Show your pet some love during the month of February by scheduling them a dental cleaning.

To show that we love you too, if you have a dental performed in February, that pet will receive a free box of Tri-Heart Plus!! *

Proper dental care is just as important for pets as it is for humans. It can add 3-5 years onto your pet’s lifespan, help prevent heart, liver and kidney disease, and help prevent oral pain and bad breath.

Dr. Doolittle’s Animal Hospital has an electric/air scaling and polishing machine, as well as various hand scalers. Your pet’s teeth are polished, scaled and given a fluoride treatment during the surgery. Dr. Doolittle can also extract any teeth, if necessary.

For more information on the importance of dental care, refer to our article The Tooth Fairy.

*Pet must be eligible to receive more heartworm preventatives at time of dental.

• Food: Certain foods and beverages are toxic to animals: chocolate, alcohol, coffee, onions, yeast, salt, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, and other fatty foods. Watch food supplies while cooking. Keep pets away from the trash. If snack or food trays are out, make sure your pet cannot get to them, (keep food away from the edge of countertops.) Gifts containing food should not be left under the tree; your pet will smell it and get into the package.  You will then be seeing us.

• Decorations: Keep Christmas tree ornaments, lights and tinsel to a minimum on the lower branches of the tree. (If your cat is a climber, it might be best to put the tree in a room where doors can be closed.) Ornaments, tinsel and ribbons are sometimes ingested. Electrical wires are often chewed. Also monitor areas containing candles, as they attract the animal’s curiosity. Plants, such as lilies, poinsettias, holly, and mistletoe, are poisonous to cats and dogs. Keep those out of reach also.

• Guests: If you have guests coming in for the holidays, remember that it can be easy for a pet to slip outside and go unnoticed for longer periods of time. Pets should be wearing collars and identification tags at all times. If your pet is not a good traveler, you may want to consider boarding them over the holidays.

• Dr. Doolittle’s Animal Hospital offers boarding exclusively to all of our clients. We do not board for the general public, so your pet will not be exposed to animals that may have health issues.  We are also especially prepared to accommodate older pets that need more attention and greater comfort.

• If you suspect a health problem over the holidays, contact us immediately!! Waiting to see if your pet will get better until the holidays are over involves more risk to your dear friend and probably greater expense.

The new face sitting at the front desk under close supervision by Sam, the clinic cat, is Christiana McIntosh. She also graduated in May from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Communications. She enjoys helping out around the clinic and taking over receptionist duties while continuing her search for that dream job. (She’s just grateful Dr. Doolittle doesn’t require her to wear Aggie maroon!) We look forward to our time with her. Come by and meet her!

While there, they were greatly impressed by a new dental machine and we are pleased to report that we now have it in our clinic.  This machine is air driven and polishes, cleans, and helps with extractions much more efficiently than our old machine.  Dental hygiene and health are extremely important not only for humans, but also our furry companions.

You may want to read more about dental health for dogs and cats in our article called “The Tooth Fairy”.

We just met Kenny Crawford, Owner of Wag the Dogs, Inc. Wags is a professional pet sitting and dog walking service provider. We recommend checking out their company, especially if you have a new puppy or kitten that isn’t house trained yet. They are also great for those long days when you’re stuck at work and your buddy at home needs to go out and do his business!

Check out their website at wagthedogs.com for more information and you can “like” them on Facebook!

1. Keep the Halloween candy out of reach!

• Everyone knows chocolate (in all forms) can be poisonous and deadly to a dog or cat.
• Candies with artificial sweeteners can also be deadly to dogs.
• Ingesting the wrapper of a candy could also cause gastrointestinal blockage.

2. Safely display decorations

• Carved pumpkins are a common Halloween decoration, just make sure your pet’s wagging tail can’t easily knock the lit pumpkin over and cause a fire.
• Pets often become curious of candle flames and can singe their whiskers or burn their fur if they get too close.
• Make sure wires and cords are out of the way so your pet doesn’t trip or chew on them.
• Limit the use of fog machines and strobe lights so your pet doesn’t feel sick or dizzy.

3. Make sure your pet isn’t scared of trick-or-treaters

• Keep your pet calm and indoors so it doesn’t get scared of loud trick-or-treaters or crazy Halloween pranks.
• If your pet is nervous around people or commotion, it is best to put them in a quiet room where they won’t be disturbed. Be sure to include food, water, toys and a litter box (if needed.) Also, this will prevent them from being aggressive and trying to attack visitors.
• Make sure your pet has a current identification tag or a microchip in case they slip out the door.

4. Costumes aren’t always funny

• Some pets become stressed and uncomfortable when they’re forced to wear costumes, only do it if you know they don’t mind!
• Be aware of small pieces that could break off or be chewed on and cause a choking hazard.
• Make sure the costume is not too tight. Be careful that your pet is not limited in movement, hearing, sight or ability to breathe or drink.
• Secure loose ends so your pet will not trip or get tangled in any part of the costume.