One of the determining factors between being a cat person or a dog person is the propensity for pet purification. If you’re the type of individual that doesn’t mind weekly scrub-downs, dog ownership probably wouldn’t be an odd fit. If, on the other hand, you prefer your pet to spend significant portions of the day de-matting their fur and keeping their coats shiny, you might find more common ground with a feline. Though cats are indeed capable of letting their coats get out of hand, and usually for potentially dangerous reasons.  A cat that’s lost interest in grooming is often a harbinger for a vet visit. There could be any number of reasons why the kitty isn’t being cleanly, but the most common are disease or aging. An aging cat can lose mobility, flexibility, and energy. So they may be in pain when trying to get the right angle for self-grooming. Or the entire cleanup process might just be too taxing on their circulatory systems. Have you ever just had one of those days where you were too tired to shower? It’s kind of like that, only you’re using your own saliva for moisture… so yeah, a bit more difficult. Disease is the more threatening scenario. A lack of grooming accompanied by drooling or loss of appetite can signal gum disease. In this case, cats will quit grooming because using their mouths for much of anything is causing them pain Aside from not actually seeing your cat making much of an effort to keep clean, you will notice an unkempt kitty via a few tell-tale signs. Greasy or matted fur Urine or fecal stained feet A smelly cat stench Or food caught in their whiskers or facial fur Any and all of these symptoms are clues to a larger underlying dilemma. You need to determine what the cause of the sudden stoppage of self-scrubbing is about with a quickness. That is, unless you want to live with a stinky feline for the foreseeable future. Aside from aging or disease, your cat could be suffering from a trauma induced state of stress. This can cause a halt in grooming habits. It could be something like a move to a different location, the arrival of a new pet in the household, or any significant change in the cat’s routine. Since they are such resilient and independent creatures, it’s easy to forget that cats have their sensitive sides as well. So what can you do for an unclean kitty? Well, a vet visit is always an excellent option. Trained veterinary professionals are adept at identifying problems and prescribing solutions. You may also consider helping your cat groom with a regular brushing. This can often be a therapeutic activity for both you and your cat, and it will encourage them to take up the habit again. If you have a cat that’s stopped staying clean, be sure to examine it for other strange behavior, and work on getting them back in the habit of staying sanitary.  

This might be news to you, but apparently there are some laws on the books that say any animal with a vest on is legally classified as an Emotional Support Animal (ESA), and these are legally obliged to accompany their owners anywhere they may wish to go. Furthermore, no one is actually allowed to significantly question the companion animal’s owner due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. As you might imagine, this has caused a bit of a stink, and not just from a wet dog coming out of the rain. There are two major problems with this law as it stands. One, is the ambiguous nature of the law’s wording. Because of this ambiguity, business owners are only allowed to ask 2 questions about the animal: “Is this a service animal?” and “What is it trained to do?” However, the animal owner is not obliged to offer any proof along with their answers. The real kicker? The business owner risks legal action if they don’t unquestionably accept the “service” animal. That’s the real problem with an ESA, they don’t need any special training to offer you emotional support, it could be a brand new kitten from the store. If you’re a business owner looking to avoid a lawsuit, you’ve simply got to take the owner’s word for it.  The second problem with the law is it’s, (predictably) been abused on a massive scale. People can take snakes, spider, miniature horses, dogs, cats, and what have you into a public place and claim that these animals offer them emotional support for an undefined mental disorder, which given the insanity of bringing a Boa Constrictor into a burger king, may actually be true in some cases. However with no burden of proof, and in fact no regulating body whatsoever, the door is open for widespread abuse. Unfortunately, because of the lack of regulation and outright foolishness of these cases, it’s making life more difficult for people with legitimate service animal needs. People with severe agoraphobia, for example, encounter massive stress and panic attacks upon leaving their domiciles. Studies have shown that emotional support animals, particularly well trained canines, can have a calming effect on their owners in many cases, allowing them to function normally despite their mental illness. So basically a few bad apples are ruining a good thing for people with legitimate illnesses. Having an animal in toe might mean that you’re not allowed into an area that serves or sells food, but that’s for very good reason. Public health and safety standards seemingly demand that the food we eat should be separated from our furry friends based on several fairly obvious factors: Animals do not really care where or when they use the restroom, especially if untrained Animals will step indiscriminately in their own fecal matter or urine Animals can carry parasites, bugs, and all sorts of creepy crawly nonsense. Many animals stink, and it’s not fun to eat chicken parmesan next to them. You’d think a lot of this is common sense but jerks will be jerks. Thus increasing the need of human beings to seek emotional support from animals, and renewing the never ending cycle of stupid behavior and unnecessary problems.    

