Dog Health
October 30th, 2007 at 03:37pm
Under Dog Health
Dogs being naturally curious and scavengers, tend to eat almost anything. The danger is that there are potentially dangerous substances lurking in your home that could kill your beloved dog.
I have compiled a list of 8 common household items that you need to keep out of the reach of your dog.
NEWS UPDATE: I’ve come across this incredible resource book titled “Veterinary Secrets Revealed” written by Dr Andrew Jones who has practiced Veterinary Medicine for over 10 years. In his book, he reveals simple secrets to safeguard your pet’s health, Slash Vet Bills, and even save your pet’s life!
He teaches over 1,000 safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet that are easy to understand. You don’t need a degree in Veterinary Science to implement them 
I highly recommend this definitive manual if you are searching for information on vets, dog health and illnesses. To get more info, visit his site by clicking here->The Veterinary Secret …ok then.. back to the article..
1) Chocolate:
Chocolate! How can chocolate kill my dog? One of the ingredients of chocolate is a chemical by the name of obromine which is quite toxic to dogs.
There are two types of chocolate that are especially dangerous to dogs; Baking chocolate & dark chocolate.
It normally takes huge amounts of chocolate to kill a dog but in some cases ingesting smaller amounts can poison and kill the dog.
If your dog has been poisoned by chocolate, it will start to vomit, diarrhea and urinate more frequently.
If this is not treated immediately, the dog will start having seizures & unusual heart rhythms.
2) Antifreeze
You may not realize this but antifreeze kills a lot of pets every year. Its sweet smell and lovely taste appeals to many dogs. Ethylene glycol, which is a key ingredient in antifreeze, is toxic and kills many animals if ingested.
Symptoms of antifreeze poisoning include the dog vomiting, having seizures, stumbling and being lethargy causing it to have kidney failure. Please ensure that you keep your antifreeze away from your pet and should the dog ingest the substance, take him to the vet as soon as possible.
3) Bleach
Household bleach is toxic to dogs. All products that contain bleach need to be kept away from the dog’s reach.
Dogs that have been poisoned by bleach show symptoms of abdominal pain, vomiting and drooling.
Please don’t induce vomiting if you suspect that your dog has ingested bleach.
Contact your veterinarian immediately.
4) Tylenol
2 regular strength Tylenol tablets are enough to kill a small dog.
The reason is that dogs don’t have the appropriate enzymes in their liver necessary to break down acetaminophen.
Dogs that have ingested Tylenol will start to drool, become lethargic and have abdominal pain.
Contact your vet immediately if you suspect that your dog has ingested Tylenol.
5) Fabric Softeners and other detergents:
At some level, all household detergents are harmful to dogs but fabric softeners are far more toxic to dogs.
Dogs that have been poisoned by softeners and detergents exhibit symptoms of vomiting, have burns in the mouth, drool, their muscles become weak and can even go to a coma.
Do NOT induce vomiting if your dog has ingested any detergents or softeners. Contact your vet immediately.
6) Moth Balls:
Moth balls are lethal if ingested by dogs because they contain a substance that causes the central nervous system of the dog to be excited resulting in seizures.
When the chemicals in the moth balls are metabolized, they cause the liver of the dog to fail! A dog that has been poisoned by moth balls will start to vomit and also have seizures.
Do not induce vomiting if the dog looks poisoned but seek proper medical advice from a vet.
7) Batteries of Watches:
Watch battery acid causes fatal ulceration in the stomach of the dog within 12 hours after ingestion.
Also, other alkaline batteries are toxic to dogs. A dog that has swallowed battery acid will start to drool, lose appetite, vomit and also become lethargic.
Seek immediate help from your vet.
Household Plants:
You might be having a popular household plant in your home and are not aware that it’s poisonous to your dog.
Good example of plants that are poisonous to your dog include; Poinsettias, Lilies, Ferns, Devil’s ivy, Aloe and Ivy
If we are cautious, we can prevent our lovable dogs from swallowing poisonous substances that can be fatal to them.
The internet has lots of information that will help you be wiser regarding your pet and how to care for your pet in order to prevent such disasters from happening.
If you suspect that your dog might have eaten something poisonous, the best advice I can give you is you ensure you contact your vet immediately and if possible take your dog to the nearest emergency pet clinic.
Dont forget: Read more info on “Veterinary Secrets Revealed” book written by Dr Andrew Jones. Discover simple secrets on how to safeguard your pet’s health, Slash Vet Bills, and even save your pet’s life! Learn over 1,000 safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet that you can easily accomplish in the comfort of your home..no Veterinary Science degree required here!! Visit his site here-> The Veterinary Secrets
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By Gerald Njuguna
September 15th, 2007 at 02:11pm
Under Dog Health
Want to take your dog to the vet? I’m sure you have lots of questions in your mind concerning the best vet to work with. Where do you start from?
