Bringing a dog into your home and family's lives is exciting, but it does require ongoing care and discipline. From training and feeding to ensuring your dog receives proper medical attention, it is easy to see the different physical, emotional, and financial elements to having a dog. Unfortunately, even with this proper care, your dog may develop conditions that affect its health and behavior. Considering 20 percent of the 80 million dogs in the nation have separation anxiety, understanding this condition is key to reducing your dog's risk.
Whether you have gone through the experience for yourself or seen plenty of videos of cats going wild at their vet appointment, visiting the vet can be stressful for both you and your cat. Many of the tactics to make each visit less daunting should begin as early as possible, preferably when your cat is still a kitten.
Make Restraints Routine
Part of the stress that goes along with vet visits can come from restraining systems, such as pet carriers, that are infrequently used.
If you have a pet that is in critical condition due to an injury or illness, or if you have an emergency that occurs after regular working hours, you will likely be looking for the services of an emergency animal clinic. These clinics tend to be open during the evenings and weekends to give critical care to your pet when your primary veterinarian is not available. However, at some point, the care of your pet will transfer back to your primary veterinarian.
When you think of flu season, you probably are reminded to get your flu shot and to stay home if you're feeling sick. However, you aren't the only one who is susceptible to catching the flu. Dogs can also get the flu virus, and you need to know how to respond when sickness hits.
How do you know that your dog will even be in danger of the flu?
If any animal carrying the dog flu, including horses, humans, cats, or other dogs, is around your dog, count on your dog getting sick.
