Toxic Household Items For Dogs

How do I make the holidays safe and stress-free for my dog?

As we approach the Holidays, we need to think about the physical and mental health of our pets during this time.  For example, how are the holidays going to affect the emotional status of your dog? Are we having visitors to our house and how will that affect my dogs?  Will they be nervous and scared or will they welcome them and enjoy the time with our family?   Will there be loud fireworks and banging noises at New Years?  There are a lot of over the counter holistic calming medications you can get for your pet, and if their anxiety is severe enough, you may need to contact your veterinarian about anxiety medications to get them through their experiences.

One Christmas-eve morning an emergency happened. Rosie found some sugar-free gum in my daughter’s stocking and ate almost a whole plastic container full. Quickly, she became lethargic and, luckily, my staff member was there to spring into action. She called the doctors at my animal hospital and was instructed to bring her in immediately. On the way to the hospital, Rosie had a seizure and became limp.  She was suffering from extremely low blood sugar from the Xylitol in the gum. We were close to losing her. Right away my staff started IV treatments and soon Rosie was doing better. She required observation for the rest of the long weekend; they stayed by her side until we were able to get home. I’m happy to report Rosie is doing well and back to her normal “ food searching” self.