Cataracts in dogs is one of the most common problems that affect canines. This condition occurs in a variety of forms which ultimately leads to the formation of the cataract. Several breeds and ages of dogs can be affected but it is known to show up more often in some breeds than others. This article will ease you through the things you need to know about dog cataracts.

Before we understand how to address the symptoms of dog cataracts, it would be best to understand first how it all happens. Basically, a cataract is a disruption in the arrangement of the fibres that comprise the eyes lens. When this disruption occurs it causes a reduction in vision and loss of the transparency. It is because of this fact that your dog’s eyes look cloudy.

Even though there are several forms of dog cataract, they actually all form in a similar pattern. The damage in the lens fibre is caused by an imbalance with the sodium water pump system. The normal lens of the eye is usually in a dehydrated but when this imbalance occurs, there is an increase in ocular fluid. Excess water moves into the eye lens and creates pressure resulting in transparency loss and eventually a cataract.

Usually, a cataract is classified according to the age when it forms. It can also help to determine whether or not the condition was passed on from mother to offspring.

Kinds of Cataracts in Dogs:

Congenital Cataracts

These are the types of cataracts that are passed on from one generation to another. These usually occur in both eyes. In some cases these are not inherited but the mother may contract an infection and its toxins can cause side effects such as cataracts in unborn puppies.

Breeds predisposed: Miniature Schnauzers.

Developmental Cataracts

This type develops early on in a puppy’s life. They may also be inherited in the sense that when the dam (mother) has a particular disease condition such as diabetes, contracts an infection or experiences trauma, it may lead to cataract formation.

Breeds predisposed: Afghan hound and Standard Poodle

Senile Cataracts

As the name would imply, this type of dog cataract occurs in animals that are older, usually six years and above.

Inherited Cataracts

This type occurs usually in relation to another ocular disease or sometimes as an independent condition. When a dog is diagnosed for this type of condition, it is mandatory that the animal must no longer be used for breeding due to the high probability that the condition be passed on.

Below is a partial list of dog breeds and the relative age of onset that the cataract is likely to occur:

Small Breeds:

• Boston Terrier – Congenital
• Miniature Schnauzer – 6 months of age or Congenital
• West Highland White Terrier – Congenital

Medium Breeds:

• American Cocker Spaniel – 6 months
• Old English Sheepdog – Congenital
• Siberian Husky – 6 months of age
• Golden Retriever – 6 months of age
• Labrador Retriever – 6 months of age
• Bull Terrier – 6 months of age
• Standard Poodle – 1 year of age
• Welsh Springer Spaniel – Congenital

Large Breeds:

• Afghan Hound – 6-12 months of age
• Chesapeake Bay Retriever – 1 year of age or above
• German Shepherd – 2 months of age

Treatment of Cataracts in Dogs:

Dog cataract currently can only be treated with surgery but there are also drugs that can be used in order to alleviate the condition. Since there is an increase in the ocular pressure within the eye, surgery involves removal of the extra water content within the lens. In some cases where in the damage is already extensive, it requires full removal of the lens.

Image credit: waycooldogs

Bloat in dogs is a life threatening condition, that requires immediately treatment by a veterinarian. Knowing it’s risk factors and symptoms is important for every dog owner, but especially for those of large, deep chested breeds as these are over proportionally affected by it. Before going into more details about gastric torsion in dogs symptoms and bloat in dogs treatment, here a short explanation of what dog bloat actually is.

Arrows mark the division line between the two characteristic bubbles seen in a typical x-ray of a twisted canine stomach. Image courtesy of (cc) Kalumet.

The term ‘bloat’ refers to the bloating of the canine stomach due to gases that can’t escape. There are several mechanisms, or combinations of them, that work together to cause the clinical symptoms. One is a dysfunction of the sphincter between the oesophagus and stomach, the circular muscle that regulates the flow between stomach and intestine. Another is the torsion of the stomach around its’ own axis that shuts off, at least partially, both, the stomach entrance, as well as the exit. Also known as GDV (Gastric Dilation Volvulus) this condition quickly worsens as the food that is trapped in the stomach starts fermenting and more gas is produced. This gas expands the stomach, also known as distention and, as the gas can’t escape, the dilated stomach will quickly affect other organs such as the heart, lungs, spleen and the blood vessels.

