Dog Checkups & Preventive Care
Fall, this time of year means cool air, colorful foliage and even, depending on where you live, a little bit of snow. It’s a great time to get outside with your pet; for a dog, there’s nothing like a romp in the leaves, while for cats, noon sunbeams have never felt better as the days get shorter and the nights get colder. When it comes to keeping your pet healthy and helping him enjoy fall to the fullest, there are some things to keep in mind:
Watch for ticks in fall
Just because fall is here doesn’t mean that ticks aren’t still lurking. In fact, many species of ticks are active even into the winter and can survive the first frost. Here are tips to keep your pet tick-free this fall:
Don’t let ticks cozy up. Remove their favorite environments, such as leaf and garden litter, where ticks can sometimes live even into winter.
Check for ticks frequently.
Continue using tick control and repellent products, especially if you spend a lot of time outdoors with your pet enjoying activities like hiking, camping, or hunting.
Rat poison
Fall is the time of year when mice, rats, and other rodents start to scurry for warmth. Be careful when it comes to mouse traps and rodenticides like rat and mouse poison. Nobody wants an infestation of mice, but many poisons that are currently on the market can be very harmful to dogs and cats. Direct ingestion can be deadly. Even if you don’t have a rodent problem or choose to deal with mice and rats humanely using live traps, you never know what methods your neighbors are using. Mushroom
Mushrooms
In some regions of the country, fall is just as wet as spring. That means that more mushrooms dot backyards and forest floors. While most mushrooms are perfectly safe, there’s a small percentage that are highly toxic to our furry friends.
Feed your pet right
It’s getting colder out there, and cool temperatures mean more energy is needed to stay warm. You’ll probably need to feed your pet a bit more food – food generates body heat, so pets that spend a lot of time exercising outdoors need to eat more than in the summer.
