All tagged Cathy Riehm
Animal Health & Welfare • Want Goats?
Keeping any kind of animal requires that you educate yourself on the risks and responsibilities in order to provide a healthy life for your pet(s).
One of the scariest words a horse owner can hear is ‘colic’. Colic is the term for abdominal pain caused by some sort of obstruction in the intestines (gas, feces… maybe a twist in the guts). Since horses are unable to vomit, it is very important that their digestive system move freely in the one direction.
Animal Health And Welfare: Laminitis
What do some of us think of when Spring rains bring lush green grass? Laminitis! During the Spring (and Fall), sunny days and cool nights create a surge of sugar in the grass. For horses, ponies, donkeys and even zebras, a fast intake of soluble carbohydrates (sugars and starch) can cause laminitis. So what is laminitis?
The flu has recently caused many people to be sick, and even die. Animals can get the flu, too. There were several cases of dog flu reported in the Bay Area just in the last few months. We know that humans can get the flu from other humans and dogs can get the flu from other dogs. Viruses, as well as bacteria, fungi and parasites are all zoonotic. A zoonotic disease is one that can be transmitted from animals to humans- an example is the H1N1 swine flu influenza virus. Can we catch the flu from our pets and could we give our pets the flu? The general consensus is that while we can both catch a cold, the viruses that cause these colds are different.