So today I felt like touching on a subject with a little bit of controversy attached to it. Full disclosure: this is a touchy subject that infringes upon the borders of psychological health for both humans and animals. Regardless of your opinions on these subjects, to move forward with a productive discourse we all have to admit to ourselves that chemical treatments affecting brain chemistry are an entirely new matter. The science itself is less than a hundred years old, with results being recorded responsibly for only a fraction of that time. So that said, let’s try to look objectively at how behavioral medications can help or hurt our animal friends.   Types of Medicine:   There are generally five different categories of pet behavioral modifiers. Benzodizaepines (BZs) Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOI’s) Tricylic Antidepressents (TCA’s) Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s) 5 hydroxytryptamine  (5-HT) agonists If these names sound familiar, that’s because many of the same treatments are used on human beings with anxiety problems or mental imbalances as well. Pros: For starters, it’s important to note that these medications certainly can help an animal in pain. Anxiety, fear, and the like have been shown to occur in the prefrontal cortex of an animal’s brain. This is the same region that controls sensations of pain. In other words, anxiety or fear cause real physical discomfort in an animal. The medicines we’re talking about can absolutely decrease, if not completely eliminate the pain that an animal feels due to stress. These medications can be used to decrease stress, eliminate compulsive behaviors, reduce fear of people and noises, and even aid in comprehension and learning.   Furthermore, using these medications will allow for easier applications of behavior modification techniques. Having a stress free dog or cat enables you to more easily train them for or against desired or unwanted behaviors, respectively. So just like your eccentric aunt Delilah needs her meds to “even her out” and make her an acceptable dinner guest, these medications can suppress the symptoms of anxiety and stress in your animal companions and have very beneficial effects on their obedience. Cons: To borrow a quote from self-help guru, Tim Ferris, “There is no biological free lunch.” This means that every positive effect imposed by a medication must come in conjunction with unwanted side effects. Some of these can be inconvenient, while others are downright dangerous. BZ’s in particular have some things you need to watch out for. BZ’s act on an animal’s brain chemistry much like alcohol would on a human being. That mean’s reckless and uninhibited behavior, memory reduction, restlessness, slowed reaction time, and it can actually increase anxiety. TCA’s can cause diarrhea, dryness of mouth, constipation, and fluctuations in heart rate. MAOI’s are fairly mild in side effects, but have been shown to cause dangerous health effects when mixed with cheese. SSRI’s can be bad for pet’s organ health and can actually make animal behavior worse in certain cases. By far the biggest problem with these medications occurs when they are used as a cure all for the underlying problems a pet is going through. Since these meds suppress symptoms, some owners take that as a cue to continue medicating indefinitely. All stress/anxiety/aggression medications should be seen as a temporary effort to compliment the behavioral modification training that an owner should look to apply to the pet’s specific problem. That’s all we’ve got on the subject today. Hopefully, you’ve learned some useful information that you can either spread or apply yourself. Check again soon for more topical pet information on the Pet Bucket blog.   

