Prepare your house for your pet's arrival. A special place should be designated for it to eat, sleep, and eliminate. Obtain any necessary accessories (eg, collar, leash, ID tag, crate, cage, aquarium and dishes) before you bring your pet home. For most pets, you will need to pet-proof your home just as you would child-proof your home to avoid accidents. Harmful cleansers, plants, electrical cords, and breakable objects should be kept out of reach. Open windows should be screened.
Roaming pets are prime candidates for fights with other animals, traffic accidents, and communicable diseases from other animals. Their life span can be expected to be considerably shorter as a result.
Most pets are strictly indoor pets and are perfectly content, as long as they have access to food and fresh water at all times. AVMA strongly recommends that for a healthier, happier pet you consider keeping your pets indoors only. If your pet must go outside, make sure you know where it is at all times, that the pet is old enough to manage on its own, that it is identified in some fashion (microchip ID or breakaway collar and tag), current on vaccinations, and not outdoors in extremely cold, hot, or inclement weather.
If you don't want your pet in certain areas of the house, start training it immediately to avoid those areas. When choosing where your pet will sleep, keep in mind some pets are nocturnal animals and will be active at night. Placing soft bedding materials in secluded corners will help your pet to feel at home.
-
Select the Right Saddle
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
The right saddle will make a significant difference for both you and your horse and ensure a safe, balanced and relaxing ride. Comfort is key; if the rear of the saddle is up after you cinch the saddle on your horse, or if the saddle wants to roll after you place it on, the saddle is not the correct
Read more
-
Strategic Deworming for Equines
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
If you are a long time horse owner, you may be familiar with traditional parasite control strategies. Traditionally, the most common parasite control approach called for horse owners to deworm their horse year round every six to eight weeks, rotating products. Alternatively, horse owners also could opt
Read more
-
Why You Need to Keep Stalls Clean
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
How often do you clean your horses’ stalls? Ideally, horse stalls should be cleaned every day and kept as clean as possible. Since horses often lie down in their stalls at night, this behavior means that if you are not keeping the stalls clean, horses could be lying in their own urine or manure –
Read more
-
Prevent Incurable Horse Virus
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito, advises the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The virus is rare and causes inflammation of the brain called encephalitis. Animals, especially horses, are vulnerable to this infection.
"All equine cases are
Read more
-
Nutrition Affects a Horse's Behavior
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
Has your horse not quite been themselves lately? Have you noticed unusual fatigue or conversely, excitability? You may be surprised to learn that nutrition and dietary choices play a significant role in determining equine behavior. And, it is not simply what they eat, but how.
Horse owners often report
Read more
-
Horse Talk: Oral Exams Matter at Every Age
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
Regular dental care is an important part of equine wellness care. Horses have a hypsodont tooth and an anisognathic jaw conformation. This means that the upper jaw is wider than the lower jaw, an arrangement that maximizes a horse’s chewing efficiency. A horse’s teeth and bite are important for more
Read more
-
Keeping Your Horse Free of Colic
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
Colic, in its more severe manifestations, takes more horses' lives than any other common equine ailment. If your horse has frequent bouts with this painful form of digestive upset -- or if you would like to protect him from having such problems in the future -- it's best to understand what causes colic
Read more
-
Foaling Injuries and Complications
Category:
Newsletter Library, Equine
If your mare is about to give birth, chances are that the foal will emerge normally and in good health..However, just as human births can develop complications, equine births can present complications, and these complications may threaten the mother, the foal, or both. It helps to know what might happen
Read more