Typically the stomach will first dilate and then rotate around one of its two main axis, cutting off both entry and exit for its’ content, this is also known as gastric torsion. The x-ray on the right site shows a typical ‘double bubble’ with the gases trapped in the two parts of the twisted canine stomach. The reduced blood circulation to the stomach itself, and other vital organs, will quickly lead to a shock symptomatic together with tissue necrosis and, in rare cases, to a rupture of the bloated stomach.

As you can see, getting an affected dog as quickly as possible to a vet is paramount. The best case scenario would be to achieve this while the stomach is ‘only’ bloated, but has not yet twisted. Mortality rates range anywhere between 10 and 60%, depending on how quick treatment is started, after the onset of the very first symptoms. Dogs that received appropriate treatment in the first six hours after the first symptom occurred showed significantly higher survival rates than dogs that were treated later.

Prevention
While mainly large, deep chested dog breeds are affected, this doesn’t mean that bloat can’t also occur in other dogs. The highest risk to suffer from bloat tend to be the following breeds (in alphabetical order): Basset (greatest risk amongst the smaller breeds), Boxer, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd, Great Dane, Poodle (Standard), Rottweiler, St. Bernard, Setters and Weimaraner. Mixed breeds are also affected, if their chest is narrow but deep. Every dog whose chest has a pronounced V-form can be affected by bloat, it doesn’t matter if it is a pure or mixed breed! The older the dog gets, the higher the risk gets also, dogs under two years are rarely affected by bloat. True ‘puppy bloat’ is extremely rare, but still can happen. And, as a side note, male dogs seem to be more affected than bitches. When in doubt, ask your vet to assess the risk of suffering from bloat during its lifetime for your specific dog. Ask also your breeder if any of your dogs’ close relatives have suffered ever from bloat. Dogs that have one, or more, first degree relatives that suffered from bloat, have a significantly higher risk than those that don’t have any relatives with this kind of medial history. If your dog is considered to be at a high risk and you plan to let it be spayed or neutered, you might also want to consider having a preventive gastropexy (see below) done at the same time. This operation can be done laparoscopically and has a low risk. The following, practical tips might also be useful to reduce your dogs’ risk to suffer this, often fatal, illness:

Feeding, Drinking, Exercise and Rest

• No exercise, playtime or similar excitement for one hour before, and two hours after feeding.
• Train your dog to eat slowly and keep feeding time a calm time.
• Feed two, or better, three times a day a smaller meal instead of only one big meal.
• Use a ‘slow down’ food bowl or place some ‘too large to swallow’ and clean rocks into the bowl, to force your dog to eat around them and, as a result. slowing down it’s eating.
• Don’t use a raised bowl, studies have shown that they actually increase, not decrease, the bloat risk in dogs.
• Wet kibble to allow it to expand in the bowl, not in the stomach (but see next point!).
• Don’t feed kibble (dry food) that contains citric acid, and, if you do, never moisten it with water.
• Don’t let a dog drink immediately after exercise, playtime or other excitements, wait until it has calmed down.
• Feed a high quality dog food that is rich in protein (meat), low in carbohydrates (cereals) and doesn’t contain fat as one of the first four ingredients.
• Fearful, anxious or stressed dogs are at a higher risk, be especially careful in this case and try to reduce stress for your dog whenever possible.
• Never feed an overexcited or stressed dog, wait until its has calmed down.

Symptoms
Early bloat symptoms in dogs are restlessness, difficulty to breath, air licking, excessive drooling, not behaving like itself, pacing around, excessive panting, signs of pain, looking at own tummy and unusual behavior in general. The better you know how your dog behaves normally, the easier you will be able to notice when something is wrong. Even if you can’t put the finger on what this ‘something’ is.

Later other symptoms will follow, such as trying to throw up unsuccessfully, standing with an arched back, swelling of the stomach area, irregular heartbeat, weakness, lethargy, anemic, pale gums, trying to ‘go potty’ without success, praying mantis position (front legs down, hind legs up and apart), tense stomach and belly area. If still untreated, the dog will soon lose consciousness and die of circulation problems, heart problems like arrhythmia and tachycardia, kidney failure and of blood poisoning caused by necrotic tissue.