The school year is beginning anew, and it’s an exciting time for children and parents alike. Kids get to see their school friends again, continuing to develop those treasured social bonds, and stuffing in some education here and there, while parents have the house back to themselves for a few months.  However, back to school time is not a big party for every family member. Pets, especially new pets, who aren’t used to spending much time alone can find themselves distraught with the lack of daily attention and company that they’ve become accustomed to over the summer months.  This can lead to all sorts of mischief, mayhem, and undesirable property damage. So considering the season, we’ve decided to revisit a timely subject and talk about dogs with separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is a serious condition for dogs that can cause a lot of suffering. As extremely social animals, pack life is vital to a dog’s mental and social wellbeing. Puppy separation anxiety can be especially severe, so it’s important to take cautionary measures to keep a young pup from suffering unnecessarily. If symptoms are ignored, you’ll be in for a great deal of expense and time spent cleaning up tantrum related messes. An anxious dog will try anything to get out of the house so they can find their owners. That means wrecking blinds, chewing walls, and other general mischief. To minimize a dog’s discomfort and prevent the expense involved in repairing chewed up baseboards, it can sometimes be necessary to take some precautionary measures. Here is a short list of preparations you can enact to keep your pet’s anxiety to a minimum. How to Help a Dog with Separation Anxiety Dogs suffer from separation anxiety because they get lonely without human interaction. There are a few methods to alleviate the mental suffering caused by separation anxiety. Leaving a radio on is one way to help the dog feel at ease. The presence of background noise can break up the unpleasantness of complete silence. But more than creating the illusion of human presence, the best thing you can do for your dog is give it some structure. This is puppy training 101, but the simple act of giving commands and rewarding good behavior reinforces every other measure that you can take with your dog. A simple yet effective technique for getting your dog used to you leaving and returning is to conduct mock excursions. This means getting ready to leave, perform your whole routine, suit up, put on your shoes, grab your keys/wallet/what have you, and walk out the door. Wait a few moments, and then return. Each time your perform this exercise, extend the amount of time between leaving and returning. This will reassure the dog that you will always come back. You also need to master the ritual of leaving and returning. In general, it’s not a great idea to make a big deal out of it. Don’t dramatize things by stopping, stooping, and showering your dog with affection. Get your things and get out of dodge. The same goes for returning. Come in and handle your business before acknowledging your dog’s welcoming onslaught of slobbery kisses. If this feels too cold, you’re welcome to leave with a parting word. Though this is mostly for your benefit, the dog doesn’t really mind if you forget to say goodbye, just so long as you come back and provide food, water, and lots of affection. You should also leave something for your dog to do while you’re away. My personal favorite is packing a toy full of peanut butter and letting the pup go to town. Though this is far from the only option available to you. If you try these various things, and nothing seems to help, it’s probably time to seek veterinary advice. If your dog isn’t responding to these different methods, it must be suffering from severe separation anxiety, and it will need to be addressed by stronger methods, best determined by a conversation between you and your vet. That’s all for now. Have fun at all the back to school functions and fall fun that accompany this busy season!  

Pets are cuddle fiends. They are attention hounds, quite literally, and all of their time is spent devising ways to retrieve pettings. If our rough hair tussling and soft scratches feel so good, how do you think they would react to medical massage? There is a lot of scientific support that therapeutic touch can have some surprising medicinal applications for pet health. So today we’ll examine some of the reasons you might want to splurge on a doggy day spa. Weight Loss Therapeutic touch has all sorts of medicinal effects on pets. Interestingly enough, studies show that superficial rubbing and pressure applied to a pet affects its autonomic nervous system. That is, the unconscious actions a pet’s body performs. Everything from the pumping of its heart tot the contractions of its stomach is positively affected by a touch. Medical massage can help your pet lose weight by tripping the nerves that signal to the brain that the stomach is full, thereby decreasing appetite. Another way medical massage helps your pet lose weight is by managing insulin levels in its blood stream. It also helps the pet’s stomach digest food more efficiently, by extracting more nutrients and increasing the rate and effectiveness of a pet’s peristalsis, (the movements your intestinal tract makes in order to move food through the digestive system).   It even contributes to the prevention of many digestive and intestinal difficulties. Touch therapy has been shown to decrease an animal’s chances of developing “Leaky Gut Syndrome,” a condition where the seals in between the cell walls of the stomach lining come undone. Pain Relief Just as a good rubdown can make you feel like a million bucks, a session of touch therapy for a pet can alleviate their pain. Therapeutic touch can reduce pain in several ways. Simply rubbing out the knots of accrued amino acidic buildup can make a joint more mobile. Releasing that acid helps keep a muscle from retaining tension and becoming sore. Medical massage can also reduce a pet’s inflammation, which can be a serious cause for concern, depending on the animal’s diet and lifestyle. It can also be good for spinal health, and that’s more important than most people think. Spinal columns transfer virtually every signal that the brain sends, it’s the body’s command superhighway. Incidentally, it’s a good idea to keep it from getting too twisted or tense. Surgical Rehab When pets are recovering from surgery, touch therapy is often a required rehabilitation exercise. This is because of its potency at increasing blood flow, and reducing stress. That’s an important element of pet message efficacy that might be easily overlooked. However, if your pet is in pain or under a lot of stress for some reason, a medical massage might do a world of good for both the pet’s mental and physical health. Pets our most loyal companions and they require a lot of upkeep sometimes. Perhaps the most attractive benefit of medical message for pets is its preventative benefits. So give pet massage a thought every once in a while. You might be saving some hefty medical costs down the line. 

