Safety Ideas For Your Pets This Autumn

It’s that time of year again when warm weather quickly slips away and is replaced with brisk autumn beauty. Although many of us get excited to romp around in the leaves with our pets, there are a few precautions we can take to keep our pets healthy and happy!

Engine Coolant: We are more likely to change our engine coolant during this season. Different based coolants have varied levels of toxicity, ethylene glycol being more toxic than propylene glycol, and are dangerous for our furry friends. Spills should be cleaned up immediately to avoid pets coming into contact and paws should be thoroughly cleaned if they accidentally do!

Cold Weather Poisons: Unfortunately with the cold weather coming in, this usually leads to pesky rodents seeking shelter in our homes. Not only do we need to be concerned with our pets getting their paws on mice and other pesky invaders, but we also need to be aware of the chemicals that have been put down to rid them from our homes. Rodenticides are extremely toxic and can be fatal to pets if ingested. If using rodenticides in and around our homes, it is best to make sure that our pets do NOT have access to these areas. A safe bet would be to gate off certain areas of our homes so we can rest easy. On a side note, even if we do follow these precautions, we should know that a dead mouse can harm our pets if the mouse has been poisoned. Let’s make sure to stay vigilant and keep the casualties from rodenticides away from our loved ones as well.

School Supplies: It is back-to-school time which means that with busy mornings and after-school events, school supplies will be scattered throughout our homes. There are several items in our children’s pencil bags that are slightly toxic, i.e. pencils, glue sticks, and magic markers, which can definitely add up if pets ingest a large amount of them. We also need to worry about blockages if our pets ingest something larger! To completely avoid this worry, it is best to pick up after our kids and make sure these items are stored high enough so they are out of our pets’ reach.

Mushrooms: While the majority of mushrooms have little or no toxicity, there are still a low percentage of highly toxic mushrooms that can be very harmful to our furry friends. If our pets ingest ANY form of mushroom, a safe bet would be to immediately call our vets and contact ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

Wildlife: Snakebite season is here and grumpy, hibernating snakes are not the only wildlife to be concerned with! Any wildlife, whether it is a skunk, coyote, possum, or snake, poses a threat to our pets. A tip before letting our loved ones out would be to survey the area and take in all of the sounds and smells as well.

Ticks: During the fall months, deer ticks are at their highest populations and have the most potential for spreading Lyme disease. This disease affects both us and our furry friends so if we think that we have tick issues it is probably best to invest in tick preventatives. These can be prescribed by our vets and can be very effective! So before we take our dogs to go romping around in the leaves, let’s be sure to take the proper precautions.

Temperature: As we approach the winter months, the temperature will begin to drop significantly and we will lose daylight earlier. It may be a good idea to bring our pets in a little earlier in the evening to avoid having them out too long in inclement weather. Also, we should remember that for morning and evening walks it will still be pretty dark out. Wearing brighter colors and having reflective collars for our pups can aid in their safety as well as our own.

Grooming: During this time of year, a healthy coat makes for a healthy pet! Brushing our pups to avoid matting is always a good practice as it helps to make sure that they dry thoroughly after a bath. We definitely don’t want them to catch a chill outside! If routine grooming regiments are just not in the cards, we can consider the possibility of keeping our pups’ fur trimmed up. This will improve temperament as well, seeing as matted and tangled coats tend to be uncomfortable for our pets.