Veterinary Blog

It’s that time of year where everyone is getting ready for trick or treaters. We go to the store and buy candy in hopes of seeing kids come to our door, or we take our children out in hopes of getting lots of candy! We need to remember many of the candies can be toxic to dogs. Chocolate is one of the culprits leading causes of toxicity for dogs at this time of year. According to Pet Poison Helpline they have a 12 percent increase of calls during the Halloween season.

On November 13, 2015 our sweet kitty of only six weeks old named Garbo entered our lives even though our other seven year old cat Greta (and my husband) were not yet completely onboard with her arrival. After two or three weeks of Greta’s insistence that Garbo was not wanted, I was yelling for help, so I contacted my Clearwater veterinarian and they recommended that I speak to their animal behaviorist Kristen White.

There is nothing more certain in Florida than thunderstorms in the summer. Unfortunately, one-third of dog owners know that loud noises like thunder can cause stress and anxiety for their beloved pups. This condition is diagnosed as noise aversion. The symptoms can be as obvious as barking, trembling or cowering, or as subtle as panting, excessive vigilance, restlessness or loss of appetite.

I see many sad things in my business. One of the saddest is when a family pet is injured by ingesting the owner’s own medication. Somehow, a pill is dropped or a bottle is chew open and disastrous consequences occur. This happened recently when a young dog chewed open a bottle of muscle relaxants.

Many pet owners deal with behavioral problems in pets that were previously very well behaved. The most common complaints are a cat that suddenly started urinating/defecating outside of the litter box even though nothing has changed, dogs that were once very happy but suddenly started snapping while being pet. Most pet owners will begin looking for simple training solutions to resolve these behaviors, but they soon find that the behaviors are unchanged or, in some cases, have become worse!

We all know that dogs have a great sense of smell, but let’s delve into that a little bit more. Humans have approximately 5 million olfactory receptors in our noses. Dogs have up to 300 million! They can detect minute changes in smell – some odors as sensitive as parts per trillion. That would be like us putting a pinch of oregano in a swimming pool and being able to smell it. Incredible!

With the holidays right around the corner, there are a few important things to consider to help reduce the inevitable stress and anxiety that can occur when boarding your pet this season.