Cats have a lot of stereotypes surrounding them. They’re considered curious, mischievous, mystical, and even regal. However, everyone is familiar with a feline that’s been characterized as skittish or easily spooked. Cats are very independent creatures, and can sometimes be mistaken for fearful. But there are occasional cases where a cat is genuinely aghast at whatever is going on around it. They are small and fragile, if not somewhat resourceful, creatures. What can be done in such a scenario, where a scaredy cat is unsociable to the point of concern? Today’s post will discuss some different strategies for dealing with a frightened cat, and making it feel more at home in its own skin. Why is my cat scared? There are many reasons why cats develop a fearful disposition. It can be the result of past trauma at the hands of a human or another animal, a disruption in its regular routine, even pain and illness can have an adverse effect on a feline’s mentality. Cats also don’t like continuous loud noises, and cluttered or dirty environments. An overabundance of accompanying animals can cause a lot of stress-related fear. This can be exacerbated if the cat doesn’t get along well with the other animals. Another reason they could have developed new and abnormal signs of fearfulness is being exposed or moved to a new environment to which they’re unaccustomed. Any number of factors could be contributed to a cat’s fearful demeanor, but what you really need to know is what to do about it. How to Give Cats Courage     Cats feel safe in enclosed spaces. Additionally, elevated areas can also seem like a safe haven. To make a scared cat feel more comfortable, set up a covered cave for them to retreat to. Line it with soft bedding and partially cover the entrance so that the cat will feel safely obscured inside. In the same vein of thought, you can purchase a cat tower for the cat to lie on top of. Giving a scared cat a place to hide is a good strategy for making it feel more comfortable, but the eventual goal is to get it to enjoy your company. So you’ll need to interact with the cat. Though because of their finicky nature and fearful disposition, this can be somewhat complicated. You’ll have to go slowly, and let the cat take the lead on interacting. Try to coax it into playing with a toy, fishing pole toys work great for this. It gives you some distance, while still allowing you to interact. You can also frequently feed your feline with its preferred brand of cat treats. This along with regular meal times will go a long way in building the bond between the two of you. Most of the time when dealing with a scared cat they won’t take the treat directly from you, and you’ll have to leave it sitting for them. However, after some time has passed and you’ve built some trust you can try hand-feeding. The trick is to do this incrementally, try watching the cat eat from a distance, and get a little closer each time. If you can patiently follow these guidelines while still giving your cat the space it needs to adjust, and eliminate any of the outlying stress factors that might be causing a fear response in your cat, then you’ll definitely succeed in socializing your scaredy cat into a fearless feline.   

We all know that dogs have certain proclivities in regards to their eating habits. Sometimes that can’t help but snack on the same meal twice. This causes a variety of very awkward problems for pet owners; the first that comes to mind is after a stinky meal they haven’t got a problem with licking your face. But bad breath and the ever present danger of contracting parasites are also concerns. Beyond that, it’s just plain gross, and not at all a desirable quality in a family pet. So why do dogs eat poop? And what can be done about the problem?  Causes of Copraphagy That confusing “C” word in the above heading is the official medical terminology for fecal feasting, and it sounds slightly more sterile, so it’s a more than a little preferable to other popular vernacular: e.g. crap snacking, turd tasting, or wolfing down waste. So we’ll refrain from that sort of language from here on out. Copraphagy in dogs is possibly a evolutionary remnant from their scavenging days as more wolf-like kinds of canines. It can also be a learned behavior. Where would dogs that eat poop pick up such a habit? From you. This is by way of misunderstanding your actions, of course. When a dog sees you cleaning up, it might mistake your intentions. Or perhaps you’ve scolded it in the past for committing a dumping on your duvet. Copraphagy might be their (not so) clever way of removing evidence of the crime.  It could also be that they saw another dog doing the deed and is imitating it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.    Stop Your Dog From Eating Poop There are a few options for keeping dog breath to a healthier level of stench. You could treat your dog’s food with a chemical to make its stools less palatable. Commercial products such as 4-BID are available for this specific purpose. Or you could cut out the middle man and sprinkle some cayenne pepper on the stool directly. Of course, if you’re going to go to that much trouble, you might as well just pick up the offending fecal matter and throw it away. That, in fact, might be the easiest solution.  If you’ve got cats in the same household, you’ll want to limit your dog’s access to the litter box. This can be tricky if you have a dog the same size as the cats. Try putting in a baby gate, or something like it. So long as the cat can still get through without the dog being able to bypass it so easily. You could also try "Shaming": Whatever you do, don’t scold a dog that eats poop. It may associate the unwanted behavior with your attention. It’s like the old saying, that there’s no such thing as bad press. When it comes to a caretaker’s attention, dog’s may be willing to take a tongue lashing in order to be your focus for a few moments. In the end it will just take some effort, and perhaps a little creativity to break a cacography inclined animal. Until then, invest in breath mints.  

