Posts in Category: Pet Safety

Summer is here, at last! Hot, sunny days mean trips to the water, long, lazy walks, and outside volleyball games. Your pets want to go where you go (except for cats who might want to stay put). Your pets need to stay hydrated so, should you bring your pets with you for summertime excursions?

There’s a lot to love about summer, but a pet’s noise anxiety isn’t usually on the list of favorite things. Long stretches of beautiful, sunny days, time spent on the water, or going camping can quickly spiral into a frightening experience for a pet unaccustomed to thunderstorms or fireworks (both of which occur with some frequency between May and September). Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with some effective strategies to keep your pet’s noise anxiety at bay. 

Bringing a puppy home is quite an adventure. As the cute little fluff adapts to his new home, it is important to set him up for success. Beginning with proper nutrition is important, and once your pup gets home, you may notice that he gobbles up his food like there is no tomorrow. Eating too quickly can be a choking hazard for your pup, can cause pain and discomfort, and can even cause severe gastrointestinal conditions like volvulus, or stomach twisting. 

Responsible pet owners go to great lengths to keep their pets safe–fenced-in yards, leashed walks, collars and ID tags, etc. However, despite our best efforts, accidents can and do happen. All it takes is one door accidentally left open for a four-legged escape artist to make a break for it.

For most pet owners, the thought of a beloved dog or cat going missing is truly frightening. The only thing worse is the possibility that you may never see them again. Fortunately, pet microchipping is an easy and effective way to increase the chances of reuniting with your missing pet.

When a pet is not well, it can be a stressful time. While our staff at Bowman Veterinary Hospital likes to think we are pretty good at helping animals, the truth is that a lot of caring for a sick pet falls on your shoulders as their guardian. 

At holiday feasts, it can be hard to stop family and guests from slipping snacks to pets with pleading eyes. They may not realize, however, that these tasty handouts could be harmful.  

Lure the treat givers away from the family table and lead them to a tray of safe-for-pets, holiday treats instead. Once the treats are gone, they’ll know that puppy has had enough.

With amazing advances in medicine and technology, our pet population is living longer than ever before. While that is largely a good thing, it does come with some downsides as well. With an aging population, diagnosing cancer in pets is more and more common. About half of all disease-related animal deaths each year are as a result of cancer.

A cancer diagnosis isn’t always a death sentence, though. Bowman Veterinary Hospital wants our pet owners to be armed and ready when it comes to cancer in pets. A little knowledge is a good thing, and sometimes a good defense is the best offense.

Got a dog or cat who enjoys wearing a witch’s costume and trick or treating as much as the kids? Halloween can be fun for the whole family, including our costume-clad pets, and your friends at Bowman Veterinary Hospital want your pets to have an enjoyable — and safe — Halloween. Make Halloween pet safety a priority, and follow these tips for serving up safe and howling-good pet treats.

If you are the owner of a curious canine who will eat just about anything, then you are not alone. Dogs scarf up whatever is in their midst, and in some cases the cuisine can be both gross and questionable. Such is the case with flies and other insects. At Bowman Veterinary Hospital, we get asked about whether flies are safe for pets to eat, especially if they have been sprayed with Raid or another bug spray.

Since spring is the high season for flying things, our team is here to discuss what to do if your dog ate a fly (or another insect).

Those who have lived in the Sacramento metropolitan area for any length of time know that unexpected encounters with sneks, called nope ropes when especially unwelcome, are a part of California living. 

Some sneks are a little more scary than others, though, and in our neck of the woods, shake snakes with their little rattles are the big nope rope to watch out for. Bowman Veterinary Hospital wants all of our cattos and doggos to stay safe and healthy, and so we thought we would share our favorite snek safety tips so you and your fluffers can avoid a heckin big scare: