Therapy Dogs – Canine Therapy

The human-animal bond is strong. Dogs were amongst the first animals to be domesticated, and as they proved their worth as hunters, guards and companions, the bond has continued to grow stronger. Many people will agree that animals can make …

Summer/Fall Issue: 2004

Featured Pet Tip – Dog drank antifreeze cat drank antifreeze

Antifreeze is a coolant used in cars that is deadly to cats and dogs even in small doses. Dogs especially like the taste of antifreeze because it is somewhat sweet. …

Lab Tests for Cats and Dogs

What Do Those Lab Tests Mean?

The results of laboratory tests on a patient are compared to reference ranges established by measuring the laboratory parameters in a group of normal animals. The reference ranges for each laboratory test differ between …

Hamsters Mice Rabbits

You might find yourself in the following scenario: The kids are constantly begging for a pet. Dogs are too large, birds are too noisy, you are allergic to cats, and reptiles scare your significant other. You suggest fish, but the …

Tip 60 – Cat wagging its tail

When a dog wags its tail in that familiar broad stroked side to side manner, it means the dog is happy and content. When a cat wags its tail it does not mean the same thing at all. A cat …

Issue 6: May 2003

Welcome to our sixth issue of the pets.ca newsletter. We would like to welcome Petcare pet insurance as the featured sponsor this month. Their pet insurance plans will give you peace of mind if ever your cat or dog should …

Aggressive Cats

Tim Cuthbertson has a long scratch down his arm, now nearly healed. It’s the latest reminder of his cat’s favorite game—wrestling.

“Once a day, he’ll come up and bite me on the arm,” Mr. Cuthbertson said. “The only time it’s really annoying is when he’ll do it when I’m trying to sleep. He’ll come up and bite me on the face.”

Cat aggression falls into several categories: play aggression, defensive aggression, misdirected aggression, and territorial status aggression.

Aggression toward people is a problem most commonly associated with dogs, but cat owners also deal with this issue. Though it’s not one of the top 10 reasons for turning cats over to shelters, it plays a significant role in the number of cats turned over for behavioral reasons. A 2000 study of 12 shelters by the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, found that about 14 percent of owners turning in their cats for behavioral reasons only listed aggression toward people as the basis, with about 9 percent citing biting. The numbers dropped only slightly, to about 11 and 8 percent, respectively, for mixed behavioral and non-behavioral reasons.

Megaesophagus in Dogs

‘Mega” means big and esophagus means, well, esophagus. Therefore, megaesophagus is exactly what you think it is; it’s a big esophagus. But if you want to know a little more about megaesophagus and why it is a problem, keep on …

Turtles as Pets

Reptiles are quickly gaining popularity as pets throughout homes in North America. There are multiple reasons that people may want to keep reptiles as pets. They’re interesting to watch, they’re distinctive from traditional pets, their keepers may have allergies to fur, some reptiles are truly out of the ordinary, or perhaps people may think that they are less work and require less of a time commitment than their furry counterparts.

A lot of the above reasons are justifiable to want to own a reptile, but as discussed throughout this article, like any pet, reptiles, and particularly turtles, can prove to be more time-consuming and expensive than expected since they have specific requirements that are very different from those that you need to provide for your average furred companion.

Lost cat – lost dog – what to do when you lose your pet – Pet tip 101

There are few things that are more stressful to pet owners as when their pets get lost. Unfortunately though, pets get lost all the time. They dart outside when the front or back doors are open for a second. They …