This has been a banner couple of weeks for pet misbehavior. Brody really brought his A game this month. It's a miracle he didn't need some sort of ER visit, truly. Now, I know this is my fault for not making him tired enough. He's been off because of all the changes in his routine, and I've been travelling, sick, and doing all sorts of things that don't include giving him enough exercise, so that the smallest insults such as leaving the house for half an hour leave him with no choice except ... Read more »
Health
Hill’s Science Diet Ideal Balance Giveaway
The holidays are right around the corner- and to celebrate I have the first of a series of giveaways running between now and the New Year! To kick us off, I have TEN chances to win either: Hill’s® Science Diet Ideal Balance™ Grain Free Adult Chicken & Potato Dinner dog food - OR - Hill’s® Science Diet Ideal Balance™ Adult Chicken & Brown Rice Dinner cat food So here's the interesting thing about pet food nutritionists, and this is the same across the board in terms of the big ... Read more »
Low Cost Spay Neuter Myths and Facts
I'm here, I'm loving Orlando, and I'm sick as a dog. Which stinks, to put it mildly. So, I'm focusing my energy on things like standing up and walking, but the posts will come. Make sure to check out Facebook and Twitter as well, where I'll be posting lots of candids. In the meantime, I have a post about a topic we got into a big discussion about a couple of weeks ago: I loved Dr. Becker's recent article about whether or not vets should offer spays for below cost. His answer, in a ... Read more »
Animal Use in Pet Food Research: The Hill’s Approach
One of my primary goals when I am invited to tour a pet food manufacturer is to see their animal welfare policy in action. It's probably one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to pet foods: do you use animals to test your foods? And how do you use them? There was a time, a little over a decade ago, when animals were used quite a bit by various companies. They were used in various ways, including terminal studies in which the animals were euthanized at the end of the study. ... Read more »
Allergies and you
When my husband and I were dating, we took a trip to Vancouver. One of the things you can do there is take a horse drawn carriage ride around the park. "Let's go," I said. "That will be romantic." "Oh, I'm allergic to horses," he said. "Come on," I wheedled. "You can sit in the back. You don't have to go near them. PLEEEASE!" And because he is a good guy, he said OK. About halfway through, I looked over at him, wondering why he was so quiet. "I need to get off," he choked in a high ... Read more »
Merry Christmas, kids. I poisoned the dogs.
Let me preface this by saying it isn't Christmas in my house until it looks like an elf exploded in the foyer. It doesn't excuse what happened, but it's important to the story. On Saturday, my husband and I went out to dinner while the kids spent the night at the grandparents' house. Before we left, I surveyed the mess that is "middle of Christmas prep" with some trepidation. There was trouble everywhere. Breakable ornaments, garland, boxes piled to the ceiling. Most of it is pretty ... Read more »
Hills Tour Part 1. By-products: What’s in a name?
Last week I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite pet bloggers out in Topeka to tour the Hill's Pet Nutrition campus. I really enjoy going to these types of events for a lot of reasons: one, I always learn something. Two, it's really helpful from my perspective to get to meet the individuals behind a brand and get a feel for who these people are and how they embody a company's vision. (I own a grand total of two sweaters, by the way, neither of which actually provides any actual ... Read more »
Thanksgiving Food Dos and Don’ts for your pet
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days in the veterinary ER, which should surprise none of you. The very first Thanksgiving I had Emmett, he dug the turkey carcass out of the trash and settled down for a little leftovers. Luckily he left a disgusting trail of grease from the kitchen, across the living room and up the (carpeted) stairs so I managed to find him before he did too much damage, but Thanksgiving is a time of excess and gluttony for all of us, and for pets unaccustomed to the ... Read more »
Take a bite: Home Cooking and a BalanceIt Giveaway!
