TODAY’S TIDBIT: I’m not sure about you but I’ve never seen a tick. Of course I hope I never do but I’d like to share this awesome VetVid video showing you how to safely remove a tick from your dog. Your vet can remove the tick if you’re unsure about doing it yourself.
Remember: don’t touch the tick with your bare hands! Take your dog to the vet to get checked out and bring along the tick that you’ve sealed in a ziplock bag.
The best way to avoid a tick bite is by applying a topical flea and tick preventative medicine to your dog recommended by your vet.
I don’t want to sound like a nag here but we’ve started Hope and Gideon’s heartworm prevention medicine that contains a product to prevent flea and tick infestation – have you started your Yorkie’s medicine?
Have a great day everybody. See you on Wednesday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.
TODAY’S TIDBIT: Visits to the vet are nerve wracking for everyone including the vet sometimes. We can make the “vet visit process” a little more bearable for everyone if we think about a few simple things we can do to help:
ALWAYSkeep your Yorkie restrained either with a securely fitted harness and leash or place her in her carrier. Your dog could bolt out the door or get hurt by another anxious animal in the waiting room.
Bring any medications your dog is taking along with her health record.
Know what food your dog is eating. Describing the colour of the kibble bag just won’t do it.
Honour your appointment time.
Be as accurate as you can when you’re describing your dog’s symptoms or the circumstances that brought you to the vet. PLEASE don’t alter the facts. Your vet wants to help your dog not judge you.
Working with your vet is the best thing you can do for your Yorkie. See you on Friday for TODAY’S TIDBIT. ***Quick Reminder: start your Yorkie’s heartworm prevention medicine this month. We put Hope and Gideon’s Revolution on last night***
TODAY’S TIDBIT: Our church’s annual garage sale is at the beginning of next month so I’ve been busily sorting and pitching! Digging in the back of a kitchen cupboard I came across some medications, pet and human, that had expired. Many people wonder if they should give their dogs expired medication.
Medications Can Become Toxic Why risk the health of your dog by using expired medication that could put her at risk? Many medications are sensitive to light and temperature. They can change composition, lose some of their strength and may become toxic over time.
Safely Discard Expired Medications Don’t just automatically flush medication down the toilet or throw it in your garbage can. Medications can contaminate ground water and wildlife. Check with your vet or pharmacist to find out how to safely discard your expired medications. Call your city’s trash and recycling department to see if there’s a central location for proper disposal of medications in your community.
Be safe not sorry!Don’t give expired medication to your dog. See you on Friday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.
TODAY’S TIDBIT: It’s that time of year again folks to start thinking about heartworm and flea/tick protection for your Yorkie.
With such an early spring here in Ontario, the warmer weather brings out mosquitoes. And mosquitoes spread heartworm by drawing blood from an infected animal and then biting another animal injecting larvae that cause heartworm into the bite wound.
Heartwormis a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms living in the arteries of the lungs and occasionally in the right side of the heart of dogs, cats and other species of mammals.
It’s important to test your dog to make sure she doesn’t have heartworm by taking her to the vet for a blood test before administering preventative medication.
Your vet will talk with you about various heartworm prevention products. We use Revolution, a topical heartworm/flea/tick product but many vets prescribe oral medications. We prefer a topical medication as opposed to an oral med but it’s best to talk to your vet.
We’ll start putting Revolution on Gideon and Hope once a month beginning in May and the last application in November. But if you live in a warmer climate all year round you should check with your vet for the appropriate times to use your dog’s heartworm prevention medicine.
Remember to call your vet. See you on Friday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.
TODAY’S TIDBIT: We’re enjoying record high temperatures for this time of year in Southern Ontario! The sun is shining, people are out walking their dogs and drivin’ around town with the car windows down.
I love spring and summer but it makes me crazy when I see dogs hanging out of car windows for these two reasons:
The safest place for your dog in the car is in her carrier that you’ve secured to the seat. That way she can’t jump out the window and get hit by another car. No matter how well you think you know your dog he can jump at a moment’s notice if he sees something he wants to chase.
Eye injuries are extremely painful. Grit and dirt from the road can irritate your dog’s eyes and even cause blindness if a stone or piece of debris damages her eyes.
I am all for fun in the sun and the freedom summer brings but folks it’s just not worth putting your dog at risk no matter how much he whines when you won’t let him put his head out the car window.
Have a wonderful day everyone and see you on Friday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.
TODAY’S TIDBIT: Hey everybody, we’re back from holidays! We ate so much yummy Amish baking we thought for sure our sugar levels had shot right through the roof! It got us to thinking about diabetes and then about our Yorkies: Can dogs become diabetic like humans can?
Yes, they can! It’s one of the most common hormonal diseases of dogs. Diabetes is a chronic condition that happens when the body doesn’t produce or use the hormone insulin correctly. Sugar needs to enter the cells to be used as energy so that the body can function properly.
Diabetes usually affects dogs that are middle aged – about seven years and older – and more females than males BUT diabetes can affect dogs of ANY age.
Symptoms To Watch For
Drinking excessively, more than usual
Urinating more frequently than usual
Lack of energy
Weight loss even though your dog is eating well
Sudden blindness
If you think your dog has any of these symptoms or if you’re just not sure, make an appointment to visit your vet.DON’T WAIT!!!Untreated, diabetes can be fatal. Your vet can check your dog’s urine and blood for evidence of diabetes. She’ll suggest treatment and you can work with her to help your dog.
