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BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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Friday, December 1, 2017
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THE LONG holiday season in the country is about to start, and it is the time to remember several things to watch out for the holiday temptations for your pets while you are busy decorating your homes, cooking, and wrapping gifts for your families and friends.
Carmela Stamper, a veterinarian at the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA), says an animal’s body processes food much differently, and reminds pet owners to keep their animals safe.
If your dog received a stocking full of pet treats, make sure he doesn’t gobble them all up at once.
If your dog eats the treats whole, or eats too many at once, he may not be able to digest them.
Unchewed pet treats can get stuck in the trachea or gastrointestinal tract, particularly in your small dogs.
If your dog is in obvious distress from eating too much and too fast, contact your veterinarian immediately.
Some tell-tale signs are drooling, choking, or even vomiting.
Take note of timing too. If a bone or a chewy toy lodges in your dog’s stomach or intestines, the symptoms might not be immediate.
Hours to days later, your pet dog may vomit and have diarrhea, be less active, not want to eat, and have stomach pain.
If the blockage stays there too long, your dog may soon become very ill.
On the other hand, when you start decorating your Christmas tree and wrapping or unwrapping gifts, try to keep a watchful eye on where you leave your leftover décor items, string, and ribbons.
Your pet cat may find these decorations irresistible because they look like easy-to-catch, sparkly, and wiggly prey.
These can cause serious stomach and intestinal damage.
Symptoms may take a few hours or several days to appear, and include vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite, and decreased activity.
If you have holiday plants such as poinsettia and other varieties which are common during this time, take care.
When you display (or dispose of) these plants, your cat may decide that they’re good to eat.
Poinsettias, for example, have a milky white, latex sap that can irritate your animal’s mouth and stomach and may cause vomiting and diarrhea.
“If your cat has snacked on poinsettia leaves, you can help him by picking up his food and water dishes for a couple of hours to let his stomach settle,” Stamper advises.
Also, resist the temptation to give your pet table scraps that are high in fat, such as fat trimmed from meat or skin from your roasted chicken.
“In addition to the typical gastrointestinal upset, rich, fatty foods can cause a potentially life-threatening and painful disease called pancreatitis,” Stamper says.
The most common symptoms of pancreatitis in dogs include vomiting, stomach pain, restlessness, shaking, diarrhea, fever, and weakness.
For the cats, the symptoms are less clear and harder to notice, such as decreased appetite and weight loss.
This is just a friendly reminder. Your pets need a lot of loving too during this time of the year. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com)/PN
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