Anything For Animals

posted by admin on Apr 27

Would you know what to do if an animal in your care collapsed?  Or a member of staff was seriously injured?

We all hope that these things will never happen to us - but they may well do and it is best to be prepared.  If you run a business that leaves animals in your care and you employ staff, work with volunteers or come into contact with the public - you should really get yourself trained up in case of emergencies.

And it isn’t just for work that you should get qualified either - it is for your own friends, family and pets.  Imagine being able to save a life in exchange for 1 day a year taking a First Aid course.

Animals First:
If you are a dog walker, groomer, sitter, owner or work in an animal shelter - you should really know the basics for animal health and safety.  Yes - the trained or experienced staff aren’t that far away and can come to the rescue - but sometimes it is the first few minutes that are the most important - so need you to act fast.

Sometimes - seeing that something is going to happen in advance is even better!  But you can only do this if you know what you are looking out for.

So, find a local course with a veterinary or animal care college and sign up!  You won’t ever regret going on a course - only not going!  And imagine the way you will feel if an animal dies in your care - then the course fee won’t seem that much in exchange for an animals life.

People Too:
It isn’t just your animal customers that might benefit from your help - while out walking or driving or when visiting a clients home - you could find a human in need of emergency assistance.

If you have taken an Emergency First Aid course you will know how to assess the situation in an instant and make sure that that person gets the best first aid that you can offer - and the basic checks only take about 15 seconds.

Such a short amount of your time could actually have saved their life.

Don’t Be A Stranger:
Why do you have to take this for work anyway - you might not even meet any humans in your day to day working hours?  Well, think of your family and friends.  People you know can have accidents too you know - so take the course for them if anything.

You can never know too much about emergency first aid!

posted by admin on Mar 26

Losing your pet must be one of the most dreaded experiences for a pet owner.

But you don’t have to face it alone - you just need to plan ahead.  Or get someone else to do it all for you!

Now, you may be wondering how can someone else reunite you with your lost pet - but finding your pet can be achieved with just one simple step.

Bearing in mind that there are a number of ways that you can make sure that your pet is reported to you as ’safe’ before you even lose them - you need to understand hoe the whole process works.

For example - nothing can make your pet be found any faster than it could be found in the first place.  You can have a collar, tag, microchip, tattoo, name tag in the coat or a giant flag with your details on it hanging off your dog or cat - but it still won’t be found until it is found!

What you can do though is make sure that the moment it is found - is one minute before you get the call!

Check, Plan and Prepare:
It’s all right having a microchip or a tag on your pets collar - but if your contact details aren’t correct or the best number to contact you on - then there will be an inevitable delay in you finding out your pet is safe and well.

For example, if a vets scan your chip to find you details and you have since moved - they will be ringing a wrong number until they either give up or someone else answers and tells them you have moved.  And if the number you have given on your dogs collar is your home number - you won’t hear them call you as you will be out and about local parks looking for your dog - and so will miss the call.  Lost cats are found during the day too - so make sure your work number is on there instead of your home number if you are a 9-5 commuter!

Silly little things could make all the difference in the rush to find your pet again.

Ask Others:
Asking all your neighbours is a great way to find a lost cat - but you will ultimately be calling up all your local vets, pet stores and rescue centres to ask around.

But - if your pet is chipped, then as soon as it is found by any of these or are taken to a vet at any time, they will call you.

However, if you want to call all these people up you are wasting a lot of time and effort for them as well as you!  They have to listen to all your details and write them all down in a folder - and sometimes these are volunteers doing this - so why not find a company that will contact them all for you in 1 go.

People like PetAmberAlert will fax or text your pets details to everyone on their books in your area in an instant - solving all your worries in one call!  Especially if you have lost your pet while travelling or on holiday - as you won’t know all the local vets and centres to call?

Or, just make sure you never lose you pet in the first place!

posted by admin on Nov 11

Investing in animals couldn’t be easier - if you just plan ahead!

When you put your money in the bank - what is it doing for you, and what is it doing to the planet?

Just because it’s a ‘good’ pension, it doesn’t mean that it is doing good things.  I mean a good APR doesn’t necessarily play out all well for the environment - or the animals living in it.

And if you look at the word ‘investment’ it can mean so much more than financial gain.

I mean what good is a £500 return when another 10 species have been made extinct?  Or another 10% of the world’s coral being destroyed?

