A relatively rare and often fatal disease of dogs, Leptospirosis, should concern traveling pet owners, especially if they travel into areas that have experienced either heavy rains, or recent flooding.

With the use of preventive vaccines, your pet will have the protection needed should you travel to the areas mentioned. Your local veterinarian of record will be the best source of information, along with checking CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Initial signs and symptoms of Leptospirosis are fever, loss of appetite, depression, vomiting, and muscle tremors. Treatment is available, yet is costly, considering preventive vaccinations can both save your pet’s life and save you expense.

A pet health and travel advisory from Air Animal Pet Movers, the relocating pets best friend.

Visit our web site www.airanimal.com to learn more about Air Animal Pet Movers.

But what about your family pet? During these record-setting hot days, it’s important to keep in mind that pets’ needs are different from your own. Here are 7 tips to keep your pet safe and happy as the mercury rises.

7 Tips for Summer Pet Safety

1. Never leave pets in a car—It only takes 5-10 minutes for the temperature to climb to a deadly 120 degrees inside a vehicle, even with the windows cracked open. Don’t leave your pet in a vehicle for even one minute under any circumstances.
2. Exercise when it’s cooler—Taking your pet for an early morning and late evening walk is preferable. Sensitive paw pads can blister on hot pavement.
3. Provide indoor access—Install a pet door if you want to allow your pet access to the great outdoors while you’re gone.  Of course, make sure he can’t escape your enclosed yard.  Leaving him outside too long can have serious health consequences.  And always leave adequate supplies of fresh drinking water inside and out.
4. Know your dog—Short-snouted dogs like pugs and bulldogs find it harder to breathe in hot, humid weather and can get heat exhaustion more quickly than other breeds. Ask your vet if your dog has any special needs.
5. Keep an eye on toxins—Gardening and lawn care often equals lots of chemicals and fertilizers.  Check labels to make sure you’re using pet-friendly products at home and share your finds with your neighbors to encourage them to keep pet-safe lawns.
6. Be safe in the water —If your pet will be swimming in any local bodies of water, make sure his shots are up to date. Polluted water can cause infections.  Avoid accidents with boats, water skiers and jet skiers by keeping a close eye on your pet.   To avoid accidental drowning, consider purchasing a pet life jacket if you will be taking your pet boating.
7. Barbecue responsibly—Avoid the temptation to feed your dog those babyback ribs or other bone-in meats that you’re grilling.  Bone splinters can be harmful and the meat is generally too fatty. Take precautions to keep your dog away from the grill to avoid accidental burns.  It’s easy to lose sight of him when you are transferring food to and from the grill and the last thing you want is your dog jumping up to grab food off a hot grill.

Use common sense to make sure the summer is safe for you and your pet!

Rabies and Overseas Travel

Pet owners need to be concerned about rabies when traveling outside the U.S. Pets are vaccinated to prevent them from acquiring the disease from wildlife and transmitting it to humans. For more information about protecting your pet from rabies, visit http://www.airanimal.com/rabies.php.

Where To?

Start by choosing a pet-friendly destination.  Whether you want to enjoy ocean breezes, hike mountain trails, entrench yourself in history or take a bite of the Big Apple, there are oodles of dog-loving options to choose from.  Dogfriendly.com lists the Top 10 dog-friendly destinations in the U.S. as:

1. San Diego
2. Portland
3. Austin
4. Northern Virginia
5. San Francisco
6. Boston
7. Orlando
8. Salt Lake City
9. Charleston
10. New York

The site also provides a guide to other pet-loving U.S. and Canadian cities.  You’ll be surprised at some of the amenities available to your animal.

The Ritz or Roughing It?

Whether you have your heart set on a hotel with soft pillows and room service or want a more down-to- earth experience in a campground or RV park, you’ll find plenty of places that roll out the welcome mat for your puppy.

Some hotels pamper dogs with special treats, beds, pillows, bowls, dishes and veterinarian-approved meals served in your room.  You and your pet can get the royal treatment!  RV parks and campgrounds offer off-leash areas and special trails to help you and your four-legged pal commune with nature.

What are you waiting for?  Pick up your mouse and click your way to dog-friendly travel.

Pet Travel Tips When Relocating

If you are planning a long distance move within the U.S. or abroad and plan to take a cat, dog, horse or other animal, you’ll want to retain the services of a professional pet moving company.  Check out Air Animal’s Top 7 considerations to make sure your move is safe and stress-free for you and your pet.

In the world of social media, we have actively embraced Facebook and Twitter into our many ways of building a deeper relationship with customers and communicating with them.

