We think about pet health insurance as something that we do for our pets, and that's an appropriate response. As we've mentioned many times before on this blog, pet health insurance will help you provide the best care available for your pet should you need it. It is indeed nice to know that you won't have to make decisions from the pocket book as opposed to the heart when it comes to treatment for your pet.

Started by animal lover and supporter, Doris Day - yes, she of the big screen back in the day, the last Tuesday of February is known as National Spay Day.

The Humane Society of the United States is committed to this outstanding event that happens across the U.S. and its territories. Here's their solid justification:

"Four million cats and dogs—about one every eight seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year. Often these animals are the offspring of cherished family pets, even purebreds. Maybe someone's cat or dog got out just that one time or maybe the litter was intentional, but efforts to find enough good homes failed. Spay/neuter is the only permanent, 100-percent effective method of birth control for dogs and cats and a proven way to reduce the vast numbers of animals who are born only to die prematurely and without a family who loves them. Learn more about why you should spay or neuter your pet."

I just returned from the Western States Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas. I spent three days there talking to veterinarians about PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance. It seems to me that veterinarians are getting on board with the idea of pet health insurance in general and that would be a good idea for both the veterinary profession and pet health, in general.

Vets want to provide the best health care possible and sometimes they are forced to compromise. I had a number of discussions with vets and animal health technicians along the same lines. They are in the exam room with an anxious owner.

They have just explained that their pet has a serious disease problem and they have gone through the recommended treatment protocol. The hospitalization for tests, diagnostic procedures and medications is likely to run into the thousands and the pet will probably need expensive medication for the rest of his life. 

I suppose if I tell the world that I have a little trouble getting out of bed on these cold February mornings, I might be aging myself. Oh, it's not that daylight comes past 7:00, or that the house is still cold at 6 a.m., it's that my bones just don't want to move!

Yep, arthritis is sneaking into my joints, I think. It's inevitable, I guess.

The same thing happens to our pets. Fluffy and Fido experience the same issues and symptoms, though they may mask them. Over at the Purina Pet Health Library, this article on Arthritis is very informative. Apparently, dogs experience this problem more than cats...which surprised me since Wabby Wibby is definitely not her young, spry self these days. She's 16 and was having so much trouble jumping up onto our bed that we made steps for her.

I will say that before we lost Carmie, she was experiencing this in spades. Luckily, we have a good vet and we did have medication that definitely helped. We were walking her every day, and she might have been a little slower there, at the end, but she was still eager to go out.

At the Pet Health Library, they have great information on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. If you have an older pet this information can help you manage those issues. (and they have video, too!)

I was surprised to learn about septic arthritis. That's a new term to me. The article says, "Infective or septic arthritis is caused by the invasion of a bacteria, fungi or virus to the effected joint. This form of disease typically affects only a single joint." It's treated with antibiotics - which means we need to be aware of changes in our dog's physical health and get her to the vet if we suspect a problem.

Since this is not as apparent as an injury or stomach issues, it means pet parents need to give special attention to our elderly pets - and they will love us all the more for it.

I was reading about why we love cats and dogs over at the PBS Nature site, and behaviorist Sarah Wilson has a nice list of "traits" for dogs and their owners. I thought it would be interesting to share some of the list...and encourage folks to visit the PBS Engage Blog for more information.

Hey, with Businessweek posting that we spend upwards of $41 billion a year on our pets, we need all the help we can get in understanding what our pets like or don't like. (for instance, Carmie never liked rawhide bones; we tried every year to find one she would chew, and she ignored them all!). I wonder how much of that $41 billion is on pet health insurance? I hope a good bit. It's ever more important to make sure we don't fail our pets when they're sick or injured.  

My Smart Puppy, Sarah's site has some great content on taking care of your dog. Meanwhile, here are a couple of descriptions of her "behavior patterns" we dog lovers portray with our dogs: (see if any fit you)-

How about that Stump. Winning  this year's Best in Show at Westminster at the ripe old age of ten. He even came out of retirement to do it. He was certainly no slouch having won Westminster's Best in Group in the Sporting Dog Group the year he retired, in 2004. He even recovered from a major illness during the hiatus.

Just took a survey online for my local Human Society - Lollypop Farm. Lollypop Farm is where we have gotten all of our pets, over the years. I would never go anywhere else (unless I was adopting a full-bred dog or cat, which is a possibility).

After taking the survey, which was all about cats and overpopulation, btw... I clicked in to a page about Cat Myths that is fascinating. As a cat lover - I would have numerous cats if I wasn't allergic to them. As it is, I have one and may be in the market for another, but two is my limit, under the circumstances. Anyway, as a cat lover, I love learning about the many faces of being a cat and I especially enjoy Dr. Larry's podcasts over at Scratchings and Sniffings, when he talks cats.

One of the most common conditions in human dentistry is the development of dental caries or cavities. According to some statistics fully 90% of school children develop dental caries or tooth decay. One look inside my mouth reveals thousands of dollars worth of dental work, most of it done by the time I left college.

In our last post we talked about the importance of routine dental care and the benefits for dental scaling and polishing under the PurinaCare Plus Preventive Care policy.

Pet Dental Health month occurs every year in February and is a great opportunity to educate pet owners on the importance of dental health.