Normally, when searching for a dog vet, we look through the phone book until we find one close to our house.
But just like a doctor, you might not be happy with his “bedside” manner. I know of some folks who complain that their dog vet does not handle their dog carefully.
In this article we will try to answer some of your questions that you might have when choosing the best vet for your dog.
If you have close neighbours or family members that have pet animals, ask them for advice on a good vet. If they have someone in mind, ask the experience that they have had with him. Is he gently with the animal? Does he/she have a thorough understanding of the problem and after does he he explain it to you in an understandable way?
A good vet is not only good with animals, but also friendly with people. If your instincts make you feel uncomfortable about the him, dont go back. Even if he has a very good reputation, dont put yourself under pressure to go back.
Another place you might want to go is the Veterinary Medical Board to see if their is a complain lodged against the vet. You can also look at AAHA - American Animal Hospital Association. These are vet hospitals that have achieved high animal care standards. The vet hospitals in these associations fill out a comprehensive report revealing the equipment and services that they offer.
Later, a consultant goes and inspects the facilities of the vet hospitals to make sure they meet AAHA’s standards. The consultant in particular check out these areas: medical records, dentistry, anesthesia, dentistry and surgery.
When you have this piece of information beforehand, you will have some piece of mind before deciding on which vet to use. Currently, there are only about seventeen animal hospitals in the US & Canada that are affiliated with AAHA. To find these hospitals please search through the Healthypet’s Hospital Locator.
Now that you’ve decided which vet you are going to work with, make an appointment to meet the him as well as his staff. Make a mental note of how the staff interacts with other people in the hospital as with each other. When in the building, request them to allow you to tour the facility. It would be a good idea not to ask to take the tour in advance. This way you can see how the facility is kept without being warned of a visitor.
Check out the cleanliness of the facilities in particular the kennel areas. Should you see dirty kennels and animal droppings on the floor, it might indicate that probably they do not have enough staff to take care of the animals. Cleanliness is very important due to the spread of diseases among the animals. Do ask the vet if he will allow you to sit and watch when the pet is being treated. This will allow your to see how he handles the pet as well as the owner.
In the US, its a requirement that a vet practicing has to have graduated from an accredited school. Like any doc, the certificates and licenses are usually displayed somewhere in the office. If you cant see any displayed, ask him about it in a light touch. As you check it out, scrutinize it to see if its current.
Also do ask about the emergency care? Do they offer it? An accident can happen to your dog anytime and you need to know if they offer 24/7 emergency pet care?
If its at all possible, i would suggest that you get a vet that is close to your home. If you’ve taken pet insurance for your dog, find out if they will accept it. If they don’t, find out what payment plans they accept. Just be aware that vet bills can turn out to be very costly.
Getting a good vet that you are comfortable to work with will take you some effort. Compare notes and then finally go with your gut instinct.
NEWS UPDATE: I’ve come across this incredible resource book titled “Veterinary Secrets Revealed” written by Dr Andrew Jones who has practiced Veterinary Medicine for over 10 years. In his book, he reveals simple secrets to safeguard your pet’s health, Slash Vet Bills, and even save your pet’s life!
He teaches over 1,000 safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet that are easy to understand. You don’t need a degree in Veterinary Science to implement them I highly recommend this definitive manual if you are searching for information on vets, dog health and illnesses. To get more info, visit his site by clicking here->The Veterinary Secrets
By Gerald Njuguna
September 12th, 2007 at 04:35pm
Under Dog Health
All dog owners have to deal with dog fleas whether they like it or not! Fleas, which are brown in color, are insects with no wings that have sharp mouths that they use to bite into the dogs to get their food.
They cause the dog to scratch themselves in the affected areas. Some dogs are sensitive and can be allergic to flea bites.
Generally, fleas do not transmit diseases to humans from dogs but they can bite humans as well as cats. Fleas prefer warm climate and will live in the ground in the cool climate seasons.
If your dog scratches itself continuously, its a sign that it probably has fleas. I would advice that you take the dog first to the vet to have him checked out.
The vet will probably use a flea comb on the dog. Flea combs are wide tooth combs and remove “flea dirt” or dried blood flea excrement. If this is found, your veterinarian will recommend treatment. Most vets will always advise you to go for preventative treatment is its less expensive to do so.
Most of us would probably want to avoid the hassle of going to a vet and want a quick fix to sort out the problem. One of the things you can do is to comb your dog with a flea comb regularly. Put some petroleum jelly on the comb to help trap the fleas to the comb.
You can also use rubbing alcohol to slow down the fleas so that you can have an easier time catching them.