First Aid
The best first aid for a twisted intestine in dogs is to call your veterinarian ahead and tell the staff that you are on the way with a suspected bloat case. The best, and often only, treatment possible is to get your dog as quickly to the vet or veterinarian hospital as you can drive, without endangering yourself and others. Only in the case that you live in a truly remote area, and can’t reach a vet in a reasonable amount of time, should you consider first aid treatment at home.

Ask your vet, during a routine visit, for recommendations of prophylactic and early intervention medication such as Simethicone or Metoclopramide. Never buy and administer any medication without first consulting with your vet, different breeds might react differently to them. And, for the worst of scenarios, you might consider keeping a ‘bloat first aid kit’ at home (see >this website< for tips how to assemble one). Make sure you understand the instructions your vet gives you and that you are comfortable in carrying them out.

Again, all this applies only if you live in such a remote area that you can’t reach a vet in time. If you can reach a veterinarian hospital in time, please don’t waste your time with first aid, it may cost valuable time that could be used to save your dog!

Treatment
As soon as you arrive with your dog at the vet, the treatment will start, typically first aiming to stabilize your dogs’ vital functions and, simultaneously, to relieve the pressure in the bloated stomach. Painkillers will be also administered and the dog might be sedated to reduce stress and to prepare it for the operation which is in most cases necessary.

During this operation the stomach will be put back in it’s correct position, tissue that has died off will be removed and the stomach will be anchored (tacked) to the abdominal wall to prevent a reoccurrence of the twisting. Without this procedure, the rate for reoccurrence is 60%! After the operation the dog will be on IV fluids for at least 24-48h, or more, depending on the severity of the case and the extent of the operation performed. After that it will be allowed to start to eat slowly, following a careful dietary schedule.

Prognosis
As mentioned throughout this article, the single most important thing is to get a dog that might suffer from bloat as quickly as possible to a vet! The sooner treatment starts, the better are the dog’s chances to survive. But even then the mortality rate is still high, around 10-25% of the dogs that have been treated in the first six hours of the illness die. This rate jumps to up to 60% for those that have been treated later. Only in very rare cases will a dog survive a light bout of bloat without being treated. These cases are anecdotal and involve the spontaneous de-twisting of the stomach at an early stage. Apart of these, extremely rare, cases, the mortality rate for untreated bloat is 100%!

Introduction
Hip Dysplasia in Dogs (HD), in laymen terms ‘loose hips’, means a disproportion or damage in a hip joint, that prohibits both parts of the joint to be connected securely. Affected from this defect are mostly larger dog breeds such as German Shepherd dogs and Retrievers, but also smaller dog breeds can be occasionally affected. Dysplasia is caused by polygenetic and environmental factors and the effect of these on each dog can vary greatly. HD is a malformation of the hip socket and / or the ball head of the large leg bone (femur) and can lead to arthritis and lameness if not treated. It is in fact the one main cause of arthritis in dogs. Symptoms include lameness, a ‘bunny hop’ like gait, reluctance to exercise or to climb stairs, stiffness after rest and general signs of discomfort and pain. As the malformed joint doesn’t fit together very well, and the resulting cartilage damage will worsen the clinical picture over time, this condition needs to be treated as soon as possible.

Prevention
Prevention addresses the two main causes of hip dysplasia, genetic and environmental influences. While the disease can jump one or more generations, a screening for HD before dogs are bred is now standard in all kennel clubs. Before buying a puppy from a breeder, you should therefor ask to see the certificate from the ‘Orthopedic Foundation for Animals’ (OFA) of both parents.

As the OFA only issues for dogs over 24 months, another, additional, certification service is often used, the PennHip certification by the University of Pennsylvania which tests puppies from 16 weeks onwards for their risk of developing HD by comparing two x-ray images. One with the leg gently pushed towards the joint, one with the leg carefully stretched away from the joint. The movability of the joint is measured and can help to assess a possible HD risk for a puppy. While these two tests don’t warranty that the puppy will not develop HD later in life, they are a good starting point and essential in excluding affected dogs from breeding programs.

