What to Do if Your Pet is Choking

From Amy Christy - International Personal Move Counselor

It is not uncommon for a dog to choke because they swallow things they shouldn't, like toys and bones. If your pet is choking, he will start coughing forcefully, bulge his eyes and paw at his mouth.

The time to figure out how to react to this situation is before it happens, and not in the midst of an emergency. The SPCA offers the following advice:

In order to save your dog's life, there are several things you can do:


* First, open your dog's mouth and look for the object. Place one hand on the upper jaw with your thumb on one side and the rest of your fingers on the other side.
* With your other hand, push down on the lower jaw, keeping your index finger free to sweep back into the mouth.
* If you can see the object, remove it.
* If there are two of you, one of you should hold your dog's mouth open and the other look inside.

If that doesn't work, and your dog is small, hold him upside down with his tail toward your face. Place your arms around his lower abdomen for 30 seconds while gently swaying him.

If that doesn't work, place your dog on his side on a hard surface, tilted with his head down and hindquarters up. If you can grab a pillow or rolled towel, put it under his hindquarters - just make sure the front part of his body is lower than his back.


* With a small dog, place one hand on his back to steady him and the other under the center of the rib cage. Press in and up for to five times in a thrusting motion.
* With a large dog, you'll need both hands for the thrust, so place both hands beneath the rib cage. Press in and up four or five times.

If you don't have time to place your dog on his side, you can stand or kneel behind your dog. Grasp his body at the bottom of his rib cage. Repeat two to five times. Remember that once your dog stops choking, he may try to bite you!

The following video illustrates how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on small dogs and cats:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmNl9X50jxk

Quarantine In Hawaii

From Amy Christy - International Personal Move Counselor

Animal Land ships many pets to Hawaii under the direct release program and we are experts in ensuring that all veterinary work is in order to ensure you can pick up your pet several hours after his arrival into Honolulu. However, because the process must be started well in advance of transport, some clients who must move quickly find it necessary to ship their pets prior to their eligibility date for release, where they must remain in quarantine.

I have recently had the pleasure of working with a terrific client, Andrea, in the transport of her adorable dog, Sebastian to Hawaii. Andrea is an "on the go" businesswoman and she wanted Sebastian to arrive into Hawaii before his 120 day wait period was over so that she could be close to him and be able to visit. Sebastian is spending 28 days at the main quarantine station in Hawaii. Andrea has been kind enough to provide this great picture of her and Sebastian after he was all settled in to his quarters at the main dispensary last week. This is where your pet will reside awaiting his eligibility date for release if he must be transported early. Andrea has also been kind enough to provide her assessment of her experience with the quarantine station after her first visitation to the facility.

Andrea also made sure Sebastian had a special Lei to welcome him to the islands. I just love their matching outfits! Thanks Andrea - we couldn't have asked for better models!

Amy,

It was a pleasure having you help get my big baby to Hawaii. I will take some video footage and more pictures of the facility and send them to you.

The kennels are outdoors ( I didn't expect that at first, but it seemed to be okay). They are on a big slab of concrete, with a bed lifted off of the ground (the bed is made of ply wood and most people put blankets on the plywood. The dog has plenty of space to move around. The area is cleaned out daily with a hose.

They have a bench inside of the cage so the owner can sit and visit with their dog.

They feed the dogs 3 times a day, unless the owner instructs otherwise. The workers were giving some baths that needed them. The people working at the quarantine were very friendly. I believe they must play with the dogs, because the dogs seem to like the people (always a good sign).

You can bring your pet treats, dog beds, and toys (toys can't have rawhide). They have a vet on staff that inspects your dog when he arrives to Hawaii. My dog has a bad leg and they left a note on his cage to tell me to come talk to the vet. The vet was just checking to make sure he didn't get injured in his travels. I appreciated them checking.

Thanks again for all of your help,

Andrea