WARNING: The Internet is Bad for Your Pet's Health

When people think of internet dangers, many think of child predators. What they may not realize is there's an online danger for pets too. I'm not referring to some weird type of 'pet predator', I'm referring to those popular 'ask a question' sites where anyone can give advice and call themselves an expert. Many put little thought into the answers they give and seem to have little concern for the pets involved. Better info could be found if someone actually picked up a book on the subject.

I'm not against finding answers online, I'd just like to point out a disturbing trend I've noticed. My reason for the warning is this: remember the movie that accidentally encouraged kids to flush live fish down the toilet? If you do you know how easily a child can be convinced that something harmful is a good idea, and will do something that will kill the pets.

More and more people are going online for answers, even trying to diagnose their own personal health problems. While it is possible to find some good info if you know where to look, it shouldn't be your only source, you may even be harming yourself. It is also possible to find some good info about pet care online, but just like when looking for answers to address your own health, you have to know how to tell a reliable site from an unreliable one. Actual ask Vets and sites dedicated to care of a particular kind of pet tend to have good info. The official Humane Society ( www.hsus.org ) and the ASPCA ( www.aspca.org ) websites are great sources for pet care information. Reliable sites often post a reminder to see a health professional or vet for possible health problems and emergency situations. Current petcare books often have the answer and are a good way to double check info found online. General ask a question or ask an expert sites, especially those not specializing in animal care tend to have very bad, harmful info about pet care, even the basics.

There is a LOT of bad advice about pets online, given by people who consider small animals throwaway pets and have done little research on proper care of any animal, and still call themselves experts.

Here are some examples of what I've read online

Question: How do sharks give birth?
Answer: Same as humans, sharks are mammals.

My response: Ok, this one doesn't have to do with pets and I assume the self-proclaimed 'expert' had sharks confused with dolphins who are mammals, but anyone who knows about sharks knows how wrong the answer is, and can see how the person who answered did no double checking, research, and had no prior knowledge. They simply posted what they thought. Also, they were likely answering a child interested in sharks and asking a variation of the question 'where do babies come from' and who didn't know how to crosscheck info with other sites. The right answer can easily be found on many other sites, leaving no need to post this question for anyone who can use Google search to crosscheck answers.

Here's a disturbing pet related one:

Question: My pet is fat, what should I do?
Answer given by a supposed 'expert': Stuff them till their happy, they don't live long, all my pets are fat.

My response: No matter how long an animal lives, there's no reason to purposefully make their life even shorter. Any animal can be harmed from being overfed. I don't see why this isn't common sense. Why is anyone recommending overfeeding? It causes a number of health problems which quickly lead to pain and worse. Pets rely on humans to provide them with the proper amount of the right food. Some pets know when to stop eating, others don't and aren't aware of what's bad for them. Purposeful overfeeding does not lead to a happy pet; no wonder the 'expert' has the impression that they don't live very long.

Another common question and answer scenario is asks what's poisonous to pets. The answerer often thinks that if the food or plant or item in question is fine for humans, it must be fine for pets too. This assumption is dangerous. One of the more well known fatal foods to dogs and cats is chocolate, which is fine for humans. Other examples? Many pets, such as rabbits, will get sick if fed meat. Also, many pets are harmed by the high salt or sugar content found in human food. Your child should know what not to feed the pets and why, and you should know what they shouldn't eat by accident. Check the Humane Society ( www.hsus.org ) link at the side for some common household dangers and a list of some common poisonous plants.

I have seen many bad, harmful answers on popular ask a question sites. Various sites where anyone can answer, sites where people sign up to be experts, and sites where people can pick which answer they like. Likely, askers will pick answers based on their own opinions, or the one with the most detail, not the one that's accurate.

Dear 'experts', you don't know who is reading your advice. Kids don't know any better. From my experience volunteering at an animal shelter, many adults don't either, many do little research before getting a pet, and more people are going online to find the answers to their questions. This is leading to a growing number of people badly informed about pet care. Please research your answers well, or don't give any.

It's not just the internet that's handing out bad info about pets, a certain chocolate cookie commercial is advertising that the cookies are so good, pets will want them; as stated earlier, chocolate is poisonous to dogs and cats.

Here are some common mistakes in petcare, and their harmful results:

Cats & Milk: milk fed to cats can give cats bellyaches and diarrhea.
Dogs & Bones: Real bones from cooked meat, often given to dogs, can splinter and cause intestinal bleeding.

In addition:
Goldfish can live a long time but can't be expected to live long in fish bowls. Proper care for proper size tank is easier than trying to keep a bowl clean, and a tank gives them room to grow.
Avocadoes are fatally poisonous to most birds commonly kept as pets.

Birds are very sensitive to many common household fumes.
Wet hay can grow mold and fungus fatal to small animals, and shouldn't be used as bedding unless cleaned thoroughly, daily. Hay is better used only for food.
Here's one that animal shelters (specializing in dog and cat care) don't always know: guinea pigs need vitamin C to live. See www.guinealynx.com for one of the best sites on guinea pig care.

Just more reasons to educate your kids about the dangers they may find online. Make sure they know what seemingly harmless things can hurt their pets. Misinformation is a dangerous thing.