Here’s a frightening thought: your housecat is host to a parasite that can infect you, and in so doing affect your brain function, making you more impulsive, promiscuous, less attentive, less intelligent, and possibly suicidal. Sounds like something straight out of science fiction, but unfortunately this parasite is so pervasive that liberal estimates say that over 8 million Australians could be infected, along with upwards of 60 million Americans. Worldwide estimates of infection range into the billions. The disease is called Toxoplasma, and it starts in rats, goes to cats, and ends up inside your freaking brain, in what seems like a very demented spin on the circle of life. When a rat is infected with Toxoplasmosis it loses all aversion to the scent of cat urine, and in fact, becomes sexually aroused by the smell. It then seeks out areas filled with cat odors, and is predictably and promptly eaten by an unsuspecting feline. Cats are then similarly infected though their behavior remains largely unchanged, a whole laundry list of symptoms has been associated with the disease, including: Laziness Sadness High temperature Sudden reduction in weight Trouble breathing Reduced coordination Seizures Weakness Paralysis Nausea Loose bowels Reduced appetite And inflammation However, the really scary part is how often the disease goes unnoticed because of a lack of these symptoms. Humans can catch the disease by being in close contact with cat feces which is where the ocysts, that is to say the toxoplasmosis progeny, are released after reproduction occurs inside the feline’s intestinal tract. It’s also common to catch the disease when in contact with undercooked foods, and is much more prevalent in countries with a tradition of eating such fare, like Brazil for example, which is estimated to have 67% of its total population infected with the parasite. So I know this is supposed to be a pet blog, and we’re mainly concerned with pet issues here, but are you ready to hear some really scary facts about this parasite’s effects on human behavior? Toxoplasmosis affects the human brain’s fear center, causing a disdain for authority, less adherence to social folkways and mores, an increased risk of schizophrenia, an increased risk of dying in a motorcycle accident, higher rates of suicide among the infected, increased levels of sexual promiscuity among women, and higher frequencies of neuroticism in both sexes. Ironically enough, you’re also more likely to be good at Soccer. This psychotic protozoan is a major health concern for all of the above reasons, and is an excellent reminder to wash your hands after changing your cat litter and always before eating. Diagnosis for the disease is very difficult and not often undergone. It includes measuring t cell count in the blood stream as well as tracking the number of liver enzymes. Treatment is likewise not always recommended as the disease is only serious in patients with weak immune systems. This is true for humans and cats alike. When it is treated, there is a long list of drugs used to do so, but there is more available in the way of prevention than actual treatment. So there’s your daily dose of microscopic horror. Just remember, you’re not always in control of your actions. Sometimes nature plants a scary bodysnatching minute monster inside your brain to help you make stupid decisions.   

