Pets Best Insurance Blog

Blog posts Categorized under ‘Uncategorized’

The fainting cat

Posted on: March 26th, 2012 by

A cat with pet health insurance lies in the grass.

By: Dr. Jane Matheys
Associate Veterinarian
The Cat Doctor Veterinary Hospital
For Pets Best Insurance

A client came to see me last week with her 4-year-old female cat named Lily. Lily was due for her annual examination and vaccination updates, but the owner was also concerned about something she had witnessed with Lily on two separate occasions, including an episode just a couple of weeks ago.

The owner described how one day she let Lily outside under supervision to get some exercise and fresh air. Lily started munching on some grass which is typical for cats. A short while later Lily let out a strange cry, vomited up the grass and immediately passed out, fell over on her side and stopped breathing!

Lily had fainted. Fortunately, she recovered after about 20 seconds, but you can imagine how terribly frightening that was for her owner to witness.

Fainting (syncope) in cats refers to a brief period of unconsciousness due to lack of blood flow or oxygen to the brain. The collapse that results from fainting may last from seconds to minutes. The brief event ends with rapid and complete recovery in most cases. Fainting is a clinical symptom of some possible underlying problem and is not an exclusive diagnosis. Because diagnosing pet health issues like these can often take time and can also be expensive, it’s a good idea for cat owners to research pet health insurance options in advance.

Disorders of the cardiovascular system are the most common cause of fainting. These can include an electrical disturbance in the heart such as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) or a structural heart problem with the heart muscles or valves. Other conditions that can lead to fainting include severe respiratory disease or severe coughing, metabolic (body chemistry) disease, hormonal disorders, nervous system dysfunction, anemia and drug therapy.

Pet insurance quote button

Or Call 877-738-7237 to Add a Pet to Your Current Policy

Lily fainted twice, and each time it was immediately after vomiting from eating grass.
Lily’s physical exam and lab tests were all normal. She had experienced what is called vasovagal syncope (fainting). This is not uncommon in cats and dogs, but it was the first time a cat patient of mine had presented with the complaint in over 20 years of practice. It’s also seen in perfectly healthy people. It’s not well understood by the medical experts, but it seems to involve an abnormal reflex reaction. Certain stimuli (vomiting in Lily’s case) affect the vagus nerve which has receptors in many areas of the body including the esophagus and stomach. This, in turn, causes an overload to a part of the nervous system leading to a rapid drop in the heart rate and blood pressure resulting in fainting.

In most instances, fainting is relatively benign, and recovery to normal is rapid. It is always best to notify your veterinarian, though, because in some cases, depending on the underlying disease and other factors, it can be life-threatening. For Lily, the force of vomiting seems to be the trigger for the vagovasal reaction. Naturally, then, I instructed her owner to avoid causing vomiting by keeping her from ingesting lawn grass. I recommended that she satisfy Lily’s craving for greens with organic wheat grass or oat grass instead, which generally don’t cause cats to vomit. I also told her to try leash walking Lily in the backyard so that she can still enjoy the outdoors while preventing her from eating grass and fainting.

Learn more about pet health and cat and dog insurance today!

Offering Your Clients Generic Drug Options

Posted on: August 23rd, 2011 by

A puppy with pet insurance sleeps next to pill bottles.

New generic equivalents of brand-name pet drugs are hitting the market, but many clients may not be aware of this cost-saving option*.

Because these new generic versions are less expensive, more pet owners may be able to afford the products and follow through on your recommendations, which can ultimately result in better health for their pets.

While the lower cost can address economic pressures pet owners face, most clients probably won’t broach the topic of generics. So it’s vital to educate your clients about their pets’ drug options and your staff as well. Use staff meetings to go over new drug choices available to clients. Team members can share their knowledge from use with their own pets and client feedback regarding generic drugs. Generic pet meds can help keep the prescription in the practice and strengthen the vet-pet owner relationship.

