Pet Healthcare

"Healthcare expenses for pets are rising alongside the cost of medical care for humans, as more technological advances are made, veterinarians say.

Many U.S. pet owners are baby boomers who are no longer raising children and are willing to use a share of their disposable income to increase the quality of life for their animal companions, The New York Times reported Sunday.

"As we become a more pet-friendly environment, people want to take care of their pets more," said veterinarian Jerrold Boone.

People considering whether to adopt a pet should consider the potential cost, veterinarians say.

"It's not unusual to have bills over $1,000, and that can have a major impact when people are not ready for that," said Anna Worth, a veterinarian in Vermont and president of the American Animal Hospital Association."

Medicanimal

"MEDICANIMAL, after launching the business to provide premium pet care at affordable prices six months ago, is now one of the fastest-growing animal health retailers on the world-wide-web.

Andrew Bucher MRCVS and Ivan Retzignac founded MedicAnimal; two people with one goal, to provide not just affordable animal healthcare, but also care with a conscience.

Andrew Bucher, a veterinary surgeon, said: “We set up MedicAnimal because we both had the same philosophy, pet healthcare should be affordable, convenient, and can only be socially responsible if it is in collaboration with vets and charities.

“MedicAnimal is the socially conscious alternative to the largely commercial driven online pet pharmacies that seek to grow at the expense of vet practices. We vowed, from the start, that we would grow only through the support of vets and that our success would benefit animal charities world-wide. That’s why from the start, we partnered with some of the UK’s largest veterinary clinic groups and committed ourselves to donating 5% of profits to animal charities.”

Pets and Your Health

"In the United States, one out of every two households owns a pet. Studies indicate your mental and physical health can be positively affected by owning a pet. Today, stress is ever present in our daily lives and animals have proven to function as buffers against this stress. A University of California study determined that people with pets are less affected by stress than people without pets. Just by petting an animal, you can reduce stress and blood pressure. A study in Australia by Baker Medical Research Institute determined that pet owners have significantly lower blood pressure than people who do not have pets. Often, people with pets have better physical health and experience a reduced use of prescription drugs."

Ask Ariel

"Holistic Pet Expert, Susan Blake Davis from Ask Ariel Your Pet Nutritionist (www.AskAriel.com) is urging pet owners to take their pets to the veterinarian BEFORE their pets act sick. Davis says that holistic and preventative veterinary care are the keys to pet health and longevity. Her statement comes as a result of hearing heart wrenching tales from pet owners over the holidays seeking miracle cures because their pets needed to be euthanized and they didn’t even know they were sick."