Do you like this story?
What good is an outdoor pet? Animals need to be part of the family
By Pet Connection Staff
December 23, 2009
It’s a never-ending mystery: Why people have companion animals, and never let them become part of the family. From Gina Spadafori in this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature:
I have always had difficulty understanding why people want to keep dogs outside. If keeping a beautiful house and yard are of the utmost importance to you, then don’t get a dog. If you know someone in your family can’t abide a dog in the house, for whatever reason, then don’t get a dog. If you can’t let a dog be part of your family, then don’t get a dog.
You don’t get the benefits of companionship from a dog you see so little. You don’t even get much in the way of protection from the pet who has no access to the house. And don’t count on outdoor dogs as an early warning system. These animals often become such indiscriminate barkers that you couldn’t tell from their sound whether the dogs are barking at a prowler or at a toddler riding a tricycle down the street. Besides, people who keep outdoor dogs seem to become quite good at ignoring the noise they make, as any angry neighbor can vouch.
From Dr. Marty Becker, a warning that too much of a good thing this holiday season might land your pet in the ER:
It seems I write about this every year. I know I’m dating myself, but I remember when leftovers from restaurant meals were packed into foil bags with a picture of a dog on them, not Styrofoam containers. Doggie bags they really were, since many of the goodies went straight home to the pets.
Veterinarians have always been aware that the leftovers of a fine meal out — or treats from a delicious holiday feast — often represented a genuine danger to pets rather than a tasty treat. Far from being a special gift to our beloved pets, fat-laden leftovers and sharp bones pose a threat to their health, causing illnesses such as pancreatitis, accidents such as a perforated intestine and even death.
The containers may have changed, but the attitude hasn’t. While lean meats and raw vegetables (such as baby carrots) are healthy treats for any dog, the old doggie bag staples such as bones and the fat trimmed off a steak need to be strictly off-limits to pets.
If you do give meat or poultry to your dog or cat as an occasional treat, trim it carefully to remove the fat as well as the skin, which is a hiding place for more fat. Even if you’re lucky enough that your pet doesn’t end up with acute pancreatitis (a life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas), a perforated intestine, severe gastroenteritis (aka a big bellyache), or relatively mild cases of vomiting or diarrhea, the fat certainly adds calories most dogs today don’t need.
Many breeds are especially prone to obesity, including the Labrador retriever, Cairn terrier, cocker spaniel, dachshund, Shetland sheepdog, basset hound, pug or beagle, and mixes of these breeds (hello, puggles!).
So dump the scraps and watch the weight. Ask your veterinarian for guidance when it comes to what your pet should and should not be eating, at any time of year. You don’t have to deny your pet a little holiday yummy, but you do need to be careful with the kind and amount of treats you provide.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or download the PDF file here to see it just as we submit it to our client newspapers!
Share & Enjoy
|
Facebook
|
Twitter
|
Google Buzz
|
Digg
|
|
Technorati
|
StumbleUpon
|
Delicious
|
Email
|
Home
How much fat/skin does a dog need to ingest to develop pancreatitis? I’m assuming it depends on the size of the dog… Do RAW feeders remove fat and skin from their meat, as well?
Comment by Pai — December 23, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
When my sister lived in Ohio she had neighbors who kept a Pug tied to the garage year ‘round. That was one I really didn’t understand at all.
Comment by Cate — December 23, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
Pai, raw feeders certainly DO NOT de-fat their dogs’ food.
My guys eat chicken with skin, fat and all, as do countless other pet and working dogs.
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 23, 2009 @ 4:17 pm
Pai, my dog eats chicken, turkey, pork - skin, fat and all (and beef too, but it’s generally less fatty). He has eaten chunks of pork shoulder that have had a *large* amount of fat under the skin with no problem.
However, I did introduce each new food gradually, and would have backed off or reduced the amount of fat/skin if there had been any, um, “gastrointestinal” issues.
From what I can tell, the issue with fatty foods is the sudden introduction of large amounts of them - Fluffy and Fido getting a plate of fatty foods after a lifetime of kibble.
Comment by K.B. — December 23, 2009 @ 5:07 pm
Oh, forgot to add- I wonder if there is a difference between raw fat and cooked fat? I have heard that dogs that cannot tolerate certain protein sources when cooked/processed are fine with those protein sources when raw, so it’s not an unreasonable hypothesis that animals have different responses to raw vs. cooked fat.
Comment by K.B. — December 23, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
I really don’t like these ‘warnings’ against certain foods as being deadly/toxic, but then when you actually research the details, you find out that you have to feed like, HUGE amounts of it in order to cause a problem. Why not just say it should be fed in moderation/sparingly, instead of claiming it’s basically poisonous when it’s really not?
Comment by Pai — December 23, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
What about people who kick the dog and the cat out of the house because they’re expecting a baby and OMG the precious angel might be crawling on surfaces that have actually been touched by an animal’s paw? That seems to happen fairly frequently among people I know.
Comment by Diane — December 23, 2009 @ 10:55 pm
Diane, suggest that they read this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/s.....038;page=1
or Google “Hygiene Hypothesis”
Comment by LauraS — December 24, 2009 @ 12:10 am
I just saw this post. This is one of my ongoing battles as a domestic rabbit educator (training bunnies AND their people!)
Why have a rabbit and stick it outside in a hutch?
Who wants a pet you have to “visit?”
When I’m at my kitchen sink, I turn around and find a rabbit peering up at me, begging on hind legs like a prairie dog.
If I dare to sleep in, I hear rabbits throwing their dinner plate around downstairs. The CLINK CLINK travels up through the duct work.
When I sit on the floor folding laundry, I feel a nudge against my butt. It’s someone asking for a nice sit and pat.
When I pass by the reigning Elder in the house (an 11-year-old fuzzy lop), the most vocal rabbit I’ve ever known, I hear him talking and talking in his sleep.
People miss out on so much interesting interaction and training opportunities when the rabbit is outside. More importantly, they miss out on the prey animal’s subtle signals of illness … sitting in an unusual spot, disinterest in a favorite food, “clinginess,” a loud, solo clack of the teeth. Not to mention changes in the litter box.
I could go on and on. But I think I’ll go downstairs and see what my bunnies are doing. :-)
Comment by Mary Mary — December 28, 2009 @ 9:18 am
People who haven’t really LIVED with rabbits have no idea what funny, sweet personalities they have. I had the typical “hutch bunny” as a child, and there is NO COMPARISON with my first house rabbit, the much-missed Turbo. He was such a personality I can’t believe he could pack it all in one body.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 28, 2009 @ 10:31 am
“Turbo!”
Love it.
———
Oddly enough … my neighbor just knocked on the door, asking if I’d lost a rabbit. She saw a big white bunny running loose on Saturday.
It is very cold here. I wish she hadn’t waited two days to tell me about this.
Now I will have to go looking for it. And try to figure out where to set my humane trap.
Most likely a hutch escapee. When people set their rabbits loose, they USUALLY do it in a park, not in a suburban plan like this one.
Poor wabbit.
Comment by Mary Mary — December 28, 2009 @ 10:40 am