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Top 5 Ways Your Veterinarian Can Help You Prepare Your Pet for Hurricane Season

NOAA predicts up to nine hurricanes this season, including 1-4 major hurricanes: highlighting the need for preparations

Today, Thrive Pet Healthcare, a leading veterinary service network with 400 locations across the U.S., urged pet owners to take proactive measures to ensure the safety and well-being of their beloved pets following the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) prediction of up to nine hurricanes, 1-4 major, for the upcoming season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.  

“It only takes one storm to cause a disruption in your household,” said Dr. Anthony Coronado, Thrive Pet Healthcare’s National Director of Emergency Services and Urgent Care. “Pets are equally impacted by these disruptions and depend on their humans to protect them from the potential dangers of hurricanes. A few simple precautionary steps can ensure your pet's safety and well-being when they are at their most vulnerable.”

Thrive Pet Healthcare encourages pet owners to consult with their veterinarian when preparing for hurricane season. Below are the top five ways your veterinarian can help to better prepare you and your pet for hurricanes:

1. Vaccines – Make sure your pets are current on their vaccines, especially rabies, leptospirosis, Bordetella, canine influenza, as well as distemper combination vaccines. Keep a copy of your pet’s vaccination records handy. Some of the shelters, boarding kennels, rescues and hotels that might provide temporary housing for pets after a hurricane frequently require vaccination records.

2. Heartworm preventatives – In the aftermath of flooding, the dampness may result in an increase in the mosquito population. Dogs and cats are at heightened risk of contracting a mosquito-borne illness like heartworm disease if they are not on a routine heartworm preventative or if they miss a dose. Heartworm symptoms are often unnoticeable until irreversible damage has been done. Having your pet on a routine heartworm preventative can mitigate the risk. Ensure you have enough to get through hurricane season should there be any supply disruptions.

3. Flea and tick protection – Like mosquitoes, fleas and ticks also flourish after a storm. Veterinarian-prescribed flea and tick preventatives are the best way to protect your pet from harmful and sometimes deadly parasite-related illnesses.

4. Medications – If you regularly administer medication to your pet, ensure you have enough on hand in case there are supply disruptions or you and your pet have to temporarily relocate following a major storm. Ask your veterinarian for an extra supply of necessary medications.

5. Microchipping – During a storm, pets may escape out of fear or become separated from their owners. A microchip about the size of a grain of rice can be implanted during your pet’s routine wellness exam. It contains a unique ID number registered with the pet owner’s contact information. When a lost pet is found, shelters, rescue centers and veterinarians can scan the microchip, enabling a safe return home.

Pet owners are also reminded to ensure their pets wear collars and tags with up-to-date identification information, including their name, telephone number and any urgent medical conditions that require medication such as heart disease, epilepsy, diabetes or cancer.

To locate a Thrive Pet Healthcare location near you, including primary, specialty, urgent, and emergency veterinary care services, visit www.ThrivePetCare.com

About Thrive Pet Healthcare:

Thrive Pet Healthcare is a leading veterinary service network that uniquely delivers a continuum of care to pet families and services to veterinary hospitals. With an industry-first membership program and over 350 acute, primary, and specialty providers, Thrive Pet Healthcare offers personalized, accessible care through every stage of a pet’s life and health. The veterinarian-founded organization provides premier benefits for practice staff while elevating privately held veterinary hospitals with innovative service and technology solutions. By focusing on the needs and aspirations of veterinary care providers, Thrive Pet Healthcare is supporting the well-being of the industry and raising the national bar for veterinary excellence. To learn more about Thrive Pet Healthcare, please visit www.thrivepetcare.com.

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Pet Guide: Is Pit Bull A Good Family Dog Breed?

If you are thinking about finally adding a dog to your family, you will definitely have a lot of research to do. There are so many different breeds out there and a lot of those are perfect family dogs. Yet, you have your eyes set on Pit Bulls and you would really like to have one, but you aren’t sure whether it would be the perfect choice for a family.


That, in part, depends on you and your habits: https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Is-a-Pit-Bull-Right-For-Me-and-My-Family
I can definitely understand why you might be hesitant to get this specific breed for your family. Pit Bulls have a long history of being known as strong, aggressive and dominant canines. Does it have to be that way, though? Do you really have to give up your dream of having this breed because it might not get along well with your family?

