Tag Archives: animal health

Pet Owner Poll Tackles Health Issues

Would you perform CPR on your pet? Do you know how to do it? These are just a few of the questions asked of pet owners in a recent poll. In October 2009, Petside.com and the Associated Press sponsored a survey of pet owners about health care and emergency care. Nearly twelve hundred pet parents participated in the phone survey, answering questions about emergency plans, health care, and common owner boo-boos. More than half of those surveyed would indeed try to perform CPR on their pets in the event of an emergency. (The number was higher in dog owners than … Continue reading →

The Longevity of Pets

If you’re planning to live to be a hundred, you might want some company. Pets are living longer lives these days, too! The number of dogs and cats living into their twenties (and beyond — there are accounts of cats living into their thirties!) may be indicators that the life spans of our beloved companion animals are increasing. If you’re interested in a long-lived pet, here are some things to consider: Size matters. The largest dog breeds are often the ones with the shortest life spans. One heartbreaking example is the Irish wolfhound, with a life span around 6-8 years … Continue reading →

What is Heartworm?

My dogs get a monthly preventative for heartworm. Just the mental picture of a dog’s heart infested with the stringy worms is enough to make me itchy for a week! UGH! I do not want to even think about something like that happening to Lally or Moosie! The name is pretty evocative: heartworm. Worms in the heart. Gross! Heartworm is carried by mosquitoes, so if you are in a high-mosquito area like the Atlantic and Gulf coasts or near the Mississippi or any other major rivers, you hopefully have your pets on a preventative. How it works: A mosquito bites … Continue reading →