What kind of dog do you have at home when it comes to chewing dog toys? In Looney Tunes terms, do you have a destructive Tasmanian Devil, a mischievous Bugs Bunny, or a romancing Pepé Le Pew? If your dog is a Taz, you know that they think it’s their duty to completely and entirely [...]
For a basic understanding of prevention of parasites (i.e., fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and intestinal parasites), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a helpful framework for accurately understanding the important, life-saving benefits of year-round parasite prevention. Unfortunately, fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes carry life-threatening diseases that don’t disappear because you’d rather not think about them. CPR is the life-saving [...]
Nearly everyone knows about arthritis—we should, since we blame this condition for our daily aches and pains and sometimes, to excuse our poor athletic skills, or avoid dreaded yard work. As much as we talk about arthritis, we should be able to recognize the problem in our pets. Unfortunately, the condition is frequently undiagnosed until [...]
If you still need to buy your pet a holiday present, you need to buckle down and get serious—Christmas is right around the corner! But, if you’ve been burned in the past by a gift you felt sure your pet would love (e.g., the flopping fish that was truly a flop), you may feel uncertain [...]
Naughty and nice pets alike hear a lot of “No” during the holiday season. What’s meant as a time for kindness and charity feels more like restriction and denial—our endless warnings and admonitions echo off the holly bedecked halls: Leave it! Don’t eat that! Sorry, you can’t have this. It’s bad for pets. THAT is [...]
Your senior pet’s care needs will change as they age, but their desire to be part of the family never waivers. Unfortunately, owners attribute their older pet’s slow-down to “old age,” and assume nothing can be done to improve their pet’s condition. By doing so, they unintentionally resign their senior pet to a less active, [...]
You know the kidneys are vital to your pet’s health, but what does a kidney failure diagnosis really mean for your furry pal? Is this a condition that will rapidly cause a decreased quality of life, or one that can be managed for years? Read on to learn all the ins and outs of kidney [...]
Pancreatitis is a condition that can affect both cats and dogs, although pancreatitis was thought to be rather rare in cats until recently. This disease can develop acutely, or become a chronic condition, both of which can become life-threatening without proper treatment. To make matters more complicated, more than 95 percent of feline pancreatitis cases [...]
A house pet’s life can get pretty boring, spending all day waiting for their family to come home. Lack of environmental enrichment can create all sorts of medical and behavior issues in pets. Keep your pet physically and mentally stimulated the following ways, to ward off boredom. #1: Make mealtime interesting with a food puzzle [...]
A pet’s life is much too short, no matter how well-lived. As the end of your beloved pet’s life approaches, you will need to make some difficult choices. While euthanasia was once considered the most humane option for aging or terminally ill pets nearing the end, the growing fields of veterinary hospice and palliative care [...]