4th of July pet safety tips

Firstly happy Canada Day to our Canadian Customers and happy advance Independence Day to our friends in the US.

The following are holiday safety tips for both cats and dogs. Although most of this was expressed in my Halloween safety article last year, it is worth repeating for this weekend.

Cats and Dogs can get startled with fireworks. If your pet is known to have noise phobia's such as thunderstorms and loud appliances like my black lab Freedom (he hates the vacuum) than fire works will/may raise their anxiety level.

There are a few solutions: Find a Kennel that can house the pet overnight, preferably of course opened during the holiday or simply keep the pet(s) at home.

If you're going to keep the pet indoors, keep it in a room with no windows and a radio or TV in the background as a distraction.

If you must take your pet outside, which is not recommended as some pets can get defensive and agitated due to the noise, keep it on a leash and or kennel if possible.

You can if need be use prescribed tranquillizers or mild sedatives. We offer a natural anti-anxiety supplement called Lessstress which can also be used in such cases, however, these do have limitations and should not be used on a regular basis.

Please note that you should never punish your pet for fearful behavior, this is a natural occurrence to be frightened with fireworks. On the same note, don't reinforce the behavior with "it's Okay" and paying positive attention.

Another important holiday ritual is the all American BBQ. The same rule about keeping pets indoor applies, especially since certain foods are toxic to cats, dogs and or both. Chocolate is the biggest culprit for dogs. Chocolate desserts are the major staple on the dessert table at any 4th of July BBQ.

If pets are outside, please have them tied or kept behind the fence at a BBQ and please educate the guests not to feed the pets. Their intentions are good, however, at potluck BBQ'S, not everyone knows the ingredients of certain foods, therefore, to be careful, preparing a home made pet food recipe from a book is encouraged or feed their regular food to minimize "begging" when the guests arrive.

Happy Canada Day and Happy 4th of July from petwellbeing.com