We often receive emails from people wanting information about their pet's health problems. We're not veterinarians, so we always recommend you talk to your vet about any problems your pet is having. They are best suited to provide an accurate diagnosis and treatment. Please take your pet to your veterinarian for health concerns and questions. As with any profession, there are good veterinarians and bad veterinarians. If you don't feel comfortable with your vet or the information you are receiving, you may want to seek a second opinion. The following page of our site lists various links to veterinary clinics, services, and directories. Some of these we are familiar with and some we are not, so be sure to feel comfortable with whatever veterinarian you choose: http://www.dogpack.com/directory/veterinarians.htm
Researching on the web can provide additional information, but it is never as good as an "in person" exam by a licensed veterinarian. As long as that is realized, we will be happy to point you toward some web sites that may provide some useful information. However, because information on the Internet changes so frequently, we cannot guarantee the validity or usefulness of the information on any site we mention or link to.
Some of the animal health sites, especially the ones that have a veterinarian answering your questions, charge a small fee. However, no on-line analysis or research is as good as having your dog examined in person by a licensed veterinarian. Waiting to see your vet or attempting your own diagnosis could result in a worsening of your pet's condition.
Our health page (http://www.dogpack.com/health/dogHealth.htm) has links to each of the following sites we mention below, in case you ever need to reference those pages again.
(1) VetInfo is a searchable database of questions/answers previously answered by a veterinarian. The search page is:
http://208.234.20.93/vetinfo.com.html
When you enter your search words in the box on the left on this page, it will return all the questions and answers with those search words in them. You might be able to find a question from someone with a similar problem. Although Dr. Mike isn't providing on-line consults anymore, the database is still on-line for anyone to search for free.
(2) Another on-line resource is "Ask Dr. Ahearne" at http://www.familypetdoctor.com/
This is not a free resource - it's $9.95 for the first 3 months, but you can ask a vet about any of your pets as often as you like during those 3 months.
(3) Another resource is http://www.CanineHealthOnline.org/ which is a series of question and answer Forums provided by the AKC Canine Health Foundation. Their purpose is to provide a means for you to access the most outstanding experts and information on canine health, behavior, and nutrition.
(4) The AVMA's Care for Animals site also has some canine health information:
http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/CFAsiteindex.asp
(5) Another on-line resource is "Ask Dr. Jeff" at http://www.homevet.com/index6.html
(6) Another on-line resource is http://www.AskDVM.com/ where each question costs $9.95
(7) For breed related health problems, the most up to date source is usually the national breed clubs web sites.
(8) For general web searches, we like the google search engine. However, be aware that google and all the search engines may return sites of questionable value and with inappropriate content.
Most of all, we hope you take your pet to a veterinarian to help diagnose and treat whatever problem he/she may be having.
Sincerely,
The Dog Pack
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