As I discussed in this video and article, while many celebrities are tremendously talented at certain things, making species-appropriate pet food hasn't yet proved to be one of them.
Celebrity branding is a very popular and successful marketing tool.
But it's important to keep in mind that product such-and-so isn't necessarily of high quality just because a celebrity says it is.
In the case of Halo pet food, not only is Ellen DeGeneres its celebrity endorser, she's also a co-owner. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for Pet Health
A study conducted at the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation and published in the December, 2009 issue of Aging Cell, has found a correlation between the age at which female rottweilers are spayed and their lifespan.The study compared long-lived female rotties (those with a lifespan of 13 or more years) with a group who lived a usual lifespan of about nine years. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Your Dog a Pessimist?
15 Jan 2012
According to British researchers, if your dog suffers from separation anxiety when left alone at home, his emotional problems may be deeper than you think. Read the rest of this entry »
How To Give The Perfect Dog Bath
04 Jan 2012
Most pet owners do not think twice about spending big dollars to buy their dog premium dog food, the best health care or even blissful days at a doggie day care facility. Most pet owners also don't think twice when it's time to give Bowser a bath. Grab the Head and Shoulders and fire up the backyard garden hose. But lets give it a bit more thought than that.
But a proper dog bath is key to maintaining your pet's vigorous good health. The skin is the body's largest organ and a perfect dog bath is key to stimulating blood circulation and keeping the skin healthy. Improper bathing can cause a matted condition in the coat which is uncomfortable to your dog. The first step in the perfect dog bath is a good brushing.
For short-haired dogs brush in a circular motion with a curry comb made of rubber with teeth cut into the edges. It will pull the dead coat out. Slicker brushes will take out the dead undercoat. Start on the legs and hold the outer hair so that you can brush from the skin outward. If it is not removed, the coat will easily mat. Use this technique all over the dog – legs, body and tail. Dogs resent the tail being brushed so save it for last. For fine-haired dogs use a natural bristle brush. Moisten the area to be worked with a good coat conditioner.
For long-haired dogs use a pin brush if the coat is not tangled, a slicker brush if the coat is tangled. Start at the legs, again brushing from the skin out and brushing only a few hairs at a time. The secret to thorough brushing is to brush only a few hairs at a time. Check each area with a comb; if the comb goes through without stress continue all the way up to the middle of the dog's back. Go to the loin area and to the back legs; then move to each side of the back of the dog.
You are now ready to wash. Never use human shampoos to wash your dog. Dog shampoos are specially formulated to match the pH level of a dog's skin. Human shampoos can strip a dog's coat of essential oils. The right way to bathe a dog is determined by the texture and length of the coat. Short-haired dogs are washed with a vigorous circular motion which will pull out the dirt. On dogs with a medium- length coast, use a back-and-forth motion. As the hair gets longer, go only in the direction the hair grows.
Step 1. Rinse the dog completely.
Step 2. Apply the shampoo along the back, working up as much lather as possible; do the same with the belly, legs and tail.
Step 3. Rinse the coat with one hand to run water on the dog and the other hand in a kneading fashion to work the soap out. Make certain all the soap is out as dried soap will dull a coat and cause skin problems.
Step 4. Before towel-drying, squeeze as much water out of the coat as possible by pulling the hair straight out and squeezing at the same time.
Step 5. Use a washcloth to clean the dog's face and avoid getting water in his ears. Moisture inside the ears provides the conditions for fungus infections.
Step 6. Towel dry your dog and use a hand-held hair dryer on thick-coated dogs but never use a human hair dryer as they run too hot and can burn the dog and damage the coat.
Voila! A clean, healthy dog.
By Doug Gelbert copyright 2006 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Doug_GelbertArticle Source: http://EzineArticles.com/156064
By Dr. Becker
The only FDA-approved heartworm treatment drug, Immiticide, has been in 'temporary' short supply for about two years now.
The shortage, according to Merial, is due to "unforeseen technical difficulties during a planned manufacturing site transfer."
As almost all dog owners know, a heartworm infection is serious.
Adult heartworms can grow up to a foot in length and live as long as five years inside a dog.
They can clog pulmonary arteries, and if there is significant infestation, the worms back up into the heart itself and eventually fill it.
They cause blood clots, and the heart has to work abnormally hard to pump blood through plugged arteries.
