Pet Care: Tips for Specific Dog and Cat Health and Care-taking Issues

House dust mites

Topical therapy consists of shampoos and rinses and topical anti-itch solutions. Topical therapy offers immediate, but short-term relief. I recommend bathing atopic dogs at least once every two weeks with a hypoallergenic shampoo or colloidal oatmeal shampoo. Hydrocortisone shampoos may also be used. Weekly or even twice weekly shampoos may offer increased relief for some dogs.

Topical solutions containing hydrocortisone offer some relief. They are the most practical in treating localized itching. Creams or salves are often used on the feet and between the toes and sprays are used on the abdomen or other areas with less hair. These products are very poorly absorbed into the bloodstream, and when used in moderation, do not create long-term side effects or problems associated with injectable or oral steroids. In addition, cooling salves and lotions may also be used. Care must be taken with these to ensure that they do not make the coat too greasy. Dogs may tend to lick off these preparations. After applying these preparations, it is recommended to get the pet involved in some activity to prevent him from licking the treated area.

Heartworm Disease: What You Need to Know

Heartworm Disease, caused by the parasite Dirofilaria immitis, was once considered a disease of the southern United States. But it is now found in every state in the continental United States. A heartworm infection can affect both dogs and cats, but the infection occurs a bit differently in each species.

In dogs, the immature larval stage of the worms are deposited into the dog's body by a mosquito. In 2-3 months they migrate through the bloodstream to the right side of the heart. There they grow into adult worms. As they grow, the heartworms can lodge in the heart and the large blood vessels going from the heart to the lungs. If untreated, dogs usually die of heart failure.

Cats' bodies react to heartworm infestation a bit differently. It takes about one month longer for the larvae to develop into adults in the heart. Additionally, the larvae may migrate to other tissues of the cat's body, such as the brain or the eye.

Signs

The first outward signs of heartworm disease may not be apparent until a year after infection and may begin simply as a soft cough. As the disease progresses in dogs, the infected pet will find it more difficult to breathe. He will be reluctant to exercise, and he may have a decreased appetite and weight loss. His quality of life can severely diminish, and as heart failure occurs, the dog can die. Severity of disease depends on the number of heartworms present.

Infected cats have signs that mimic many other diseases. These include vomiting, difficult or rapid breathing, fainting, seizures, blindness, coughing, loss of appetite and weight loss.

Diagnosis

If the pet has adult heartworm disease, an immature stage of the worms, called "microfilariae," will be present in 99% of individuals. The most common blood test detects certain proteins on the adult female worm. Another blood test detects antibodies the pet's body has made in an attempt to kill the heartworms. This test is most commonly used in cats. If a test is positive, other confirmatory tests including x-rays, ultrasound, and additional laboratory tests are performed.

Treatment

In dogs, heartworm disease can be treated, but treatment can result in fatal complications. The adult worms are killed by injections of arsenic-containing compounds. The treatment must be done carefully to avoid drug toxicity or complications resulting from the dead or dying worms.

These complications can occur when the dead or dying worms obstruct blood vessels to the lungs. Dogs must be hospitalized during treatments and must be kept quiet (cage rest) for at least four weeks after treatment. The treatment will kill the adult worms, but damage already done to the heart and lungs will remain. In severe cases, the worms may need to be surgically removed from the heart.

Prevention

The good news is that there is no need for your pet to have to endure the treatment for heartworm disease, because it is so easy to prevent. A heartworm prevention program is effective and simple, and consists of three parts:

• Regular Blood Testing - This ensures your pet is free from heartworms before he begins or continues on his preventive medication. Your veterinarian will advise you as to the frequency of regular blood tests.
• Preventive medication - This means administering a heartworm preventive to your pet for at least six months to a full year depending on the mosquito season. Prevention for dogs includes monthly oral preparations like Tri-Heart Plus, Heartgard products, Revolution, Interceptor, or Sentinel (which includes flea prevention). Heartgard, Revolution and Interceptor also offers a monthly feline heartworm preventives.
• Reducing your pet's exposure to mosquitoes - This means making your pet's environment less hospitable to mosquitoes. This decreases the risk of your pet being infected with heartworm in the first place.

