Natural disasters can strike at any time; when they do is not the time to try to prepare. Having your family and pets prepared for such catastrophes as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods will save you time to respond and evacuate, if necessary, and could very possibly save your or your pet’s life. The images of last year’s hurricanes along the Gulf Coast told it all. Thousand of pets became separated from their owners and were left behind. Some survived but, like their owners, found themselves homeless. Others found new homes, and a few were miraculously reunited with their owners.

Plan now by ID’ing your pet.

Wouldn’t you want to be able to find your pet in case of such an emergency? Start now by checking with your vet or shelter about a microchip that can easily be implanted under your pet’s skin. They’re about the size of a grain of rice and can be read by a handheld scanner. If microchips aren’t for you, by all means have an ID tag on your pet’s collar that includes a cell phone number or a number where you can be easily reached. Keep in mind that home phone numbers in disaster areas could potentially be out of service.

Understanding the reasons behind dog aggression almost always help in using the right techniques to train or re-train your dog. Aggressive dog behavior is caused mainly by the dominating trait that most dogs have. This specifically pertains to the domination of territory or the pack.

In many cases dog aggression can also be triggered by inter-male rivalry or fear of a specific object or person. Under-socializing during the early training stage may drive some dogs to behave aggressively when someone approaches their home as they may fear a takeover. Aggression by bitches to protect their litter too is actually driven by fear for the safety of her offspring.

Dogs can be socially trained to hide or escape to cover up their fears. However, when they find themselves in a situation from which they cannot extricate themselves, they are liable to resort to aggression. For example, if you force your dog to interact with people or other dogs or a face a situation he is not ready for, it may result in aggressive behavior that may include dog biting.

Excessive Barking (Part 4): How To Use A Water Gun To Quiet Your Dog

If your dog is an excessive barker and literally keeping you and the neighbors up at night, you have the responsibility to take a little time and properly communicate to your dog that it is not okay to bark for no apparent reason. The key to such communication and effective dog training lies within a few simple techniques, one of which we will touch up on below.

The Water Gun Method

The water gun method is the most effective trick for training a large percentage of dogs. It is the easiest, and the most humane way of getting your point across. For an investment of just the few dollars, combined with a little imagination and some water, there can be quiet for you, peace or your neighbors, and a calm demeanor for your dog.

Remembering that dogs learn by associating their actions with pleasing or displeasing results, resolve to give your dog at least six to seven days of proper training for his excessive barking. In cases of these types of barking problems, it really does take about a week for your dog to get the point.

There were times when it was believed that the only way worms in dogs passed on to puppies, was through the mother’s system while they were still in the uterus. Whereas this contention still holds good for some types of worms, it has now been established that worms can infest puppies through other means also.

Worms like dog tapeworm, and dog roundworms and even some feline parasites have a typical lifecycle and can enter a pet’s body through various means.

Worms are intestinal parasites that reside mostly in the small intestines. Worms like tapeworms and roundworms are extremely migratory within a dog’s body and they are expelled and ingested during different stages of their lifecycle. Infestation can be through ingestion of larvae or eggs of worms or through ingestion of infected intermediate hosts like rodents and mice. Worms are passed through feces and puppies ingest worms directly from the environment as well. Sometimes the infection can be passed on by contact with the coat of the infected mother.

What causes travel or motion sickness?

Travel or motion sickness is caused by movement in different directions, particularly when the animal is sitting or standing still in a moving vehicle, boat or plane. It can also happen when there is a loss of visual contact with the outside horizon or due to pressure changes in the inner ear during air travel.

These events may cause confusion in the balance center of the inner ear, leading to fatigue, nausea, dizziness and even vomiting. It is not known why some animals are more prone to motion sickness than others. Many will gradually become accustomed to traveling and motion sickness will disappear after a few regular journeys.

While the majority of animals overcome motion sickness and learn to enjoy the journey, others continue to suffer the symptoms throughout their lives. This makes any journey traumatic for both the pet and the owner.

What is PetAlive EasyTravel Solution?

PetAlive EasyTravel Solution contains a combination of selected herbal and homeopathic ingredients known to successfully treat all the major symptoms of Travel or Motion Sickness.

