Monsoon Do’s and Don’ts for your Pet Care

Monsoon brings the much-needed relief from the scorching heat of summer, making us relax in the pleasant phase. While the monsoon showers are welcome to, they might not be so favorable for your pet’s health. Due to rain, the moisture content in the air increases which leads to a lot of health issues for your pet. Infections or diseases such as pneumonia, cold and fever (Flu), infections, cough, and loose motions are common during the rainy season. Therefore, you must take special care of your pets at the advent of the monsoon. To help you ensure that your pet stays fit as fiddle even when it pours in the city, here are a few do’s and don’ts that you can follow.

Don’ts

Don’t expose your pets to the sudden change in the season as it may impact their basic immunity and your pet may develop pneumonia.
Do not store food and water in the open air as it may get contaminated and lead to digestive disorders and gastroenteritis. Clean drinking water and cooked food is recommended for your pet during monsoons.
Do not wash your pet frequently as that would make it vulnerable to fever and cold.
If you notice the sign of an infection or itch due to fleas or ticks, do not medicate them yourself. Take them to a vet immediately.

Do’s

Take your pooch on regular walks as it would make it happier and ensure proper blood circulation in the body.
Regular immunity shots and vaccines are important to maintain good health of your pet and prevent infections and diseases.
Ensure great protection against the downpour by using muzzle or pet raincoats when your pet goes out for walk during the monsoon.
Try keeping them dry always to prevent any chances of fungal infection.

Walk-in to VETLAB and get the Preventive Health Check up and diagnosis done.

Tips to prevent Gastro intestinal infections in pets during monsoon

Monsoons are pleasurable but it takes its toll on the physical well-being of your pets. With the high moisture content in the air, your pets become more prone to infections, cold, cough, loose motions, dysentery, flu, and other gastro intestinal infections. Therefore, besides rejoicing the onset of monsoons, it is important for pet owners to ensure effective pet care as well. You must focus on preventing gastro intestinal infections to avoid your pet’s discomfiture and here’s how you can do it.

Cleanliness: You should take care of the general cleanliness or your pet’s living area and not store food and water in open to prevent contamination as consumption of contaminated food can lead to digestive disorders and gastroenteritis in your pet. The ideal diet for your pet during rains is clean drinking water and mix food.

Sanitization: Apart from maintaining your pet’s daily cleansing routine, take special care of its food habits. Incorporate a few dietary changes in your dog and ensure it eats clean food. Wash the water and food bowl of your pet after every meal, and sanitize its chews. Offer your pet plenty of fresh water to maintain its hydration levels.

Check for signs: Gastro Intestinal disorders can lead to dehydration, electrolyte and acid-base imbalances and malnutrition so check if your pet is vomiting, having constipation/diarrhea, weakness etc. and consult with your veterinarian.

Vaccination schedule: Have a vaccination plan which can keep your pet safe and healthy during the change of season. Vaccination acts as the building blocks in the foundation of your pet’s immune system. Stay up-to-date with their vaccination schedule and discuss your pet’s health with the veterinarian regularly.

No to Outside food: Do not feed your pet with meat or chicken bought from outside store as they may be contaminated during the rainy season. Besides, overfeeding your pet is also not recommended as it may lead to problems in the digestive tract.

Fleas: Everything You Need to Know

Fleas and ticks are external parasites that can lead to discomfort to pets. You can easily prevent fleas from bothering your pet by taking some safe, easy to administer, and effective steps. Attempting to control fleas on pets is a multi-step process. However, to control fleas effectively, you must treat your environment as well as your pet. However, you can follow these essential steps for successfully controlling flea:

Remove fleas from the indoor environment: Indoor flea control requires mechanically eliminating all stages of the flea’s development, killing any remaining adults, and keeping the immature forms from growing.

Start by vacuuming thoroughly, especially in places where your pet sleeps or spends indoor time.
Use a flea control products that will kill any remaining adult fleas to stop the development of eggs and larvae.
Keep your pet’s bedding clean by washing it every week and treating the surrounding area with insect growth regulator and adulticide product.

Remove fleas from the outdoor environment: Flea control in the outdoor environment mostly involves eliminating fleas from places where they are most likely to occur such as kennel areas. Fleas tend to thrive in areas where it is moist, warm, shady, or have organic debris. Remove any organic debris like leaves, straw, grass clippings, etc., to remove flea habitat

Remove fleas from pets: There are a number of flea control products that you can use to disinfect your pet. You can try once-a-month topical products, shampoos, collars, powders sprays, dips, oral, and injectable products to remove fleas from pets. When applying any product directly to pet, keep in mind that you would see some live fleas on it for a short time after spraying, shampooing, dipping, etc. as the fleas must come in contact with the insecticide, and absorb it to be killed.

