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Tips for Making Your Pet’s ‘Golden Years’ Happy and Healthy
There’s no getting around it: Aging happens, even to our beloved four-legged friends. Like us, pets are considered seniors when they’re in the last third of their life span. While a cat may not be a senior until they’re 10, a Great Dane with a shorter life expectancy could be a senior when they’re six! One of the most important things to remember is that advanced aging is not a disease — it’s a time when your pet’s needs are changing. It’s up to you to help them with these changes. Read on for tips on how to help your pet live happier and healthier to a ripe old age.
Rabies
Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. Small mammals such as squirrels, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rabbits, and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States. Bites by these animals are usually not considered a risk of rabies unless the animal was sick or behaving in any unusual manner and rabies is widespread in your area.
Poison
Rodenticides are potentially toxic to any species of bird or mammal—including children and pets. Rodenticide poisoning has been reported in many wild mammals including white-tailed deer, raccoons, gray squirrels, chipmunks, red foxes, skunks, opossums, prairie dogs, and badgers. Wild birds reported with rodenticide toxicity include bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks, great-horned owls, snowy owls, screech owls, turkey vultures, wild turkeys, and crows.
NOAA Reminds Public to Stay Away from Seals
The gray seal pup season is typically January through March; the harbor seal pupping season usually begins in May in the Northeast region. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials are reminding beachgoers to keep their distance from the animals. People are asked to stay at least 150 feet away from the seals to prevent injuries to themselves or the animals. Please be sure to keep pets away from seals for everyone’s safety.