Show twPai Gunnison Valley NewsSalina December 1 8 2002 Sun Letter to the Editor Student looking for information PET SAFE DURING i v Top THE HOLIDAY HOOPLA? Jeffery O Hall DVM Spoiled Christmas plans by Lori Olsen With only a few days left until Christmas want to ensure that our family time together is full of quality Christmas activities could just get the rest of the family to cooperate If Sunday had a plan We would pile into the car with smiles and laughter We would drive around town looking at Christmas lights and even deliver a few holiday gifts to the Then we would atneighbors tend the community Christmas concert After the music had warmed our Christmas spirits we would rush home to hot chocolate cookies gingerbread and joyful conversation Things never go as planned Especially if you have teens and young adults involved When the kids were younger plans were often spoiled by a cranky baby somea royal tem- one throwing up or per tantrum Plans were never spoiled by a child that didn’t want to experience a joyous holiday night out Welcome to teen parenting! Sunday night Jim and forced three reluctant young adults (ages 17 18 and 23) into the family SUV with threats and even some yelling “We are goAnd ing1 You can’t get out of you are going to love it whether you like it or not1 Now get in the car!” Mind you there was some — laughter The kids were laughat us! But they did get in ing the car Then the fun began! - It is when your colwants to stay home some marathon TV difficult lege student and watch Now if marathon was a classics the TV show of Christmas the whole family could and enjoy it Add Christ- perhaps watch mas cookies and some eggnog and the evening would have Christmas-- warm by The holidays are here — the lights are bright delicious food abounds and holiday plants and trees are set out Humans love so these things Unfortunately do many pets and holiday foods and decor can be hazardous to them To keep your pets safe watch them carefully this time of year and be aware of the following dangers it causes only an upset stomach in other animals Holly and mistletoe are potentially toxic ornamental plants Natural ergreen trees if ingested may cause pets to have an upset stomach 0 episodes Ha1 possibilities of an alien freak The kids call this kind mise on Sunday evening at the Olsen home Jim and watched a warm and fuzzy “made for TV” Christmas movie while the aliens won out on the TV downstairs Our kids are a lot of fun - even grade student is studying America and American history We have been asked to w rite research reports on one of our fahave vorite states m America The chosen to report on Utah repoits w ill cover topics such as history culture geography jobs The reaand places of interest son am writing is to ask if you would publish my letter in your but nothing more Water additives Water additives for natural trees are generally composed of low concentrations of fertilizers and sugars These materials are not dangerous to pets unless there are high amounts of fungus or paper am hoping some ol your bacteria growing in the water rite to me and tell Keep tree water and additives readeis will me about their experiences fresh while living and woikmg m Holiday foods Ingestion live in Southern Cali Utah of poultry bones can cause pets to have digestive tract obstructions or perforations Poultry bones splinter easily causing shaip points that can be dangerous and even life thieatemng it Leltet to the dilor Since Jeiry Spangler’s Noswallowed Ingesting an excessive amount of table scraps or vember 13 aiticle “I egislator Rabbit Wants have can to cause grease pets luiitmg” llieic digestive upset or even life have been several relerences in The in- recent Utah media reoits quotthieatemng symptoms gestion of an excessive amount ing Rep Darin Peterson's as ot tat can cause a dog to develop proposed legislation pancreatitis Moldy refrigerated wanting to make it easier to kill feral (wild) cats in an cttoit to toods can contain toxins produced by the molds Often these save taxpayer dollais Chocolate Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine compounds These are that cause of activity “Sibling bonding” but methylxanthines stimulation of the nervous sysit certainly does not perpetuate Milk tem chocolate contains Christmas joy1 about 6 mg of caffeine and So we compromised We of theobromine mg per couldn’t force the kids into some ounce Baking chocolate conholiday cheer so they forced Jim tains about 10 times those and to acquiesce We had amounts of each compound The agreed on 20 minutes of Christ- amounts of caffeine and theomas music at the concert but our bromine in semisweet and daik youngest child changed his mind chocolate fall between nnlk and started to get out of the car chocolate and baking chocolate ounce of milk chocoHe was going to walk home We About late per pound of body weight ended up listening to Christmas result can in tremors or seizures music on the car radio and drivin dogs Thus much lower molds and toxins attract dogs ing around a few more streets amounts of semisw eet or baking Some penicilhum and Aspergillof lights - then we headed for chocolate could cause the same us molds produce tremorogemc decided it was better to home effect A dog that eats a signifimy cotoxins especially when be together at home than be cant amount of chocolate should they grow under colder temperaseparated on a Sunday evening be taken to a veterinarian for tures This type of toxin can we set aside for family time cause an acute onset of