Your Dog’s Anal Sacs – Pet tip 137

Have you ever watched your dog scooting or dragging its hind end along the ground and wondered, “What the heck is he/she doing?” Let me tell you – this dog is marking its territory! The dog makes use of two …

FLUTD – UTI – Urinary tract infections in cats – urinary disease in cats – Pet tip 95

One of the major medical reasons why a cat may urinate outside of the litter box is the possibility that it is suffering from some type of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). The term FLUTD is a general one …

Pet Phobias

Dark skies and rumbling thunder is often a stressful time for many dog owners. In all likelihood, it is even more stressful for the dogs themselves! Fears and phobias in our companion animals are more common than one might imagine, ranging from fear of loud noises and new places to the fear of people and other animals.

There are many different components and reasons for a fear response in an animal. It can be an innate response, meaning that it is genetically programmed into the animal’s behaviour, such as fear for a predator. If there is a lack of proper socialization to different people and environments when the animal is young, it may be fearful of unfamiliar situations when it is older.

FIP – Feline Infectious Peritonitis

Once in a while, veterinarians disagree. Most of the time it’s because there is more than one way to fix a problem. The scientific world is continuously discovering new tests and solutions, and further questioning the validity of old ones. …

Acupuncture for Pets

Veterinary Acupuncture

Despite the fact many of its practices are thousands of years old, Eastern, or non-traditional, medicine is becoming more popular today than ever. Acupuncture is one specialized facet of non-traditional medicine that not only entered the mainstream; it’s …

Should I Clip My Bird’s Wings

Are you a new bird owner? Perhaps you are unsure about what kind of regular care your bird will need. Of course you need to feed and love it, but did you know that many bird owners choose to have their bird’s wings clipped? Wing clipping is one of the most controversial topics in pet bird ownership. In this article, we will discuss how wing clipping is done and what information you need to know before making this decision.

Although the thought of clipping a pet bird’s wings is horrendous to some bird owners, clipping is a very common procedure done to pet birds. It is done to prevent the bird from flying away and from flying into harmful household objects like windows and ceiling fans.  The idea behind wing clipping is to cut the “primary feathers”. Primary feathers are the long feathers that are closer to the wing tip. These feathers are very important for the bird’s ability to fly and to steer while flying. Some people will clip (cut) only one wing. When this is done, it is believed that the bird will not be able to fly, but will instead float down to the ground in a spiral.

Cat Diabetes

In North America, one of the up and coming disease “epidemics” to be noted in people is diabetes (diabetes mellitus). This is a disease that most often affects obese, middle-aged patients. Coincidently, the same phenomenon can be found in our …

Cataract Surgery in Dogs

Have you ever wondered how cataract surgery is actually performed? If so, read on as it really is a very interesting procedure! Cataract surgery is formally known as phacoemulsification. “Phaco” stands for lens, and to ‘emulsify’ means to break down. This is a great name for this procedure, because this is exactly what it is!

Normally the lens in the eye is a clear soft structure that allows light to easily pass through it. If there is any opacity on the lens, it is known as a cataract. A cataract occurs when proteins in the eye leak into the lens, and start to harden. A general rule of thumb is that if you cannot see into an animal’s eyes clearly, then it can’t see out at you clearly! Thus in a cataract, if the entire lens is opaque due to the protein that has leaked out, then the animal’s vision is reduced.

Cataract surgery involves two main tools; one to break up the cataract into smaller pieces, and the other to vacuum the pieces out of the eye. To begin, the animal is placed under general anesthesia so that it is completely unconscious during the procedure.

Introducing cats to cats – Pet tip 107

When introducing new cats to one another there are some important things to be aware of from the get go. First off every resident cat (the cat that currently lives at the house before the introduction of a new cat) …

Dogs – Cats and Ultrasound- Pet tip 216

When most people hear the word ultrasound they normally think of the device that gynecologists use to check the health of growing fetuses in pregnant women. In fact, ultrasound can be used to check the health and proper functioning of …