and dry and warm the next. All are perfectly normal. The only way to tell if you dog has a fever is to take a rectal temperature using a digital thermometer. Normal dog temperature is between 100-102.5° F.

5. A Dog That CANNOT Bark:

The Basenji is known as the barkless breed. Despite not being able to let out a complete “woof,” they are able to make plenty of other noises including squeals, whines and screeches.

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She wore a pink hoodie and we called her by many names: Matte, Meow-Meow and Smelly-cat. Sure, she was an old cat with many health problems, but we just weren’t prepared when we had to make that final decision. It was only eight weeks ago we said goodbye to our beloved Matte cat, but it seems like just yesterday.

The house is lonely without her. I swear I see glimpses of her out of the corner of my eye sometimes. I can still remember how it felt to pet her, touch her nose and have her sit in my lap purring happily. No matter all the comfort friends and family have tried to give me one fact remains…I miss my cat and I wish she was still alive. It’s just lonely without her.

I work in a 24-hour veterinary emergency practice. I am used to pets dying and helping owners make that difficult decision. However, when it was my pet, I found myself becoming the owner. For most of us, losing a pet means losing a family member. It’s important to realize that you will need to take the time to grieve.

Everyone grieves differently. Some people need to keep busy and want to be surrounded by friends and family while others just want to be left alone. Most people will go through five stages of grief. (more…)

He was just a rabbit, a small black Netherland Dwarf rabbit to be precise. How exciting could his life be? His day consisted of mainly eating hay, pellets, and sometimes his own poop. His owners were two very un-extraordinary people — just myself and my husband. We were blessed to have George in our lives for over 14 years.

You read correctly….over 14 years (average life expectancy is 6-8 years) and, in those years, George’s life was anything but boring.

George was the reason I married my husband. Well, he was at least one of the many reasons. My husband and I didn’t have too much in common when we first met during my first year of college. However, we did share a deep love for animals. George was my husband’s illegal dorm rabbit and was named after the Bugs Bunny cartoon titled “The Abominable Snow Rabbit.” How could I not fall in love with a man that owned a rabbit and loved Bugs Bunny?

George was with us as we graduated college, got engaged, got married, and got our first cat followed by our first dog. He saw other pets come and go while he still remained. He was taken outside to enjoy the new grass of spring, and we amused ourselves (not him) by dressing him up in costumes for Halloween.

In his younger years, he was the fastest rabbit at destroying any and all electrical cords. Televisions, phones and radios were all left dead thanks to George’s ability to sever an electric cord in 0.5 seconds. George enjoyed the other pets in the house, and they enjoyed him. As he got older, he particularly liked to sit next to the dogs, likely for warmth and comfort. He was a very affectionate bunny who was easy to handle and truly enjoyed our company.

As George reached the age of 8-years-old, we started to think about the inevitable. Unfortunately, all living creatures pass away at some point, and we knew that one day we would have to say goodbye. When he reached 10 years of age we thought we were really lucky to have him around. When he was 11 years of age he lost his eyesight because of a parasite rabbits can carry around with them their entire lives, called E. cuniculi. We treated him for the parasite, but it left him blind. Even though George was completely blind, he still knew who we were, where everything was in the house and still enjoyed munching on new grass.

At 12 we started to joke that George was going to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records and by 13 we started looking into it. At 14 years of age George successfully became the Oldest Living Rabbit in the world. (more…)