Hairballs

I promised to keep you updated on using olive oil for prevention of hairballs and am sorry I didn't post this sooner but you know how life gets at times.

Anyway, I started out putting a little olive oil in my cats canned food every day but after a couple of weeks I decided to cut down the frequency to once or twice a week. I haven't found any hairballs in quite a while so I'm going to keep giving them this treatment.

I hope everyone is staying warm and having a great holiday season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Vaccinations for dogs

There has been a lot of debate over the last few years as to whether vaccinations help or hurt a pets immune system. This is a decision that each pet owner has to make for themselves.

I believe in vaccinations so I am going to give you the vaccination schedule for dogs in this blog.

A puppy should be started on vaccinations when they are 8 weeks old. The initial vaccination is to protect against distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, parvovirus and corona virus. Some vets recommend a vaccination that includes leptospirosis while others include this only for hunting breeds.

A booster needs to be given every 2-3 weeks until the puppy is 4 months old. At that time the puppy gets the final DHPPC booster and their rabies vaccination.

If you adopt an adult dog and it has either never had vaccinations or you do not know it's history, then the safest thing to do is have it vaccinated with the DHPPC and the rabies vaccination and booster the DHPPC in 2-3 weeks.

Once you puppy or dog has received it's final vaccinations it will need to vaccinated with DHPPC and rabies every year thereafter.

Of all the diseases dogs are vaccinated against the parvovirus is the most commonly seen by veterinarians. If you talk to many dog owners, you will always find they either had a dog who contracted parvo or they know someone who's dog had it.

Below I have listed all the diseases with their descriptions and symptoms.

• D = Distemper:
Distemper is a nasty virus that is highly contagious, occurs world wide, and at one time was the leading cause of death in puppies. Young puppies are more susceptible to the virus then adult dogs. You may see signs of an upper respiratory infection with a high fever, the dog may also have neurological signs. This disease is often fatal.

• H = Hepatitis or Adenovirus-2:
This is spread by contact with the urine and feces of infected animals. The virus causes liver and kidney damage, animals that survive may have chronic illness. Symptoms include but are not limited to: fever, lethargy, anorexia, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.

• L = Leptospirosis:
This disease affects the liver and kidneys and is deadly. Animals with this disease are contagious to other animals and humans. A positive dog should be isolated and the caregiver should wear protective clothing and gloves. The disease is spread through contact with urine of infected animals. Dogs with leptospirosis may show signs of lethargy, dehydration, jaundice, and fever.

• P = Parainfluenza:
This is a virus that causes an upper respiratory infection. Dogs usually contract the disease through contact with nasal secretions of infected dogs.

• P = Parvovirus:
This virus attacks the intestinal tract and causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. Parvo is highly contagious, dogs contract the virus through contact with an infected animals stools. Without treatment dogs become dehydrated and weak and often die. This virus is very common and puppies who are not properly vaccinated are often afflicted. Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers seem to be at greater risk for parvo.

• C = Corona virus:
This virus attacks the intestinal system similar to parvovirus. Infected dogs suffer from vomiting and diarrhea and dehydration. Keep your pet vaccinated and your yard clean to protect your pet.

Changing Food

Everyone has reasons from time to time to change their pets food. Some animals do fine no matter what food you feed them but others do not.

The best way to change your pets food is to do it gradually. This will help prevent stomach upset and diarrhea.

Whenever you are going to switch to a new food make sure you have some of the old food left. The first day you feed the new food you should mix about 10% of the new food with 90% of the old food.

If your pet does fine with this, then on the second day increase the new food by about 10% while decreasing the old food by the same amount.

At this point if your pet is still doing fine, keep increasing the new food by 10% every day until you get to the point where you are no longer adding any of the old food.

Years ago I had a lab puppy that I decided to feed Iams because I had been told it was so much better for him than any other food on the market. This puppy had very bad smelly gas so I decided to change his food.

I did the gradual change to Science Diet but he still had a bad gas problem. At this point I decided to go back to using Purina Puppy Chow since the puppies I had in the past had been fed this without having gas.

Once again I did the gradual change and by the time I was feeding only Purina, the gas problem was gone. I'm telling you this because some people think a gassy dog is just a problem they have to put up with but sometimes it can be helped by a simple diet change.

Senior Dogs

If you have been reading my blogs, you know that I adopted Beau when he was 2 years old from a rescue group. They found him in a pound in St. Louis, MO that kept no records of how the pets arrived at the pound or anything about their history so his age was just a best guess.

I have had Beau for just over 9 years now so if they guessed his age right, he was 11 years old in July. A dog is considered senior at 7 and should be started on senior dog food which is easier for their system to digest and has more of the nutrients that an older dog needs.