Those are all some legitimate questions to ask. In case you have done any research on this topic whatsoever, you have probably come across some contradicting opinions. Some say that these canines should come nowhere near kids, while others claim that their Pit Bulls were or are the perfect, loving creatures that are extremely protective when children are in question.

All of that might have confused you even more. You would love to be able to finally get to the bottom of this and understand whether a Pit Bull could be the right choice for you or not. Well, in order to actually get to the bottom of it, you will need to get some additional tips on this specific breed as well as some others, so that you can do some comparisons and figure out the truth.

The most important thing to do, however, is to learn more about the actual temperament of this canine and then decide whether that kind of a temperament would be something you could handle. So, let us take a look at their temperament and then try to answer the question of whether this breed could be right for your family or not. Here we go.

Temperament
One of the most common misconceptions about these dogs is that they are inherently extremely aggressive towards people, as well as towards other animals. Recent studies, however, show that this is actually far from the truth. Quite on the contrary, Pitties have ranked among the most affectionate and the least aggressive canines. What is it, though, that has contributed to such discrepancies in opinions?

Let me try and explain that. Pit Bulls definitely look tough and have all the muscles necessary in order to overpower other animals, as well as humans. This is probably why a lot of people have seen the fighting potential in them and actually trained them to be aggressive and hostile. We can’t deny the fact that these canines are strong and powerful, but it turns out that they are aggressive only if taught to be that way.

To put things even more clearly, the way these dogs will behave in your home and around other people will depend only on you. The fact that their aggression potential has been recognized and abused is exactly what makes Pit Bulls widely misunderstood by a large amount of people and I believe it’s time to put a stop to that. In short, the temperance passing rate of this strong and powerful breed is extremely high and, ultimately, they will grow into what you want them to be. So, if you train them to be a loving and affectionate dog, that’s what you will get and vice versa.

Keep in mind, though, that this breed is extremely active and that you will need to match their activity level if you want them to be the perfect dogs. Additionally, you will have to train them properly. That can be tricky, since they ought to be stubborn, meaning that you’ll need to be patient.

The Verdict
The bottom line is that Pit Bulls can be the perfect family dog as long as you take the time to train them, socialize them and raise them the right way. If you don’t have the time or the will to do that, then you should definitely choose a different breed. After all, you don’t want a strong, powerful, misbehaved dog.
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Tips on Integrating Cats and Dogs into the Same Home

June marks National Adopt a Cat Month, created by the American Humane Association to bring awareness to the growing cat population in shelters - approximately 3.4 million per year. Many individuals considering cat adoption may already have a dog. Regardless, before making the decision to bring a cat into your household, it is crucial that potential pet owners take a variety of factors into consideration.

To better help integrate cats into any family, Heidi Ganahl, CEO and Founder of Camp Bow Wow featuring Home Buddies, a premier in-home pet care service, has created a series of useful tips.

Tips on Integrating Cats and Dogs into the Same Home:

-Choose the Right Personality: Always consider the personalities of the animals you are bringing into the home. For example, if you have a dog who likes to chase, you will want a cat that won't be in fear.

-Separate Rooms: For the first week or so, keep the dog and cat separated. You can switch between confining one to a certain room or area for a couple of days and then switch which one is confined. This will give them each time to get to know each other's smells and become familiar with them.

-Supervise At All Times: Don't leave the animals together by themselves until everyone has settled into having new friends in the house. You want to be able to keep an eye on them, so lock them in separate areas when you are out of the house.

-Keep the Dog on a Leash: While the dog and cat are in the same room, allow the dog to see the cat moving around. Watch the dog to make sure it doesn't try to chase the cat and that it isn't too fixated on what the cat is doing. You can also feed the dog some treats when the cat is around to have them build up a positive association with the kitty.

-Practice Obedience: You can then use obedience commands to help keep your dog calm and focused when the cat is around.

-Create a Safe Zone: Make sure the cat has a place to jump up to if they need to. You always want to make sure that your kitty has a safe place to get away from the dog in case they dog does start to chase them.

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