Keep immature forms of fleas from developing: The best flea control is always flea prevention. Adulticides are important for flea prevention. Using products that contain insecticides will keep fleas away and prevent development of a flea problem. Periodic usage of insect growth regulators/development inhibitors will surely minimize risk of fleas from infesting your indoor and outdoor environment.

Walk-in to VETLAB and get the Preventive Health Check up and diagnosis done.

How to protect your pet from Smog?

During this time each year, we find ourselves in the middle of dense, dangerous and discomforting layers of smog. The air we breathe deteriorates with each passing day affecting our pets, children and elderly the most.

For the uninitiated, bursting of crackers during Diwali and crop burning in farming estates near metro cities of India pollutes the air with heavy smoke. This mixes with fog to produce the dreadful ‘smog’. This thick layer of smog affects humans and their lovely pets alike. Dogs, cats and other pets experience health issues that can be fatal sometimes.

If you’re living in any affected areas, we suggest you read further and know how to best take care of your precious dog. In case, your pet is already one of those affected deeply by the smog, visit VETLAB centers in Delhi, Meerut, and Kolkata for a thorough round of health tests.

Be Air Aware

When the city turns into a gas chamber, stay air aware. Given the advancements in technology, you can download apps like Tapzo that determine the AQI (Air Quality Index) levels of your area making it easier for you to decide when to step out.

Afternoons are preferable to go for a walk as the sun rays improve visibility and improve air quality. Soon enough, we’ll have pet masks too but until then, do not forget to wear yours.

Try indoor exercise

As much as your pet likes outdoor activities, the airpocalypse prohibits them from stepping out. Try exercises and games at home. Keep your pet active and busy. It’s better to get them toys like a fuzzy ball or two. Also, it’s better to turn on air purifiers and conditioners to ensure safe breathing indoors. Get plants like Areca Palm, Anthuriums, Money plant, Spider plant, golden pothos, bamboo plant, ‘Song of India’ and Boston ferns act as natural air purifiers.

Make sure your little fur ball doesn’t miss being in the open air.

Proper diet

For days when the city is choking on polluted air, ensure that you stay safe and indoors. You might hibernate and binge on carbs while Netflix-ing, watch your dog’s diet. Do not feed them as much because remember there’s barely any physical activity hence no use of energy.

Do not overfeed your pet!

If your pet is senior or ailing, visit a vet for a health check-up and get precautionary diagnostic test done at VETLAB. Remember, the air quality is as bad for your pet as it is for you.

Here’s hoping that your little furry friend stays safe and healthy in the unfortunate times.

Winter is coming but is your dog ready?

Some of us enjoy temperature drops more than others. Chilly winds and snow blankets covering the town may fill your senses with joy but what about your furry friend? Is it ready to face the biting cold winters? Well, it’s about time we talked about all the necessary action points to keep your dog safe and smiling during the cold season.

Dogs are prone to two medical conditions when winters thoroughly set in – Frostbite (Body warms up in the center, other parts left to cool) and Hypothermia (Shivering, depression and fatal conditions are seen). Thus, it’s important to keep your dog cuddled up in winters.

While prepping up for the season, you must keep the following points in mind:

Dressing for dropped temperature

Thickly furred dogs can easily bear cold temperatures while playing outside but dogs with light skin and fur need warm clothing. The sweater should cover the dog from neck to belly and private parts. Paw care is also a must in winters. Consider dog booties if your dog walks uncomfortably.

The right bedding

A cozy bed is what will ensure a calm night’s sleep for you and the four-legged friend. Cozy beds rose above uncarpeted floor and tiles can create a blissful environment for the dog to sleep the night away.

Correct eating habits

Like humans, dogs can incline towards high-calorie food. We sure do enjoy our carbs and fats in winters but your dog needs an extra layer of fur coat not fat to keep warm.

Skin care regime

Winters can be pretty harsh on dog skin and even worse if your dog likes playing outside. Follow a proper bathing, drying, and moisturising procedure to keep your dog skin from itching and flaking. Coconut and fish oils are good for your dog.

Indoors is your happy place

Cuddle up with your fur friend in the confines of your well-heated home. Ensure pet-safe heating place at your home. Occasionally, take walks to the park to freshen up but only when the sun shines because nobody likes freezing to death.