We have all been told that puppies need to be fed 2-3 times a day but after a year old you can go to feeding once a day which is what I did for many years. A couple of years ago my husband and I got to talking about the dogs feeding schedule and we decided to feed twice a day. When you really think about it, it doesn't seem right to feed them one big meal every day. We are told to eat more smaller meals instead of a couple of big meals so it just makes sense that the same would apply to them.

At the time we had Beau and Pepper, the black lab mix who's picture is posted on one of my blogs. Pepper is the kind of dog that will eat everything you give her and still want more. Beau never has been a big eater so going to 2 smaller meals worked out great for him.

A big thing you need to watch for in any dog but especially older dogs is overeating. If a dog is over weight, it not only puts strain on their joints but also their internal organs. It's really hard to say no to those begging eyes but treats need to be given in moderation.

I started Beau on a natural diet about 3 months ago and he's been doing great on it! He has always been one that I had to coax to eat but now he gets very excited about meal times. I do give him about a third of a cup of senior dog food with about a cup and a half of the natural diet. When I was feeding just the natural diet he seemed hungry all the time and by adding a little dry food he seems more satisfied.

If you are interested in feeding a natural diet, I posted the recipe in my June 27, 2009 blog. You can type "recipe" in the search bar at the right to pull that blog up. I am getting ready to start experimenting with different recipes and will keep you posted on how that goes.

Through my travels I have talked to a lot of pet owners and picked up good advice along the way. One owner's vet had told him the best thing he could do for his senior dog was to keep his mind stimulated. If a dog is left to just lay around all day in the yard, on a chain or even in the house, he has little to occupy his mind and will go downhill just like people do.

This owner's solution to keeping his senior dog's mind stimulated was to take him to the vet's office early every morning before the office opened and let him walk around the building smelling where all the other dogs had been the day before. His dog looked forward to this and thoroughly investigated every smell around the building.

Our solution to keeping Beau stimulated was to get another dog for him to play with. I take Beau for several walks a day and he enjoys checking out new smells but we could tell that he needed more. Beau has never been an only dog since I've had him so I knew he enjoyed other canine companionship.

We got Katie as a puppy and she fell in love with Beau instantly but it took him a couple of weeks to really start interacting with her. They love playing together and he is much more active and happy.

One of the first thing people ask me when they meet Beau is if he has any trouble with his hips. A couple of years ago I started giving him glucosomine hoping to delay any potential joint problems. He does have a little arthritis and needs help getting into the back of my jeep but he is doing great!!

Hairballs

If you have ever had a cat, you have found hairballs in various places where they have thrown up. When cats groom or clean themselves they naturally ingest hair. Some of this hair will pass naturally but some will stay in their digestive tract where it can cause them problems.

If the hair starts building up in their stomach, it will cause them to throw up hairballs from time to time. If the hair builds up in their intestines, it can cause a blockage that can be life threatening.

One way to help prevent hairball problems is to brush or comb your cat every day. This sounds simple enough but we all get busy and forget or you may have a cat that hates to be brushed making it a real battle.

Another way is to give hairball remedy 2-3 times a week. This is an over the counter product that you can get from a vet or almost any store that has a pet section. The problem with this is that we have a tendency to forget to give it or the cat hates it and it becomes a battle of wills to get them to eat it.

A few weeks ago I read that olive oil is good for helping to relieve hairballs. I give my 4 cats canned food twice a day. When I open the can in the morning I pour a little over a tablespoon of olive oil into the canned food and mix it up well. I divide half the can between them in the morning and they get the other half in the evening. I have been doing this for 3 weeks now and have not found any hairballs laying around during that time.

I will keep you posted on the success or failure of the olive oil treatment. If anyone else has found an effective yet simple way to treat hairballs, I would love to hear it.

Scooting

We've all seen dogs scoot on their butts at some point in our lives and heard people say they must have worms. This is not always the case.

If you know your dog is parasite free, then he could be having a problem with his anal sacs. The anal sacs are located on each side of the anus at approximately the 4:00 and 8:00 position.

Most dogs express their anal sacs when they defecate but there are many who need our help to empty these sacs or glands. When these sacs fill up it is very uncomfortable and sometimes he will scoot or chew at his back end trying to relieve the pressure.

If he cannot release the fluid in his anal sacs, it will build up and can become infected if left too long. If an anal sac becomes infected, it can abcess and rupture causing a nasty smelly discharge to start oozing from around the rectum.

An infected anal sac can be a very serious matter. Keeping the area clean so it can heal is very difficult since every time the dog defecates he gets fecal matter in it.

The best way to keep your dog's anal sacs from becomong a serious problem is to take him to a vet or groomer who can express the anal sacs. When the vet expresses a dog's anal sacs, he will put on a glove and insert one finger into the anus. He will then locate the anal sacs and gently express the sac using his finger and thumb. Be prepared that some people do gag when they smell the anal sac odor.

There are some vets and groomers who are able to express the anal sacs externally. They will gently squeeze the anal sac from the outside of the anus until all the fluid is removed.

