A Guide to Boarding Your Pets

A Guide to Boarding Your Pets

When you leave home and can’t take your pet with you, you’re left with two choices: hiring a pet sitter to come into your home to care for your pet or taking your pet to a boarding facility. When it comes to quality and care, boarding facilities can run the gambit from providing accommodations that are just okay to providing your pet with a luxury stay. When choosing a boarding facility for your pet, consider the following.
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Pet Boarding Guide: What to Look for in a Pet Boarding Facility

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Certifications

Ask a representative from your potential boarding facility what certifications the facility has as well as their requirements of employees who interact with the pets. Do they have dog and cat behaviorists and trainers on hand? Do they have a veterinarian on staff?

Cleanliness and Facility

Before your pet stays, you should drop by the pet boarding facility to see what they offer. While you’re there, pay attention to how clean the facility and kennels appear. Also, ask to see the outdoor play area, kennels or pet rooms, and any other area where your pet will spend time.

Health Requirements

Find out what health requirements the boarding facility has such as vaccination records and required vaccines in addition to potential fecal testing and parasite preventatives. You’ll want to make sure your pet is all set for their stay in addition to ensuring they’ll be safe around the other pets staying at the facility.

Medication Administration

If your pet requires medication, be aware that not all boarding facilities provide specialized medical care. You might be best looking for a boarding facility that is attached to a veterinary hospital.

Interaction With Pets

Ask how much one-on-one time your pet will have to play, socialize, and snuggle with employees. Additionally, find out how much outdoor exercise time they have and whether they’ll have opportunities to socialize with other pets and how that time is supervised/managed.

Veterinary Care

Find out what the boarding facility’s policies and procedures are in the event your pet exhibits signs of illness while you’re away. Do they contact you first? Do they seek emergency veterinary care right away? Do they have a veterinary professional on staff?

Base Boarding Package and Extras

Most facilities offer a base package. Find out what the bare minimum includes and ask about the costs of additional services for your pet while you’re away such as an upgraded room or additional playtime.

Simplify Pet Meds With Compounding

Whether your pet will be home or at a boarding facility while you’re away, pet meds compounded into easy-to-administer treats are the best way to ensure your pet receives the medicine they need even if you aren’t there to administer it. To learn more about compounding your pet’s medications, we welcome you to contact VetMedics Compounding Pharmacy.
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5 Tips for Training Your New Puppy

5 Tips for Training Your New Puppy

Learning how they are expected to behave in the world, in your house, in the car, around other animals, and around other people are all skills that puppies need to learn through proper training and socialization. Working with your new puppy to teach them how to behave and even learn some new tricks is a great way to form an immediate bond while also setting your puppy up for a happy and healthy life.
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5 Puppy Training Tips

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1. Use Positive Reinforcement Training

Positive reinforcement training is much more effective in terms of training and also forming a strong bond because it’s focused on rewarding good behaviors with praise and treats, instead of discouraging bad behaviors with fear-based punishments. Use training-sized treats to avoid over-feeding.

2. Work on Crate Training

Get your puppy used to their crate (carrier or a sleeping kennel) right away. Help them associate the space with positivity and security by feeding them lots of treats in and around the crate while also praising them when they go in or near it.

3. Start Potty Training

Take your puppy outside every hour (or even more often for young or smaller puppies). When they do their business outdoors, be sure to reward them consistently with a treat, lots of praise, and plenty of love.

4. Socialize Your Puppy

Socialization is a process of gradually introducing your puppy to different things in a safe and controlled environment. This includes different kinds of people (adults and children), other animals (other dogs and other species), textures (carpet, linoleum, tile, grass, sand, gravel, dirt, etc.), sounds, sights, and smells. You have a short window to help your puppy feel confident, and this helps them not be afraid.

5. Enroll in Puppy Training Classes

Puppy training classes are a good way for you to learn how to better work with your new puppy while training and socializing your pet.

