Monday, July 2, 2012

Happy Birthday USA



What do you think of when I say Fourth of July celebration?  Parades?  Fireworks?  Picnics?  I love a good party but not all pets do.  Parades, with large crowds of cheering people, marching bands playing music and people throwing things from floats make some pets very anxious.  Fireworks, although pretty, are very, very loud to our sensive ears.  And picnics.  Fourth of July picnics are actually dangerous places for pets.

Lots of things that you see at a picnic may seem harmless but they are not.  Hot dogs, hamburgers, potatoe salad, chips, they're just food.  So what's wrong with food.  We dogs should only eat dog food even though we love human food.  You might think a little human food would be okay.  Well, dogs you see, we're never full.  If we can beg or steal human food we will keep going until we are really sick.

That can of beer or glass of wine you leave by the side of your chair, can be mightly tempting to a pet.  But pets should NEVER be allowed to drink any kind of alcohol.  Alcohol is so toxic to pets
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And the other stuff we might find lying around like sunscreen, insect repellant, citronella candles or oils can cause serious harm if we eat them.  You see, we can't read and some of these things look like they would be fun to play with.  We won't know it's not good to eat until it's too late.

Fireworks and glow sticks also look like toys but are poisonous so please make sure they are well out of reach.  Like I said before, the noise from fireworks is scarey to many pets.  So many pets get scared by fireworks that the Fourth of July is the day/night when the most pets get lost.  The loud continuous noise is so scary a dog or cat might keep running.  They are so scared that they could run so far trying to get away from the noise that they can't find their way home.  They could even run into traffic and get hit.

Please help us stay safe this Fourth of July.  I have a nice crate in an air conditioned room that is a perfect place for me to spend the Fourth.  I can have my own good food and cool water with ice in it and nap the day away.  If you don't have AC, find a nice cool room and turn on a fan. If your pet is really scared, you can call your vet today and have them give you  something to help.  There are also some good holistic treatments you can get at most pet stores. 

Wishing you (and your pets) a happy and safe Fourth of July.

Your friend Zeva

P.S.  Follow me on Twitter @zevathedog or see the pet gift baskets I designed at Laurel Mountain Basket Co

5 comments:

  1. If its the 4th of July that is anxiety time for pets, in India its the festival of lights in October/ November called Diwali. Firecrackers are burst with no thought towards the hundreds of strays and pets that are thoroughly scared by the noise and smoke. So many traffic accidents happen, and there are so few who would do anything for a homeless dog. U see, the logic here is that India has too many PEOPLE to deal with (high population), so who has time to care for DOGS? It is very sad.

    Miu and I spend Diwali indoors with Mama. She makes sure all windows and doors are shut and we are in the room where one hears the least noise. Aren't we lucky?

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  2. Hey Priya

    Thanks for teaching me abut Diwali. I am going to study more about it.

    I am not afraid of big noises. I guess I slept through a really big thunder storm the other night that kept my humans awake for a long, long time.

    Maybe it's because my humans don't take me to places where they have fireworks and, like your humans, they kept all of the window closed when our town had their big event so the noise wasn't so loud.

    It is very, very sad that there are so many homeless dogs in India. At least in the US we are lucky to have people who have the time and money to give to help homeless dogs.

    I am lucky since my mother was homeless and some people took her to a shelter where I was born. Then some other people took me and my 6 brothers and sisters hundreds of miles away to a place where there were people like my humans who wanted to adopt us.

    Thank you for commenting on my blog. I would love to learn more about your home in Inda. What your house is like, what foods you like etc.

    Your friend

    Zeva

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  3. Hiya Zeva,

    I told u about what we like to eat in my comment to ur gourmet blog of 2011. Let me tell u about where we live. We live in a small independent house with a garden. Mama chose this house just for us. But since mama goes to work we get so little time with her, and love cuddling with her when she is back. She has to forcibly make us go into the garden. Once there we love chasing birds, squirrels, and sometimes monkeys (yes, there is a troupe that lives in a locality. Mama thinks they are cute especially the young ones that cling to their mommies).

    We can be very difficult on walks too since there are so many strays that challenge the territory. Mama has to carry a stick to fend them off. Mama works as much as she can with strays, relocating them to shelters, burying the dead (yes, here they are so callous that animals don't get a decent burial unless they are pets. ) She even conducted an anti-rabies vaccination camp with her vet friends with some funding she got (that was long before we were born; she had a black lab called waldo and 17 cats then).

    Ur pawpal,
    Bumo

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  4. Oh Bumo

    I am so happy to learn about where you live but I am sooo very sad to hear the story of the homeless animals.

    I would like all of the dogs I know to hear your story so I would like to write it in my blog.

    Your friend

    Zeva

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  5. Bumo

    P.S. My mom said you sould love to meet your mom cuz she is very special

    Z

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