Archive for year: 2009

One thing to note about purchasing bottles of urine reagents (often called dip sticks) is that the reliability is compromised by the air, sunlight etc. every time the lid is opened.

Bottles of strips are made to be used up in 3-4 months. If the pet owner is testing often–every day or every other day as if often the case when an animal has been diagnosed with diabetes…then there will not be a problem.

But for preventative care, if the bottle is opened every few weeks, then in just a few months, they results may no longer be effective. That is why it is critical to have specially packaged test strips if you are using the strips to practice preventative medicine.

Last Tuesday was a very auspicious day here on Cape Cod. In most areas, including Harwich Port, dogs are now LEGAL on the beach! Hooray!

The day after Labor Day is when most beaches allow dogs back on during the day. There are still some hold-out beaches who post September 15th and even September 30th, but they are the exception.

Lily and I celebrated on Tuesday by walking down to the beach. It was a lovely warm day, very few people on the beach and we had a great time. There will be many more beach walks with her before my trip is over and I look forward to all of them!

Many of our customers tell us that regular use of ThePetCheckup helped them to catch bladder infections at a very early stage–when the infection was just beginning.

Bacteria in the bladder enters from the outside through the urethra. Treatment with antibiotics is usually pretty effective.

However, if the infection is stubborn or seems to return often, underlying causes need to be looked into.

Some of the most common underlying causes that need to be ruled out are: bladder stones, bladder cancer, Cushing’s disease and diabetes mellitus.

Another one of ThePetCheckup’s happy customers contacted me yesterday and told me how helpful our product was in keeping a close eye on protein level’s in her dog’s urine.

This is another great benefit of doing ThePetCheckup test monthly as protein in the urine should always be followed up by further investigation.

The most worrisome cause would be that there is a problem with the kidneys, but there are other illnesses (such as an inflammation) which can be treated successfully in the majority of cases.

And of course, the sooner these imbalances are detected, the better the outcome.

Last Saturday, Carol Griglione, the IA Director of HSUS came to Fairfield and spoke to a group of us about current legislation for animals in the state. We also addressed some of our biggest issues here in Fairfield and what actions we can take to strengthen local laws on animal cruelty.

One thing Carol said was that Iowa was third in the country in regards to having the most number of puppy mills. I knew MO was first, but didn’t realize Iowa was not much better.

There are some current puppy mill dogs at the Noah’s Ark shelter and I visited them this morning. They are very sweet and beautiful. 2 have already been spoken for and will soon be in their new homes. That means the shelter will be able to rescue more of these dogs.

Another statistic I found interesting was regarding contacting our state politicians on pertinent issues. As little as receving 5 phone calls is significant to them and they take these calls seriously.

Keep those phone calls coming!!!