Talk to Your Veterinarian About VetMedics Compounding Pharmacy

We wish your puppy a happy and healthy life through and through. As dogs grow older, however, they sometimes need medications to manage illness or to mitigate pain following a surgical procedure such as a spay or neuter surgery. If your pet is in need of any medications, we encourage you to talk with your veterinarian about compounding your pet’s medications into tasty, easy-to-administer treats or another simple form with VetMedics Compounding Pharmacy.
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Common Behavioral Problems in Cats and How to Address Them

Common Behavioral Problems in Cats and How to Address Them

We love felines for their independent (although sometimes snuggly) natures and their uniquely fun personalities. Although they’re a joy to have around, an untrained cat can present a variety of problems and/or challenges inside the house.
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Common Cat Behavioral Issues

  • Aggression
  • Excessive vocalization (yowling and hissing)
  • Litter box troubles
  • Territory marking
  • Scratching the furniture
  • Jumping onto the table or countertops
  • Drinking from your glass
  • Keeping you up at night
  • Knocking everything over
  • Wandering or escaping the house
  • Eating houseplants
  • Napping on clean laundry

6 Ways to Address Your Cat's Behavior Problems

1. Know What Constitutes an Emergency

The first and most important thing to know about behavior issues in cats is that several of them can actually be signs or symptoms of an underlying health problem. For example, cats often experience litter box troubles, vocalize excessively, and become aggressive as a result of not feeling well. If your cat is having behavior issues, the first thing you should do is schedule a veterinary checkup.

2. Provide Territory Markers

Put up a scratching post where your pet can get its scratching fix.

3. Offer an Alternative Perch

Some cats feel safer above the ground. Installing cat perches in your home means they’ll have an even better observation point than your kitchen countertop.

4. Make Off-Limits Objects/Places Less Attractive

Spray furniture with cat deterrents or hang pieces of foil from your houseplants.

5. Work on Positive Reinforcement, Marker Training

Cats can be trained, using positive reinforcement with training treats and a clicker. Click to mark your pet’s desired behavior and then reward them with a treat.

6. Cat-Proof Your Home

Although behavioral issues can be an annoyance or even a problem for pet owners, part of living with a cat is dealing with their quirky personalities. Make sure your home is a safe environment where your cat can be curious and safe.
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Ease Your Cat's Health-Related Behavior Issues With Compounded Pet Meds

Behavior problems in pets can sometimes be the result of an underlying illness, injury, or health problem. If your cat has been diagnosed and is in need of medications, we encourage you to talk with your veterinarian about the different options available in terms of the form your pet’s medications can come in. At VetMedics Compounding Pharmacy, we specialize in providing a wide array of pet medications in a variety of easy-to-administer forms and flavors. To learn more, we welcome you to contact us or talk with your veterinarian.

First Aid Tips for Pet Owners

First Aid Tips for Pet Owners

While nothing can replace veterinary care in the event of a medical emergency with your pet, knowing pet first aid and being prepared could mean the difference between your pet surviving an emergency and having to say goodbye too soon. Of course, no one plans on their pet having an emergency, but you’ll be grateful you know what to do if they do.
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5 First Aid Tips for Pet Owners

1. Know What Constitutes an Emergency

The first step in pet first aid is knowing the signs of a medical emergency in a pet. Some of these signs include:
  • Trauma or injury
  • Uncontrolled bleeding
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Unresponsive
  • Seizure, fainting, or collapse
  • Heatstroke
  • Loss of coordination
  • Poison or toxin ingestion
  • Vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours or longer
If you notice any of these symptoms in your pet, seek emergency veterinary care right away.

2. Take a Class

There are lots of pet first aid classes available that you can take online or in person. Whether you choose to get certified in pet first aid such as cat and dog CPR or simply attend so that you’ll be more knowledgeable, these classes could save your pet’s (or another pet’s) life.

3. Be Prepared

Just like you keep first aid supplies on hand for yourself, you should also have first aid supplies for your pet. Keep these in your home and bring them with you if you go camping, on a hike, or take a trip. If you live in an area prone to natural disasters like hurricanes or wildfires, you should also have an emergency kit and plan in place for your pets.

4. Contact Pet Poison Control

If you suspect your pet has ingested a toxic substance, you should contact Animal Poison Control and your emergency veterinarian immediately. They can provide you with instructions to help stabilize your pet while you get them the emergency care they need.

5. Always Have an Emergency Veterinary Option

Have the numbers for several 24-hour emergency veterinary hospitals available so you don’t waste time looking one up during an emergency.

We're Here to Help You Through Your Pet's Recovery

If your pet’s medical emergency requires medications during their recovery period, we encourage you to talk with your veterinarian about compounding your pet’s medications with VetMedics Compounding Pharmacy. We offer a wide array of forms, formulas, and flavors that take the pressure off administering medications to pets. To learn more, we welcome you to contact us today.
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Traveling With Your Pets: Pet-Friendly Hotels and Packing Lists

Traveling With Your Pets: Pet-Friendly Hotels and Packing Lists

Our pets are integral parts of our families, so it’s no fun leaving them at home when you have to be away. If you’re lucky enough to be able to travel with your pets, then you’ll need to find a pet-friendly place to stay while also making sure you pack everything your pet will need to feel comfy while away from home.
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Pet-Friendly Hotel Chains in the U.S.

