EXERCISE IS CRITICAL FOR GOOD HEALTH, TEETH, and FLEAS

Many pets scratch or bite at their skin and it is often seen as normal behavior. However, persistent scratching, chewing, licking, and rubbings could be the first signs of a skin problem. If this behavior continues it can lead to more serious health problems.

Early detection of a skin problem begins with daily grooming. When combing or brushing the hair, look for dry flaky skin, abnormal hair loss, or sores on the skin. As part of the grooming procedure, check the pet's ears for dirt, debris, or bites and the pet's hair and eyes for excess watering or matting. It may be helpful to keep a written record of your pet's health. Include any possible problems observed while grooming, as well as changes in your pet's behavior, environment, and food when there is a possible problem. This information will be valuable when your veterinarian is diagnosing your pet.

Often it takes a good detective and a lot of patience to identify the culprit of a pet's skin ailment. Possible causes to consider include:

Parasites - includes mites, fleas, ticks, mange, or lice
Infections - may be bacterial or fungal
Allergies - inhaled, direct contact, or food
Secondary skin disease - an underlying disease that causes the skin problem. Some examples include hypothyroidism, liver dysfunction, or autoimmune disease.

It is important to get professional help as soon as possible for any skin problem. Not only because they leave the animal in quite a bit of discomfort, but they also may cause even more serious problems if left untreated.

There are a number of treatments available for skin problems. Your veterinarian will help you determine which solutuion is needed depending on the type and severity of the problem.

EXERCISE IS CRITICAL FOR GOOD HEALTH

Good health includes daily exercise, whether it is a walk around the block, jogging on the bike path, playing Frisbee or fetch, swimming, or any other physical activity. Exercise has many health benefits for your pet including:

Warding off obesity
Keeping joints flexible
Keeping muscles toned
Releasing energy
Relieving boredom Make it a part of your daily routine!

TEETH

Good oral hygiene is just as important for your dog and cat as it is for you. Your pet relies on you to help prevent gum disease. Your pet's teeth need hard food or treats daily to help clean the teeth and massage the gums. A hard chew toy is a valuable plaque remover. Brushing your pet's teeth weekly with a tartar control pet toothpaste is important to help keep teeth free of plaque and tartar. Keeping the folds of skin around the mouth free of food particles is-also suggested. If tartar has already built up on your pet's teeth, your veterinarian can scale and polish them for you. You will be rewarded for all of the care you give to your pet's mouth with white clean teeth and good healthy-smelling breath.

FLEAS

Every pet owner's nightmare is an infestation of fleas. A flea can live up to 12 months and during its life it will produce millions of offspring that can bite you or your pet. Adult fleas are easy targets while they are on your pet. Unfortunately, they spend most of their time in the carpet or grass. Fleas reproduce by laying eggs. These eggs are resistant to most flea control attempts. These facts make controlling an infestation of fleas quite a difficult problem to deal with.

The newest advances in flea control are topical applications that kill fleas in all stages of their life cycle. By applying the topical application at the back of your pet's neck, this formula will spread through the oils in your pet's coat. It will kill all fleas and ticks within 48 hours! The treatment is effective for up to 30 days, even if your pet gets wet or is bathed. This treatment is easy to administer and breaks the flea's life-cycle by killing the fleas before thay have time to lay eggs. These products will stop the flea infestation without the use of any other products. Your veterinarian can recommend which of these new products will be best for your pet.

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