Shipping Material Safety Around Pets

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

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Foam Packing Material is a Choke Hazard

We get a lot of packages here at All Things Dog Blog central. I'm happy to report that the pet industry shipments are generally packed with pet-safe materials that are less likely to be life threatening to our best friends.

A recent furniture shipment, however, was loaded down with soft foam, cylinder-shaped packing material that was quickly of interest to Oliver. He wanted to sniff and explore these small items that tumbled out of the box as I retrieved the contents.

Soft Foam Packing Material 
Easily Choked On

Backing him away I scooped up the questionable materials and examined them. Sure enough--soft foam that could choke a dog in a few seconds time. I scoured the floor for pieces I may have missed and checked Oliver's mouth. Thankfully I was quick enough to keep him from taste-testing.

Even Tanner, my much larger Golden Retriever, could have had trouble with a mouthful of these worm-like pieces of packaging foam that clearly do a great job of protecting breakable items in shipping. But I'm more worried about them getting lodged in my dogs' esophagus and suffocating or choking them. My heart pounded as I thought of how close we had come.

When you examine the pieces in the dog bowl I included in the photo at the top of this post you'll see that these foam cylinders are about the size of Oliver's esophagus. He could easily and quickly have succumbed as a result of eating such materials. As you can see in the photo immediately above this paragraph, these pieces are small and easy to pick up, unlike some packing materials that could have been challenging for 10-lb. Oliver to grab.

After cleaning up, I bagged all these little worms (said with tongue in cheek) and tossed them in the car to drop off at a nearby pack-n-ship store that accepts packing material for reuse. We love to help out these small businesses that do what they can to help reduce the amount of synthetic materials used in their business's shipping. I can't help but notice that they use recycled boxes and labels, plus they have a big sign asking customers to recycle their packing material by turning it into them for reuse. How wonderful!

On that note, I checked my shipping room for other, less than green packing materials. As shipments arrive, I sort these into various boxes or bags. I prefer tissue paper and unbleached movers' paper. These biodegrade and are not nearly so harmful to our dogs if eaten. Foam sheeting, styrofoam peanuts, and air paks are not my favorites. I save a few for extremely delicate shipments, but try not to use them unless absolutely necessary. A couple of bags of these took off with the soft foam about which I am raising a red flag today. It felt good to purge a bit.

For the safety of your pets and your kids, please secure packing materials and place them out of reach of your loved ones--furry and human. To be even more careful, unpack boxes in a room where you are separated from the furry kids, to assure that you don't miss any steals that could go badly. It's just not worth the risk. I'm vowing to unpack all shipments in my shipping room with the door closed from here on out, to make sure that my pets are not accidentally allowed the opportunity to eat anything that is dangerous. Join me?

Ask the Veterinarian: Insight on Friendship Changes

by Dr. Julie Buzby

Scent May Change Your Pet's Playtime Dynamic

Hi, I have a female 10 month old Lhasa Apso puppy who has a best fur friend who is a 6 month old sheltie mix. These puppies have played together from day one of meeting each other. My puppy was spayed at 6 months. After recovery the two went on to have play dates and be the best of fur friends. Recently the sheltie puppy was spayed, so after her recovery we made a play date. To my surprise my puppy reacted very different towards her. It was like she didn't know the Sheltie. My puppy treated her as she would a strange dog. After being with her about 15 minutes she started to warm up to her again but still wasn't the same way with her. Does a dog's scent change after being spayed?

Johnna 

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Dear Johnna, My first year in practice I received a call from a distressed client after I’d examined her Siamese cat and taken a routine blood sample.  The cat shared a home with 2 other felines, who wouldn’t come near my patient after she’d returned from her excursion to our hospital.  The housemates, displaying classic signs of fear aggression, hissed at the Siamese and treated her as if she was an alien teleported onto their turf.

