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Our Love Affair With Pets
| February 2011 |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the first issue of The Pet Maven Newsletter, a quarterly publication we hope will become a welcome addition to your inbox. Our goal is to keep you updated with informative, timely articles about your pets' health and well-being.
The theme of this issue is "Our Love Affair With Pets." In this issue, Dr. Cary Nulton, DVM, discusses the dangers that common Valentine's Day gifts can pose to our pets. You'll also learn how owning a pet is actually good for you and your family!
You'll meet our feisty Featured Pet, Flora, and learn what makes her so special. We welcome readers to submit pictures and bios of your own pet to be featured in future issues.
We've also hand-picked some terrific links from around the web that help celebrate that crazy, deep and undeniable love we have for our pets!
Helen Adler |
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 Sweets to Your Sweetheart, Not Your Pets A special guest column by Cary Nulton, DVM, of MetVetNYCFlowers and chocolates may be a great idea for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day, but not for your pets! Dogs are very sensitive to caffeine and theobromine, two substances found in chocolate which are classified as methylxanthines. Ingested in high enough quantities, methylxanthines can cause hyperactivity, increased heart rate, tremors, and even death. Milder effects include vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst, and lethargy. The darker and more bitter the chocolate, the more toxic it is to your dog. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains seven times as much theobromine as milk chocolate. Cats are particularly ambitious when it comes to tasting our houseplants and floral arrangements! Unfortunately, any plant or flower can cause gastrointestinal upset if ingested. Easter lilies (Lilium longiflorum), tiger lilies (Lilium tigrinum), rubrum or Japanese showy lilies (Lilium speciosum and Lilium lancifolium), and various day lilies (Hemerocallis species) can cause acute kidney failure in cats. Even minor exposures can cause toxicosis leading to death. Cats will often vomit within a few hours of ingestion, followed by severe kidney failure within 24-72 hours. This is signaled by vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, depression, and dehydration. Delaying treatment beyond 18 hours post-exposure frequently results in death or euthanasia. Treat your sweetheart, but remember to protect your pets this Valentine's Day! |
February is National Pet Dental
Health Month
A good way to show your pet you love them is to make sure they're happy and healthy, right down to their pearly whites. Learn more about animal dental care in this excellent collection of information from the American Veterinary Medical Association
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A Pet's Love is a Special Gift
Our pets express their love for us in a variety of ways. Cats have been known to share their prey with their sometimes not-so-appreciative owners.
Dogs like Greyfriar's Bobby have shown that an animal's devotion to their master often continues even after the master has gone.
For many pets, there really "Ain't no mountain high enough" to keep them from finding an owner from whom they've been separated. There have been many incredible cases of both dogs and cats who've traveled thousands of miles to find lost loved-ones.
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 The Incredible Health Benefits of Owning Pets
We're crazy about our pets, and we'd do almost anything to keep them happy and healthy. And, it turns out, they'd do the same for us.
While your dog or cat might not consciously be trying to relieve hypertension and boost our immune systems, that's exactly what they do. For a long time the health benefits of pet ownership were dismissed as folklore and fond wishes. However, the last 30 years has produced more and more research that proves what we've suspected all along: owning pets is good for you.
Children who grow up around animals have increased immune functions and less incidents of eczema and allergies. Pet therapy has long been used with Alzheimer's patients and the elderly, and has been shown to decrease anxiety and depression. Learn more ...
Other studies have followed the progress of heart attack patients, and have demonstrated that those who were pet owners, dogs in this case, had a notably longer survival rate than those who did not own pets. Pet owners also respond better to stress tests, having milder responses and quicker recovery time than their pet-less counterparts. Learn more ...
Pets also help us deal with daily stress. People who own pets have lower resting heart rates and blood pressure than those who do not. Pets ownership can lower your blood pressure, and decrease both cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Learn more ...
Dog owners get the additional benefit of outdoor exercise and increased chances to socialize and meet other people. Of course, if you regularly employ a dog-walker, you don't get those benefits, so be sure to get out there at least once or twice a day for a brisk walk with your dog!
Who of us hasn't come home from a long, hard day at work and found comfort in the simple companionship of our cat or dog? Isn't it great to know that their companionship not only brings love into our life, but helps us to live longer, healthier lives?
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 Will Your Pet Get Care if You're Not There?
Many of us have emergency preparedness plans in place for our families, but have you made plans for your pet? Here are two great resources from trusted sources to help you make plans for your pet if the worst should happen.
Be sure to also think about what would happen to your pet if you suddenly passed away. Do you have someone picked out who would be happy to take your pet in? This article from PetPac discusses just that sort of situation, and has a lot of great advice.
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 Featured Pet: Flora -- Owner: Helen Adler Flora is a joyful, loving and sweet soul who has been with Helen Adler for 4 years. Originally from Columbia, Flora is a rescue dog who shares her home with 3 rescued cats (Murray, Felix, Rosie) and Lou, her canine playmate. Flora is bilingual, and understands both Spanish and English. Flora is best described as an "exotic breed." She has Beagle ears with the keen nose to match, a long lean body like a Dachshund, and coloring like a Rottie. Flora has epicurean tastes. She enjoys sampling delicious hardwood floors, and a variety of cosmetics, her favorite being lip gloss. She also enjoys the occasional paper towel, napkin or loose tissue ferreted out of unattended handbags. Flora is also a dancer. She has great "turn out" and can plié with the best of them. Her flexibility is unmatched by any prima ballerina, and her vertical range is nothing short of mythic. She has perfected the art of leap-and-grab in order to procure delicious items from the kitchen counter. |
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Happy Customers Loving Their Cuts
Did you know that some of Helen's grooming work has been featured in this "Petside Stylish Summer Cuts" slide show? See Stretch and his stylish Smoothie Shave, and here's Eloise, modeling The Bob.
Helen also occasionally gives grooming workshops. Keep an eye on this newsletter for future dates.
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