Heartworm prevention is safe, easy and inexpensive compared to treating a dog or cat after worms have matured into adults. While treatment for heartworm disease is possible, it is a complicated and expensive process, taking weeks for infected animals to recover and there is usually permanent damage to the heart. By investing in a preventive medication, you will spare your pet from this deadly disease and its complicated treatment. Talk to your veterinarian today to start a prevention program for your pets.

Dangers of Heartworm

Deworming Guidelines for Dogs & Puppies

Strategic deworming is a practice recommended by the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists (AAVP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Deworming Guidelines

Lawn Burn: The Cause & The Cure

Lawn burn is a common problem that results when the urine of your dog burns the grass in your lawn. If you have ever had to deal with this problem, you know how frustrating it is and how difficult it can be to prevent. There are many home remedies to correct this problem, but most of them are ineffective and a few of them actually make the situation worse. This article will describe the cause and contributing factors of lawn burn and give recommendations for preventing this problem in your own yard.

Before you start implementing changes to correct lawn burn, you need to make sure that your dog is actually the culprit. Several lawn diseases will look like lawn burn, with the small, characteristic brown patches. First, make sure that the brown spots are in areas where your dog urinates. Most dogs will have an area in the yard that they choose to use as the 'bathroom.' Secondly, make sure that the grass in the brown spots is still firmly attached. Grab a handful and give it a steady pull. If the grass is firmly rooted, then it points to lawn burn. If the whole bunch of grass pulls up, roots and all, then you may be dealing with a grub problem. And thirdly, make sure that your dog is the problem. If your neighbor's dog is coming into your yard and creating the problem it will not do any good to treat your own dog.

Lawn burn is caused by the nitrogen in dog urine. Because dog urine is very high in nitrogen, when the dog urinates, it is similar to pouring liquid fertilizer on the lawn. A little fertilizer is good for the grass, but an excess causes nitrogen burn. The prevention of lawn burn deals with trying to reduce the amount of nitrogen coming into contact with the grass.

There are several contributing factors that increase the likelihood of developing lawn burn.

• Female dogs are more likely to cause lawn burn than males because they void their entire bladder in one location instead of lifting their leg and marking, like males.
• Large dogs deposit more urine so they increase the quantity of nitrogen in one location, making lawn burn more likely.
• Those dogs, usually young active dogs, fed a high protein diet are more likely to produce a urine that causes lawn burn.
• Heavily fertilized yards are already receiving near maximum levels of nitrogen. The small amount of nitrogen in dog urine may be all that is needed to put these lawns over the edge and cause lawn burn.
• Lawns that are stressed are more susceptible to damage. Lawns that are suffering from drought, disease, or are newly sodded or seeded are more susceptible to lawn burn.

Successfully treating and preventing lawn burn often requires a multi-step approach.

1. Saturate the urinated spots with water. After the pet urinates, pour several cupfuls of water on the spot to dilute the urine.
2. Feed a high quality dog food that does not exceed the pet's protein requirement. High quality foods have more digestible protein sources that are more completely utilized by the pet and create less nitrogenous waste in the urine.
3. Encouraging your dog to drink more, will help dilute the urine and decrease the risk of lawn burn. Small amounts of non-salted broth in the drinking water may help increase your dog's water intake.
4. Train your dog to urinate in a location that is less visible. This approach is very effective for some owners that do not want to add supplements to their dogs' diet.
5. Replant your yard with more urine-resistant grasses. The most resistant grasses tend to be perennial ryegrasses and fescues. The most sensitive tend to be Kentucky bluegrass and Bermuda.
6. Feed your dog a supplement like Green-UM or Drs. Foster and Smith Lawn Guard, or apply a product to the lawn such as Dogonit Lawn Treatment. These products bind and neutralize the nitrogen in your pet's urine.
7. Reduce the stress on your lawn by not over- or under-fertilizing and by providing frequent watering.

Brown spots created by lawn burn are not a medical threat to your dog, however, they can be unsightly and potentially expensive to repair. By understanding the cause of these spots, and then making a few changes, you should be able to give your dog full range of the yard and still enjoy a trouble-free lawn.

5 Important Reasons to Clean up Pet Waste

Dealing with pet waste is one of those topics that every pet owner must deal with but no one likes to talk about. The fact is that the majority of community and neighborhood pet problems result from the inappropriate handling of pet waste. In addition, pet waste is the greatest source of potential health risk for your pet and your family. This article will highlight the five most important reasons to properly dispose of pet waste and will also give you some tips and products to make this chore easier.

