News New Year's Resolutions for a Happy, Healthy Pet As you take stock of the year just past and make plans for 2006, be sure to include resolutions that will help make your best friend a happy, healthy pet. Here are some of the easiest - but most important - steps that pet owners can take to ensure the health & well-being of their companion animals. - Resolve to take your pet to his vet for a routine health check-up. Regularly scheduled preventive care can help spot health concerns before they grow into a health crisis. If you don't have a veterinarian currently, ask family members, friends or colleagues for recommendations, or contact the Indiana Veterinary Medicine Association for a referral. Be sure to look for a veterinary practice that's accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). Its exacting standards of excellence are recognized worldwide as the benchmark for quality care in veterinary medicine. When you deal with an AAHA-accredited practice, you're dealing with one of the very best in your area. - Resolve to make certain your pet is current on all vaccinations. Regular vaccinations are an excellent, effective way to prevent a variety of diseases. Approved vaccines are available to combat rabies, distemper, lyme disease, feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis, and other ailments that can prove deadly to dogs or cats. - Resolve to feed your pet a nutritious pet food on a regular daily schedule. Proper feeding habits, including on-going use of a quality pet food, can prevent disease, nutritional deficiencies or malfunction of the digestive system. Though it can be difficult, try to avoid feeding your pet table scraps, especially high-fat foods - these can contribute to obesity, dental disease, heart or liver disease, pancreatitis, arthritis, and inflammation of the intestines. - Resolve to make sure your pet has a source of clean, fresh water at all times. Animals are susceptible to dehydration and kidney disease - especially those who are very young or very old - and water deprivation can lead to serious health conditions and complications. Fill your pet's dish with fresh, clean water several times each day. - Resolve to establish a regimen of dental health. Dental problems left untreated not only can create problems for the teeth and gums but also can affect other areas of your pet's body including the sinus cavities, eyes, heart, liver, kidneys, and other organs - Resolve to provide a safe, comfortable environment for your pet. Bring them indoors during weather extremes (the heat of summer, the sub-freezing conditions of winter), and make sure they have a warm, dry, quiet place for rest, retreat & sleep. - Resolve to provide daily exercise. A regularly scheduled play period is good for body and soul - both yours and your pet's! Helps keep muscles toned, weight off, mind engaged, and bond established. - Resolve to make certain that your pet is properly ID'd. (In Marion and other Central Indiana counties, it's the law!) The preferred method is microchipping - a permanent identification system that greatly increases the chance of being reunited with your pet should he become lost. Collar tags and tattoos are additional ID methods. - Resolve to create an emergency first aid kit with basic supplies. You also might want to consider attending an Animal First Aid & CPR training session that will provide the knowledge to care for your pet in an emergency situation until you can obtain professional emergency care. IVEC will be holding another Animal First Aid & CPR training session during first quarter '06 - the exact date will be announced soon. - Resolve to spend more time with your pets during 2006! Back to news