Petsmu

If you’re a pet owner, you understand the special bond between you and your cat or dog. If you’ve ever had a sick pet, you also know how agonizing it is to see your pet in pain. Pet arthritis, usually caused by limited mobility, is especially hard to deal with, because many people suffer from this condition and can empathize.

The symptoms that you see are often just mild signs of arthritis that can be effectively alleviated. Don’t let arthritis go unchecked; if you leave this disease untreated, it will progress until even the most active breeds of dogs are left permanently immobile. If you want to help avoid these problems, and spare your pet the agony of joint pain, try the following tips.

Talk to your veterinarian before you begin any course of treatment.

You have a special relationship with your pet and understand his needs and wants, but your veterinarian has specific medical knowledge that can help diagnose and treat your pet’s arthritis. Your veterinarian will probably look over your pet’s medical records and order tests, like physical exams, x-rays or MRIs, and blood screenings, as he determines what arthritis your pet has. Osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia, and degenerative joint disease are the most common forms of arthritis in pets.

After making a diagnosis, your veterinarian can prescribe a course of treatment. This will probably involve some combination of medication and physical therapy. Don’t just use over-the-counter painkillers unless you talk to your veterinarian first, because these medications can actually worsen the condition - they can even be fatal! Your veterinarian may suggest steroids or anti-inflammatory drugs, which may reduce swelling and therefore lessen your pet’s pain. Sometimes, more drastic procedures, like surgery to correct damaged bones, may be necessary, but in many cases, less invasive procedures are sufficient. Your veterinarian can tell you which course of therapy will be most effective.

Try Liquid Glucosamine.

Recent research has focused on alternative ways to treat arthritis, and the results have consistently shown that glucosamine and chondroitin are beneficial. Syn-flex Liquid Glucosamine is one alternative to unsafe painkillers because it actually helps correct the problem, helping to stimulate regeneration of damaged bones. It also reduces inflammation, which is the root of pain in arthritis patients, and in doing so reduces the discomfort. This liquid formula can be easily administered once daily to your pet. It is much easier to get your pet to swallow a liquid than eat a pill!

About the author: Ian Spellfield, an occasionally frustrated pet owner, tests and reviews cat urine removal products at his blog Urine Off Reviews.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Food allergies are the third most common type of allergy manifest in dogs. Unfortunately, food allergies in dogs are not breed-specific, and thus there are no “safe breeds.” They can develop anywhere between 5 months to 12 years of age, though most often they appear between the ages of 2 and 6. An important thing to understand about a potential food allergy is that it develops over time, and a dog can slowly develop an allergic reaction to a food it has safely eaten for months or years beforehand.

It is also important to understand the difference between allergies and intolerances. A food intolerance, for example, might result in diarrhea or vomiting in a dog, much the same way a human might react poorly to spicy or foreign foods. An allergy may not result in overt symptoms such as these, but might be more subtle such as itchy or sensitive skin. Other common symptoms include hot spots, excessive scratching, hair loss, and ear sensitivity/infections. Year-round symptoms are a good tip-off, because seasonal allergies will naturally only appear at certain times. Also, a number of studies have shown that an increase in a dog’s bowel movements to three times a day or more could be an indicator of a food allergy, as a healthy dog should typically only move its bowels about 1.5 times a day. Blood tests can also be performed by a vet to help identify potential allergies, though there are some that doubt the validity of the results.

Allergic reactions to food are unfortunately often difficult to diagnose. Because many owners feed their dogs dry or canned dog food with many different ingredients, often the best way to reliably test for food allergies is to put the dog on a strict diet of a new source of protein and a new source of carbohydrates for 12 weeks., such as venison and rice, for example. Assuming the dog’s symptoms clear up, the original food or ingredients can be introduced one at a time to the dog’s diet to see if the symptoms return. If an offending ingredient is identified, treatment is rather straightforward: simply refrain from feeding it to the pup. It’s important to afterwards check the ingredients of any store-bought dog food, since many contain a wide variety of ingredients. Many veterinarians will be able to recommend a special food, and some will sell owners the food directly, though be aware that the specially prepared foods are typically more expensive than common store-bought dog foods.

For particularly sensitive allergies, or for allergies for common ingredients, home-cooked food is always an option. Remember to always consult your vet before putting your pet on a new diet, as the meals need to be properly balanced so that your pet gets healthy amounts of the nutrients he or she needs. However, preparing the dog’s meals yourself could alleviate the cost of custom diets.

Although diagnosis can be a long and arduous process, the result is a happier and healthier pet, and a worry-free owner.

About the author: Pet Super Store features dog feeders & pet-carriers.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

To enjoy your pets longer, to be able to play and cuddle them, pets should be free from parasites. Of course, no pet owners would allow their children to play with pets full of ticks and fleas, and hug unsightly appearing animals. Proper safeguards on pet care starts from knowing the symptoms, treatment and prevention.

Dogs suffer from common parasites such as fleas, ticks and heartworms. Unlike fleas and ticks, heartworms are unnoticeable unless symptoms show on dogs. Veterinary reports show how to rcognize their symptoms, how to effectively eliminate sources, and to prevent them from infecting your pets.

Dogs with worm infections has symptoms of diarrhea, and sometimes blood in the stool. The dog starts to lose weight, has dry hair, loses appetite, has a distressed appearance, and shows worms in his vomit. Newly born puppies may inherit heartworms from the mother dog that has worm eggs dormant in its body and transmit it to them upon birth.

Fleas and ticks are common to dogs. Fleas stay on the animals, while the flea eggs are found in carpets, beddings, and grass. It has been reported that for every flea found, thousands of eggs lie somewhere in the house and in the yard.

To start with any preventive control to eliminate heartworms, flea and ticks, some kind of treatment must be initiated. Dog owners must make a thorough examination of their breeding places.

Heartworm infections of dogs are said to be transmitted through mosquitoes, and clearing of mosquito breeding places should first be done.

First, dogs must be examined for the presence of adult worms by a Veterinarian. If found positive for worms, treatment through medications should be done. Treatment takes several weeks depending upon the degree of infections. After treatment, two to three weeks after, the Veterinarian will initiate prevention of heartworms eggs to mature into adult eggs. Preventive medication takes about one month, while for some kind of dogs; Vets recommend continued preventive medication, for at least one year.

It is best that after 6 months, another examination for presence of heartworm in dogs be done, because the infection is not manifested in the outer appearance of the dog in its initial stage.

For fleas and ticks, dog owners should start in eliminating and controlling the eggs and larvae of the fleas and ticks in the environment and start wih treatment of the pet.

For flea control inside the house, a frequent vacuuming of places where the dog sleeps and plays should be done to remove flea eggs It should be discarded immediately into a plastic bag and properly sealed. Then use an adulticide to kill remaining adult fleas and larvae. There are many adulticide available in the market in the form of sprays, powders and foggers.

Ask a veterinarian in choosing the proper adulticide in places where there are children, sick person or other animals that may be affected.

In outdoor areas, fleas like to live in moist, warm places where there are organic rots. These are the places where dog owners should start cleaning and using adulticide to kill fleas and larvae. These places in the house are porches, patios, dog houses, and gardens. Foggers and sprayers are best used in these open areas as these can reach a larger space, cracks and corners.

Ticks can also be controlled through this method, as there are insecticides that have a combined effect to treat both fleas and ticks at the same time. Vets may recommend such solutions or may suggest available products in the market.

Moving towards prevention should first start with treatment. And once cleared, maintenance and preventive measures should be thoroughly followed to avoid recurrence.

About the author: Robert Thomson is witing articles about dog heartworm and heartgard on his heartworm protection website
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com