Search Results for: pet loss
Silent Grief
I think we vastly under appreciate the impact of the loss of a pet. Too often, we tell people, through our words or actions, that they should just get over it (They can’t get over it!) or to get a new pet (They don’t want a new pet, they want that pet!) or in some other way diminish the person’s feelings of loss and grief.
Too often this leads to the person who has lost a pet to suffer in silence because they feel silly or embarrassed by what they are feeling. That’s not OK. The grief is real and we need to treat it as real. If we care, we have to feel and express that losing a pet counts as something worthy of grief.
Men, I think experience this more acutely, as we do with any problem that can be positively affected by sharing feelings. Few men will admit it, but many probably shared more feelings with that old dog they do with their partner.
Don’t let anyone tell you to put it in the past. You don’t have to say, “I loved that cat.” You love that cat. Period. Your time together may have been in the past but your feelings are right here in the present.
Because this is such a profound issue, as a part of our five-year strategic plan, the OHS has partnered with the Pet Loss Support Group to double the local resources for those grieving the loss of a beloved pet. A second group will be launched Mondays once a month beginning on September 26, right here at the OHS.
The group is free and light refreshments will be available. If you are experiencing the unresolved loss of a pet, please join us.
Bruce Roney
Executive Director
2024 Program Guide
Check out all the awesome events and programs for you, your pets and your family!
Animal Tips
We all love our animal companions but sometimes we need information on their behaviour. Our pet care information will help you develop and maintain a long and rewarding relationship with your furry or feathered friends.
Note: Some of the tip topics below are available as web pages on our website, some link to information on other websites, and others are PDFs.
General Animal Tips
- Avoid Pet Peeves
- Cold Weather FAQs
- Coping with Pet Allergies
- Common Household Poisons to Avoid
- Dogs Die in Hot Cars
- Don’t Litter – Spay or Neuter
- End of Life Care for your Pet
- Explaining Pet Death to Children
- Fire Prevention Tips for You and Your Pet
- Flea Control
- Grieving the Loss of a Pet
- How Much Will My Pet Really Cost?
- Holidays and Pets
- Microchipping
- The Multi-pet Household
- Pediatric Spay and Neuter from the ASPCA
- Pets and Babies
- From the HSUS: Pets at College: Not a Prerequisite
- Preparing an Emergency Plan for Disasters
- Prevent a Lost Pet: 5 Things That Will Help You Protect Your Pets
- Summer Safety for Pets
- From the AAHA: Toxic House and Garden Plants
- Twelve Pet Tips for Christmas
- Vaccinating Your Pet
Welcome Back: Programs Reopening
This morning, I got to do something I haven’t been able to do for a year and a half: I greeted a volunteer. She was so happy and so was I. During the pandemic, to protect our staff and thereby our ability to care for animals, all but our super-essential foster volunteer program were suspended. Slowly, though, volunteers are returning and it’s wonderful!
Last week, I wrote about the Shirley Kearns Memorial Adoption Centre reopening to visitors on September 8, and the life it will breathe into the OHS. But the OHS is much more than the adoption, centre and there are many other programs that need to be revived.
Of course, the new programs that were launched during and because of the pandemic: the Emergency Pet Food Bank and Partner Support Program will continue for the foreseeable future. Some other programs were moved online. Our Pet Loss Support Group will remain virtual for the coming months, as many participants have preferred this model. The OHS Scouts/Guides Program has continued successfully online and so we have not yet identified a date to resume in-person. Seminars will remain online until November.
Other programs offered on-site will require staff training and re-training and confidence in our ability to offer them safely, and so will be re-launched over time.
The OHS Newcomers Program, helping those who are new to the country navigate urban wildlife and pets in Canada, is expected to resume in fall 2021 for adults and in January 2022 for children.
Obedience Classes are expected to be available in-person in October and Pet First Aid Classes are expected to be available in late fall.
Pet Savvy, the OHS’s educational program for low-income pet owners, will restart in January 2022 and we are planning to resume the LEAD program for at-risk youth in November 2021.
Registration for programs for teens — the OHS Animal Advocate Program, Leadership Camp and Apprenticeship Program — is expected to resume in December 2021. For younger children and youth, the OHS is planning to resume school-based humane education programming and animal welfare clubs in January 2022.
