Five Essential Nutrients for Healthy Skin and Coat

Keeping your companion animal’s skin healthy and coat shiny can prove challenging. Even though you might already feed a quality food, and brush and shampoo regularly, there’s more to this area of pet care than you might think. Veterinarians will tell you that the condition of the skin can be a good indicator of a pet’s overall health and nutrition status. That’s why wise pet parents should monitor their companion animal for any of these tell-tale signs … Read the entire article

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Spay Day USA

Spay Day USA fights pet overpopulation

For the past sixteen years, the last Tuesday of February has been “Spay Day USA” proclaimed by the Doris Day Animal Foundation. The annual drive, celebrated today, February 24th, highlights the life-saving benefits associated with spaying and neutering pets.

In addition to the obvious benefit—reducing pet overpopulation, spaying and neutering your pet promotes good health, longevity and reduces potential behavior problems.

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Canine Cognitive Dysfunction

Thanks to advances in health care and nutrition, our beloved family pets are living longer and longer. Senior pets are becoming the norm rather than the exception, and with the happy increase in the number of furry senior citizens, there has been a shift in health concerns for both veterinarians and pet parents alike.

One area of great concern for veterinarian and dog parent alike is the decline in a senior dog’s cognitive abilities or brain function. Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome, or CDS for short, is the term vets use to describe a degenerative brain disorder in senior dogs. Read the entire article

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Connection of Collars and Seizures

Dr. Karen Becker
Mercola.com
Below is an excerpt on the connection of collars and seizures:

"....Cervical subluxation can also cause seizures, and this is something many pet owners don’t realize. I see this type of seizure a lot in dogs that are chained outside. They run out the length of their chain chasing after a bunny, and when the chain snaps back against the neck it causes a high cervical traumatic injury of either the C1 vertebrae (the atlas) or C2, the axis.

The C1 is the first cervical vertebrae in animals, and it articulates with the brain stem. When there is increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure in the brain stem, it can lead to a seizure.

I recommend you harness your pet not only for walks, but also if he’s ever chained out. It’s important your pet is not able to increase pressure on the neck, because high cervical subluxations and other chiropractic issues in the neck can cause an increased likelihood of seizures...." Read the entire article

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Dog Fences: Invisible vs. Visible

Invisible Fence is one brand of shock collar fencing; “invisible” is a euphemism for pet containment systems that use electronic shock that humans can’t see but dogs can feel. Other brands are Petsafe, Dogtra, and SportDOG. Some systems have wires underground, some are wireless. I have only a few personal experiences with the brand “Invisible Fence,” so I’ll mostly comment on the product of invisible electric shock fencing in general, not the actual brand, except where I do have experience.

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New and Improved Skin and Coat Formula

We are happy to announce that Dr. Jane has done it again! She has made a great product even better with the new-and-improved Skin & Coat Formula!

In addition to Skin & Coat's original health-promoting ingredients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and vitamins E and A, the new-and-improved formula now contains vitamin C and six different B vitamins. These added nutrients work synergistically with the other ingredients in Skin & Coat to provide companion animals with a comprehensive formula to promote and maintain skin and coat health. Click here for more information!

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More Options - Vaccines

PRNewswire -- Biogal-Galed Labs and Modern Veterinary Therapeutics, LLC (Miami, FL) Announce the Official Launch of Biogal's Canine VacciCheck in the USA.

Biogal will officially launch the Canine VacciCheck in the USA at the North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) on January 15-19th 2011 in Orlando, Florida. This conference is the major event of the year in the United States for the small animal veterinarian industry, attracting over 15,000 participants.

"We at Biogal see this as an ideal opportunity to present to our customers a product that can assist in reducing over vaccination and subsequent potential adverse reactions for dogs" said Amos Gershony, Biogal's General Manager.

The Canine VacciCheck kit is intended to be used as a diagnostic tool to evaluate the antibody response to the core vaccination or infection by Infectious Canine Hepatitis, Canine Parvovirus and Distemper Virus. Read the entire article

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Dogs are Dangerous!

By: Patricia McConnell

As is often the case with all of us, my agenda for today changed after a phone call that got my attention. A reporter for CNN called, and asked what I thought about an article that just came out in Emerging Infectious Diseases (the journal of the Center for Disease Control). Titled “Zoonoses in the Bedroom,” the article by B.B. Chomel and B. Sun provides a list of anecdotes and a few studies that link sleeping with pet dogs and cats with serious diseases. The same connection is made with kissing pets, and being licked by them. They conclude by saying that “Our review suggests that persons, especially young children or immunocompromised persons, should be discouraged from sharing their bed with their pets or regularly kissing their pets. Any area licked by a pet, especially for young children or immunocompromised persons or an open wound, should be immediately washed with soap and water.” Read the entire article

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12 Common Pet Myths

By: Amy D. Shojai

For centuries, people created fanciful stories to explain puzzling animal antics. Many of these myth-understandings about cat and dog behaviors linger on, even though modern veterinary and behavior experts have uncovered scientific explanations for these issues. Here we lay 12 common myths to rest. Read the entire article

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Great Place for Great Dog and Cat Tips!

Best Friends Animal Society has put together a great site with lots of good information on dog and care. Check it out! Click here for dog care!
Click here for cat care!


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Feline Socialization 101

By IAABC Member Sally E. Bahner

With all the cats available for adoption, it’s easy to choose the cute kitten playing with its littermates or the gentle adult that comes readily to the cage door.

The challenge lies with the cat who has come from a situation of neglect or abuse: she’s the one who is pressed to the back of the cage or hiding under the blankets. Worse yet, she’s been on her own for Lord knows how long and has been hanging around your yard. With cold weather coming, you don’t think she’ll survive in the rain and snow.

When the decision is made to bring this little outcast into your life, a plan is needed to make her feel comfortable and secure in her new home.

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Breed Wars

Consumer demand for purebred and cross-bred puppies coupled with strict new domestic breeding laws is believed to be driving importation numbers higher and higher. To exacerbate the problem, federal regulators have no real way of tracking exactly how many dogs are brought in the country, where they come from, where they are going and whether importers are following up on vaccination requirements for underage puppies.

Here we tackle the issue from every angle and give you the latest updates.

Analysis:
States crack down on puppy mills
At last count, 287,000 dogs crossed U.S. borders, and officials fear importation problems are getting worse. Read the entire article

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