Animals Unfolded

Peanut butter is a staple on most pantry shelves, and in homes with dogs, it's especially useful. Most of my clients leave a jar designated for their canine family members, and I use that to fill their Kong toys to freeze and enjoy. The ubiquitous product is also a popular vehicle to help administer oral meds to dogs.  By and large peanut butter is a safe product to offer to our pets, so long as it's simply peanut butter and not coupled with other ingredients.  It's reasonable to expect that peanut butter and peanut butter spreads that are devoid of enhancements like chocolate or hazelnut spread are safe, but one peanut-based spread came to light recently and illustrates that reading ingredient labels is key when it comes to pet safety.  A popular line of peanut spreads by Nuts ’N More — most prominently the peanut butter flavor — might easily be dismissed as something safe and offered up without a second thought. Why are wholesome and healthy products li...

We've plenty of medications available to help keep or make our pets well, and to manage pain. When our veterinarian prescribes a drug for our animal companions, it might come in the form of a tablet or capsule, a liquid suspension or it may even be compounded as a transdermal. The latter is especially convenient and stress-free for both pet and human (as the medication is administered by applying to the inside of the ear flap), but unfortunately few drugs can be delivered into the body in this way. Thyroid and anti-depressant medications, as well as prednisolone are options, just to name a few. Another caveat is that this method is more expensive, making it prohibitive to many families.  Tablets and capsules are the most common way that medication is dispensed, and for good reason: they are the easiest to work with, and are the least expensive.  A well-cloaked disguise Getting most tablets or capsules down the hatch is usually easy if it's mixed in their food....