Articles & Videos

'Our articles have been specifically and responsibly chosen for your reading pleasure. There are many sources of information available today and ensuring that our clients are appropriately educated is a priority.'

~Dr. Link Welborn, DABVP, practice owner

Is Your Cat Protected From Heartworm?

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EPA: Flea Medication Harming Dogs and Cats

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Screening and Treatment of Hip Dysplasia

Canine Influenza Questions? read on!

Videos:

Brushing Your Cat's Teeth	Click here
Caring for Your Diabetic Cat	Click here
Cat Owner's Guide to Kidney Disease	Click here
Giving Your Cat a Pill or Capsule	Click here
Giving Your Cat Liquid Medications	Click here
Pet Owner's Guide to Cancer	Click here
Taking Your Cat's Temperature	Click here
Trimming Your Cat's Claws	Click here

Traveling with your Pet?

If you are like many of our clients, then you probably answered 'yes'. Unfortunately, motion sickness is preventing many of our canine patients from traveling. The good news is there is now a veterinary-approved , non-sedating medication to stop vomiting due to motion sickness, giving both you and your dog the freedom to travel. Don't let motion sickness keep your dog at home. Call us today to find out more, or mention motion sickness during your next appointment so we can help get your dog ready to go! Safe Travels~

The "Guilty Dog' Look is a Myth:

Dog owners have no one to blame but themselves when they think their canine pals give them that familiar "guilty look."

You see guilt, but the dog doesn't necessarily feel it, a new study shows.

By setting up conditions where the owner was misinformed as to whether his or her dog had really committed an offense, researcher Alexandra Horowitz of Barnard College in New York uncovered the origins of dogs' allegedly downcast mugs.

Horowitz was able to show that the human tendency to attribute a guilty look to a dog was not due to whether the dog was indeed guilty. Instead, people see guilt in a dog's body language when they believe the dog has done something it shouldn't have, even if the dog is in fact completely innocent of any offense.

During the videotaped study, owners were asked to leave the room after ordering their dogs not to eat a tasty treat. While the owner was away, Horowitz gave some of the dogs this forbidden treat before asking the owners back into the room. In some trials, the owners were told that their dog had eaten the forbidden treat; in others, they were told their dog had behaved properly and left the treat alone. What the owners were told, however, often did not correlate with reality.

Whether the dogs' demeanor included elements of the "guilty look" had little to do with whether the dogs had actually eaten the forbidden treat or not.

Dogs looked most "guilty" if they were admonished by their owners for eating the treat. In fact, dogs that had been obedient and had not eaten the treat, but were scolded by their (misinformed) owners, looked more "guilty" than those that had, in fact, eaten the treat.

Thus the dog's guilty look is a response to the owner's behavior, and not necessarily indicative of any appreciation of its own misdeeds.

The study involved 14 dogs and their 14 owners. The six male dogs and eight female dogs included six mongrels and eight purebreds — a Brussels griffon, two dachshunds, a Tibetan terrier, a cockapoo, a shi-tzu, a wheaten terrier and a Labrador retriever.

This study sheds new light on anthropomorphism — the natural human tendency to interpret animal behavior in human terms, Horowitz said. Anthropomorphism involves comparing animal behavior to human behavior, and if there is some superficial similarity, then the animal behavior will be interpreted in the same terms as superficially similar human actions. This can include the attribution of higher-order emotions, such as guilt or remorse, to the animal.

The results are detailed in a special issue (July) of the journal Behavioural Processes.

The editor of the issue, psychologist Clive D.L. Wynne of the University of Florida, called Horowitz's study "a remarkably powerful demonstration of the need for careful experimental designs if we are to understand the human-dog relationship and not just reify our natural prejudices about animal behavior."

Dogs are the oldest domesticated species and have a uniquely intimate role in the lives of millions of people, Wynne said. Recent research on dogs has indicated more human-like forms of reasoning about what people know than has been demonstrated even in chimpanzees, he said.

Help Your Cat Enjoy the Holiday Season

Check out the following recommendations below from Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. on how to plan a safe holiday for your cat. (click here)

Celebrate American Humane Association's Adopt-A-Cat Month ^(R) in June

Flood of Felines in Spring and Summer Creates Urgent Need for Loving Homes

DENVER, May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing effort to promote cat and kitten adoption, American Humane created Adopt-A-Cat Month ^(R). Adopt-A-Cat Month is held annually in June, when shelters around the country are inundated with litters of kittens in desperate need of loving homes. The event encourages cat adoptions from shelters, promotes the benefits of owning a cat and informs the public about how to care for their pets responsibly.

"Every spring and summer, cats reproduce in record numbers, and millions end up in animal shelters," said Marie Belew Wheatley, president and CEO of American Humane. "American Humane encourages people to help relieve inundated animal shelters by adopting a cat or kitten during Adopt-A-Cat Month this June."

Top 10 Reasons to Adopt a Cat

Cats will keep you entertained with their playful antics.
Cats are very affectionate and love to cuddle with you.
Having a cat can reduce your blood pressure and prevent heart disease.
Cats are very clean -- they bathe themselves!
Cats are independent and can be left alone while you are at work.
Cats do not need to be housebroken - using the litter box comes naturally to them.
Cats do not need a lot of space. They are perfect pets for apartments and smaller homes.
Taking care of a cat can help teach a child responsibility and humane values.
Cats get plenty of exercise living indoors. Just 15 minutes of playtime each day will satisfy a cat.
Approximately 4 million homeless cats end up in animal shelters every year in the United States. By adopting, you'll be saving a life.

For more tips on adopting a cat and information on Adopt-A-Cat Month, visit www.americanhumane.org/aacm.

Founded in 1877, the American Humane Association is the only national organization dedicated to protecting both children and animals.

SOURCE American Humane Association