Care to Your Dog!

Have you ever tried to give your pet a pill?

Sure can be tricky…and scary too!

But when your pet is sick, it often has to be done.  That’s all part of pet heath care.

Next time you have to give your pet a pill, here are the 3 best, proven methods and some tips and tricks for each to make the job easier – for both you and your pet!

Method 1.  Encapsulate the pill in food.  If the medication can be taken with food, this is generally your best bet.  The best foods for dogs are butter, cheese, cream cheese, peanut butter, lunchmeat, liverwurst, bread, and bacon.  For cats, butter, tuna, cream cheese, baby food, and canned cat food work well.  Liverwurst works for cats too.

Experiment with different foods until you find something your pet likes and always praise them when you give it to them.  With the right combination, your pet may actually look forward to pill time.

Use a small bite-size amount of food.  Don’t bury the pill in your pet’s full meal portion because if he doesn’t finish it, he may not get the medication.

It’s often a good idea to occasionally give your pet the food without the pill, so he gets used to eating it quickly.  What you want is for your pet to gulp it down without a second thought.

Method 2.  Grind up the pill and blend it into some moist food.  Again, ensure that the medication can be taken with food.  Also, check with your vet to make sure crushing is OK.  The crushed pill will dissolve much faster in your pet’s stomach and some medications are intended to be digested slowly.

The best foods are those that are a little sticky and have a strong flavor of their own.  These include cream cheese, butter, peanut butter, liverwurst, and honey.  Again, use only a small portion size.

You can have your pet lick the food containing the ground medication off of your finger, or you can put it in their food dish, or spread it on a treat you already know they like.

Again, experiment until you find something your pet really likes and occasionally give them some of the food between pills.  Praise them lavishly whenever you give them the food, making it seem like they are getting a special treat.

Method 3.  Feed the pill to your pet directly.  Use this approach if the pill must be given on an empty stomach or if the pet won’t accept the pill hidden in their food.  Be careful though, as some pets can react badly to having the pill force-fed to them.  With cats, it is generally a good idea to wrap them in a towel to protect against getting scratched.

First, tilt your pet’s head back slightly, then carefully open their mouth and place the pill in the back part of their mouth.  Gently hold their mouth closed and slowly stroke them on their throat or blow on their nose until they swallow the pill.  With cats, it is a good idea to follow the pill with a small amount of water given from an eyedropper or syringe (no needle please).  This helps them to swallow the pill and protects against the pill abrading their esophagus.  Always be calm and gentle.  This will help your pet remain calm.

Whatever method you use to administer the pill, always check to make sure your pet has swallowed it.  Pets can be pretty clever in disposing of the pill when you aren’t looking, so never just assume it went down.

Important:  Learning how to administer pills is an important part of pet health care.  Find a method that works for your pet and always make sure your pet gets his or her meds on time every time.  As a pet owner, that is your responsibility.

Pet insurance is one of those things you can’t buy when you need it. By comparing the various pet health insurance companies and their policies you will quickly discover who offers the most value for your money.

It can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000 for a dog to undergo chemotherapy and surgeries to treat cancer – depending on the size of the dog and the stage of the cancer. A hip replacement for a dog can cost as much as $10,000.

Pet insurance makes treatments for these ailments feasible. Pet insurance is a way to avoid economic euthanasia. Pet insurance is the best way to budget for any unexpected veterinary bills and help to cover day-to-day expenses like vaccinations and office visits as well.

Veterinary medicine continues to advance and so it is increasingly expensive. With the latest developments in veterinarian medicine, new treatments can help cure your pet from diseases that used to result in euthanasia. These treatments can be expensive, but no one wants to deal with the guilt of not being able to afford their pet’s healthcare.

You get pet health insurance to help share the cost of the expensive, unexpected things, not to save money on veterinary bills. But too often pet parents leave it until too late to get pet insurance and then they’re dissatisfied when they find out they cannot insure a sick cat or dog.

If you’re the proud owner of a new puppy, one of the things you can do to ensure your pet is in good health is to purchase dog insurance as soon as possible. There will always be healthcare issues with your new puppy, from annual vaccinations to spaying, neutering or unexpected illnesses. Dog insurance helps defray most of these costs, ensuring you can always afford to take your dog to the vet when he needs care.

Study after study has proven that regular medical care is a prime factor in giving humans longer healthier lives – and the same is true of your dogs and cats. If they are given access to regular medical care they will not only live longer but also maintain a higher degree of energy and mobility into later life.

When you are thinking of getting a new “Rover” or “Fluffy” you think of all of the positive things about having a pet: the company, the fun, the naughtiness – not the financial responsibility, which obviously hits home when something expensive happens.

It may be the worst thing that can happen to a dog owner: coming home and finding your “best friend” suddenly dead-when the dog had seemed completely healthy. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened to me one October afternoon, when I came home to find one of my German Shepherds dead on the floor. What could it be? A stroke? A heart attack? After getting over my complete state of shock-the dog was not “aged” and seemed completely healthy-I began digging for answers.