For those that prefer a natural approach to treating fleas, you can use Brewers Yeast and Garlic added as supplements to your dog’s food. However, this method of treatment is yet to be proven.
You can also go for over the counter flea treatments. Most of the over the counter treatments contain pyrethrins, which are natural insecticides derived from the chrysanthemum plant. Should you decide to use products that contain pyrethrins, be aware of the side effects!
Any product that contains pyrethrins has the potential of being toxic at some level not just to the animal, but to you as well!. Please make sure YOU FOLLOW the usage instructions found on the labels and if you are not sure, please consult your vet.
There are much safer products available out there in the market. One of the treatment that comes to mind is Frontline Plus by Merial. Its applied to the back of the neck on the skin of your dog. According to the manufacturers, the treatment will destroy 98-100 percent of the adult fleas within a 24 hr period and also destroy the eggs and larvae. They also say that Frontline Plus is water resistant for 30 days and safe to use on your puppies as young as 8 weeks.
Sentinel by Novartis is another popular flea treatment product. Sentinel is taken on a monthly basis and it alos prevents heartworms. Sentinel destroys the adult fleas, eggs, and its larvae. Novartis also makes other flea control products Program & Capstar.
Program is in tablet form and is also given on a monthly basis. What it does is interrupt the flea life cycle by stopping the eggs from developing fully but does not kill the fleas themselves. You are safe to use Program on puppies that are 4 weeks of age and.
Capstar on the other hand kills adult fleas. You can give it to the dog once per day. The manufacturer claims that the pill will kill the fleas within 30 minutes of ingestion and that one pill is enough to kill all adult fleas. Capstar is safe for dogs and puppies four weeks of age and older.
Its much easier to prevent fleas than to treat them. As a precaution when giving medication, its good to always seek the advice of your vet.
NEWS UPDATE: I’ve come across this incredible resource book titled “Veterinary Secrets Revealed” written by Dr Andrew Jones who has practiced Veterinary Medicine for over 10 years. In his book, he reveals simple secrets to safeguard your pet’s health, Slash Vet Bills, and even save your pet’s life!
He teaches over 1,000 safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet that are easy to understand and can be implemented at home. You don’t need a degree in Veterinary Science to do them I highly recommend this definitive manual if you are searching for information on dog fleas. To get more info, visit his site by clicking here->The Veterinary Secret .
By Gerald Njuguna
September 11th, 2007 at 05:07pm
Under Dog Health
Most people don’t seem to realize how important it is to care for the teeth of their dogs. Just like humans, as the dog ages, so do the teeth need more care.
The best way to ensure that your dog ’s teeth are in good health is to start caring for them while they are still young. So how do you go about brushing and cleaning the teeth of your dog?
Most dogs don’t like their mouths being touched so its important that as a dog owner you teach them early to let you touch their mouths.
When you go to the vet he/she will want to examine the dog’s mouth and you wouldn’t want him to have trouble with your dog. So teach the dog early by touching its lips, opening the mouth and feeling its teeth in a relaxed manner for about 5 minutes each day.
With time your dog will get used to your hands and fingers. Make this a regular habit so that he learns how to remain calm when you are doing any kind of preventive dental care.
Most vets would advise you to brush the teeth of your dog on a daily basis. There are many different kinds of toothpastes in the market right now for dogs. Never use human toothpaste on your dog cause its harmful to them.
To get your dog used to his teeth being brushed, start by putting some toothpaste on a cotton ball and gently rub it all over his teeth. Toothpaste for dogs is usually quite yummy to them, so he wont mind having it in his mouth.
Use a finger brush on him to brush his teeth. With time, you will need to start using a regular dog toothbrush. Brushing the teeth of your dog on a regular basis will prevent calculus and debris from building up on his teeth.
There are other ways to prevent calculus from accumulating on your dog’s teeth. One way is to use rawhide chews made for dogs. There are many companies out there that make these dog chews. One of the best available for dog dental care is by C.E.T.
C.E.T. chews contain a certain enzyme that prevent plaque from forming on the dog’s teeth and also minimize bacteria from building up.
Also, the rawhide chews are rough and this helps keep the teeth healthy and strong. Let me just add here that even with the best measures that you use to prevent tooth decay, you will still need to visit your vet at one time in order for the dog’s teeth to be properly cleaned.
Should the vet recommend that the dog’s teeth be cleaned, please ensure that you honor his/her request. The danger is that if your dog develop a disease on its teeth, bad bacteria might pass through its blood system which could end up destroying the its kidneys or even develop heart problems!
When you take your dog to the vet, you will notice that the dental cleaning that he will perform will be similar to that done humans but the major difference here is that your dog needs to be sedated. Don’t worry, the anesthesia is light and is safe.
The vet will start by performing an examination to determine if any teeth need to be removed or repaired. He might even go as far as do an x-ray. After this is done, dental cleaning can now be performed.
