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By Hawaiian Humane Society
Question: I'm a teacher and headed back to school and my son who spent the most time with our dog is headed for college. Is there anything we can do to make the transition easier for our dog?
Answer: For pets left alone most of the day, there are many things you can do to make the time more enjoyable.
Make your departure and return as nonchalant as possible. Install a pet door so they have access to the indoors and outdoors. Leave a television or radio on for sound comfort. Hire someone in your neighborhood to stop by during the day and take your dog for a walk.
By Jill Rosen - Baltimore Sun
Jasika Scruggs wasn't in the market for another dog. She was at the shelter for a happy hour with her dog Papi. But when she saw those layers of marshmallow cream fur and the leathery black button for a nose, she dropped to her knees in front of the cage. It was, as she says, love at first sight.
At second sight, well, Scruggs is seeing the pup quite differently.
The Labradoodle she named June didn't eat for the first week. It was days before she went to the bathroom. She made no eye contact. The dog's separation anxiety is so profound, Scruggs says, she wreaks havoc if left alone, even for just a few minutes, even if she's supposedly safe in her crate.
Though she's one of the designer dogs people covet and will pay as much as $1,200 to own, June is also a puppy mill survivor, with the emotional scars to prove it. She's one of more than 200 dogs rescued last month from a raided Pennsylvania kennel, where sickly dogs wedged into wire cages were left to steep, for years, in infections and their own excrement.
Eighteen of those dogs and puppies came to the Maryland SPCA in Baltimore -- 16, including June, were instantly adopted.
Never before has the public's awareness of puppy mills been so great -- and never before have so many of them been busted. This year alone, the Humane Society of the United States, the primary organization behind such raids, has rescued 1,600 dogs.
According to Justin Scally, who heads the Humane Society's puppy mill task force, there are believed to be 10,000 puppy mills in the country, places where an animal's well being is not nearly as important as its potential pricetag.
As agencies continue to raid these breeding factories, hundreds of dogs, adorable on the outside but damaged inside, are charming their way into people's hearts and surprising them with the depth of their issues.
"I think a lot of people forget about that," Scally says. "These animals were in constant confinement and there are psychological effects. Some may recover better than others."
SPCA staff warned Scruggs that she would be bringing home a troubled creature, but she didn't understand the scope of it until, leaving the shelter, she and her husband tried to load the dog into their car.
A shaking June pulled on the leash, trying to get back inside the shelter. Paralyzed with fear, June froze on the pebble drive, refusing to budge. The couple had to pick her up, and load all 50 terrified pounds of her into the back seat like luggage.
"I knew it was going to be hard, but as much as you think you're going to be prepared, you can't ever be," says Scruggs, who lives in Mount Vernon and owns a Fells Point cake business. "I would look at her and cry. I could tell she was so unhappy."
Just days after being freed from the Allentown kennel, named Almost Heaven, the evacuees arrived in Baltimore on a Wednesday in June. Filthy and matted, shaking and stinky, they struggled to adjust to their temporary quarters.
The dog Scruggs would bring home days later, paced her cage nervously -- compulsively, really. Others cowered in corners. Some licked visitors' fingers and experimented with their first toys.
By Sunday morning, all the adoptable dogs were spoken for. Visitors who arrived at the shelter hoping to adopt, and there were many, left disappointed.
Jane, a seven-pound white Maltese, rests in Carol Ault's arms like a baby. She looks particularly small since her fur, in such bad shape, had to be shaved nearly to the skin.
Jane has cozied up to Ault, her foster mom. But sudden moves send her right back to square one. She still shakes at the sight of strangers, turns to a statue if Ault clips a leash onto her collar and hasn't exactly mastered the housetraining arts.
"I just wish she would get to know that we're not all bad humans," says Ault, who lives in southwest Baltimore. "Can you imagine what their lives were like?"
(Jane was recently adopted by a retiree.)
Bill White, a columnist with the Allentown Morning Call, has written about the Almost Heaven kennel for years. He describes it as "hellish."
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by Miss Cellania - MentalFloss.com
It’s been said that dogs will eat anything, whether it tastes good or not, and regardless of whether it is edible. Some dogs not only eat weird things, but they eat as much of it as they can. Here are eight recent stories that illustrate that point.
Rubber Duck
Ozzie is a Staffordshire terrier from Cubbington, England. About a year ago, he was tussling with another dog over a rubber duck. Ozzie established his rights to the toy by swallowing it whole. The vets couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the x-ray, since most dogs chew their toys up before swallowing them. Ozzie required surgery to remove the duck, but made a rapid recovery.
