My owner visits a network of other humans that like to talk about all kinds of things. The other day a woman named Kimberlee Leonard started a discussion with a story about her dog, Chewie, and from the story you can learn a valuable lesson about what dogs should and should not eat. Here is some of what she shared:
Being a dog owner my entire life and having Chewie for nearly 14 years, I thought I had been through most anything regarding dogs….
Over the years I have learned onions can cause issues with their white blood cell count, grapes and raisins in small quantities can cause renal failure, and chocolate is fine for my PMS but will create a heart issue since doggies have no sweat glands.
Today was something that scared me and I wanted to share it because for the strange reason I had never heard of this issue - bones.
Sure, I’m well aware of the chicken and turkey bone issues. Don’t do it! I have pried many a bone found at a park walk out of Chewie’s death gripping jaws. Yes, Mommy always wins! But my dog has always had steak bones in our house and I never even gave other bones a thought. So yesterday my neighbor asked if my dog would like a ham bone. I don’t eat ham, thus don’t cook it and thought nothing of it.
As always, Chewie devoured the thing in minutes. She of course had the “bone poop” a chalkier version of the norm. Only after was I talking to my mom who said, “uh aren’t those bad for dogs?” Well this morning Chewie had blood in her stool, threw up several shards and more blood later. So I took her to the Vet. While x-rays show she is fine: I learned not only does pork bones shard like chicken (but doesn’t taste like it), the saltiness of pork can cause acute pancreatis of which Chewie is also in the clear.
Yes, she will live to never eat another bone so help me God (and thank you thank you thank you God for that!)!!! But I did want to share this since we sometime miss the little things and if it can save one dog’s life, then this thread is worth it!
BTW- in looking things up on the internet there was one odd solution that my vet confirmed had worked and was published in a vet journal, though she would recommend it as a first line of care: the home cure - take a cotton ball (real cotton ball, not puffs) and soak it in half and half. Give dog to eat (1 per 10 pounds of dog)… cotton will absorb shard and dog will pass it safely. This was published as working with a fish hook stuck in a dogs esophagus (difficult place to perform surgery) as confirmed by my vet.
I’m not sure I want my owners to know all of this pet safety information, especially the part about food, but since I’m happy to eat just about anything, maybe it’s a good idea. During the holidays, there are things around the house, and things that people eat, that are not good for pets. Here are just a few health and safety tips:
High-fat holiday foods that people enjoy can make some of us animals sick, especially little ones like me. Fatty foods can lead to pancreatitis in pets, just like it can in people, only a little more easily because we are smaller. This is a very serious thing for pets to get and will mean staying in the pet hospital.
Chocolate, coffe and tea contain something that causes cardiac problems and problems with the nervous system in pets, which can lead to seizures and gastro-intestinal upset. Dark chocolate is even worse than regular chocolate, which is bad as it is.
If you have a party and serve alcohol, be sure that we don’t get tempted to finish off the glasses of drinks that aren’t finished by your human friends, that can be fatal, every year hundreds of dogs die from alcohol poisoning.
The pretty plant, Holly, causes digestive upset in dogs and cats.
Mistletoe causes heart problems and digestive upset
Poinsettias cause blisters in the mouth and digestive upset
Secure your tree if you have a cat, especially if it’s your first Christmas with the cat and you don’t know their habits. They will sometimes climb the tree, and knock ornaments off the tree to play with.
Cats might swallow tree tinsel, ribbon and other things that can cause obstructions inside that might require surgery.
Don’t have batteries lying around or other little things that you dog might chew on and make them very sick because of the toxins inside.
Macadamia nuts are not good for pets, they can affect the nervous and digestive system.
Potpourri, the wonderful smell comes from oils, and those oils can be toxic to pets.
DON’T GIVE PETS AS GIFTS unless you have planned well ahead for them…so many pets end up in shelters or out on the streets because the family isn’t prepared and gets tired of them, and that’s just plain mean and sad.
A lot of these tips came from a vet in a town not far from here, his site is newtonvet.com.
Today our Town had it’s annual free rabies clinic, and since 3 years have gone by since my last shot, my owner took me to get mine. First, it was pouring rain, next we had to stand in a long line with a lot of other people and dogs, the one behind us barked the entire time, then we went into this big building and a man (actually he is my veterinarian…he does this clinic each year) stuck a needle into my upper back while my owner hugged me and covered my eyes…I would never bite, and didn’t need a muzzle or blanket over me like some of the other dogs.
But now we’re home and it’s been about 8 hours since my shot. I have a couple of big lumps where the shot was done in my upper back, my skin some red blotches in a lot of places on my body like I get if I get a flea bite (I’m very allergic to those, too) and I have been licking at my feet. My owner has been fussing over me, and has a bottle of chloratrimitron I think is how you spell it, an antihistamine that doesn’t cost much. Since I’m so tiny, she takes one of the already small pills, cuts it in quarters, and gives me a quarter hidden in a bit of my favorite canned food or a piece of chicken. If I seem bad before she goes to bed, she’ll give me some, but I am breathing fine, and tired right now.
I think I feel like curling up and going to sleep now, and will hope I don’t get worse during the night…because my owner won’t get any sleep if I do…and neither will I.