First, the teeth are scaled to remove all tarter. This is done using electronic as well as hand equipment. When he finishes doing this, the teeth are then polished to make them smooth and prevent plaque from sticking to the teeth. A fluoride treatment might also be done here. This helps the enamel to be stronger and also prevent plaque from forming again. Should the vet find any diseased teeth, they will be removed.
Some skilled vets can also perform root canal on your dog! The dog will then be put on antibiotics to prevent infection from bacteria.
As you can see, its very important to take good care of your dog’s teeth to keep them healthy. Please do follow the advise of your vet and should you have any other questions, do consult a pet profession
Side Note: As i put up this article i realized i need to also get my teeth checked and cleaned..he he
NEWS UPDATE: I’ve come across this incredible resource book titled “Veterinary Secrets Revealed” written by Dr Andrew Jones who has practiced Veterinary Medicine for over 10 years. In his book, he reveals simple secrets to safeguard your pet’s health, Slash Vet Bills, and even save your pet’s life!
He teaches over 1,000 safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet that are easy to understand and can be implemented at home. You don’t need a degree in Veterinary Science to do them I highly recommend this definitive manual if you are searching for information on dogs health. To get more info, visit his site by clicking here->The Veterinary Secret .
By Gerald Njuguna
September 10th, 2007 at 03:21pm
Under Dog Health
How Long Are Dogs Pregnant & What To Expect From Your Dog
Is your dog about to have puppies? Puppies are cute to have but their is a lot of work involved in maintaining them. If your dog is pregnant, i have compiled some tips on how to get your dog ready for birth.
Dogs are pregnant for about 63 days. This is not a very long time so you need to make sure you are ready before the puppies arrive on the scene.
During this period make sure that you are feeding your dog on a regular basis and feeding her healthy foods. Pregnant dogs need to be fed more than usual. You may need to move to a growth type of food or puppy food during the pregnancy. Do this by reducing the quantity of regular feed that you give your dog and at the same time increasing the amount of new food.
Its advisable that you carry this out over a period of about 1 week in order to prevent the dog from having loose stool. I would also advice you to consult your veterinarian to know the appropriate diet for your dog. Please ensure that you feed your dog a high quality diet. Their is no need for you to supplement the dog diet with vitamins unless a dog doctor recommends it.
Your dog may exhibit symptoms similar to morning sickness that affects women around the third week of the pregnancy Should the morning persist for more than one week, please visit the vet doctor to find out if their are any hidden with the dog.
The dog also needs to be exercised during the pregnancy period. You need to take the dog out on walks but if your dog is the working dog type or a sports dog, you need to stop until the puppies are weaned.
Three weeks before delivery, you need to isolate the pregnant dog from other dogs. Continue to isolate the dog at least three weeks after the puppies are born. The reason is that dogs that are not vaccinated can carry infectious diseases that can be very harmful to puppies.
If your dog is due for vaccination during the pregnancy, hold off on this until after the puppies are weaned. Vaccination during pregnancy can be harmful to the fetuses. An ideal situation is to vaccinate the dog before it breeds
Provide the dog a comfortable place to whelp and raise its puppies when the time to deliver draws near. An ideal place would provide easy access to the dog to come and go, but also confining the puppies.
The temperature of the dog drops down slightly when the dog is about to deliver. You can monitor this with a rectal thermometer. Normal canine temperature is about 1oo to 102 degrees. When the temperature drops below 100 degrees, the dog is about to go on labor in 24 hrs.
When dogs go into labor, they start to vomit and become restless, pant and even shiver. Don’t freak out, this is normal. Do provide the dog fresh water at all times. Labor lasts about 12 hours. When puppies are being delivered, they come out covered with a thin membrane. The mother normally removes this membrane and if she does not, please clear the membrane otherwise the puppies might suffocate. Puppies come out 1/hr with upto half an hour of straining between deliveries.
If your dog does not deliver within one day, if she is straining to deliver for more than one hour or if it takes more than four hour break between pups, you need to call the vet immediately as this might be indicative of a problem.
It is always important to discuss all of your concerns and what to expect with your veterinarian prior to delivery.
NEWS UPDATE: I’ve come across this incredible resource book titled “Veterinary Secrets Revealed” written by Dr Andrew Jones who has practiced Veterinary Medicine for over 10 years. In his book, he reveals simple secrets to safeguard your pet’s health, Slash Vet Bills, and even save your pet’s life!
He teaches over 1,000 safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet that are easy to understand and can be implemented at home. You don’t need a degree in Veterinary Science to do them I highly recommend this definitive manual if you are searching for information on dogs pregnancy. To get more info, visit his site by clicking here->The Veterinary Secret .
By Gerald Njuguna