Lots of people like to cook for their pets, but most people don't do it every single day. Of those who do, most do so because they have to, a pet with kidney disease who also has food allergies and diabetes, that sort of thing. Occasionally there is the person who just likes to do it, like the chef who makes seared sea bass for his two incredibly spoiled schnauzers every day. I admire that dedication, which is significant. More common are people like me, those who do it every once in a while ... Read more »
Guest Post: Dr Patrick Mahaney Promotes Pet Cancer Awareness Month on petMD
For this hour, another fantastic post from the multi-talented Patrick Mahaney, who in addition to his work on his own site and Teddy Hilton is also now blogging at petMD! Thank you for sharing this great post, Patrick! This article appeared on petMD as part of Dr Mahaney’s The Daily Vet series. The photo is of Quinn, one of my patients who valiantly fought his cancer battle but has since passed on (see Memorial for Quinn the Border Collie Mix). Cancer. The Big C. The Crab. Regardless of ... Read more »
Insomniac
I have had the worst insomnia lately. I don't know what the deal is. I lay awake, totally exhausted and ready to die, but my eyes betray me and snap open and there I lay, till 1, till 2, looking at the ceiling and thinking about nothing and everything. I suppose this will bode well for me this weekend, this whole no sleeping thing, but for now, it stinks. Because I'm the zombie. Although I'm awake, I'm useless. I thought I would try to continue the Africa recaps for you but 1. I'm in St. ... Read more »
Health is Wealth! (Well that, and vanity.)
Look what arrived at our front door this week! Even though we ended up having to be out of town for the Surf Dog competition, Eukanuba was fantastic enough to send Brody and I our very own surfboard. And what a board it is! It's not just any old surfboard, but one custom made for dog surfing competitions. By far the flyest piece of sporting equipment I own. Thank you, Eukanuba. It is spectacular. You know what this means, though, right? Now we have to use it. Ricochet, I know we'll be ... Read more »
Ask Dr. V: headgear and flat pets questions answered!
As you watch this I will be delirious with jet lag in the middle of a 25 hour flight home. This is an appropriate topic for such antics. ... Read more »
Ask Dr V: Nutrition, rotation diets, and high protein
Today I'm showing Part 2 of the Ask Dr V series. I believe, though I haven't checked it against the itinerary, that I should be on my way to the Ngorongoro Crater as we speak. Unless a chimp shoved me off the mountain earlier in the week, in which case these pre-published videos will be on a whole new level of macabre. Which, by the way, my shade would find utterly hysterical. ... Read more »
Ask Dr. V: Petsitters and euthanasia
Before I left, I spent a few minutes answering some of the great questions you submitted for the Ask Dr. V segments. I was on my way to a PTA meeting and had a few minutes to kill, so I figured why not. This was way more interesting, by the way. Do you have a clear understanding with your petsitters or boarding facilities when you leave on a trip? Would you want them to make that call for you? ... Read more »
Off the Grid: Surf Dog Kills It
Yesterday, Brody and I had our rescheduled surf lesson with Evan the Surf Instructor. It went great. Brody is a natural. His handler, on the other hand, needs a lot of practice. I had no idea how much work it was to push a dog into a wave. I would have had a fuller recap for you by today, but as you may have heard, some doofus in Yuma managed to power down the entire county of San Diego for the day. As we were leaving the beach, I remarked that there sure was a lot of traffic, even for 4 ... Read more »
Hang 20 Part 2: Pool Lessons
With our surf lesson postponed until today, I didn't want to waste this week doing no preparation at all with Brody. So we practiced getting acclimated to the board at home and in the pool. I'm not a surfer myself, so I got on the board to get a feel for the balance involved. It's quite a lot of work. With practice, I'm sure we'll both improve, but in the meantime, I got him to sit on it for a few minutes and that alone is pretty cool. Hope you like Part 2 of Hang 20! ... Read more »
Catch Me if You Can
So what do you do when the surf is too dangerous to practice your surf technique? Raise mayhem, of course. ... Read more »