EPI or Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency is a deadly disease that has seen a sharp incline of recorded cases in recent years. The order is related to certain dogs inability to properly breakdown food and absorb nutrition from them. The cause is related to pancreatic health, and it is a terrifyingly debilitating condition. Luckily, the disease is treatable. Unluckily, the symptoms can be difficult to diagnose. So it’s important to be informed and stay on the lookout for any signs of the onset of EPI. EPI Symptoms Symptoms of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency are akin to dysentery. Lots and lots of diarrhea, increased gas, loose yellowish stools, pronounced weight loss along with an increased appetite, eating feces and other out of the ordinary materials, vomiting, in some cases increased aggression or fear responses, loud stomach rumbling, and occasionally there are no visible symptoms whatsoever. As you can see, this disease is particularly frightening because the symptoms can be so variable, and ultimately very common to non-life-threatening conditions. After all, plenty of dogs will eat their own feces, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they all have EPI. The main thing to look out for is consistent and unwavering gastrointestinal problems. To test for EPI you’ll need to have your vet do a blood test EPI Causes Reasons for canines contracting EPI are assumed to be genetic.  In fact, one of the most prominent methods of prevention is to fix the dog as soon as the disorder is identified. This way there are fewer occurrences in the overall gene pool of canines at large. Despite recently learning that the disease is genetic, the specific genes that cause EPI have yet to be fully determined. However, every year further research is being revealed that would eventually suggest all the genetic markers will inevitably be identified. EPI Treatment Treating Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency is relatively straightforward. It’s simply putting the enzymes necessary for digestion back into the dog’s system. This can be done intravenously or through taking simple preventative dietary measures. More specifically, the powdered enzymes required for EPI treatment are: Lipase  Protease  Amylase  These enzymes are usually available in one package, and the dosage which can be easily ascertained by a vet visit, is in general a single teaspoon for each cup of dry food.  This is usually administered with a fourth of a cup of warm water. This is to soften the food and keep the acidic enzymes from causing sores to develop in the dog’s mouth. In addition to adding enzymes to the diet, your vet might suggest antibiotics and shots of vitamin B12. Summing up EPI is a very scary disease that often doesn’t show symptoms until the pancreas has been completely ravaged, and if left untreated it usually causes a very painful death due to malnutrition or organ failure. Keeping on top of your dog’s health concerns with a healthy diet and regular vet visits are a good preventative, but even then you should keep a close watch on your dog’s behavior and elimination habits. As always keep checking back for more helpful pet information from the Petbucket blog. 

One of the most common health problems in domestic cats is that they are especially prone to catching urinary tract infections. While not normally a serious problem in humans, cats can have a rough go of it unless treated in a relatively speedy fashion.  This is because, left untreated, a UTI can eventually spread to the kidneys where it becomes a much more serious difficulty. Luckily enough, while the causes of these infections can often be ambiguous, the symptoms are easily recognizable, and the treatments aren’t too difficult. So let’s spend a bit of time discussing the different facets of each category. Cat Urinary Tract Infection Causes As previously stated, urinary infections in cats often arise unexpectedly. Cats lead some curious and adventurous lives that aren’t always on public display. This can be especially true if they are allowed outside. This being the case, it’s somewhat difficult to know where they might contract any specific disease, particularly one so elusive as a bladder infection.  In general though, UTI’s have been linked to the presence of high levels of bacteria, a variety of different viruses, and stressful situations for the cat. It’s not much to go on, but such are the mysterious ways of kitty cats. Cat Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms While the causes of cat uti’s remain a mystery, uti symptoms in cats couldn’t be clearer. Some of the most common signs of an uncomfortable kitty are as follows: Strain or irritation during urination Blood in urine Frequent urination Difficulty during urination, due to a blockage in the urethra There are a few other things that a physical examination by a veterinarian can point out, but for practical purposes these are the symptoms that you need to look out for. It should be noted that male tom cats will often mark territory indiscriminately and very frequently. This shouldn’t be confused with the need to frequently urinate. Cat Urinary Tract Infection Treatment Assuming there isn’t any blockage in your cat’s urethra, the treatment for this condition will be very straightforward. Simple administration of antibiotics and some conservative dietary measures should do the trick. Wet food will increase the intake of liquid and decrease the occurrence of toxins in your cat’s diet. That way a certain amount of natural flushing will occur. However, if your cat does have a major blockage inside its urinary tract then it will most likely be hospitalized and further measures will need to be exercised. Dietary concerns will again need to be addressed, and in severe situations, the veterinarian may even suggest surgery. Though that is an extreme solution, and certainly not one often employed. Usually, most cats are well again within a week of being treated. As always, severe cases will be the exception to the rule. However, a quick trip to the vet is usually all that’s required to stave off any long-term negative consequences.  After that, it’s a matter of prevention, which will vary significantly case by case. That’s all the helpful pet information for today. Check back for more helpful hints on the Petbucket blog.