10 Tips for Thanksgiving

10 Tips for Ensuring a Happy Thanksgiving for your Pets

Thanksgiving is a time when we all get together and share in a feast with our loved ones. Many people also like to include their pets in their celebrations as they are a part of the family as well. However, holidays can be a stressful and even dangerous time for pets, which is why it is important to follow these 10 easy steps to ensure a happy and safe Thanksgiving for both your and your furry friends.

1. Maintain their regular diet
The best thing to keep your pets happy and healthy during the holiday periods is to maintain their regular diet. If you want to give them a thanksgiving treat then it is best to give them treats made for pets.

2. Resist the temptation of sharing your food
It can be very tempting to give them some of our delicious food, especially as it is a day for sharing, but something as harmless as turkey and gravy can have very negative effects. Feeding pets fatty and rich foods can also cause pancreatitis or gastroenteritis.

3. Don't give them the bones
Turkey bones are hollow and brittle, and when chewed can shatter and become lodged in the intestines of your pets, causing lacerations and obstructions. If you want to give them a bone to chew on then make sure it is a bone like a brisket bone.

4. Throw out leftovers
Always remember to scrape leftovers into the garbage, not into your pet's food bowl. It may seem easier at the time, especially when they look up at you with their big hungry eyes, but a few minutes of indulging on the wrong sort of human food can result in gastritis, vomiting, diarrhea and even possible death.

5. Toss the cooking strings
Be careful when discarding the strings that you use to tie up the turkey or ham. These meat-soaked strings can be very appealing to pets, however can lead to intestinal blockages if swallowed.

6. Avoid Salmonella
Salmonella poisoning is a real threat to pets around this time as bacteria can survive in larger birds when they are undercooked. It is important to ensure that leftover turkey is not given to your pets, it is not left unattended and that it is kept well out of their reach.

7. Secure the garbarge bins
Cats and dogs have a knack for getting into garbage cans to get to food, so it is important to ensure that bins are securely fastened at all times.

8. Don't give your pets chocolate
Chocolate contains a substance called Theobromine which can be toxic to both dogs and cats. It is important to ensure that you do not share chocolates or desserts with your pets, and to make sure that all unhealthy foods are kept out of their reach.

9. Ensure ID tags are up-to-date
With people constantly coming in and out of the house there is a higher than normal risk of your pets escaping outside. It is important to ensure that their ID tags are up-to-date with your current address and contact details to make for a safe and hasty return home.

10. Set up a quiet retreat area
If possible, set up a quiet retreat area for your pets, perhaps in their own room with a couple of toys. This will help to reduce the stress from all of the strange noises and unusual holiday behavior going on, while also ensuring that they are kept safe and do not escape.

By following these 10 easy steps you can ensure that you will spend more time being thankful and less time being stressed for both you and your pets.

Cute Cat Photos

Ok, I know there are literally millions of cute photos of dogs and cats out there on the internet. But sometimes one just catches your eye. Here is one I saw today and I just had to share it.

I did learn the other day, that there is in fact a whole culture or sub group which has grown up around cute cat photos on the internet. Its even got a name. Its called "lolcat" (LOLL-kat), which according to Wikipedia is an image combining a photograph, most frequently of a cat, with a humorous and idiosyncratic caption.

1 Week Until Steve Irwin Day

November 15 is Steve Irwin Day, an international and annual event to celebrate the extraordinary life of the one and only Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. The day will represent the many things Steve was passionate about: FAMILY, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, FUN and KHAKI.

This year Wildlife Warriors are raising funds to continue the research on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in order to learn more about this amazing place and the wildlife that inhabit it. There are a number of ways in which you can help so read on and pick the one that is most suitable for you.

Build your own Khaki Hero fundraising page

Simply build your own Steve Irwin Day fundraising page and email your friends and family with the link to your page to encourage them to donate.

Support Joey Ambassadors

Donating towards  Joey Ambassadors, a very special group of young people who have shown a real commitment to the cause.

Check out what they have been up to in their various parts of the world by clicking here.

The Wildlife Warriors Ambassadors, the Veronicas, are also helping out. Check out their message for Steve Irwin by clicking here.