#1. Disease Control
There are several very common diseases that can be transmitted to dogs, cats and people through feces. These include Giardia, roundworms, hookworms, Salmonella, and E.coli. Did you know a heavily infected puppy can pass over a million roundworm eggs everyday? In addition, your dog can spread or contract parvovirus or coronavirus through infected feces. All of these diseases are very serious and common and every effort should be made by pet owners to keep their pets and family away from potentially infected feces. One of the easiest ways to do this is to install an in-ground stool digester like the Doggie Dooley. These digesters work like mini septic systems, safely breaking down feces and then allowing the residue to harmlessly sink into the surrounding soil. These handy little gadgets are one of the best ways to deal with dog or cat waste.

#2. Make your Yard more Useable
Nobody likes to walk through a yard that is hiding "doggie land mines." If you and your children are afraid to use your yard because of the dog, then you are wasting one of your biggest time and financial investments. In addition, the pets will get less interactive exercise and suffer as well. Once or twice a day 'scooping' off your yard with a shovel or Grabber pet waste shovel will only take a couple of minutes and make it a place where everyone enjoys spending time.

#3. Fly Control
Flies will consume and lay eggs in feces. These same flies will then come into your house and then spread disease as they pause on your counter and food. Need we say more about keeping feces cleaned up to prevent this cycle?

#4. Responsible Pet Ownership
Your responsibility to clean up after your pet doesn't end when your dog leaves your yard. There are probably fewer things that aggravate neighbors more than a dog that 'goes' in their yard. Pet owners need to clean up after their pet every time they go to the bathroom. Period. No exceptions. If you are walking in the woods and your dog goes, then bury it. If you are in a park or neighborhood, pick it up with a plastic bag. If you don't have a yard, then walk your dog on a leash or get an electronic fence. Don't make your responsibility somebody else's problem.

#5. Preventing Stool Eating
While most dog owners think this doesn't apply to them or their dog, the shocking truth is that most dogs will engage in this unsavory practice at some point in their life. Dogs evolved as carnivore/scavengers and feces were considered fair game in lean times. To prevent this occasional indiscretion from becoming a life-long habit, clean up feces as soon as possible, especially in young dogs where the problem is most prevalent. At the first sign of this bad habit consider adding an oral product like Dis-Taste® to your dog's food to decrease the palatability of the stools.

Pet Odor: How to Control It

While eliminating odors at their source should always be your first priority, we recommend keeping a variety of odor eliminators near problem areas as a second line of defense against raised eyebrows from guests and family. A variety of odor-eliminating solutions are available, including absorbents, deodorizers, and disinfectants.

Trap lingering odors
Great for odor "hot spots" near the litter pan or garbage can, absorbents work like the box of baking soda in your fridge. The convenience of absorbents is you set them out and forget about it – they keep working while you're away.

Freshen your home
What's more welcoming than the smell of citrus, honeysuckle, peach blossoms, or a spring rain? There's a wide variety of aerosols, as well as scented decorative candles to match your décor.

Kill germs that cause odors
When you have multiple pets sharing the same kennel area, you need to tackle pet odors at their source: the germs that thrive on what our pets leave behind. Disinfectants use enzymes to "eat away" odors from hard surfaces like concrete floors and the insides of garbage containers. Better yet, by killing the germs, you're also reducing the risk of illness for you and your pets.

Of course, you can also reduce pet odors in your home by frequently grooming and bathing your pets, changing litter often, and quickly cleaning up the occasional accident. With so many odor-busting solutions available, it's easy to get a handle on offensive smells so that "You'd never know you have a pet!"

10 Tips for Controlling Shedding

One of the biggest nuisances faced by pet owners is unwanted hair in their homes. Nearly every dog and cat - regardless of their age or breed - sheds. Some breeds have more hair or thicker undercoats and will shed in higher quantities, but virtually all dogs and cats will shed hair. While we cannot stop a dog or cat from shedding, we can help reduce the amount of loose hair, and also effectively remove the hair so it doesn't create a problem in our homes.

Animals shed to get rid of old, damaged, or extra hair. Animals grow a heavy coat in the winter to help insulate themselves and then shed the extra hair in the summer. However, dogs will also shed broken or damaged hair, and if their skin is irritated from conditions such as allergies, they will also shed excessively. This article will give tips for keeping the dog's skin and hair healthy to reduce shedding as well as effectively remove the hair.

