Naples Pet Vet Blog

Halloween brings with it certain concerns for our pets.  Most rescue organizations suspend the adoption of black cats during this season for obvious reasons, but any pet can be the victim of a "trick"gone wrong.  With Halloween falling on a Saturday, we can expect more late night festivities and the potential for more activity and traffic.  We recommend keeping all pets inside Halloween night to keep them safe. Remember, witches, goblins and "balloon boys" ringing the doorbell can be stressful to any pet, as well as providing the opportunity for an ill timed escape.  Keep pets behind closed doors , or consider boarding them for  a guaranteed ghost and goblin free evening. 

Watch candles that pets might knock over.

Treats can be of particular concern; bowls and bags of candy are tempting,  but can be deadly. 

 Chocolate ingestion can cause problems in a number of ways.  The high fat and sugar content can induce pancreatitis, a condition that can be very serious and require hospitilization.  At the very least, ingestion of large quantities of candy can bring about an  unpleasant upset stomach and diarrhea.  Theobromine found in chocolate  can cause tremors, seizures and even death when ingested in large enough amounts.  The amount of theobromine  in chocolate products varies and the toxicity is dose dependant.  A 50 lb dog would have to ingest 20 oz of milk chocolate to show signs of  toxicity, but only 2 1/2 oz of baking chocolate.  It takes about 4 days for these componants to clear the dog's system. 

A new potential deadly player on the scene is xylitol  Xylitol is an artificial sweeter found in many sugar free gums and products.  While humans tolerate it well dogs do not.  Dogs release excessive insulin after xylitol ingestion, causing blood sugar levels to plummet; weakness, disorientation and seizures can result.  Xylitol has also been found to cause liver failure in dogs.  A 10 lb dog could show signs of xylitol toxicity after ingesting a stick and a half of gum. 

Take a few precautions to keep you pets safe and have a Happy Halloween.

Posted by Lesli Reiff, DVM at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When a human Dr. asked me the other day if business was off due to the economic situation I explained that it was, since  people don't routinely have pet insurance and pet healthcare costs is "out of pocket' in most cases....and pockets are emptier these days.  His reply was  that we were probably lucky not having to deal with insurance companies and all the red tape.  I explained that pet health insurance plans were different in that most reimbursed the owners not the veterinarian. 

Most arguments against pet health insurance explain that if you put the regular premiums in a bank account and left it untouched, in many cases , you would end up ahead of the game.  I don't know if  this is true or not , but it is, in reality, a moot point. How many of you out there would be disciplined enought to do that - never touching the balance at all ?  Don't think that I would - Could you?

There are more and more pet insurance companies out there these days.  I definitely recommend looking into it.  Those insured clients find it easier to be proactive with health care and are prepared if something bad happens.  The caution is that all pet health insurance plans are  alike.  I found a good link that compares them.  Here it is:

http://frvet.com/insurance.html

Posted by Lesli Reiff, DVM at 03:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)