10 years of Service

10 years!  It can just go by in a flash, can't it? 

Our lives were different 10 years ago.  When Mark and Steven founded VetShopOnline 10 years ago, their families comprised just them and their wives and a handful of young pets (in Mark's case, Pearl the Labrador, Jake the Irish Wolfhound Cross and Lokki, the Clinic Cat, for Steven, a young Cavalier King Charles Puppy named Poppy).   In what seems like only a heartbeat, Mark and Steven have seen their families, and their businesses grow. They have 6 kids between them, Pearl, Jake and Lokki are in the great pet playground in the sky and Poppy is a geriatric old lady with arthritis!

It's hard to remember that, 10 years ago, the Internet and computer didn't play the dominant role in our lives that they do now.  We didn't tell our friends what we were doing each day (or minute) on networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, our cars didn't have television screens or GPS, we had VCRs and couldn't imagine MP3 players replacing the Discman! And home internet access was just taking off, as more and more people accessed the Internet for fun and for personal convenience.

VetShopOnline was born during a long lazy summer Perissinotto family lunch in 1999. Mark and Steven spoke about the internet, and how it would change lives.  Mark, a veterinarian, believed that e-commerce and the internet would change shopping habits, and that people would prefer not to take time out of their precious weekends to visit the vet to merely buy products for their animals. From those initial thoughts, VetShopOnline was created!  VetShopOnline took its first order in November 1999, and is now celebrating 10 years of service to animal lovers around the world.

The business started small.  Initially, operations were conducted from a room within Mark's vet clinic. The best advertising for the fledgling business was word of mouth, and it seemed that every happy customer told at least 3 friends - in a short time, the number of orders had tripled, and VetShopOnline grew quickly, resulting in a move to a purpose built facility on the Sunshine Coast. Growth has continued and this year, we've moved again in to bigger, more efficient premises.

VetShopOnline has also benefited from exposure in the local and national press, with articles recommending the store in magazines ranging from Business Review Weekly, and the New Idea to the Readers Digest and newspapers including the Sydney Morning Herald, and our "local rag" the Sunshine Coast Daily. We have also benefited from strong government support including being reviewed in the Austrade and Australia Post Annual Reports.  Mark was even featured in a national advertising campaign by Australia Post.

Like lots of people our age, we refuse to grow old gracefully and our business has had quite a few "face lifts" over the years.  We do a lot of online shopping ourselves, so we do try and constantly improve! In our 10th year, we felt delighted that our hard work was acknowledged when  we received the First Annual Online Retailer of the Year Award from the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association.

However, some things at VetShopOnline haven't changed, despite the growth of the business.  Lots of the VetShopOnline staff have been with the company since the very early days - like Robyne, now dispatch manager, whose daughter was once Mark's veterinary nurse, and who started with us packing and shipping products 7 years ago.

It's a friendly place to work, too, with lots of the staff bringing their pets to work with them. We even have "carers leave" to allow staff to take time off to care for ill pets.



Thank you for being part of the last 10 years at VetShopOnline - we certainly couldn't have done it without you!

VetShopOnline Out for a Horseride

Recently some of the staff from VetShopOnline had a horseriding experience on one of our local beaches. Sheri, Julie (a friend of Sheri's), Michele and myself went for an early morning ride on one of our beautiful beaches and Barb, another staff member opted for a beach walk. 

Sheri, an experienced rider rode Jaibaru, Julie another experienced rider rode Solly, Michele, a novice rider rode Larry who was an absolute angel for her. I rode Austin who was a cheeky five year old. It was a perfect morning with the sun shining and the ocean as blue as the sky above. There is something about riding a horse on the beach to get you back in touch with nature. Australia is known worldwide for its beautiful beaches with long stretches of white sand and gorgeous blue oceans. We are based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and have many beautiful beaches. Some of our beaches are horse and dog friendly. I regularly take my golden retriever, Ellie to my local dog friendly beach on a Sunday afternoon for a swim. 

What a wonderful way to finish off a weekend. Above is a photo of our horseriding experience.