pet connection

Saying goodbye to winter might be good for our spirits and our gardens, but it can mean problems for pets. From Gina Spadafori and Dr. Marty Becker in this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature:

Our dogs love spring and summer — longer days, less inclement weather — but they always seem a little disappointed when they realize they’re not going to be getting as many rides in the car.

That’s because in the winter there’s not much risk to letting a well-mannered dog wait in the car during a quick pop inside the bank, drugstore or any number of local businesses that make up a morning’s errand run.

But when the days get warmer, it’s no longer acceptable to leave a dog in the car, even for a few minutes, even with the windows down. That’s because the heat can build up quickly, even on a day that’s just pleasantly warm, putting any pet in the car at grave risk for heatstroke.

Find out how to protect your pets here.

Yes, Gina says; cats can be hurt by falling from windows:

Cats are equipped with the amazing ability to right themselves in midair if they fall while hunting, rotating their bodies from the head back like a coil to align themselves for a perfect four-paw landing.

But what works for a supple small animal falling from a tree branch doesn’t cut it in the modern world, where a cat’s more likely to fall from a window than a tree. Cats can be badly hurt or even killed falling from the window of a two-story home, or from the balcony of a third-story apartment.

Many cat lovers assume their pets would be smart enough to be careful when up high enough for injuries, but it’s just not in an animal’s ability to make that kind of judgment call. Cats are comfortable in high places, and they cannot understand the difference in risk between a one-story fall and a six-story fall. Protect them with secure screens and closed windows.

Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon have good news for pet owners worried about cancer:

Powerful new tools to treat cancer in animals are here, or on the near horizon, reports Veterinary Practice News. These include two new therapies that target canine mast cell tumors at the molecular level (from Pfizer and AB Science USA) and immunotherapy for melanoma (Merial). “Rather than use chemicals to kill the cancer or radiation to fry it, we can use our knowledge of cancer to outsmart it,” notes cancer specialist Dr. Greg Ogilvie, director of the Angel Care Cancer Center at California Veterinary Specialties in Carlsbad, Calif.

Plus: The dangers of ticks; the value of experience in caring for our pets; how kits can make artists of our pets. All this and more, in our Pet Connection newspaper feature, which you can read right here.

You can also see it exactly the way we send it to our client newspapers here. (PDF)