Archives: Pets

Preventative Pet Health Care Series: The Yearly Examination

One year of a dog’s or a cat’s life is equivalent to 5-7 years of a person’s life.  Consider all of things that could go wrong with humans within a 5-7 year period, combined with the fact that our pet’s cannot articulate how they are feeling and instinctively  hide signs of pain or illness; it should be clear how important yearly examination are, even for young...

Preventative Pet Health Care Has Been Steadily Decreasing, And We (The Veterinary Industry) Are At Fault

I have written and talked about discount vaccine clinics and shot wagons that pull up to human pharmacies, feed stores, and even gas stations to give vaccines for their pets without examinations or even a medical history.  I have called out the veterinarians that do this as unethical and demeaning to the noble profession of veterinary medicine, and blamed them for providing...

Preparing For Your Pet’s Health Care for the Veterinary Critical Mass (Cont’d)

PAGE 2 (BACK TO PAGE 1) The better answer for all parties is to seek viable options to afford quality veterinary costs that will continue to inevitably increase with inflation over time.  There are medical lending plans that pet owners make take advantage of, but these options still invariably lead to debt accumulation.  While the low interest rates on these plans are often...

Preparing For Your Pet’s Health Care for the Veterinary Critical Mass

I hear all the time that veterinarians have gotten too expensive.  Some pet owners go even further to accuse us of being greedy, even victimizing good people that will do anything and pay anything to save their pet’s lives, repair their injuries, and relieve their pain.  True, like any other profession, there are bad apples.  Thus there is some – albeit small –...

We Must Preserve Our What Wild Treasures We Have Left…And The Wild Creatures That Call Them Home

Above is an image of me, taken earlier today by a fellow hiker at the start of an exhilarating hike up Paintbrush Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.  The natural beauty I saw today was incredible, the raw wilderness spiritually uplifting, the mountain air and strenuous climb cleansing.  Along the way, I saw countless beautiful wild creatures, birds, chipmunks,...

Pancreatitis: Why Is It So Common In Dogs And Cats, How To Prevent It, And How To Recognize It

Pancreatitis is a potentially severe, life threatening inflammatory disease of the pancreas.  Under normal circumstances, the pancreas plays an important role in the regulation of blood glucose metabolism through the secretion of insulin, as well as secreting digestive enzymes into the upper segment of the small intestine to emulsify fats and break down proteins into small...

5 Ways To Get Your Lazy, Chubby Kitty To Exercise

Obesity is a far too common epidemic in cats, and is a much more serious health concern than feline owners realize.  Obesity commonly leads to pancreatic disease, diabetes, degenerative joint disease, and a host of other health problems.  These health issues reduce quality of life, cause high veterinary bills, and shorten the precious lives of the already too short life...

Evidence Suggests Dog Training “Shock” Collars Should Be Avoided

Electronic collars that deliver static shock as a consequence of unwanted behavior have been in use for several years.  Some exist in the form of a perimeter invisible fence that emits a warning beep as the dog approaches his appropriate boundaries, and then delivers a shock as he reaches the limit.  Other collars deliver a static shock when the dog barks to stop unwanted...

Prepare For Your Pet’s Future Health By Banking Stem Cells

Check Out Pets Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Roger Welton DVM on BlogTalkRadio Stem cells are biological cells that are undifferentiated and capable of differentiating into more specialized cells that are specific to tissues and organ systems.  There are two types of stem cells present in mammals.   Embryonic stem cells are present in the inner mass of cells of the...

What Has Happened To The German Shepherd Dog Breed?

They were once one of the most elegant, majestic dog breeds in the world.  Among the most versatile dog breeds, they were as able to serve as military dogs, police dogs and Seeing Eye dogs, as they were to simply be loving, cuddly family pets.  As beautiful as they were intelligent, German Shepherds were justifiably among the most popular breeds in the United States. To be...