Holiday Leftovers for your Pets?

Ugh...the Thanksgiving holiday is over and I'm recovering... Your parents might have tons of leftover food around the house. Well here's a post from PetMD.com called Holiday Leftovers for your Pets? that may be helpful.

It's that time of the year again. Holiday feasts are around the corner, and that means plenty of food and eating.

Once you've had your fill of turkey, the honey-glazed ham that just teases you with its glistening exterior, and all your extended family has returned home, what are you to do with all the leftovers?

It may be tempting to just make a plate for your dog or cat and let them eat and eat to their heart's content. You may even think you are giving them the treat of a lifetime. But there are many "human food" items that are unhealthy, and even dangerous for your pet.

Here are some essential diet no-nos for the holiday season:
1. Avoid items that you know will upset your pet's stomach. Not every pet's gastrointestinal system is capable of taking on all foods and digesting or absorbing them properly. If you know your pet has had digestive sensitivities in the past, you should avoid new foods, especially in large portions, or combined with other new foods. Your holiday can be easily ruined by a carpet full of the resulting "reaction."

Homemade Dog Treats for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving KONG for Your Dog

Thanksgiving Veggie Smuggle Dog Dinner

Pumpkin Pie Recipe for Dogs!

Cooking For Your Dog: Turkey and Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Get ready for a daily video of yummy Thanksgiving recipes that we pets can eat!  It all starts with this delicious recipe for turkey and sweet potatoes.  YUM!

4 Easy Tips for a Painless Dinner

Before you take a bite of any yummy holiday food, here's 4 quick tips to share with your guardian for a safe Thanksgiving dinner, thanks to Petful.com!

1. Suddenly switching from dry kibble to a dish full of human food can cause havoc on your pet’s digestive system. If your dog or cat isn’t used to this type of food, take it easy, and just lay down a slice of turkey and some veggies.
2. Go plain-jane. Dogs and cats can’t handle butter and cream and other seasonings like salt and pepper. So set aside some plain mashed potatoes, carrots and other vegetables for the pets to eat. Save the stuffing for yourself; it’s mostly bread, salt and fat — nothing good there for your pets. Green bean casserole? Not good for pets. Onions can be toxic, and dairy can be a cause of diarrhea. Sweet potato casserole? Nope. Getting the picture? The message is clear: Go plain, and break it down to its basic parts, meaning plain green beans instead of a souped-up green bean casserole.
3. Turkey is actually really good for your dog or cat! So feel free to share a piece of lean turkey. But two things, and they’re important: (1) Peel the skin off the turkey and toss it in the trash. It’s difficult for dogs and cats to digest, plus it’s loaded with fat. (2) No bones for your pets!
4. Begging is a behavioral no-no. C’mon, no one likes to eat dinner with a dog staring up, drips of saliva rolling from his lips, as a muffled whining ensues. Yes, you can say “no” to that sad furry face. Better yet, feed your dog, then crate him while you enjoy dinner with your guests. Keep in mind that a big holiday dinner, and the buzz of activity that accompanies it, is not a normal routine for your pet. Your dog can come out again after dinner’s over. At the very least, instruct your guests that they are not to feed your pet scraps from the table. That goes for cats too.

Thanksgiving Pet Safety

Here's more info that I found about Thanksgiving food and our safety!

Stay tuned for more Thanksgiving food safety tips next week!

Creating a Safe Thanksgiving Dinner for Your Pets

Thanksgiving is coming!  The food always smells so good, that I just love to sit and watch Mama until MAYBE she throws a scrap my way. But some of the food isn't good for us.  So I found this blog post from Petful.com that has more information.

It's not surprising that pet owners want to include their pets in the festivities. Learn how to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for dogs and cats. Thanksgiving is a fine time to reflect on those things that enrich our lives. For me, at least, pets are always near the top of my thank-you list. Pets give us so much and ask for so little in return!

And so it’s not surprising that pet owners feel inclined to include their pets in the holiday festivities. Preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for dogs and cats, it turns out, isn’t an outrageous idea.