Environmental factors alone can never cause HD, but they can influence the severity of the disease. The two main factors are overfeeding a puppy, both in terms of food amount and additional nutrients and over exercising a puppy. The first leads to ‘grow spurts’ and obesity which can result in bones and joints growing unevenly, aggravating an existing hip dysplasia and generating more weight on the growing joints. The second often leads to micro traumas in the joints and bones that can have a similar effect and / or damage the cartilage surface.

Symptoms
Clinical symptoms appear typically when the dog is between 6 and 18 months old, but some dogs will only show the first signs of discomfort at a much older age, as their body has compensated for the loose joint(s) until then with the muscles that surround the joint and stabilize it. As the dog grows older, the wear and tear of the loose joint, that effects especially the cartilage and joint capsule, have led to arthritis, pain and general inflammation of the affected joint. Some dogs also have a higher pain threshold and tolerate discomfort well, nearly ignoring it.

The weight of a dog also has an influence on the first appearance of the symptoms. A slim, athletic dog will typically have less problems than an obese, under exercised one. Even dogs without any sign of discomfort can have severe hip dysplasia, this is the reason for the x-ray screening of dogs that are planned to be bred. Owners normally notice the following first signs of HD: Reduced activity or playfulness, difficulty to change position and general stiffness, especially after having rested some time. Some dogs also start to swing their hips in an untypical way or even start to hop like a bunny with both hind legs moving simultaneously and not alternatively.

Diagnosis
To diagnose HD properly, an x-ray has to be taken, but the vet will also perform a thorough examination, checking for pain and discomfort by moving the dogs legs carefully in different directions. He will also watch the dog walking and climbing stairs to see, if and how the movement is affected. All these examinations together secure the diagnosis of whether a dog has hip dysplasia or another ailment.

Non-Surgical Treatment
Surgery is often seen as the last resort, so typically other treatment options have to be exhausted first. One of the most important ones is reducing the obesity in affected dogs, as this alone helps to greatly alleviate the pressure on the joint and to reduce any further damage, pain and discomfort.

The next step includes painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication prescribed by the vet. This allows the dog not only to be more comfortable, but also to move around more freely. The latter is important as moderate exercise can help to reduce the effects and worsening of HD.

Some vets will also recommend nutritional supplements that help to protect and restore the joint cartilage. Some of these have to be injected regularly while others can be given orally. It is important to mention that only vet approved medications and supplements should be used and a dog should never be given any medication or supplements that are designed for humans. The canine and human physiology is very different, and what is good for one, could harm the other.

Additional therapies that are sometimes used include low-impact exercise such as swimming, chiropractic treatment and massage.

Surgical Treatment
Surgery is expensive and often comes with a long recovery time for the treated animal. On the other hand, sometimes it is enough to operate on only one hip, as the other hip will profit indirectly from corrected positioning. Typical procedures include:

• Juvenile Pubic Symphysiodesis (JPS) is only successful on young puppies between the age of 4 and 5 months. The two bones that form the pelvis are fused, to avoid further growth, which commonly results in a better formation of the hip sockets. This type of surgery is only performed on a puppy that had a pathologic PennHip result. Long term results are not yet available as the procedure is relatively new.

• Triple Pelvic Osteotomy (TPO) is used for young dogs, between 8 and 18 months, and aims at correcting the hip socket surgically before arthritis starts.

• Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO), here the ball head of the large leg bone, the femur, is removed to allow a false joint to form. This method is most successful with smaller dogs under 50lbs that are very active, as activity helps the false joint to form quicker.

• Total Hip Replacement (THR) is often the method of choice, if the joint has already degenerated too far or for larger dogs. The damaged hip will be taken out completely and replaced with a prothetic one.

Prognosis
The outcome depends on the severity of the joint damage and the effect it has on the dogs well being. Many dogs lead happy lives with severe HD, while others suffer greatly with far less visible damage shown in a x-ray. No general prognosis can therefor be given, only a vet that has examined the dog in question can give some indication about it.

Cost of HD Diagnosis and Treatment
Prices will vary greatly, depending on location, vet and equipment used, but here some estimates. Please notice that not all of these will be always necessary:

• X-rays $150-$600 / session

• Painkillers $30-$100/ month

• Supplements $50 / month

• Total Hip Replacement $3,500-$7,000 per hip

• Other Types of Hip Surgery $1,000-$3,000 per hip

• Chiropractic, massage and similar $50 -$150 / session

• Additionally blood tests might be necessary to evaluate the effect of long term treatment with painkillers on the animal.

