Pedigree recalls food in CA and NV

Mars Petcare US has issued a limited recall of some of its 20-pound bags of Pedigree Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites which were sold at Albertsons in Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada because of possible salmonella contamination.

Click here to read the story

Hollywood Reporter

A new game show for cat lovers

Chuck Woolery is set to host "The Meow Mix Game Show," a cat-centered competition that will air on the cable station GSN (Game Show Network) beginning Nov. 15. If you have a cat and feel like you know a lot about them, you and your pet could win some big money on the show.

Click here to read the story

AP

Trial starts for 3 men in Puerto Rico pet massacre

Last year in October, 80 pets were sent to their death after being seized in a pet round up in a housing project.

The three men who were responsible for their deaths are being brought to trial. Click here to read the story

The Guardian UK

What has 4 ears and purrs?

OK, the purr part probably gave it away. Yoda, the cat with 4 ears is the answer. Click below to read his story and see for yourself.

Click here to read the story.

PET PROS HELP OUR PET OWNERS

This week's answers from our Pros

Pet Pros from across the US offer help for pet owners:

• 6 y/o Golden w/severe allergies: My 6 year old male Golden Retriever has severe environment and food allergies, hypothyroidism, and has now been diagnosed with epilepsy. He has several seizures a month that only occur while he is sleeping. This has gone on for at least 3 years. , some weeks there are several and some none. We were always told that dogs dream. He has been on so much medication (for allergies, bacterial and yeast infections, and most recently for a sleep disorder that the neurologist thought he might have ) these last couple years and has been miserable and not his happy golden self. Most recently,the clomipromine for the "sleep disorder" made him a total zombie and he stopped eating, playing, taking walks, etc. The neurologist is now suggesting meds for epilepsy. Are there alternatives to this that you could tell me about? We would like to help our dog but want him to have a chance to be a dog and not experience side effects of yet more medication. Note: we did give him 5 doses of gabapentin and saw side effects after just this (aggressive chewing, clumsiness, excessive thirst) he is currently on allergy vaccines, soloxine, primor and fluconazole (for skin/yeast infections. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

  Thank you

  . 1 Pro responded to this pet owner's question

• 5 y/o English Bulldog with itchy spots: I have a 5 y/o English Bulldog. I have taken him off steroids (about a year now) I cook for him.....ground beef, ground turkey, chicken, livers....veggies - green beans, peas and carrots, squash, broccoli...barley and brown rice. He keeps getting these pink spots on his back that itch him like crazy and they are kinda scabby. I also give him powdered vitamins for skin and coat. I put on his spots real aloe, pet salve, all natural itch spray but they take a really really long time to heal and then he gets them again. Do you have any suggestions?

  Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

  1 Pro responded to this pet owner's question

• 15 y/o cat healthy one day, terribly sick the next: My 15 year old cat, Toby, went from seeming to be fine one day to looking terrible the next. I hadn’t seen him look quite so dehydrated, hollow-eyed, lethargic, and sickly since he nearly died about 10 years ago from bladder stones. He’s been on prescription cat food since that time with no stone recurrence. We’d just had him to the vet 2 weeks earlier for a well checkup, and all was good. So, yesterday, we took him to the vet and they determined that he was constipated and had a full bladder that needed to be emptied. They took an x-ray and didn’t see any suspicious masses, did blood work which revealed everything at normal levels, did a urinalysis, which was fine. He had a slight temp and possibly a slight infection, which we’re treating with antibiotics. He was interested in drinking water and eating his dry food when we got home, and he’s urinated in his box, though no defecation yet. He appears much improved and his hydration is better, however, he’s developed a LIMP! Since last night! When I called the vet today to get his lab results, I asked whether he might have been difficult to x-ray or if there were any other situation whereby he was injured while at the vet, but the doctor said he was very cooperative. I don’t know what to make of this limping and whether or not it could be related to these other issues or if it’s a fluke injury. We’re continuing to observe him and we will definitely take him back to the vet, but I wanted to get an idea about whether limping might be associated with these other symptoms and what kind of problem might manifest itself so quickly with so many symptoms and no blood or urinary levels to support a problem.

  Thank You

  1 Pro responded to this pet owner's question

• 11 y/o Domestic Short Hair cat w/megacolon: My 11-year-old female DSH cat has been diagnosed with megacolon. Treatment (over a year) has consisted of frequent enemas and a daily oral injection of casapride and a stool softener, which I don't think works any more. Is there something else that can be done, not involving surgery, which I think is too dangerous for her age.

  Thank You

  3 Pros responded to this pet owner's question

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Puppy Lullaby

Here is one of the many responses we receive each week from pet owners across the US:

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"I was concerned about my dog's health and a friend told me about "AskAPetPro". I found an answer to the question I had and was able to discuss the problem with my own vet to get the help my dog needed. Thank you so much for this valuable resource!"

Francis - SF, CA"

Ask A Pet Pro Blog has some new posts. Check it out

More and more sites are linking to us, including Paws and Whiskers. Thanks for saying such nice things about VetLocator!

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If there are any other suggestions or features you would like to see added or changed about VetLocator.com, please let us know by emailing me at abferguson@vetlocator.com.

Thanks,
Adam