First off, if you haven’t heard about Blogpaws and you’re in this industry shame on you.  Blogpaws is THE gathering of pet bloggers and a resource for all kinds of learning, networking, and of course FUN.

I was indirectly introduced to Blogpaws through some contact Ellie here at the Pet Insurance Center made and was immediately disappointed that I don’t think I’ll be making the conference this year.  Right now we’re under the water as far as time versus work is concerned but that’s beside the point.

I wanted to direct my efforts here to explaining why conferences such as Blogpaws and Blogpaws specifically are something any business or individual in this industry should not miss out on.

I come from a background in online marketing and pretty much ran a social media marketing/SEO firm for years.  I’m was also involved in some of the early Web 2.0 stuff (right before that name really even came about) and co-founded a company called CrazyEgg amongst other things.  I have seen how the blogging community can influence entire industries from the very beginning and how over time, relationships with bloggers and the entire online community can be an absolutely essential component of any business operation.  This has never been more true of virtually any industry and the pet industry is no exception.  Whether you are just blogging about your pets for fun or if you really want to try to make something big happen for pets and pet lovers, you should definitely attend Blogpaws this year.
Learn more about Blogpaws here.

Regular immunizations are an important part of keeping your dog healthy.  In order to prevent dogs from getting serious diseases that can make them very sick or possibly even die, we vaccinate against them every year or every few years.

How often your dog will need a shot varies between different vaccines.  Traditionally all shots were given once a year, but studies have since found that some vaccines — such as rabies — last longer than a year.  Additionally, vaccinating too frequently can actually be detrimental to your dog’s health.  For this reason, many vets vaccinate less often now, and often don’t give certain vaccines at all unless your pet is considered high risk.

Regardless of how long a vaccine lasts or whether your dog is high risk, however, local ordinances may require that you get certain shots every year.  Here are the shots commonly given to dogs, and some information to help you decide whether or not your dog will need them.

• Rabies: Many, if not most, places require dogs to have regular rabies shots.  Usually you will need to get a rabies shot for your dog every year, although some communities only require it every 2 or 3 years, because of findings that some vaccines last longer than a year (and that over-vaccinating can actually be harmful to animals).
• Distemper: Distemper is a highly contagious, often fatal disease that occurs more often in puppies and young dogs.  After the required boosters as a puppy, young dogs should be immunized against distemper every year, but older dogs can usually just get the shot once every two years.
• Parvovirus: This is another disease that seems to affect mainly puppies and young dogs.  This vaccination is only done with your dog’s “puppy shots” — usually 8, 12, and 16 weeks.  You may also choose to vaccinate for parvo one more time when your dog is a year and a half old.
• Leptospirosis: This is another serious disease that dogs should be vaccinated for, particularly if your dog ever drinks standing water or comes into contact with pests such as rats.  The vaccine doesn’t last as long as some, so you should get this shot every year.  Some municipalities may require that your dog have it.
• Giardia: Dogs also get giardia, an intestinal parasite, from drinking outside water or eating other animals’ feces.  Like leptospirosis, giardia is a yearly shot.
• Bordatella: Also known as kennel cough, bordatella is a respiratory disease that spreads quickly when dogs are kept in close quarters with one another.  The vaccination only lasts 6 months and usually isn’t necessary unless you are boarding your dog.  However, most kennels and some doggy daycares do require this shot.
• Lyme disease: Depending on where you live, you might also want to vaccinate for Lyme disease.  Dogs get this disease from ticks, so if you live in an area where you have a lot of ticks, getting this shot would be a good idea.

Obviously you have a lot of things to vaccinate your dog for, and as you can probably imagine, the cost can escalate quite quickly.  Most dog owners should expect to spend $100 or more on vaccinations every year, not counting the cost of an office visit or a physical exam.  Because puppies have to be vaccinated several times before their first year, the annual cost of a puppy’s shots will be at least double that.  Having pet insurance can help soften the blow, plus you will be protected against other expenses that can come up during the year if your pet unexpectedly becomes ill.

