Health Tips for Pet Parents

Today, I’d like to share a couple of short news clips and health tips for pet parents.

calico cat with sandalA laser therapy called K-Laser offers new hope for some pets with spinal problems, as well as other injuries and arthritic problems. It’s not a cure for all types of back problems, but this discovery is great news for a select group of pets that might otherwise be paralyzed due to back problems that have been considered untreatable.

Understanding liver function and liver function tests can be important when your pet is facing a health crisis. The link below takes you to an article that is one of the best I’ve seen at explaining the tests and some of the things you can do–as well as what not to do–to help your pet. http://adelaidevet.com.au/pet-library/liver-disease-in-cats

If you have a dog or cat with allergies–especially wheat or corn, you may have missed a serious allergy source. Cat litter. Yup, cat litter can be a source of wheat or corn. Many people prefer natural litters and Swheat Scoop is one of them. Nature’s Miracle is corn based. These are good products. I’ve tested most of them. Nevertheless, if you have an allergic dog, it’s almost impossible to be sure he or she isn’t exposed. Cats track litter out of the box, no matter what you do to prevent it. We even tried putting our litter pan in a box with a network of doors the dog can’t get her head through. Our dog still tries to get to the cat litter, and some litter tracks into the area her head will reach.

It’s natural for animals to clean up after each other and to sniff everything, even if they don’t eat it. If you have an allergic dog, check ingredients. Just sniffing the fine litter can set off allergy problems in severely allergic animals. It’s also possible to have a kitty that’s allergic to specific litter ingredients. If you want to get away from clay and dust, there are several other good litter products made from other sources, such as Pa Purr.

I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but I have some good resources that I’m willing to share if you have questions. Just contact me. That’s it for this time.