Keeping Your Pet Safe

By Author: Petsecure
Total Articles: 6
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Always remember that your pet is totally dependent on you, as much as any young child. And they are vulnerable to many dangers, so it’s up to you to recognise the risks and protect your pet. While you should do everything in your power to keep them safe, it’s as well to insure your pet so that if something goes wrong, you have pet cover .

Ways to keep your pet safe

Secure fencing: Make sure your pet can’t get out into the street where cars are the chief hazard. Check your fencing for gaps – animals are expert at finding ways out. You can train them how to behave when you’re walking them but when they’re on their own you’re not there to give them the commands they understand.

Swimming pools – be as careful with backyard pool safety for your pets as you would for children. Not a very good idea to encourage backyard pool swimming, rather take them to water on your walks where you can easily supervise them

Toxic substances: domestic animals are sensitive to substances that are toxic to them and which they can get hold of in ...
... many ways, including:

• Garbage bins – scavenging –make sure there aren’t harmful items in your bins.

• Outside – store insecticides or herbicides safely and if you have treated a section of the garden with poisons, make sure your pet can’t get in. Bear in mind that they might lie or roll on an area that has been treated and ingest the poison when grooming themselves. Be careful of baits, even some that claim to be safe like those that add a bitter flavour - it doesn’t mean the pet will not ingest it.

• Inside – put all chemical substances out of the way of your pets and that includes household cleaners, detergents as well as insecticides, insect baits and mothballs. If you’re renovating, bear in mind the lead content in the paint or the flakes and dust from stripping. Lead is highly toxic.

• Food – not only must you give your pet good nutrition, you need to avoid most human foods, such as chocolate which is no treat for pets, it will make them sick, or vegies like onions and garlic, tomato stems and leaves and rhubarb leaves (toxic for humans as well). Milk is not recommended, it’s a myth that it’s good for cats.

• Medications – only administer vet prescribed or recommended medications. Do not under any circumstances give your pet human meds, not even aspirin or paracetamol.

Snakes and spiders: There’s always the danger of poisonous snakes and even certain lizards can bite and the bite can cause an infection. Also black widow and brown recluse spiders can cause your pets a heap of trouble as a reward for their curiosity.

What to do if something goes wrong

If your pet is suffering a reaction to any of the situations or substances we have flagged, contact your vet or take them immediately. A word of advice: compare insurance policies before you buy to get the most affordable pet insurance plan.