Not all dogs scoot when they have a problem with their anal sacs. Some dogs chew at their rectum, tail or back legs. Other dogs will start holding up one back leg and limp around. Still others will suddenly start screaming in pain or jump around acting like they have been bit or stung.

Some dogs have chronic anal sac problems and may need to have them expressed as often as every 2 weeks. Others will only have to have them expressed once or twice a year. My shepard had an anal sac problem when he was 2 years old and has never had the problem since.

There are also some cats that have anal sac problems. I have never seen a cat scoot on her butt but I have seen them lick the hair around the base of their tail and their back legs until they had bald patches. Anal sac problems are not as common in cats but I have had 2 cats in my life that had to have their sacs expressed regularly by a vet.

Recently I was visiting with a new neighbor and saw her dog scoot twice while we were talking. Finally I had to say something because a lot of pet owners don't know about anal sacs and I didn't want to see the dog suffer needlessly.

When I asked her if her dog had anal sac problems, she told me that she had taken the dog to the vet because it scooted all the time. The dog was checked for parasites and her anal sacs were checked. The vet said that the dog had no health problems - it just had an itchy butt and she was too overweight to scratch it any other way!!!

Spaying and neutering

Recently I heard an opinion on spaying that I haven't heard in years....that a female pet should have one heat cycle before spaying. This is totally false!!! When I was a kid everyone believed that a dog or cat should have at least one litter before spaying. Where this came from I'll never know but it probably helped contribute to the overpopulation of dogs and cats we have been experiencing for years.

Female dogs and cats should be spayed before they ever go into heat which is around six months of age. If a female dog or cat is allowed to go into heat, it increases the risk of mammary tumors later in life.

Besides the risk of mammary tumors, the heat cycle is extremely stressful not only for your pet but also for you. The female cat quivers and cries almost constantly and seems to be in pain while the female dog bleeds and smells.

Somehow male dogs and cats are able to sense females in heat and suddenly there are suitors everywhere. The males are fighting each other in their desire to be the first to mate. Walking your female dog is almost impossible because you are having to fend off males wanting to get to her.

I was 19 when I got my first cat and was not aware of the all the things involved with a heat cycle. My cat was crying all the time and everytime I touched her, she quivered all over and seemed to be in pain. I felt so helpless and sorry for her. I kept her inside so the males couldn't get to her but they stayed around my house yowling all through the nights. Their yowl would make my skin crawl and I had nightmares about being attacked if I went outside.

Male cats should definitely be neutered by 6-7 months of age. When the male cat matures, he develops an odor to his urine that will run you out of the house!!! Not only will the smell be horrible but he will start marking his territory by spraying urine inside and outside the house. Once he has developed the habit of spraying it is very, very difficult to break. If he is allowed outside, he will get into fights with other tom cats and you'll have to deal with bite wounds, scratches and abcesses.

While the male dog doesn't develop the strong urine odor, he will still mark his territory with urine and get into fights. Also, you may find that he will start straying away from home to find the females.

The bottom line is that unless your pet has a great championship bloodline, there is no good reason not to spay or neuter your pet. The shelters are full of homeless dogs and cats so why not give one of them a home instead of creating more animals that may one day end up in the shelter.

The Animal Rescue Site

By taking a minute out of your day and going to The Animal Rescue Site and clicking on the purple "Click to Give" button, you can help feed and care for shelter animals. Everytime you click on this button food is donated to an animal shelter.

This is a very simple and no cost way for everyone to help shelter animals. If you want to do more, they have a store that also helps support animal shelters and they have various charities you can donate to.

Going to The Animal Rescue Site is something I look forward to every day because they post short stories from people who live with a rescued pet.

Pictured here is Pepper who belongs to my youngest stepdaughter. Pepper was adopted from a local shelter when she was barely old enough to be weaned. She had been found alone in the streets and was very sick. Now Pepper weighs over 90 lbs and is one of the most lovable dogs you will ever meet.

Swollen Chin

This is a little hard to explain if you have never seen it but sometimes dogs and cats will get a swollen area on their chin or jaw. The first thing to do if you see this is try to check their mouth to see if they have an infected tooth or area on their gums.

If their teeth and gums look good, then what they probably have is acne or what is sometimes called a rodent ulcer (sounds gross doesn't it). This is very easy to treat at home but you do have to be persistent and keep treating the area until it is totally healed.

One of the best things to have in the house is epsom salts. Epsom salts are great for treating hot spots, cuts, swollen joints, abcesses and pimples.

When you first notice the acne you need to get a bowl of very warm water and put about 2 tablespoons of epsom salt per cup of water. Dip a washcloth in the water, wring it out just until it is not dripping and place the wash cloth on the swollen area.

Every few minutes you need to dip the wash cloth and put it back on the swollen area. It's best to do this for 15-20 minutes but sometimes your pet will not hold still that long so just do it as long as you can.

