Choking Hazards
Watching Out for Your Pets
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e all love our pets and enjoy giving them toys and goodies for chewing. Most of the time, there is little risk to offering these entertaining objects, but sometimes our best intentions can backfire. Sadly, veterinary professionals often see emergencies in which pets are rushed in due to choking on toys or treats. Sometimes the obstruction can be successfully removed and the pet’s airway restored; other times it’s too late to save a pet by the time they arrive at the hospital. It is important for every pet owner to know the risks to prevent choking hazards in the first place:
Animal Bones: Chicken and lamb bones splinter and can penetrate the back of the throat, the esophagus, or gastrointestinal tract, creating holes that leak fluids and cause infection. Larger, harder bones can slip backward in a dog’s mouth and obstruct the airway or become lodged in the dog’s esophagus or anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract. They can also fracture teeth, causing the animal a lot of pain and creating the need for expensive dental procedures. Toy Size Matters: Some toys are made for small dogs or cats; these toys can easily cause choking in a medium- or large-breed dog. If you have both a large dog and small dog, choose only larger dog toys for both. Racket balls and the like become slimy from a dog’s saliva and can easily slip into the back of the throat. Chew Toys Can Pose a Threat: Rawhides and cow hooves are highly desirable chew toys, but there are a couple of issues of which to be aware. Some dogs will chew the knotted ends off the rawhides, which can quickly become lifethreatening airway obstructions. Cow hooves can break into slippery pieces — just the right size for getting stuck in the airway or esophagus.
Architecture
Discovering Animals The Zoo’s Educational Facility Opens
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baby giant anteater isn’t the only news the Santa Barbara Zoo had to announce this spring. At the end of March, the zoo unveiled its Discovery Pavilion, a grand 9,500-square-foot structure comprising classroom space, an exhibition gallery, a new kitchen in which the animals’ food is prepared, and office and meeting rooms for staff. The idea for an educational space was bandied about as early as 1982, but it wasn’t until the late ’90s that it was put into motion. “In 1999, we hired [architects], and they started the design process,” said Rich Block, the zoo’s chief executive officer. But there were “bunches of hiccups and starts and stops,” which prolonged the process nearly 15 years. The new venue anchors the zoo’s entrance promenade and cost $7.5 million — all the money came from the community — to complete. “There was a building built shortly after Lillian Child’s death,” Block said, giving some history of the chosen site. “It was built by volunteers from the fire and police departments for the hobos that used to live here. It was a shower building. Over the years, it morphed into a building that was used by the zoo for multiple purposes. In its last life, it was the backside of the capybara exhibit,” he said. (The capybaras have a brand-new area on the other side of the zoo by the anteaters.) The highlight of the pavilion is the 2,300-square-foot area that can be used for classroom space. “I cannot emphasize enough that the audience we have wanted to reach that we haven’t been able to connect to is our adults,” Block said. “We have all these opportunities throughout the year to do special, spur-of-the-moment [educational events], and we’ve never been able to take advantage the hem because be didn have the space.” For example, in 2012, of them we didn’t
Dr. Andrea Wells is a board-certified Internal Medicine veterinarian and the owner of Advanced Veterinary Specialists.
LION’S LUNCHEON? The new Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo (pictured above) includes a kitchen (pictured at left) where you can watch food being prepared for the animals.
veterinary dentists came up from the San Diego Zoo to work on the elephant Little Mac’s mouth. “It would have been really great to have the team actually be able to share what it’s like working on brick-sized molars and what it takes to do that,” said Block. “Now for specialists that come — experts in different areas of conservation and research and animal husbandry — we have the opportunity to share them with the public.” Called At the Watering Hole, there are already six informational events lined up for 2014, the next of which will be about the reemergence of the Channel Island fox given by Dr. Estelle Sandhaus, the zoo’s director of conservation and research, and Tim — MD Coonan, a National Park service biologist.
4·1·1 For more information about the upcoming Watering Hole series, visit sbzoo.org.
Well-Being
Danger for Felines: Cats are less likely to choke on toys, but they are known for chewing on strings and ribbons, which can pose a hazard. Because of their raspy tongues, the strings get caught around the base of their tongues while the rest of the string passes down the gastrointestinal tract and act like a saw on the delicate tissue. Cats can also chew on plant material that can travel above the soft palate and cause choking and gagging. In addition to preventing possible choking hazards, make sure you know the location of the closest veterinary hospital to your home, dog park, beach, walking locale, etc. Be sure to carry phone numbers and addresses of both day and after-hours emergency hospitals. — Dr. Andrea Wells
living cont’d
PAUL WELLMAN PHOTOS
Pet Health
Pet Trusts
Putting Your Animal in Your Will
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ny person with a beloved pet will tell you that they are an integral part of the family unit. As such, many people consider how their animal will be taken care of if they are no longer able or they themselves pass away. One way to secure the future of your pet is by setting up a pet trust. This is the most complex — there is a tremendous amount of decisions you need to make — and expensive method, but it allows you to have the most flexibility in terms of who will care for your pet and how they will care for your pet.
Foremost, you need to select a trustee who will manage the assets of the pet trust and who may also be your pet’s caregiver. You’ll need to consider how and if this person will be compensated and who will succeed them in the event that they are unable to continue as trustee/caregiver of your pet. The second major consideration is how much money you should distribute to this trust: This involves considering the age and longevity of your pet, their current and future veterinary expenses, and their food and shelter costs. You also need to consider how you would like your pet cared for and any directions that should be given to your pet’s caregiver for their grooming, activity, and basic well-being. Because every animal has a unique personality and guidelines for their care, creating a pet trust is a very customized process and, therefore, can be an expensive undertaking. Ultimately, you need to know that there are a number of options available for the care of your family pet, ranging from simple and inexpensive to complex and costly. There is no right or wrong decision, just the one that is right for you and your pet. — Brooke Cleary McDermott
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For more information about pet trusts, call 965-1329, email mcdermott@taxlawsb.com, or visit taxlawsb.com. april 17, 2014
THE INDEPENDENt
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