As part of the PetArmor Campaign, The Walmart Moms were recently given an opportunity to speak with popular Veterinarian Dr Karen Halligan via WebCam Conference about some important things that pet owners can do to keep their pets happy and healthy. Unfortunately, due to other obligations, I was not able to make that conference, but like the other Walmart Moms, I did receive a copy of Doc Halligan’s book What Every Pet Owner Should Know, Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs. Reading this book over the last week, I’ve learned so much about keeping our dog healthy, I kinda felt bad about some of the things we really didn’t worry about before!

So, most people know that you can’t feed your dog chocolate, but did you know that bones, alcohol, milk, cheese, ham, onions and garlic, caffeine, avocados, tuna fish, raisins and grapes, macadamia nuts, tobacco, liver, fat, potato peels, yeast dough, moldy, spoiled food, rhubarb and tomato leaves/stems, mushrooms, plums, peaches, pears, apricot pits and apple cores are ALL potentially harmful for your pets??? What a list right?? It’s scary knowing that so many people who feed their pets table scraps could be putting them at risk!

Did you know that health prevention can possibly increase your pet’s life by about 20%? Just like in humans, many common diseases and ailments are preventable and inexpensive to treat if caught in it’s early stages. It’s imperative that you take your pet for it’s checkups, and follow your Veterinarian’s instructions for treatment and follow up care. A great way to help catch signs and symptoms of health issues is to do a weekly “once-over” on your pet at home. Not only will this help you catch health problems early, but it can also help your pet get used to being handled, so Vet visits are just a little bit easier for them. Make sure you take your pet to see their Vet at least once per year too!

I have really enjoyed reading Doc Halligan’s book, What Every Pet Owner Should Know, Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs and really do recommend it to anyone who owns a pet, or is thinking about getting one! I’ve had a dog for almost 3 years now, and have had several pets before him, yet there were things I did not know that I learned after reading this book.

I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for my time and efforts on this post. Participation in this program is voluntary. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.