PetDoctor.com.au

Firstly, I’d like to introduce myself, for those of you who haven’t seen my messages on dogshome.com, I am Mickey 3 legs, I am a proud graduate of The Lost Dogs´ Home. I came into the dogs home almost 2 years ago now as a stray pup with a shattered leg. Petra, one of the kindest vets in the whole wide world fell in love with me and along with the other wonderful vets at the dogs home amputated my leg and found me a wonderful home. I like to let you humans know just what us dogs are thinking and what we need at different times throughout the year, so read ahead for my Autumn tips and i’ll see you again in winter.

So Autumn is here and along with it comes long weekends, some hot days and Easter. But along with all these fun things comes dangers for us, your best friends. Here are a few things for you humans to keep in mind during the Autumn months.

Easter, it’s not just 4 fun filled days of play in the backyard but its potentially a dangerous weekend for us K9 kids. Chocolate can kill dogs, cats, birds, rodents and reptiles. Why is chocolate so dangerous for us? Chocolate toxicosis (poisoning) is caused by excessive intake of the methylxanthine alkaloids in chocolate, coffee, tea, and some over-the-counter stimulants. The poisoning affects many organ systems, and animals of all ages are susceptible. Poisoning is common in dogs because of their habit of rapid consumption, particularly puppies and young dogs as they may be more likely to ingest large amounts of unusual foods. Since chocolate is often available and tasty, access to chocolate goodies is a problem. So what are the signs of poisoning? Vomiting and diarrhea occur 2 to 4 hours after intake, and chocolate in the vomit may be obvious. Nervous system stimulation leads to hyperactivity, tremors, and seizures. The heart rate becomes increasingly rapid and irregular. Excessive urination may result from the diuretic (water clearing) action of the chocolate. Advanced signs include stiffness, excitement, seizures, and extreme response to noise, light, and touch. Heart failure, weakness, coma, and death can occur 12 to 36 hours after intake. What to do if poisoning occurs? If your dog is having a seizure, do not attempt to cause vomiting; take the dog to your veterinarian without delay. If the chocolate has just been consumed ring your vet for advice immediately. There is no antidote for chocolate poisoning. Your veterinarian may use drugs to induce vomiting if the chocolate was consumed within the previous 2 - 4 hours or a stomach tube and fluids to clear the stomach of chocolate, followed by activated charcoal treatment to prevent any drug remaining from being absorbed. In dogs with advanced signs, specialized medications are needed to control the seizures and to correct the rapid and weak heartbeat in order to prevent heart failure. (17 March 2005, Petalia.com.au)

The Autumn months are full of long weekend BBQ’s, you’re bound to go to a few. Remind guests that cooked bones are not good for us, no matter how much we beg and no matter how sad our big brown eyes are! Along with chop bones at bbq’s comes onions. Although a great accompaniment for you humans a bad food for us dogs, it can be toxic causing anemia.

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve had days of 35 degrees and days of 15 degrees, so its really important to plan ahead when leaving us in the back yard, taking us in the car or going on camping trips with us. Keeping cool can be tough for us dogs, especially those of us that have indulged in a few too many treats, senior dogs and heavy - thick coated dogs. Like most owners, mine are away at work during the day but that’s ok because along with my daily toys they leave me with a non spillable bucket of water under some shade. On hot days I even get a half sand shell filled with cool water to splash about in, it helps to take the edge off those really hot ones. Sometimes I even get ice cubes filled with a little bit of chicken stock mixed up in water or some dry kibble frozen in ice cubes, they give them to me before they leave and I sit and munch on a cool yummy treat. Best of all I can get inside and outside through my ‘doggy door’, this allows me to get really cool if its way too hot outside. On those chilly days, I make sure my owner has a big warm blanket in my kennel and that I have lots of shelter.

There’s no beating about the bush here, when us dogs are left alone in cars, we die. When you’re popping in to the shops for 2 minutes keep in mind that when it’s 20 degrees outside, it can be 38 degrees inside the car and yes that’s in the shade too. It takes 6 minutes for a dog to die in a car, we don’t sweat like you do so we heat up much quicker and find it a lot harder to get cool, EVEN Autumn days can be extremely hot. So when you’re taking a family outing think about whether or not us dogs are allowed, call ahead and be sure otherwise leave us at home where you know we are safe or at doggy day care or with a trusted friend. If you see a dog in distress you should call the Police on 000, the RSPCA on 92242222 as well as the Council that you are in and report the incident to an Animal Control Officer. Take down the registration number and make of the car and have someone page the owner in the stores near by. If the owner has come back and the dog is suffering from heat exhaustion you should advise them to put the dogs belly in cool (not cold) water, put a wet towel around his neck and get his pads into water. Inform them that he needs urgent medical attention.

Going away for a few days over Easter? Think we’ll be just fine in the back yard with a big bucket of food and water? WRONG. The water can be easily knocked over in the first 10 minutes of you leaving, we may scoff the food and become very ill or we may run away getting lost or even stolen, we may become distressed and bark constantly all weekend and we will be very lonely with no company. If you are going away your best bet is to call a boarding kennel, a dog walking service or day care service or a very trustworthy friend.

Identification. How many of you have washed your pooch, let him have a run around the back yard and forgotten to put his collar and tags back on? Heaps of you I can tell you, how do you think i landed myself in The Lost Dogs´ Home in the first place?. As soon as you’ve dried us, get our collars on, yes it feels great to have it off for a bit but it feels much better to be safe in our own back yards than down at the pound.

Happy Easter to you all,
Mickey