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Troublesome behaviour doesn't always indicate separation anxiety but when it does, it is important to take steps to help your dog overcome their stress. Therefore, you need to use behavioural clues to establish whether or not your dog is anxious. Once you are sure, there are a number of things you can do to help combat it.

How to spot separation anxiety

A dog who isn't showing any symptoms of anxiety will be calm when you leave the house. They may fall asleep or play happily with toys. Inactive anxiety is hard to spot because there will be no visible signs of stress when you return home. Whilst you are out the dog will remain still but vigilant. They might have ears flat to their head, drool excessively, tuck their tail under their tummy and lick their lips repeatedly whilst panting and trembling. To detect this type of fear it may be prudent to set up a camera on a tripod or shelf so that

When the long and warm days of summer come around your cat will choose to spend a lot more time outside. While this is a lot of fun for them, it also puts them at risk for many seasonal dangers. 

What are the safety hazards that you should protect your feline friend from in order to keep your cat safe in the Summer?

Dehydration –

Make sure that your cat always has a bowl of fresh water available to them. They are more likely to become dehydrated on a hot and sunny day. Also, if your cat tends to drink from your outdoor pond make sure that it doesn’t have algae growing in it, or it could make your feline friend very sick.

Overheating –

If you need to take your cat somewhere in the car in the summer, you should never leave them alone in the parked car. The windows of th

Whether you have a garage, garden store or shed, these spaces are utilised like extra storage rooms, using them to keep things that we’re unable to fit into the home or simply items that we need only occasionally throughout the year.

Unfortunately, many of the things we use to keep our homes and gardens looking lovely can be highly dangerous to our pets who, as we know, lose no opportunity in exploring all those places and sampling all those things that they shouldn’t. And, just like young children, they often delight in eating things we’d much rather they didn’t, with often dire consequences.

Listed below are just some of the things we’d recommend you be cautious about when leaving them around your home.

Antifreeze

This stuff is vital to keep our vehicles running smoothly and efficiently through the colder mo

When your canine friend starts to get a little bit older, they may have a few different health requirements than they did when they were young. So, it is important to take good care of your senior dog to ensure that they get the care that they need to grow old gracefully.

Here are a few of the things we would recommend keeping an eye out for and how you can deal with them best. 

Is Your Dog Going Through Behavioural Changes?

Are you noticing any behavioural changes in your dog? It’s important to take a closer look at your dog’s behaviour – dramatic changes in the way that they act might be the sign of a disease. Pay close attention to how much they are eating and drinking, as well as changes in their sleep routine or toilet habits.

Also, if your usually laid-back and friendly dog becomes irrit

We have seen some exceptionally hot weather this year so it is important that we look after our dogs to minimise the risk of heatstroke.

If dogs get too hot and are unable to reduce their body temperature by panting they can easily get heatstroke. Which can be fatal. Some dogs are more prone including very young or old dogs, dogs with thick coats or dogs with short, flat faces such as Pugs and Boxers.

The five signs to look out for are:

Is the dog panting heavily?

Is the dog drooling excessively?

Does the dog appear lethargic, drowsy or uncoordinated?

Is the dog vomiting?

Has the dog collapsed?

If your dog is showing these symptoms you need

With all this glorious sunny weather our pets will be eager to spend more time outdoors ‘catching some rays’. But they are not the only ones…fleas love the summer months and thrive outdoors!

Summertime is rife for fleas - with the warmth and moisture in the air, they can rapidly multiply, going from egg to adult in just 14 days. The milder winter also means that plenty of fleas will have survived outdoors, adding to the explosion of them that we see at this time of year.

Wildlife such as foxes, birds and hedgehogs will be teeming with adult fleas.  An inquisitive cat or dog that gets too close to a slumbering hedgehog could get more than just a prickle on the nose, as a flea may take the opportunity to try a new host – your pet!

With all this fine weather, you can guarantee there will be plenty of doggy friends out and about and ample opportu

Rider to horse weight ratio typically depends on the size and strength of the horse, and the type of work that the horse is expected to do. However, from a vet’s point of view how much weight is too much weight for a horse to bear? Are we exposing horses to orthopaedic problems or even pain by asking them to carry more weight than they can reasonably bear?

How to choose an appropriate weight limit.

When we're deciding appropriate weight limits for horses we need to consider how tall the horse is and the type of build as well as age. Two horses that are both 15 hands high will not necessarily have the same build and will therefore not necessarily be able to cope with the same level of weight. A racehorse could carry significantly less than a draft horse but also, an overweight horse cannot necessarily manage a heavier load. We also need to look at the rider. How competent are they? W

Ian Wright is an expert in this subject, as well as being a veterinary surgeon and co-owner of a practice in Fleetwood; he also hold's a Master's degree in Parasitology. He is head of the ESOCAP UK & Ireland, Guideline Director for ESOCAP Europe and editorial board member for the Companion Animal and Vet CPD Journals. This article reflects his views on treating tapeworms in the general canine population and the role of the veterinary practice. 

Tapeworms - The Parasite in Our Homes

It is no secret as a nation (where the dog is the most popular pet owned) that we are devoted to our four-legged friends, and it is also no secret that perhaps because they share our households; many owners simply forget that they can act as hosts to unwelcome parasites such as tapeworms. The main tapeworm that the average pet owner will come across is Dipylidium Canium.

Dipylidium Canium

Kittens and cats are among the cleanest of animals and are very easy to litter train when young. However, you may not be aware that cats can suffer from debilitating urinary problems which can cause a great deal of pain.

As your cat cannot tell you what’s wrong, the first sign you notice may be a change in behaviour. If toileting habits change significantly the first thing you should do is arrange a check-up with the vet. Urinary problems can be serious, but the good news is that they are treatable.

A Guide To Understanding Veterinary Prescriptions

How did it all come about?

Changes to the UK Law made back in 2005, meant that pet owners could legally ask their veterinary surgeon for a written prescription allowing them to obtain veterinary medicines from an alternative supplier. Up until then, pet owners could only purchase veterinary medicines directly from their own vet, and unfortunately in some instances this resulted in owners being charged astronomical amounts. The change in law opened up the market and challenged vets to provide reasonably priced medicines to their customers.