Our Blog

The in-laws are visiting, maybe your boss is over for dinner, or maybe you’re hosting a football party and, without warning, your dog chooses that specific moment to emerge from behind a wall as though stepping onto stage. Looking around the room, almost building the suspense, he drops his rear-end with a loud pronounced “thud” then proceeds to drag it across your living room floor with the tenacity only your dog has.

These kind of dog quirks may be what give your dog its personality, whether they are leftover instincts from a wilder time or an indicator of various conditions may just depend on the acts themselves. Read more below for specifics on these sometimes humorous or embarrassing activities or quirks. Continue…

Finally, the temperatures have lowered in the last month and continue to move back into the pleasant outdoor climate that makes San Antonio a great place to live. South central Texas offers a lot of fun activities with pets in the fall. Hiking, biking, parks and parties, the fall season really is a nice mix of seasonal activities for you and your furry friends. Here are some ideas to keep you and your favorite animal moving well into winter. Continue…

Living in the Southwest, there are some lurking desert dangers to our pets that you should know about; especially before anyone sets a paw or a foot outside the door. Whether you’re roaming the wilds of rural Texas, or venturing west toward Arizona, New Mexico, or California, you’ll want to bone up on the dangers of the desert. Continue…

Even though this illness can be found worldwide, very few dog owners know about it. Canine leptospirosis, or lepto, is a bacterial infection caused by one or more of the bacterial strains, Leptospira.

Although lepto has been around for thousands of years, we are seeing more cases emerge as our contact with wildlife in both rural and urban areas increases. Continue…

We are all too familiar with that singular moment of disbelief when – for the first time – a pet starts to show signs of getting older. Since when did Fido shrug off a walk along the river? Was Fluffy’s face that grey (or white) just yesterday? While changes can certainly occur overnight, it’s more common for distinct age-related symptoms to surface over a period of time. Plus, many pets are hardwired to mask illness, keeping you in the dark as long as possible. Continue…

Just about everyone has heard about rabies. People generally understand that it’s a “bad” disease, but few people actually understand what it is or what their risk is. Animal owners in need to have a handle on this deadly infection. Rabies in pets is serious business, and it is up to you to know about it. Continue…

For someone just heading off to college, it’s usually hard enough to leave family behind. But, to have to leave the family pets, too? That’s way worse. Because of this, many students are tempted to bring their furry friends along to the college with them.

Mixing college and pets may seem like a lovely way to alleviate homesickness and bridge the gap between home and independence, but bringing pets, especially dogs or cats, to campus can be a very bad idea. Continue…

It’s easy to assume that owning a pet is…well, easy. Pets are typically adorable, sweet, fun, good-natured, and excellent snuggle buddies on cold nights. Besides food, water, and shelter (not to mention cleaning up any messes), a prospective pet owner may wonder: what else is there? Continue…

The summer is possibly the most special season of the year for your pet, and the reason goes far beyond the extra social occasions, traveling opportunities, and longer than usual naps splayed out on the lawn. It’s the time spent with running amok with your children, of course! But, alas, summer is coming to a close and with autumn on the horizon, your family’s school-year routine is fast approaching. How does your pet handle change when he or she has grown accustomed to surges in attention and activity this summer?

Continue…

When your dog displays signs of respiratory distress, what do you do? With the latest outbreak of canine influenza around Chicago earlier this year, and the spread of the same strain in our own backyards in 2011, it’s natural to conclude that your dog caught the nasty, contagious flu. However, while some symptoms (such as nasal discharge and the tell-tale coughing) are similarly unfortunate, your dog could actually be infected with common kennel cough. Continue…