There is debate whether unfamiliar odors, subtle visual cues, pheromones, or a combination of factors cause these reintroduction issues, but this problem is not uncommon in multicat households.  My hypothesis is that this cat carried home, on her coat, foreign scents from the veterinary hospital.  Rubbing alcohol had been applied to her fur in the process of collecting a blood sample, but I’ve also observed the phenomenon in cats who had not been exposed to alcohol.  The “clinical” potpourri of smells that envelopes animals in the hospital environment seems to be enough to cause problems in certain situations.

I have to confess, I’ve only seen this happen in cats, but a dog's sense of smell is many times more powerful than a cat’s.  To answer your question, yes, I do believe the Sheltie’s scent changed after being spayed, but I don’t think it was because of hormone/pheromone changes that your Lhasa acted strangely towards her.  I think the offending scent was a combination of the disinfectant used to prepare her belly for the spay, rubbing alcohol used to place the IV catheter, and other “medicinal” odors that could have been harbored by the Sheltie’s long-haired coat. 

I trust the relationship is back to normal by now, but for future reference, it’s best to go very slowly in reintroducing animals exhibiting this fear-based behavior.  Unfortunately, it can take days, weeks, or even months to resolve.

Dr. Julie Buzby is a homeschooling mom of seven, American Veterinary Chiropractic Association and International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified holistic veterinarian, and passionate advocate for canine mobility.In her free time she serves on the Advisory Board for The Grey Muzzle Organization. She can be found at Twitter @DrBuzby and on Facebook.com/ToeGrips. You'll also find more of Dr. Julie's posts at our Ask the Vet Archives page.

You may also enjoy reading her recent articles:

• 10 Tips for Fido's Longest Life
• Leaner Pets Live Longer
• Finicky Eaters
• Tweaking Your Dog's Vaccinations
• Ask the Vet Welcomes Dr. Julie Buzby

Dr. Julie's opinion or advice does not replace an actual exam with a veterinarian.

Photo courtesy andylangager via flickr.com

Pet First Aid Tips by Arden Moore

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
First Aid On the Go

This past week it was my privilege to work with Arden Moore for the first time. As a master certified first aid instructor, she was a shoe-in for the job as our guest expert at the #Pet1stAid Twitter Party. I learned a lot of new things to keep me on my toes going forward, as my Fidos and feline continue to get into mischief that sometimes requires quick action.

Arden is an inspiring woman. An animal behavior consultant and the author of 24 pet books, Arden hosts the Oh Behave Show on PetLifeRadio.com and is the creator of National Dog Party Day™. You'll also find her on FourLeggedLife.com. And if you enjoyed Arden's tips on pet first aid you'll also want to check out her other site: petfirstaid4u.com.  

Next up, watch for her appearance at #Coupaween, our Halloween safety party in which Arden will be sharing safety tips while we give away Halloween costumes and accessories from Coupaw. This is sure to be fun AND educational!

Now I'd like to share some of Arden's wisdom and excellent advice, just as she shared these tips during our #Pet1stAid Twitter Party:

• Pet stung by a bee? Use OTC antihistamines containing only diphenhydramine. 
• When you change your clock 2 x a year, inspect and update your pet 1st aid kit contents. 
• Enroll in a #Pet1stAid class and learn what to do in pet emergencies when minutes count! New CPR protocols!
• Dogs react to our energies, so calmly restrain them before applying Eye Wash to remove bugs. 
• Scrape off jellyfish from beach dogs with a credit card and rinse with salt water or vinegar – never fresh water! 
• Don’t delay: New CPR protocols call for 30 chest compressions, then 2 mouth-to-snout breaths and repeat. 
• 3 CPR positions for cats and dogs, depend on size and are called side-to-side, barrel-chested and taco. 
• Mother Nature strikes all zip codes. Practice pet disaster drills once a month and have 3 go-to places.
• Never pull swallowed string from a choking dog – you can cause internal injuries. Do rescue breathing.
•  1st aid kit items: Sharpie, post-it pad, spare sock, shoelaces, paint stirrers, spare leash, glow stick.
• Gums don’t lie! Healthy cat/dog gums are bubblegum pink – not white, pale, bright red or gray. 
• Dog ears should never smell like dirty socks. Do the sniff test monthly and rinse ears as needed.
• Stomp and shout before touching a pet you suspect is unconscious. Always protect yourself first! 
• Include in pet disaster prep kits: Dr. Emmo's Wound Care Spray Wash and Gel. Ideal for cuts and scrapes.  
• Pack hydrogen peroxide in pet 1st aid kit. Use to induce vomiting if pet swallows something poisonous. 
• Perform monthly snout-to-tail wellness assessments and call vet if detect any new bumps or changes.
• Treat heat stroke in pets with cool water – never iced cold water. Don’t shock your pet’s system! 
• Ticks post year-round threats in every state to dogs and cats who need year-round tick prevention meds. 
• Remove tick on pet with tweezers, grab tick by head and pull. Never use nail polish or petroleum jelly. 