Do this at least twice a day until the area is totally healed. Just to be sure that you don't stop too soon, it is best to soak the area with the epsom salt solution a day or two longer than you think you need to. If you stop before the infection is completely pulled out of the area, then the area will swell back up and you will have to start over.

If you don't think the soaks are helping, then you will need to make an appointment with your vet to get antibiotics and to make sure there is not something else going on.

I just have to share this....

Last week we were petsitting for one of my stepdaughters. She has a white English Setter named Izzy. Izzy is a really sweet dog but not entirely trustworthy off-leash.

I got to feeling sorry for her not being able to run so I took the dogs to a nature trail by a lake. There were no roads close by and the trail was surrounded by water and woods so I figured it was a good place to let Izzy run. The first thing Izzy did was take off into the woods with Katie hot on her tail. I called the dogs but only Katie came back.

I decided to walk a little ways down the trail figuring that Izzy would come back out soon. Well, she didn't come back out and I couldn't see or hear her so I got concerned. I looked at 8 month old Katie and told her to go find Izzy. She immediately ran back into the woods where Izzy had gone in and waited for me to catch up. She continued to go deeper into the woods but stopped from time to time to make sure I was right behind her.

In just a short time she was flushing Izzy out of the woods and herding her back towards the trail!!!! I did tell Katie to grab Izzy's collar but I guess that was beyond her comprehension. Anyway, Katie got Izzy out to where I could grab her and put the leash back on her. I was so amazed that Katie was able to not only understand what I wanted but also find Izzy and bring her back to where I could get her! I am very proud of this little puppy!!!!

Katie is a Blue Heeler mix and as you can see from the picture, she LOVES water. There is nothing she would rather do than splash in puddles or swim in the lake. She is always happy and loves to play with people, dogs and cats. She has done so much to get Beau more active. He is much happier since Katie came into our lives!

If you have some amazing pet stories, I would love to hear them. Feel free to post here or to email me!

Fleas in your house

I posted this blog on my Florida RV Park and Campground Reviews page but felt it was also relevant here in case some people don't read both blogs.

If you have pets you are bound to get fleas in your RV or home at some time. There are lots of products you can purchase to try to get rid of them but for the most part they don't work very well.

Years ago I had a major flea problem in my house and tried many products that I found at Wal Mart or the pet stores but I still had fleas. I even got desperate enough to call an exterminator but still couldn't get rid of them.

The vet I worked for carried Siphotrol Premise Spray and finally my flea problem was taken care of. At the time they had not developed the spot flea treatment for pets so I was dipping my pets every 2 weeks to try to keep the fleas off them.

For the last year I have been putting Frontline Plus on my pets to keep them from getting fleas but no one told me that you needed to rotate products so the fleas won't develop an immunity to the product so I wound up with fleas in my RV. I purchased Advantage to use on my pets and hoped that this would be enough to stop my flea problem but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

Once again I went searching for a good flea product and couldn't find anything that worked. When I was about to give up hope, I found a vet that carried Siphotrol Spray and bought it. Once again the Siphotrol did the job and my RV was flea free.

Until recently the only place I could find Siphotrol was at a vet's office and not all vet's carried it. Now I have found the Siphotrol that has always worked so well for me online at Entirely Pets.

I have created a couple of banner links to Entirely Pets so you will be able to purchase without having to search like I did. Type Siphotrol into the search box on the Entirely Pets website to see all the Siphotrol flea products.

You can also purchase flea treatment for your pets through Entirely Pets. Just click on thebanner at the bottom of this post or the banner on the right hand side to purchase yourflea products or any other pet need.

The Siphotrol Spray comes in a 24 oz pump bottle and the Siphotrol Premise Spraycomes in a 16 oz aerosol can. Both products work well so you can choose whichever type of spray you prefer. You can also get Siphotrol for the yard or in a fogger.

Housebreaking

Some dogs are very easy to housebreak and others are extremely difficult. One of the main things to do when you are house-breaking a dog is to take him/her out regularly and often. When I first get a new older dog, I take him out every 1-2 hours to make sure they don't go in the house. As the days go by, if they are doing well on this schedule, I will extend the time little by little.

Anytime you are housebreaking a puppy, it is very important to take them out after they eat, sleep or play as well as take them out at regular intervals. Puppies are very quick to squat so you need to keep a close eye on them or you will be cleaning up a mess.

If you cannot watch the puppy closely, it is a good idea to crate train them. The first thing to do is get them used to the crate by hiding treats or toys in there so they think of it as a fun place. If you force your puppy in there, he will probably bark or whine because he will be very unhappy.

Even with crate training you need to take your puppy out every 1-2 hours. They have very small bladders and they are not used to having to hold it. Your puppy will not want to go to the bathroom in his crate if you get one just big enough to stand up, turn around and lay down because he will not want to soil his sleeping area. If the crate is too big, he will go to one end of it to relieve himself.

