Heartworm is a particularly nasty parasite which is spread from host to host by mosquitoes. Dog heartworms are a kind of filaris (a long thin worm), but the condition can affect cats, ferrets, coyotes, wolves, sea lions and even humans. This worm was named as such due to its habit in the final stage of its reproductive cycle to live in the heart of its host.

Heartworm preventative measures include the drugs Ivermectin, Milbemycin, and Selamectin, and in all cases it is much better to use heart worm protection for dogs rather than cure the infestation once established. Once your pet contracts heart worms the treatments used take a long time and also may involve surgery. Treating existing infections is very expensive, even if you carry insurance, so you'll want to stay ahead of the chance of heartworm happening to your pet's health by using some form of heartworm protection.

You need to be careful when choosing which heartworm prevention medication that you give your dog, given the seriousness of a heartworm infestation.  The heartworm prevention medicine put on the market in 2001 called Proheart Six only required that your pet be injected two times within the year. At first, the heartworm prevention was believed to be a safe & easy way to administer care and prevention to pets, however the FDA of the USA intervened when reports of more than 5,000 pets became ill as a reaction from the medicine. Of the 5,000 reported there were 415 fatalities.

A dog is more than just a pet for most people; a dog is a companion, a friend, and better yet a playmate. There are a lot of things you can do to show your dog you care, but nothing is more caring than feeding your canine buddy a premium dog food.

Your dog is your best friend, right? You care enough about your best friend to ensure they are eating what's good for their health. Choosing the right pet foods for your dog is vital, but with so many dog food brands on the market ranging from all natural dog food, dry dog food, premium dog foods and so on, how can you make an informed decision about pet nutrition?

This is a basic description of popular dog foods based on cost and marketed as advisable for dogs with food allergies. At the cheaper end of the market Chicken Soup dog food has a higher level of fruit and vegetable in their recipe including potatoes, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries and spinach.