And here is a site where you can find even more Information about hip dysplasia in dogs and screening for HD: ‘Orthopedic Foundation for Animals Website‘

Common Searches: alsatian dog damaged hips

Introduction
Elbow dysplasia (ED) in dogs differs in several points from hip dysplasia, both in causes, as well as in treatment. Things HD and ED have in common are that they both affect mostly large breeds, such as Golden Retrievers and German Shepherd dogs, that they both have a genetic component as well as an environmental component, but the genetic influence on elbow dysplasia is stronger. It is a group of conditions that either combined, or alone, leads to a typical front leg lameness and, when untreated to severe arthritis and other health problems. What happens is that part of the cartilage, that builds up the smooth surface of every joint, comes loose and acts like a foreign body in the joint itself or deforms the joint surface, causing inflammation, pain and lameness. The vet will determine which part of the joint is exactly affected, but for the average dog owner this is of only academic interest. If you want to know more about the pathophysiology of ED, here is a good place to start.

Prevention
Like with HD, overfeeding a puppy with nutrients and calories should be avoided as growth spurts and obesity make an ED worse. Over exercising a young dog can cause micro traumas in the joint, therefor pups and young dogs should never be exercised too much, especially not with jogging or running alongside a bike.

Symptoms
First signs that something is wrong with a puppy appear typically between 4 and 12 months of age. The most common ones are sudden front leg lameness that gets worse with exercise, stiffness after rest / in the morning and signs of pain and discomfort. The elbow region is often swollen and the dog holds the joint slightly outwards.

Diagnosis
Many dogs that have elbow dysplasia don’t show any symptoms, therefor it is important to screen all dogs that are planned to be included in a breeding program with x-ray examinations to avoid that affected dogs procreate. Potential puppy buyers should always ask either to see the corresponding OFA or the ‘Institute for Genetic Disease Control at Davis, California’ certificate of both parents.

There exist certain other diseases that may imitate ED, hence a vet will, nearly always, take a x-ray additionally to the examination of the elbow and an evaluation of the gait pattern.

Treatment
Treatment of choice is normally a surgical removal of any loose cartilage and bone pieces that cause ED in the first place. If a dog is seriously obese, the veterinarian surgeon might require you to ‘slim it down’ before attempting surgery, as complications are fewer in normal weight dogs. Painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicaments will be given to improve the dogs well being, but they are not, in most cases, a sole treatment option for ED.

Prognosis
Once diagnosed and treated, dogs are generally able to lead an active and pain free life, but, as already mentioned, should never be allowed to have offspring, in order to avoid spreading the disease further.

Introduction
No, it is not puppy fat, your dog is six years old! No, it is not its thick winter coat, it is fat! No, your dog is not just ‘well fed’, it is seriously overweight, i.e. obese, and will have a shorter life expectancy than other dogs that do have a normal weight. Veterinarians countrywide have to fight with similar arguments by dog owners, that don’t want to recognize that their dog is overweight.

Obesity in dogs can lead to, and aggravate, a variety of illnesses of joints, bones, heart and the metabolism. Obese dogs are more likely to suffer from diabetes and arthritis amongst others. And they do have a significantly shorter life expectancy, several years shorter to be exact.

Diagnosis
Normally the diagnosis will be pronounced by the vet during a routine or vaccination visit. While most cases of obesity in dogs are caused by an imbalance of calories eaten (too many) and calories spent (too less exercise), in rare cases a sudden increase in weight can be the symptom of a more serious, underlying, illness. But as long as this is excluded by the vet, there is really no excuse for having a dog that is too fat.

Symptoms or How do you know that your dog is too fat
When you look down on your dog, you should actually see a waistline, extremely hairy dogs like Chow-Chows are excluded from this test And if you dig your fingers in the coat on the sides of the chest, and through the under coat, you should be able to feel the ribs. Each breed has also a normal weight range, which can, to a certain extent, be used to see what kind of weight is normal for which breed. Take for example the Chihuahua. The breed standard says that a typical Chihuahua should not weight more than 6 pounds / 3 kilograms. If yours is of average size, but weighs more, chances are very good that it will be too fat. But when in doubt, always ask your vet first, he can tell you exactly how much weight your dog needs to shed.