The picture above is of my dog, Katie, when she was a puppy. I was trying to get her used to the crate but Lucky, my cat, wouldn't stay out of it so they kept getting in there together and playing. Katie did real well with housebreaking so I gave up on the crate training. I had intended to put her in the crate at night while we were sleeping but she would bark to wake us up when she needed to go out. Also, she was so attached to Beau, my shepard, that it would have broken her heart to be separated from him.

Katie is the only dog I've ever had that will bark or scratch at the door when she needs to go out. For all the other dogs, I just had to know what the signs were when they needed to go. Some of them would fidget a little more, some would just look at me in a certain way and others I would just have to know by the look in their eyes. The key to good housetraining is learning to read your dog.

I did have one dog I adopted when she was 9 months old. Obviously this dog had never been housebroken and she was very challenging. It seemed like nothing was working and she kept going in the house. Finally I put her on a leash and kept her beside me all the time so I wouldn't miss the signal that she needed to go out. It took several days of doing this but I finally got her figured out and didn't have any more problems.

If you see your dog or puppy relieving himself in the house, immediately say no and take him outside. Tell him to go potty and praise him when he goes. Dogs want to please us and praise will go a long way in their training.

Mites

In November 2008, my husband called me from the warehouse where he was working asking if I could come there to look at a cat. Being the animal lover that I am, I didn't hesitate.

When Beau and I arrived at the warehouse the cat was nowhere in sight. We searched the grounds and then started searching each of the 3 warehouses on the property. I was having no luck finding the cat so I finally turned to Beau and told him to find the cat.

Beau went through the warehouse we were in and went through some rows of stuff. Within seconds I heard a cat growling so I called Beau out so I could try to get the cat out.

It was a very tight area so I had to lay down and crawl on my side to get back to the cat. When I got to him, there was no way I could see him so I just stuck my hand into the area Beau had been in.

As soon as my hand touched him, I instinctively pulled back. What I felt was a massive scabby mess on his head and neck. Thinking the cat had been attacked I reached for him again and pulled him out.

I had to crawl back on my side out of the row of stuff pulling the cat with me. When I got him to where I could see him I was totally horrified. He had not been attacked - he had the worse case of mites I had ever seen.

His head and neck were totally covered with scabs and his face was so swollen that he couldn't open his eyes. How had this cat had managed to survive with the agony of the itching and not being able to see? Where had he come from and how could anyone let him get into this condition?

I carried the cat back to where my husband was working with Beau right beside me. We decided to take the cat to the vet rather than turn him in to a shelter. When I got into the car with him, he curled up in my lap and seemed to be so happy to be held.

At the vet's office they did a skin scrape, took some blood for a feline leukemia test, and some stool to test for worms. It turns out that he had a severe case of scabies but fortunately the other tests came back negative.

The vet gave us antibiotics, shampoo and Frontline Plus spray to kill the mites. I gave him a bath as soon as we got home with the medicated shampoo. He was so pathetic during the bath. The poor baby couldn't see what was going on and he was so scared when he felt the water. After he dried, I used the Frontline Plus spray.

Since scabies are contagious to people and other animals, I had to keep him confined in a carrier for a week. He drank a ton of water because he was so dehydrated and ate all that I gave him. Then he slept and slept and slept. Beau stayed close to the carrier to keep an eye on his new charge and would let me know if he thought Lucky was in trouble.

Yes, we named him Lucky. We felt that name fit him so well. He was lucky my husband was there that day, lucky my husband called me, lucky I came to find him, lucky that Beau was able to find him, lucky he didn't have leukemia, lucky to have survived until we found him and now we are so lucky to have him in our lives.

I did have to give him a couple more baths but once the antibiotics were done and the scabs all healed and removed he turned out to be a beautiful cat. When I found him, his coat was very dull and the white on him was a dingy grey. Now he is a beautifully marked cat with a bright coat. The top picture was taken less than a month after we found him and the bottom one was taken the day I brought him home.

If someone had taken him to the vet when the mites first started, the treatment would have been very simple and the mites would have been killed quickly. Unfortunately no one cared enough to help him so he got progressively worse. If you've ever been bitten by a mosquito and the itching just wouldn't stop, just imagine the agony Lucky must have been in with thousands of mites biting him.

I realize that not everyone is in a position where they can take in strays but at the very least please turn the stray in to the local animal shelter. Lucky is proof that there are worse things than being in a shelter. He like so many others would have died a slow painful death if people didn't get involved.

Diarrhea

This is an unpleasant subject but it is something all pet owners have to deal with from time to time. Every animal has diarrhea from time to time but when it is extreme or doesn't clear up then we need to do something to help.

When we first moved to Florida, we had Beau and Pepper. Pepper, the lab mix, belongs to my youngest step-daughter and is now living with her again.

