Natural Pet Health

Neutering Your Dog: It’s Only A Matter Of Time (6)

Did you know that more pets are abandoned during the hot summer months than any other time of the year?

Families pick up a puppy for the children to enjoy during their vacation at the shore or in the mountains, and abandon it on the way home. In sections of Long Island, New York and New Jersey, more strays have been found than usual after the summer months.

Trying to find homes for the strays and puppies is a never-ending job for humane organizations. Some shelters feature a column in the local papers with pictures and information on available animals. Often a cute picture is all that is needed to stir up interest, although people who adopt a dog on a whim is of no help. Then it’s only a matter of time before the dog is returned to the shelter.

Euthanasia for a pet is never an easy decision. After all, for many people, their pets are a valued member of the family. So what happens when that pet is injured with no hopes of a recovery or becomes ill with a condition that cannot be treated or one you cannot afford to treat. One of the most humane things you can do is consider euthanasia for your pet when their quality of life diminishes and they are in pain.

Your Role in Considering Euthanasia for your Pet

Because you are responsible for the care and safety of your pet, you often have a special connection with them. And because you are the pet owner, any difficult care decisions fall to you such as cancer treatment when a pet become ill or surgery when the pet is hit by a car. These life-altering decisions are quite difficult.

A special bond often exists between a child and their pet. It doesn’t matter if it is a cat or dog of pot-bellied pig. When a pet is a companion and confidante for the child, the connection they share is so sweet. A child receives love without strings and knows that their secrets, hopes and dreams are held in the strictest of confidence. This is what makes the death of a pet so devastating to a child.

Children will not always understand why their pet had to die and as the parent, it is your duty to try and help them. Whatever you do though, do not lie to them because they will eventually find out the truth about their pet’s death. Sometimes, the pet could have run away to die or the veterinarian may have had to euthanize it after a debilitating injury or illness. A parent’s job is a tough one, particularly when consoling a child who is devastated by a pet’s death.

Bideawee: Helping Dogs & Cats Find Loving Homes For Over 100 Years (2)

At the Bideawee organization, an excellent pet adoption center that has been in existence for more than 100 years, the great majority of dogs and cats there are housetrained, eat one or two meals a day (compared to the four or five meals needed by a puppy or kitten), and are easily identifiable as to basic temperament.

Yet there are many, many adult dogs and cats who seem doomed to spend indeterminable months at one of the Bideawee shelters only because they are more mature or less handsome than the average pet. These animals surely need new homes all the more desperately.

Adopting The Unadoptable

Selective Breeding & The Resulting Health Problems Is Your Dog At Risk? (2)

Selective breeding and the unwanted disease and health problems are not just limited to a few breeds. Other congenital problems affect more than one breed.

Hip dysplasia, for instance, has been demonstrated in almost all large breeds and some small ones. This abnormality of the hip joint has been given so much publicity by dog raisers, as well as the veterinarian profession, that the public is generally aware of the condition – though often unaware that dysplasia is not usually evident in young puppies.

The standard guarantee that a puppy comes from X-rayed stock is only fair insurance that dysplasia will not develop during the rapid growth phase or even later in the dog’s life.

For many pets, a behavioral problem turns into a terminal disease. Every year, millions of pets that are often otherwise healthy are euthanized to give their human owners relief from their behavior problems. These problems can include unruliness, excessive vocalization, aggression, inappropriate urination, possessiveness, and destructiveness, just to name a few.

Unfortunately, euthanasia for behavior problems is the main cause of death in young animals. The high costs associated with proper veterinary attention and animal training also results in too many animals being abandoned and neglected by their owners.

However, in many cases a pet’s behavior problem can be modified and even solved completely without the use of expensive behavior therapy and training. In fact, a problem can be solved quite simply using little money with the help of flower essences.

What is the importance of spaying and neutering your dog? According to the Humane Society, approximately three millions dogs or more are euthanized each year.

Remanded to shelters because they have been abandoned or because their owners can no longer care for them, the over-population of dogs in animal shelters has reached major proportions.

While the aforementioned statistic is hard to imagine, it is nonetheless true. This is why animal advocates constantly remind the general population to have their dogs spayed or neutered. There are other reasons why this method is recommended.

Dogs have an innate desire to breed. It’s just a fact. More importantly, however, spaying and neutering can prevent cancer. In addition, neutered male dogs will less likely want to run away or engage in rough-housing with other male dogs.

Tips to help with grieving

While society openly recognizes the hardships surrounding the death of a human family member, rarely does the loss of a pet receive the same consideration. However, for most pet owners, their furry friends are a very important part of the family!

When losing a pet, the daily routine is often severely disrupted for the family they left behind– in addition to the missing joy, affection, and companionship that pet brought.

Sometimes pet owners must even be the initiator of this stressful event, in the case of euthanasia following a period of prolonged suffering from a severe illness or injury after an accident. While it may be the only humane solution for a pet’s suffering, that notion alone often cannot provide enough solace to alleviate the difficulty of the decision.

The symptoms of Cushings disease in dogs are often mistaken for normal signs of canine aging. But in fact, such symptoms may surface due to a hyperactive adrenal gland.

Although this disease cannot be cured completely, timely and adequate treatment can result in a longer and higher quality of life for the suffering dog.

The medical term used for Cushings disease is hyperadrenocorticism. Since the symptoms of the disease mimic the symptoms of other common diseases, the condition is often misdiagnosed or ignored.

Symptoms -like an increase in urination with pale, diluted urine, obesity with a pot belly, lethargy and intolerance to exercise, excessive thirst, a thin skin or alopecia (hair loss) – need to be taken seriously and warrant a visit to the veterinarian.

Ideally, the top front teeth of a rabbit will lap over the front bottom teeth. Since rabbit teeth grow, this positioning allows natural wearing to occur as the rabbit eats his food and hay.

Occasionally, the front teeth will butt. If the teeth are wearing normally (you don’t see any really long teeth), I would judge those teeth acceptable for a pet rabbit. Butting teeth is a showing disqualification, so if you are willing to accept a rabbit with non-problematic butting teeth, you may be able to adopt a gorgeous [otherwise] show-quality rabbit.

Sometimes the teeth will butt or overlap the wrong way and not wear normally. In this case, the teeth can be clipped. It only takes a few seconds and is easy to learn how to do; your vet or a breeder can teach you. My vet charges less to clip a rabbit’s teeth than to clip a dog’s nails.