By putting your money into the bank without asking questions about what it’s going to be spent on is thoughtless.  You haven’t given a thought for what you are helping to promote.

Where You Money Goes:
By leaving it to someone else to invest your money - you are saying that you don’t care about what it is spent on.

This means that you don’t care if it helps fund a new palm oil plantation in Borneo, or an oil prospecting venture into the heart of the Amazon or the Congo.  You don’t mind if it funds nuclear research or GM studies.

And ironically you can find yourself hindering the very charities that you think you are helping.

What if you were raising money for charity to help protect marine wildlife in the Mediterranean - yet your savings were funding a shipping company that ploughed right through it every day?

Or you were helping to rehabilitate young orangutans who were victims of the palm oil industry - yet your pension was funding the very companies who were burning down their rainforest homes?

Ethical Investments:
As you can see, it really makes sense for you to send your funds to work in the areas that will affect your interests the most.

If you love animals - then show it by choosing wildlife-friendly investments; if you want to protect habitats - then make sure you avoid polluting, destructive investments.

There are plenty of ethical investment companies out there for you to choose from, like sustainable timber farms, etc - so make sure you choose them where possible.

I mean there is no point buying MSC certified fish and using renewable energy with one hand - if you are destroying the environment with the other!

Think about it!

posted by admin on Jul 20

We all get a bit hot in the warm weather - and we shed our layers and drink cold drinks.

So imagine your dog on the same hot day.  It can’t shed it’s coat or roll up it’s sleeves - and it can’t drink cool drinks or decide to stop in the shade or stay home.

So think about your dog before you take it out and watch it for signs that it is too hot.

However, there are 2 things you can do to make sure your dog never gets too hot unnecessarily and they are both very simple.

1) The Car:
Never leave your dog in a car in hot weather - even with the windows open!  You would think this piece of advice was the most obvious thing in the world - but people still do it! 

Dogs usually don’t settle when alone in the car either - making them even more stressed and so liable to heat up faster anyway.

Add this to a full furry coat and soaring temperatures inside a vehicle and you could very well have yourself a collapsed dog - or even a dead one.  Dogs really do die in hot cars - so don’t make yours suffer.

If you HAVE to drive your dog somewhere in the sunshine, have a strong breeze flowing through the car or the air con on - and plenty of water available in a non-spill bowl of course.

Equally, don’t leave your car parked in full sunshine wherever possible.  Find a tree or building to hide your car behind and/or invest in 1 or 2 of those thick window shades to keep the sun out - they work a treat!

2) Mad Dogs:
What ever possesses people to take their dogs out for a walk in the hottest part of the day (11am -2pm) is beyond me!

I can’t see any sense in taking your hairy friend out when the sun is at it’s hottest - just because we want to sit in the sun for hours - your dog certainly will have other ideas!  It would rather be at home asleep on a cold floor out of the sun!

Yes, some dogs do love to sit in the sun occasionally - but not after a long walk there and another long walk back in the sun - without a drink either!

Why not walk it earlier in te morning or later in the evening - and make it a walk for your dog, stopping and sniffing etc.  Don’t just take your dog where you want to go whenever that is.

And if you have short-nosed breeds, long-haired breeds, overweight dogs (be honest), or dogs with heart murmurs - you could be doing them more harm walking in the heat than you would if you didn’t walk them at all for the day.

If your dog is continually panting on a calm walk - it is too hot.  As dogs only ’sweat’ by panting - they will be losing water from their bodies fast!  So if your dog is drooling and panting in the sun after just walking - it could be in serious trouble. 

Stop walking, get in the shade and give your dog a big drink of water.  Don’t move on until it has fully recovered - or get a taxi home.  Why take the risk with your pets health?

Many dogs are diagnosed with heart problems in the hot weather.  It’s not that hot weather triggers heart problems - its just that people put extra stress on their dogs hearts by getting them too hot!

Cool Tricks:
Obviously, if you think that there is absolutely no way around taking them out in the hottest hours, then try some preventative steps on your journey - and take water with you at all times!

For example, make sure that you walk on the side of the road that is in shadow at the time, so your dog isn’t actually walking in the sun itself. 

Leave yourself longer to get to your destination, so that you can walk slowly and stop frequently in a shaded area to cool off part way.