The first couple of months in Florida, both dogs kept having diarrhea off and on. I would give them a generic immodium tablet once or twice a day and it would clear up for a while only to come back later. I took a stool sample in to have a vet check it for parasites and none were found. I could have put them on prescription diet I/D which is a bland food but with two big dogs, it would have cost me a small fortune.

Luckily I met a woman with a golden doodle at the park where we were staying who had had the same problem. She had given her dog two tablespoons of canned pumpkin once a day and after a few days, the stool had gone back to normal. It is very important to not give more than two tablespoons a day because more will give your dog diarrhea. If you have a small dog, you will want to cut the amount.

I started giving both dogs two tablespoons of pumpkin once a day and the problem went away. Both dogs thought it was a real treat and ate it right off the spoon.

About this same time I was watching "It's Me Or The Dog" on the Animal Planet and Victoria, the dog trainer, was giving diet advice. She recommended mixing a raw egg in the dogs food every day to help keep the stool solid. Once I started doing this, Beau and Pepper rarely ever had the diarrhea problem again.

One of the side benefits to giving the egg every day was the change in their coats. Pepper's black fur became extremely shiny and she almost glowed. The first words out of everyone's mouth when they touch Beau is they cannot believe how soft his fur is. Most shepards have very wiry hair and his was too but the egg changed the texture and people are amazed when they pet him now.

If you are having a problem with your dog or cat and need a diarrhea solution immediately, you can give either one of them Kaopectate. With the cats, I use an old syringe and give them 3 ccs every 6 to 8 hours. The average weight of a cat is 9-10 lbs so you can figure out the dosage for your dog from there.

The only safe diarrhea medicine to give your cat that I know of is Kaopectate. Cats' systems are much more sensitive than dogs so before giving anything other than Kaopectate, you must check with your vet to find out if it will help your cat or hurt it.

For my dogs, I have found it is much easier to buy the Immodium tablets and treat them this way. For a big dog, I give one tablet when I see the problem with a little bit of peanut butter or cheese. If the diarrhea doesn't clear up by evening, then I give a second tablet. Do not give more than two tablets a day without checking with your vet.

For a small dog under 30 lbs I would give 1/2 tablet no more than twice a day.

You don't have to use the Immodium brand, I bought the Equate brand at Wal Mart in a bottle at a fraction of the cost.

Bladder Infections

Dogs and cats can get bladder infections just like people and it can be life threatening if it goes untreated for too long.

Almost 30 years ago my first cat started squatting and trying to urinate constantly. The way she was twitching and crying I knew there was a problem but had no idea what it was. I called the vet and was told to bring her in right away which scared the heck out of me.

The vet examined her and managed to squeeze a small amount of urine from her bladder which he put on a slide and checked it under a microscope. She had blood and crystals in her urine which had her bladder irritated and made her feel like she constantly had to urinate. At the time I was given liquid antibiotics, a tube of paste which would help dissolve the crystals and told to feed her a low ash canned food.

Once I started the antibiotics she started feeling much better and after about a month or so I started feeding her dry food again and thought it was all over. It took a few years but the problem came back.

The second time it happened I knew what was going on and called the vet immediately. This time she got the antibiotics and the paste to help dissolve the crystals but she also got a prescription food called C/D. I kept her on C/D for the rest of her life and she never had a bladder infection again.

With a female cat a bladder infection can be very painful but normally you have time to get her to the vet without endangering her life. Male cats are a different story. The male cats have a much smaller urethra which can become plugged by the crystals. Once the urethra is plugged a catheter has to be inserted to remove the blockage or the cat will die.

A friend of mine had a male cat who didn't seem to be feeling well before he went to work. When he came home from work, the cat was laying in the litter box dead. He took the cat to the vet to find out what had happened and his urinary tract was blocked with crystals which is what killed him. My friend was devastated. His cat had never had this problem before and had no idea that it could get so serious so fast.

I've had one dog get a bladder infection and so has one of my step-daughters. In both cases they were given anti-biotics but my dog had crystals too so she got a chewable tablet to help dissolve the crystals while my step-daughters dog had no crystals. Neither dog was put on a special diet and as of this date, neither one has had a problem.

In all of the cases where the pet survives the bladder infection, the vet will usually want to check a urine sample at the end of the antibiotics to see if the infection and the crystals are gone. If the infection is not completely cleared up then the vet will usually have you give another round of antibiotics and continue the tablets or paste until the crystals are gone.

If you ever see that your pet is urinating more than normal or straining to urinate repeatedly and nothing is coming out, please call your vet immediately - especially if your pet is a male cat.

Buying vs Adopting

A lot of people think the only way to get a good dog is to buy one from a breeder. They also think that shelter dogs are damaged in some way by their pasts. Neither one of these is true.

