ASPCA Offers Tips for a Safe Spring

With spring quickly approaching, pet owners are going to be spending more time outside with their family, friends and pets – and this could mean danger for your four-legged friends. To help your readers prepare for the season, the ASPCA® would love to share a few tips for pet owners. We’ve included a sampling of helpful tips below but would love to go into greater detail in a phone interview.

Easter and Passover Treats and Decorations - Keep Easter lilies, grass decoration and candy bunnies in check—chocolate goodies are toxic to cats, dogs and ferrets, decorations can cause intestinal blockage, and lilies can be fatal if ingested by cats.

Spring Cleaning - Almost all commercially-sold cleaning products contain chemicals that are harmful to pets. The key to using them safely is to read and follow label directions for proper use and storage.

Let Your Garden Grow—With Care - Fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides keep our plants and lawns healthy and green, but their ingredients aren't meant for four-legged consumption and can be fatal if your pet ingests them. Always store these poisonous products in out-of-the-way places and follow label instructions carefully.

Poisonous Plants - Time to let your garden grow! But beware, many popular springtime plants—including Easter lilies, rhododendron and azaleas—are highly toxic to pets and can easily prove fatal if eaten.

Ah-Ah-Achoo! - Like their human counterparts, pets can be allergic to foods, dust, plants and pollens.

Pesky Little Critters - April showers bring May flowers—and an onslaught of bugs! Make sure your pet is on year-round heartworm preventive medication, as well as a flea and tick control program.