Ear infections

It is a sad fact that most dogs today suffer from ear infections. If your dog is one of the lucky few that doesn’t, you should go give him/her some loving because they make your life easier.

For the rest of you that aren’t so lucky I have some tips. As I’m sure most know infections grow in dark moist places. So the best way to prevent ear infections is to keep your pets ears clean and dry. This is easier for those pets that have ears that stand up straight, because air can get into the ear canal to keep it dry. But for those lovable floppy eared dogs, they tend to have the most issue because their ears hang close to their heads, therefore not letting the air circulate. What I use is Listerine mouth wash and cotton balls. All you do is saturate the cotton ball in Listerine and rub the ears clean, repeat until the ear is thoroughly clean. It is very cheap and very effective (but not the new stuff that is gentle) You want the Listerine that makes your eyes water. Because it has a high alcohol content which is what helps dry out the ears (and bonus it gives them a clean fresh smell). For some pour dogs it doesn’t matter how faithfully you clean their ears they are going to still get infections and you will have bring them to the vet to get them treated. After they come home, the vet typically will give you drops and tell you clean before you put in the drops. When the ear is infected it is usually red, swollen, and has puss oozing (yeah it’s gross). When the ear is like this, most (to all) dogs no longer like you to try and clean their ears. It hurts!!! So what I do (and think it works best when the ear is infected) is do an ear flush. I know just minute ago I told you to keep water out of the ears, but bear with me. I recommend doing this in a tub because it gets messy, and so you can see what is coming out of the ear. Once your dog is in the tub, it’s the best if you have a detachable spray nozzle, if not use a turkey bastor. If you have the spray nozzle all you do is hold up the ear, and spray warm water directly into the ear canal (you are going to want use some good water pressure) and watch all of the gunk coming out, keep going until the water is running clean. If all you had was the turkey bastor then grab a bowl of warm water and use the bastor to suck up the water then hold it to the opening of the ear canal and force the water into it, keep repeating till the water runs clean. It may sound like torture but I have found most dogs actually enjoy it. After the ear is clean you are going to want to get the rest of the water out. Back to the Listerine, it’s best if you have an eyedropper, so suck out some Listerine and fill the ear till it spills out, then stuff a cotton ball in the ear to soak up it up. I would leave the cotton ball in for about 5-10 minutes after that, use the vet recommended drops. Hope that was helpful J             

Nail Triming

Nail trimming is a very important part of owning a pet. If nails are not attended to they can become over grown and very painful for your pet. Like this……

A nail can grow so long that it will curl around and start to dig into the pad, so with every step your pet takes that nail gets pushed in deeper and becomes more painful. Once that happens even after the nail is cut down, that nail could have cut in so deep that the pad will start to bleed once the nail is pulled out and may need medical attention.

                                                   If your pet grows their nails like this……

It won’t be too painful but it can (in some cases) cause the foot to become deformed and then it will become painful.

                                                      These are well taken care of nails

                           The first step to taking care of your pets nails is understanding the nail…….

This is a little diagram to help you. As you can see, the base of the nail is pink that is the “quick”(the quick is a blood vain that runs through the nail) and past the quick is white, that is pure nail and safe to cut.

                                                           Next is to buy the right tools

                                     This is what I use, it works GREAT and for all size nails

                                            Now to put what you’ve learned into practice

You are going to want to cut just after the pink. If your pet has black nails, those are a little harder, and it might be better to bring to a professional (vet or groomer (groomer will be cheaper). If you are feeling brave and want to try, just start at the end of the nail and trim a little bit at a time. As you get close to the quick a small dark colored circle will appear, stop cutting there! But if you get a little too close to the quick it WILL start to bleed. Depending on how bad you cut it will ether bleed A LOT or a lot. In that case you are going to want to use this

This is what I use, but if you can’t find “Kwik Stop” specifically, than any kind of styptic powder will work great. You will find it in the health/first aid/dewormer section at the pet store. All you have to do is grab a pinch of the powder in your fingers, then press it onto the injured nail and hold for a few seconds. I would also recommend buying it BEFORE you even attempt trimming the nails.

A few dogs I groomed today

Matilda
she is a nice little Caire Terrier



Daisy

she is some kind of Shih Tzu mix.

She had a rough start, her last owner

 just stopped feeding her.

 But now she has a new loving home

 and gets LOTS of foodJ

She is SUCH a sweetheart and loved being pampered.



Button
He is a Siba Inu
a handsome young man
with the best temperment.
and like the cutiest face!



Aspen
she is an American Eskimo Dog
they are normally alot hairier but
her owners like her short.
She is such a ham and loves
everyone!