We always recommend checking on individual hotel pet policies before you travel since individual hotel locations might have slightly different policies. However, the following list contains a variety of hotel chains that tend to welcome pets for overnight stays:
  • Best Western
  • Choice Hotels
  • DoubleTree by Hilton
  • Extended Stay America
  • Four Seasons
  • Hampton Inn
  • Home2Suites by Hilton
  • Kimpton Hotels
  • Marriott
  • Motel 6
  • The Peninsula Hotels
  • Red Roof
  • The Ritz-Carlton
  • Staypineapple
  • Westin

What to Bring When Traveling With Your Pet

Once you have your pet-friendly accommodations arranged, you can start to plan your pet’s packing list. Be sure to bring the following items along to keep your pet comfortable, happy, and healthy:
  • Pet health/travel certificates (if using public transportation of any form or traveling internationally)
  • Vaccination records
  • Your pet's favorite blanket, pillow, bed, or stuffed toy that smells like home
  • Chew toys
  • Collapsible food and water bowls
  • Drinking water for the trip
  • More food than you think you'll need
  • Treats
  • Harness, collar, and leash
  • Up-to-date and readable ID tags
  • Potty bags
  • Airline-approved pet carrier
  • Your pet's medications
In addition to this packing list, we strongly recommend getting pets microchipped before traveling with them. Pets are much more likely to become frightened, disoriented, and lost while away from home in an unfamiliar place. A pet microchip can greatly increase the odds of reuniting with your pet if they are lost or stolen. If your pet has already been microchipped, make sure your registered information is up to date before you leave.
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Pack More Pet Meds Than You Need

We always recommend packing more pet medications that you’ll actually need when traveling with your pets. This is a good fail-safe just in case you get stuck longer than planned due to canceled flights or other snags in your travel plans. To get more pet meds before you leave, we welcome you to contact your veterinary office or VeMtedics Compounding Pharmacy.

How to Keep Your Pets Safe on Halloween

How to Keep Your Pets Safe on Halloween

It’s the spooky season, and that means frightful fun for everyone. While we, humans, can enjoy a good scare from time to time, the same is not always true for our pets. In fact, Halloween presents a lot of safety risks for our furry friends. To make sure your pets have just as much fun this Halloween as you, consider the following safety tips for pets.
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5 Halloween Safety Tips for Pets

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1. Be Conscientious About Costumes

Not all pets like to dress up. If your pet seems uncomfortable in their costume, then don’t make them wear it. It’s also important not to leave pets unattended while they’re wearing a costume as costumes can get caught on furniture or branches resulting in the risk of strangulation. They can also contain choking hazards for pets that like to chew.

2. Choose Pet-Safe Decorations

Halloween decorations like fake spider webs, fake blood, and glow sticks are all dangerous and/or toxic for pets. Additionally, make sure all electrical cords are safely out of your pet’s curious reach.

3. Store Treats Safely Away From Pets

Many Halloween treats and ingredients in Halloween treats are toxic for pets, this includes chocolate, raisins, certain nuts, xylitol (sugar-free sweetener), and more. Make sure your stash of candy is kept well away from your pet’s reach.

4. Keep Pets Safe Inside

With so many scarily dressed people coming and going from the house on Halloween, pets can easily become frightened and run away or simply escape through the front door when you answer it. Keep your pet closed in a quiet room with their food and water throughout the evening.

5. Get Your Pets Microchipped

Pets commonly go missing on Halloween, and that’s why we recommend microchipping your dogs and cats before the holiday. Pet microchips greatly increase the chances of reuniting with a lost or stolen pet, and it’ll give you a little peace of mind if your pet gets lost.
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Pet Meds Don't Have to Be Spooky! Learn More About Our Compounding Pharmacy

October is frightening enough without the addition of difficult-to-administer pet medications that pets can sniff out from a mile away. Instead of struggling to get your pet to take their medication, talk with your veterinarian about the options available to you through VetMedics Compounding Pharmacy. We can formulate your pet’s medications into an easy-to-administer form in your pet’s favorite flavor.