Posts in Category: Pet Health & Wellness

Cleaning your pet’s ears periodically is a part of good pet hygiene and is also a great way to be sure that you are picking up on problems as quickly as possible.

When performing this maintenance task, you may run across a few things you need to know more about. Leon Valley Veterinary Hospital wants you to know what to do with what you might find in pet ears. 

If you’ve ever watched a vet or tech administer medication, it can look remarkably easy. That is, of course, until you try it at home. The animal in need of a pill seems to have found a new hiding spot, or catches a whiff of the “yucky stuff” and protests with clenched jaws. You might be able to fool them by mixing their medication in with their food or, better yet, a special treat, but their cleverness always prevails. Half-eaten dishes or discarded treats may reveal that they managed to eat around the pill. 

Fortunately, pill pockets and other trickery offer great solutions to getting a picky pet to take their medicine. 

Miss a Dose?

When animals miss doses of necessary medication designed to heal or safeguard health, progress can be upended, or they can be exposed to certain health complications. It’s important that they consistently receive the right dose at the correct time. 

Saving Time and Money

Ensuring that your pet receives their timely medication reduces the negative impact of missed doses on their overall health – and your wallet. Administering medication at home doesn’t have to be fraught with confusion, frustration, or unfortunate results. 

Pill Pockets

Animals are highly food-motivated. As long as you are able to successfully mask the look and smell of medicine, most pets will happily gobble up whatever you’re trying to give them. And if peanut butter gobs or chicken meat bundles aren’t their jam, look no further than the ingeniousness of modern-day pill pockets.

Disguised Dosages

Masking the scent of unsavory, bitter, or bland medication is as easy as inserting a pill into a pocket of tasty goodness. Greenies Pill Pockets are always a safe bet. Simply squeeze the treat around a pill and watch the magic go down! 

Other Cheats

Sure, some pets don’t think twice about eating garbage or feces, but try to give them a pill and they turn up their nose. 

• Show them a pill in one hand. 
• Let them sniff it. 
• Cover up another pill in a squished up gob of grated cheddar or unsweetened peanut butter. 
• Give them a choice to either eat the pill straight, or the delicious treat that happens to be medication in disguise. 

You can try grinding up the pills into a powder and sprinkling it on their food, but make sure to check with your veterinarian first. This method can have mixed results (and it’s crucial they get their full dose every time).

Watch and Learn

If pill pockets don’t work, and they aren’t taking the bait on any other treats, use a pill dispenser or gently use your own hands:

• Place the pill between your thumb and forefinger.
• Gently pull back on your pet’s head to straighten out their neck.
• Open their mouth and carefully drop the pill at the back of the throat (where the back of the tongue meets the palate).
• Sweetly rub the throat in a downwards motion to help the pill go down.

Please let your Leon Valley Veterinary Hospital team know if you need help with pill pockets or other methods for safe, successful medication administration. Some prescriptions can be given trans-dermally or in compounds from special pharmacies.
The relationship between you and your pet will stay strong when you give them great alternatives for taking medicine or supplements they need. Good luck!

Most pets sneeze, wheeze, cough, or make other respiratory sounds at some point or another. Sometimes it is no big deal, but other times respiratory noises in pets are cause for alarm. Leon Valley Veterinary Hospital thinks it’s important for pet owners to know what’s normal, and when to worry.

Decoding Respiratory Noises in Pets

If you rushed your pet in for every grunt, snort, or sniffle, you might be in to see us quite often! While we don’t mind seeing your pet, there are lots of different reasons respiratory noises in pets happen, and some are perfectly normal.

Some of the more common causes of respiratory sounds in pets include:

Have you ever been the recipient of a big wet dog kiss and simultaneously realized your dog just ate cat poop (or worse)? We can’t believe they do it, and don’t understand why. But one thing’s for sure, some dogs sure seem to enjoy it – even with our loud protests.

It turns out this disgusting habit is just another result of natural dog behavior. At Leon Valley Veterinary Hospital, we explore this phenomenon and what pet owners can do about it.

“Why does my pet need vaccines and flea prevention if she never goes outside?” This is a common question that indoor pet owners ask their veterinarian. And although it may seem as if monthly preventives for fleas, ticks, and heartworm as well as keeping vaccines current are a waste of money, the reality is that being indoors does not eliminate the risk of infectious disease or other parasite related problems for indoor pets.

Year round parasite control and a vaccination program are integral parts of your indoor pet’s health care plan. And because some parasites and infectious diseases are transmissible to humans, Leon Valley Veterinary Hospital is certain that keeping your pet protected also protects your family.

Dog owners are familiar with all manner of canine bodily fluids. Whether it’s inside or outside the house, at the park, in the car, or anywhere in between, we clean up after our beloved companions. After all, it’s a small price to pay for all the joy they bring to our lives. It’s also pretty normal – that is, until it’s not!

Eye “boogers” are one example of ordinary canine secretions, but dog eye discharge can also signal something else entirely.

The ways we introduce sights, sounds and sensations to our pets sets the tone for any future experiences. If first encounters are generally perceived as positive you’ll have fewer uphill battles when it comes to convincing them that everything is A-OK later down the line.

For grooming and pet ear health, this is especially true. Many pets are utterly resistant to being handled in this way, but given the chance to learn that it’s not painful – and maybe even worth it in the end – they can learn to accept it.

Every cat boasts an array of uniquely feline physical attributes. Like the color of their eyes or the length of their whiskers, a cat’s fur coat tops the list of what makes them beautiful or handsome.

Aside from aesthetics, however, a cat’s coat is the ultimate indicator of overall feline health. Whether thick and fluffy or silky and smooth, when they feel good, their coats can take on a lustrous quality. But when something’s “off” you’ll likely see it first with a change in grooming habits.

Dentl disease, also called periodontal disease, is one of the most common conditions affecting our pets. In fact, the American Veterinary Dental College estimates that by the time pets are 3 years of age, over 85% of them have some form of dental disease.

Most pet owners have a difficult time knowing when dental disease is a problem affecting their own pet. After all, who wants to look in a pet’s mouth, what with all those fangs? And, pets are very good at hiding signs of pain and discomfort, even from their closest people.

But dental disease in pets is painful for them, make no mistake. And if left untreated, it can cause pain, infection in the mouth, tooth loss, and even damage vital organs such as the liver, heart and kidneys.

Since we all love our pets and want to do the best we can to provide them with a long and happy life. By placing the spotlight on dental disease in pets, and what pet owners can do to prevent and treat this painful condition.

If you own a cat, you know what mysterious, funny, and independent creatures they are. They can also be extremely loving. But whatever your cat’s personality, the fact is that they are a big part of our lives. So it’s natural that we want to care for them the best we can.

But when was the last time you thought about cat dental health? Maybe…. never? If that’s the case, let us give you some reasons that we should all be paying attention to cat dental health, beginning with our own kitties.