Sony

This is Sony, she is a Shetland sheepdog. She actually comes from the same breeder as my little sheltieJ she was a joy to groom. Such a sweetheart!! Fun fact, she was the 1st litter that Jackie Copland (the breeder) developed that are only the black and white.  Shelties normally only come in 3 varieties, Sable (the color of my Shasta), Blue Merle, and Tri color. So I thought it was neat that there is a new color. Anyways here are some before and afters.     



Before



After



Before

After



Before



After



Tadaa!
Beautiful Sony

How to get rid of fleas

There are two ways to get rid of them. The first is more difficult and expensive but can be done in one day. Step #1 bring all infested pets to the groomer, to get a bath in a chemical shampoo to kill all the fleas on their bodies (most groomers will charge you the price of a full grooming PLUS an extra fee for the de-flea treatment). Step #2 while the pets are at the groomer, go buy flea specific bombs and set them off all over your house to kill any fleas that are still living in your house (those can be pretty cheap). The problem with this option is sometimes the bombs don’t kill all life cycles, so you may have to repeat. Second option is the easiest. Only 1 step! Go and buy a topical oil and put it on your pet (I guess that was 2). Still very simple! BUT you must NOT go cheep! Don’t go buy just any over the counter product. Most of them don’t work and some are even dangerous for your pet. The 1 and only product I promote and use on my pets is Advantix (Advantage for cats) It’s the BEST product on the market today(it costs $16-$25 per treatment, depending on the size of your pet).

 I will explain the difference between some of the products.

 A LOT of vets prescribe Sentinel (this is a pill) although it does work on some, I have a lot of clients come in that are taking it and still have fleas. The problem with this product is, it’s a birth control for fleas. So basically fleas can still live out there life cycle on your pet unchecked. And birth control isn’t always 100% effective, it only takes 1 flea to lay 1 batch of eggs for your pet to become infested.

 Another vet prescribe product is Revolution I’m sorry to say I don’t know much about this product, my friend uses it and likes it, but other than that I don’t know.

 Next is Frontline I do like this product, but the company has produced some ineffective batches. It’s just as good as Advantix IF you get a good batch. My favorite is Advantix (Advantage for cats). I am kind of putting Frontline and Advantix together because they work the same. They are an oil you put between the shoulder blades on your pets back. After a few hours it has worked its way all over your pet’s body and is now going to work. They work in a 2 step. Step 1 they sterilize the flea (Because when a flea dies it releases all its eggs, there for restarting the population). Step 2 kills the flea. Very simple. It takes about 24 hours to kill everything on your pet, but it lasts for 1 month. The great thing about these products are, you don’t have to fumigate your house. They last for 1 month, so any flea that is living in your house (60% of the flea population is living in your carpets and furniture. gross I know) will be sterilize and killed when it jumps on for a bite. But fleas can go 100 days between meals, so you will have to do 3 treatments to completely resolve the problem. A little tip for you, it will be the cheapest at the vet, they don’t put as big of a mark up on it as the pet stores will.

Last but not least is Capstar this is a great product. It’s a pill that kills everything for 24 hours. So it’s not great if you have a real flea problem, but it’s great if your pet was around other animals that may have had fleas and you just want to be safe. Capstar is a natural product that is safe to use in conjunction with ANY other flea preventative that your pet may be on.  

 Basically every other product out there doesn’t sterilize the flea first, there for it is ineffective, and some are even dangerous.

Hope is was helpful:)

FLEAS ARE COMING!!!

You don’t know what a flea is you say?  

Fleas are very tiny parasites, the adults average 1/8th of an inch in size. They have a flat body from side to side, with piercing mouths that help them in sucking blood. Fleas are reddish brown to black in appearance, and they are also wingless.

 Fleas feed on blood and love to live on the bodies of your pets. The furry exterior of pets makes an ideal living place for the fleas without them being detected. Fleas not only suck blood from the pets which can ultimately lead to anemia but fleas can also transmit diseases that can be very serious or even fatal. And as bad as all that stuff is, there bite is very irritating and leaves them VERY itchy. It is downright unbearable, and can also cause other skin problems. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to get rid of fleas from your pets before they infest your home or apartment, and your lawn.

 A flea can live without a blood meal for 100 days. A female has to have a blood meal to lay eggs. In addition, it lays eggs within 36-48 hours of having the first blood meal. A female flea can lay 2,000 eggs in her lifetime.

Remember that adult fleas go through stages including adults, pupae, larvae and eggs. Fleas in all stages should be killed to rid your house of them completely. Resistive pupae and larvae grow on to become adult fleas in a few weeks even though the adult fleas are killed. Fleas should be removed from all stages in their life cycle, to protect your family and pets.