Zyrtec (cetirizine) is an antihistamine approved for use in humans to treat allergy symptoms. In veterinary medicine it’s used in both cats and dogs for the same indication...and more.

For dogs, I’ll turn to Zyrtec when Benadryl (diphenhydramine) fails. Usually, these are the itchy dogs: the hot spot-ridden, flea allergic, food allergic and/or atopic (inhalant allergic). Except in older dogs...

Here’s an issue for you: Ever been to the veterinary hospital to pick up some heartworm medication and been told it’s time for a test before they can sell it to you or script it out? Been denied by the online pharmacy based on your veterinarian’s unwillingness to offer a prescription until she sees you again?

It happens all the time. Owners want a prescription product so they can responsibly...

In this week’s post on my Slumdog’s recent need for sedation, the tranquilizer known as acepromazine was addressed in response to a round of questions. As in––Why wouldn’t you use this tried and true veterinary drug on your own dog?

When I offered my answer, I received a comment urging me to be more clear about “ace” so that pet owners wouldn’t get a one-sided view of this popular drug. In...

I tend to talk a lot about kibble-feeding in cats. As in, play catch with the kibble by throwing it across the floor. If you do this often enough, it’ll help whittle away her sagging waistline, I say.

Recently, some of you have reprimanded me: “You’re recommending ‘kitty crack’! Everyone knows dry food is bad for cats!” But is it really?

Pound-for-pound, kibble has always out-sold canned cat...

No, it’s not a typo. “Prebiotics” are distinct from the “probiotic” dietary supplements we’ve treated here before. But they’re not altogether different. They still work at the level of the small intestine where swarms of bacterial colonies reside and feed happily on your pets’ Gi goo.

But instead of supplying “good” bacteria directly (usually in a probiotic chewie or powder), prebiotics...

If you’re a regular Dolittler reader you’ll know I’m a big proponent of routine rabies vaccination. I’ll even go so far as to raise the gruesome specter of the disease’s dreaded symptoms and universal fatality to get you to comply. I’m also not above using guilt along with scare tactics. Anything goes when it comes to mitigating the public health risk of rabies.

Why? Because I’ve had more...

Got a pet? Of course you do. Exercise with her? Maybe yes. Maybe no. Either way, it’s time to take a survey!

Since we’re usually hashing and rehashing research here on Dolittler, I thought it might be apropos to help contribute some raw data of our own for a change. This time, its about human exercise and animal-keeping. And who among us is NOT interested in this subject?

After all, this is...

A couple of months ago a tearful client explained that she’d had to go into the hospital for a MRSA infection. And now that her physician had demanded she remove all pets from her household, her husband and teenaged son had refused to live in the same house until she complied with the order––which, of course, she didn’t do. (Would you?)

Because of the limited data available on MRSA...

Imagine your pet suffers from an insidious disease she’ll have to suffer with for the rest of her life. Next, picture a simple surgery that can fix it. No more drugs. No more side effects. No more constant testing.

Not that you general practitioner or internal medicine specialist doesn’t deserve a shot at treating your pet’s ills. And trust me, you’ll not yet want to go running off to the...

Pet owners make all kinds of excuses for their fat pets. This especially popular Dolittler entry from a few months back exposes them. Today’s post offers yet another I should have detailed. It's one that gets cited most every time I discuss a canine exercise regimen in any detail: “But she hurts whenever I try to exercise her.”

It’s a conundrum, really. And it's not just to do with overweight...