1. Brush your pet! Regular, even daily brushing is the best thing you can do to keep your home free of hair. Brushing will also make your pet's coat softer, cleaner, and less likely to shed. If you've never thought about it before, consider vacuuming your pet. While most cats resist vacuuming, many dogs love the massage from the vacuum attachment, and it is an effective way to remove pet hair.
2. Feed an appropriate pet food. A pet's coat is often a reflection of what they eat. Feed a high quality food with good digestible protein sources and a good source of fat. While low fat is good for the waistline, it is bad for the hairline.
3. Feed a fatty acid supplement. Giving supplements to your dog keeps his coat healthy and prevents broken or damaged hair which can lead to increased shedding.
4. Cover your furniture and car seats. Upholstery is a magnet for pet hair, and removing pet hair from furniture or car seats can be a tedious task. If you allow pets on your furniture or bed, you would be wise to invest in a few furniture throws. Throws will keep your furniture looking (and smelling) better, and make your home more inviting to guests. Car seat covers are also an excellent investment and are highly recommended.
5. Control allergies and fleas. Nothing makes hair fall out more than when a dog is scratching or biting at its skin and coat. If your pet is scratching because of allergies, supplement with Vitacaps® and Biotin to control inhalant allergies that irritate the skin. You should also see your veterinarian to make sure your pet is getting proper allergy relief. To prevent itching and scratching from fleas, use Bio Spot® or Advantage® to prevent and control infestations.
6. Vacuum often. Be diligent in your vacuuming efforts. Frequent vacuuming is the best way to keep your home hair free.
7. Bathe your dog occasionally during the summer. A clean dog will have a healthier coat. A gentle shed control shampoo once a week or so will help reduce shedding.
8. Feed an anti-shed supplement like VitaCoat or VitaCoat Plus. These products contain fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that are specifically formulated to reduce shedding.
9. Use the right brush. Slicker Brushes, Shedding Blades, Matbreakers and Grooming Gloves each have a specific function and work best on the type of coat they are designed for. Most pets need more than one type of brush to remove all of the dead hair.
10. Remove hair from upholstery as soon as possible. Hair that is newly shed is easier to remove before it works its way into upholstery fabric. A Tape Roller is one of the best tools for removing hair.

Remember that routine brushing and grooming are an important part of every pet's care. By paying attention to your pet's diet and following these tips, you can significantly reduce the amount of pet hair in your home, on your furniture, and in your car.

Choosing the Right Toys for Your Dog

Picking the right toy for your dog isn't always easy. It may take a little trial and error before you find that perfect toy your dog just won't leave alone.

Below we've tried to summarize the different kinds of toys to help you find "the one".

Rubber toys
Great jaw and mouth exercise for dogs that like to chew; keeps them occupied for hours; fun for fetch or non-interactive play; great for aggressive chewers because they are so durable. Some are hollow so you can put treats inside of them for extra fun. Examples include Kongs and Rhino Chew Toys.

Vinyl toys
Easily compressed by the bite of just about any-sized dog; usually have squeakers that almost all dogs enjoy.

Soft toys
Made of fleece, plush fabric; retains dog's scent for extended play; some have squeakers; great for fetch, other dogs just like to carry soft or plush toys around and snuggle.

Rope toys
Great for fetch, tug games, and chewing; often flavored; good for teeth and gums; they last a long time. Examples: Chew N' Floss Rope Toys, Sports Plush Rope Toys, and Canvas Elongated Toys.

Rawhide chews and bones
Chewing rawhide removes plaque from the dog's teeth and keeps them cleaner while the dog has a great time chewing; come in many flavors, sizes and shapes - from bones to chews.

Bone-Hard Toys & Chews
Great for dogs who love to chew; good for the teeth since they remove plaque and are nonabrasive; relieve boredom; come in various flavors and sizes. Nylabones are a long-lasting chew toy, as well as other bone-hard chew toys.

Many dogs are surprisingly finicky about the size, shape, or feel of the toys they'll play with. If your dog doesn't play with the soft plush toy you give him, try a rubber or bone-hard toy. Be patient and don't give up - you'll find the toy type your pet loves to play with.