Fish Hooks
Toby is a rescue dog who had been abused and abandoned before being adopted by Brian Sales. Sales keep his fishing tackle box high off the floor, but curious Toby managed to get into it and swallow a dozen fish hooks, which on this occasion were loaded with bait. Sales rushed Toby to a veterinary clinic. Doctors said that the greatest danger would have been if the hooks caught in the dog’s throat, but they had instead passed to the stomach. Because of the shape of fish hooks, they were able to pass through the dog naturally, and in record time because Toby is allergic to the fish that the hooks were baited with!
Cell Phone
Nero is a Great Dane-Doberman crossbreed. The rather large dog from Pretoria, South Africa snatched a cell phone from his owner’s daughter’s hand and swallowed it in the blink of an eye. Nero was immediately taken to the veterinary clinic, where he was x-rayed and then had surgery to remove the phone. The vets found stones in Nero’s stomach along with the phone. Nero recovered, but the cell phone never worked again.
Rocks
Chester, who lives in Bangor, Maine, was attracted to the rocks around the family barbecue, because of those delicious drippings splattered on them. So he went a little overboard. Instead of swallowing one or two rocks, Chester ingested a total of six pounds of rocks! The vet said he’s never seen anything like it. Chester was able to pass the stones naturally, so no surgery was necessary.
Homer Simpson
A ten-year-old Dalmatian named Dixie lost her appetite and behaved strangely, so her owner took her to a veterinary clinic in Aberdeen, Scotland. An x-ray revealed that Dixie had swallowed a plastic egg with a plastic Homer Simpson toy inside. The goods had originally been inside a chocolate egg that Dixie got hold of. Vets removed the figurine from the dog’s intestine, and she is fine now.
Dog
Joanne Dutton of Wilmsly, England took her dog Alfie to the vet when he became ill and wouldn’t eat. The x-rays showed there was a dog inside the dog. Alfie had stolen a miniature dog figurine from a dollhouse belonging to Dutton’s daughter Madeline. Vets performed surgery to remove the toy.
Joanne said: “Alfie is back to normal again now – running around like a lunatic.”
Golf Balls
Bertie is pointer/bloodhound mix who lives in Great Totham, England. His owner, 12-year-old Ben Jewell saw him eat a golfball and so Bertie was taken to a clinic. X-rays revealed this was not the first time Bertie wolfed down a golf ball. A total of nine balls were inside the dog! During surgery to remove the balls, veterinarians found a completely unrelated surprise: a bullet was lodged in the tissue of Bertie’s abdomen, indicating he’d been shot at some time. The bullet was removed as well as the golf balls, and Bertie has recovered.
Arrow
Just last week, Betty, an 8-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier somehow managed to swallow a plastic toy arrow that was almost as long as her body! Her owner Emma Watson (not the actress) noticed she was sick a day later and took her to Thamesmead PDSA PetAid Hospital, where the arrow was found by x-ray. The arrow was 10.5 inches long, and extended from her throat to her small intestine. It was removed surgically, and Betty was on her feet in no time. But Watson had to keep a close eye on her.
‘She doesn’t appear to have learned her lesson because as soon as she got home she tried to eat the TV remote control so we’re keeping a very close eye on her now to prevent anything like this from happening again.’
By: Allison Ford - DivineCaroline.com
There’s a reason for that old adage, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Pets have a (sometimes infuriating) natural propensity to investigate everything they encounter, and some particularly interesting specimens can get the full mouth treatment. Living with a dog or an inquisitive cat can feel like living with a toddler—every day you’re shooing them away from some tiny choking hazard or forbidden piece of food. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve chased my cats around the house, trying to get them to drop some unidentified morsel that may be food, plastic, a bug, or who knows what else. For pets that spend most of their lives indoors, sometimes it’s a thrill to chew on a houseplant or nibble on some grass in the yard. On the other hand, some pets turn up their noses when offered anything green. Unfortunately for adventurous pets, many common houseplants and foods are potentially toxic, so if you have curious kitties or canines, make sure that these lethal leaves are out of reach.