Because of the unknowns associated with the Delta variant in children, camps and birthday parties as well as field trips and child and youth tours will remain on hold until January 2022, with adult tours planned to resume in December 2021.
Sadly, for the safety of our staff and clients, and to comply with restrictions from the province and Ottawa Public Health, the Mobile Spay/Neuter Service will remain suspended for the time-being. We are eagerly planning to resume this important service safely as soon as possible.
Because of concern about the ongoing risk to seniors, at this time, we don’t have a planned date for when Brightening Lives Animal Visits or Seniors Days at the shelter will resume.
The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us. It has affected every part of our lives. It has affected the OHS and our plans to build a caring and compassionate community. I can’t wait to get back to those plans, because right now they are needed more than ever.
Bruce Roney
President & CEO
General Animal Tips
- Avoid Pet Peeves
- Carriage Horse FAQs
- Cold Weather FAQs
- Coping with Pet Allergies
- Common Household Poisons to Avoid
- Dogs Die in Hot Cars
- Don’t Litter – Spay or Neuter
- End of Life Care for your Pet [PDF]
- Explaining Pet Death to Children
- Fire Prevention Tips for You and Your Pet
- Flea Control
- Grieving the Loss of a Pet [PDF]
- Holidays and Pets
- Microchipping
- The Multi-pet Household [PDF]
- Pediatric Spay and Neuter from the ASPCA
- Pets and Babies [PDF]
- From the HSUS: Pets at College: Not a Prerequisite
- Preparing an Emergency Plan for Disasters
- Prevent a Lost Pet: 5 Things That Will Help You Protect Your Pets
- Summer Safety for Pets
- From the AAHA: Toxic House and Garden Plants
- Twelve Pet Tips for Christmas
- How Much Will My Pet Really Cost?
Pets Need Dental Care
Dental disease can be a big problem for cats and dogs. By age three, the majority will have some degree of dental disease, potentially leading to some serious health consequences for your pets.
Over time, plaque and tartar gradually build up on your pet’s teeth. Eventually, this build up will start to move under the gum line causing inflammation of the gums, known as gingivitis. Gingivitis is one of the earliest signs of periodontal disease, the majority of which happens below the gum line, making it very difficult to see the extent of the damage in your pet’s mouth.
As periodontal disease gets worse, it destroys the bone around your pet’s tooth. This will continue until the tooth is eventually lost. This can cause significant pain and infection. Pets with periodontal disease also tend to have bad breath. Untreated, this can lead to pathologic jaw fractures from bone loss, infection of the jawbone, and nasal infections. Aside from periodontal disease causing oral problems, it can also have systemic consequences, affecting the kidneys, liver and heart.
Unfortunately, at the Ottawa Humane Society we see many animals with advanced, untreated periodontal disease.
Another very common dental problem in cats is feline oral resorptive lesions. These are often referred to as “cat cavities” and are caused by normal cells of the teeth eating away at the cat’s own teeth. These are very painful lesions once they are in the advanced state. Cats are also commonly plagued by a condition known by many names but most commonly called feline plasma cell gingivitis/stomatitis. This disease is an immune mediated problem causing severe and often painful inflammation of the gums and mouth.
Other oral problems include orthodontic issues, dead/worn/fractured teeth, unerupted teeth, and retained baby teeth.
As you can imagine, we see all of the above on a regular basis here at the OHS. Many of our cats and dogs have to undergo a general anesthesia for a complete oral health assessment and treatment, since it is impossible to provide a thorough dental cleaning and oral examination on a pet that is awake. We remove tartar via dental scaling and then we polish the teeth to help prevent the accumulation of more tartar. We take dental radiographs as needed to assess various dental conditions. We pull severely diseased/worn/fractured/retained teeth when necessary and to correct painful underbites and overbites. Healing from extractions generally takes seven to 10 days. I treat animals with post-operative pain relief medication and they usually require soft food while healing.
Regular veterinary visits are crucial to monitoring your pet’s oral health. Your veterinarian will do a preliminary examination of your pet’s mouth at your annual general check up. Your veterinarian can recommend many ways to help your pet’s mouth stay healthy, which is an important part of caring for your pet’s health.
Dr. Shelley Hutchings
OHS Chief Veterinarian
Contact Information and Hours
If you encounter an animal in immediate danger, dial 911. To get help for sick or injured animals, dial 311. To report animal cruelty or neglect, dial 1-833-9ANIMAL.