Harsh winter weather can take a toll on your dog’s health if proper care isn’t ensured. In case of any emergency or health-related issue, you must consult your pet’s veterinarian. For further health check-ups and advanced tests, contact our experts at VetLab.

Find us : www.vetlab.in

25 signs to identify if your cat is in pain

Over thousands of years of natural selection, cats have mastered the ability to mask their pain. If not observed carefully, it’s very easy to overlook your cat’s strange behavior caused due to mental or physical pain. For a better understanding of pain, we must know that it has two components: the sensory aspect (intensity, location, and duration) and the affective aspect (emotional toll).

While pets and their owners develop a shared language, it’s sometimes beyond human understanding to decode a cat’s misery. For assessment of pain in cats requires the owners to closely observe any change in behavior, attitude or physical activities of the cat. This way it’s easy to at least spot the problem even before it begins to take a toll on your kitty. A British study recently concluded 25 signs that can be relied upon to indicate pain in cats. In other words, if your cat is doing any of the following, it’s time to call VetLab for expert assistance.

Lameness
Difficulty jumping
Abnormal gait
Reluctance to move
Reaction to palpation [applying light pressure with the hands]
Withdrawn or hiding
Absence of grooming
Playing less
Appetite decrease
Overall activity decrease
Less rubbing toward people
General Mood
Temperament
Hunched-up posture
Shifting of weight
Licking a particular body region
Lower head posture
Blepharospasm [squinting]
Change in form of feeding behavior
Avoiding bright areas
Growling
Groaning
Eyes closed
Straining to urinate
Tail flicking

Remember, the above listed behavioral changes are just tools to spot the red flag but only well practiced, expert veterinarians should be trusted with your cat’s health. Any of these 25 signs or a combination of a few confirms presence of pain in your cat.

The key aspect here is that indication of no such sign is also call for trouble. Cats need special attention and guided veterinarian’s assistance on a regular basis, and not only when any of the above signs are noticed in kitty’s behavior. With these signs, it’s possible to assess and diagnose cat’s pain for both, the owner and veterinarians.

In cases, where signs show a prolonged frequency, immediately consult your veterinarian. For advanced tests, specialized pet tests, you can reach us at +011-66-448-448 or visit www.vetlab.in for better assistance.

Happy aging for your senior dog: Tips to follow!

A dog that passes the age of seven earns ‘senior’ title in the family. Owning a dog can come with its own set of responsibilities which differ with the age of each dog..

Our dogs grow from cute, squeaky puppies to ferocious, protective beasts and then one day they just can’t be any of that because age happens. The test of true love is seeing your furball grow fragile and meek with age. But we, as pet owners can ensure a happy, healthy and graceful aging process for our four-legged friends by taking good care of their health and well being.

Thanks to all the veterinarian advances in the world, our adorable dogs live longer than they used to. But that also brings a whole new set of aging problems for our dogs. Senior dogs require detailed attention and proper medical care while the same isn’t true for a healthy young dog. A few care tips for starters are listed below.

Watch your dog’s weight

It’s easy to over-feed them out of love but more weight leads to more problems. Over-weighing can cause weakening of joints causing arthritis and other obesity-related diseases. Ensuring a balanced diet is the key to a healthy lifestyle for a senior dog.

Keeping your pet active

They may not be as active as before but they certainly need some exercising to do. Keep the duration and level of physical activity between easy to mild. Practice basics like ‘Come’, ‘Go’ and ‘Sit’ a couple of times a day.

Take supplements

Very much like humans, aging dogs require health supplements. To ensure strong bones, heavy fur coat and proper eating habits, seek precautionary help in the form of body tests at VetLab. We carefully examine your dog’s health through world class machinery that provides most accurate results related to your dog’s body. You can contact us here.

Visit the Vet

It’s almost like shooting in the dark when taking care of senior dogs. You never know what part of their body is slowly giving up. A complete health check-up every six-month is suggested for senior dogs. Schedule your dog’s body tests at VetLab. We are just a call away.

Don’t give up!

Even if mobility restricts your dog from doing their favorite activities, do not lose hope. Shower them with love and bring all their favorites right to them. Unconditional love for your furball surpasses every medication and ailment in the world.

Keep your dog happy during their senior years to ensure a happy and blissful life for the family. If you have any questions regarding your older dog’s heath, contact us @ +011-66-448-448.

Category: Pet Care