Is It Okay To Give Table Scraps To Your Dog?

 

Even though most experts do not recommend offering your pet table scraps, a lot of pet owners still do it. If you are going to feed your pet scraps from your dining table, below are several tips to remember:

• Carefully select the kind of table scraps to offer your pet. There are human food items that are toxic to canines such as onions, garlic, grapes, chocolate, and others. Food items that have high amounts of oils and fats could also have negative effects on your pets.

• Your dinner table scraps must never compose most of your pet’s daily meals since these scraps cannot provide all your pet’s needed calories and essential nutrients.

• This feeding of table scraps has led to an increased possibility that pet dogs become obese. This is because people food often has a very high calorie and fat content. Your pet’s diet is one of the important concerns that you should discuss with your veterinarian Carmel Valley during your pet’s wellness checks.

Constant Meowing in Cats Like British Shorthairs

Does your British Shorthair seem to be meowing a lot? Can you tell if the meowing is part of his normal behavior or is it unusual for him to “talk” so much? If it’s unusual or out of character then give your vet a call as the meowing may signal discomfort, distress or even an illness. The amount of meowing or chatter from your shorthair will depend a lot of his age. For instance, kittens may be more vocal than older cats. Senior cats are often more vocal then middle aged cats. If your British Shorthair is ill, his meowing could signal that he feels hungry, thirsty, or is in pain. Other reasons for excessive meowing may include attention seeking, loneliness, stress, or even aging. The more you get to know your British Shorthair the more you will be able to identify reasons for his meowing. If you’re unsure what’s causing your cat’s meowing, please call your vet clinic Rochester NY.

Cats and Constipation

 

Does your feline friend strain to poop? Is your cat leaving small, hard clumps of poop in his litter box? Cats like the Scottish Fold and other breeds can be prone to constipation. Call your vet with these signs of possible constipation. Your vet can tell you that most cats like the Scottish Fold will have one regular bowel movement daily. Signs that your cat may be constipated include straining when trying to poop, hard stools, mucous or blood covered stools, loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, abdominal discomfort and even lack of self grooming. Call your vet immediately if your Scottish Fold is displaying any of these symptoms as it may be constipation or an even more serious condition. Causes may include a low fiber diet, dehydration, excessive grooming that causes hairballs, ingestion of foreign objects, etc. Treatment may include a stool softener, medication or even surgery. Learn more from your vet clinic Webster NY.

Heartworms In Dogs

 

A heartworm’s best hosts are dogs. Heartworms are parasites that are transmitted by mosquitoes and they can wreak havoc to a dog’s health. A dog gets the infection if he gets bitten by a mosquito that has already fed on another dog that is already infected, acquiring the parasite larvae along the way, transferring them to the former. If your pet dog has been administered preventative medication, the larvae are destroyed. But if the dog is unprotected, the deposited larvae could reach maturity in four weeks' time. They then become robust enough to resist the preventative medication. These parasites make their way to the animal’s heart and the connective blood vessels to the lungs. This is where they reach maturity and proliferate more larvae that get acquired by mosquitos, starting the cycle again.

Dogs infested heavily with heartworms might have a cough, have this pot-bellied look, and lose a significant amount of weight. These extreme infestations could be fatal. There are even dogs that might just up and die without ever displaying clinical signs.

Consult your pet clinic San Diego, CA, and work with them to create a preventive routine against heartworms to safeguard your pet all year round.

Top Behavior Problems of Chinchillas

 

If a chinchilla has been handled since its youth, it will be more receptive to socialization with other humans.  But there is always that chance that a pet chinchilla will develop anti-social habits if it has experienced something negative with humans or has not had the opportunity to interact a lot with them.  Below are just some of the undesirable behaviors that chinchillas might exhibit:

Spraying Urine

●Urine spraying is a behavior that female chinchillas exhibit if there is remaining energy left unspent.  They are very accurate, so much so that with the urine spray, they can hit their intended target, such as a human perhaps or some other object, several feet away.  Urine spraying is a habit that chinchillas exhibit when they become stressed or if they feel that they or their group is under threat.

Biting

●Interestingly, with pet chinchillas, biting is a way of displaying acceptance or affection to their human companions.  However, if they become stressed, afraid, or nervous, they can bite quite hard.

If you have concerns about your pet’s behavior, contact your vet clinic Fort Collins, CO.

Your Dog’s Eyesight

 

Your dog’s eyes are built to have specialized components that allow them to better visualize motion when compared to humans.

 

Dogs are not totally colorblind, contrary to what popular beliefs hold.  But they are usually nearsighted or myopic.  Because dogs do not have the specialized eye structures that let them focus completely on specific outlines of objects, they will have trouble distinguishing objects that are over twenty feet away.

 

Dogs also have narrow peripheral vision.  The degree differs between breeds and the relative sizes of their heads.  Most dogs cannot see the detail in things that are behind them.

 

A dog is able to discern movement from some distance away, but they cannot perceive depth.  Dogs can only focus their vision on what is centrally located on their sights, so when your pet stares at some distant object, their view of the object’s background is still blurry.

 

Any sign of an eye problem exhibited by your pet should prompt a visit to your animal hospital Pasadena, MD.

What To Avoid After Snake Bites

 

When a snake bites your dog, don't attempt to remove the venom. This technique only works in movies. What you should do is to bring the dog to the vet as soon as possible.

Don’t ever attempt to open the bite area because you will only create more wounds on the skin. Similarly, you don't need to use a Snake Bite Kit or Extractor Pump to remove the venom. It doesn't work plus it just costs money.

There’s no need to put ice on the affected part. The ice will only cause the blood vessels to constrict, which leads to the venom concentrated on a particular area. There is also no need to rub any solution on the snake bite since the venom has entered the bloodstream. Any substance applied topically will not help at all. A tourniquet is not needed as well. The tourniquet will only damage the affected area. It might even lead to amputating the limb.

Finally, prevent the dog from moving around. Don’t catch the snake to identify it later on.

If your pet has been bitten by a snake, contact your veterinarians Lakewood Ranchz FL immediately so the staff can instruct you on what to do.