Pet Parents

Coleen Ellis lost her baby girl in 2003, and she was devastated. No one understood how she could be so upset over losing just a dog, and she could never really say goodbye to her terrier-schnauzer mix, Mico. To help pet parents everywhere, she opened the first standalone pet funeral home in the United States in Indianapolis. In this guidebook, she helps pet parents, veterinarians, death-care professionals and others celebrate the special bonds we share with our animal companions. Drawing upon her experiences helping thousands of pet parents and pet care professionals, Ellis provides: ideas to help celebrate the special bonds people share with their pets; checklists to choose the right cremation provider or funeral home; heartwarming stories that show how pets can be honored in life and in death; information on how death-care professionals, veterinarians and others are taking steps to serve pet parents; additional resources to help people remember their pets the way they want. People everywhere want to honor the lives of their pets, and even if you arent a pet owner, you need to understand why this is important. Help yourself and those you care about with Pet Parents: A Journey Through Unconditional Love and Grief.

Behavior Problems of the Dog & Cat, 4th Edition retains the highly practical approach that has proved so successful in previous editions, offering diagnostic guidelines, preventive advice, treatment guidelines and charts, case examples, client forms and handouts, and product and resource suggestions, along with details on the use of drugs and natural supplements to help optimize the behavior services offered in practice. Step-by-step guidelines describe how to collect a patient history, perform a thorough physical examination, conduct diagnostic testing, formulate differential diagnoses, select treatment, and monitor the patients’ responses. Background information describes how dog and cat behavior problems arise and how they can be prevented. Coverage of behavior modification techniques provides you with a clear understanding of suggested treatment as well as the use of drugs, products, pheromones, surgery, diet, and alternative therapies. Content on behavioral genetics explores this rapidly growing and advancing field and includes new therapeutic approaches for cognitive decline. Case studies illustrate real-life clinical situations. Easy-access treatment tables provide at-a-glance solutions to common behavior problems. Useful appendices include treatment protocols as well as the drug information and dosages that make effective prescribing easy. NEW! Many hot new topics are covered, including fear, anxiety, and stress and their effects on health and behavior, as well as pain and behavior, the psychobiological approach to veterinary behavior assessment, and pets and the family dynamic. NEW! Updated chapter content is extensively augmented or completely rewritten by new authors, making this more than just a new edition – it’s a new book! NEW! eBook version is included with print purchase which allows access to all of the text, figures, and references, with the ability to search, customize content, make notes and highlights, and have content read aloud. Online access also includes handouts and forms, drug dosing, and a comprehensive directory of resources.

This book recognizes and legitimizes the significance of pet and animal loss by exploring the various expressions of trauma and grief experienced by those who work with, live with, or own an animal or pet. The chapters of Pet Loss, Grief, and Therapeutic Interventions weave together cutting-edge research with best practices and practical clinical advice for working with grieving clients. Beginning with an overview of the human–animal bond, the book guides readers through the many facets of pet loss, including topics such as animal hospice and euthanasia, offering a comprehensive account of one of the field’s most rapidly emerging areas. Designed to help mental health professionals support clients coping with pet loss, the collection explores personal narratives, current theories, up-to-date research, and future directions. This unique and comprehensive book will be of interest to students, clinicians, academicians, and researchers in the fields of counseling, psychology, and social work.

Small Animal Microbiomes and Nutrition Comprehensive resource providing holistic coverage of the effect of body microbiomes on the health status of dogs and cats Small Animal Microbiomes and Nutrition offers new perspective on the prevention and treatment of common health conditions in dogs and cats that arise from or result in dysbiosis of the body’s microbiomes, along with providing alternative first-line solutions of utilizing nutrients—less invasive procedures in comparison to prescription drugs to treat dysbiosis in the body’s microbiomes. This practical manual guides the reader through body systems that are commonly influenced by the microbiota in the microbiomes as well as accompanying dietary recommendations. Initially, an overview of the body’s microbiome including common terminology and functions of microbiomes precede the chapters on development of the body’s microbiomes and factors influencing their diversity and density. The following three sections provide readers with a different perspective of commonly observed health conditions by focusing on the state of the microbiome and how the condition may be prevented and/or treated with the use of nutrients. Written by a highly qualified author with significant experience in the field, Small Animal Microbiomes and Nutrition includes information on sample topics such as: Results of research on alternative diets and emerging ingredients’ effect on the microbiomes and how to have the discussions with pet parents Nutrition focused calculations, feeding directions, and templates for history, and recommendation for follow-up conversations with pet parents Factors affecting the diversity and density of the microbiomes, such as genetics, age, sex, environment, stress, antibiotic therapy, and nutrition Integumentary microbiomes, covering the skin’s microbiome, dysfunctional barrier syndrome, atopy (atopic dermatitis), and key nutritional factors Small Animal Microbiomes and Nutrition is an essential resource for students completing companion animal health courses in two- and four-year programs, particularly those in veterinary technology, veterinary technician, and animal health technology diplomas and degrees, and it is also highly useful for students in other veterinary and animal science focused programs. Additionally, this book is essential in veterinary practices as a reference guide to support the transition into the utilization of microbiome medicine.

