Weekly podcasts provided for pet owners featuring pet health and safety tips from some of the leading veterinary experts in the United States, brought to you by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
AVMA Animal Tracks
Copyright (c) 2008-2009 | The American Veterinary Medical Association. All rights reserved. Podcasting News prepared by the AVMA Division of Communications.
With the Fourth of July fast approaching, many of us are making plans to celebrate the holiday with family and friends. Many of those plans will include, at some point or another, oohing and ahhing over fireworks. While entertaining to us humans, fireworks can be a traumatic surprise for our pets. Dr. Bonnie Beaver, past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, offers tips on how to keep pets safe and secure on the Fourth of July.
We humans know better than to cross paths with skunks, but our pets might not know just how bad an idea it is to pick a fight with-or even just investigate-a skunk. Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald from Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and a featured veterinarian in Animal Planet's television series E-Vet Interns, talks about what to do if your pet is sprayed by a skunk.
Earlier this month, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) issued an updated version of its Senior Care Guidelines for cats. Like many animals, cats are masters at hiding signs of illness, so as they age it's imperative that pet owners know how to recognize illness in their cats and work with their veterinarians to ensure a high quality of care and a high quality of life. Dr. Gerard Beekman, a veterinarian with Coastal Cats Feline Health Care in Maine and co-author of the AAFP Senior Care Guidelines, offers tips on caring for an older cat.
Most of us think of mosquitoes as a nuisance, but they can also be a serious threat to our health. West Nile Virus is probably the most well-known mosquito-borne disease in the United States, but there are several others, including our subject of today's podcast, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). Dr. Donald Hoenig, the state veterinarian of Maine, discusses the dangers of EEE, for horses and people.
Most of us are aware of the dangers of the drug-resistant pathogen MRSA, particularly in health care settings such as hospitals. But as Kristy Bradley, Public Health Veterinarian and Epidemiologist for the State of Oklahoma, explains, MRSA is an emerging threat for our pets as well.