Through our visits to the dog park, I have met hundreds of great dogs who have come from shelters or rescue groups. All the owners told me how wonderfully the dogs fit into their lives and how much joy they shared. A few did have some problems with trust in the beginning but with a little patience and love they all came out of it.

If you are set on a purebred dog, there are purebreed rescue groups you can find in your area by typing purebreed rescue groups into your search engine. This is how I found Beau, my German Shepard. He had been found at a pound in St. Louis, MO by the German Shepard Rescue Group of St. Louis.

As you can see from the picture he is absolutely beautiful and his personality is just as beautiful as his looks. The German Shepard Rescue Group had him in foster care about 3 weeks before I adopted him. The great thing about rescue groups is that the foster parent can tell you some things about the dog's personality and training.

Beau was about 2 years old when I adopted him. He was housebroken, trained in all the basic commands, cat and dog friendly, and through the puppy stage. He bonded instantly with my 4 year old yellow lab and me. I have no idea why he was in the pound since the pound kept no records of how they acquired the animals they had but I am very thankful that he is a part of my life.

In the beginning he was very leery of men and he may have been abused by his previous owner. I was always very careful to introduce him to any new person so he would know they were okay. Since we have been traveling he has become extremely friendly and thinks he needs to say hi to everyone.

Most of the dogs at a purebreed rescue group are over a year old but if you really want a puppy, the shelters usually have several to choose from. Too many people don't spay or neuter their pets and take the unwanted litters to the shelter to get rid of them. When you adopt a pet from a shelter or a rescue group, they are spayed or neutered, heartworm tested or feline leukemia tested, and given their first set of shots.

To find pets needing homes in your area you can go to Petfinder.com. There are thousands of pets listed on this site who are in shelters and rescue groups. You can narrow your search by area, size, age and breed.

If you are dead set on purchasing a purebreed puppy or kitten, please find a responsible breeder who is doing it because they love the breed and takes good care of all the animals. Please avoid buying a pet from a pet store. Most of the puppies at a pet store come from puppy mills and are not a product of good breeding. Puppy mills are well known for overbreeding and insanitary and inhumane conditions. Please don't reward them for mistreating animals by purchasing a pet that comes from them.

Sick Cats

Cats will hide the fact that they are sick until they feel so bad that they can no longer hide it. When you see that your cat is ill, the safest thing to do is call your vet asap.

With a dog, you can usually tell when he doesn't feel well but a cat still has the strong predator/prey instinct and knows in the wild that the weak do not survive. Because of this, they will use all their strength to fight showing the signs of illness until they do not have enough strength to keep up the pretense.

My first cat once became very ill because of a buildup of hairballs. I was only 19 years old and did not know anything about cats. Luckily I took her into the vet and they were able to get her to clear the hairballs without having to do surgery. Now I know to give my cats hairball remedy at least once a week and to watch the litter box for signs of any problems.

Cats have a fascination with eating strings, rubber bands, dental floss or thread which can sometimes cause an accordian effect in the intestines which is extremely serious and needs surgery to be corrected.

If you see your cat going into the litterbox frequently or straining to urinate, it could be a sign of urinary tract infection. In a male this can be extremely life threating because their urethra is so small it can become easily blocked.

All cats will occasionally throw up a hairball but when you see that your cat is not feeling well, you need to watch him very, very closely. If he doesn't improve within a short time, then you should call your vet. No one wants unnecessary medical bills but it would be much worse to lose your cat.

Heartworm Preventative

Most people who have dogs know about heartworm and heartworm preventative. Unfortunately, heartworm is still a major problem and a large number of dogs are not on heartworm preventative.

Years ago we were told we could take our dogs off heartworm preventative during the winter months and to restart it in the spring. This is no longer true. The winters are not cold enough for a long enough period of time to be able to safely stop giving the heartworm preventative.

Heartworm preventative needs to be given year round!!!! You also need to make sure you know your dogs weight so you can give him the correct dosage. If you have a puppy, the preventative should be started at 4 months of age.

You can get heartworm preventative in many different forms and brands now. Some only prevent heartworm while others will also prevent some intestinal worms. I just found out this year about a heartworm preventative that is given topically that also prevents fleas! You need to talk to your veterinarian to decide which preventative is best for you and your dog.

You can only get heartworm through your veterinarian or you can get a prescription from your veterinarian so you can purchase it through places like Drs. Foster and Smith or PetMeds. Some vets require a yearly heartworm test while others will only require a dog be tested if he has missed a pill.

The heartworm test consists of a blood test and can be run in the vet's office while you wait. If the test is positive, your vet will discuss the various treatment options with you. Heartworm treatment is very expensive and dangerous for your pet but the alternative is that the heartworms will kill your pet.

If your pet is positive, you will need to keep him quiet and as stress free as possible during the treatment. Usually this period of time is 6-8 weeks depending on how well your pet responds to treatment. During this time, there will be frequent trips to the vet for treatment and more heartworm tests to check your pet's progress. Some vets will hospitalize their patients during the initial treatment while others will treat them and send them home.

