Mason's Mewsings: scary

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Guest Blogger Luna and Introducing New Pets

Hello, everyone! I am your guest blogger for the month - my name is Luna! I am a lionhead bunny and a good friend of Mason, who has been vacationing for the entire summer (lucky cat!). He only just told me about his blog and I was all too happy to volunteer for an entry.

Today, I wanted to talk to you all about something that I recently went through. I had to move from my old home into a new home that I now share with two brother cats. At first they were really afraid of me - I think it may have been my keen hair sense - but now they love to play with me and make me feel like I've always a part of the family!

Finding the right pets to complete your household can be a daunting task. How you introduce the new housemates to each other can make or break the relationship, with those all-important first impressions. The introduction process may need to continue for weeks, or even months, until everyone is comfortable with each other.

Day-to-day management of a cat and a dog (or bunny, or hamster, or fish, or bird) represents several challenges. You’ll want to consider in advance whether you want to live with the household changes that may be required, like all the chasing and squawking and squeaking! No one can guarantee that particular pets will be safe together unsupervised - I know that some of us pocket pets would get eaten up in an instant if Mom and Dad weren't watching over us!

So, how do you introduce your new pet to your current companion? Start by letting the pets smell and hear each other through a door or crate that blocks the view.  It may take at least one to several days, but definitely keep this up as long as it takes for pet to be relaxed, then try reversing their locations so your new pet can be out and about the house and your current pet is in a different area.

It’s useful to switch them back and forth several times so neither one gets jealous of each other.  If both animals remain calm, the next step would be to put two barriers between the pets, with a distance of several feet or more so both animals will feel comfortable that actual contact can’t happen. Of course, in the cases of pocket pets, this may never actually happen, as those cats and dogs are sooooo big!!!! It may be too scary to let them meet face to face, but crated contact is a good idea. One of the barriers might be a see-through door, window, or crate. If it’s a baby gate it must be one the cat can’t get over, under or through.

Dogs need to be confined away from the barrier the other pet is behind. You could use another crate or enclosure, or perhaps have the dog on leash. Even if both animals are completely calm at this point, that’s enough for the first day, maybe the first several days. Don’t rush to the next stage. If either animal is nervous when viewing the other, go back to the setup of hearing and scent without sight. Be careful to maintain their trust by not allowing accidental contact.

Cats can take a long time to get used to things, commonly months - like I said before, my kitty brothers took forever to get used to me!  Taking things too quickly can set the process back so badly that it’s far better to go slowly. Dogs are usually much better at meeting new pets, but they can also be quick to think that new pet is a chew toy!

You can read more about the Introduction Process here, thanks to our awesome authors and trainers over at Veterinary Partner! Veterinary Partner - Introducing New Pets

And for more information specifically regarding Dog Behavior and Introductions to new pets, please see this article on Dog Introductions.

Thank you all so much for letting me talk to you this week! I will let Mason know you all miss him, but he is very busy getting back massages and being combed (it's his favorite thing ever). Next time, we will have another guest blogger for you! Luna, out!

c/o Mason

Great Falls Animal Hospital

703-759-2330

POISON CONTROL HELPLINE

PET POISON HELPLINE: (800) 213-5774

ASPCA POISON CONTROL: (888) 426-4435

24 EMERGENCY FACILITIES

THE HOPE CENTER- Vienna: (703) 281-5121

THE LIFE CENTRE- Leesburg: (703) 777-9968

VCA SouthPaws Veterinary Specialists & Emergency Center Fairfax: (703) 752-9100

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Halloween Hazards

So how has everyone’s September been so far? I’m sure a lot of you are getting back into the swing of things, like back to school or back to work; not that I would know, but I can imagine it’s quite the adjustment. I know how I feel when I have to stay in a big cage because my exam room is unavailable and it’s awful!

Now that it’s September, that means Halloween is around the corner and while that is a great time for humans, it’s not so much for many pets out there. First I’ll start out with the obvious… 9 out of 10 pets do not want to be dressed up. I PROMISE. My staff finds it very amusing to torture me by putting various “hats” on my head and then they go the extra mile and take pictures. NOT FUNNY, GUYS. When do you really see happy pets in costumes? Not very often. (Though if you are entering a best costume contest that involves lots of kitty or puppy treats as prizes, I’ll dress up in just about anything.) That being said, costumes can actually be quite frightening. We are used to seeing you one way and then next thing we know, everyone looks different and very scary! All we ask is that you please take that into consideration and if you must dress up like a scary freakazoid, please put us in a part of the house where we don’t have to look at you. Some of us have a wild imagination and have had very real nightmares; food shortage, treat shortage and very menacing ghosts who come out of the wall and take our treats! Double scary! We would be much happier in a nice, quiet room (stocked with treats and toys!). J

Probably the biggest problem with Halloween for pets would be all the candy floating around that we could potentially get into. We all know that many dogs out there are far from prejudiced about food and snacks and they are typically the ones you see at the vet having to regurgitate all of that hard earned candy. That doesn’t mean that cats and other pets are off the hook so definitely be careful about where you store any candy or snacks. Technically, you should always be mindful of where you are putting non-animal friendly items (I hate to say it, but even our food should be where we can’t get it since we do like to help ourselves on occasion. This, however, does not apply to me…). You would be surprised what animals can get into and how quickly something can happen. Make sure you have a number for animal poison control, your veterinarian, and 24-hour emergency facility where it can be easily accessed. Poison control (both human and animal) does cost money so also make sure to have a credit card handy. It’s also very important to keep wrappers, packaging, or have a list of the ingredients with you when you call poison control, as well as taking with you to the vet if at all possible. It is extremely helpful in determining toxicity as well as treatment.

All that being said, I hope all of you two- and four-legged friends had a great summer and a great start to September! Having just expelled all of this intelligence has made me very, very hungry so I must find a staff member to rectify this situation. I keep telling them to just leave my food where I can get it so I don’t have to bother them but they don’t think it’s a good idea!

Meows,

Mason