I just read a post over at Bark-N-blog about Callie Rose, the Raw Fed Labrador.  I haven’t heard much about this so I just did some research and am really curious about this diet.  I remember being told when I was younger that people would feed their bull terriers kittens to make them better attack dogs.  I’m still not terribly happy about the image that puts in my mind nor am I entirely sure why, against my better judgment, I’m mentioning that here on a raw fed post.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the raw-fed diet, its pretty much as it sounds; giving your dog (or cat) raw meat as their diet rather than canned or bagged food.  I’m not going to outline all the considerations for raw feeding, there are a ton of resources you can look into if you really want to start this diet.  I recommend starting with the Yahoo groups.

I’m just going to share a few tidbits I found here:

• You can choose pretty much anything – Chicken, quail, fish, eggs.
• Chicken is the base for most raw feeders
• Avoid using items that have been raised inappropriately such as feedlots.  I guess you should stick with organic food to be sure.

Some benefits of switching to a raw diet:

• No doggy odor (to me this is a bit counter intuitive but hey)
• Naturally clean teeth – Huge in my book.  My dogs teeth are already covered in plaque despite regular brushing and greenies.
• Less stool produced and firmer stool – Might save some trouble if you have holes in the plastic bag you used (I hate that)
• Lower vet bills – Apparently allergies are mostly caused by grain rich diets (normal pet food)
• Puppies develop at a more appropriate rate – I didn’t know this was an issue but it looks like fast puppy growth leads to health problems.  Makes sense to me.
• Eating raw meaty bones develops the jaw, neck, and shoulder muscles of the dog.  I guess eating kibble from a bowl doesn’t exactly help the whole ripping and chewing activity.

I don’t know if I’ll be switching to this diet anytime soon (my wife just freaked out when I told her about this ) but it does sound promising.  If anybody else follows this diet please chime in on the comments!

If you are a veterinarian, you probably are finding that a lot of your clients have questions about pet insurance that you may or may not know how to answer.  These questions are normal, and simply reflect your clients’ skepticism of an industry they consider new and slightly mysterious.  Although more and more people are getting health insurance for their pets, there are still many more without it, and it’s hard to take on another monthly expense without understanding what it is and why it is important.

Here are some of the most common questions about pet insurance, and how you can answer them.

Q: Why do I need pet insurance?
A: Insurance is a way of making the cost of pet care, particularly large expenses such as surgery, more manageable over the long term.  Instead of paying very little for years, and then being hit with expensive procedures as your pet ages, with pet insurance you pay low monthly premiums and pay less on shots, surgery, and other procedures.

Q: How does pet insurance work?
A: When you take your pet to the vet, you are responsible for paying for it up front.  Afterward you simply submit your claim to the insurance company, and they reimburse you for their share of the cost.  Pet insurance companies are usually pretty good about reimbursing claims quickly and without a lot of fuss.

Q: What does pet insurance cover?
A: Just like health insurance for people, pet insurance policies can vary on how much of your veterinary costs they cover.  When shopping for pet insurance, be sure to look at each policy’s coverage, such as the cost of the policy, copays, deductibles, what percentage or dollar amount of various procedures is covered, and what limits or exclusions the policy has.

Q: Will pre-existing conditions be covered?
A: Also like health insurance for people, pre-existing conditions are often not covered — or have limited covereage.  That is why the time to think about getting pet insurance is when your pet is young and health, instead of waiting until something is wrong.

Q: How much does pet insurance cost?
A: Pet insurance is fairly affordable, with most monthly premiums ranging between $10 and $50.  Average is about $25-$30 a month.  Similar to health insurance for people, the cost of your policy is influenced by certain factors, such as breed.

Q: What is the difference between pet insurance and a wellness plan?
A: A wellness plan, which some vets are starting to offer, is a program where the client pays a low monthly cost — usually about $20 or $25 — to cover the annual costs of care, such as a yearly physical and immunizations.  In a wellness plan, you are paying the vet each month, so you don’t have to pay for visits up front and wait to be reimbursed.  However, a wellness plan typically does not cover emergency expenses, which pet insurance does – a wellness plan is simply for making the expense of routine care more manageable.