A practical guide to identifying risks in veterinary patients and tailoring their care accordingly Pet-specific care refers to a practice philosophy that seeks to proactively provide veterinary care to animals throughout their lives, aiming to keep pets healthy and treat them effectively when disease occurs. Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team offers a practical guide for putting the principles of pet-specific care into action. Using this approach, the veterinary team will identify risks to an individual animal, based on their particular circumstances, and respond to these risks with a program of prevention, early detection, and treatment to improve health outcomes in pets and the satisfaction of their owners. The book combines information on medicine and management, presenting specific guidelines for appropriate medical interventions and material on how to improve the financial health of a veterinary practice in the process. Comprehensive in scope, and with expert contributors from around the world, the book covers pet-specific care prospects, hereditary and non-hereditary considerations, customer service implications, hospital and hospital team roles, and practice management aspects of pet-specific care. It also reviews specific risk factors and explains how to use these factors to determine an action plan for veterinary care. This important book: Offers clinical guidance for accurately assessing risks for each patient Shows how to tailor veterinary care to address a patient’s specific risk factors Emphasizes prevention, early detection, and treatment Improves treatment outcomes and provides solutions to keep pets healthy and well Written for veterinarians, technicians and nurses, managers, and customer service representatives, Pet-Specific Care for the Veterinary Team offers a hands-on guide to taking a veterinary practice to the next level of care.

This updated edition of Pet Loss and Human Emotion is a step-by-step guide to leading clients through this special kind of grief. Includes resources and a section on pet loss and natural disasters. As society accepts that grieving over the death of a loved one is not only normal, but healthy and necessary, grieving over the loss of a pet is often seen differently. Expressed feelings often go unvalidated when in truth, pet loss is a unique form of grief that can be quite intense and debilitating, increasing an individual's vulnerability to subsequent stress and leaving them feeling isolated and misunderstood. Pet loss needs to be addressed by therapists and others in the helping professions, to better enable them to help their clients through the loss of their companion animals. This unique guide is written for all professionals helping clients deal with the loss of a pet, and serves as a practical introduction to the field of human-animal bonding. Citing several case studies, it describes various techniques for helping clients when the bond with a pet is broken.

The hugely illuminating story of how a popular breed of dog became the most demonized and supposedly the most dangerous of dogs—and what role humans have played in the transformation. When Bronwen Dickey brought her new dog home, she saw no traces of the infamous viciousness in her affectionate, timid pit bull. Which made her wonder: How had the breed—beloved by Teddy Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and Hollywood’s “Little Rascals”—come to be known as a brutal fighter? Her search for answers takes her from nineteenth-century New York City dogfighting pits—the cruelty of which drew the attention of the recently formed ASPCA—to early twentieth‑century movie sets, where pit bulls cavorted with Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton; from the battlefields of Gettysburg and the Marne, where pit bulls earned presidential recognition, to desolate urban neighborhoods where the dogs were loved, prized—and sometimes brutalized. Whether through love or fear, hatred or devotion, humans are bound to the history of the pit bull. With unfailing thoughtfulness, compassion, and a firm grasp of scientific fact, Dickey offers us a clear-eyed portrait of this extraordinary breed, and an insightful view of Americans’ relationship with their dogs.

Two media-savvy authors offer concrete, conflict-free solutions to the difficult situations that arise between family and friends. Through dozens of true stories, the authors show how creating a clearly written agreement prevents misunderstandings that can destroy relationships.