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Category: Pet Safety

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How-to-keep-your-furry-friends-safe-and-happy-during-festive-season

How to keep your furry friends safe and happy during festive season

Pet owners are aware that fireworks and thunder storms can cause great distress for some animals like dogs. Noise phobias which is the fear of loud sounds such as fireworks, thunder, gunshot is common in pets. Your pet might be affected by loud noises and cannot control his reaction to it. The commonly seen signs of noise phobias are as follows:

  • Excessive drooling
  • Lose control over bladder or bowel control or face temporary diarrhea due to prolonged stress
  • Barking, howling
  • Shaking, trembling
  • Trying to hide or get under the bed, fence, or other closed areas
  • Refusing to eat food

Keep pets indoors:

It is advisable to minimize the source of sound by closing the curtains, turning on the TV or radio to distract your pet. Calming or classical music will be a great option in keeping your dog calm by providing an audio distraction.

Provide a safe “escape” place:

Pets may seek an enclosure, if they are fearful or stressed. So, you can create a crate, bed or similar place where your pet can feel safe. It is recommended that you familiarize your pet with this safe place in advance to reduce their stress during fireworks and thunderstorms.

Unlock the treat jar

In times of distress, dogs could use a distraction when the surroundings are too load. You can load up on your pet’s favorite food when fireworks reach the fevered pitch.

Practice fire safety:

Keep your pet away from inflammable objects such as lighter fuel, open fires, matches, and fireworks – like the ones lighted on the ground as they may try to sniff or eat them.

Try the “thunder shirt”

Thunder shirt is a simple trick that can help your pet from going into a full-fledged panic attack. This do-it-yourself technique aims to wrap up your dog to make him feel protected and snug and help to suppress his urge to run like hell.

Keep current pet Id:

Ensure that your pet ID is latest to see that your pet has proper identification tags. Having current information is necessary in case s/he gets away due to stress or panic. This will assist the local authorities to track the poor frightened runaways.

25 signs to identify if your cat is in pain

Over thousands of years of natural selection, cats have mastered the ability to mask their pain. If not observed carefully, it’s very easy to overlook your cat’s strange behavior caused due to mental or physical pain. For a better understanding of pain, we must know that it has two components: the sensory aspect (intensity, location, and duration) and the affective aspect (emotional toll).

While pets and their owners develop a shared language, it’s sometimes beyond human understanding to decode a cat’s misery. For assessment of pain in cats requires the owners to closely observe any change in behavior, attitude or physical activities of the cat. This way it’s easy to at least spot the problem even before it begins to take a toll on your kitty. A British study recently concluded 25 signs that can be relied upon to indicate pain in cats. In other words, if your cat is doing any of the following, it’s time to call VetLab for expert assistance.

  • Lameness
  • Difficulty jumping
  • Abnormal gait
  • Reluctance to move
  • Reaction to palpation [applying light pressure with the hands]
  • Withdrawn or hiding
  • Absence of grooming
  • Playing less
  • Appetite decrease
  • Overall activity decrease
  • Less rubbing toward people
  • General Mood
  • Temperament
  • Hunched-up posture
  • Shifting of weight
  • Licking a particular body region
  • Lower head posture
  • Blepharospasm [squinting]
  • Change in form of feeding behavior
  • Avoiding bright areas
  • Growling
  • Groaning
  • Eyes closed
  • Straining to urinate
  • Tail flicking

Remember, the above listed behavioral changes are just tools to spot the red flag but only well practiced, expert veterinarians should be trusted with your cat’s health. Any of these 25 signs or a combination of a few confirms presence of pain in your cat.

The key aspect here is that indication of no such sign is also call for trouble. Cats need special attention and guided veterinarian’s assistance on a regular basis, and not only when any of the above signs are noticed in kitty’s behavior. With these signs, it’s possible to assess and diagnose cat’s pain for both, the owner and veterinarians.

In cases, where signs show a prolonged frequency, immediately consult your veterinarian. For advanced tests, specialized pet tests, you can reach us at +011-66-448-448 or visit www.vetlab.in for better assistance.

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