Posts in Category: Pet Wellness and Preventive Care

Puppies are furry little bundles of energy that live life with gusto, whether they’re playing fetch, pouncing through the park, or licking the face of their favorite human. But when they attack their food bowl with the same fervor, it can be bad for their health.

At Bayside Animal Hospital, we love caring for your cuddly new additions and offering you advice on all aspects of puppy parenting. If you’ve got a dog eating fast, we’ve got tips to help you tame this bad habit.

Cleaning up the occasional hairball is par for the course when it comes to taking care of cats. And for the most part, hairballs are nothing to worry about. But how do you know if your coughing cat has a harmless hairball or some other more serious medical condition?

At Bayside Animal Hospital, we love keeping your cats healthy with routine wellness visits and treatments for illnesses when you need them. We’re happy to help demystify the reasons why your cat might cough and how to know when a call to the veterinarian is warranted.  

Because cats put up such a fight regarding their travel kennel, the car, and being poked and prodded by strangers, they don’t always receive preventative veterinary care that could influence their quality and quantity of life. Bringing your cat to the vet can be trying in the best of times…and almost impossible in the worst. By establishing a pattern of positive, rewarding veterinary visits once or twice a year (depending on your cat’s age and medical history), you’re able to achieve and maintain optimal feline health. 

When people become ill, they use the power of language to describe what’s wrong, or where it hurts. Animals don’t have that luxury. Instead, thanks to their biological instincts to avoid looking weak, they try to mask their symptoms or simply hide, away from household noise, activity, and observation. Although it might help them from becoming prey in the wild, it also reduces their chance of immediate medical care. 

Our pets don’t speak our language, and yet they communicate with us all the time. While it would be cool to have two-sided conversations with them, we can infer a great deal about what they’re thinking and feeling. Body language is their primary tool, and it’s essential we watch and listen closely. Animal behavior can be mysterious or confusing, but it can also be incredibly straightforward once you know the basics.

Seasoned pet owners are pretty good about seeing risks long before their pets even approach them. But among the many things that the holidays are good for, lapses in our judgment and vigilance rank pretty high. Don’t worry: with our gentle reminders, your approach to holiday pet safety can quickly and successfully reduce any potential risks to your pet this year.

Advancements in veterinary medicine have helped our dogs and cats live longer than ever before. With longer lifespans, however, comes a higher risk for certain diseases like cancer. Approximately 6 million dogs and 6 million cats are diagnosed with cancer each year. November is Pet Cancer Awareness Month, and the team at Bayside Animal Hospital wants to help you learn more about the disease and what you need to know to protect your pets.