*http://veterinaryteam.dvm360.com/firstline/Veterinary+team/Generic-drugs-The-benefits-and-challenges/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/721611?contextCategoryId=46659

My afternoon at a no-kill cat shelter

Posted on: July 19th, 2011 by

A group of cats at Simply Cats waits for loving homes and cat insurance coverage.

By: Chryssa Rich
For Pets Best Insurance

Here at Pets Best Insurance, we were in need of some new pet photos for our website and marketing materials. Anyone who’s browsed a stock photo site knows the pickings are slim, so we’ve been handling things ourselves. For the dog photo shoot, we scheduled a play date one evening and took pictures of pet insurance employees’ dogs running, jumping, chasing, and later snoozing in the grass.

Obviously we couldn’t do the same for cats, so we scheduled a photo shoot at Simply Cats, right here in Boise, Idaho. Lucky me, I got to spend two hours with some of the sweetest, funniest cats I’ve ever met!

Simply Cats is a no-kill shelter that houses cats together based on cat health, age and personality. There are about a dozen spacious rooms with large windows, soft blankets, scratching posts, sleeping trees, boxes, beds, food, mega-litter boxes and even kitty doors to outdoor patio areas. All the cats seemed very happy and comfortable.

As soon as I arrived, resident cat Memphis followed me to the first cat room and dutifully sniffed along every edge and corner of all my belongings. I started photographing in the special needs/FIV+ room, worked my way to the barn cats, young adults, seniors and then the kittens. I even got a behind-the scenes look at cats receiving veterinary care and three-week old kittens not yet old enough to be visited by the general public. Too cute!

Cats are generally easy to photograph, and these guys were no exception. Some struck poses when the camera came out, and some trotted to the portable lighting to check it out. Some purred loudly and climbed into my arms, and a few rascals snuck out before being scooped up by staffers and returned to their rooms. When all was said and done, I’d taken hundreds of photographs and gone through about a quart of hand sanitizer – a good dose is required between each room to maintain pet health and prevent the spread of infections and illnesses.

I’m now following Simply Cats on Facebook and it’s great to see how many cats find their forever homes each week, freeing up space for even more kitties who deserve to be in a loving, no-kill shelter. Check out the pictures above, and make sure to visit Pets Best Insurance pet insurance page to see even more cat photos in the coming weeks.

Pictures above on the right, from top to bottom: A beautiful Tortie poses dramatically for the camera; Freeida and Argonaut hanging out in the kitten room (both adopted); Oliver yawning to kick off a cat nap; Cantebury sitting with his toy; Sweetgrass receiving veterinary care (recovered fully and adopted!)

Pets Best Insurance tips for cabin fever

Posted on: March 3rd, 2011 by

Two dogs with pet insurance wait for warm weather inside.

By: Chryssa Rich
For Pets Best Insurance

While the weather slowly warms, many pet owners find themselves with some pretty serious cabin fever this time of year. Even though the ground has started to thaw, the sun is still setting early and trails and backyards can still be muddy. What’s a dog owner to do? Pets Best Insurance has a few ideas to tide you and your pet over until spring.

Hide and Seek with Kibbles
When space is too limited for physical exercise, opt for cognitive exercise instead. Feed your pup his dinner in a food-dispensing toy, or put half in his dish and use the other half for games, like catch or hide-and-seek. Put your dog in another room while you hide kibbles around the living room, then let him out to hunt. Bonus: he’ll be busy hunting for more long after the last one has been eaten.

It’s important to reserve some of your dog’s normal food portion for games (instead of giving an extra serving), because pet health can be compromised by weight gain.

Teach New Tricks
Teaching your dog new tricks takes lots of time and patience – perfect for cold nights when you’re stuck in front of reality TV. If your dog has mastered the basic sit/stay/shake commands, opt for something more entertaining, like “high 5”, “dance” or “roll over”. Even if your dog doesn’t get it right away, you’ll both have fun practicing.

Training tip: To avoid confusing your dog, help her do the desired action and then say the command, followed by lots of praise or a treat. This is much more effective than saying “Roll over! Roll over!” while your dog stares at you.