Heartworms also cause serious inflammation in the arteries that can affect important organs like the liver and kidneys.
As is often the case when 'desperate times call for desperate measures,' in the face of the Immiticide shortage, the pet healthcare community has been faced with finding other means for treating active heartworm infections in dogs.
And as it turns out, one alternative therapy in particular is effective and much less costly and potentially deadly than the old standby treatment with Immiticide.
Why I Made the Switch from Immiticide
My own experience with Immiticide is that I've bought a small supply of it every year for several years, only to throw it away, unused, on its expiration date.
A few years ago it occurred to me this was a totally wasteful and expensive exercise, since I've never encountered a case of heartworm that couldn't wait 48 hours for me to order and receive a box of Immiticide.
Shortly after this revelation, the economic downturn descended upon us. The owners of the four heartworm-positive dogs I've seen since then have all opted for the less costly 'slow kill' treatment with a combination of ivermectin (heartworm preventive drug) and doxycycline.
As it turns out, low-dose ivermectin therapy in dogs with no sensitivity to the drug, in combination with the antibiotic doxycycline, can be an extremely effective, inexpensive option for treating heartworm infection.
The cost was about 50-75 percent cheaper than Immiticide and all four cases of infection cleared beautifully.
The only time I'll consider using Immiticide in the future (once it becomes available), is when I have an ivermectin-sensitive patient.
Why Doxycycline?
Heartworms are parasites, and it was recently discovered that another organism called Wolbachia lives inside heartworms.
"Wolbachia is a genus of rickettsial organisms (sort of like bacteria, but not exactly). They live inside the adult heartworm. These organisms seem to be protective or beneficial to heartworms and treating the dog with the antibiotic doxycycline seems to sterilize female heartworms (meaning they cannot reproduce). Wolbachia is also thought to be involved in the embolism and shock that result when heartworms die. The role of this organism is still being investigated."
Research indicates Wolbachia organisms worsen the effect of both the heartworms themselves and the adverse events associated with heartworm treatment, including allergic reactions, inflammation and embolism.
Doxycycline, a member of the tetracycline antibiotic group, kills Wolbachia. It also simultaneously weakens the heartworms and sterilizes them so they cannot reproduce, which lessens the damage they can do inside a dog's body. It also dramatically reduces the risk of adverse reactions to heartworm treatment.
A study published in 2008 demonstrated that treatment with a combination of ivermectin and doxycycline has the following effects on heartworm infections:
- Sterilizes female heartworms
- Prevents the infected dog from infecting other dogs via mosquitoes
- Hastens the death of heartworms
- Limits inflammation and other damage caused by the presence of heartworms in the body
- Reduces risk of serious adverse reactions to Immiticide
These effects are significantly improved when the two drugs are used together rather than one without the other.
The doses used for the study were ivermectin (Heartgard) given weekly at the usual monthly preventative dose for 33 weeks, and doxycycline given at 10 mg/kg daily during weeks one through six, weeks 10 and 11, 16 and 17, 22 through 25, and 28 through 33.
Questions about Dosing
Different theories and protocols exist for how much, how often and how long ivermectin and doxycycline, should be given in treating heartworm infections.
One recommendation is to give doxycycline at normal doses for 30 consecutive days before starting (in this case) Immiticide.
However, a laboratory study conducted in 2005 indicates intermittent treatment with doxycycline is more effective in killing Wolbachia than continuous treatment.
In another study published in 2010, 11 heartworm-infected dogs were given doxycycline daily for 30 days and ivermectin every 15 days for six months, with the following result:
One hundred percent of dogs became negative for circulating microfilariae by day 90, while 8/11 (72.7%) of dogs became antigen-negative by day 300. Of the 7 dogs that were positive for visualization of parasites at echocardiography, 6 (85.7%) became negative by day 300. Treatment was well-tolerated by all dogs. These results suggest that a combination of doxycycline and ivermectin is adulticide in dogs with D. immitis.
Using this therapy, the gradual death of adult heartworms dramatically reduces the risk of pulmonary thrombosis — blood clots in the lungs that pose a serious adverse effect associated with other adulticides. This is the protocol I have used in my practice with 100 percent success.
The American Heartworm Society has its own set of dosing and care guidelines, which you can find here.
