A weekly newspaper column about pet health care
Contact Us
AskTheVetsPets@aol.com
P.O. Box 302, Bernville, PA 19506 USA
Caregiver Information -
Preventive Care
Learn more about caring for your pet by reading Ask the Vet’s Pets letters on preventive care below. For help with other pet care topics, click on Toxins & Other Hazards and Diseases & Disorders .
If you have a question you'd like answered in the newspaper column, please contact us. If we use your letter in the column, we'll e-mail our response to you. Because of the volume of mail we receive, we cannot respond to all questions.
If you would like your newspaper to carry Ask the Vet’s Pets, please send this Web site link to your paper’s Features Editor.
Microchipping
Dear Daisy Dog: What do you think about microchipping my new puppy?
Daisy Responds:
I’m all for it. I have a microchip, and it makes me feel secure to know
that if I ever wander off, the chip will help me get back home to my
mom.
A microchip is a rice-sized
device that, when scanned with a special instrument at the shelter or
animal hospital, identifies me and, more importantly, tells how to
contact my mom.
The microchip is under my skin near my
shoulder blades. It was injected through a syringe while I was awake,
and it didn’t hurt a bit.
If your pup is needle shy, your
veterinarian can inject the microchip during spay/neuter surgery.
Tattooing is an alternative method for
permanent identification. An ID number is tattooed on my inner thigh –
just to be doubly safe.
Regardless of the type of permanent
identification you choose, it’s essential to put a tag on your pup’s
collar.
Some people think they don’t need to tag
their dogs because the dogs stay within a fenced yard. To those people
I say, "Just talk to my brother Sam."
He learned that it only takes one
neighborhood child, delivery person or meter reader to leave the gate
ajar. He was gone all day.
So celebrate Tag Day on April 3, 2004,
by buying a tag for your dog’s collar.
For information on what to do if your dog gets lost, visit
www.americanhumane.org
and search for Tag Day.
Daisy Responds: I suspect Missy and her cocker friends are, indeed, overweight.
When you look down at her from above,
she should come in at the waist and have an hour-glass figure. When you
look at her from the side, her abdomen should tuck up in front of her
back legs.
And when you pet her, you should easily
feel her ribs and spine. If she doesn’t pass these tests, it’s time for
a diet.
A recent study showed that dogs live
longer, healthier lives when they are fed conservatively. Two groups of
Labrador retrievers were fed the same food, but one group was fed 75%
of the amount the other group ate.
The dogs fed less food lived 15% longer
(nearly 2 years for the Labs in this study.) In addition, the leaner
dogs had a lower incidence of arthritis – and developed it 3 years
later. At age 8, the incidence of arthritis in the heavier dogs was 5
times that of the slimmer dogs.
Check
www.purina.com/institute/
for more information on the study and how to assess your dog’s weight.
Then talk with your veterinarian about starting a sensible weight loss
program.
