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For many pet parents, Thanksgiving means it’s time to load your family up and head out of town. If you’re bringing your pets with you this holiday season, you might be feeling anxious about what lies ahead. How can you make holiday travel with pets smooth and stress-free?

The team at Bowman Veterinary Hospital has some tips to help you prepare:

As our pets age, their bodies change—and so do their dietary needs. Many senior pets need specific senior dog food or senior cat food to stay healthy. It can be hard to understand why this happens and what to do about it. 

So whether you have a senior dog or cat, the team at Bowman Veterinary Hospital would like to share our best tips about senior pet nutrition. Here’s what you need to know about senior pet dietary needs. 

While the Halloween season is full of tricks and treats that can be fun for the whole family, it also comes with plenty of hazards for our furry friends. Practicing Halloween pet safety is a great way to avoid an accident before it happens. With the following tips from Bowman Veterinary Hospital, you can minimize hazards and ensure a fun season for everyone.

If they’ll never come into contact with other cats, is it really necessary to spay or neuter indoor-only cats? The short answer is: absolutely. Even if the risk of unwanted litters is very low, spaying and neutering can bring positive health benefits for pets. Reproductive health is vitally important, but unless selective breeding is on the horizon, pet cats are actually considered healthier without their reproductive organs. 

When a pet gets sick, things can get expensive fast. Now more than ever we can offer cutting-edge medicine in the veterinary field, but specialized equipment, additional certifications, and the latest in drugs and therapies cost money. 

Pet insurance coverage can offer some help when it comes to making sure that you don’t have to think about your bank account too much before authorizing treatment for your pet. 

Canine communication comes in many forms, whether it’s a lick on the cheek, a wag of the tail, or just a soulful stare from those puppy dog eyes. But what if your dog is whining … a lot? Is it stress, hunger, or pain? Or is this how an attention-seeking hound makes his wishes known? Whatever the case, our team at Bowman Veterinary Hospital will help you better understand the reasons behind the whining and what you can do to help.

With mosquito season in full swing, it’s more important than ever to make sure your pet doesn’t have heartworm disease. Heartworm prevention medication is the best way to keep the worms from making a home in your pet’s body. 

But before you start heartworm treatment, your veterinarian will want to make sure your pet doesn’t already have heartworms. This is because while heartworm medication kills heartworm larvae, it doesn’t kill adult heartworms. 

A round of heartworm testing can tell your veterinary team whether your pup or kitty needs preventive medication or active treatment. 

Here’s what the team at Bowman Veterinary Hospital wants you to know about how heartworm testing works. 

It’s summer in California, and at Bowman Veterinary Hospital, we know that means fun in the sun for people and pets alike. Part of keeping things cool, though, is minding the heat and keeping everyone safe. If you are wondering about how to recognize heat stroke in pets or about other high temperature hazards, be sure to keep reading for our best summer pet safety tips. 

The Fourth of July holiday season is a fun and festive one, but for many of our four-legged friends, it can be a bit stressful. Noisy gatherings and loud booms can raise pet anxiety and put our July 4th pet safety skills to the test. 

Calming Pet Anxiety 

Pet anxiety tends to peak in the summer months. Backyard parties, summer travel, thunderstorms, and fireworks can all make the world a little less predictable for our animal friends.

Help your pet to feel a little less anxious by:

• Keeping their routine as predictable as possible
• Not changing their diet
• Giving them a safe, quiet sanctuary to retreat to when they feel overwhelmed
• Using anti-anxiety supplements such as plug-in pheromones or over-the-counter solutions
• Trying an anxiety vest 
• Offering enriching activities like a puzzle toy to keep their mind focused
• Engaging in physical activities such as walks with them

Be aware of potential toxins like unattended food and drinks, lighter fluid, insecticides, glow jewelry, and even unattended bags or coats that may contain human medications, vapes, or inhalers can also pose holiday risks to pets.

It is also worthwhile to check your pet escape-proofing measures. Be sure window screens and fence gates are secure in case a scared pooch decides to make a run for it. It is also important to check that your pets are microchipped and their registration accurate. 

Comforting Pets During Fireworks

Many pets (mostly dogs, but some cats, too) have noise phobias that are tested tremendously during loud events like fireworks or storms. The good news is that when we know that they are going to happen, we have a better chance to comfort our pets.

For pets who have anxiety about loud noises:

• Move them to an interior room with no windows
• Play soft music or other white noise
• Allow them to spend time in a safe, comfortable place that they are used to
• Try a Thundershirt
• Try to not leave your pet alone during this time (you may need to arrange a pet sitter)
• If you must take them outside, be sure that they are on a secure leash and stay with them
• Contact us for information about anti-anxiety medications

Ideally we will want to try an anti-anxiety medication before a scary day to see how it affects your pet. Don’t give more than the recommended amount or share amongst pets without consulting our team first. 

The Fourth of July can be a very fun holiday, but if your pet doesn’t agree, that is okay. They don’t have to love it, they just need to stay safe, and these tips can help you keep them that way.

Creating a pet-friendly yard can be a great way to provide some environmental stimulation for your animal as well as to bond with them in the great outdoors. To be sure that everyone can enjoy themselves, though, Bowman Veterinary Hospital thinks that it is important that animal lovers understand outdoor pet safety and how to make sure that their outdoor oasis is a safe and enjoyable space for all.