One of the more recent ways many businesses like ours connects with customers is through the use of apps.  Whether it’s on a smartphone (iPhone, Android) , tablet (iPad or Xoom) and even iTouches, apps can provide valuable tools to our customer or even lighthearted distractions, like games.

We’ve been considering developing an app for our customers and rather than decide in a vacuum, thought it would be more better received if we asked you for recommendations. So…

What app would like to see Air Animal produce that would provide value  to our customers?

The phones were all quiet, not a sound did they make, Pattie & Suzanne were caught up with web inquiry intakes.

Traci was delighted & shouted with glee, “all my pets are where they belong, and no one’s stuck in Tripoli.”

Cathy & Gladys were busy with queries that said: “can you send all of my 24 pets, to arrive tomorrow instead?”

When up on the roof top there arose such a clatter, Dr Woolf & Cory ran out, to see what was the matter.

When what to their wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, all tired and sick; they looked at each other, “Could this be St. Nick?”

His sleigh was all tattered, his reindeer too tired, (This old fell looked like he should be retired.)

He hopped off the roof top & pleaded his case, The flu had overcome him; you could see it in his face.

“I’m, through with my deliveries, & am sick as a dog, I can’t drive my sleigh home; my head’s in a fog.”

“I’m hopping a Jet Blue flight home, but they won’t take reindeer, Doctor, can you please send them? I can’t leave them here!”

“This request is unusual, one we’ve not had before, We normally send cats & dogs, not reindeer that soar”.

“Can’t we make an exception?”, Cory pleaded with flair, “We can call them “mixed breeds”, and send them by air!”

“By golly that might work!, Dr Woolf whispered aloud, It’ll take the whole team working together, let’s make Santa proud”.

So a plot was devised, everyone took their positions, Working fast was the plan to complete Santa’s mission.

Cathy & Gladys assembled flight kennels, with fear, “Can we really pull off shipping eight (8) tiny reindeer?”

Traci worked her magic, routing a flight to the North Pole, That would take the 8 tiny flight kennels; not routing through Seoul.

Sue & Kim started typing, flight documents with speed, so all of Santa’s reindeer would be labeled, indeed.

Pattie & Suzanne typed health documents,cleverly created, DR Woolf agreed “Mixed Breed” is what should be stated.

“We’ll disguise them; have to hide the, – oh they can’t look like that!”
Cory said “We need to turn them into dogs right off the bat!”

Kim & Jesa were in awe, at the craziness they saw, Asking “Isn’t disguising reindeer kinda against the law?”

While Dasher & Dancer were coughing & hacking, Prancer & Vixen craved the attention they were lacking.

Comet & Cupid were still & quiet as could be, Donner & Blitzen stuck their noses out to see.

“Let’s get these reindeer out of here before the evening is through! These reindeer are noisy!”, said Linda, “Who knew?”

They disguised each small animal to not look like a reindeer, covering antler’s with stockings to resemble a dog’s ear.

So off to the airport all 8 reindeer were sent, each one in a kennel – disguised as dogs, they went.

The airport staff, a bustle; working through the noise & cold,All to busy to notice the strange “dogs”they started to load.

All the staff at Air Animal, breathed a sigh of relief, By Golly, the plan worked, and without any grief!

Dr Woolf was proud, another mission complete!
He waved at Santa who sitting in his Jet Blue airline seat.

And he heard him exclaim as the flew out of sight, “Merry Christmas to all, and to Air Animal – a good night !”

Created by: Pattie Barlow, Intake Specialist, Air Animal Pet Movers, Tampa, Florida, 04 December 2010

Eat modestly, exercise more, and be thankful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us here in America.

Watch the Air Animal Blog for the latest updates.

How long the dis-allowance will be in place in difficult to indicate at this time.   Alternative carriers are Aer Lingus and Continental Airlines from the USA and British Airways through London connections.

Watch the Air Animal Blog for future details.

The drive from Kansas City’s outlying airport through the city itself encountered light traffic with the drive to the destination of Nevada, Missouri uneventful as well.

The harvesters had been through the many cornfields as we drove south on Route 71, the stubble most evident.

Signs of Fall were yet to be seen.

A 50th high school reunion is always a notable event, as will be the case for my wife, Linda Fries Woolf.  She and her classmates gather to renew old memories, catch up with one another and establish new memories.

The scrapbooks began to appear this morning and the many memories were refreshed once again. The dinner last night at the steakhouse on Route 54 was unbelievably inexpensive, with tonight’s gathering at the Azteca Mexican Restaurant eagerly awaited.

Saturday evening brings forth the graduates to gather at the Nevada Country Club on Spring Street for yet another celebration of life, along with a brunch on Sunday morning, once again at the Nevada Country Club.

Watch the blog for more information as the weekend progresses.