ANIMAL WELLNESS
OctOber/nOVember 2009
AnimalWELLNESS For a long, healthy life!
celebrating
Living pawsitive!
URBAN ANIMALS
SIZE DOESN’T
the coolest
AnimAl Wellness mAgAzine
MATTER Check out the best
DOG PARKS
city dogs
STYLE
GPS AND
TO GO
MICROCHIPS
Trendy crates, carriers and strollers
The dangers of stray
APARTMENT
VOLTAGE
HUNTING?
Find out how to avoid it
How to find an animal friendly pad
Enter our
BRAIN
Cover Photo & Story Contest!
GAMES
VOlUme 11 issUe 5
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER Display until Nov. 17, 2009
Mental play for puppies & kittens
$5.95 USA/Canada
VOLUME 11 ISSUE 5
AnimalWellnessMagazine.com
Contents October/November 2009
37
features 20 Don’t get zapped
If you live in an urban area, be aware that stray voltage can pose a danger to you and your companion.
24 Going hairy?
Shedding can be a year-round problem. You’ll probably never have a completely fur-free home, but these four solutions mean he’ll shed a lot less.
64
28 Size doesn’t matter
The best dogs for city living don’t have to be small. Temperament and exercise requirements are the top criteria.
32 Brain games
78 Think you have a cover canine?
For growing puppies and kittens, mental stimulation is as important as physical exercise. Explore six ways to help your young companion reach her full potential.
Losing your companion can be one of the most unnerving experiences you’ll ever face. Equipping him with a microchip or GPS will help ensure he gets back to you safely.
37 New breed of dog park
68 Under the table
80 Trick or treat!
There’s no reason you can’t share some table scraps with your companion. The key is to give her only healthy choices. Here’s what’s good for her – and what’s not.
47 Moving on up
Halloween means costumes, candy and a busy doorbell. It might be fun for us, but it can be a scary experience for your animal. Here’s how to keep him safe and stress-free.
74 Style to go
86 Cutting edge
Today’s facilities go out of their way to cater to the needs and enjoyment of both canine and human visitors.
It’s getting a little easier to find animal friendly apartments, but you still need to do some legwork to land the best possible place for you and your companion.
54 Safe in the city
From heavy traffic to high rise balconies, urban life presents its own safety and health risks. These five suggestions can help protect your dog or cat from harm.
64 Follow that dog!
animal wellness
Want him to travel in comfort and fashion? Check out the latest in carriers, crates and strollers for dogs and cats.
76 Focus on probiotics
This father and son company takes pride in formulating all-natural nutritional supplements for digestive health.
Enter our Cover Dog Photo and Story Contest and you could win!
Your dog or cat has access to medical therapies and technologies that were unheard of not long ago. Here are four advances in veterinary care that have made the news in recent years.
88 Mercy’s legacy
Helping dogs and cats live long, happy lives is the motivation behind this innovative dental product.
24 COLUMNS 12 Yakkity yak 40 Dr. Martin Goldstein 44
Communication
62
Warm & fuzzy
32
84 Passages 89
Book reviews
98
The tail end
DEPARTMENTS 8
80
Editorial
17
Mail bag
31
Product picks
58
Wellness resource guide
72
The scoop
91
Ad spots
96
Events calendar
97
Classifieds
animal wellness
5
d e p p za
DON’T GET If you live in an urban area, be aware that stray voltage can pose a danger to you and your companion. BY CAROLE RAPHAELLE DAVIS
L
ast summer, while visiting France, I was window shopping in Nice with my rescued Bichon Frisé, Lamby. I had stopped in front of a boutique to ogle a pair of sandals when my dog suddenly screamed in pain, went rigid and fell over on the ground shaking. I knew I hadn’t stepped on him and neither had anyone else. I checked for blood or any sign of injury and found nothing. For a full two minutes, my dog lay on the sidewalk while I frantically attempted to stabilize him. I thought he was having a seizure or heart attack. I took him to the Clinique Vétérinaire where I learned he’d been electrocuted – he’d received a severe, high voltage electrical shock from walking on energized concrete on the sidewalk. Incredulous, I listened to Dr. Chave explain how Lamby was lucky to have survived because, in this case, the voltage hadn’t been quite high enough to
20
animal wellness
kill him. If he had been a smaller or older dog, the electrocution might have done him in. Two other dogs in Nice (both his patients) had been electrocuted to death at another location a few blocks away. When I got home, I did some research and learned that Lamby didn’t suffer a freak accident – dogs all over the world, and people too, were getting zapped by stray voltage, a dangerous phenomenon lurking under urban sidewalks.
How does it happen? Stray voltage occurs mostly in urban areas where there is a high concentration of people and equipment. Lamp posts, manhole covers, electrical plates, storm drains and even the concrete on the sidewalk can become energized by coming in contact with buried electrical distribution systems. The likelihood of a shock depends on the voltage and the conditions. Higher voltage means higher risk and wet conditions or salt used to melt ice increase the potential for a shock. “In urban areas, the electric system is buried underground, and over time the insulation on the wires can be damaged by construction, digging and so forth,” explains Dave Kalokitis, the Chief Technology Officer of the Power Survey Company, a service company that does work for the utility industry performing stray voltage detection internationally. “There can be corrosion from salt. Eventually these conductors come in contact with surfaces underfoot. It’s an electrocution hazard so stepping on an energized surface can cause a shock or fatal shock.” A sidewalk doesn’t have to be wet or look damaged to be a risk. “Concrete can conduct electricity,” says Dave. “If there’s something underneath the concrete, part of the electrical system that’s damaged and the insulation has failed, it passes current to the sidewalk. When the dog or cat makes contact with that, they get a shock.” Stray voltage made the news in January 2004, when graduate student Jodie Lane was killed by an electrified metal plate while walking her dogs in New York City. She died trying to help her dogs, who survived the shock. The city’s utility company, Con Edison, was ordered to pay a settlement of $7.2 million to the Lane family, and had to spend $100 million in citywide detection toward reducing the risk of stray voltage. animal wellness
21