If your clients are coming to you with questions about pet insurance, it is your job as their veterinarian to be able to answer them.  The key is having short, succinct answers at the ready for the most common questions.  Feel free to use the questions and answers above to help you decide what to say!

According to the American Pet Products Association, there was a total of $45.5 billion dollars in pet industry expenditures during 2009. $17 billion went to food while $12 billion went to Veterinary care…where did the rest go?

{Click Image For Larger Version}

My dog has a nasty habit of eating everything that crosses his path. Whether its chewing gum, little rocks, debris grass or mushrooms he tries to eat it. It’s worrisome because I know that some of the items he digests aren’t good for his system but it’s also difficult to prevent him from eating them. The one substance that makes me very nervous is mushrooms. They seem to grow everywhere in yards, woods, on the side of the road and most are very hard to identify. Some species of poisonous and nonpoisonous grow right next to each other. There are so many different types of fungi looming in the grass you can almost never tell which can are fatal.  Hopefully I can help give you a little help on what to look for on the ground or on your pets.

First off, Mushrooms are a type of fungus that can be found growing in damp, dark places like soil and inside trees. While most mushrooms are edible there are some that are poisonous and very dangerous.

The three most dangerous groups of fungi are Amanitas, False Morels, and LBM’s or “Little brown mushrooms”:

Possibly Toxic Amanita

The mushrooms in these groups can be virtually fatal. The amanitas fungi grow as an egg shaped ball it breaks open as it continues to grow. Full grown amanitas are umbrella shaped caps that are brown, yellow, white or red. They also have a cup around the base of the stem and are found buried right under the surface and may not be visible to the wandering eye. They have white gills and a ring around the stem. This type of fungi is found during the summer and fall. False morels are tricky fungi because some people have reported really enjoying eating it while others have experienced serious illness and possibly death. False morels have wrinkled caps and are black, white, brown or red in color. These mushrooms can grow 2-8” high. The bottom of a false morel hangs down like a dress. The little brown mushrooms are small to medium sides, brown mushrooms with many colors in their spores. Some LBMs are not dangerous and are used as hallucinogenic but some are very deadly. Due to their difficulty in being identified LBMs should be avoided at all costs. They are found during the spring, summer and fall and are located in many regions.

Many times pet owners don’t realize that they have very poisonous mushrooms growing in their own back yard. Mushrooms vary in size and can have very good hiding places. If you have pets this is important information to think about. It’s a good idea to inspect your yard every morning and especially if your region is experiencing damp weather. New mushrooms can sprout up overnight. When you do find mushrooms in your yard, be sure to dig them up and kick up the spores to make sure they won’t grow back.

If an animal eats a mushroom the symptoms of poisoning usually begin within 30 minutes to 6 hours of ingestion. They range from vomiting, diarrhea, profusely salivating and complicated digestive problems. If your dog is only experiencing stomach irritation this should last about 24 hrs and require limited veterinarian assistance. If your pet is experiencing a slow heart beat, is profusely salivating or has increased tear production these symptoms almost always require immediate veterinary help. These symptoms usually take more time to appear once the fungi have been eaten. Some people reported that their dog appeared drunk. This is called ataxia and occurs because the poison affects the neurological system causing stumbling, seizures and kidney failure. A hallucinogenic syndrome will occur within your pet and appear as restlessness. Your pet may hallucinate and snap at invisible bugs, stagger or have muscle tremors. Usually animals that ingest hallucinogenic mushrooms should be closely monitored by a veterinarian. If you have a pet that likes to eat grass the chance of them eating a wild mushroom is very likely. Some animals become sick simply from licking a poisonous mushroom or are allergic even to edible mushrooms. If you happen to catch your pet ingesting a mushroom then you should remove any leftover remnants of the mushroom from the dog’s mouth and induce vomiting. To induce vomiting you will need either 1 tsp of syrup of ipecac or 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide 3%. Repeat the hydrogen peroxide repeat 3 times every 10 minutes. Then call your veterinarian immediately and inform them of the ingestion. If your pet has eaten poisonous mushrooms but you didn’t catch him in the act and is experiencing poisoned symptoms then call your veterinarian for immediate emergency assistance.

