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5 “silent” killers of cats | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Nov 11, 2015 in Animal Safety, Blog, Uncategorized | 4 comments
When it comes to caring for your cat, make sure to provide the basics: A safe environment (e.g., keeping them indoors if you live on a busy road or city) A high quality food (e.g., a meat-based protein) Preventative care (e.g., an annual physical examination and the appropriate vaccines as needed) Lots of affection and exercise By doing this, we can help keep our four-legged feline friends healthy for potentially decades! But as cat owners, you should be aware of 5 “silent” killers of cats. By knowing what the most common silent killers...
read moreCold weather safety tips for cats | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Nov 4, 2015 in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health | 0 comments
Need some veterinary advice on how to keep your cats safe from cold weather this winter? As winter approaches, we want to make sure our four-legged feline friends are safe from the elements. If you let your cat outdoors, please pay heed and read, so you know how to keep your cat safe this winter. As I’m based out of Minnesota (where it’s winter 6 months out of the year), I know how severe cold injuries can be to cats. Here, some cold weather tips on how to keep your cat safe: While ice salt is only mildly poisonous to cats, it can cause...
read moreWhy is my dog licking his paws? | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Oct 28, 2015 in Blog, Pet Health | 0 comments
Is your dog licking at his or her paws constantly? Notice a red, swollen inflamed appearance to the area between the paws? If this is happening, read on! Not only does excessive licking cause discomfort to your dog, but it is often due to an underlying medical problems. Often times, excessive licking of the paws is due to one of the three underlying causes: atopy (the equivalent of hay fever in people) food allergy flea allergy dermatitis (often abbreviated “FAD”) Underlying itchiness results in that constant foot licking; as a result...
read moreAspiration Pneumonia | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Oct 21, 2015 in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health, Pet Help | 34 comments
If your dog or cat was just diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia, read on! This is a potentially life-threatening emergency that warrants an immediate trip to your veterinarian or emergency veteriarian for oxygen therapy and treatment. Aspiration pneumonia is the condition when gastrointestinal contents have been inhaled into the lungs. This results in a secondary inflammation and infection of the lung. Due to this inflammation, excessive fluid and mucus accumulates within the lower airway, causing difficulty breathing. Dogs that develop...
read moreDoes my cat have a urinary tract infection? | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Oct 14, 2015 in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Help | 0 comments
Does my cat have a urinary tract infection (UTI)? How do you tell if your cat has a UTI? Signs include: Blood in the urine Urinating in unusual places Frequent trips to the litter box Lethargy Fever When in doubt, know that the true incidence of UTI in cats is pretty low – as low as 2%. Typically, these signs are due to Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (a sterile cystitis). Check out this SwheatScoop video here for more info on...
read moreWhat is FLUTD in cats? | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Oct 7, 2015 in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health | 0 comments
While it seems trivial, an unclean litter box can result in serious behavioral and medical problems in cats such as: • Urinating inappropriately around the house • Spraying • Defecating right outside the litter box • Potentially predisposing to medical problems such as feline urethral obstruction (FUO) or feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) That’s why we veterinarians advocate getting n+1 litter boxes per cat. In other words, if you have n=3 cats, you need to have n+ 1, or four, litter boxes. I have two cats, Seamus and Lily;...
read moreNordic Naturals® Inspires Support for Nonprofit Paws and Stripes | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Oct 4, 2015 in Blog, Pet Help | 0 comments
“Buy One Bottle. Help Two Heroes.” Initiative Kicks Off October 1 Watsonville, CA (September 30, 2015) – Nordic Naturals is kicking off “Buy One Bottle. Help Two Heroes.”—a fall initiative to benefit Paws and Stripes, a nonprofit organization that pairs combat-wounded military veterans with shelter dogs, which the veterans train at Paws and Stripes. By integrating service dog training and education with mental health support, Paws and Stripes helps our nation’s heroes live the full and rich lives they deserve. From October...
read moreHow to puppy proof your house | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Sep 29, 2015 in Blog, Pet Health, Veterinary | 1 comment
Ah puppies. So cute, with their soft fur and puppy breath. However, with those pros come the cons of curiosity. As I deal with puppy training, sleepless nights, and the joys of puppy ownership, I reflect back on how “easy” it was to have a geriatric, well-trained older pooch! In hind sight, I haven’t had a puppy in over 14 years! My previous pit bull, JP, was very well trained and hence never got into anything bad… In other words, my house wasn’t appropriately puppy poison-proof for my newest puppy addition, Milo. Apparently, our...
read moreWhy veterinarians need to use less antibiotics | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Sep 24, 2015 in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health, Veterinary | 0 comments
Super excited to see this press release from Clinicians Brief today on the judicious use of antibiotic use in veterinary medicine. As an emergency critical care specialist and toxicologist, I often feel that we over-dispense antibiotics, resulting in increased resistance in pets. Remember, antibiotics don’t work for viral infections (e.g., upper respiratory infections, influenza, etc.). Here, the press release: TULSA, OKLAHOMA, September 24, 2015—“In a perfect world, antimicrobials used in animals would be unrelated to those used...
read moreWhat types of dogs are hypoallergenic? | Dr. Justine Lee
Posted by justinelee on Sep 23, 2015 in Blog, Pet Health | 0 comments
Looking for a hypoallergenic dog? Have allergies and not sure what type of dog to get? I’ve had a lot of friends pay $2500-3000 for a “hypoallergenic” dog. Hate to break it to you, but there’s no such thing. While some dogs are less allergenic (in other words, likely to cause an allergic reaction), there is truly no hypoallergenic or non-allergy causing dog. Don’t believe me? Trusting what the breeder says? Here, the scientific paper that helps prove it to you – a recent paper by Vredegoor DW et al called...
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