Category: General

A pet’s mental health is as important as their physical health.  When you bring your pet in for a veterinary appointment, it may not be possible for your pet’s veterinarian to complete an examination or treatments due to stress associated with the visit.   If your pet is showing significant levels of FAS (fear, anxiety, and stress),…

Adopting dogs from the USA and Central America has become common practice over the last ten years. While this is wonderful that dogs are finding homes when otherwise they may not have, many of these dogs have heartworm and being adopted without their new owners being fully informed of what this means for their new…

While unethical breeding practices exist in many forms (backyard breeding, puppy mills, etc), the easiest way to identify a “bad” breeder is by knowing what “good” breeders do. Being a responsible breeder is more than simply not being a puppy mill. If a breeder is not obviously emulating the qualities of a good breeder below,…

For the last 10-15 years, the “Adopt Don’t Shop” saying has become more and more prevalent in the pet community. The purpose of this slogan (promoting adoption over purchasing pets from breeders in an effort to curb shelter numbers and promote finding homes for abandoned animals) was, in general, a success. And this is fabulous!…

Families getting puppies have EXPLODED since COVID began; with people working from home now, why not use this new normal as an opportunity to add a dog to the family? Unfortunately, we are also seeing a rise in puppies that have not been properly socialized (exposed to lots of different stimuli and taught that they…

Something we get asked about almost every day is WHEN is the right time to spay or neuter your dog? Unfortunately, it is as not as straightforward as it used to be. Historically, the simple answer to this question was 6 months of age, but as we learn more about the hormonal impact on growth,…

Dog’s with itchy, painful ears are a fairly common occurrence at a veterinary clinic. In fact, up to 20% of dogs are living with some type of ear disease in one, or both of their ears. Knowing how to quickly recognize if your dog is starting to develop an ear infection will allow for prompt…

Having your dog comfortable with wearing a muzzle is a very important skill for them to have. There is a stigma around muzzles, the dog must be ‘aggressive’ or ‘mean’, but that is simply not true. Muzzles are a safety tool that can be used in many different situations to not only keep humans safe,…

Stressful Nail Trims? North End Animal Hospital Can Help! Does your pet hide when the nail trimmers come out? Do they squirm and move their paw away? There are steps that you can try at home to counter-condition your pet to nail trims. These steps can help make nail trims as low-stress as possible. The…

Introducing Another Cat into Your Already Cat Friendly Household You’ve decided to add a new cat to your family, but what about the cat (or cats) that you already have?  Here is some advice to help when introducing a new cat to your already feline friendly household. Giving your new cat its own space Cats…