‘Pet Health’ Articles
All dogs scratch at sometime, and here are a few reasons why your dog may have an itch.
First of all you need to examine your dog’s fur to see if there is any sign of fleas. They will be visible if your animal is infested, alternatively, one random flea could have bitten him and caused an allergic reaction.
After a good search you find no fleas in his coat, you should try flea control for approximately four weeks to see if it had been an allergy to a fleabite.
If there is an odor coming from your pet, or his skin is damp and reddened, it could well be a skin problem. Try him first with a therapeutic dog shampoo to see if it remedies the problem, if it doesn’t you will need a medication from the vet.
Mange is a skin problem that is very uncomfortably and causes your pet to lose fur when they scratch.
As soon as you think there is a possibility of Mange, take your pet to the vet as he will need to take some skin scrapings. Tests at a lab will reveal whether there are mites present and appropriate medication prescribed.
If you have ruled out all of these possible causes yet your pet is still scratching, it may well be an allergy. Plants, mod, pollen and dust are all allergens that are found around the house.
If there is a pattern to his scratching and it worsens during the warm weather it many be an allergy to pollen or grass.
It can take a long time to pin down the cause of your pets itching, but is well worth it as you will have a healthy and much happier dog who is free of that irritating itch.
Tags: advice, disease, dog, Dog Tips, education, family, health, hobbies, home improvement, kids, leisure, outdoors, pets, recreation, reference
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We are inclined to think of dogs as being tough; animals that can take care of themselves; animals that are far more in contact with nature than we humans are and we kind of admire them for it, after a fashion. However, the truth is that dogs come under a lot of of the stresses that we do including pollution and junk food, even though they do not have to do the nine-to-five or sit in traffic jams, which are of our own causing anyway.
Most of the stresses that dogs suffer are not of their own causing, they are our fault as well. These stresses often out themselves in much the same way as they do with us in neuroses, anti-social behaviour and skin problems amongst other ways. In this piece, I want to talk about some of the most common sorts of canine skin irritation, not all of which can be attributed to human activity.
The foremost cause of bad skin in dogs is fleas in the town and fleas and ticks in the countryside. The cause of the inflammation is these parasites’ spittle. A dog’s immune system can handle a few fleas, but the problem comes when he is infested. Brief infestation can happen fairly quickly, but usually it is a symptom of neglect. If a dog was groomed every week, the problem would not get out of hand.
Often a neglected dog will look mangy because he has pulled his hair out and injured his skin with continuous scratching, try to rid himself of his tormentors. If the dog had remained in a pack like it was born to tens of thousands of years ago, it would be groomed every day by its companions. A domestic dog relies on its owner to do this for him. You could liken it to a child crawling with lice waiting for its parents to do something about it.
You can treat it and prevent it happening by bathing your dog in insecticidal shampoo as indicated on the label and dusting him and his box with flea powder on a regular basis, say, in conjunction with his weekly grooming.
A similar looking condition is mange. Mange is caused by minute parasitic mites burrowing under your dog’s skin. Again, your dog can handle a few mites, but an infestation is bad. It can also be caught by humans, but our bodies usually clear the problem up. However, your dog will be driven to distraction by an infestation of mites.
If you cannot find scores of fleas on your dog, it is probably mange, also known as scabies. You should be able to catch this early if you notice red, possibly bleeding patches of skin. Your vet or pet shop can sell you something to cure it fairly quickly.
Mosquitoes can be as much, if not more of a bother to dogs than they are to us. Mosquitoes harass dogs on the snout and genitals, but you cannot put DEET or other creams for humans for the reason that they will lick the chemical off causing stomach problems. You can apply lemon juice or oil scented with grated lemon rind and lemon juice, because mosquitoes hate lemon smells.
If your dog’s skin problem does not fit into any of these categories, then he is probably suffering from an allergy or pollution of some sort and you will have to take him to a vet.
Tags: disease, garden, health, hobbies, home remedies, house, insects, mosquitoes, other, outdoor, Pet Health, pollution, skin, stress, uncategorised
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For most animals, fleas are agonizing. They cause itching that is insistent and they make it impossible for affected cats or dogs to get comfortable. For both outdoor and indoor pets, fleas are a problem almost around the year and their eggs being so durable makes it very difficult to get rid of them. Products like Capstar flea control work well against flea infestations and usually bring the pet relief in roughly six hours.
Before treating a dog with any flea medication, always consult the pet’s veterinarian first. Capstar can be obtained without a prescription but your dog’s vet should still be notified. The treatment may interfere with your dog’s medication or diet and a vet or doctor will be able to tell you whether or not the animal can safely take it.
It can be fairly difficult to get a pet to eat something foreign, especially a dog. So you may have to try a few different ideas before finding one that works. Start by burying the Capstar pill in your dog’s food bowl. This is the easiest way since most animals don’t look at their bowl when they’re eating. After the animal has finished, check to determine whether or not the flea pill was consumed.
There are still other effective methods if the dog ate everything but the Capstar capsule. Another one would be to insert the pill into a treat before giving it to the dog. If that doesn’t work, the capsule can be wrapped around a piece of ham or cheese as well. If your animal notices the pill or spits it out after eating around it, there is one last, less desirable, option left.
