When summer comes around, so do fleas — those little creatures that can make your dog’s life (and yours) miserable. There are things you can do to minimize the chances of flea infestation and other measures you can take if they have already invaded your home.

First let’s look at the steps necessary to keep the fleas away; without using chemicals. This natural flea prevention will work best to prevent fleas from taking hold and can also be used if you have a very light flea infestation.

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It is alarming to be reminded that dental care is one of the most universally overlooked areas of pet health care. In fact, the majority of pet owners do not provide the dental care that is recommended as essential by their veterinarians. However, your pet’s dental care doesn’t rest with your veterinarian alone. As a pet owner, you play a vital role in helping ensure your pet’s dental health through regular teeth brushing. Pets can live longer, healthier lives if oral health care is managed and maintained throughout their lives. As a matter of fact, proper dental care may add as many as five years to your pet’s life!

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It can be a devastating and disgusting diagnosis when a Veterinarian tells you that your dog has Worms. Even worse, you may actually see the Worms coming out of your dog or in their stool, if they have Roundworms or Tapeworms. Trust me when I say that that can be a nearly traumatic experience. Also disturbing, some of these Worms can even be transmitted from your dog to you, which is called zoonosis. These include Roundworms and Hookworms, so you should take extra precautions and follow your veterinarians advice to the letter, if you dog has one of these parasites. Read the rest of this entry »

“Magoo was a big, playful Labrador retriever who often got himself into sticky situations…”

So begins a story in the latest report from the ASPCA on foods that may be toxic to dogs. It turns out that Magoo got into the pantry and snagged himself about a pound of raisins. He ate the whole thing, of course.

The ASPCA never mentions Magoo’s fate. But they do tell us that as little as a handful of raisins can impair a dogs health and has been fatal for some. Ditto for the grape.

Who Knew?

Growing up, I regarded our family dogs as “the first cycle of the dishwasher”. They were good about waiting their turn for whatever we left on our plates, and we weren’t too concerned about offering them “people food”. It never crossed our minds that our dogs health could be affected by a few measly table scraps. What was safe for us, we figured, was safe for our pets.

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Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a clinical condition which is the final result of severe heart disease. It is usual that when a dog has heart failure, heart disease is also present in the body. However, it is true that in some cases, heart disease can be present, but never lead to congestive heart disease.

When high diastolic pressures in the heart build up into the veins and capillaries, then congestive heart failure can occur, which in turn causes a leakage of fluid out of those vessels.

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Dogs and cats are often a never-ending source of love and companionship for their owners. As such, caregivers should do their best to keep them healthy and thriving.

Providing for their basic needs — food, shelter, clothing (OK, nature takes care of clothing, but some dogs look so darn cute in argyle sweaters) — is a good start. But there’s much more that can be done to ensure their health, happiness and longevity.

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It is rare to see cats having diarrhea unless they are suffering from any internal digestive problem. A short episode of diarrhea is relatively harmless, it might be because he has put something in his stomach that he should not and has given him the run. Once your cat clear the unwanted food in his stomach, he should be fine.

The main reason for diarrhea happening in domestic cats is the feeding of milk by cat owners. It is not beneficial to feed your cat milk and water is in fact better for your cat’s health. If you love milk so much and have to feed your cat milk no matter what, you should “cat milk’ instead of the usual milk that human consume. This formula will not give him the run but is extra cost on your part.

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There may be more than one cause of a cat litter box problem, but they come from one of two categories. If you’ve read my article on the physical causes of this dilemma, then you already know that this problem is either physical, or behavioral.

Since your cat can’t tell you what’s going on, you have to rule out each possible cause, until you are left with the most logical answer. This is known as a diagnosis of exclusion.

You’ll need help from your vet on this one, since you’ll want to first rule out any physical cause. It’s always best to assume your cat has a physical problem until your vet proves you wrong.

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