Grooming Tips From Our Veterinary Clinic

Although you can bring your dogs and cats into our Saskatoon vet clinic for professional grooming sessions, there's a lot you can do at home as well. Taking care of your pet's grooming needs at home ensures that she has a healthy coat, skin, and paws. In addition, it helps you bond with your pet through regular time spent together. Regular grooming of your pet at home is a great complement to the professional grooming appointments offered at the vet clinic.

How to Groom Your Dog or Cat at Home

1. Spend time petting your dog or cat all over, getting her used to the feeling of human touch on all parts of her body that you are planning to groom. Doing this when your pet is relaxed will help the experience go more smoothly for both of you.

2. Use a comb to gently comb out any tangled areas of your dog or cat's coat. Then, using a brush or grooming mitt, brush out the whole coat starting at your pet's head and working down towards her feet. This process not only makes your pet's coat look great, but it also reduces shedding. Our veterinary clinic staff can recommend tools for combing and brushing your particular breed of dog or cat.

3. As you groom, keep an eye out for problems, like sores, scratches, or lumps under the skin. If you notice anything abnormal, make an appointment with our Saskatoon veterinarian right away to get a professional evaluation.

4. Give your dog or cat a bath after a grooming session if she's gotten into something dirty or has developed an unpleasant odor. To do this, put a nonslip mat in the tub or sink, fill it with about 4 inches of water, and put your pet in. If you have a spray nozzle, use that to get your pet's coat damp, work in the pet shampoo, and rinse your pet.

What parts of the grooming routine does your pet particularly like or dislike?

Our Veterinarians Support Pet Shelter and Rescue

At our veterinary clinic, we work with New Hope Dog Rescue and SCAT (Saskatoon Street Cat Rescue). These rescue organizations work tirelessly to pair responsible pet owners with pets who need homes. Our vets believe pet adoption is a wonderful alternative to purchasing a kitten or puppy, especially from a mill.

Top 3 Reasons We Love Pet Adoptions

1. Adoption Saves Lives

Adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue saves lives. While some shelters do their best to support all the pets they rescue, some rescued animals ultimately get euthanized when the shelter cannot afford to continue supporting them. At our cat and dog clinic in Saskatoon, we know that overpopulation results in more pets being brought to shelters and more pets being euthanized. By adopting your next pet, you could be saving their life.

2. Adoption Lowers Demand for Puppies and Kittens from Unhealthy Mills

While that puppy in the pet shop window may look perfectly adorable, pet shops often get their puppies from purebred puppy mills or backyard kitten mills. These mills are like factories that simply produce as many animals as possible, as quickly as possible, so they can sell them to pet stores and make higher profits. Some mills have been known to resort to inbreeding and forcing females to deliver several litters each year, often in unhealthy environments.

3. Adopted Pets are Good Pets

It is pure myth that rescued pets in shelters were rejected by their owners because they were bad pets. Shelters will accept pets from families or from a cat and dog clinic for a variety of good reasons. Families may be forced to move to an apartment that will not accept pets or someone in the family may develop an allergy. Sometimes a non-spayed pet gets pregnant and the family cannot care for the litter. Adopted pets develop a special fondness for those who save them. You will have a friend for life when you rescue a cat or dog from a shelter.

Have you recently adopted from a shelter or rescue? Share your pet’s story.

Pet Health Tips from Our Saskatoon Veterinarian

Welcome to back to the blog for our Saskatoon veterinary clinic! Our animal hospital team is committed to keeping pet owners up to date on the latest pet wellness news. Be sure to check back regularly for informative posts filled with animal care tips, seasonal wellness updates and answers to all your pet care questions.

You Ask, We Answer:
Pet Care Tips from Our Cat and Dog Clinic

At Lakeview Veterinary Clinic, we offer a range of pet services thanks to our state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and therapeutic procedures. Did you know that preventive care is just as important for dogs and cats as it is for humans? In fact, an annual wellness visit is an important opportunity for checking on the status of your pet’s health. During this check-up, our veterinarian Dr. Tammy Elliott-Reich can test for parasites, conduct diagnostic blood work and perform a full physical. Dr. Elliot-Reich can also confirm that your pet is up to date on all necessary vaccinations. Many vaccines, including rabies, require annual boosters to remain effective. If you have questions about your pet’s vaccination record or the safety or companion animal vaccines, our wellness team is always happy to address your concerns.

The annual wellness exam is especially important for older pets. As our pets start to age, we may notice that their senses and movements begin to slow. What we can’t see is how their internal organs are also aging. A diagnostic physical can check for early symptoms of heart problems, cancer or thyroid imbalance – three conditions that are common in older pets. Just like with humans, the earlier we can diagnose these health conditions, the more our care team can do to ensure your pet lives a long, healthy life.

In the event of a pet emergency, we offer digital x-rays and endoscopic evaluations at our surgical suite. These minimally invasive procedures allow for prompt and accurate diagnosis, allowing our team to take action to work to save your pet’s life.

We look forward to using this blog as an opportunity to answer your pet care questions! What questions would you like us to answer?

Pet Dental Cleanings Stop More Than Doggy Breath

No one likes the smell of bad breath. But did you know that doggy or kitty breath is a sign of a serious oral health problem? Imagine if you never brushed your teeth after eating. Like your dog or cat, you’d suffer from a pretty awful case of bad breath, thanks to the growth of microscopic bacteria on tiny food particles. Yikes! Without regular brushing or dental appointments, this plaque would build up along your gum line, causing the development of periodontal disease.

Pet Dental Cleanings Affect Your Pet's Health

Since your pet can’t brush his own teeth, regular pet dental care is essential to preventing periodontal disease. At our Saskatoon veterinary clinic, our veterinarian Dr. Tammy Elliott-Reich recommends annual dental cleanings for all pets. Just like a wellness exam or vaccinations boosters, an annual dental cleaning will help keep your pet healthy.

Periodontal disease is a serious problem affecting the majority of dogs aged three years or older. While the disease occurs slowly over time, the effects can be devastating. The first stage is gingivitis, a reversible condition caused by the buildup of bacteria along the gum lines. This bacteria forces the gum away from the teeth in some places, creating pockets that trap additional food and bacteria. Advanced gingivitis leads to periodontal disease. Bacterial infections damage the gums, leaving them red, swollen, and puffy. If a bacterial infection enters the bloodstream, this infection may seriously compromise the health of internal organs including the kidney, liver and heart.

Regular dental cleanings are the best way to protect your pet from periodontal disease. During a cleaning at our veterinary clinic, our veterinarian will remove any plaque from your pet's teeth and polish the surface to resist future bacterial build up. Our dog and cat clinic offers ultrasonic dental cleaning, which makes the polishing process as painless and efficient as possible.

As part of our Saskatoon pet services, we can also show you how to properly brush your dog’s teeth. Our veterinarian recommends a weekly brushing to help prevent plaque build-up between dental cleanings.

Do you brush your cat or dog’s teeth?