VetMed Animal Health Blog

Holiday decorations and seasonal household items can create hazards for your pet. Extra time spent indoors, lack of activity and holiday decorations can often lead to trouble during the winter months. Many everyday products found around your home can pose a real danger to curious cats or mischievous dogs. Here are some helpful tips to keep your pets safe this winter.

Christmas Trees – Christmas trees bring holiday cheer but also bring potential hazards for pets. Water for fresh trees may contain fertilizer and bacteria.  If ingested, this can upset a pet’s stomach. Also, make sure your tree is well-secured. A climbing cat or a dog with a happy tail can cause disaster for a tree that is not anchored to the wall.

Electrical Cords – Dogs and cats will chew on electrical cords and can be shocked or electrocuted. Secure electrical cords, Christmas lights and extension cords.  Tuck the extra cord behind furniture.

Ribbons and Tinsel - Cats and kittens love to play with string objects, therefore ribbons and tinsel can be very dangerous… even fatal. Tinsel is very enticing to cats because it looks like string. Unfortunately, it can get stuck around your cat’s tongue or in the gastrointestinal tract. This can cause severe pain for your cat and can be life-threatening.

Batteries- Alkaline batteries contain corrosives, which if chewed or punctured can cause ulcers in the mouth or digestive tract.  In severe cases, the battery may even perforate the digestive tract. Because of their corrosive nature, pet owners should never attempt to make the animal vomit if their pet is suspected of having chewed and ingested an alkaline battery. These batteries also contain zinc.  While zinc poisoning is uncommon from battery ingestions, if enough zinc leaks from the battery casing it is a possibility.

Mistletoe – Eating mistletoe berries may cause your pet vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. If ingested in large enough quantities, mistletoe berries have the potential to irritate the digestive tract, cause excessive thirst and urination, a drop in blood pressure and heart rate.  In severe cases, it may cause difficulty breathing, seizures, coma and even death.

Ice Melt – Ice melt salt and other chemicals used to melt ice can irritate your pet’s paws. They are also toxic if ingested. If such chemicals are used where you walk, wash your pet’s paws when you get home, or have him/her wear booties. Use a non-toxic ice melt on your own walks and driveway.

Antifreeze – Antifreeze is an odorless fluid with a sweet taste for which dogs in particular have a fondness. Poisoning is rapid and requires a very small amount to be ingested.  Only a tablespoon is deadly to an average-sized dog and even less for a cat.  Antifreeze ultimately results in kidney failure and death if not treated within a couple of hours.  Always mop up any spills the instant they happen and be aware of puddles near parked cars. Sprinkling the area with an absorbent material such as sand, cat litter, wood shavings or sawdust will prevent the dog from licking the spot where the spill or leak occurred.  Did you know that snow globes also contain antifreeze? 

Chocolate – Think twice before leaving a bowl of chocolates on the table as it is poisonous to many animals. The less sweet the chocolate, the more toxic it could be due to the caffeine and theobromine it contains. Signs of chocolate toxicity include hyperactivity/hyperexcitability, nervousness, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, increased thirst / urination/ heart rate  and sudden death.  Raw cocoa is the dangerous ingredient, making dark chocolate more dangerous than milk chocolate.  White chocolate contains not cocoa and is not dangerous.

Mothballs - If you pack your stockings and decorations away with mothballs, be sure to keep your pets out of the area when you are unpacking. Naphthalene found in mothballs can cause muscle tremors, seizures, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, liver, kidney and blood cell damage, swelling of the brain tissues, seizures, coma and death if ingested-and respiratory tract damage, if inhaled.  Just one mothball can be dangerous.

Bones – You may think you are giving your dog a treat, but the reality is that leftover meat bones are dangerous. Meat bones are easily chewed into sharp splinters that can lodge in the digestive tract.  They may cause esophageal or intestinal lacerations, or obstructions.  Never induce vomiting if your pet has swallowed any bone that can splinter because it may cause an esophageal laceration.

• Do not feed your pets holiday food!  Candy, chocolate, turkey, dressing, fish, pork, alcohol and bones can all cause vomiting and diarrhea.  Some animals may develop a life-threatening pancreatitis or intestinal obstruction. 
• House guests, both human and animal alike, during the holidays may be stressful to your pets.  Have a “safe place” for your pet to go when company arrives.  Guests are the most likely to sneak food to your pets.  Avoid unhealthy foods by having plenty of pet treats on hand.
• Avoid decorating or moving your pet’s sleeping or eating areas to keep their stress level down.
• Holiday decorations may also be a potential hazard.  Pine needles, ornaments, yarn, tinsel, ribbons and other decorations may be dangerous if ingested.  Keep them out of your pet’s reach.

