Just like the rest of your family, the 4-legged members of your family want to be included in the festivities. Here are a few ways to make sure it is a safe and happy season for your pets:

Include your pet in your Holiday photos and cards. If your dog, cat, rabbit or guinea pig is not the type to sit still for a family portrait, there are photo software programs that you can use to edit Fido of Fluffy into the family photo without anyone being the wiser. You can also visit Santa with your pet for a special portrait; have your pet dress up for the holiday if s/he enjoys wearing special collars or hats.

Keep your pet safe this holiday season by keeping poisonous plants such as poinsettia, holly and mistletoe out of your pet's reach. Do not let pets drink water from the tree stand as it may contain traces of fertilizer or other chemicals which could cause intestinal upset or worse. Sweep up loose pine needles which could easily get caught in a pet's throat or intestines if ingested.

Hang a Christmas stocking for you favorite pet and fill it with something fun to play with, as well as something yummy. Here's a hint: Let your pampered pets "open" their Christmas presents first. This will keep them occupied and content while the rest of the family opens their gifts.

Treat your favorite pups this season with home-made gourmet treats. Try this one from Bullwinkle.com.:

Homemade Gourmet Dog Treats
12-16 oz. raw liver
1 1/2 lbs. white flour
8 oz. Quaker Oats
3 bouillon cubes, (meat or chicken flavored)
Approx. 1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 3 baking sheets. Chop the liver finely, by hand or in food processor. Mix flour and oats, crumble in the bouillon cubes; add eggs and the chopped liver. Add enough water to make a firm but slightly sticky dough. Spread evenly on the sheets about 1/2" thick. Dip a small dog-biscuit cutter in flour before cutting out each portion. Remove uncut parts. Spread out on another cookie sheet and repeat. Bake 1 hour. Store in airtight container in fridge for 2 weeks.

Finally, if you are thinking of getting or giving a pet as a Christmas gift, remember that this is often an extremely busy and sometimes stressful time of year, and as such, is not the best time to introduce a new animal into the household. A good alternative is to give a gift certificate or an "IOU" for a pet adoption at your local SPCA. That way, you or the recipient can choose the best time to adopt and take the time to make sure that the pet selected is a good match for the family.

Happy Holidays to all our special volunteers and their beloved pets!

Patty Spampneto
President

The Visiting Pet Program was well represented at the annual Delgado Animal Expo on October 16, 2010. Volunteers Patty Spampneto, Fay Schultz, Dawn Hagman, Helen Schneidau, Gayle Kroeger , Kevin Hand, and Malay Hajra all helped spread the word about the value of Animal Assisted Therapy.

The event fell just before our fall orientation, offering a golden opportunity to invite people to the orientation. Over 600 people attended the event and many of them stopped by our booth.

Our thanks to Patty Spampneto for offering to take on the effort of organizing the booth and volunteers.

Another job really well done!

VPP member Connie Back, director of Louisiana Boxer Rescue, may at any time, have as many as 20 dogs in her kennel behind her house. She has devoted her life to Boxers and saving them.

On a recent beautiful Friday afternoon, just as Connie got home from work, one of her neighbors discovered Connie's shed, next to the kennel, was on fire. Her neighbors all banned together and helped Connie save her personal dogs as well as all the dogs in the kennel. Dogs were stashed in every yard up and down the block. No human or K9 was injured. Her house and kennel were saved. The shed, filled will all of her dog supplies for rescue, was a total loss. Had it not been for the efforts of Connie's devoted neighbors, the situation could have been much, much worse.

As if saving all those lives was not enough, the children in the neighborhood went door to door asking for donations to help Connie and Boxer Rescue replace the shed and the items lost. In exchange for a donation, the kids made and delivered homemade cookies to each person who opened their heart and their wallet to Connie's plight. The efforts of these young philanthropist resulted in a $200 donation to the cause!

Now that's more than neighborly!