A leafy green yard is a retreat from everyday stresses for people, but could present a minefield of health problems for rambunctious pets — if you’re not careful.Take the lawn, for starters. Be sure to remove water dishes, food bowls and your pets from the yard before applying pesticides, which can attack the nervous system and cause your pet to vomit, salivate excessively, urinate, or even die suddenly. Let your pets return outdoors only after sprays have dried — or even the next day, suggested the Professional Lawn Care Association of America, based in Marietta, Georgia. Use dry granular pesticides? Wait until the dust has settled to let Rover roam.

Beyond that, even some common plants you may be planning to buy to spruce up your yard are toxic to most animals, according to the American Animal Hospital Association, a Denver-based professional organization for veterinarians. The organization suggests keeping your pets and small children away from several plants, including:

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Although most often applied to professionals, a petsitter is anyone who cares for your critters. When selecting a caregiver, remember this rule: No matter what their age, a caring, experienced, responsible individual is superior to an overextended, frazzled, pre-occupied person.

Acquaintance vs. Professional
Before you relinquish your pet’s health, safety and obedience training to someone you know, consider whether you’ll expect as much from them as you would from a professional, advises Ryan Dryden.

“Today, it seems everyone has a busy schedule,” says Dryden, Executive Director of the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS). “When you combine the time expectations of caring for your pet with your own high standards, it may not be the best idea to rely on a personal acquaintance.”

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It’s time to visit Grandma, but what to do with Kitty and Fido? “Take them to a kennel” is no longer the standard reply. Today, behaviorists agree with what Pet lovers suspected all along — our pals prefer their own turf.

Whether you hire your neighbor’s offspring, ask a friend, or go with a professional, preparations for leaving your critters home alone remain the same. (Need tips on choosing caregiver? See “Selecting a Petsitter.”)

Replicate Your Routine
Our companions know weekdays from weekends. They know the Ally McBeal theme song means a snuggle on your lap. “Basically, Pets thrive on routine,” says Denise Nord, charter member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (http://www.apdt.org). “To prevent anxiety and frustration behaviors, you need to keep their routine as normal as possible.”

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Your new house is beautiful. You and the family are going to be so happy here. But what’s this? Do you detect a sourpuss in the crowd? Is that your cat scratching up the furniture, urinating on the rug, looking for a place to hide and perhaps plotting an escape from your lovely home?

“Moving can be very traumatic for a cat,” says Sandy Sawchuk, D.V.M., clinical instructor of small animal medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison. “Owners don’t like to hear this, but cats are often more attached to their territory than they are to you.”

Dogs, on the other hand, are usually much more attached to people than turf and so are less likely to have relocation trepidation, says Dr. Sawchuk.

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If pets planned vacations, you’d never have to worry about renting a car or making hotel reservations. You wouldn’t even need a map. Just dashing across the park or splashing in a nearby creek would be excitement enough.

Unfortunately for pets, it’s their people who make the plans — and human travel, for dogs and cats, can be uncomfortable travel, says Grace Long, D.V.M., a veterinarian with the Ralston-Purina Company in St. Louis. Dogs get carsick. Cats get lost. Everyone gets hot and thirsty. “For a lot of pets, car rides end in some experience that’s just not very desirable,” says Dr. Long.

Don’t nix your trip down Route 66. Here are some tips to keep your pets comfortable.

For Dogs and Cats

Take a practice cruise.

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You’re enjoying a leisurely Sunday drive, but your dog obviously would rather be on terra firma. His stomach’s rumbling, he’s starting to drool, and beneath his fur (you suspect) he’s probably a queasy shade of green. It’s enough to make you sick.

Car sickness is quite common, especially in young animals, says Lynda Bond, D.V.M., a veterinarian in private practice in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, who hosts a weekly pet segment for a Portland television station. Until they outgrow it, the messy consequences can make even short trips seem way too long.

But you don’t have to leave your friend at home. Here are a few ways to keep his stomach settled and the upholstery clean.

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While virtually all pets are sorry to see their owners leave the house, “others truly go off the deep end,” says Karen Overall, V.M.D., Ph.D., a lecturer specializing in behavioral medicine in the Department of Clinical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in Philadelphia.

Vets tell tales of anxious dogs chewing through drywall, bending metal bars on crates or jumping through closed windows. And while some cats also suffer from separation anxiety, it’s more of a canine problem. “Dogs are pack animals. Some are utterly lost when left alone,” says Myrna Milani, D.V.M., a veterinarian in private practice in Charlestown, New Hampshire, and author of The Body Language and Emotions of Cats and The Body Language and Emotions of Dogs.

To help calm your canine, here’s what experts recommend.

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If you’re nervous about your pet being nervous while he flies, calm down. Sedatives, it turns out, are the number one cause of death of pets who fly in the cargo holds of planes.Information from a meeting of government agents and vets leads to the suspicion that some people are giving their pets extra doses of sedatives, because the pets seem agitated. Even with a prescribed dose, it’s possible that the pressurization in the hold — usually set at 8,000 feet or more — may have some deleterious effect on a sedated animal.

The worst scenario is probably oversedating a pet with a “pushed-in” face, like a boxer or a pug, who is at greater risk flying to begin with, especially in hot or humid weather.

Overall, though, deaths during flight are said to be quite rare. Always contact your veterinarian if you have concerns about your pet flying.

If you regard yourself as the “parent” of your Pet, would you settle for anything less than a competent sitter to come over and take care of your “child”? Many folks wouldn’t. Take those in the Atlanta area. There, Critter Sitters, the oldest and largest Pet-sitting company in the U.S., has about 75 Pet sitters with a database of over 7,000 clients! Manager Dot Hartsfield tells us her carefully trained sitters not only play with and care for Pets but also give medication if necessary, water your plants, take in the mail and newspapers, alternate lights, and open and close blinds to make your house looked lived in. All that starting at $11 a visit!

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• Is your dog properly conditioned? If your dog is accustomed to twenty-minute walks and you have a five-hour hike planned, your dog might not be ready for it. Training is the key. Start going on longer walks weeks before the hike, increasing the distance as your dog becomes conditioned.
• Be sure your dog is getting a complete and balanced diet. A good diet goes a long way in helping your dog keep up his or her energy. To prevent an upset stomach, don’t subject your dog to strenuous exercise directly after eating a full meal. Save mealtime for after the hike when your dog is rested and cooled down.
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