FLUTD

As many pet parents know, urinary tract problems are a common kitty complaint. In part, that’s because cats evolved as desert animals, and therefore don’t have a strong instinctual drive to drink water. Not taking in enough fluids can result in a scenario where minerals pile-up in the kidneys and bladder, setting the stage for the formation of stones or crystals.

These problems are common enough that you should be on the lookout for these warning signs:

• Frequent urination
• Urination in places other than the litter box
• If she strains to urinate
• If you see any hint of blood in her urine

And now, there’s evidence to suggest that stress can be one of the primary causes of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD).
Read the entire article.

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How to Brush Your Dog's Teeth

While many people like the smell of puppy breath, the same can’t be said for “Dog breath”. It’s almost universally considered as eye-stingingly unpleasant. This phrase has even been used as a play-ground insult! While it’s a joke to some, when you look at the science behind foul panting, it’s clear that bad breath is anything but funny.

In fact, bad breath is epidemic, affecting four out of five companion animals over the age of three. Additionally, this condition could be a sign of dental disease, which can lead to health consequences throughout the whole body, not just in the mouth. As some veterinarians have rightly noted, infections of the gums and teeth can spread to other parts of the body, including the heart, kidneys and intestinal tract … even the joints!

Brushing your dog’s teeth and providing them with dental snacks are two ways to help improve the health of teeth and gums, especially in reducing the build-up of plaque. Unfortunately, however, many pet parents find brushing frustrating, which can result in a stressful experience for pets.

Thankfully, Dr. Sarah is here to share with you the proper technique for brushing your dog’s teeth.

If dental health is a priority for you, watch this short, how-to video about dental care, so you can help your pet fight dental disease and bad breath.
Click here to watch the video.

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Your dog is as smart as a two year old!

Researchers have found that dogs are capable of understanding up to 250 words and gestures, can count up to five and can perform simple mathematical calculations.

Using tests originally designed to demonstrate the development of language, pre-language and basic arithmetic in human children, the researchers were able to show that the average dog is far more intelligent than they are given credit for.
Read the entire article.

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Vaccine Sarcomas - Cats

A letter to the editor published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in October 1991 first raised the issue of a potential association between vaccination of cats for rabies and development of sarcomas. At about this same time, the vaccine industry had shifted from production of modified-live virus vaccines for rabies prophylaxis to killed-virus vaccines. This change had been encouraged by the USDA-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) primarily because of concerns about vaccine-induced disease with the use of modified-live rabies virus vaccines. Most killed-virus vaccines contain adjuvants to enhance the immune response, and injection of some killed-virus vaccines has been shown to result in inflammatory granulomas in cats.2 Some of these inflammatory granulomas to progress to sarcomas.read the entire article.

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Obey thy Dog! Grrrrrrowl!

Dogs growl. It is part of being a dog. Dogs growl to protect stuff, dogs growl to say "hey, that is enough of that" to other dogs, and dogs growl when they are having a good time sometimes.

Dogs growl for a reason. Aggression is a very expensive behavior in the big scheme of things. It takes a lot of energy and risk to react aggressively. A growl is a down-payment on an investment in aggressive behavior.

If something happens that causes your dog to growl - STOP. Do not push your dog any further. Say "Thank you!!" and retreat. Go sit at the kitchen table with a pad of paper and a pencil. Write down what time of day this happened, where it happened, what the dog was doing, what YOU were doing, and what was involved(dog bed, particular type of bone/chew, toy). Your dog was being polite when he told you, "Hey, I am not so sure about this. You better back off."

When a dog growls at us we have to respect that. We have somehow pushed him past his comfort point and we have to retrace our steps to find out where we went too far or wrong. By retreating from a growling dog we did, technically, reinforce him growling at us. That much is true and, in my book, totally okay. I will accept just a growl any day. By pushing him further, not backing away, we chance an even bigger display and possible injury due to his Plan A not working. Dogs don't miss when it comes to landing bites. Read the entire article.
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Nature's Sunshine Reduced Shipping

$3 Shipping
We're offering reduced shipping for a limited time! We would like to help you finish this month with a bang! Order online between October 30-31 (Friday and Saturday) and get $3 standard shipping* on orders of $100 or more. Click here to start shopping.

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Caring for an Older Dog

How to Care For an Older Dog
Detect, treat, (or prevent?) canine “cognitive dysfunction syndrome.”
By Lisa Rodier

Each of us has, at some point, wandered into a room and realized that we’ve forgotten why we’ve gone there. When that happens, chances are we are momentarily perturbed with ourselves, but typically we chalk it up to too much on the brain, remember why we’re there, then move on. Should our dogs wander in the same fashion, it could well be a sign of cognitive dysfunction syndrome

(CDS), a condition quite similar to Alzheimer’s in humans.

What’s wrong with this picture? When your dog suddenly has a difficult time remembering which way to enter a door (or which side of the door opens), he may be experiencing CDS.

CDS happens when the aging process affects brain pathology, resulting in behavioral changes, including cognitive decline (memory and learning). One of the biggest culprits is the damage done to mitochondria caused by oxidative damage over time. Researchers also believe that a decline in cerebral vascular circulation contributes to the changes we see in our aging dogs.

Dietary intervention

A variety of clinical studies have revealed that dietary intervention in the form of an antioxidant-enriched diet improved the learning ability of older dogs, and a resulted in a subsequent decrease in CDS symptoms. Primary supplementation included:

• Vitamin E: Acts to protect cell membranes from oxidative damage

• Vitamin C: Essential in maintaining oxidative protection for the soluble phase of cells as well as preventing Vitamin E from propagating free radical production

• L-Carnitine: Mitochondrial co-factor

• Alpha-lipoic acid: Mitochondrial co-factor

• Other antioxidants from fruits and vegetables (i.e., spinach flakes, tomato pomace, grape pomace, carrot granules, and citrus pulp) that are also rich in flavonoids and carotenoids .
Read the entire article.

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