Tips for Buying Prescription Dog Medication Online

Posted by Clare Bristow | Leave a Comment

dog-at-computer

Discount Pet Drugs - No Prescription Required.

Enticing as this message sounds, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that buying prescription dog medicines from online suppliers who promote this and similar messages could be putting your dog's health at risk.

Research by the FDA has identified web sites that are selling medicines which are,amongst other things, counterfeit, out of date, or not FDA approved.

Whilst these web sites are in the minority, they do good business by promising prescription medicines at low cost.

Unfortunately I can't find a list of the web sites identified by the FDA, but if you are looking to buy prescription pet medicines online here are a few tips on how to ensure you are buying quality medicines for your dog:

  • Use a web site that is based in the country you live in;
  • Use a web site that will send you the medication only after you supply with them with a prescription from your vet;
  • Ask your vet for a recommendation. Whilst most vets prefer you to buy your medications through them they should be able to recommend an online supplier; and
  • Avoid web sites that offer to evaluate your dog's condition with an online/telephone conversation and then prescribe a drug based on the outcome of the discussion. A vet needs to physically examine your dog before any medication is prescribed.

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Westies Join Fight Against Fatal Lung Disease

Posted by Clare Bristow | Leave a Comment

westie

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a disease that kills approximately 40,000 Americans each year - a similar number die annually from breast cancer.

IPF occurs spontaneously and results in normal lung tissue being converted into scar tissue. It's a progressive disease that gradually robs people of the ability to breathe. There are no known causes or treatments for IPF, and it's usually fatal within three years of diagnosis.

West Highland White Terriers (Westies) are prone to a disease that is remarkably similar to IPF.

The symptoms in Westie's are a shortness of breath and excessive panting, and the disease is usually fatal within eighteen months of diagnosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis tends to affects Westie's when they are 7 to 9 years old; this is equivalent to 40 - 60 human years and is when IPF typically shows itself in humans.

Earlier this year veterinary and human medical researchers met to discuss and share information about IPF, and determine how they could work together to find the cause and a treatment for the disease.

For veterinarians the advantage of any collaboration is that they can learn from human research how to better diagnose and treat dogs that are dying from fibrotic lung disease.

As it's believed that dogs age at a rate that is approximately seven times the human rate of aging, scientists would have the opportunity of studying the disease in 'fast forward', which may mean the cause and treatments can be found more quickly.

Cracking the IPF code is still a long way off, but hopefully it will become that much closer with this collaborative research.

Kudos to the Westie Foundation of America who initiated the conference, and to the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation and Morris Animal Foundation who both contributed additional funding.


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Why Dog Eyes Glow at Night

Posted by Clare Bristow | 3 Comments

dog-eyes

Have you ever noticed your dog's eyes glowing at night, and wondered why they do that?

At the back of their eyes dogs have a mirror-like layer of cells called the tapetum lucidum.

The job of the tapetum lucidum is to improve your dogs vision in dim light, and it does this by reflecting light back to the retina.

The more light the retina receives the more information it has to work with to translate that light into images (that's a very simplistic version of how our eyes work!).

So when your dog's eyes are glowing, what you're seeing is light being reflected by the tapetum lucidum.


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