Call the Vet - an insider's guide to dog and cat health

While vitamin B12 deficiency is most commonly associated with intestinal disease and long-term diarrhea, vitamin B12 is essential for so many processes within a cat's body.

Deficiency might be more common than we think!

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

FIP - three initials that strike fear into every cat who knows how deadly this disease can be.

While the virus that causes Feline Infectious Peritonitis is incredibly common, up until now treatment has been hopeless. thankfully, there could soon be a brand new treatment that offers an infected cat a much better chance of survival.

Find out more in the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

The problem with itchy skin in dogs can be one of the most frustrating conditions to deal with both as a veterinarian and a dog owner because, not only can it be really difficult to actually get a handle on what is causing your dog's itch, it also makes your pet's life miserable.

This episode breaks down the main causes of itching in dogs, as well as some reliable strategies to stop your dog scratching.

Check out the full show notes here

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Being faced with the prospects of amputating your pet’s leg can be a decision that needs to be made quickly and without warning.

It can also be a decision filled with anxiety, guilt, and apprehension.

Jim and Rene, the founders of tripawds.com, are the 2 people you want in your corner if you’re struggling with the thought of your dog or cat living a quality of life on 3 legs, or looking for tips to optimize their happiness following surgery.

They know first hand the challenges you are facing, having experienced this exact scenario with their own dog Jerry.

Little did they know at the time how much Jerry’s cancer diagnosis would change their lives and positively impact countless tripawds across the globe.

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

If your pet's unwell, then making the decision to run a certain diagnostic test, or have a procedure carried out can be really difficult. Especially if there is a chance that that could actually cause your pet harm.

That's the challenge faced in today's question because the last thing we want to do when we're trying to make a diagnosis is to actually kill our patient!

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Does your pet show signs of fear, anxiety, or stress when they visit their veterinarian?

If so, they are not alone!

The “Fear Free” movement seeks to put a stop to this and make your pet’s trip to the vet an experience to be enjoyed rather than feared! How then is a fear free certified veterinarian different, and should you consider changing vets?

Having recently become fear-free certified, I shared a live training in The Academy about the ways that a veterinary visit can be made as low stress as possible (members can watch the full training replay here).

Highlighting the difference between a fear-free veterinarian and a “normal” vet is an important question to answer, especially if your dog or cat hates their visits to the hospital.

Check out the full show notes.

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

When you bring a new puppy into your life, the last thing you want is for them to suffer from a horrible genetic condition that could have been predicted if you had known a test was available.

This is just one consideration when it comes to making sure your new puppy is as healthy as possible.

Head over to the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

We all know how important vaccinations are in keeping our pets safe from preventable, deadly diseases. The last thing we want though is for our interventions to have the opposite effect and hurt our dogs and cats. The risk of side-effects is a reality, but if your dog develops a lump after vaccination is it something to be concerned about?

Check out the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Are you scared that whenever you leave your dog alone you are going to return to a scene of total destruction?

Have you been spending a lot of time with your new puppy during lockdown and started to worry about how they are going to cope when restrictions lift?

Separation anxiety is no laughing matter or minor inconvenience. In fact, if changes aren’t made then a dog can quickly go from feeling a bit anxious to destroying your house and doing themselves a serious injury trying to escape.

Fear not!

Help is at hand as Sara Ondrako, a canine behavioral consultant, talks with me about how to put a stop to separation anxiety, as well as how to prevent your pup from ever developing a separation-related problem in the first place.

Check out the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review

Having a blood test is a frequent next-step when a problem is being investigated. It is also a common recommendation to run bloods as a "routine" health screen in older dogs and cats. The results, however, can sometimes leave you with more questions than answers...

Download Pet Health Essentials - my free guide that will help optimize your pet's health so they are living as healthy, happy, and full a life as possible

In this episode I discuss that:

• "Normal" blood test parameters are based on a mathematical formula which means that a certain number of results are expected to fall slightly outside the normal reference range.
• Blood results can not be taken in isolation. It is important that they are interpreted based on an individual  patients history, symptoms, and physical examination
• For mild abnormalities in an otherwise healthy pet, the options to consider include further testing or monitoring  with repeat testing after a period of time to see if a problem is indeed developing.

Find out more in the full show notes

Love the show? Sharing this episode or leaving a review helps others know it's worth a listen! - https://ourpetshealth.com/review