Are Valentines Day and Easter Dangerous for your Pet?

Many people love to celebrate Valentines day, and Easter with sweet treats like Chocolate.

While Chocolate may taste good and even have some health benefits for People, the same is not true for pets.

Dogs and cats can get very sick, and even die from eating chocolate. Depending on the size of the animal, the type of chocolate consumed (white, milk, dark, or Bakers), and the amount of it consumed - there can be some serious health issues for your dogs and cats.

This website has a great tool to help guide you to know how chocolate can affect pets.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/10/pets/chocolate-chart-interactive

IF your pet ever eats chocolate of any kind - the first thing you need to do is call your veterinarian right away. They can advise you if it is minor or if it is a cause for serious concern.

Enjoy your Valentines Day and Easter but keep your pets safe.

Royal City Animal Hospital 

245 Edinburgh Rd S 

Guelph ON

519-763-4992

Valentines Day and Pets

Valentine’s Day is just a few days away, so I thought I would take this opportunity to remind everyone of the hidden danger this day to celebrate love can bring -Chocolate. 

Every year for Valentine’s Day, many people receive gifts of chocolates from their special someone not realizing that this gift can be deadly to their other special someone – their dog.  Chocolate contains a chemical compound called theobromine, which is a stimulant that is found in the cocoa bean. This chemical is easily processed by humans  with no affect on our bodies, however dog’s metabolize this compound much more slowly and as a result it can lead to very serious health effects. Some of the symptoms of chocolate toxicity are vomiting and diarrhea, tremors, heart problems, seizures, and death. The severity of the problem depends upon a few factors; such as the size of the dog, the amount of chocolate consumed, and the type of chocolate that was eaten. White chocolate has much less theobromine in it than dark or baker’s chocolate and therefore the amount needed to cause a problem is greatly reduced.

Keep all chocolate out of reach from your dog – even the best dogs can be tempted by a tasty treat.

If your dog has eaten any chocolate – regardless of type, please consult with your veterinarian to ensure immediate attention can be given to your dog before the toxin has a chance to take effect. Your veterinarian will have better success in treating your dog for chocolate toxicity if immediate action is taken. Do not delay treatment or any reason.  When you call your veterinarian, be prepared to tell them what type of chocolate your dog ate, approximately how much was eaten, and when it was eaten.

Enjoy the day with your special someone – and your 4-legged valentine as well.

RVT's on site at Royal City Animal Hospital

When it comes to your pet's health care, we know you have options.
Our goal at Royal City Animal Hospital is to provide the best possible care to your dogs and cats.
The staff at our veterinary clinic are knowledgeable in many areas of petcare, and each member of our staff has their own unique interests, passions, and areas of expertise.

One quality of our Animal Hospital in Guelph, is that we hire Registered Veterinary Technicians.
Lisa and Randi are both graduates of accredited schools for Veterinary technology, and animal health. Both also maintain their registration status with the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians (OAVT), by abiding by codes of conduct, and maintaining continuing education standards requirements by constantly upgrading knowledge, skills, and abilities at various conferences, seminars, and symposiums.

Lisa will be once again attending the OAVT conference - the annual Educational Conference for Veterinary Technicians in Ontario. She will learn more ways to improve the health of your Pets.

If you have a question about your pet's health - send her or Randi an email.
rcahtechs(at)Rogers.com

Christmas Gift Giving

Looking for a great Christmas gift for the Pet Lover in your life?
Make a donation to the Ontario Veterinary College Pet Trust - to help end pet Cancer.
you can purchase items from their website, or make a donation in their name.

help end CANCER.

Pets on Facebook

We want to hear from you....our fans - Fellow Pet Owners who care about their Pets.
Join us on Facebook - and share stories and photos with us,
We Love to hear about your Dogs and cats and how we can help them,
If you have any questions about pet care - feel free to share your questions.

If you would like your Pet to be the Cover Model on our Veterinary Exclusive Facebook Page - send your photos to us.

rcahclients@rogers.com

How Pets Improve our Lives and make us HAPPIER

Happify has created this great infographic to demonstrate how our Pets can help improve our lives, our Outlook, and our emotional Well-Being.

If you are feeling down, or stressed, or unhappy, or sad.....
Please check out how a Pet can make things better.

Call Royal City Animal Hospital if you have any questions about #PetCare.
visit us on Facebook. 

Pet Halloween Costume Contest

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Guelph Area Pet Owners - get ready.

The Royal City Animal Hospital annual Halloween Costume Contest is on again this year.

Get your pet Dressed up in their Halloween Costumes, take a photo, and submit it in to us.
At the end of October, we will post all of the photos we receive on our Facebook Page, and the photo that gets the most likes, will be declared the winner. There is a small prize for the winner (pet treats, and such).

What will you be dressing your pet up as?

3 extra votes will automatically be added to the submissions that has a Person & Pet matching theme costume - like Martha & Cooper dressed as a Witch with her Familiar.

Wicked Witch and her Familiar

Email photos of your Halloween creations to rcahclients(at)rogers.com