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Preventive Care & Wellness

  • Systematic desensitisation is a behavioural modification method used to reduce an animal's emotional response to a given object or situation.

  • Lack of early exposure to the sights, sounds or perhaps smells of a particular location, or one or more traumatic experiences associated with that location can lead to the development of avoidance behaviours.

  • There are many reasons why dogs develop a fearful reaction to people and other animals. However, some dogs are born with a genetic predisposition to be more fearful or anxious than others.

  • Don't just ignore the problem because it only happens a few times each year. You should instigate a desensitisation and counter conditioning programme.

  • There are numerous reasons why a dog might soil the house with urine and/or faeces. Determining the specific reason is essential for developing an effective treatment programme.

  • Punishment is defined as the application of a stimulus that decreases the chances that a behaviour will be repeated. In practical terms when dealing with dogs, we aim to associate an unpleasant consequence with an undesirable behaviour to reduce the occurrence of the behaviour.

  • Infections of the external ear canal (outer ear) by bacteria or yeast are common in dogs but not very common in cats. This type of infection is called otitis externa. A cat with an ear infection is uncomfortable and its ear canals are sensitive. The vet may examine the ear canal with an otoscope. The results of the otoscopic examination and cytology tell the vet what to do.

  • Herbal remedies made from the Echinacea plant are very popular and used to support the immune system. It is advisable to use a blend of Echinacea, containing E. purpurea herb and E. angustifolia root since the combination improves availability of the important active ingredients.

  • Elizabethan collars are applied to prevent your dog interfering with any wound or dressings. It is natural for dogs to lick their wounds but this can seriously delay healing and can result in infection.

  • The herb Ephedra, known in Chinese medicine as Ma Huang, comes from the plant species Ephedra sinica and Ephedra equisetina.