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WATER TIDBITS
All pets need water. Big dogs need big bowls or buckets. Turtles and snakes need heavy, shallow bowls big enough to soak in. Rats, mice and hamsters do best with a cage bottle. Rabbits and guinea pigs need either water bottles or heavy bowls that won't tip over.
Be sure that outdoor water dishes are in the shade. Make sure that the water is cool, clean and always available. Troughs, ponds and watering holes should be kept clean, too.
In the winter, all water sources should be kept available for your animals. That includes busting holes in the ice.
Helpful Hints for Household Pets
Most helpful suggestions are just plain common sense. You may not pay any attention to something that is part of your everyday life, but small ones do. So, whether your baby is human, canine or feline, these helpful suggestions will prove to be invaluable.
DON’T leave cigarette butts in ash trays where they can be reached. Nicotine is poison to small bodies. Medication bottles are not always "child proof", much less puppy teeth proof, so be careful with those, too.
Electrical cords could be secured to baseboards or put under a rug to make them less accessible. Children pull and puppies and kittens chew. Electrical shocks can burn, and sometimes kill. Candles are also another cause of burns. Little ones of all kinds are attracted to flames.
What about poisoning? Everyone has heard a lot about antifreeze, but what about toilet bowl cleaners? You should keep your toilet lid down to keep small ones out. Pesticides, rodent poisons and even hanging fly strips are toxic. They myst be keep out of reach. Remember, kittens climb and love to swat at things.
Needles and pins can also be swallowed. These can get lodged in the throat or puncture intestines or stomach linings.
Basement doors and upper story windows are a danger. Curiosity makes any small body vulnerable. Broken bones not only hurt, they are expensive to fix.
Remember, just use a little common sense and all in the household will be kept safe.
Why Spay/Neuter Animals Early?
For obvious reasons, it would be useful to spay/neuter animals as early as possible. With more than 27 million dogs and cats impounded annually in the United States and at least 17 million euthanized, the over-population of animals is of great concern to animal control agencies, public health officials, veterinarians and society in general.
Studies have shown there is NO significant difference in weight or skeletal growth due to early sterilization. Dogs and cats start their reproductive cycles between four and six months of age. Sterilizing at two to three month of age is feasible for either animal, although some veterinarians prefer to wait until they are six months old.
Contact your veterinarian for an appointment and get you pet vaccinated and spayed/neutered.
The Tapeworms and Flea Connection
Before you notice that your pet has tapeworms, it has already been releasing egg-filled tapeworm segments in your home and yard.
Infected animals shed thousands of tapeworm eggs in this way. The tapeworm eggs are food for the flea larvae.
These flea larvae become adult tapeworm-carrying fleas. When your pet bites or grooms itself, it eats an infected flea. Thus begins your tapeworm problem again. This all can take place in as little as two weeks.
The best way to stop this is an ongoing flea control program. This means treating both your pet and their environment. remove feces from your yard and/or litter box as frequently as possible.
Ask your veterinarian about regular deworming and flea control programs
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