What you can expect to pay:

Credit: MSN Money, Jan. 2010

MSN Money Online has this to say in a recent article:

The Cost of Your Pet’s Health

“New treatments and monstrous bills:
What’s changed in recent years is the state of veterinary science, as well as the economics of running a veterinary practice. Vets today can offer treatments that were unheard of just a few years ago — and at prices that could make you howl.
Consider:
• Treatments once reserved for humans, from radiation therapy to kidney transplants, are now available for pets. That means once-fatal conditions are now treatable at costs ranging from $1,000 to more than $5,000.
• Vets have access to increasingly sophisticated and costly diagnostic tools, such as MRIs. Such screenings not only boost the cost of exams but often detect problems that once would have gone unnoticed and untreated.

These expensive tools and procedures have helped create health care inflation in the pet doctor world.”

The Wall St. Journal Online says approximately the same thing:

“The cost of medical care for pets is rising as fast as it is for humans, and that’s helping to spur sales of pet insurance.  Pet owners are able to choose from a rapidly growing array of policies, featuring everything from high-deductible designs to coverage of alternative-medicine treatments like acupuncture.”

(Wall St. Journal Online, 2010)

This great advancement in  vet care, and the burden it can be financially for pet owners, has spawned the lively, growing industry of pet insurance.  Pet insurance fills a valuable need because it can save your pet’s life and save you thousands of dollars.

No longer is pet insurance a frill or after thought of responsible pet ownership. Today it is almost a necessity.

When my wife and I got our first dog (Those are her pics above), I have to admit that we cheated a bit and picked up the puppy a little early.  I think we got our little American Eskimo at about 8 weeks of age.  It honestly might have been a week earlier.  The only reason I bring that up is because we had to deal with a bit of separation anxiety and there are still remnants of that in our dog’s (Nikki) behavior.  I have read that after seven weeks it is fine to separate a puppy for a mother but 8-10 weeks is more ideal because the don’t tend to develop some clingy behavior and have issues when mom and dad leave.  In our case, even if it was 8 weeks, I think that’s a bit too early.

Here are the symptoms we saw with our dog/puppy:

1 – Crying and barking when either my wife or I left.  This would happen regardless of whether or not one of us was still there.

2 – Serious chewing, ripping, shredding of things when the puppy/dog is left alone.  We actually have two Eskimos about six months apart and both had serious chewing phases as puppies.  However, this would only worsen when we were away whereas the normal chewing/teething ended relatively quickly.  Nikki had a real problem chewing power chords.  This was not only horrifying because she could have been hurt but of course it wasn’t fun:

• Splicing three speaker chords
• Splicing a new power plug onto my wife’s favorite lamp
• Purchasing three Mac Laptop power supplies ($100 ea)
• Buying two new headsets

Some other signs of separation anxiety dogs may show:

1 – Panting or attention seeking before the owner leaves

2 – “Velcro dog” or when the dog doesn’t leave the owners side

Whatever the case may be, if you can’t resist bringing home your dog a little later, be prepared for some issues.  I highly recommend just taking that extra couple of weeks to read up on training, puppy proof your house, or just enjoy being alone.  You don’t want to create unnecessary stress for your little puppy and that stress may very well last a lifetime.

Contemporary advancements afford long lives for our favorite pets. As a result, many canines reach older ages. While pet owners love the additional years with beloved friends, this introduces new pet care problems. Aging dogs require special attention. However, some easy steps can help your family’s best friend enjoy advanced age. We love our pets and want them to be comfortable and happy. Consider some of these tips when handling the special needs of your older dog.