Treatment
Feed less, but higher quality food and exercise more, just as for humans. Your vet will be happy to advise you on the best solution for you and your dog. As a rule of thumb, the higher the quality of the dog food is, the less the dog needs. That can set off some, or all, of the costs that come with buying a more expensive product. I personally would recommend going for one of the major brands of organic, natural and holistic dog foods, as these provide not only the best value for money, but have also less fillers, additives, antibiotics and other unwanted ingredients that many harm your dog in the long run. As part of the treatment plan your vet will give you, here some additional tips:

• Switch from free feeding to a feeding schedule to regain control about how much your dog actually eats.

• Decrease the food amount slowly, but steadily, that helps the dog to adjust better and avoids, hopefully, excessive begging.

• Reduce treats and, or, switch to treats that have less calories, such as carrot sticks.

• Stop feeding table scraps and human food to your dog. A small piece of pizza is for a toy poodle, what is, in comparison, half a pizza for you. Just do the math, 20g of human food consumed by a 10 pound dog equals 320g of food for a person that weights 80 kilos. Plus the salt, spices and grains contained in my human foods are unhealthy for dogs in any amount, no matter how tiny.

• Stop counter surfing (aka stealing) and garbage eating on walks with appropriate training. If your dog is one of those, that devours every piece of food it finds on walks, a muzzle might be helpful.

• Use a smaller bowl, your dog will not care, but you will feel better as the dog bowl still looks full

• Increase exercising slowly, especially if your dog is severely obese. Sudden, harsh exercise can kill, or at least harm, a dog that is already struggling to jump on the couch. So, please be careful and follow your vets’ advice. And, btw, swimming is a great, low impact and aerobic exercise that helps to slim down while protecting the joints from too much impact.

How to Weigh a Dog
During a canine weight loss regime, you should weigh your dog weekly. With smaller dogs this is easy. Just weigh yourself alone, then take your dog in your arms and weigh the both of you. Subtract the first amount (you alone) from the second amount (you and dog) and you get your dogs weight as a result. With bigger and huge dogs this might not be practical, unless you are a professional weight lifter that can hoist up a Great Dane in his arms and has a sidekick to read the scale;-) In this case you have to rely on the scale in your vets’ practice or, if you live in the country site, use a publicly accessible cattle scale.

Prognosis
The prognosis depends solely on you the dog owner, in the end it is you that opens the cupboard, takes out the dog food and fills the bowl. If you are consistent and strict, both with the canine weight loss regime and exercise plan, your dog will lose weight.

Costs
There are no special costs, other than regular vet visits, involved. Quite the opposite actually, you will save money as your dog will be healthier (less vet costs in the long run) and you will spend less money on food. You will even be able to feed your dog a higher quality food, as you need less of it to achieve the same health effect.

Summary
If you want your dog to live a long, healthy and happy life, treating dog obesity is an absolute must. If you neglect this part of dog care chances are that you end up with a dangerously overweight dog that suffers from multiple health issues and dies many years too soon.

If you’re like most people who are owned by a cat, you don’t even think about feline diabetes. But ignorance is not bliss, as the rate of diabetes in cats is exploding. Don’t let your pet cats be blindsided by this disease. Learn how you can prevent a diabetic cat from becoming a reality in your future.

A Fat Cat Is The Biggest Risk Factor For Feline Diabetes

Our kitties depend on us to feed them properly to keep them healthy. Unfortunately, most people think all they have to do is leave dry food out in a bowl for their feline friend to snack on whenever they want. Although this is what the pet food companies tell us to do, feeding your kitty like this is sure to lead to a weight problem, and other health issues, including cat diabetes and kidney problems.

What’s wrong with dry food? There are three problems associated with a dry food diet for kitties:

1. The type of protein is wrong – there are too many plant-based proteins, as opposed to animal-based proteins.
2. The carbohydrate level is too high, leading to weight gain.
3. The water content is too low, which can cause kidney failure later in life. The leading cause of death in older felines is kidney failure.

