Puppies: Helping with the Whelping

Luckily, the vast majority of bitches will have their pups without any help from you or anyone else, but from time to time human assistance may be necessary.

Avoiding Guerilla Warfare Between Cats and Dogs

Where there is smoke, there is fire ladies and gentlemen. The old saying “fighting like cats and dogs” didn’t just show up out of nowhere. Although the saying may be tired, it definitely isn’t out of date.

On the Road with Your Best Furry Friend

Ah . . . summer vacation. Time to pack up the family vehicle and head off to parts unknown in search of adventure and some downtime. But what about the four-legged family members?

On Dogs and Pain-Part Two

Humans can verbalize when they hurt. We love to do this. We can wallow in it. We reminisce about how great things were when things didn’t hurt. We take pills and go to doctors who specialize in treating pain. It can become an all encompassing force controlling our lives.

Bloody diarrhea in dogs: Treating hemorrhagic gastroenteritis

Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE from now on) is one of the more dramatic diseases veterinarians and dog owners have to deal with. Its hallmark symptom is bloody diarrhea.

Exercise and treatment of arthritis in pets

Have you seen the video of the otter playing basketball? He has arthritis, and his veterinarian recommended he get more exercise to help keep his joints as healthy as possible. The otter’s caretakers came up with the ingenious idea of training him to dunk a basketball.

Pet obesity is not a trivial concern

Two conclusions from the latest survey conducted by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention are downright scary:

Weighing risks and benefits of neutering your pet

The study indicated a significant increase in some important diseases in neutered dogs (males and females) in comparison to intact individuals, but didn’t talk about the potential benefits of the surgeries.

Chocolate Poisoning in Dogs

Dogs are known for eating things when they are not supposed to. This is especially true of puppies. Also, dogs have an excellent sense of smell, making it fairly easy to find any secret hiding spots for the chocolate.

How Dog Flu Vaccines Work

If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all over the last few weeks, you’ve been hearing about the 2012-2013 flu epidemic in people. Invariably, any discussion of the flu includes comments regarding the effectiveness or lack thereof of the flu vaccine.