Animals often don’t show any obvious symptoms of cancer until after the disease is advanced, but there are measures owners can take to reduce the chances of cancer striking or advancing in their pet including spaying and neutering, feeding an appropriate diet and having yearly wellness exams. Early detection is always best say veterinarians.

Veterinarians recommend regular fecal testing to help prevent gastrointestinal parasites such as roundworms, protozoa including giardia and coccidia some of which owners could catch from their pets. Because protozoa are not killed by deworming medications, routine fecal tests are used to screen for giardia and coccidia so that specific medication can be given if these organisims are found.

Veterinarians explain that bacteria and viruses are very different organisms. Among other differences, viruses are smaller than bacteria and survive outside of living cells for a relatively short period of time, whereas bacteria can survive for longer ammounts of time in living or unliving environments.

Dogs that are infected with heartworms and end up in shelters won’t recieve the heartworm treatment Immiticide for months because the drug’s production in the U.S. was halted. Some animal facilities may euthanize positive dogs since no treatment for heartworms is available. ***This story strongly emphysizes the need to keep owned pet dogs, on Heartworm preventive religiously year round, since there is no treatment available for those that catch the disease!*****

Pets that pack on the pounds may be cuddly and cute, but the extra weight can lead to debilitating illnesses that are costly to treat and can shorten their lives, veterinarians say. While genetics may play a role in about 5% of the cases, most overweight pets can slim down when owners cut back on calories and increase exercise.

Before an anesthetic procedure, veterinarians use physical exam findings and laboratory screening tests to determine the best anesthetic agent and intraopertive fluid therapy choices for the patient. Two of the more common anesthetic agents in use today are sevoflurane and isoflurane (gas anesthetics).

Research on dog DNA by scientists at Cornell, UCLA, Stanford and the National Instituites of Health concludes that there are few genes controlling all the variations among dog breeds, versus humans who have a very complex genetic expression. It’s this relative simpllicity that allows people to breed for specific traits in their canine companions, often leading to new breeds.

The Boxer and the Dalmation are by far the two breeds most prone (or least resistant) to valley fever. Any illness in a member of one of these breeds makes an Arizona veterinarian suspicious. These breeds also respond to treatment more slowly and some are chronically ill with the disease, and need chronic life long teatment. Since the illness is acquired by breathing the organism in Arizona dust, preventing digging, a grass or gravel over plastic back yard, keeping dogs indoors during work hours for dirt work construction in your neighborhood is a good idea.

Bad breath in pets can be a sign of underlying disease for the pet and it is unpleasant for owners. Prevention is inexpensive once the teeth have been cleaned by the veterinarian. You can brush the pets teeth with a pediatric toothbrush and some pet toothpaste, start slow, brush one tooth today, another tomorrow, etc. until the pet gets into the routine, then expand to brushing all the teeth at once. Brushing once or twice a week is probably enough, daily is better.

There are many causes of bad breath in the pet. Some of those include metabloic diseases like diabetes, kidney problems. Then the oral problems like: dental tartar, fractured teeth, loose teeth, foreign objects between the teeth, ulcerations, tumors and the like. March is dental month at Wisemans. We are offering a $200 discount on dental work and to make sure we have enough appointment space for the dental work, we will start giving appointments now (in February) for the same discount.

The FDA issued warnings about chicken jerky treats from China in November, noting that they may cause kidney disease, and possibly death when consumed by dogs. Since then, some 467 reports have been filed with the FDA regarding the treats. Considring the strictly enforced food production standards in U.S., veterinarians recommend U.S.-made products, and feed pet treats in moderation.