Thanksgiving Outfit Ideas & How to make Pumpkin Pie Dog Treat

Turkey Delight Recipe (Homemade Dog Food)

How to Help a Dog Cope With a Cone

Photo by Marisa Ryan

The dreaded "Cone of Shame"!  None of us wants to wear it, but I guess if we must, we must... I found this post that lists ways your human can make it easier on us.

The first time Scruffy is forced to wear his Elizabethan collar (a.k.a. "E-collar" or the "cone"), he may lift his miserable eyes up to sky wondering what on earth he did to deserve such treatment. You may never see him wear it proudly, but if you'll take the right steps you can make wearing the "cone of shame" much more bearable.

Put Yourself in His Paws
When it comes to your dog's perspective on the Elizabethan collar, there's literally more than meets the eye. You can't blame him; suddenly deprived from peripheral visibility, he'll likely end up crashing into furniture and doorways or even getting stuck in a corner. Suddenly, the mere act of moving, eating or drinking becomes a difficult chore, and that can be quite distressing. Fortunately, with time, most dogs improve their navigational skills as they get accustomed to the feel.

10 Must-Ask Questions At Senior Dog Vet Visits

I don't consider myself "old" yet, but I found this article.  These are good to know for when I visit the vet in a few years...

Preparing questions for the vet helps you and your senior dog get the most out of your next visit. Here are 10 questions to ask at your senior dog's next vet visit.

To get the most out of every trip to the vet, you might find that preparing questions can make each visit more successful and informative. Preparation can be even more important when you have a senior dog. As you probably know, older dogs face a higher risk of disease, and with more complicated health comes more complicated health visits. Make sure you hit these basic questions to prepare your senior dog for any visit to the vet.

1. “HOW’S MY DOG’S WEIGHT?”
This question is important at any age, because a healthy weight is so important for a healthy body. Still, weight loss or weight gain can be a symptom of age-related diseases like Cushing’s disease, hypothyroidism, kidney disease, bladder stones, congestive heart failure, and diabetes. Even if your dog’s weight change isn’t related to a disease, a healthy weight can still affect cardiovascular, bone, and joint health.

Dogs and Allergies

For some dogs, this is allergy season... I found this informative article about allergies that you should read!

What causes allergies?
Whether we are talking people or pets, the culprit is an overactive immune system. The immune system is designed to protect us, but when it mistakes non-harmful environmental substances (allergens) as threats, then allergic reactions occur. For example, if your dog comes across rye grass or ragweed, and the dog's immune system views it as a threat, an allergic reaction occurs.

Are some breeds more susceptible to allergies than others?
In our practice we see atopy (allergic skin disease due to environmental allergens) more commonly in golden retrievers and German shepherds. In a 2010 study published in "Veterinary Dermatology," breed susceptibility was shown to vary among geographic locations.

Why Are Dogs So Hyper After Bathing?

I just posted funny pictures of dogs before and after a bath... but why do we feel so crazy after a bath? I found this article that explains why...

Many dog owners attest that their dogs get the "zoomies" after a bath. What causes these frenetic periods of activity after being bathed remains for the most part a mystery. Spared from the gift of speech, canines cannot reveal what may be exactly going through their minds. However, a dog's behavioral history and accompanying body language may help give some clues.

Whew! Glad That's Over!
While humans may feel relaxed after a soothing, warm bath, some dogs just get stressed out. Whether they fear the water, are not comfortable being touched in certain ways or dread the noisy dryer, a bath can be a far cry from a tranquil event. In such a circumstance, your pampered pooch may simply be glad the bath is over and may be releasing stress and celebrating the event. If your dog feels trapped or restrained during the bath, the moment you let him go will make him appreciative of regaining his freedom, which may provide the exhilaration that send him running.

How to Clean a Dog's Wrinkles

Some dogs have more wrinkles on their face and they need to be cleaned regularly.  Here's an article I found on cuteness.com of how to keep them clean!  Ask your Mom or Dad to do this regularly if your one of those wrinkle-faced pups!