Membership, donations or tax receipts | 613-725-3166 ext. 299 donations@ottawahumane.ca Visit the Donate section of the website. |
Surrender a pet, information on wildlife, or end of life care (humane euthanasia services) | Learn more and begin the process by visiting the Giving Up Your Pet section of the website. 613-725-3166 ext. 223 intake@ottawahumane.ca |
Adoption | 613-725-3166 ext. 258 adoptions@ottawahumane.ca Visit the Adopt section of the website. |
Lost, found and injured animals (including wildlife) | 613-725-3166 ext. 223 intake@ottawahumane.ca Visit the Lost and Found section of the website. |
Volunteering | 613-725-3166 ext. 264 volunteer@ottawahumane.ca Visit the Volunteer section of the website. |
Child and youth programs, including birthday parties, camps, tours, youth programs and more | 613-725-3166 ext. 298 programs@ottawahumane.ca |
Adult programs, including dog training, pet first aid, webinars and more | 613-725-3166 ext. 204 education@ottawahumane.ca |
For microchips and City of Ottawa registration tags | For microchips, visit our How to Update your Pet’s Microchip page. For City of Ottawa registration tags, visit the City of Ottawa’s “Cat & Dog Registration” page. |
Community Services, including mobile spay-neuter for cats, emergency pet food bank, wellness clinics and more | Note that the OHS does not provide spay-neuter services for dog owners. Spay-neuter services for qualified cat owners are booked through our website. 613-725-3166 ext. 249 communityservices@ottawahumane.ca |
Pet Loss Support Groups and other therapeutic programs | 613-725-3166 ext. 235 outreach@ottawahumane.ca |
Media | Stephen Smith, Senior Manager: Marketing & Communications 613-725-3166 ext. 261 stephens@ottawahumane.ca Visit the Media Releases section of the website. |
Foster department | 613-725-3166 ext. 255 foster@ottawahumane.ca |
Estates and Legacy Gifts | 613-725-3166 ext. 268 legacy@ottawahumane.ca Visit the Legacy Giving section of the website. |
Flea Control
Some pets or people may be allergic to flea saliva, which causes flea allergy dermatitis (think super-itchy spots with hair-loss); young, sick or elderly pets can become anemic from too much blood loss.
These wingless insects are capable of jumping long distances. While cat and dog fleas prefer to feast on animal blood, they will turn to a human host if needed.
The lifecycle of a flea has four stages:
- Eggs, which fall from the host into the environment
- Larvae, which live off of the fallen fecal matter of adult fleas found in carpets and in lawns.
- Pupal stage, which is the cocoon. They do not emerge until a host is detected (via warmth / vibration)
- Adult stage, which feasts on blood.
If you do have a flea infestation, it is important to treat the pet’s environment as well to eliminate flea eggs and larvae.
There are many over-the-counter and prescription-only products that help solve flea problems.
Over-the-counter: Flea sprays both for the pet and environment, shampoos and collars.
While the costs may be lower for over-the-counter products, they often need to be reapplied to solve a flea infestation.
Prescription only:
- Topical treatments such as Advantage or Revolution
- Pills such as Program or Sentinel
The newer prescription products are more expensive. They are usually dispensed in a six-month package, to be applied monthly for the flea season. However, they are safer, easier and more effective than over-the-counter products. These products often have additional benefits, such as heartworm protection, preventing tick, lice and mite infestations. Because of their ease of use, their safety, and their efficacy, they are highly recommended.
It is important to read all of the instructions carefully before using any flea-control product. Follow all the instructions. Never use flea productions designed for dogs on cats, and vice versa. When in doubt, contact your veterinarian.
Alternatives:
- Use a flea comb several times a week on all pets.
- Vacuum frequently, disposing of bags immediately after use.
- Long grass can host fleas: keep lawns mowed.
- Wash pet bedding weekly.
- To protect cats from fleas and ticks, as well as a host of other outdoor hazards, cats should be kept indoors at all times.
OHS Events
Come to an OHS event and have a great time while helping the animals!
OHS events and help the thousands of animals who we care for each year. Check out our event calendar for all of our upcoming events or organize one yourself and raise money for Ottawa’s animals!
Upcoming Events:
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