2 Reasons Why You Should Educate Yourself on Your Pet's Breed

2 Reasons Why You Should Educate Yourself on Your Pet's Breed

When dogs or cats reproduce, often it is not just an accident. Instead, breeders have put together dogs or cats with specific characteristics or traits in order to breed a dog or cat that is most likely to have those traits. In the generations since men first began to have dogs and cats as domestic pets, this selective mating has produced distinct types of canines and felines, each with their own unique characteristics.

Educating yourself on your pets breed to learn more about the characteristics and traits associated with your pet is a smart move. You should do this for two reasons:

      1)     Educating yourself on your pet's breed will give you a clue as far as what health issues to look out for. There are certain breeds that are more susceptible to various types of canine illnesses than others. For example, snub nose dogs may have more respiratory problems while dogs with large chest cavities may be prone to bloat. By knowing what your dog or cat is at the greatest risk for, you can help to prevent problems.

      2)     Educating yourself about your pet's breed will help you to anticipate personality issues and understand behavior patterns. Beagles, for example, live life by their noses and are thus more likely to wander away if not leashed or kept in a securely fenced area since they will follow a scent anywhere.

To learn more about your pet's breed, visit the Web-DVM breedguide.

Use Our Symptom Checker

When your dog or cat is behaving abnormally, this can be a sign of a medical problem. Often, it is confusing to know what your dog or cat is trying to tell you and you may be unaware of what symptoms or behaviors are signs of a mild illness and what constitutes an emergency situation.

We realize that going to the vet every time your pet seems a little out-of-sorts or has a slight upset tummy can be a very expensive proposition, so instead you should consider using the Web-DVM symptom checker to learn more about the common symptoms of many canine and feline diseases.

Get Valuable Knowledge…at No Cost

Using a symptom checker to get information about some of the common signs and symptoms of illnesses your dog or cat may come down with will help you to be prepared if an emergency situation does arise so you can get your pet to the vet quickly. When you are aware of the symptoms associated with common pet illnesses, you can also be more watchful when something is wrong so you can act quickly and authoritatively. This could someday help you to make decisions that save your pets life.   

Note: you should always take your dog or cat to the vet when ill as there is no substitute for medical attention, but the symptom checker is a great way to learn exactly how to tell when your pet is ill so you'll know when to act.