Pet Sitting, Dog Walking, House Sitting – Gold Coast

Posts Tagged ‘dog health’

Make this New Year unlike any other — make a real difference in 2012 by forging a pact with your pet. These resolutions will help keep your pet happy, healthy and safe throughout the year. And well, what’s more important than that ?

Related articles

• Tell-tale Signs Your Dog May Have Arthritis (dogfyi.wordpress.com)
• Dietary Supplements for Arthritis Pain (everydayhealth.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Every Tuesday over at the Gold Coast Pets facebook community and twitter —  TIP GIVING TUESDAY — Time for YOU to Shine ! Share YOUR PET CARE TIPS !  Here is one of the featured tips …

From Sarah Ellis

Trust your instincts – if you think your pet is out of sorts, you are the one to know first – and that could be the difference between life and death!

Related articles

• Confused.com top 10 tips for preventing pet damage to your home (confused.com)
• TIP GIVING TUESDAY ! Try these tips ….. (goldcoastpets.com.au)
• The “QLD itch” – SOLUTION ! | pet minding gold coast (goldcoastpets.com.au)
• FREE PET ADVICE | Pet Care Tips ( Tip Giving Tuesday ) (goldcoastpets.com.au)

Quote from:  Gold Coast Mail

Fluoridation of south-east Queensland water supplies began on Monday at a water treatment plant in Molendinar, north of the Gold Coast,  …. It marks the first step of the government’s plan to provide fluoridated water to 90 per cent of the south-east and the remainder of Queensland by 2012.

Quote from:  http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education3/2-water-pets.htm

Animals, like humans, need water to survive. And, like humans, animals are about 80% water. So, most animal experts will agree that pets should be given the same quality water as humans: bottled and/or filtered. As stated earlier, municipal and well water can contain many harmful things, even parasites. And, they don’t discriminate between pets and people!

Our animals are drinking the fluoridated water within the Gold Coast water system !! The Government

From AustraliaMatters.com:

Fluoride’s primary ‘benefits’ are topical, not systemic. There is no need to swallow fluoride.

Nothing more needs to be said. We’re poisoning our pets by giving them Gold Coast tap water.

After some personal research, I’ve come across the ESPRING Water Purifier. There is an “above sink” option that is great for those of us that rent as well as a below sink option.  Click here to learn more about the ESPRING Water Purifier.   Contact me if you would like to see a demonstration of the ESPRING Water Purifier or to order your own ESPRING.

Beloved pet baited – a cruel and painful death

by RSPCA Qld Inc. on Monday, 13 September 2010 at 15:04

RSPCA Qld is appealing for help in finding the person who baited Bronx, a nine month old Dachshund, at Jodie Court in Mermaid Waters on August 14th.

The nine month old de-sexed male was seen in the backyard eating what appeared to be mince in the early hours of the morning. Knowing that she hadn’t given this to him, Bronx’s owner ran out and found what appeared to be white powder mixed in with the mince. Within ten minutes Bronx started to convulse and was rushed to the vet. Within 40 minutes of arriving he had a further six fits and died. Bronx didn’t stand a chance.

Last Friday pathology reports handed to the RSPCA indicated that he had been poisoned with an extremely high dose of strychnine. This would also have proved fatal to a child and possibly even an adult. Humans and other animals can be poisoned by inhalation, swallowing or absorption through the eyes or mouth.

“Strychnine produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction,” said RSPCA Qld Inspector Sommer Heath Crilley. “The road to eventual death is excruciating.”

Anyone with any information can contact RSPCA Qld’s Cruelty Complaints hotline on 1300 852 188

{ link to original post is here – this is authentic }

by Dr. Mercola

REPLY POSTED BY: Dr Becker

Kennel cough has a number of different causes, only one of which — the most common cause — is the Bordetella bronchiseptica bacteria. Many people think bordetella is kennel cough, but that is technically inaccurate.

In fact, dogs that acquire the bordetella bacteria usually have a virus that makes them more vulnerable to infection. Some of these viruses are the canine adenovirus, distemper, canine herpes, and the parainfluenza virus.

Kennel cough is a form of bronchitis and is similar to a chest cold in humans.

How Dogs Get Kennel Cough

Kennel cough is contagious, so whether your dog has the illness or you know of dogs that do, make sure to keep them apart until they are well.   { read more here }

Treatment for Kennel Cough

Since most cases of kennel cough resolve without medical intervention, I don’t recommend immediate or automatic treatment withantibiotics or other medications. Allowing your pet’s body to heal itself naturally is always advisable.  { read more here }

About Vaccines for Kennel Cough

Many veterinarians recommend bordetella vaccines – either by injection or nasal mist delivery. I’m not one of them, however. { read more here }

WEBSITE: Mercola Healthy Pets

Do you believe in the vaccine ?

What has your experiences been with Kennel Cough ?

Is it because of Kennel Cough you use a pet sitter ?

I caught Dr Chris Brown aka The Bondi Vet on the outside stage at the Gold Coast Pet and Animal Expo 2010.  Here he is speaking about bathing your dog.

Did you know you can bathe your dog too much ?  Do you know why your dog rolls around after its had a bath ?  Have a listen!

Did you attend the Gold Coast Animal and Pet Expo 2010 ?  Did you catch Dr Chris Brown ?  Find what he had to say informative ?  What did you like about the Expo the most ?

