Dog Clothing, Products, News and Tips

Better preventative care, medicine, vitamins and food are making pets live longer, but leading to one costly side effect: higher medical bills, the Washington Post reports. Think of them as baby boomers on four legs. They’re older and fatter - just like the country at large. About 44% of the country’s dogs are older than 6, compared with 32% in 1987, according to the Post. And 45% of U.S. pets are overweight or obese, according to the Assn. for Pet Obesity Prevention.

But also like humans, they are racking up larger medical bills. According to the American Veterinary Medical Assn., spending on veterinary medicine doubled to $24.5 million in the last decade, the Post reports. So pet owners are now opting for expensive surgeries and preventative procedures - such as with the dog above, who was getting hip replacement surgery - when in the past a vet would resort to euthanasia.

“Many of the pet owners are baby boomers no longer burdened with the cost of raising children and are willing to use whatever disposable income they have to increase the quality of life of their furry - or scaly - companions,” the Post’s Nancy Trejos writes.

“Certainly we have seen an increasing level of sophistication in the last five or 10 years. As we see the bond between pet owners and their pets grow, they are demanding more sophistication,” said Ron DeHaven, an officer of the AVMA. “It rivals human medicine.”

One suggestion for those looking to limit pet bills: avoid purebred dogs, which usually have more health problems than your run-of-the-mill mutt.

[Source: Los Angeles Times]

It’s tough to keep the bugs away, especially if your dog socializes with other dogs that may not be properly protected. “Not all pets are going to have allergies from those but it is going to occur on some of them,” veterinarian Dr. Rob Trupp said. “So they can also chew and scratch and itch themselves to where they will have other issues. They’ll have skin problems. They’ll have allergy problems. They’ll have infections problems, hair loss.”

And it gets worse. “Sometimes they’re itching so badly, they may not even sleep because they’re too busy chewing on themselves,” Trupp said. Fleas can cause other problems, too. They can carry parasites like tapeworms.

The good news is there are plenty of things you can do. “There are different medications you can use. There are simple medications you can put on your pet,” Trupp said. “They’re very very safe. They’re safe for the pets and they’re safe for people too.”

Dr. Trupp does warn that not all of these treatments work the same. Program, for example, only sterilizes the fleas. It doesn’t kill the ones that are already hosting on your precious pet. But it does prevent them from laying eggs. Once a month, Frontline is also a preventative medicine. Capstar, on the other hand, kills the fleas on the pet at that time, but doesn’t prevent new ones from coming on.

The best choice for your dog is a decision between you and your vet. Just make sure you’re covering all your bases to keep your furry friend protected.

[Source: KTKA ABC 49 News]