The Pet Pundit

Category Archives: Dogs

Feb 08 0 comments

Cats, Dogs

Helping children cope with pet’s death

When I was 7 years old, my little dog Pepper saw a cat across the street and ran out the open front door. Before I could get outside to catch him, he ran into the street and was hit by a car. I remember screaming and crying. I was overwhelmed by what I had just witnessed and shocked over what I had just lost in a single instant.

It took awhile to recover from Pepper’s death, but it helped that my parents included me in Pepper’s burial. We read a poem and said some nice things about Pepper. Being part of the ritual didn’t stop me from sobbing for weeks, but it did help me feel like I had been a part of Pepper’s life.

Some parents may feel ill-equipped to talk about the death of a pet with their children. Take for example, my 9-year-old niece’s best friend. Her dog was hit by a car and killed while she was spending the night at my niece’s house. Her parents waited until the next day to tell her the news. In fact, by the time she got home, the family had already buried the pet. Yikes!

I am sure they thought they were protecting their daughter, but what they really did was keep her from sharing in the family’s grief. My niece’s friend did not get the chance to watch how the adults in her life coped and so she learned nothing to help her the next time around.

My niece learned something though. After watching how her best friend found out about her dog’s death, she let her parents know that she wanted to be called if her pets died — no waiting — and that they better not bury any of her pets without her present. (If I know my niece, she has drawn up a contract and had her parents sign it just to be sure they stick to these promises.)

If you have pets and kids, you will eventually have to help your children cope with the death of a pet. My son lost five pets when he was between the ages of 4 and 18. At the time of each pet’s pending death, my husband and I talked to him and, based on his responses, determined what he could handle.

He didn’t need to see the euthanasia of a sick pet at 6 years old, but at 12 he wanted to be there for those final moments. In fact, even though he said it was hard to be present, he felt calmer afterward and knew that in those final moments he was giving his pet a great gift.

Teaching children about the death of a pet is a gentle process. You truly have to know and understand how your child will handle the news before you decide how much information is too much information. But don’t overprotect them by leaving them completely out of the process. They can learn how to handle the death of a pet only by watching and modeling you.

Feb 01 0 comments

Dogs

Why do dogs like squeaky things?

Does your dog go crazy every time you bring home a squeaky toy. Does he grab it and shake his head back and forth as if he is trying to kill it. After the squeaker stops working, does he drops the toy and never touch it again.

Well, once upon a time, when dogs hunted and killed their prey, they would chase and catch animals precisely because they made noise. A plastic squeaky toy offers the same instinctual satisfaction without the mess. And yes, it’s common for dogs to lose interest after the squeaker stops. They consider the job done.

Jan 21 0 comments

Cats, Dogs

Searching for a way to use contraceptives with pets

In February 2008, Texas A&M announced the university would do a study on birth control for wild animals and eventually cats and dogs. This would be a transformational event in the battle against animal population control. Unfortunately, in a recent conversation with Dwayne Kraemer at Texas A&M, he said “preliminary studies were not panning out the way they hoped.”

There is still much hope though for contraceptives for pets. Many researchers are exploring avenues to make pet contraception a reality, according to Joyce Briggs, president of the Alliance for Contraceptives for Cats and Dogs, thanks to a monetary incentive.

Back in the fall of 2008, the Found Animals Foundation and its partner, ACCD, announced the launch of the Michelson Prize in reproductive biology to encourage researchers to take on the challenge of developing a nonsurgical pet sterilant to address pet overpopulation problems. The Found Animals Foundation is offering $50 million in grants for researchers and a $25 million prize for the researchers who develop a marketable nonsurgical sterilant.

Let’s keep your fingers crossed that this can become a reality.

Jan 06 0 comments

Dogs, Pets

Can dogs watch TV?

A reader says her mom’s dog Jack watches TV. “He actually follows objects as they move across the screen and loves animal shows and sports shows that my dad turns on,” she says. “Is this really possible?”

Many people say their dogs watch TV and it seems they really are following some of the action on the little screen. What Jack is doing is following the movement on the screen — a moving animal or ball that grabs his attention. I am not sure dogs know exactly what they are looking at, but my beloved dog Brinkley used to follow the basketball across the court and a baseball when it was hit to the outfield. Since balls were his favorite toys, I tend to believe he knew what he was watching, since he was jumping at the screen trying to catch the balls.

Sound captivates a dog too, especially when it’s an animal sound, like a dog barking or whining. But most dogs can tell the difference between a real animal and a TV animal since there is no “smell” to go along with it.

Dec 30 0 comments

Cats, Dogs, Pets

Would you perform CPR on your Pet?

In a medical emergency, would you perform CPR on your pet? Would you be willing to begin mouth-to-snout resuscitation — your mouth over his closed snout — to revive your dying dog or cat?

In a poll conducted by the Associated Press and Petside.com, 63 percent of dog owners and 53 percent of cat owners say they would “very likely” give CPR to their pet. And women were more likely than men (65 percent vs. 50 percent) to do it.

While a majority of pet owners might be ready to save their pet’s life, most also admit they aren’t well-prepared to prevent an emergency from happening: 80 percent of pet owners don’t have a pet first-aid kit; 54 percent don’t have a home-fire evacuation plan for their pet; 68 percent let their pets ride in vehicles unrestrained; and 59 percent said they “don’t consider” or “give little consideration” to their pet’s safety when decorating for the holidays.

Hmm, maybe these should be the actual questions on an adoption questionnaire.

As a former American Red Cross pet first-aid instructor, students have shared with me how knowing pet first aid and CPR has saved lives. A vet tech once told me about a dog at her clinic that suddenly stopped breathing. The veterinarian was out of the office, so she started CPR and was overjoyed when the dog started breathing again. Another student said knowing how to handle her dog’s rattlesnake bite (no tourniquets please) kept her from panicking on a hike.

My favorite CPR story, though, involved a co-worker at the humane society many years ago who had just taken the pet first-aid class. She walked into the clinic and saw a lifeless hamster in a small see-through carrier. She thought the hamster had just died so she began blowing gently into his nostrils and using her finger to palpate his chest. She did this for several minutes until another co-worker informed her that the hamster had been dead on arrival. So no luck there, but wow! How many of us would have performed CPR on a hamster? I guess if you feel prepared you are ready for anything.

If you want to feel better prepared, the American Red Cross has a pet first-aid book that provides directions and illustrations for most pet emergencies. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s Web site at www.avma.org/firstaid/ offers several pet first-aid articles and a list of items for a pet first-aid kit.

I hope you’ll be lucky and never have a pet emergency. But the poll revealed that 41 percent of you will indeed make a trip to the pet emergency room at some point in your pet’s life: 17 percent because your pet was attacked by another animal; 16 percent because your dog will have an allergic reaction to something; 15 percent because your pet got into or ate holiday decorations; and 11 percent because your pet was hit by a car.

Will you be ready to help them?