PreventionQ: Do all dogs need it? how do i begin treatment A: Your journey would include a trip to your veterinarian for a test to see if your dog(s) are heartworm negative. if so, ask for a prescription so we can fill and ship the product to your house.
Yellow bileQ: I have 2 miniture bull dogs. once or twice a week they will vomit yellow bile first thing in the morning before they eat. you can hear a rumbling sound from their stomachs. i have changed to nutro lite formula because it is lower in fat. i was also told to give them tagmet in the evening. is there anything else i should be doing? how safe is that medication long term? A: I prefer a drug like pepcid which does not have an effect on liver like tagamet does. dose of pepcid is 1/2 mg per pound once daily and is safe. also try adding digestive enzymes like prozyme to diet as well as low dose healthy fatty acids in form of flax seed oil at 1 tea per 20 pounds of body weight daily
Shop for: prozyme Perscriptions for fleasQ: I have 3 dogs and two cats. this year the fleas are more numerous on my pets. i tried dips, powders and collars. is there any perscriptions that i can get to get rid of the fleas? A: The over the counter flea products such as advantage, frontline or program are very effective. however, when there is a flea infestation, you need to treat the pets, the house and the outsidfe environment as well. sentinel and revolution are two prescription heartworm preventatives that are also used to protect against fleas.
Shop for: advantage, sentinel, revolution
Pug has coughQ: My daughter paid a recent visit with a new 2mos. old puppy she just purchased from the aspca. we have 5 dogs at our house ranging in ages from 4mos. to 12 1/2 yr. old everyone except the oldest dog was kept away from her new pup. we were told it was given its first vac. and wormed & neutered ( still has sutures) we took him to our vet the very next day. our vet suspected he could possibly have kennel cough since he had a teary eye and when she had applied gentle pressure to his throat he had a dry cough, the alterative diagnosis was some irritation from a trach tube when he was neutered, this to she explained could be the reason for the teary eye( if it had not been kept moist durning the surgery)this was on 7/07/04 we noticed our 10 yr. old pug starting to cough more often than usal ( he has a reverse sneeze) on 7/11/04. should i be worried about kennel cough? A: Could be kennel cough which is more nuisance than severe health threat. take to vet if persists for good antibiotic like doxycycline. also can give extra vitamin c in form of ester c at dose of 500 mg twice daily and try immune stimulants like pediatric echinacea and goldenseal from health food store.
Shop for: vitamin
Reverse sneezingQ: My three pound yorkie has reverse sneezing, i need to know more about it and what can i do for him, is he in pain when this happens. thank you rose A: No one knows why dogs do this which is like post nasal drip spasms. just rub throat during episodes and try some rescue remedy from health food store which i often finds shortens duration. sometimes allergies can be involved so you could try 1/4 childrens benadryl up to twice daily if persists daily
Hair lossQ: I have a 2 yr old shihtzu who looses patches of hair in warm months and the vet gives him a steroid shot for this about once a month.i do not like the idea of him getting these shots but it seems to help temporaly.he is on the advantage flea protection and goes to the groomer regular.there are no open places on his skin and it mostly falls out from his chest area.any solutions?? A: I hate these long acting steroid shots as they do in my opinion lead to long term health problems when used chronically. if your dog needs cortisone safest route is low dose oral therapy which can usually be tapered to every other day to every third day during allergy seasons. also could try antihistamines as well as fatty acids like derm caps from 1800petmeds. also new drug out called atopica which is alternative to cortisone
Shop for: antihistamine, 1800petmeds, advantage
CatQ: My cat is old and he is getting very skinny. do you think he can have a tape worm. A: I doubt tapeworms causing the problem as most of time tapeworms dont cause much significant disease in dogs and cats in most cases. i would suspect some other geriatric disease and would have complete exam, an dblood workup at your vet to start
Ticks in my houseQ: Is there a product that will not harm my children to use in my home to get rid of and prevent ticks? A: Most tick prevention products are insecticides but are fairly safe around children if you follow packaging inserts.
Shop for: tick
