October is National Animal Safety and Protection Month, serving as a reminder of the responsibility of caring for domesticated pets and animals. In addition to raising awareness, it’s a time for sharing tips and tools for preparing for an animal illness or emergency.
Veterinarian, Dr Kerry Milliken, visited KTLA, with her long haired Chihuahua Astrid, to share pet safety tips and products with anchors Liberte Chan and Lu Parker. Dr. Milliken is from VCA Los Altos Animal Hospital. During her segment, Dr Milliken shared some reminders for how to prepare for the upcoming holidays, when risk for accidents are more likely.
Halloween Warnings
Candy Caution: A time when your home may be filled with more candy, can be dangerous for your pets, especially dogs. Don’t let your pets get into any candy. Chocolate and raisins are especially dangerous, even fatal, for pets.
Costume Safety: This depends on your pet and their personality. Surely if they enjoy being dressed up there’s no issue in doing so. But if you pet becomes agitated or attempts to remove the clothing, you should avoid dressing them up. They may harm themselves trying to get out of the costume, or become too agitated and harm others.
Earthquakes & Emergencies
Always be prepared for the unexpected, for yourself and your pets. While you likely have a first aid kit for yourself, it’s important to also have a pet first aid kit. This will prove helpful beyond during an earthquake.
Dr. Milliken suggests your pet first aid kit includes:
- Burn care cream and gauze to wrap burns
- Irrigant, to flush a wound
- Products from Fauna Care - These products are great for animal wound care because they easily spray onto the affected area, without having to rubbing them in. After spraying them on you can quickly apply a wrap if need be to protect the area before they can be seen by a professional. In addition to Protection and First Aid Spray for pets and horses, Fauna Care also carries Silver Spray and Zinc Spray for horses.
- Benadryl- If you think your pet is having a strange reaction to an insect bite for example, be sure to call your vet. They may suggest giving them some Benadryl and bringing them in to the office right away.
With these tips and products you can always be prepared to be the best pet parent, by helping your pets whenever they are in need.
