You get a reminder email, text, or postcard -- your dog or cat is due for a vaccine or two. Time to make an appointment! You arrive for a simple visit with your healthy pet, and then a Licensed Technician or even the doctor begins a full, thorough exam.

Losing a beloved pet is never easy. It’s hard on the whole family, yet for children, especially younger ones, this is often their first experience with death and they may feel confused, angry, or scared more than sad.

For parents, it can be useful to understand children’s coping mechanisms so that we can best help them come to terms with the loss.

While every child is different, one psychologist found that some children considered their pet an extremely close friend, or even a sibling, and characterized their pet’s death as “the worst day of their lives.”

While fleas are an especially common problem for dogs and cats during the summer months, pet owners generally have to battle parasites year-round. After all, our homes can be a nice, cozy environment for fleas in all seasons!

In Western medicine, pain is defined as a complex phenomenon that includes both the sensation and the subsequent behaviors that occur as a response. In Eastern medicine, pain is the manifestation of stagnant Qi or blood. Essentially, it is energy that is caught in one area creating pain and loss of function. Longstanding stagnant energy eventually leads to permanent structural changes, such as arthritis.

Did you know? According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, more than half of the pets in the United States are overweight or obese.

Overweight pets are at risk for a variety of health problems, including skin infections, high blood pressure, heart disease, immune suppression, diabetes, orthopedic and arthritic disorders, and even some forms of cancer, as well as increased surgical and anesthetic risk.