Archive for July, 2009

Canadas Pet Health Concerns that Benefit from Canadian Pet Health Insurance

There are two health care issues that might make Canadas pet owners consider purchasing Canadian Pet Health Insurance for their family pets. Cancer and Tularemia.

Cancer is a type of malignant tumor or growths that invade the surrounding tissues and use the bloodstream to move spread to other parts of the body. Some cancers reappear even after removal of the offending tumor. Cancer can cause that unless the tumor is removed and any remaining cancer cells properly treated. Because of improvements in veterinary care at nutritional needs family pets are living longer. As a direct result of the longer life span of family pets wore more cases of cancer are being seen.

Signs that the family pet might have cancer are abnormal swellings that continue to grow, sores are a few heel, bleeding or other discharge from body openings, the pet is having a difficult time eating and swallowing, persistent lameness, difficulty breathing, painful urination, chronic coughing, weight loss, fevers, lack of appetite, and stamina. If you notice your pet experience the any individual or combination of the symptoms you should consult your local veterinarian.

In the not so distant past cancer and pets was a virtual kiss of death. In today’s medically advanced world of veterinary medicine your pets outcome is more positive. Early detection followed by timely intervention is the most positive here for your pet’s cancer.

In some cases simple removal on the tumor is all that is required to other may any cancer cells. Some types of cancer require or surgery. The surgery has an excellent success rate with cancers that were detected early on. If your pet has a tumor that is inoperable your veterinarian might suggest radiation, chemical, or biological therapy.

Radiation therapy exposes the malignant cells to high level of radiation with the hope that the radiation will kill the cancer cells. Chemical therapy is medication design to kill the cancer cells. In particularly aggressive forms of cancer chemical and radiation therapy is used jointly. Other forms of therapies used to treat and comfort your pet when they are diagnosed with cancer are grooming, nutritional support, Soft bedding, pain management, ulcer prevention, and physical therapy. If your pet is diagnosed with cancer discuss treat to the veterinarian and call your pet health care insurance representative to find out what can be done to extend life of your pet.

On October 2, 2004 Health Canada issued an advisory about a potential health concern to dwarf and regular hamsters called Tularemia.

Tularemia is caused by a bacterial disease that is most commonly seen in wild rodents and rabbits. Although it only happens rarely Tularemia is transferable to humans causing flu like symptoms. Tularemia typically found in all muskrats, squirrels, beavers, rabbit, skunks, dear, bison, foxes, opossums, and woodchucks. Although Tularemia is seldom seen in dogs and cats can be contaminated through water, eating infected rabbits, and being bitten by contaminated ticks. The typical symptoms of Tularemia are fever, a loss of appetite, weakness, and diarrhea. If the condition is left untreated infected animals frequently died.

The typical treatment plan for pets infected with Tularemia is to first eliminate any infected ticks from your pets fur. After that the drugs Strptomycin and Gentamycin are administered for one to two weeks. Tetracycline and Chloramphencicol have also been used to treat pets diagnosed with Tularemia.

Ferrets are long, silky, fun filled, and cuddly. They can provide endless hours of fun. They can also give you a migraine as you try to pay for the vet bills you didn’t think about when you spontaneously purchased that impossibly cute ferret with the incredibly pointed face at the local pet store.

The average lifespan is 7-10 years old with each year equaling ten human years. The tempaeture of a healthy ferret is between 100 and 104 degrees, with most of them hovering at a comfortable 101.9 degrees. The heart rate of the average ferret is about 225 beats per minute but it can range from 180-250 beats per minute. Ferrets have an average respiration rate of 33-36 breaths per minute. It is important to get to know your pets personality, the better you know your ferrets personality the quicker you will be able to recognize any health issues your ferret might have.

The first thing you might learn about your pet ferret is that not only will it love to have your undivided attention it can also catch that twenty-four hour flue you had a few days ago. The ability to catch diseases from their human owners is one of those unique traits that separates ferrets from cats and dogs (cats and dogs can not catch the flu from humans). Hopefully now that you are armed with that knowledge you will be savvy enough to bring your pet ferret to the veterinarian (preferably one with knowledge and experience about ferrets) before it starts showing flu like symptoms. Ferrets are very sturdy animals when they are healthy but once they get sick they can go down hill fast. It is important your veterinarian sees your pet and prescribe a treatment as soon as possible.

Young ferrets are often fed hard food before they are really ready for it. The hard food can cause your new pet to develop a prolapsed rectum (the rectum is on the outside of the body instead of inside). Oddly enough this is not normally something your local veterinarian needs to see. Normally the rectum returns to its normal position after a few days. Smear a small amount of Preparation-H on the exposed rectum to help keep it moist and keep a close eye on it. Remember that pink is good. As long as the flesh of the prolapsed rectum is a nice healthy looking rosy pink its healthy. If the healthy pink color starts to fade take your pet ferret to the vet for a consultation.

Ferrets suffer from a variety of diseases and tumors such as insulinorma, tumors, heart disease, intestinal conditions, and complications involving the liver and intestines and spleen. Many pet ferrets are plagued with multiple issues at the same time. Most diseases commonly found in ferrets will need some type of veterinary care which will often include surgery.

If you are concerned about being flooded with an endless amount of expensive veterinarian bills that you don’t know if you will be able to pay you may want to consider purchasing animal health insurance for your pet ferret.