Tips For The Festive Season

Tips For The Festive Season

To help you navigate the festive season we have put together a few tips to keep you and your pets happy and healthy.

Festive Foods, what NOT to feed your Pet

1.  Don’t let your pet eat around your real Christmas tree, as ingesting pine needles can puncture your pet’s intestines, so be sure to clean around your holiday trees and wreaths regularly.

2.  Drinking the water from the Christmas tree base is enough to cause diarrhea, mouth sores, vomiting and loss of appetite. Cover your tree stand tightly with skirting & secure your tree so it cannot fall over.

3.  Christmas Ornaments, pets particularly cats can be very tempted to eat tinsel which can cause problems. Keep your tinsel high to avoid your pet from eating it and out of reach of mischievous pets, especially glass ornaments, tinsel and ribbons.

4.  Sorry no Christmas Ham as it is loaded with fat & way to high in sodium or the ham bone, as they can splinter and become stuck in their throats or cause perforation or obstruction of the bowel.

5.  No mince pies, Christmas pudding, stuffing, onions, grapes, raisins and sultanas can all be toxic to dogs, which can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, increased drinking and urination & of course NO Chocolate or Alcohol.

If your pet eats any of the above please contact your local Vet asap.

Holidaying with your pet

1.  Travelling in the car: if your pet gets car sick, nauseous or anxious see your vet for possible prescribe medication to help make them comfortable for the journey.
2.  Be tick aware, especially for rural and coastal visits. Effective tick prevention is available from your vet.
3.  Lost pets on a holiday would be very upsetting, so make sure you have your dog on a leash and cats strictly inside only.  Before leaving for holidays check with www.petregistry.nsw.gov.au that your pets microchip details are all correct and you have a tag on your pets collar with your mobile number.
4.  Familiar environment: take your pet’s bedding, food and a toy or two.

Coping with Fireworks

1.  Prepare your house, give them a safe place to hide, take your dog out for exercise before the fireworks start, a tired dog will likely be less anxious during the night.

2.  Close the blinds to hide the firework flashes, turn on some lights, TV or music to mask fireworks sound. Keep them busy, give their favourite toy, pets can be uneasy, or even frantic so check they have plenty of water.

3.  Make sure your pet is microchipped & your contact details are current.

4.  Dogs who panic can choke themselves on a collar or lead, so never tether your dog during these times.

5.  Talk to your vet about the treatment options available for managing noise phobias.

Tips to keep your Pet safe in hot weather

With the severe heat warning due to hit Sydney over the next few days we recommend all pets should be indoors with a fan/air conditioner.

If this is not possible some veterinary clinics & boarding kennel can provide air conditioned day boarding.

Pugs, French bulldogs, Cavalier King Charles and other short nosed (brachycephalic) breeds are mostly affected.

Other hot weather tips;

• Leave a wet towel for your pet to sit on.
• Make sure your pet has a sufficient amount of water & is not in direct sunlight.
• Create a doggy Ice block by filling a container with water, sprinkle dry food, then freeze.
• A child’s plastic seashell sand pit makes a great pool for a dog.
• Never leave pets unattended in a car.
• Wait till the sun has gone down before you take your dog for a walk. If the ground is too hot for your bare feet for 5 seconds then it’s too hot for your pet’s paws.
• Rabbits & guinea pigs do not sweat therefore cannot regulate their body temperature. They do not tolerate hot weather so best to keep them in air conditioning on hot days.
• Please keep in mind even in the shade on a 38+ degree day, a pet can overheat & get heat stress/stroke simply by breathing in the hot air.

Warning signs of heat stress/stroke include panting excessively, moving sluggishly, acting woozy, drooling, vomiting or losing consciousness.

Book an appointment online or call your local Sydney Animal Hospitals on;

It’s after hours, and you have a question about your pet?

One of our free online services below, may have the answer.

If you have a pet emergency after hours and your local Sydney Animal Hospital is closed, click here for a list of Sydney local after hours Emergency Veterinary Hospitals.

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