Health Care Archives - Page 2 of 2

Choosing/Working With a Vet

8 Secrets To Stress-Free Vet Visits

Vet visits are an essential part of every dog’s life, if only for routine check-ups and yearly vaccinations. With a little careful preparation they needn’t be traumatic — for your dog or you! If you can make your puppy’s first vet visit relaxed, she won’t develop anxiety about future appointments. Your puppy should be comfortable with being touched. Dogs aren’t naturally comfortable with having their tail lifted or their belly, feet, and nails touched. Find a time when your puppy is relaxed and calm and get him used to these actions. If it’s something that he becomes accustomed to with

June 18, 2015 No Comments

Dog Care

Words And Reality

By Cesar Millan Although humans first began to domesticate early ancestors of dogs about thirty thousand years ago, it wasn’t until the 1880s that the first flea and tick treatments were developed at about the same time as the rabies vaccine, allowing dogs to move closer to our human packs. After that, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the concept of animal rights even existed, and not until the 1990s that service dogs were recognized and finally allowed, by Federal law, into places where dogs were normally prohibited. It wasn’t until twenty years ago that San Francisco became the first

June 18, 2015 No Comments

A dog rests on the couch after having surgery. This article will help you understand the benefits of getting your furry friend neutered and common questions answered.

Dog Care

12 Things You Need To Know About Spay/Neuter

Spaying or neutering your dog is an integral part of responsible pack leadership.It not only helps keep your dog safe from several medical issues, but it also helps reduce overpopulation. Every day, pets across the nation are euthanized because shelters don’t have the space or resources to care for them. You are helping to stop this tragic problem by spaying or neutering your dog. Spay and Neuter Benefits As a pet owner, you know they are a part of your family. You want to ensure that they are healthy and happy, which means making sure they are spayed or neutered.

June 18, 2015 No Comments

Dog Care

Dog Vitamins And Supplements

By Juliana Weiss-Roessler Do you take a daily multivitamin? You may wonder if your dog can benefit from one as well. In fact, some estimates say that around one third of dogs receive supplements. Why Dogs Need Vitamins Much like in humans, vitamins help a dog’s body to function properly, regulating everything from digestion to muscle growth. They’re crucial to maintaining your dog’s health, and a deficiency of a particular vitamin can cause health problems, which can sometimes have serious and long-lasting effects. But here’s the good news: most pups are probably getting what they need from their dog food.

June 18, 2015 No Comments

All About Dogs

Heartworms In Dogs: Myths VS. Facts

How Heartworms Are Spread All dogs are at risk for potentially deadly heartworm disease. Heartworms live in the heart and blood vessels of the lungs of dogs, cats and other mammals like wolves, foxes and coyotes. Heartworms cannot be spread directly from animal to animal without a mosquito as an intermediary. Heartworms are spread when a mosquito bites an infected dog and picks up tiny larvae called microfilariae from the dog’s bloodstream. Then that mosquito bites another dog infecting it with the heartworm larvae. Over the next several months the heartworm larvae grow and migrate to the heart and lungs. These

June 17, 2015 No Comments

All About Dogs

Intestinal Parasites

Most pet owners do not know their pets may carry worms capable of infecting people.1 Infected dogs contaminate their surroundings by passing eggs in feces. People can acquire roundworm and hookworm infections by coming into contact with an environment contaminated with eggs or larvae. That means it’s important to clean up pet feces on a regular basis to remove potentially infectious eggs before they spread through the environment. Eggs in the environment can remain infectious for years.1 Children are more likely to become infected in part because they are more apt to play in contaminated areas or put dirty objects in

June 17, 2015 No Comments

All About Dogs

Heartworm FAQs

Heartworms are among the most dangerous parasitic worms that can infect dogs. Hundreds of thousands of cases of canine heartworm disease are reported in the US every year. The disease is passed from infected dogs to other dogs by mosquitoes. That means all dogs are at risk for heartworm disease. What is heartworm disease? Heartworm disease in dogs (dirofilariasis) is a serious and potentially fatal disease. Heartworms spend their adult lives in the right side of the heart and the large blood vessels that connect the heart to the lungs. The adult worms block the heart and major blood vessels

June 17, 2015 No Comments

Choosing the right vet for your pet can be a hard decision.

All About Dogs

10 Tips For Choosing The Right Vet

When you bring a dog into your life, you are responsible from that day forward for his dog nutrition, dog safety, dog health and dog care. But finding a stellar veterinarian doesn’t just happen by accident. Here are some helpful tips for choosing the right vet for you and your dog: Communication Get the family together for a conference. Share your thoughts about what qualities in a veterinarian are important to all of you. Make a list of questions and concerns to ask every vet you interview. Also get references from breeders, shelter and dog rescues or other dog owners.

June 17, 2015 No Comments

All About Dogs

Best Age To Neuter Or Spay A Dog

Dear Dr. Weaver, I was writing to ask about the right time to neuter a Lab male. When he got his annual exam and shots, the vet said to leave him unneutered until he was two years old as “large-boned dogs get cancer if they are neutered before then.” I had never heard of this before and have always been a proponent of early neutering, but since this has come up, I am now unsure what to do. Is there any truth to this? What is the best time to neuter/spay a dog? Thanks, Eileen Read Dr. Sherry Weaver’s Advice

June 17, 2015 No Comments

All About Dogs

Shih Tzu With Back Problems

I have a Shih Tzu that is about 10 years old, and he is having problems with his back hind leg. It is almost like there is a catch in his back. He is unable to jump and appears to be in some pain. I have taken him to the vet 3 different times. They put him on steroids, which seems to help for awhile, but it always happens again. I have limited his exercise, and basically he does nothing but sleep and eat. I was reading on the internet about the breed, and it said the breed tends to

June 17, 2015 No Comments