Glad to be back, everybody! See you on Friday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.
TODAY’S TIDBIT: Keep poinsettias out of your home this Christmas! Judy Wright, RN our guest writer from Rosehill Yorkies left an alarming comment on our Wednesday post, “Poinsettias Get Bad Publicity.” One of her little Yorkies ALMOST DIED from chewing on the end of ONE poinsettia leaf. Judy had never had poinsettias in her house and then read an article in the newspaper saying that poinsettias were not toxic.
A bad experience like Judy’s speaks much louder than any article we could read! Here is Judy’s story:
I had a 4 year Yorkie that chewed a leaf from a HUGE, gorgeous Poinsettia my brother had brought to me for Christmas. That little dog got soooooooo sick from that….she had horrific abdominal cramping….her tummy hurt so bad she could not curl up…she had to stretch out flat…she whimpered and cried softly with each breath she took, and if you even gently pressed around on her tummy, she yelped out in obvious pain….I just KNEW she was dying from a ruptured something in her abdomen….did not dream it was that plant, as they had an article in the newspaper, saying they were getting a bad rap for being toxic.
We rushed her to the vet, and he did a complete abdominal series on her at MY insistence….he had diagnosed the problem within 10 minutes of our arrival…but I didn’t believe it and wanted to be absolutely certain. I dont care WHAT they say….this plant is NOT allowed on my property, and definitely no where in the house!
Thank you, Judy for letting us know how dangerous Poinsettias can be! As we’ve always said, “If in doubt, leave it out!” Have a great weekend everybody and see you on Wednesday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.***Keep your Christmas Doggy Photos coming to kathryn@absoluteyorkies.com***
TODAY’S TIDBIT: …on your Yorkie’s skin!!! We wrote an article last spring, “What Are Ticks?” and we’d like you to read that post again to refresh your memory on what ticks are and the serious damage they can do to yourYorkie!
We found this excellent 5 minute video,“Ticks and Your Dog or Cat” at PetPlace.com (we love this website)! Take some time to watch it. The video shows live ticks so you know what they look like and there’s even a little Yorkie playfully romping around near the end of the video!
Ticks can be annoying and dangerous to your dog so keep an eye on your dog’s skin. See you on Wednesday for TODAY’STIDBIT.***Catch Part 3: Burns, Too Hot to Handle of our “Emergency! Stabilize Your Pet, Rush to the Vet” Series by Judy Wright, RN. ***
TODAY’S TIDBIT: When it’s blistering hot outside dogs sometimes burrow in the cool garden soil to cool off. My parents had a collie that dug a trench beside the cement foundation of their house where he’d lie on hot summer days. They had lots of shade but he liked his spot better.
Cocoa Mulch
In our garden, we use cedar mulch to cover the ground. But we NEVER use Cocoa Mulch. It’s toxic if ingested by dogs. Cocoa mulch is made from cocoa bean shells and the sweet smell is wonderful to our furry friends. The cocoa bean shells contain theobromine—a methylxanthine found in chocolate and known to be toxic to dogs. The ASPCA advises using PINE OR CEDAR MULCH.
Pine Mulch
Cedar Mulch
We recommend that you supervise your dog in the yard or near the garden so he doesn’t eat ANY type of mulch. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Centre has a list of Toxic and Non-toxic Plants if you’re unsure about what is safe for your Yorkie.
We’re all trying to stay cool this summer, even our dogs but we all want to stay cool and healthy! See you on Wednesday for TODAY’S TIDBIT.
TODAY’S TIDBIT: “Gone fishing.” Fishing is fun for you but not so fun for your Yorkie especially if he gets a fishhook caught in his lip or paw! We recommend keeping your Yorkie at home but if you do take him with you, here are a few tips to help keep your doggy safe:
Keep your tackle box closed after you’ve chosen your lure and bait so your dog won’t start investigating all those shiny goodies!
Look around on the ground or on the pier where you’re fishing to make sure no one else has thrown away a lure or broken a fishhook that your dog could ingest or step on.
If your dog gets a fishhook embedded somewhere on his body like his foot, lip or skin DO NOT TRY TO PULL IT OUT! Fishhooks have barbed wire at the tip so yanking it out will only do more damage. TAKE YOUR DOG TO AN EMERGENCY VET CLINIC to have the hook removed.
If your dog has swallowed a fishhook and you can see the fishing line sticking out of his mouth, DO NOT TRY TO PULL IT OUT! The barbs on the end of the hook will cut the inside of your dog’s stomach, throat or mouth if he’s swallowed the hook. The hook will be lodged just as if he was a fish. TAKE YOUR DOG TO AN EMERGENCY VET CLINIC so the vet can remove the hook.
Have fun and be safe! See you on Friday for TODAY’S TIDBIT. *** Just a quick reminder – the weather has been so unpredictable around the London area and many other parts of the country. We’ve had A LOT of humidity, thunderstorms and severe weather warnings so remember to keep your Yorkie inside in her safe area. ***
Plain and simple. Visit us every WEDNESDAY and FRIDAY for a cute new YORKIE PIC and a valuable TIDBIT of Yorkie info!
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