Don’t be tempted to make your dog run around in any way.  Even if it usually loves chasing balls in the park - don’t ask it to do it in the boiling sun!  It will still want to chase things to please you - so don’t ask it to when it’s hot as it could easily overheat your pet!

Book an appointment to be clipped or bathed and groomed to thin out the coat.  Even short-haired dogs can benefit from a good grooming and a trim in the summer - and it could keep them that bit cooler when out on walks.

Now - go and fill up the paddling pool!

posted by admin on Jul 7

Why should your car be just a boring run-around filled with dog hair?

I always thought that a car and a dog would equal: a hairy back seat - but in the past 10 years or so, cars and dogs are becoming more and more civilised!

Not only is there now doggy car etiquette to consider - there is a whole range of car accessories now available to make your hound safer, but more importantly there are ways to keep your car looking as good as new inside and out!

Inside The Car:
Firstly, there is a whole new emphasis on dog safety inside the car.  Not only are there now doggy seatbelts, car seat covers and booster seats - you can now buy a custom-made car crate to fit your exact car specifications, boot space and doggy needs!

Whether it’s a hatchback or an estate - there will be the specific sized and shaped crate to fit in your car - rather than having to sit an unsightly and slightly awkward standard dog crate on the back seat!  Perfect for you and your pets!

There are also a huge variety of seat covers, floor mats and cargo sheets to make sure that all the dog hairs stay off the seat fabric!  And of course, all the mud and grass from a great walk stay off too!

You can take your dirty wellies off before getting inside - but the dogs have no choice, so make it easy for them.

Outside The Car:
Getting your dog in and out of the car has never been easier, with new shape boots and sliding doors.  Plus the fact that you can now buy some amazing collapsible and sturdy ramps for those heavier dogs or those too old or ill to just ‘hop in’ as before.

And as your car probably takes a bit more external attention what with dogs running around it, rubbing against it - and not to mention humans leaning on it to get wellies on and off - why not make it easier to clean with chrome accessories all around - front back and sides!  Plastics can get scratched and bitten (!) depending on your hounds - so avoid it with a sturdy and stylish outside!

And talking of ‘hot’ - make sure that you keep your car cool in the summer when driving the dogs around!  Whether that means parking in the shade, carrying around umbrellas and sun shades or buying trendy sun shades for the inside windows. Dogs get really hot really quickly in cars - so be prepared for overheating pets!

And don’t forget the car either - keep water and oil on hand and make sure that you look after your car as much as your dogs!

You are now ready to give someone a lift in your car WITHOUT apologising for the mess! 

posted by admin on Jun 4

It’s not a case of whether you lose your pet - it’s more about getting it back!

Many pet owners don’t seem to realise how terrible it is to lose a pet, and just because their little pet seems to always be at home or is rarely off the lead - they assume it can never get lost.

It can - and many many many pets every year get lost - and only a few ever make it back home.

The Problem:
Well, I have worked for animal rescue centres and veterinary surgeries and the number of times we get a phone call to say that someone has lost their black cat, or their pedigree dog.

Now, I don’t know if you know this but there are about a million black cats that all look - well, black.  And let’s be honest, there really isn’t much difference to the layman’s eye between 1 Yorkshire Terrier and the next - I mean they are bred to all look roughly the same, aren’t they?

And, obviously unless you call every vet, rescue centre, pet store or well being neighbour, you might not ever be matched up to your pet again.  Say for example your cat had been asleep in a car that drove off 20 miles before the cat jumped out - would you have called the vets that far from home?

What if your dog got lost while you were out in the local woods and ended up following another owner to the car.  They might not find you or want to leave your dog alone - so thinking they are helping might take your dog with them and report it to their own vet - which is completely on the other side of the woods to you! Or you are on holiday, miles from home?

And don’t think your pets collar will help either - many owners don’t put their full details on them anyway - and many tags - and collars - can (and do) fall off!

We know that animals get lost all the time whether you want to believe it or not - but what if there was a way to give you pet an unmistakable, unremovable id tag that will bring them home everytime?

That’s A MicroChip!
A tiny chip can easily and cheaply be implanted into your pet - from cat to rabbit, ferret to horse and dog to tortoise - and you need never worry about getting your pet returned to you when it is found.

They just need the one chip implanted and that is it for the animal!  There are no ongoing costs for the owner - but obviously you need to keep your contact details updated everytime they change so if they need to contact you, they have the best number!