Tug of War
From meat-flavored rubber toys to ropes and squeakers, find what your dog likes best and tug away. In order to avoid dental problems in dogs, however, be sure you don’t tug too hard. Provide just enough resistance to satisfy your dog without damaging any teeth. Some pet insurance companies, like Pets Best Insurance, provide coverage for accidents, just in case.

Make Room to Run
If Fido is bouncing off the walls and really needs to run, move couches, the coffee table or the kitchen table to create a larger space to play. It’s no dog park, but it’s safer and more fun than trying to navigate furniture while chasing a toy.

Daycares and Play Dates
Give your dog a vacation day by dropping her off at a doggie daycare for a few hours – some places even offer discount rates on their least popular days. Or, partner up with dog-owning friends and take turns hosting doggie play dates. Lots of energy can be burned wrestling and chasing.

Here are a few unique games shared by the Pets Best Insurance Facebook friends:

Ninja – If your dog likes to fake you out, this is perfect. Throw a toy and try to catch him as he runs back to you.

Blankie Monster – Throw a blanket over your dog and let her bite her way out.

Monkey in the Middle – Grab a kid, a ball and play keep-away (letting Spot win every once in a while, of course.)

Service Dogs

Posted on: February 18th, 2011 by

A service dog waits for a command.
By: Dr. Fiona Caldwell
For Pets Best Insurance

I met an inspirational canine the other day named Maggie*, a 14 year old german shepherd. She came to me unable to walk due to a degenerative nerve disease common in older German Shepherd dogs and couldn’t use her back legs. She also had a serious heart problem called A-V block, where her atria (the top chambers of the heart) don’t communicate with her ventricles (the bottom chambers of the heart), causing a dangerously low heart rate.

The owner knew Maggie’s days were numbered, but was having a hard time letting her go. Maggie was a highly trained search and rescue dog, and a cadaver dog, meaning she visited scenes of crimes helping people to locate missing bodies. She was top notch in her day and was even sent to New York on 9/11 to assist rescue crews. She had retired a number of years ago, and her owner considered her family.

Search and rescue dogs aren’t the only time of ‘working’ dogs out there. A ‘working dog’ refers to a dog that isn’t just a companion, but also performs some other job. One well known example includes dogs trained to become guide dogs for the visually impaired. Service dogs can actually help with a variety of human handicaps in addition to the blind. Service dogs also assist hearing impaired people, people with mobility limitations by opening doors or bringing objects, and can even be trained to detect seizures in people, warning them before the seizures occurs. This allows the person to take precautions, such as sitting down, prior to seizuring.

Dogs have been given jobs for hundreds of years, as long as they have been domesticated. Herding dogs are still invaluable to sheep and cattle handlers around the world. Modern herding dogs help control cattle and wild geese in parks or goats used for weed control. A well trained herding dog can learn to control many domestic and wild animals alike. Turnspit dogs were used as a source of power; they turned a treadmill connected to a roasting spit, or could help with other household duties, such as churning butter.

Another type of ‘working dog’ are the many trained therapy dogs that visit incapacitated people, either in hospitals, retirement homes or other facilities with limited freedoms. These dogs bring joy and entertainment to people, bring a smile to their faces. There are prison programs for inmates that pair an inmate with a shelter dog to be trained and eventually adopted out. This gives inmates a sense of purpose and responsibility, as well as companionship. This program also helps with overcrowding in humane societies and helps rehabilitate dogs that might otherwise be unadoptable.

Often the trainer or handler that works with these highly trained dogs becomes extremely attached. The bond between service dog and its owner is usually deep. Even after the dog is ‘retired’ from their job, they continue to provide love and joy. Maggie hadn’t worked for years, but her owner was just as committed to her as when she was highly sought after for her services. Maybe she felt that now was her time to give back to Maggie, who had given so much when she was younger. By helping Maggie through this time she was able to say thank you for all she had done for others earlier in life.

If you are interested in becoming a service dog trainer, or want to learn more information, visit Canine Companions for Independence or Canine Assistants on the web.

*Names have been changed

« Previous Page  1 2 ... 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ... 28 29   Next Page »
powered by SEO Pager