It can be tricky getting them to take their meds One of the latest health scares has been over a strain of meningitis that’s killed multiple people. According to WebMD, the meningitis originates from a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts. Compounding is the practice of putting more than one type of medication in a pill, or basically changing the medication in some way from its original formula. How is this relevant for the pet owner? Compounding is a common practice in pet medications. Before you worry: the meningitis came from a human medication for back pain and it seems the authorities … Continue reading →

It’s that time of year: my car, porch, deck, and even some of my plants, are covered in a yellow dust. Pollen season is upon us, and for many unfortunates that means it’s time to suffer through allergies. As is true with many things, humans aren’t the only ones that might be affected by the dreaded plant powder. All this past week my dog has come in with her snout, muzzle, and sometimes even her eyes, covered in pollen. She didn’t seem any different than normal, however, which leads me to believe that despite her many itching problems pollen is … Continue reading →

While in the waiting room at my last vet visit, I noticed an interesting sign. My vet offers many special services, like boarding and obedience classes. Also, they perform animal acupuncture. I certainly wasn’t expecting that. I’d never heard of acupuncture for pets before. So I decided to do some research on animal acupuncture, and discovered a wealth of information about holistic veterinary medicine. Today’s post is all for those who might be interested in pursuing homeopathic and holistic medical services for their pets. Acupuncture.com has a whole subsection devoted to veterinary homeopathy. Let’s first check out the details on … Continue reading →

Real old school veterinary medicine Deciding what to do for pets that have serious medical problems is often difficult. Surgeries we wouldn’t think for a moment about getting for human family members often give us pause when they’re for our furry companions. If we don’t have pet insurance, sometimes these procedures can be too costly. They also come with a health cost to our pets. Maybe we don’t mind spending the money, but the surgery is riskier on our animals’ fragile bodies than it would be on ours. I know I dread the day I might have to make such … Continue reading →

Weeks ago I wrote about my dog Chihiro’s problems with constant itching. She scratched and licked at herself much more than normal. We applied a couple different treatments to her in an attempt to fix the problem and now I am able to report on the results. The first solution we attempted, which I described in greater detail in my previous article, was giving her probiotic treats and powder with her evening meal. The probiotics returned good bacteria to her body that had likely been wiped away by the antibiotics she took over the summer. After giving her the probiotics … Continue reading →

My cat Cole has a tracking chip. He came with it; many shelters and rescues now automatically implant them as further insurance that the pets they place will stay with those homes forever. Chihiro doesn’t have the chip; her rescue didn’t follow the practice for whatever reason, and we aren’t too concerned about it. The cost hasn’t seemed worth it because she’s rarely in situations where she could run away. I’d be open to putting a chip on her, though, if I ever felt there might be a serious risk of losing her. But one woman in Cambridge, Massachusetts now … Continue reading →