Posts in Category: Exercise Nutrition & Obesity

While most humans know that maintaining a healthy blood pressure is important for their overall health, few of us recognize that this vital parameter is important for animals as well. Godspeed Animal Care recommends checking blood pressure in pets periodically because deviations from normal can have serious impacts on our patient’s overall well being. 

If you ask, no one will admit to wanting an overweight pet. Just as in people, animals who are obese are at higher risk for many health problems including pet diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The fact remains, though, that over half of our nation’s dogs and cats are obese or overweight. 

Godspeed Animal Care knows that it can be pretty difficult to discern whether your cat is overweight or just fluffy. That’s why we would love to put a focus on feline obesity for you so that you have the tools needed to keep kitty fit and healthy.

When it comes to treats, it can be hard to resist the big eyes and pleading stares of a hungry pet. Some creative pets will even whine, howl, or paw you to get you to hand over a mouth-watering snack.

You might feel just as good as your pet when he gets a tasty treat, but many store-bought options are bad for animals. Instead of feeding your pet some unknown ingredients, try some of these delicious DIY pet treat recipes to keep them happy and healthy.

Most pets are incredibly motivated by food. They’ll do almost anything to get their paws (and jaws) on whatever we’re enjoying, but they won’t snub their own food bowl, either. Known to appreciate midday snacks, or appreciate post-training treats, pets just love to eat. 

However, when a pet stops staring dolefully at your pizza crust or requires some loving encouragement to try their food, something is usually awry. If your pet won’t eat, there could be very specific reasons that explain why.

The long cold days of winter can throw everyone off their game. Through the busy holidays and cold weather, you and your pet may have chucked the usual exercise regiment in favor of sleep and snuggles. That’s okay to a certain point, but daily exercise and socialization are important to good health and well-being for your fur friend. 

Godspeed Animal Care came up with these exercises and fun inspired activities you can do to burn off some of your pet’s pen- up energy. These will surely inspire the two of you to maintain those games, activities, and daily walks, even if you have to do them indoors. 

Diabetes is a huge problem, both in humans and our pet population. This all-too-common disease can have serious health consequences if uncontrolled. Godspeed Animal Care thinks it’s important for animal lovers everywhere to have a good understanding of diabetes in pets and what they can do to prevent it.

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From brimming gravy boats to oodles of noodles, Thanksgiving is the preeminent holiday for feasting. We feast with our friends and relatives; so naturally we may feel inclined to indulge our fur family members, too. And, this is precisely why many food-based pet emergencies occur this time of year.

But, does this meaning you can’t include your pet in the holiday togetherness? Not at all. There are some things to be aware of, however, when it comes to pets and people food. Continue…

If you are the proud pet parent to an energetic canine, you probably enjoyed a walk with your dog this morning… What? No? You didn’t?

Our best friends seem to be an endless source of walking exuberance, but somehow in the middle of snow and cold weather or in our busy schedules, we have lost interest and motivation for those important dog walks.

There are times when it isn’t safe to walk your dog – below freezing temperatures or during a winter storm, for example. In most cases, however – and with a fitted dog jacket and booties for those short haired and tiny pups – the benefits far outweigh the excuses.

So, why not take January’s National Walk Your Pet Month’s celebratory cue, and infuse some new energy into those daily dog walks. Here are some creative ideas to get you started! Continue…