Cheap Pet Insurance

May 7th, 2009 by Robert Hart

In tough economic times, one of the first places people look to cut expenses is pet health. The purpose of this article is to help you realize that cutting corners and buying pre-packaged cat food is the worst thing you can do for your cats health and well-being, and your budget.

Prevention is Key

Sadly, and solely through lack of knowledge, many cat owners put their companion down because they could not afford the vet bills associated with a disease. Most chronic disease takes a long time to develop to a point where your cat begins to show signs of illness. When it does, vet bills can overwhelm the family budget. It is ONLY through prevention that you will be able to greatly reduce the potential of life threatening illnesses, and subsequently, your vet bills.

How Important are Annual Exams?

A veterinary exam can only assess your cats health at the time of the exam, plus cats are adept at hiding their illness as a defense mechanism. Chronic illnesses and disease typically develop out of view, deep within the gastrointestinal and immune systems, making them almost impossible to detect, even with expensive testing. The best approach is to watch your cat for signs like a change in energy, or behavior. However, be aware that they are very good at hiding pain and illness as a defense mechanism.

A well thought out budget can save you a lot of sleepless nights. Take a vet visit for example: first you have the obvious cost of the visit which typically costs $50-100, but you also need to factor in the hidden costs, like time lost from work (average time door-to-door is 4 hours), gasoline, vehicle wear and tear…

Better Health through Nutrition

The old adage you are what you eat is five times more applicable to your cat. Why? Because cats age five times faster than we do! Chronic illness and disease seem to come on suddenly, when in fact they develop slowly, below the surface.

The pet-food recall of 2007, put the ingredients in pre-packaged pet foods under a microscope. This was actually a good thing. While prepackaged cat foods today are considered safe, they are the equivalent of eating fast foods for every meal.

If you havent yet seen it, the documentary Super Size Me is a must see! For those who havent; the film maker made a documentary of himself eating nothing but McDonalds food for 30 straight days. Prior to starting, he had a battery of tests by physicians, who also monitored him throughout. A mere two-weeks into the experiment his doctors urged him to stop immediately as his overall health was deteriorating rapidly, and yet, this is exactly what the overwhelming majority of owners feed their cats daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. The connection between food and health can be ignored, but it cannot be denied!

By far, the best way to safely stretch the time between annual exams, and to minimize the risk of your cat getting a serious disease is to improve their diet!

The most effective way to restore or maintain your cat’s health is with a diet that includes human grade meats, fowl and fish, combined with daily supplements like; soil-based probiotic supplements, and high performance oils, or vital pet lipids, which are essential to maintain every aspect of your cats health- joint, skin, digestive system, immune system and all internal organs.

When transitioning, you can avoid, or minimize GI upset by mixing the old cat food with the new in a 50/50 ratio for a week, then making the full switch to lightly cooked meats; then, after one month, transition the same way to a raw meat diet, again with daily supplements.

The Bottom Line

Quality cat health care on a budget is possible once you realize that you cannot do it by cutting corners on food or supplements! The actual cost of 3 vet visits a year (including annual check up) is hundreds-of-times more expensive than the difference in cost between pre-packaged cat food (which should only be fed in times of emergency) and better food combined with a high performance supplement program.

Spending more upfront, for better cat food and proper supplements, will not just minimize your vet bills; doing so will reward you with a happy and healthy cat that will live 5-7 years longer than if you dont!

March 22nd, 2009 by Cal Janson

Cat training is becoming more and more popular all the time. One of the most common things people want to do is teach their cats how to use a toilet. Make no mistake here. I’m not referring to the task of teaching your cat how to use a litter box. I’m talking about training a cat how to use an actual toilet.

Make no mistake though. This is a very difficult thing to accomplish. Cats take to a litter box with very few issues. A good old fashioned toilet, on the other hand, is very foreign to a kitty. If you’re keen on giving this a go, here are a few things you might want to try.

Most people that have success training their cat to use a toilet do so with a specially designed kit. These kits contain everything you need to toilet train your kitty including detailed instructions. Most of these products aren’t meant for overweight cats. If you’re cat is a bit on the chubby side, use this kit at your own risk. They’re available for purchase online if you’re interested.

The other method that you might want to consider is a bit different. It’s cheaper and doesn’t require any aftermarket items. There is only really one criteria if you want to give this method a go. Your cat needs to be extremely comfortable with the idea of using a litter box.

The first thing you want to do is place the litter box near the toilet. Let your cat get used to the idea of doing his business close to the toilet. Don’t overlook this step! It’s very important to get your cat associating his litter box with the toilet.

The next step is to raise the litter box to the height of the toilet bowl. Show your cat the box’s new location. Let her sniff around and maybe give it a test run. Leave the box at this height for a couple weeks.

When your pet is comfortable with this, move the litter box so it’s actually sitting on the toilet. Again, it will take some serious time before you can move forward. The final step is the big one. Remove the litter box. If you’ve done everything right so far, your cat should jump up on the toilet and do it’s thing.

As you go about teaching your cat these methods, please keep one thing in mind. Whether you’re using a kit or not, the most important thing you’ll need is patience. This will take a serious amount of time and dedication. It’s definitely possible to have a toilet trained cat. Work hard and in not too long you won’t have to buy kitty litter ever again.

December 30th, 2008 by Cindy Mallory

When it comes to pet flea treatments, Merial frontline is the number one choice for vets in North America.

Frontline Plus for dogs kills up to 100% of the fleas on your pet within 24 hours and up to 100% of ticks within 48 hours.

It works effectively for one month, twice as long as its next competitor which is why it occupies the number one spot.

As it is waterproof, many owners with active dogs choose Frontline cats.

Dog flea meds use chemical formulations to kill the parasites which is harsh.