Dogs with facial wrinkles or skin folds (like sharpeis and pugs) can quickly smell very unpleasant if those skin folds aren't cleaned regularly. This is especially true on dogs with very short noses. The wrinkles hold an accumulation of food, mucus, dry tears and debris that nt only harbor bad odors, but can lead to skin infections. Cleaning your dog’s face takes only a few minutes a day, and a fresh, clean mug ready for planting kisses on will reward you for your efforts!

Items You Will Need
• Baby or dog wipes
• Washcloth
• Petroleum jelly
• Cotton swabs
• Low-calorie Dog treats

5 Signs Your Dog's Vision is Worsening

We're all getting older, and sometimes that means changes!  Here is an article I found about how we can slowly lose our sight, and what our humans can be aware of...

There are many signs of vision loss in dogs. Before we list five of the most common signs of vision loss, there are some things you need to know:

Dogs won't let us know when they start to lose vision. They let us know when they have lost enough vision to make big visual mistakes. Dogs that have lost up to about 80 percent of their vision easily fool their owners into assuming they can still see just fine. It is when that last 20 percent of vision begins to go in both eyes that owners typically realize their dog is losing vision. By that time, the vision loss is severe and a veterinary ophthalmologist should examine the dog. Another confusing factor is loss of hearing. A visually impaired dog who can hear frequently fools his or her owner into thinking he can see better than he is actually able, but once the hearing begins to go, the dog appears much more blind. This phenomenon can also easily occur if your dog is in pain. Chronic joint or back pain can distract dogs from using their vision, causing them to make more visual mistakes. Also keep in mind that we see with our brains and not with our eyes. The eyes collect the visual information but it is “decoded” and interpreted in the brain. Thus, elderly dogs with low vision cannot use their vision as well if they also have cognitive deficits due to dementia.

Why You Feel Healthier and Happier With Pets

As if you needed a reason to have an adorable companion like a dog (or cat), this article I found says that pets actually make you healthier and happier!

There are a lot of great benefits of pets. One commonly experienced one is walking your dog, which can make you more physically fit by strengthening your muscles and bones; this can help not only your body, but also your self-esteem. On an emotional level, owning a pet can decrease depression, stress, and anxiety; from a health perspective, it can lower your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, and even decrease your risk of heart attack and stroke. Read on to discover more of the incredible benefits that you can experience by owning a pet!

Deadly Dozen: 12 Foods That Can Be Toxic to Pets

American Lifestyle Magazine posted the Deadly Dozen that we should never ever eat!

We all love our pets. And one of the ways we show it, much like we do with friends and family, is by treating them to food. Sure, giving a pet treat can make us (and our pets) happy, but we also occasionally sneak in some people food as an added treat.

You might want to think twice about that, though, because there are certain foods and drinks that can be very harmful to your dog or cat. Here is a list of everyday grocery items that can be hazardous to your pet’s health.

Alcohol
Alcohol in any form can cause problems for your pet. Much like it does with people, alcohol can cause liver damage and brain damage; however, because pets are much smaller than us, the damage happens much more rapidly. The smaller the pet, the quicker the damage car occur.

4 Foods That Fight Bad Breath

Did you know that some humans think our breath stinks? There's this article from American Lifestyle Magazine that gives 4 foods that we can add to our diet to make our breath better for our parents...

There are a few universal canine characteristics that every dog lover can appreciate, like that wagging tail that greets you with happiness when you walk in the door, or those big eyes that melt your heart when you ask your dog to sit for a treat. But if there is one trait that everyone could live without, it would be the less adorable dog breath! Since your pet can do little to help his halitosis, try these natural remedies to add a breath of fresh air to your pooch’s palate!

1. Carrots
Plaque buildup is a key cause of bad breath, so consider serving up some baby carrot sticks as a daily treat to combat plaque. The beta-carotene and vitamins will also play a major role in maintaining your pet’s overall good health.