Keep your Pet Healthy and Safe This Holiday Season

During this busy and hectic holiday season, there is a rise of pets entering veterinary clinics, because either they have ingested something they shouldn’t, or something is out of the ordinary that places your pet’s health at risk. Leaving out foods and other items that are hazardous to your pet’s health can be avoided by putting things up out of a pet’s reach, and knowing what’s in it that can harm them.

The following is a list of the most common complaints veterinary clinics receive.

• Gastritis– In other words, stomach inflammation, and the symptoms are mostly vomiting.  This occurs by your pet ingest something other than food.

• Enteritis– This is intestinal inflammation, with symptoms of diarrhea. Like gastritis, is caused by ingesting something your pet shouldn’t, and is also caused by bacterial infections.

•  Colitis– Intestinal inflammation in the colon segment of the intestine, caused by infection and stress. Symptoms are diarrhea that is bloody and full of mucous.

• Pancreatitis– Inflammation of the pancreas, caused by eating an overzealous amount of food high in fat. This can become a life-threatening condition that can cause excessive diarrhea, vomiting, along with extensive dehydration. Take it easy on the table scraps, so to speak!

• Gastric foreign body– This occurs when an object like toys, balls, or anything foreign ingested by a pet, gets stuck in the stomach. Vomiting is a common occurrence, and sometimes it has to be surgically removed.

• Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis– Bloody vomiting and diarrhea, and occurs when the pet has ingested garbage (trash) of spoiled food, commonly known as “garbage gut.” This is a very serious condition, as the bacteria from the spoiled food causes toxic-shock like reactions, and the pet needs to be treated immediately.

• Intestinal foreign body– Results when an object gets lodged in the intestine. This is one of the more serious conditions, as it is most commonly treated with surgery, because blockage has occurred.

• Methylxanthine toxicity– Probably the most dangerous, as too much chocolate acts as a stimulant, resulting in tremors and chocolate toxicity. Other serious symptoms include seizures and severely elevated heart rates. Treatment depends on the amount and type of chocolate your pet consumes.

Hopefully, none of these will be a problem in your furry and feline household. If it does happen, please take adequate and proper precaution, and consult with your veterinarian as soon as possible. Do you have any other recommendations of what to watch out for with your pet getting into during busy and rushed seasons?

Article Source: http://www.pantagraph.com/blogs/ask-a-vet/dc4348d4-4ad0-11e2-ab00-001a4bcf887a.html