Hypothyroid conditions in pets

The thyroid gland produces thyroid hormones which have a number of functions in the body and are particularly critical in maintaining your pet’s metabolic rate. Any change in the functioning of this gland can have varied effects on your pet’s health. In some animals (and humans) the function of the thyroid gland may become compromised and decrease as your pet ages or due to inflammation of the gland. Although hypothyroidism (decreased functioning of the thyroid) is not a life-threatening condition, it can certainly decrease your dog or cat’s quality of life.

The symptoms of hypothyroidism may be insidious in onset and not immediately obvious. If your pet has been putting on weight or you suspect hypothyroidism for another reason, it is best to consult your vet who will be able to test for this condition by measuring thyroid hormones in the blood.

What are the symptoms of hypothyroidism in pets?

Pets with hypothyroid conditions may gain weight without any change in their diet. Many become lethargic and seem to lack energy. The coat and skin may suffer from the lack of thyroid hormones- leading to hair loss and dry skin. Constipation, slow heart rate and infertility are also common problems in pets with hypothyroidism.

Out of the numerous intestinal parasites, roundworms and tapeworms are the most common feline parasites that infest cats. The connection between these two intestinal parasites ends here. Roundworms are round and slimy creatures whereas tapeworms are flat and segmented.

Both the worms shed eggs that are passed out in the feces of the cat. But roundworms and tapeworms look different. Roundworm eggs excreted in feces are microscopic, whereas tapeworm eggs are released as packets from the end segments that detach from the worm. These segments can be seen in the cat’s feces or clinging to the hair near the anus of the cat.

Roundworms

The two common species of roundworms found in cats are:

* Toxocara cati
* Toxascaris leonina

Eggs from both the species are generally eaten by a cat when they are still in their non-infectious stage. They may also be ingested by an intermediate host, say, a mouse or a rat.

Toxocara cati differs from the other roundworm in one feature. It has the capacity to remain dormant in female cats. A queen may harbor larvae from previous infections that remain encysted in various tissues in the body. At the time of pregnancy these larvae migrate to the mammary glands. Larvae transmit through milk too. That the litter of an infected mother will be infected as well is a foregone conclusion.

No matter whether a puppy is being fed by its mother, or his owner, he will eventually have to be taught to depend upon something else besides milk as his food. This procedure is called the “weaning” process, and constitutes the changing of your pup’s diet from a liquid to a solid. Once a puppy reaches the age of about four to six weeks ,and their eyes begin to open up, and they are moving about, they should experiment with solid food that is being fed to the mother. Around this time, you should begin to teach your puppies to feed from a bowl.

Establishing an early feeding routine accomplishes four very important things you should be aware of.

First, it allows the owner to feed the pups a diet that is more satisfying for them than the diet you are feeding the mother of the puppies.

Second, it quickens the weaning process, due to the fact that the pups will learn to consume solid foods at an earlier age, than if not.

Third, it starts the bonding procedure between the pups and his owners due to the social interaction.

There are always some cancer cells in the body, which the body can effectively kill on its own if the immune system is strong. Despite this fact pets still develop cancers that need treatment. Cancer in dogs and cats may not be a very common condition but it can be as problematic and fatal as in humans.

Pets cannot speak about the discomfort that they are facing and therefore, it is upon the pet owners and veterinarians to use their observation and knowledge to establish prevalence of, say, symptoms of liver cancer in dogs and cats among other health conditions.

Feline cancer can occur in any part of the body. If cancer has been diagnosed in certain specific areas, radiation therapy is one of the treatment options that should be considered.

Radiation therapy involves the same X-Rays that are used for a normal X-Ray for clinical investigation. The difference is that the levels of the X-Rays that are used for the therapy are thousands of times more powerful.

While you may purchase young, small koi, like other species of creatures, they will adapt their growth and size somewhat, to the restrictions of space. Food and overall conditions in the aquarium will also affect their growth rate, with premium food being important, and overfeeding to be avoided both for the health of the fish, and the health of the tank environment.

Clean water is a must, as is good aeration. Large fish eat a lot of food and produce a lot of waste. If you have a 50-gallon tank, and several fish, you may need a filtration system whose capacity is actually over 50 gallons, in order to keep the water as clean as possible.

You might like to choose from several of the varieties of koi, for a more interesting mix of colors, but remember that koi in their natural outdoor environment, tend to have more intense color in cooler weather, so keep your tank temperature in a moderate zone. If you’d like to have males and females, ask for help from the breeder or store in sexing your purchases. Very young koi are difficult to tell apart, although young adult females tend to have a fuller, cigar type shape.