Surgery to Remove Heartworms
Also in response to the ongoing Immiticide shortage, veterinary cardiologists at the University of Florida are offering surgical extraction of heartworms from dogs with severe infections.
Using specialized instruments, these doctors can manually remove heartworms from the heart and pulmonary arteries by way of the jugular vein.
The UF DVMs consider the surgery a minimally invasive technique and an important option for dogs with severe symptoms and/or significant infestation with heartworms.
The procedure isn't without risk, of course. Dogs must be heavily sedated or undergo general anesthesia, and the surgery is costly. But according to Herb Maisenbacher, VMD, a clinical assistant professor in cardiology at UF:
"… for dogs with extensive disease, it could be another option to consider at a time when there are limited treatment options available."
If Your Dog Has a Heartworm Infection
The best advice I can offer you is to work with your veterinarian to determine the most appropriate course of action based on the level of infection and the health of your dog, as well as financial considerations.
Your vet may be able to treat the infection with ivermectin and doxycycline. Or Immiticide may be the better option and hopefully your vet knows how to source it given the shortage.
Some dogs also need a drug like Benadryl or a course of steroid therapy to mitigate the side effects of heartworm treatment.
And no matter whether you opt for a 'fast kill' or 'slow kill' approach, your dog will need to be kept inactive (which generally means confined to a crate or other small space) during treatment. So it's extremely important to understand what your pet can and can't do while undergoing heartworm drug therapy.
Surgery to remove the heartworms instead of waiting for them to die may or may not be an option for your pet as well.
The decision about the best way to treat a precious pet infected with heartworms is never easy, so I encourage you to work closely with your dog's health care providers to decide the best and safest treatment for your canine companion.
A Word about Natural/Holistic Heartworm Infection Treatments
At my practice I have had many owners request holistic options for treating heartworm. I have also had clients who decided to treat their pets with nutraceuticals purchased online.
Unfortunately, entirely drug-free heartworm treatment protocols have ranged from moderately successful to epic fails (dogs were still positive after treatment and their heart disease was worse).
From Dogaware.com:
Treatment for heartworm infection is one area where conventional veterinary medicine offers valuable options. Whether you elect to do the fast-kill method using Immiticide, or the slow-kill method using monthly Heartgard, either is preferable to leaving the dog untreated, or using unproven, alternative methods that may have no effect or even be harmful.
Because I have not found one specific entirely holistic protocol that is consistently successful at treating moderate heartworm infection, I recommend you discuss options for natural protocols with your holistic vet. There are some adjunctive protocols that can be beneficial, but they are tailor-made to each patient and must be designed and monitored by your vet.
Please keep in mind that heartworms are blood-borne parasites, not GI parasites. Natural remedies effective in treating GI parasites don't work on blood-borne parasites. A natural 'wormer' won't work for heartworms because heartworms live in your dog's bloodstream, not in the gastrointestinal tract.
13 Pet Foods – Ranked From Great to Disastrous…
06 Nov 2011
A subject readers here at HealthyPets and clients at my animal clinic are very interested in is the kind of food they should be feeding their dog or cat for good health.
So by popular demand, today's video is a discussion of my recommendations for the best-to-worst diets you can feed your pet.
There are 13 categories on my list, and what you're feeding will fall into one of them.
Now, if the diet you're serving your dog or cat happens to fall into one of the lower quality categories, I don't want you to beat yourself up about it.
As a general rule, people who are feeding their pets a lesser quality diet are doing so either because they can't afford a better food – or they simply don't know what constitutes good nutrition for their pet.
If you discover your furry buddy is eating from the lower half of the list, set a goal to feed a better quality food now that you know the difference, or when you can afford a more nutritious brand.
Again, everyone's pet food of choice can be found in one of these categories. I encourage you to figure out where the diet you're serving right now falls in the list, and then strive for improvement by feeding more nourishing, species-appropriate food.
Food Can Either Heal or Harm
As a proactive veterinarian interested in sustaining the natural good health of my pet patients, I always encourage pet owners to evaluate their animal's diet, because food is the foundation upon which good or ill health is built.
It's important to understand that food has the ability to heal or harm your pet, depending on the type and quality of nutrition you provide.
The first factor you should evaluate is the species-appropriateness of what your dog or cat is eating.
A species-appropriate diet contains lots of good quality protein as well as moisture. The protein is necessary because both dogs and cats are carnivores.