Nutrition Is the Key to a Healthy Dog

Premium quality foods are vital for the health of any canine. Unfortunately, many inexpensive dog foods include a number of unhealthy fillers. For example, some companies stuff their dry food formulas with onerous quantities of corn. Inefficient food sources will not provide ample nutrition without taxing your dog’s digestive system. Furthermore, cheap pet foods use larger servings to meet your dog’s daily nutritional needs. While you may feel that these inexpensive dog food brands offer a great value, the serving sizes are much larger. If you evaluate the cost of each serving, premium pet foods are an excellent deal. Some premium pet food brands offer formulas for seniors. Quality nutrition will equip your dog with the right nutrients to meet upcoming health challenges. When shopping for pet food, spare no expense for your older dog.

Exercise Will Improve the Health of Your Pet

An aging dog does not have the same physical capacity. Your family friend may have a difficult time standing up and walking. However, exercise is important for good health. Play fetch and take walks together. You might have to exercise your dog for a very short period of time for health reasons. However, every little bit counts. Unused muscles can experience atrophy.

Proper Grooming Is Important

Proper grooming improves the health of pets of any age. However, it is even more important as your dog grows older. An older dog might be plagued by sores. If these sores become infected, serious health problems might emerge. For this reason, you should groom your dog very frequently. Clean your dog’s remaining teeth. While brushing your pet’s coat, check the area around the ears, eyes, and mouth. Infections might settle in these locations. If you groom your pet regularly, you will notice such problems at an early stage. Early detection of serious health problems improves your pet’s chance of survival.

Dealing with the Effects of Aging

Older dogs might have a tough time with traditional house training techniques. Your pet may make a few mistakes on the carpet. While you want to remind your dog of the rules of the house, consider health issues that might require frequent trips to eliminate waste. Adjust your schedule to meet the new needs of your aging pet. Give your dog a little extra consideration when scolding for problems that may relate to the consequences of advanced age.

Caring for your older dog can involve some unique challenges. However, with a little extra care, you can provide your pet with comfort during this difficult period of life.

You’ve just brought home the cutest puppy on the planet. While it would be easy to fall for those “puppy dog eyes” and allow it to wrap you around its dewclaw, it’s important to know that the health and well-being of your new friend is vitally important for ensuring many years of joy and happiness.

Here are a few steps to raising a healthy puppy:

> Know your breed.

It’s important to know as much about the breed of your puppy as possible. Different dogs are bred for different purposes and as such, carry unique traits and behaviors. Knowing your breed will help you to know the behavioral characteristics of your puppy and help you make decisions concerning diet and training.

> Be the pack leader

Dogs are pack animals and your family is a pack in the eyes of your puppy. Just like the days when dogs ran in the wild, every pack needs a pack leader to keep things in order. Keeping a proper pack order will provide stability for your little guy and aid in its mental development.

> Work with your puppy daily

Just like humans, your puppy requires daily interaction as it grows. You should plan on working with your puppy a few hours every day. Teaching your puppy basic commands such as sit, lie down and stay will help your puppy know what you expect and will serve as a basis for more advanced training.

Walk your puppy every day. The exercise will be beneficial as your puppy’s bones and muscles grow and it’s a great outlet for releasing anxiety and boredom.

> Make “puppy appropriate” decisions

Raising a healthy puppy requires making puppy appropriate decisions, including:

> Food – a human baby needs baby food and a puppy needs puppy food. Most vets recommend a puppy formula dog food for the first 12-18 months. Purchase only high-quality foods specific to your breed of dog. For instance, large breed puppies should be fed a large breed formula.

> Training equipment – use only puppy-sized leashes and collars. Consider “crate” training your puppy until it reaches adulthood. It provides an established sleeping area and can be used when you need to be away from home for short periods of time. Puppy appropriate treats aid with training your dog.

> Socialization – allow your dog to socialize with other dogs, but do so in a controlled manner. Doggy daycare and dog parks are great places for this, but you should never leave them unattended.

> Know your veterinarian – there are a myriad of shots and vaccinations required for your puppy and you should make sure they receive them. However, it’s a good idea to know your vet beyond this stage. Choose a vet who displays a real interest in your puppy and is willing to answer your questions.

While raising a healthy puppy can seem a bit overwhelming, it’s really just a matter of doing the proper research and acting on the knowledge you obtain.