This is a blog about dogs. I confess right now, I am a dog person and often a rabbit person. Like every other dog lover, I am concerned for the health of my dog. There's a lot to be concerned about, especially in the summer. I worry about the heat, should the shades be up or down? Should the windows be open or closed? Do I leave the fan on or the air conditioner? Do I put ice cubes in his water dish, knowing that as soon as I leave, he will take them out, flip them in the air and push them around the kitchen floor. All those worries don't even include ticks, lyme disease, kennel cough, heartworm - the list is long!
When someone I know has a medical problem, I go to the online medical sites like medlineplus and I read about the problem. When I took my dog to the vet and heard words like hip dysplasia and arthritis, I needed somewhere to go for answers that I could study and understand. I found three websites that had a good supply of detailed information that was from sources that I felt could be trusted. Although there was some product pushing going on, it didn't overwhelm me. One of these websites is the dog health center, part of the larger Animal Planet website. Here, among other things, I learned about canine acupuncture - an alternative treatment for dogs with hip dysplasia and arthritis. Another good website is the Internet Animal Hospital. Good information here comes with the type of pictures that are seen in health books. Poor dental hygiene, a hip joint misshapen by arthritis, cataracts, all in living color photos. A little too much information sometimes. They also do not discriminate, even cat people can find information here. The third website is the ASPCA where information is available in the Pet Care section on many important topics. Take note of the orange column down the right hand side of the page. Health advice for dog owners, cat owners, even small pet owners. The ASPCA even links you to information about their pet health insurance plans!
If you are a person who prefers to have the printed word on a page in front of you, the library has a large section of books dealing with dog training and health. One of these books is the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital book of wellness and preventive care for dogs by Darlene Arden. It can be found in the 600s - 636.7 A to be exact. Another good book is Vet on call : the best home remedies for keeping your dog healthy. This book is also found in the 600s at 636.7 V.
Another source of information can be found in the library databases by using EBSCO. EBSCO is one of the things being affected by the library's computer system upgrade. It can currently be accessed only from library computers. As soon as the upgrade is complete, it will again be accessible from your home computer. On EBSCO, you can search for published articles written about dog health or you can browse editions of a particular magazine such as Dog World.
As I mentioned before, cat health information can also be located on these websites. But would anyone care about that? Maybe rabbits......?