High moisture content is required in order to prevent organ dysfunction, including kidney failure. Dogs and cats are designed to eat food that is about 70 percent moisture, which is what a diet of mice and rabbits would provide if your pet hunted his own food.
If you feed your pet dry food only, he's getting only about 12 percent moisture instead of the 70 percent his body demands. This is especially unhealthy for cats, because they don't supplement their moisture intake by drinking large amounts of water like dogs do.
Pets on dry food diets (kibble or pelleted) live in a state of chronic, mild dehydration that over time can cause significant stress to their organs.
Species-appropriate nutrition does not contain much starch, also known as grains or carbohydrates. Corn, wheat, rice and soy are found in most commercial processed pet foods, but your dog or cat has no biological need for them.
I recommend you follow the laws of nature when it comes to your pet's diet, which is to feed everything his body needs and eliminate ingredients that provide no nourishment.
In addition to the species-appropriateness of your pet's diet, it also needs to be balanced. By balanced I mean food that contains all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your dog or cat needs.
This isn't something you can guess at – it should be guaranteed through testing.
Nutritional balance is vitally important because deficiencies will develop much faster in your dog or cat than they will in you. A poorly nourished puppy or kitten can end up with obvious signs of skeletal problems and organ degeneration before she's six months old.
An older animal can develop life-threatening organ degeneration, among many other not-so-obvious symptoms, over a one to three year period of eating an unbalanced, nutrient-deficient diet.
The List of Best-to-Worst Foods
A balanced, raw, homemade diet is the best food you can feed your dog or cat. It will be nutritionally balanced because you're following recipes like those found in the cookbook I co-authored, Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats.
Raw means the food is unadulterated and still contains all the enzymes and nutrients that are typically destroyed during cooking or other types of processing.
Homemade is the best option because you are in complete control of the quality of ingredients in your pet's diet.
I recommend pets get plenty of nutritional variety, and another great thing about serving homemade is you can buy seasonal fruits and veggies on sale, as well as protein sources (meats), and use them in rotation.
The next best thing you can feed your pet is a commercially available raw diet. This is a raw food diet that someone else has done the heavy lifting to prepare.
It's important that the diet is balanced, and you should be aware that there are raw food pet diets entering the market that are not yet proven to be nutritionally complete. These foods often say "For supplementation or intermittent feeding" on the label.
You'll know if the raw food you've selected is balanced because it will say it right on the packaging: "This food has been proven to be nutritionally complete or adequate for all life stages."
At the present time, these diets are found only in the freezer section of small/privately owned or upscale pet boutiques – not in the big box pet stores. You can also find a selection online.
Cooked, balanced homemade diet. It's the same diet found in number 1, above, except that it's cooked. This means some of the nutrient composition has been diminished through processing.
Human-grade canned food. If the label doesn't say the ingredients are human grade, they're not. Pet food made with human-grade ingredients is also a great deal more expensive, so that's another way to tell what you're getting.
This type of diet is the most expensive you can feed your pet. What I tell my clients is, "If you have more money than time, you can purchase human-grade canned food for your dog or cat. But if you have more time than money, I recommend you make a balanced, homemade diet right in your own kitchen for a fraction of the cost."
- Human-grade dry food. As I discussed earlier, dry food is not as species-appropriate as a moisture-dense diet. Human grade is very important because the food is approved, in theory, for human consumption, which means it doesn't contain low quality rendered by-products.
- Super premium canned food which can be found at big box pet supply stores like Petco and PetSmart.
- Super premium dry food.
- Veterinary-recommended canned food. Vet recommended canned foods are purchased at your vet's office or clinic. Typical brands are Science Diet, the Purina veterinary lines, Royal Canin and Waltham.
- Veterinary-recommended dry food.
- Grocery store brand canned food.
- Grocery store brand dry food.
- Semi-most pouched food.
The reason this type of pet food is so far down the list is because in order for the food to remain "semi-moist," an ingredient called propylene glycol is added. This is a scary preservative that is a second cousin to ethylene glycol, which is antifreeze. And while propylene glycol is approved for use in pet foods, it is unhealthy for dogs and cats. I do not recommend feeding any food that contains this additive.
- Dead last on the list and the worst thing you can feed your pet is an unbalanced, homemade diet – raw or cooked. I'm seeing an increasing number of misguided pet owners in my practice who think they're doing the right thing by serving their pet, say, a chicken breast and some veggies and calling it a day.