Trimming nails on dogs is often a hard battle for many pet owners.  When you hear the “click-click-click” as your dog tap dances across the floor, you know it’s that time again…time to trim those nails! Trimming your dog’s nails is not just a part of grooming…it’s important for your pet’s health as well. You should remember that untrimmed nails can cause problems including broken nails, which are painful and can bleed a lot.  Long nails can make walking uncomfortable and can even cause lameness.

While some dogs don’t seem to mind having their nails trimmed, others just don’t like it. Make trimming time fun and not a struggle. If your pet is not used to having his or her nails trimmed, start slowly and work up to it gradually. Following these suggestions for a proper nail trim might help you give your dog a more pleasant pedicure.

• Start young! The earlier you start trimming your dog’s nails, the less stressful it will be for your pet. Touch their paws and nails to allow them to get used to this area being handled.  Frequent trims when your dog is young will help them become comfortable with the procedure.  A technician can show you how to do this the first time…Just ask!
• Learn the anatomy. Within the center of each toenail is a blood vessel and nerve.  Together, these make up the part of the nail called the quick. In clear or white nails you can easily see the quick.  It is a pink area in the middle of the nail. Cutting into the quick will result in pain and bleeding. You cannot see the quick on dark colored nails, making them more difficult to trim without cutting into the quick. Cut dark colored nails in several small cuts to reduce the chance of cutting into the quick.
• Use the proper instruments – be sure to use only nail trimmers that are designed for dogs. There are a variety of nail trimmers available.

 Nail Trim Procedure:   Some dogs will happily sit in your lap or on a table while you trim their nails.  However, many require some form of restraint. You may want to sit on the floor with your pet, hold your pet in your lap, or have someone hold your pet on a table. Before you start clipping, determine how much needs to be trimmed. The basic rule of thumb is that the nail, which curls downward, should be even with the paw pad. Whatever hangs over must be clipped. When the animal steps down, the nails should not touch the floor.  If your dog has light colored nails, eyeball the quick and aim a few millimeters away from it. If you cut into the quick, it will hurt your dog and the nail will bleed.

Using a nail trimmer for pets, cut the nail below the quick on a 45-degree angle with the cutting end of the nail clipper toward the end of the nail. In dogs with dark nails, make several small nips with the clippers instead of one larger one. Trim very thin slices off the end of the nail until you see a black dot appear towards the center when you look at it head on. This is the start of the quick that you want to avoid. The good news is that the more diligent you are about trimming, the more the quick will recede into the nail, allowing you to cut shorter each time.

If your dog’s nails are so long that they’re forcing her foot out of position, you can take them back to where they should be in two ways. The first is to cut a little off every few days: The quick recedes before you as you go. The second way is to have your veterinarian take them all the way back at once with your dog under anesthesia. After the nails are at a proper length, keeping them that way is easy with a weekly trim.

Although you will take great care not to hurt your pet, sometimes accidents happen and you will cut into the quick. If you are at home, you can apply flour or cornstarch to the nail to stop the bleeding. Nail powder, like Kwick Stop, is commercially available at pet stores as well. If you do draw blood, take a pinch of the powder and press it against the exposed bottom of the nail for a few seconds to stop the bleeding.  If that doesn’t work, apply a light bandage for about 15 minutes. If the bleeding continues, call your veterinarian. 

  An alternative to nail-trimming is nail-grinding. You can buy a canine nail grinder like the PediPaws, or just use a lightweight rotary grinding tool, such as the Dremmel.   Some dogs prefer having their nails ground instead of clipped.   The most important thing to remember when grinding is that nails can get hot while you’re working on them. Don’t grind continuously. Touch the grinder to the nail in very short bursts — a second or two at most — to keep the heat from building up.

Whatever method you’re using to shorten the nails, don’t forget the dewclaws! These are the extra toes you can find up on the inside of the leg, like a thumb. Not all dogs have them, but for those who do, neglected nails can be a problem. Long nails can catch on upholstery and tear the dewclaw. Keeping these nails short will prevent injury, which is why you haven’t finished trimming nails until you’ve done the dew, too.

If your dog is resistant to having the nails trimmed, work up to the task over a few weeks’ time by taking the trimmer in hand and touching it to the paws and toes, then the nails.  Give lots of praise and treats at each step. Positive reinforcement works wonders!  When the dog is used to having the paws handled, put the trimmer against the nail and praise and treat more still. Then trim a little off, and so on. Don’t insist on getting all the nails done at once. Do one or two toes a night, and put the nippers away while both you and the dog are feeling positive about the experience.