Every veterinary surgery or rescue centre will ALWAYS scan a found animal looking for a microchip as this is the fastest and easiest way to find the owner.  So as long as your lost pet turns up in one of these places - you will be reunited.

They will also scan these animals if their owners are asking for it to be microchipped for them or when an abandoned animal arrives in a shelter.  This has lead to some amazing reunions!

A lost or seemingly abandoned animal may sometimes be adopted in by a new home, and when that new owner wants them ‘chipped or finally takes them to a rescue centre - your details will pop up as the rightful owner!

Also, if a pet is injured or killed on the road and taken to a veterinary surgery, it will also be scanned for a chip.

June 2010:
This month is national MicroChipping Week in the UK - so make sure you take advantage of surgeries and rescue centres offering reduced implantation - and plenty of them are!

I mean, it is to their advantage too. The sooner they can find out about any existing medical conditions an injured ‘lost’ pet has - the sooner they can offer the best treatment. And rescue centres don’t want to raise valuable donations looking after your dog for a week while you try to find it! They would rather it was home the same day, back with it’s owner rather than scared stiff in a noisy kennel!

Also, if your pets are already ‘chipped - take this as a gentle reminder to update your Chip Company with the correct contact details!

It will be the best thing you ever did for your pet!

posted by admin on Apr 6

If you know the name of what you are looking at - you can understand and enjoy your environment more!

I know that just being in the countryside can be pleasant enough on it’s own - but some times you see something amazing or unusual - and you want to know more.

By learning what to look for when you see something new can make this really easy - and can avoid disappointment!

I remember seeing a great little purple flower out on a walk, and wanted to know what it was, so I took a picture of the flower - all proud of myself and headed home.

The Problem:
You’d have thought that by looking for the flower in my book was all I had to do - but no.  There were lots of similar purple flowers in there - as well as similar shaped flowers that were generally white but could be pink or purple!  So I didn’t know which one it was.

They all had different shaped leaves in the pictures though - if only I had taken a picture of those too!

Having learnt from my mistake; next time I found a great flower - I made sure I got a photo of the leaf as well - but still no!

I hadn’t bothered to read the descriptions last time - just looked at the pictures, so I hadn’t realised that sometimes the underside of the leaf or the number or flowers on each stem was more important!

However, the more I tried to identify plants, the more I knew not only what features to record - but I knew all the things that it was not.  For example, if I see a small purple flower now - I know what a dog violet and and a vetch look like by heart, so I can eliminate them from my search!

And this way, I will be able to identify insects more easily, as certain butterflies only feed on certain plants, for example so I can look out for them too!

Birds And Mammals:
The same goes for animals too.  If you see a little bird with white on it’s wings - don’t just think that will be enough to identify it - look for the important things for birds.

These include things like length and shape of the tail, any stripes going through or above the eye, shape and colour or the beak as well as what it was doing at the time.  Was it on the ground, on a feeder, hanging off the side of a tree, on the beach, in a pond or was it hovering in the sky?

This is also true of mammals.  They are often not easy to see - but what time you see them, what month you see them and where you are when you see them is all very important when you are back home with your reference book!

And when you see predators like a kestrel or owl, you know there must be prey about like voles and mice!

You can build a whole food web up of your local woods or parks, and this will help you know what should be out there for you to see!

posted by admin on Jun 24

Many people have trouble taking their dog in a car - and it’s usually distressing to watch or dangerous for the driver!

Basically, if a dog is in any way stressed by a journey (the rocking of the car) or by the reason for the journey (you only go in the car to the vets!) then it can show all sorts of signs - the most obvious is being sick.

Symptoms Of A Travel Sick Dog:
It isn’t just about being sick though, as there are many other signs that your dog is unhappy or upset by the journey. These include:

Anxiety- Your dog will no doubt actually look worries by the whole occasion.  It may well have refused or been reluctant to get in the car in the first place.  And even once inside the car, it still seems to be a bit ‘on edge’ and not quite relaxed.

Restlessness - Your dog will no doubt be unable to sit still at all for the journey - or before you even leave your drive!  It will be moving about in the same way that people do before an interview or speech.  Your mind is so full of stress that you cannot think about anything else and this creates energy that acts as a distraction.

If the dog is not secure in a dog harness, a crate or dog car seats then this could be a major hazard for the driver of the car.  The dog could obscure the view, create a diversion to take the drivers eyes off the road or maybe even move towards or climb on the drivers lap!