House of Flowers
According to the ASPCA, about 8,000 cases of plant poisoning each year come through their poison control call center. Lilies are among the most cat-hazardous plants in existence. When ingested, some species, such as lily-of-the-valley, can cause kidney failure and death within seventy-two hours. There are many varieties of lily, and their toxic effects range from upset stomach and a burning mouth to death. They are one of the most popular houseplants, but eating any part of one can be enough to kill an average-sized housecat. Most cats aren’t interested in eating flowers, but a few love to sample whatever’s available. Lilies aren’t quite as dangerous for dogs (who are generally more likely to eat plants and flowers), but ingesting even a few leaves is still enough to make a dog extremely sick.
Many other beautiful and common flowers are lethal to cats and dogs. Owners of curious pets should steer clear of bouquets or pots of daffodils, narcissus, hydrangeas, hyacinth, delphinium (also called larkspur), rhododendrons, azaleas, and dieffenbachia, all of which are poisonous and can cause nausea, vomiting, and airway constriction. Oleander, which sometimes grows in gardens in warm climates, is among the most poisonous plants in the world. The entire plant—leaves, stems, sap, and seeds—is exceptionally poisonous to humans and pets, and the bark also contains a compound similar to strychnine.
Drag It Through the Garden
Any plant that’s a member of the nightshade family can be dangerous for pets. Of course, most people don’t have deadly nightshade growing in the garden, but they might have some of its family members—potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, chili peppers, and Jimson weed. If eaten by a cat or dog, any member of the nightshade family can cause intense gastrointestinal upset, vomiting, and neurological symptoms like confusion and delirium. Potatoes and tomatoes don’t generally raise as much alarm, but they can cause severe distress if a pet eats enough of the leaves or stem. Jimson weed (sometimes called thorn apple) poisoning is highly dangerous and often fatal, and it’s one of the more common kinds of pet poisoning.
Rhubarb is a common plant in gardens, but only the stalks are edible, because the leaves contain a compound called oxalate, which absorbs quickly into the bloodstream and is highly poisonous. Dogs and cats, because of their small size, are even more sensitive to rhubarb leaves than humans are, and eating even a few raw or cooked leaves can cause convulsions, seizures, and even death. Aloe plants, despite being useful and fragrant, are also toxic to pets, and should be avoided, as should marijuana and hemlock.
Veggie Danger
Many of the vegetables that humans keep around the kitchen can also be toxic for pets, so whether they’re languishing on dinner plates or decomposing in the compost, keep them away from dogs and cats. Onion and garlic are particularly toxic for both cats and dogs because of the compound thiosulfate, and they can cause a condition called Heinz body anemia, which damages red blood cells and causes hemolytic anemia. Onion and garlic can also cause vomiting, weakness, liver damage, asthma, and diarrhea. Some vets advise feeding baby food to sick or weak pets, but it’s important to check and make sure that the baby food does not contain any onion powder. The ASPCA processed about 15,000 cases of poisoning in 2008 due to ingestion of vegetables and other “people foods.”
Both cats and dogs can be harmed by eating cherries, peaches, apricots, and other stone fruits, because animals are more likely to eat the dangerous pits and seeds, which contain cyanide (in fact, in huge quantities, they’re poisonous for humans, too). For dogs, grapes are another serious poison threat. For reasons that are not understood, even a single grape can be enough to trigger acute kidney failure. They don’t seem to affect every dog the same way, but to be on the safe side, it’s best to keep grapes and raisins safely out of your dog’s reach. Some other foods that can harm pets include avocados, mushrooms, apple seeds, and eucalyptus. Of course, chocolate is another dangerous toxin for both dogs and cats, owing to the compound theobromine. Chocolate is actually more toxic for cats, but they are much less likely to eat it, since they can’t taste sweetness.
There are many, many more plants that pose a threat to our beloved cats and dogs, and a full list can be found by checking with the Humane Society of the United States. Luckily for gardeners and those with green thumbs, there are also many plants that are perfectly safe to grow in the house or garden. Orchids and violets are both non-toxic to pets, as are spider plants, bamboo, rubber plants, and zebra plants. It’s even possible to give your pet its own garden full of tasty green treats to nibble on. However, some vets recommend that especially curious pets not be allowed to eat any plants at all—even the safe ones—so that they learn to stay away from them.
Some pets have no interest in plants or veggies, so it’s possible for them to coexist safely with your garden. However, if you think that your pet may have eaten something poisonous, it’s important to get it to the veterinarian as soon as possible. If your cat or dog is displaying symptoms such as profuse vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, or refuses to eat, you can also contact the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426–4435 for help in deciding what to do. If a poisoned pet gets prompt medical attention, there’s a good chance that you could quickly put the episode behind you. Then the next step is to send the offending foliage to live with a nice farm family.
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