It turned out that the cause of death was an event called “stomach torsion” that comes about from “bloat”. This is a serious issue in pet dog health, its the second leading cause of death for large dogs. But at the time, I didn’t know very much about it.

Becoming educated on this issue could mean the difference between death and several extra years of life for your dog.

OK-so what is it? Let’s try and describe it in laymen’s terms. Bloat is basically a condition where a lot of gas or fluid gets trapped in the dogs stomach. This really isn’t all that different from what might happen to you if you drank too much root beer on a full stomach, but in dogs, and in particular large dogs, this is a serious problem. This is because the stomach isn’t as well set in the body cavity as ours is, a dogs stomach is kind of hanging loose if you will. When it becomes over-engorged with fluid or gas, it can twist around.

When it does, the result is a medical emergency. The blood supply to many vital organs gets cut off when this happens, and the dog goes into shock. Death will result if surgery is not performed. A symptom that this is happening is that the dog will be throwing up clear liquid or attempting to throw up.

One tragic aspect of this condition is that onset can happen rapidly, and so you may become aware of it when its too late. That’s what happened in my case, my dog was fine when I left the house. I was gone for a few hours, and when I got back she was dead. Its a sad state of affairs but the progression from bloat to stomach torsion to death can happen in as little as an hour.

We can’t be with our dogs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but what we can do is take steps to reduce the risk of it happening. Here are a few things you can do:

• Break up your dogs feedings. The less food a dog takes in when it eats the lower the risk. A dog that eats just once a day has a higher risk than a dog that has its meals split into two or three portions a day.
• Watch out for dry food. Dogs that eat all dry food have a higher risk. Consider feeding canned food, or mixing dry and canned together. When you do this substitute a can of moist dog food for a cup of dry food. This helps because dry food tends to expand when liquified in the stomach adding stress to the stomach.
• Feed using raised bowls. There is a bit of controversey about this one, but feeding using raised bowls may help reduce the risk. This is because some dogs gulp down air when they eat, and its believed by some that bowls raised off the floor cut down on the amount of air gulped in. This in turn cuts the risk of bloat happening. Raised pet bowls are available for sale on the internet.
• Watch out for diarrhea. If a dog has chronic diarrhea, it may increase the risk. Make sure to get diarrhea treated.
• Never exercise right after feeding. Let the dogs stomach “settle” for an hour or two before going out for exercise.
• Avoid feeding immediately after exercise. After a long walk, a dog probably wants to drink lots of water. Doing that and then eating can be a fatal recipie.
• Don’t feed late at night.

Before this happens I had no idea what a serious problem this was in pet dog health. Interestingly, it often takes dogs in their prime: most victims are aged between 4 and 7 years of age. But dogs of any age can get it, and although males have a higher risk, female dogs die from it as well.

In the end we can’t prevent every bad event from happening. But at least taking these steps will put your mind at rest since you’ll know you were aware, and took responsible steps to control the risk.

More information on pet dog health: click here

As a pet owner, you are no doubt concerned with the health and well being of your pet. Sometimes our pets have health issues that we do not have the answers for, and do not always know where to turn to find advice and answers on these pet health questions.

If you are concerned about your pet’s health and are not sure if it is something that should require a trip to the vet or medical attention, you are not alone. Many pet owners have questions on the health of their pets and it is hard to tell when your pet really does need medical attention. Pets have a way of hiding their symptoms and illnesses from us because they do not want to seem weak or hurt. Because of this, we as pet owners need to be responsible for getting them the care that they need when they need it.

Although you may not always be able to tell when your pet is hurting or not feeling well, there are some indicators that he or she may be sick. If your pet is exhibiting changes in the way they act and the amount of attention that they want from you, it could indicate there is trouble. Pets who are normally very affectionate and suddenly seem to be shying away from you, could be hiding the fact that they do not feel good. Pets who are normally very independent and who suddenly want to be around you more and need more attention could also be showing signs that something may not be right.

Other pet health questions owners typically have are in the eating habits of their pets. While it is common from time to time for pets to have different eating habits and some changes are normal, if your pet is showing extreme changes such as not eating hardly at all, or eating all of the time, this could be cause for alarm. If your pet is eating a lot more than normal but not gaining any weight, it could be a sign of worms or other digestive issue that they are experiencing.

Changes in the elimination habits of your pets can also be indicators that a sickness or problem is present. It is important to always keep an eye on the elimination habits of your pet so that you will be able to tell the difference between normal and when something may be wrong.

Changes in the appearance of your pet such as changes in the luster of the fur, texture of the fur and sudden bald spots could indicate ticks, rashes or other skin lesions that may not be visible to the naked eye. Cats who overly groom a particular area and create a bald spot could be exhibiting signs of sickness or even stress. If you notice any behaviors like that in your pet, you should talk to a vet to find out what could be causing it.

Pet health questions can be confusing, and you may not always know where to turn for accurate and helpful answers. There are many pet sources on the Internet that offer advice and information on anything from pet health to pet behavior. There are also sites that offer answers to any questions that you may have that you can ask a professional vet for a small fee and also catalogue previous questions and answers from pet owners that are relevant to your concerns for your pet. You can also check with your local vet to help answer any questions as well.