If you’re like many pet owners today, you’ll do whatever it takes to keep your pet happy and healthy. Our plans help make that possible by offering reimbursement levels of 70%, 80% or 90%, after a deductible. We also offer a 100% level of reimbursement.
Dr. Fiona Caldwell is a veterinarian guest blogger for Pets Best Insurance, a provider of dog insurance and cat insurance.
Hi. I’m Dr. Fiona Caldwell; I’m a veterinarian at Idaho Veterinary Hospital. I’m answering some questions from Pet’s Best’s Facebook page today. This question comes from Rebecca, who asks: Why does my Lab always have a skin problem; itch, scratch?
This is a great question, and obviously, very, very common. There’s several different reasons that can cause a pet to be itching and scratching. Probably the biggest ones to consider, external parasites are a big one; making sure your pet doesn’t have fleas or mites that kind of thing. The other large thing that can cause an itchy dog are allergies. There’s really 2 big components to allergies, one is your food allergies and other are environmental allergies.
Working with a veterinarian is really important because allergies are really frustrating. There isn’t a magic pill; (more…)
Dr. Fiona is a veterinarian guest blogger forpet insuranceprovider, Pets Best.
Hi. I’m Dr. Fiona Caldwell; I’m a veterinarian at Idaho Veterinary Hospital. I’m answering questions from Pets Best Insurance Facebook page today. This question comes from Carrie who asks: Why do some cat litters cause wheezing? This is a great question. Cats can have different sensitivities to litter, some cats have no problems at all, and other cats can be more sensitive. (more…)
Dr. Marc is a veterinarian guest blogger forpet insuranceprovider, Pets Best.
Hi. My name is Dr. Marc. I’m filming for Pets Best Insurance, answering some Facebook questions for you guys, at Broadway Veterinary Hospital, in Boise, Idaho. The next question comes from Marie. She has a 3-year-old house-trained dog, and it sounds like he jumped up on the bed, and immediately squatted and peed on the covers right in front of her. Her dog has never done anything like this before, and it seemed ashamed. (more…)
Hi. I’m Dr. Fiona Caldwell, I’m a veterinarian at Idaho Veterinarian Hospital. I’m answering questions from the Pets Best Insurance Facebook page today. This one comes from Diane who asks, “How many times a week should I brush my dog’s teeth?” (more…)
Hi. My name is Dr. Marc and I’m filming for Pets Bets Insurance, answering some Facebook questions for you guys at Broadway Veterinary Hospital in Boise, Idaho.
This question comes from Emily. She says that she has four neutered cats and two years ago three of them started getting recurring urinary tract infections, ranging from moderate to severe. Some of them even included getting treatment such as months of antibiotics, and they even did a PU surgery, which essentially turns a male cat into a female cat to help avoid getting obstructed. All the cats are on prescription food. They drink from a fresh fountain. They take glucosamine to prevent inflammation of the bladder. And they use phenolate to reduce stress. She scoops their litter boxes daily. Her question is, “Can a UTI be viral? What are the odds of three to four cats getting UTIs within such a close period of time? And why are they so recurrent?”
Emily, that sounds like a really frustrating situation, but I commend you on what you’ve done so far. That’s a really great job as far as medications. I think it’s important for you to know that as many as 50% of cats cannot actually be diagnosed as far as what’s causing these problems. We do know that there is a neuro-hormone that goes on in those little kitty brains that can actually cause stress related lower urinary tract disease. And for this reason, I might pursue that a little bit more aggressively. So we recommend having, at least, one litter box per cat plus one more. So for you that would be five litter boxes. Keeping those clean. We can look at the environment of these cats. Is there something that’s causing stress that’s leading to these diseases? A behavioralist can oftentimes come in and kind of look at the interactions and maybe make some recommendations. And also seeing your veterinarian is important, too, because sometimes even anti-anxiety medications can benefit. Especially with such an extreme case of these problems for years for you. Viral problems is not something I can diagnose, unfortunately. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but it is just not something we can pursue at this point in time. I hope that helps, Emily.