seizures treatment Later in the evening our son Plants Poinsettias have a in pets said “It doesn’t feel like Sunday Ornaments Small moving reputation of being very poisonthis is a ornaments may stimulate the Where is dessert?” Do you think ous to pets however I’m of pets If ingested Poinsettia out Christmas to dish by curiosity myth ingestion going goodies after their cooperation? pets can result in digestive up- ornaments can cause choking or but digestive tract obstructions If set (vomiting and diarrhea) Not! tinsel can cause obmore Floral arrangeingested My daughter told me later she nothing ments containing structions as well Lights and day lilies tiwas sorry Not sorry about the be lethal if pets chew can lilies lilies or rubnim lihuin wiring “tantrum" the kids threw as a ger type hybrid lilies can be lethal into the cords group but she was sorry didn't to cats Ingestion of as little as To see other “Ask A Speget to enjoy the Christmas contwo or three leaves or parts of cialist” columns visit http cert the (lower can result in kidney extensionusuedupubhca So there was some comprodamage leading to kidney fail- - nevvsaska But show?! Dear Lditor am a fifth and my class Top Ten Reasons Anakin Went To The Dark Side What Rep Peteison may not know is that there is a solution to the cat ovei population problem that is cheaper for taxpayers and won’t cost the cats their lives It’s called Trap Neuter and Return (TNR) and this humane method of feline overpopulation control is practiced successfully by animal control and other agencies across the country 20 years of documented shows that trap and kill programs simply do not woik Peterson himself says that the number of feral cats is getting huge The reality is that killing them doesn't solve the problem The few cats that escape the killing continue to breed and m to fill many cases the void A shelter in New evidence 0 Generous Dark Lords of 5 Misunderstood name The they give Jim and a hard time the Sith pension plan thought the “Dirk Side” was fan 9 Sick and tired of mentor club forpretty-boPlans are spoiled and lasting have delayed actor Dirk costs approximately $35 00 per Kenobi reciting lines Benedict homework and are now in a memories are made cat Their cat nuisance calls are 4 Charmed by Emporer from “BridgeOver the River panic Besides they want to do down as well as their cat Kwai” Palpatine’s seductive after- euthanasia’s their assignments in front of the “Off the Top” is a product of Lon's 8 To escape cruel taunting shave In Utah feral cats can be TV with the oldest child of the rambling and often disjointed 3 Wanted to use the Force over dorky name thoughts This conversational spayed or neutered for just family Did say child? Sorry' 7 To impress the babes to prop up Chry sler stock $10 00 thanks to the Maddie’s style piece does not reflect the He’s 23! 6 Kicked in head by banthn 2 Owed money to Jabba the Fund Spay Neuter Program for opinion of this newspaper Hutt could refinance debt Feral Cats 1 his program is adshow on the SciFi channel high school kids the Empire Wanted cool James Earl Jones through voice like ministered by the Utah nary Medical Association ©Q&GD© 60 Sincerely Alex F St John’s Episcopal School Room 2 30382 Via Con Dios Rancho Santa Margarita C’A 02688 Feral Cat Legislation to intake house and euthanize feral cats at a cost of approximately $85 00 per cat Now the shelter runs a Trap Neuter Return program that if fornia and am sure many things about Utah are different from where live Also if any of your readers find time to reply it would be great if they would enclose a copy of my published letter Thank you very much for aptaking time for my request preciate any help you or your readers might send Veteri- and is A Good Idea by over 60 participating Utah veterinarians Good have already fixed Samaritans over 2800 cats via this program hanks to this program you can fix about eight cats foi the same suppoited of sheltering and cost euthanizing one cat Another glaring problem bill is that by with Peterson’s counting Saturday as a working day he allows people’s lost pets as well as feral cats to be killed a diy eailier Many shelters are not open or only open for a few houis on Saturday so the animals are not accessible to the Pet cats are sometimes public biought to the shelter in traps and may even act a bit wild due to the extieme stress of the situation uthanimg those cats on day one virtually mins any their family has of being reunited with their pet y chance may have ot being reunited with then lamily eral cat overpopulation is a direct a problem result ol people who let their unfixed cat roam or who abandon their cat when they move Communities do need to address this problem Trap Neuter Return is fiscally morally and statistically the best way to handle feral cat population control Holly Sizemore Feral Cat Program No More lomeless Remember all letter? must bo signed and have a phone number so we can verify authorship Letter SunNews Policy ©C?(D0(2)©Q & celebrate StudioWest's grand opening on Saturday December 21st fiom 10 - 6:00 PM Sign up for 14 fun classes and four exciting special events or just come see what we’re all about There will lx door prizes and refreshments on all New 2003 GMC Sonoma Trucks Yukon XL 3tt5iwe l JRb 4 Wajr Henne egTfeafilonaljjrsJe se classes are for you if you are 12 years old or older and want to become a model or just want to learn skills that will improve John Uoyd HIGHX COUNTRY urn CENTER Director Pets in Utah sour boo Gary poise and grace |