Posts in Category: Pet Health & Wellness

Lose weight. Create a budget. Take up a hobby. Spend more time with loved ones. These are some of the many common New Year’s resolutions that top people’s lists. But let’s face it, most of us don’t get too far with resolutions (especially the less exciting ones).

Thankfully, if you’re a proud pet owner, we have some exciting things to focus on when you pen those necessary goals. How about a list of resolutions for pet owners focused on your furry pal?

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What a great year it has been! As we reflect upon 2017 and all of the wonderful pet patents and families we have met in our practice, we can’t help but feel thankful. It is always our pleasure to offer exceptional care to your special pet companion, and to help create the best quality of life possible.

Part of how we do this is through our blog. Our goal for the blog is to help encourage better health and wellbeing for pets, and in turn, enhance their day-to-day life through pet owner education. We hope you have enjoyed these informational posts as much as we have enjoyed writing them.

Without further ado, here are Arlington Animal Hospital’s most popular pet blogs of 2017.

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The eyes are the windows to the soul, and if you’ve ever peered into your pet’s sweet gaze, you probably agree. Keeping your pet’s eyes healthy is an important task for all pet owners, and at Arlington Animal Hospital, we take pet eye health very seriously.

Common Pet Eye Problems

There are many different eye problems that we diagnose in pets. Common issues include:

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It may not be a name that rolls off of the tongue, or one that is as common as parvo; however, Leptospirosis  (‘lepto’) is on the rise and is one of the more serious offenders when to comes to contagious illnesses in our pets. In cities across the United States, we have seen a steady increase in the number of lepto cases, including in the Arlington area.

The Arlington team wants you to better understand leptospirosis in dogs, what lepto is about, the signs of infection, and what you can do to prevent this serious disease.

Lepto 411

Leptospirosis is caused by the Leptospira bacteria, which is a spiral organism known as spirochetes, and is shed through infected animals (via water, soil, or direct contact). While dogs who spend time in outdoor or rural areas are more at risk, we are now finding an increasing prevalence of lepto in urban areas, too. This is due to several reasons, including an increase in infected rodents and other small mammals that spread leptospirosis in areas where pets play.

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What’s more fun than a summer getaway? Why, bringing your best furry friend along, too! In fact, many pet owners choose to take their pets on journeys near and far, especially during the summer months when vacation season is in full swing.

But as you might expect, bringing an animal companion on a trip, whether by car or plane, requires some forethought, planning, and safety measures. Arlington Animal Hospital has you covered with our list of pet travel tips for your upcoming adventures.

Pet Travel Tips for Safety AND Adventure

Before you pack your bags and head out, the first stop with any trip involving your pet is to ensure their readiness for the trip. This means making sure your pet is in good health, is on the right vaccines and parasite preventatives for the destination, and is generally able to deal with the stress of new places, smells, and experiences.

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Veterinary acupuncture, or pet acupuncture, is an incredible noninvasive therapeutic modality that complements existing treatment options. For several centuries, acupuncture was practiced throughout the Far East as a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has more recently been embraced by Western medicine.

Like acupuncture for humans, pet acupuncture is used in a variety of ways, most significantly to alleviate pain, encourage healing, and promote greater well being.

Defining Veterinary Acupuncture as a New Therapy

While it may sound esoteric, acupuncture relies on the understanding of the body as comprised of energy pathways or meridians, which include nerve bundles, blood vessels, and tissue. Through the use of very fine needles placed strategically into the top dermal layer, acupuncture works by stimulating the body’s natural healing and pain relief responses.

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When confronted with troubling symptoms, it can be difficult to know when to “wait it out” or when to call in a bona fide pet emergency. Your pet is also skilled at masking symptoms, leaving you to wonder whether he or she is simply having an “off” day…

That’s why Arlington Animal Hospital wants you to know how to recognize and handle a pet emergency. Your swift actions will enable your pet to get the life-saving help he or she needs.

Red Flags

When it comes to a pet emergency, there are certain tell-tale signs that indicate immediate medical attention is required. Please do not wait to contact us if you notice any of the following:

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As a responsible pet owner, you’ve probably heard about wellness care. But beyond the basics of nutrition, exercise, and companionship, what else is there?

Routine check-ups lie at the core of pet wellness, and while we love seeing you and your pet, there’s more to these exams than just chit chat. We view wellness care as an opportunity to fine tune and focus the conversation on your pet’s current and future health and help you develop a proactive approach.

Prevention is Key

When you visit your physician, basic information is gathered such as heart rate, blood pressure, weight, and temperature. Likewise, when we examine a healthy pet, it helps us establish a baseline to reference in the event of any health changes.   Continue…