Yes, the food is homemade, but it's nutritionally unbalanced. Pets being fed this way are showing up at my clinic with endocrine abnormalities, skeletal issues and organ degeneration as a result of deficiencies in calcium, trace minerals and omega fatty acids.
From Worst to Best in a Heartbeat
For those of you who now know you're feeding your pet an unbalanced, homemade diet, there's an extremely quick and easy way to soar to the top of the list.
All you need to do is add ingredients to balance out the nutrition in the diet you're already serving your dog or cat. This is a fast, simple fix you can apply to turn an unbalanced homemade diet into a balanced one.
So there you have it – the entire list of my recommendations for best-to-worst pet diets.
If you've discovered your pet's food is on the lower half of the list, set a goal to work your way up the list.
If you're already at the top end of the list, congratulations! You're doing the best thing possible by providing species-appropriate nutrition for the animals in your care
If you would like to learn more about making homemade meals for your pets, my recipe book is available here.
The main goal of dog physical therapy is to maintain or improve a dog's quality of life by making sure that the mobility of the dog is not hampered by any disease or injury. Therefore, methods used in san diego dog training dog physical therapy are for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. Read the rest of this entry »
Cleaning Your House Pet
24 Aug 2010
One of several keys to successfully bathing your pet is to just be sure you are in a safe environment. For anyone who is putting your pet in a tub or sink while you bath them make certain that they aren't going to slip. Placing a rubber mat in the tub or torpedo will give your pet a sense of security, rubber door mats work really well for this specific purpose. Also just be sure you aren't going to slip if water gets splashed on the floor. If you are using a hose to bath your dog outside, make sure you are in an area where they feel secure, and that, if they pull away from you grasp, they will not be able to run out into traffic. Read the rest of this entry »
It is a popular disbelief when starting out, building garden ponds filters do their job by just actually extracting dirt and grime and so maintaining the water crystal clear. Now this nevertheless, is not completely true, though a tiny amount of grime may be caught inside your pond filter when it cycles around the garden pond, garden pond pump continually. The single most important operation of all fish pond filters is to work like a sewerage system. Simply put, the filtration media is really a massive area that ultimately consists of effective bacteria. Read the rest of this entry »
Getting The ideal Pet Insurance
04 Aug 2010
Our pets have grown to be a part of our families, that providers that used to be for humans alone are previously obtainable for our dear animal companions. insurance procedures is one of them. A number of puppy proprietors find it vital to get pet insurance coverage cover that could be sure that medical desires of their domestic pets shall be offered. It is meant for making our domestic pets pleased and well-cared for. Read the rest of this entry »
When canine cancer hits your family, the results can be devastating. Hearing that your beloved friend is sick is never going to be easy to deal with. However, the good news is that there are practical steps that you can take to help your dog’s cancer immediately. Focusing in on key vitamins and minerals can help your dog’s immune system fight off his or her bout with canine cancer. Let’s take a look at some of the key vitamins and minerals that your dog will need for fighting off dogs cancer . Read the rest of this entry »
Choosing the Right Pet Insurance Company for You
30 Jul 2010
In case you are a pet owner then you definitely should certainly think about obtaining the proper puppy insurance policy to cover the expenditures involved in taking attention of an animal. This will be the very best method to insure that you just will be able to find the money for the unexpected expenditures and is going to be able to present the very best care feasible for your puppy. Read the rest of this entry »
Feeding Your Pet The Right Kinds Of Food
15 Jul 2010
You are what you eat – and the same goes for animals. Very good food is a main factor to ensuring a satisfied, healthy family pet. Owners ought to bear in mind they have a responsibility of proper care to provide his or her pet with a beneficial diet. Talk with your vet to establish the the best possible weight of your pet plus get sensible guidance on pet nutrition. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you killing your dog? Are you putting your dog at risk of suffering an early and painful death? Most dog experts agree that certain unhealthy dog food products increase the risk of your dog dying early . But by the time symptoms are noticeable , it is too late . Read the rest of this entry »
Helful information on animal health insurances
17 May 2010
Our dogs and cats practically turn into a part of your family. We look after ourselves and make sure that we certainly have an insurance plan in the case we want it. You need to have got animal health insurance also. Read the rest of this entry »
