Best Friends Forever: Keeping Kids and Pets Safe Together

Kids and pets are adorable!

Growing up with a pet holds fond memories for many of us, and if you’re raising your own two and four-legged family, congratulations! Having a pet in the home is a wonderful experience for most children, and the benefits can be quite profound. Living with pets can promote empathy, compassion, self-esteem, nurturing skills, and a sense of responsibility.

Yet, while kids and pets make the cutest of buddies, it’s surprisingly easy for one or both of them to become injured by the other. To keep everyone safe, special care should be taken to teach a child the right ways to interact with a furry friend. With these tips from the staff at Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center, you can better ensure that both your animal and human kids are safe and happy.

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Choosing The Right Pet for You

Choosing the right pet can make or break the human-animal bondSharing your life with a pet can bring great joy and fulfillment. And, it’s exciting to think about bringing home that cute cat or adorable dog. But before diving in, it’s important (and smart!) to think about and consider your own lifestyle, and how a certain pet breed or species may be a better choice for you.

Each type of pet requires different housing, exercise, feeding, grooming, veterinary care and demands on your time. Pets also have their own personalities and energy levels, so a good personality fit, along with activity needs that match your own, should be considered as well. We at Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center are here to help you explore the questions that will prepare you to choose the right pet for the way you live. And, with Adopt a Shelter Pet Month in full swing, the timing couldn’t be better for this topic! Continue…

Differently-Abled, Definitely Wonderful: Dispelling Deaf Dog Myths

Caring for a deaf dog can live a long and happy life. There’s something special about dogs. Perhaps it’s their unwavering loyalty and devotion or their unique ability to read our emotions and body language. Maybe it’s the way they inspire joy in our lives every single day. Whatever the case, the bond between human and canine is awe-inspiring.

When most of us look at our dogs, we only see their inner light, and this is never more apparent than with deaf dogs. Unfortunately, deaf dog myths abound in our culture, but in reality, dogs of any ability level can lead happy, productive lives. At Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center, we’ve set out to dispel the top 5 deaf dog myths and to show our readers what these often misunderstood pets can do. Continue…

When a Kiss Won’t Cut it: A Spotlight on Pet Pain Management

Pet pain management is key to your pet living a long life

When it comes to pet pain management, veterinary medicine has made tremendous strides in the past century. It’s now common knowledge that pets feel pain in much the same way as humans and that chronic pain can impair the healing process by interfering with immune function, decreasing appetite, and increasing anxiety.

Improving the quality and longevity of our patients’ lives is one of our top priorities. Let’s take a moment to focus on a pet’s pain and the various ways we can help manage it.

Recognizing Pet Pain

Recognizing signs of pain in pets is crucial for their care and comfort. Our pets can’t verbally communicate their discomfort, so it’s up to us as owners to observe and interpret changes in their behavior. Common signs that your pet might be in pain include:  

  • Sudden limping
  • Pacing
  • Crying out or growling
  • Excessive licking
  • Loss of appetite
  • Lack of grooming
  • Lethargy or decreased activity
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Pet Safety During Fire Season

Pet Safety During Fire Season

In the greater Denver area and across Colorado and the West, wildfires are a serious concern, especially during a dry year. While it’s easy to understand the danger wildfires pose to people, homes and property, have you ever considered how wildfires affect our pets? The team at Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center is here with tips for pet safety during the wildfire season!

Wildfire Evacuations

Suffice it to say that evacuations don’t always occur at a time that’s convenient for us. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead and know how to care for your pet should the need arise. Continue…

A Brave New (Pain Free) World: All About CBD Oil for Pets

CBD oil for petsIn 2000, Colorado became one of the first states to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Since then, many other states have followed suit (29 to be exact). Nine states (including Colorado) have legalized its recreational use, as well.

What does this have to do with pets? More than you may realize. Not only have cases of marijuana toxicity in pets increased since marijuana laws began passing, but pet owners have also been turning to marijuana to try and help their pets with a variety of medical issues. Specifically, they’re seeking the oil extracted from the hemp plant, called cannabidiol oil (CBD oil) to treat their pet’s pain and other ailments.

The use of CBD oil for pets is growing in popularity, but is it right for your pet?

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The New Lone Tree Vet App: Care at Your Fingertips

The New Lone Tree Vet AppDid you know that we now have our very own App? At Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center, we recognize that the benefits of smartphone technology are far reaching for our patients and their families, and it’s our pleasure to bring this service to your fingertips. We are excited to announce the launch of our new Lone Tree Vet App, available free of cost, for both android and iPhone! You can download our new App by searching Lone Tree Vet in your App store or by simply following the links above.

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So Fresh and So Clean: The Importance of Pet Tooth Brushing

pet tooth brushingCan you imagine never brushing your teeth? The idea probably seems distasteful to you, but it’s an unfortunate reality for many pets.

Studies show that roughly 73% of cat owners and 43% of dog owners admit to never having brushed their pet’s teeth. While this may not seem like a serious issue for your pet, poor oral hygiene can lead to periodontal disease, pain and tooth loss. Moreover, the bacteria from dental disease can spread throughout the body leading to systemic health issues and a shortened life span.

If you’ve never given much thought to your pet’s oral health, it’s not too late to start taking care of their teeth. While there are several ways you can help keep your pet’s teeth healthy, daily tooth brushing is the single most effective way to prevent dental disease and associated problems.

The purpose of pet tooth brushing daily is to remove the sticky plaque that develops on the teeth before it hardens and forms into tartar. Unfortunately, once tartar has formed, it cannot be brushed off and will require a professional dental cleaning to be removed.

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New Year, New Pet Wellness Resolutions!

A pup looking up at their human as they walkIt’s hard to believe another year has come and gone, but here we are in 2018! Facing a brand new year is both exciting and daunting, offering us the possibility of starting over in many areas of our lives, such as health and wellness and work habits.

Along with upgrading our personal lifestyles, pet wellness can and should be on the forefront of our New Year’s resolutions. Our list of ideas are designed to be simple and effective ways to give your pet a healthy boost in 2018!

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Lone Tree Veterinary Hospital’s Top 10 Blogs Of 2017!

A dog laying on the ground with a quirky smileWhether you’re gearing up for a big end-of-the-year celebration, or you’re planning a quiet evening at home, you’re likely using some of this time to reflect on the past year and set goals for the future. At Lone Tree Veterinary Medical Center, we are doing the same; our year has been busy, challenging, and absolutely rewarding thanks to our wonderful patients and their families!

With meaningful topics such as pet dental care, traveling with a pet, and rattlesnake safety, we do our best to bring you information you can use to improve the daily lives of your amazing pets. Whether you are a newcomer to the website or a seasoned reader of our blogs, we invite you to enjoy the most popular 10 blogs of 2017:

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