You need to understand that felines are obligate carnivores. They are meant to get their nutrition from animal protein in the form of meat. They aren’t meant to digest a large number of carbohydrates. Feeding your kitty a diet high in carbohydrates will only lead to feline obesity, which, in turn, opens the doors to a wide array of other health problems.

Your pet is meant to get most of his water from his diet. Cats don’t normally drink a lot of water, so feeding him a dry diet can lead to kidney problems later in life.

Feeding him a high-quality canned food is the best way to prevent both diabetes in cats and feline kidney failure.

Keep Your Kitty Active

We aren’t the only ones who aren’t getting enough exercise. Our pets are couch potatoes, too. Your kitty needs exercise every day to keep him healthy, and to burn up extra calories. Exercise is also great for keeping blood sugar levels normal.

Try to schedule two or three exercise session every day with your kitty. You want him jumping around and getting out of breath. A cat toy that looks like a fishing rod is a great way to get him up and moving around. He just can’t resist chasing it. You’ll enjoy watching him act like a kitten again.

Prevent A Diabetic Cat With Natural Remedies For Cats

Good diet and lots of exercise are wonderful ways to keep your beloved kitty healthy. But wouldn’t it be great if there was also a dietary supplement you could give him every day that would prevent feline diabetes? You’ll be pleased to know that there is.

This remedy has been carefully formulated for companion animals. The ingredients have been well-researched, and they’re safe and effective. The best part is that it’s very easy to give to your pet. Just break open the capsule, and mix it with your feline friend’s food. You won’t have to struggle with trying to get a pill down an uncooperative kitty.

Now that you have this information, what are you waiting for? Start today to prevent your beloved kitty from ever becoming a feline diabetic.

Feline Irritable Bowel Syndrome is often confused with inflammatory bowel disease. Since the latter is a much worse disease than the former, many pet owners find themselves panicking. However, cat lovers should realize that feline irritable bowel syndrome is not really as bad as inflammatory bowel disease.

Feline Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a functional disorder. This means that there’s nothing wrong with your cat’s anatomy, but there is something wrong with the way it works. This is often considered to be psychosomatic, which means it is affected by the mind of your pet. Thus, one way to treat the symptoms of feline irritable bowel syndrome is to instill the right mindset on your cat.

Feline irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by a sudden change in a cat’s stool frequency. The cat would either be defecating more frequently than usual or it could be less than usual. It is also characterized by diarrhea or constipation.

Another symptom of this illness is abdominal pain. If your pet seems to have abdominal pain combined with the other symptoms your cat may have feline irritable bowel disease. There are various types of treatments for feline irritable bowel disease:

1) Less stress – Feline Irritable Bowel Syndrome can be aggravated by stress. Because of this, a common advice for people who have cats that are suffering from feline irritable bowel syndrome is to try and find the source of stress for their cats. After pinpointing what factor causes stress in their pets, owners should try to eliminate this factor and place their pets in a situation where the cat is comfortable.

There are also certain types of medicines which you can give your cat to help lessen its anxiety. This will help greatly in relieving the symptoms of feline irritable bowel syndrome.

In doing this, you need to try and see the environment through your cat’s perspective. Something that you don’t see as stressful could cause anxiety in your cat. Something as simple as a new rug could trigger the symptoms of feline irritable bowel syndrome.

2) Proper diet – Another trigger of feline irritable bowel syndrome is food. Eating the wrong sorts of food can aggravate the symptoms of feline irritable bowel syndrome. The proper diet for feline irritable bowel syndrome depends on your cat’s symptoms.

Some cats experience diarrhea as a symptom of feline irritable bowel syndrome. In cases like this, it is important to find foods that would stop the diarrhea. This means that you have to find foods that would help make your pet’s stool harder. Of course, the opposite is required if your cat is suffering from constipation.

4) Lots of water – A cat suffering from feline irritable bowel syndrome needs a lot of water. This is in order to help in cleansing the stomach and in stabilizing the digestive process. You should encourage your cat to drink more from his or her bowl.

3) Supplements – When feeding a cat with feline irritable bowel syndrome, an owner should keep in mind to give the pet lots of insoluble fiber. This is in order to stabilize the digestive process of the cat. Soluble fiber can be purchased in the form of a powder which can be mixed into your cat’s food. There are also different types of pet food which contain high percentages of soluble fiber. Ask about this type of food from your pet shop.