Trembling - Some dogs may well sit still, but they are curled up all defensive and are actually trembling with fear!  They may have fast-moving eyes - looking out for any way to end this panic and fear.  Rather than try to out-pace the stress they just stay put and suffer.

Drooling - Many dogs (and cats) will start to create excess saliva when stressed, and will drool all over themselves and your car.

Drooling is usually created by nausea - the feeling of sickness.  Just as humans start to create extra moisture in their mouths before they are going to be sick - dogs create drool.  It is unpleasant for the dog and will just make it’s stress levels become higher.

Sickness - this is normally the highest level a travel sick dog will reach as this is the result of all the other types of stress added together.

A dog will not just ‘be sick’ without having suffered stress in one or more of the ways listed above.

Other Causes?
Well, it wouldn’t be fair to say that travel sickness is the result of stress alone, but it is the main trigger.

For example - if you are feeling full up with a tummy full of dinner and then we set you out on a bouncy journey in the back of a car, I’m not sure even your tummy could stay normal.  You would know something wasn’t right and then that is all you think about.  And it is the stress of thinking about this that can make it worse.

Needing to go to toilet can also create these ‘distracting thoughts’ too - where you are not enjoying the journey - you are just thinking about one thing!

Imbalance can also create nausea - just like sea-sickness - but if you have an empty tummy, don’t need the loo and are completely relaxed then these things shouldn’t be an issue.

The Solution?
There are many ’solutions’ that people have tried and are still trying - but it all depends on the situation you are in, the reason for the fear and what you have already tried to ‘cure’ it.

I will discuss these options in the following article.

posted by admin on Apr 19

Traveling with your cats or dogs can be fun, but taking them into another country needs careful planning.  However, travel around Europe just got much easier with the PETS Travel Scheme - and here is a quick run down….. 

If you are thinking of entering the UK with your cat or dog, you have 2 options to legally do so:

1) 6-months Quarantine
2) A PETS Passport

Basically, the UK is rabies-free and they would like to keep it that way - so they make sure that all possible carriers (mainly carnivorous mammals) are regulated on entry.

This includes both domestic and wild animals that enter the country (by human intervention) and as a result cats and dogs are included in these regulations and as a result need to be proved to not carry the virus.

The only way to guarantee this is to successfully vaccinate the animal and wait 6 months before giving it the ‘all-clear’.

Why 6 months?
The incubation period for the rabies virus (the time it takes from infection to the animal showing symptoms) is around 6 months.  It can be shorter or a bit longer - but 6 months is the accepted incubation period for governmental legislation.

Therefore, if the dog had contracted rabies the day before it entered the UK, it will very likely become symptomatic within 6 months.  As it would have been in quarantine kennels all this time, there is no risk of that dog having passed it on to any other dogs, cats or other mammals.

So Why Is There No Quarantine With The Passports?
The reason is simple.  To acquire the PETS (Pet Travel Scheme)Passport, the cat or dog still needs to wait for a 6 month period to elapse before being allowed to freely enter the UK.

This means that if you find a stray do in Spain and want to bring it to the UK, you have to obtain a valid PETS passport - which takes over 6 months.  Basically the period of ‘quarantine’ is still there, but the dog or cat doesn’t have to spend it in a kennel.

How To Get Your PETS Passport:
Obtaining a PETS passport is very simple and involves 5 simple steps.  Basically you are individually identifying your cat or dog permanently and then proving it has enough rabies anti-bodies in it’s blood to protect against a new rabies infection.

The first 4 steps are to get the passport in the first place and will take at least 7 months from start to finish:

1) Get your cat or dog micro-chipped
2) Get you cat or dog vaccinated against rabies
3) Get a blood test result to prove you pet is protected
4) Obtain an official PETS passport from a qualified vet

The final step needs to be carried out within a 24-48 hour window on your entry or return to the UK:

5) Obtain official Tick and Tapeworm treatment

What Next?
To travel around other countries in the EU does not usually require the PETS passport, but many have their own regulations for transporting your pets.  And these guidelines are mainly for your entry to the UK, so always check the current legislation with DEFRA (UK) or other national body before traveling with your pets.

The PETS passport is valid for as long as the rabies vaccine is in date, so make sure that you do not let it expire by even 1 day - otherwise you will have to start the process all over again!