pet health.

LifeSupercharger, Flickr Tramadol is a veterinary drug used to treat osteoarthritis in household dogs. As part of a Paw Nation series providing background about the medical problems your pet may suffer, we spoke with Dr. Butch Schroyer, Owner/Operator of the Animal Care Clinic in Lexington, Ken., to learn more about the drug. You should always consult your veterinarian before giving medicine or supplements to your pet. What is tramadol? Tramadol is a synthetic, narcotic pain killer, used to treat chronic pain in dogs. Is tramadol a prescription or over-the-counter drug? Tramadol is a prescription medication available from your vet. It is the generic form of the drug Ultram, which was ...

Getty Heartworms in dogs are easy to prevent but difficult and costly to cure. Our friends at WebMD Healthy Pets asked Sheldon Rubin, 2007-2010 president of the American Heartworm Society, to separate facts from the myths about heartworm infestations in dogs. Q: How do dogs get heartworms? A: Only by the bite of an infected mosquito. There's no other way dogs get heartworms. And there's no way to tell if a mosquito is infected. That's why prevention is so important. Heartworm disease has been reported in all 50 states. And the bite of just one mosquito infected with the heartworm larvae will give your dog heartworm disease. Heartworm disease has not only spread throughout the United ...

Ben Westhoff Each week, Ben Westhoff shares the ups and downs of owning Pippi, the dalmatian mix he and his wife Anna adopted as a puppy in late 2009, and the first dog Ben's ever had. Back in April, Anna wrote about her trying experience meeting Pippi's first vet. Not only did this woman lack a decent bedside manner (implying Pippi had behavioral issues. As if!), but she pushed to prescribe Pippi a bunch of pointless medicines and treatments, including an unnecessary antibiotic and a preventative lyme-disease treatment (despite the fact that she already had a recent negative lyme-disease test). The experience left Anna exasperated, and many of you readers commiserated with us. After ...

Getty In an age where all of your pet's necessities can be purchased online, it only seems natural that its medication should be available through the click of a mouse. While a multitude of online pharmacies provide a convenient and often inexpensive way to obtain prescriptions you'd normally purchase at the vet's office, many veterinarians warn against using them. Risk #1: Pharmacy Could be Selling Counterfeit or Inferior Medicine A major concern for most veterinarians is the source of the medications sold by online pharmacies. "Many online pharmacies are not well regulated," said Dr. Michael Farber, Practice Owner and Chief of Staff at West Chelsea Veterinary. "Not all of these sites ...

katbert, Flickr Going on a trip can be stressful enough without adding your dog to the mix. Some organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States recommend against flying with your dog at all because of numerous cases where the animals didn't arrive safely. But if you'll be taking to the skies with Fido in tow, some advance planning can ensure that both you and your pet will be ready for takeoff. Assess whether your dog can handle the trip. Radio show host and pet travel expert Stephanie Abrams points out that every breed and every dog has its own temperament that can affect your trip. "Some by nature are more high-strung," she says, and not good at dealing with the motion ...

adria.richards, Flickr No matter how careful we are as pet owners, dogs and cats sometimes still manage to cut themselves, get overheated and eat things they really shouldn't. In honor of National Pet First Aid Awareness month, we at Paw Nation want to help you be prepared should trouble strike. We asked Dr. Elisa Mazzaferro, Director of Emergency Services at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in Colorado, and the official veterinarian of Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl VI what she recommends you do in these five common situations: 1. Treating A Cut or Scratched Paw "One of the most important things clients can do if injury is on the animal's paw is to put pressure on it with a clean towel and ...