Merial frontline is so gentle it can be used on kittens and puppies of 8 weeks old and on nursing mothers.

It works the best for your cat or dog, and it works with one application onto the coat, a simple dot of the liquid on the back of the neck.

Through a system called translocation, the flea med is dispersed over the entire coat.

It is normally advisable to try to keep your cat or dog dry for at least 24 hours to allow this process to happen.

Once the medication is translocated on your dog or cat, it remains on the coat for 4 weeks, during which time it should be unnecessary to re-apply.

Frontline spot comes in three types:

A spray used for fast of severe flea and tick infestations.

Then there’s Top Spot which has all the features of the spray for routine control.

Best of all is Frontline flea control with an extra ingredient which actually breaks the flea’s breeding cycle.

Frontline treatment is the most recent product in the Frontline for dogs family.

Because canine fleas breed after being present on the host for 24-36 hours, and it kills fleas within 18 hours, further infestation is prevented.

You may see more fleas on your pet during the 18 hours as the product causes hyper-agitation in the parasites and brings them to the surface of the coat before their demise.

Frontline dogs is the most popular medication for dogs & cats, and in trials it was discovered that it killed a higher percentage of fleas over the 28 day period.

Advantage flea control for pets is made by Bayer is a very similar product to Frontline Plus flea, but merely slightly less effective.

Many cat or dog owners are very happy though with Advantage, so if you are using this brand, you don’t have anything to be concerned about.

There really isn’t much between them in the debate over which is better for cats & dogs.

Vets trust it, but of course there are many other brands of flea spray for dogs and other pet flea medications on the market, including organic flea treatments.

Frontline flea control has been proven to be the most effective way to get rid of fleas on pets.

Side effects are small (although certain individuals may be allergic) and the medication does not have an expiration date.

Frontline Plus purple is the best on the market in terms of ridding your pet of fleas.

December 26th, 2008 by Jon Jemmett

There are many supplements to help animals with sore joints, one of which is Nutramax Dasuquin, which some of you may have heard of, or may have bought. Most likely it was a purchase to try to help your dog or cat with hip troubles.

To clear up any confusion, let’s discuss Dasuquin Click Here in detail. It is important that consumers understand fully about the product they are buying so they can make an informed choice.

Some people may be under the impression Nutramax Glucosamine is a drug; in fact it is not – it’s just a brand. It is the same product as Nutramax Pet MSM, another joint product. It is the difference between using a brand name and the name of a substance.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin are the principal ingredients in these supplements. In fact, they are the only ingredients in Cosequin. Other joint support formulae like Dasuquin Click Here include MSM, or Methylsulfonylmethane, an active ingredient Cosequin does not contain.

So let’s look at MSM, and why it’s important that Cosequin does not contain it; it is noted as being crucial in pain and swelling control. For an animal with arthritis MSM is a must-have in a supplement.

Therefore although Cosequin contains both Glucosamine and Chondroitin, it can’t be deemed suitable for dogs which suffer from arthritis, because of the lack of MSM. It is however, a good brand for those who are only looking for a product that contains Glucosamine and Chondroitin.

If you dog has only certain requirements, Consequin is pretty good, with several strengths and both chewables and capsules to choose from. However, Dasuquin Click Here should be your choice though if you require MSM.

If your vet mentions the brand Cosequin when examining your dog and advises you to administer him with it, he is probably only advising you to purchase a good quality joint support product. Any high grade product would be suitable, like Dasuquin MSM.

There are many brands that may be suitable, so it might be best to query your vet a little on exactly what supplementary need is being addressed. Maybe Consequin is the best choice, but Dasuquin MSM could be a better one.

MSM, Glucosamine and Chondroitin are apparent in many products. Nutramax Labs make Dasuquin and Dasuquin Click Here and they pride themselves on being correctly labeled and made from the very best ingredients.

This is not always the case with inferior brands so save your money and go for a brand like Dasuquin which gives you a fair deal.

December 25th, 2008 by Gina Pawley

Dasuquin is just one of many supplements on the market. If you have heard of it, or bought it, you probably have a dog or cat with joint issues.

What what exactly is Nutramax Dasuquin? It’s best to know what you are buying so that you know your money is being well spent.

Dasuquin Click Here is not the name of a drug; it is simply a brand name for a joint support supplement. Nutramax MSM is another example of a joint support supplement brand. They are very similar products and carry out similar functions.

The two products mentioned before have a lot in common – both contain Glucosamine and Chondroitin. In fact that is the total sum of the active ingredients in Cosequin. What is missing from it is MSM or Methylsulfonylmethane.

The addition of MSM is an interesting aspect to talk about with regard to Dasuquin and other supplements as it is known to be vital in controlling inflammation and pain. If your animal suffers from arthritis, MSM would be a vital ingredient to have in any joint support supplement you chose.

Dasuquin contains MSM and is clearly the ideal choice for pets with arthritis. However if arthritis is not the issue, it might be perfectly adequate for a Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplement like Cosequin.

Consequin is a good product for dogs with limited needs; it comes in different strengths and as both chewables and capsules. But if you are looking for a brand which contains MSM, Consequin is not the product for you. Get Nutramax Dasuquin instead.

It might be that your vet has told you to give your dog Nutramax Pet MSM on his last examination; but this might not be a literal suggestion, he might be recommending ANY premium joint product. Dasuquin may be one of many options.

Most supplements are interchangeable, but you should ask your vet exactly what supplements are required so you can choose a product that suits your dog’s needs exactly. It may be that Dasuquin isn the best product for your pet.

The holy trinity of MSM, Glucosamine and Chondroitin can be found in a variety of products. Dasuquin products are created from the best ingredients and you can be sure what you get in the bottle is what is described.

This is not always the case with inferior brands so save your money and go for a brand like Dasuquin MSM which gives you a fair deal.