With your bare hand or special pill dispenser, put the pill in the back of your pet’s mouth, preferably on the tongue. Hold your dog’s mouth shut until the Capstar has been eaten. You are most likely going to get accidentally bitten and slobbered on, but at least you will be certain that the dog consumes the capsule.
Regardless of the method you use when administering the flea treatment to the pet, afterwards just make sure that your dog swallowed its pill. These small capsules, as with most other medicines, can get stuck to the sides of the pet’s teeth or mouth and most will just spit it out eventually. Once you’re positive the helpful treatment has finally been eaten, make a note of the time.
For small or medium sized pets, the treatment should start working in as little as 4 hours. For bigger dogs it might take up to 6 or 7. If 24 hours go by and you are still finding fleas on your dog then simply treat him with the Capstar pill every twenty four hours until they’re eliminated.
Once your dog is declared flea free, keep him that way with some trusted flea prevention items. Medicated shampoos and flea collars will make sure that once the flea treatment has killed off the annoying critters, they stay gone. If you reside in area with a bad flea problem, think about getting your pet on a prescription flea treatment to keep him or her healthy and comfortable.
Discover fabulous prices on capstar flea control by going online.
Tags: animals, Cats, dogs, pets
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Should you decide to give your dog fresh meats, a wise decision is choosing frozen uncooked pet food. Always keeping uncooked meats frozen is actually the easiest method to keep it right until you are ready to offer it to your family dog. The BARF pet food (Bones and Raw Food) diet consists of various kinds of uncooked red meat as well as bones.
In the wild, dogs hunt as well as kill their prey and feed on the meat raw. They will not go and cook it, add chemical preservatives, man-made colorings and after that put it in a can. That’s really certainly not natural!
Dog diet industry professionals acclaim the benefits of offering your pet dog frozen foods composed of a fresh meat diet. Ian Buffet, an alternative vet, promotes a frozen uncooked doggy food diet vs a commercial dog food option: “I believe you absolutely simply cannot obtain the identical quality out of a bag of commercial furry companion food as you can by doing it oneself; choosing your own ingredients, producing it by yourself and providing it fresh.” “The most significant benefit of industrial doggy food affords is simply ease.”
In order to paraphrase Dr. Buffet, many people are likely to select industrial pet food more than a uncooked meat and bones diet due to the fact it is commonly available and comparatively cheap. Many people forget about the increased vet costs they may be incurring when deciding to give their pet dog commercial pet foods. The additional vet costs can easily surpass the added selling price of a frozen uncooked dog food diet.
Ian Buffet is without question skeptical whenever the dog food industry claims, “They have to do the processing, and they have to add chemical ingredients while the food has already been sitting on the shop shelf for several months.” “There is definitely no way they can obtain the equivalent food quality to benefit your family dog.”
Is Dr. Buffet correct? Can industrial dog or cat food genuinely be hazardous to our pet dogs and cause them to end up with medical conditions that used to always be confined exclusively to people?
If predisposed, try experimenting by providing your family dog a frozen fresh pet food diet. Try it out for a several months and see how your dog’s demeanor, visual appeal and total health changes.
Only then, and only then, will you know if you’ve made the ideal choice.
Tags: animal health, BARF, dog diet, dog food, frozen pet food, pet food, Pet Health
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The family pet is an important part of American homes, often just like part of the family itself. Of course, we don’t go to the extent of inviting our pets over to the dining table, but our love for them is very clear. Keeping our pets healthy is a top priority, given how much we care for them. Here are a few steps to help you make sure that your pets enjoy long and fruitful lives.
Make sure to annually vaccinate your pets. Despite this, a lot of pet owners are declining vaccines due to the safety issues involved. That still shouldn’t stop you from having your pets vaccinated, as it may help them avoid contracting certain deadly diseases like the canine parvovirus. You can protect your pets from these diseases with a standard vaccination, and save money in the long run – they can be very expensive to treat otherwise. The standard costs for treatment can often go over $1,000, including the costs of hospitalization and medicine. Vaccines cost much less than that.
The next thing to consider is dental care. Make sure you have your pets’ dental check-ups scheduled on a regular basis. Dogs that regularly get fed human food are especially in need of regular dental care. Do not take this lightly as liver, heart and kidney diseases can easily set in if your pets’ teeth aren’t well maintained. In fact, there are studies that show that 80% of all pets over three years old have some form of dental disease. It may not really sound like fun, but brushing our pets’ teeth can greatly reduce the risk of dental disease and other health issues in our pets. For our pets’ teeth, preventive measures are just as important.
Finally, we need to carefully monitor our pets’ weight and diet. Usually, monitoring our pets’ diet and making sure it is balanced is the best preventive measure. Choosing a good brand of pet food can help set us in the right path as pet owners to prevent obesity in our pets. Overweight pets may seem cute on the surface, but be aware that an overweight or obese pet can develop serious health problems. Among the health problems an overweight pet can acquire are joint pain and arthritis, as well as cardiovascular issues. A dog treadmill can be an excellent way to exercise your pet if the weather is bad or you live in an unsafe area.
Tags: advice, animals, disease, dog care, Dog Tips, pet advice, Pet Health, pets
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