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) 2008-2012 | The American Veterinary Medical Association. All rights reserved. Podcasting News prepared by the AVMA Division of Communications.
Bobcat fever, or cytauxzoonosis, is a deadly tickborne disease that not only affects wild cats, but can threaten our housecats as well. As the tick responsible for transmitting bobcat fever has spread across the country in recent years, so has the disease. Fortunately, a recently developed method of treatment for bobcat fever has greatly increased survival rates for cats infected with the disease. In this podcast, Dr. Leah Cohn, professor of small animal internal medicine at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, discusses bobcat fever and the new treatment protocol, which she helped develop.
National Hairball Awareness Day is formally recognized on the last Friday of April. But for cat owners, hairball awareness can happen just about any day. In this podcast, Dr. Jane Brunt, executive director of the CATalyst Council and owner and director of the Cat Hospital at Towson in Baltimore, discusses hairballs, how to prevent them and when they can be a cause for concern.
As people head outdoors to enjoy the warmer weather this time of year, many will come across young wildlife. Thinking that these adorable, seemingly helpless little creatures have been abandoned, some well-intentioned people will pluck these animals from forest floors and bring them home. Unfortunately this may actually create a problem where one did not exist. In this podcast, Dr. Peregrine Wolff, a veterinarian with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and secretary of the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, talks about what to do when encountering young wildlife.
Anyone who has been stung by a bee or wasp knows how painful this experience can be. Stings can also be deadly if the victim is allergic, or in the rare case of multiple stings from an aggressive swarm. But what about our pets: What risks do bees and wasps pose to our dogs and cats? In this podcast Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, staff veterinarian at VCA Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver, talks about the risks of bee and wasp stings for our pets, how to treat them, and how to avoid them.
For 50 years, the third week in March has been designated as National Poison Prevention Week, established in 1962 to highlight the dangers of poisonings and how to prevent them. While this week has traditionally focused on the health and safety of people, it's a good reminder to keep our four-legged members of the household in mind as well. In this podcast, Dr. Justine Lee, a board-certified emergency critical care veterinary specialist and the associate director of veterinary services for Pet Poison Helpline, talks about items in and around the house that may be poisonous to our pets.