Pet Obesity: Not Just a U.S. Problem

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

I have to admit that with all the U.S. pet food companies racing to create lowfat foods for our tubby Tabbies and fat Fidos, I've been seeing this problem as purely a U.S. cultural issue. We go out to eat and the portions continue to grow, so our pets' portion control seems to be going out of the window. 

When I received this infographic from a British non profit it was clear that we're not alone. Pet owners simply can't say no to those adorable faces. Read on for some interesting info and check out your pet for a waistline evaluation:

  Big Fat Pet Nation UK: Obese Pet Facts - An infographic by the team at PDSA Pet Health

Pet Lovers Win Castor and Pollux Chow

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

photo courtesy Shiloh

This whopper of a giveaway for Castor and Pollux includes Organix and Natural Ultramix foods. The winners will each receive more than 20 lbs. of food, allowing them plenty of chow to transition their pets onto this new diet and see the results for themselves. We invite these winners to visit the Castor and Pollux website instructions for transitioning a pet's food properly, in order to avoid stomach upset and give your pet a good start on his healthy, new chow.

Having just returned from Global Pet Expo, I've been brought up to speed on about 20 new products being released by Castor and Pollux very soon. You'll be thrilled to see USDA organic canned food, a Large Breed version of Organix and Natural Ultramix, grain free Ultramix, and much more. Congratulations to this terrific team for all they have accomplished in the past year. You're going to be impressed with what you see at the pet supply store in the coming months.

Let's get right to the winners. I know you are all excited to see who will receive these terrific prizes. Congratulations to Dawn R., Hannah G., Misty W., Danielle M, Vanessa M., Theresa S., Katie M., Shelley P., Lenny G., Holly R., Tiff A., and Deanna T. You'll each hear from me via my AllThingsDogBlog@gmail.com email account today. Please check your spam file if you have not received an email by this evening, or write to me at the above email address.

Once again, congratulations to all of these lucky winners and enjoy getting your dog started on the road to a truly healthy diet. Best wishes to you all!

More info on Castor and Pollux may be found here:

• Facebook
• Twitter

The prizes in this giveaway were provided by Castor and Pollux as a promotional opportunity. I was not compensated to provide this giveaway for them and the comments included are my own.

Fresh Pet Food: Green Men Build Gamma2 Wall of Freshness

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

courtesy Gamma2.net

Who remembers our #Gamma2Fresh Twitter Party? Our party guests had a great time answering questions about the Gamma2 Green Men, their performances and products. Gamma2 is the leader in pet food storage, with an airtight gasket to seal in freshness so your pet's food stays delicious and doesn't go bad. This is important for his health and safety.

I saw the Gamma2 Green Men perform at last year's Global Pet Expo, and I get a front row seat again at this year's performance. My Event Barkers partner, Paris Permenter of Dogtipper.com, will be joining me to see their live performance and learn even more about their extensive line of pet food storage products.

Care to join us? If you're going to the show, their performances are at Booth 1567 four times each on Feb. 20 and 21: 11 AM, 1:30 PM, 3 PM and 4 PM.

I'll probably come home tapping my foot to the beat.....of F*R*E*S*H*.

Learn more about Gamma2 here:

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