By Jeff D McQueen

Animal massage is one of the best gifts we can give to our loving pets aside from food and shelter. They sometimes need it too. A simple massage can help our companion pets improve their condition and relationship with us. Not only have our pets benefited from a massage therapy but also us.

Providing massage to our companion pets provides tremendous benefits. It can help them get relaxed and reduce stress. It warms up their tissue and stimulates circulation.

One of the important benefits of massage for our companion pets mentioned was enhanced circulation. Improved circulation can contribute to better digestion and better metabolism, a wonderful benefit for the large number of pets suffering from obesity and gastrointestinal disorders. As well, improved circulation can slow the build up of arthritis and improve energy levels in aged pets. Having a better circulation means better function of the immune system. This helps to reduce the risk of infection or illness and assisting in the rapid recovery from injury or illness. Reducing the time to recover and lowering the amount of pain.

In addition, massage can play a crucial role in healing from such surgeries and reduce the risk of re-injury. Being confined from a surgery causes boredom and restlessness for our companion pets and weakens the health of the immune system which is reliant on movements. Animal massage can be used to reduce boredom, decrease stress and increase relaxation for dogs and cats during periods of healing.

According to many studies, massage has been confirmed to lower blood pressure, increase appetite and reduce the perceived pain and discomfort from certain illness. Moreover, when you massage your companion pets, you can search for anything unusual on their skin. You can find areas of swelling that could be a signs of a serious condition. A simple massage can help our pets become friendlier towards humans.

Almost everyone will definitely agree that the best benefit we can get from giving a massage to our companion pets is that it strengthens our bond. It’s not just a normal animal-owner thing but there’s more to that.

There are many benefits of massage to our companion pets as well as for us. Bonding with our pets adds memorable experience not only for us but for them also. The best thing we can do for our pets is we should consider them as part of the big family now until forever.

As food for thought, although they are our pets they also deserve to experience a good life. They too have emotions like us. A simple massage will do. Even if they cannot communicate it by words, they appreciate it so much. Sometimes we just need to feel deeper.

Article Source: Articles Engine

This information has been provided to you from Vanessa, the owner of Gold Coast Pet Sitting.
For more information please go to http://www.goldcoastpets.com.au  

These types of food materials are different with different grades of liking by the dogs.  Dogs like dry foods only if they are tasty only and however, on comparison, the dogs prefer only the canned food items. Reason for such preference by the dogs is that in case of canned food items, the moisture is about seventy to eighty per cent but in case of dry food, it is only about ten per cent.

However, if you view it in terms of nutrients, often the dry food contains nearly ninety per cent nutrients whereas the canned food items contain only less per cent of nutrients and most of the times.  It is only soy products that are structured so well to look like meat pieces.

Hence, to make up the nutritional balance in the body systems, the dog has to eat more amounts of canned food materials than the dry food materials.  Hence, just compare the cost factor related to this feature by you.  Many dry food items are soybean and rice based.

Now some dry food items are based on corn. Sometimes, beef based or chicken based food items come in the cans along with mineral and vitamin supplements suited for the upkeep of the dogís health status. Larger dogs that weigh more than thirty pounds need to be fed with semi moist food items or dry food items in most of the occasions.

This is to satisfy the food receptors in the stomach. This is due to the fact that the larger dogs need to eat plenty of moist food or the canned food items to satisfy these criteria.  But it may not be practically possible in these larger dogs.  The small sized dogs may have a satisfactory level of nutrients if fed even the moist food items.

However, the caloric density of the dry food should not be forgotten. Enriched dry food items are highly welcome ones than the non -enriched food items.

Parvovirus (commonly called Parvo) is a viral disease that affects dogs.  It is far more common in puppies than adult dogs and can have serious ramifications for the infected animal, including death.  Parvo grows best in the rapidly dividing cells of the dog’s intestines.  As the virus attacks and kills these cells it causes massive diarrhea and halts or slows the creation of white blood cells.  In young puppies it can often directly infect the heart, leading to death.

The symptoms of Parvo start with fever, depression, and lethargy.  The dog will usually experience a loss of appetite as well and then eventually show more sever signs like vomiting and diarrhea which is often bloody.  Once the virus reaches this stage dehydration and death usually follow.

Parvo is carried and transmitted by dogs.  The vomit and feces of an infected animal will also carry the virus which is rather resilient and can survive outside the dog’s body in the surrounding environment for as long as nine months.  Sometimes an adult dog can be infected by the virus and show no symptoms but act as a carrier transmitting the virus to the other animals it comes into contact with.

There is no cure for Parvo.  Dogs that are infected will die of dehydration without treatment.  That treatment primarily consists of providing fluids, giving repeated blood transfusions, and preventing dehydration.  The mortality rate in dogs affected by Parvo is about 20% if the dog receives treatment in time.  Without treatment, about 80% of those infected will die from it.  It is a very serious disease.

Parvo tends to affect some dog breeds more than others.  Dobermans, Rottweilers, and other black and tan dogs have a greater chance of contracting the virus.  The reason for this is unknown but the fact that these dogs are at higher risk does not mean that owners of other types of dogs can rest easily.  Dogs of any breed can become infected.

While there is no cure for Parvo, puppies can (and should) be vaccinated against it at an early age.  Most vets recommend puppies be immunized starting at six weeks of age with vaccinations continuing until twenty weeks of age.  Proper immunization is the best way to prevent a dog from contracting Parvo.