In case you are one of those who have never been told about heartworm, it is transmitted by mosquitoes so even indoor dogs are at risk. Once a dog is bitten by an infected mosquito, the larvae travels to the heart where it hatches into a worm which produces more worms. As the worms grow and reproduce, it becomes harder and harder for the heart to function and like a blood clot, a worm or piece of it can travel into an artery causing the artery to clog thereby ceasing blood flow.

If a dog goes untreated, the worms will eventually damage the heart muscle and become so numerous that the heart cannot function and your dog will die. Normally you will not see any symptoms that your pet has heartworm until his condition is pretty severe.

Until the last few years there was no heartworm preventative for cats because it didn't seem to affect them. This also has changed and there have been cases where cats have been infected with heartworm. I've talked to my vet about this and according to him, it is still pretty rare for a cat to get heartworm but it does happen. Again, this should be discussed with your vet to see if heartworm in cats is a problem in your area.

While we were traveling around Florida, I heard numerous stories of stray dogs being taken in by people and almost every one of these strays were positive for heartworm. It is so heartbreaking that a disease so easy to prevent is still so prevalent.

Please, please make sure your dog is on heartworm preventative year round.

FLEAS!!!!!

This is one of the things most dreaded by pet owners. Once the fleas get into your house they become a nightmare for you and your pet.

Years ago the only options we had to fight fleas was to bathe and dip our pets. This was not only a lot of work but it was very messy and smelly. Also if your pet went swimming or got wet, then your protection was gone. The dipping was usually only good for 2 weeks so it was a constant chore. Luckily things have changed.

One of the easiest ways I've found to keep fleas from making your pet miserable and keep them from taking over your home is to use a topical flea preventative like Frontline Plus, Advantage or Advantix. The cheapest prices I've found on topical flea preventative is at Drs. Foster and Smith. The shipping on these flea preventatives is always free at Drs. Foster and Smith. Drs. Foster and Smith Online Pet Pharmacy. Join the thousands who trust Drs. Foster and Smith's online pet pharmacy.

If any of you have ever been to Florida, you know the sand fleas are terrible year-round. By using Frontline Plus I was able to keep my pets comfortable and my RV flea free. I did find out though that you need to rotate the product you use to keep the fleas from building up an immunity to the preventative. I used Frontline Plus for 6 months and then switched to Advantix for the dogs and Advantage for the cats for 6 months.

All 3 products are excellent but you need to remember that Advantix is not to be used on cats.

Diet

One thing I have always worried about when buying pet food was whether it had the nutrition my pets needed. A couple of years ago I started feeding Purina One to my pets and they all seemed to do well on it. I still wasn't completely satisfied that I couldn't do better without spending a fortune so I kept looking.

A few months ago I started researching natural diets and decided to give it a try. Beau, my 11 year old Shepard, was always difficult to get to eat anything. When I gave him the food I had cooked, he loved it!!! He still anxiously waits for me to put his bowl down and doesn't lift his head from the bowl until it is all gone. Katie, my 8 month old Heeler X, wolfs her food down and watches closely until Beau is done in case he misses anything.

Here is the recipe I use for those of you who want to try it:

1 can mackeral or 1 lb. lean ground beef

4 cups brown rice

8 cups water

1 cup frozen vegetables*

2 tbsp corn oil

Mix all ingredients together in slow cooker. Cook on low for 2 hours or until rice is done.

*Broccoli, green beans, peas, carrots, spinach or a combination of these

Beau and Katie did well on this but they seemed to be hungry all the time so I did start feeding them 1/4 cup of Purina One Lamb & Rice. Doing this seemed to keep them satisfied longer but I still wasn't satisfied with the nutrition they were getting.

After much searching, I found a vitamin called Be Well Dog at 1-800-PetMeds. Type "Be Well Dog" in the search box and you'll go right to it! After only a few days their stools were firmer and they were more active.

Of my 4 cats, 2 refused to eat the natural food so I had to go back to Purina One for them. I did start adding Be Well Cat to their canned food and they also started to improve.

Happy Healthy Pets

Over the years I have shared my life with many animals and also worked as a vet tech. I have always strived to do the best I could afford for my pets.

Through all my travels I have found that there are a lot of people who want the best for their pets but do not know what they need or where to go for the information. Through this blog I am hoping to help anyone seeking knowledge about proper pet care and nutrition.

At this time I have 2 dogs and 4 cats with ages from 16 years to 8 months. In the past I have had as many as 4 dogs and 6 cats at one time. I have always loved animals and with having so many, I have found there are things we can do that will cut down on illnesses and help extend their lives.

Feel free to email me with any questions and I will help in any way I can. This blog is not intended to replace veterinary care. I only want to share my knowledge with you and help you understand the basics of sharing your life with a pet or pets.