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    vetstreet.com

    vetstreet.com

  • What You Should Know About Your Pet's Poop

    As a veterinarian, a lot of my time is spent on poop - looking at it, talking about it, thinking about it - all in the service of assessing the health of the pet from which it came. Poop provides a wealth of information, which is why we veterinarians ask you about your pet's poop - and request samples of it - every time you come into the clinic.

  • Koala Survives Scary Ride Clinging to Car

    A family in Australia accidentally struck a koala in Queensland, but didn't know the marsupial then hitched a ride with them. "It is absolutely amazing that he has such minor injuries and he survived," said veterinarian Claude Lacasse.

  • 10 Things Your Pet Won’t Tell You

    It calls for the assistance of a certified trainer or veterinary behaviorist. Cats, especially, are prone to getting PO'ed when things don't go their way. Both dogs and cats can be jealous creatures. It's another instance where a certified trainer or veterinary behaviorist might be in order.

  • Are Black Cats & Dogs Less Desirable?

    Dr. Emily Weiss of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals looked at the data from the ASPCA's A Comprehensive Animal Risk Database, which pulled numbers from 14 communities and nearly 300,000 dogs and cats, to learn more. Thirty-two percent of canine adoptions in 2013 were black dogs, with brown dogs coming in second at 22 percent. In addition, more brown dogs were euthanized than black dogs (25 percent versus 21 percent). Black cats were in a similar situation, with 31 percent of 2013 feline adoptions being black cats, and gray cats coming in next, at 20 percent.

  • Dog Breeds Most at Risk in the Sun, Plus Beat-the-Heat Tips for Your Pup

    While cats have enough sense to nap their way through summer afternoons, dogs need a little more guidance in warm weather. If you let them, dogs will follow their masters into the inferno. That loyalty comes at a price. Dogs are not good at keeping themselves cool, so they rely on us to keep them out of trouble.

  • Two Families Battle for Dog’s Custody

    The Wolford family in Washington state says that when they adopted their Maltese, Harley, from a Dallas, Texas, shelter nearly seven years ago, they were told the dog had been given up by his family. "Right now I feel like there is something missing," Desiree Wolford said.

  • 7 Signs a Dog Isn't for You

    Pretty much anyone with a dog will gush to you about how awesome he is. I mean, what's better than having a furry shadow who thinks you're the greatest thing in the world? So you think, Hey, maybe I should have a dog. Before you run out and get one, make sure you're prepared for the responsibility. Here are seven signs you shouldn't get a dog:

  • What Should You Do If You See a Dog Locked in a Hot Car?

    When it's 80 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can reach 99 degrees in just 10 minutes, according to the Humane Society of the United States - and leaving windows cracked doesn't do much to help.

  • Pit Bull and Chihuahua Pals Find a New Home

    Happy Days are here for Chachi, the long-haired Chihuahua, and his pal Joanie, the Pit Bull mix.

  • 10 Very Odd Cat Behaviors Explained

    To help you better understand your elusive feline, we rounded up 10 cat behaviors that people commonly consider mysterious. Behaviorists actually call this curious behavior "bunting." If your kitty doesn't bunt, it's nothing to worry about - he just might not be the head-butting type. Behaviorists have many theories about why your kitty insists on doing this.

  • Pit Bull Carries Chihuahua to Safety

    Jonie, a white Lab- Pit Bull mix, was found in a Georgia neighborhood earlier this month carrying an appreciative Chihuahua in her mouth. The pair - named for teenage lovebirds Joanie and Chachi of "Happy Days" fame - were picked up by animal control officers who saw that Chachi was suffering from a severe eye infection.

  • 5 Cat Health Issues that Owners Overlook

    Cats have a reputation as low-maintenance pets, perfect for people who don't have the time to care for an animal. "Cats take care of themselves," is something I hear a lot, and it makes me wince every time. What's largely happening is not that our cats are fending for themselves - as so many people assume - but rather that because they're so good at hiding signs of illness, we don't realize how sick they are until they're very sick indeed.

  • Lost Dog Found After One Year

    Jason Ludwig and April Truesdell found Sadie wandering around their backyard about a month ago. Using Sadie's rabies tag, they were able to track down her owners, Sherry and Kaylee Payne, who live about an hour away. "Maybe there's a neon sign that only dogs can see that says, 'Stray dog hostel,'" Ludwig joked.

  • 10 Dog Breeds that Shed the Most and Least

    We polled 2,160 readers and 249 veterinary professionals to get their takes on these questions and were surprised by the differences among the readers' answers and those given by our experts. The majority of readers (62 percent) and veterinary professionals (58 percent) agreed that it depended on the coat. Twenty-two percent of readers said this was never a good practice, while just 10 percent of veterinary professionals felt that way. Outside of that, 6 percent of readers said it was fine for dogs only and no one said it was fine for cats only, while veterinary professionals were split at 1 percent for dogs only or cats only.

  • Grumpy Cat Appears in Video with Pals for Charity

    "Cat Summer," a star-studded music video and commercial for Friskies Grillers, showcases the company's spokescat, Grumpy Cat with the famous felines Nala Cat, Hamilton the Hipster Cat and Oskar the Blind Cat and Klaus.

  • Toughest Decision Pet Owners Have to Make

    Making reasoned choices for our pets in such situations is often agonizing - and maybe that is as it should be. On the other hand, most of us would be horrified if we waited too long and our pets suffered needlessly. So how do we navigate euthanasia decision making more easily? Deciding to euthanize a pet is never easy.

  • 11 Most Stubborn Dog Breeds

    These dogs are all very independent and as the United States celebrates its independence this month we thought we would spotlight dog breeds that exemplify what independence really is.

  • Hero Pit Bull Alerts Deaf Boy to House Fire

    Ace, a 2-year-old Pit Bull, is being credited with saving 13-year-old Nick Lamb from a fire in his Indianapolis home. Lamb is deaf and had taken his cochlear implants off to take an afternoon nap Wednesday.

  • 5 Cat & Dog Myths that Drive Vets Crazy

    The preponderance of animal behavior misinformation delivered by everyone from Dr. Google and Dr. Breeder to Dr. Mother-in-Law to Dr. TV Pet Personality means that simple misconceptions can easily turn into culturally intractable myths. Sadly, veterinarians are too often relegated to the final stop on the fix-this-problem bus tour of any given pet's by-now-too-serious-to-live-with behavior disorder. Which is probably why pet behavior myths drive us crazy. After all, we know too well what happens when behavior problems get out of control: Problem pets are unwanted pets.

  • 5 Pricey Flea and Tick Problems

    Fleas and ticks are more than just an annoyance to pets - and to pet owners, who have to listen to the scratching or remove the ticks. As chief veterinary officer for VPI, I have both professional and personal experience with fleas. VPI's offices are in Southern California, one of those places where the external parasites that plague pets never feel the effect of snowstorms and freezing temperatures on their life cycles. Fleas and Ticks, Coast to Coast