5 Pet Health Tips for A Happy Heart

It’s the month of happy hearts and we’re celebrating with 5 simple tips to keep your pet’s heart healthy and strong.

Keep Their Pearly Whites Gleaming!

Does your pet constantly have bad breath? It may be caused by something more than what they ate. Bad breath can be a result of plaque, tartar buildup or periodontal disease. Regularly cleaning their teeth can help prevent these oral diseases which, if left neglected, can lead to increased risk to organ damage. How does this happen? Toxins from oral diseases are absorbed into your pet’s bloodstream and can damage the heart, kidney and liver.

There are numerous ways to keep your pet’s teeth clean, but the first and most important step is regular teeth brushing. To start brushing their teeth, begin with training your furry friend! Place the toothbrush in their mouth and immediately reward them with their favorite treat. They’ll get used to it in no time and you’ll be able to comfortably brush their entire mouth! For a quicker way to clean your pet’s mouth, give PetzLife Oral Gel a try! This all-natural gel breaks down plaque and tartar, works under the gum line to help heal gum tissue and kills the bacteria that causes bad breath. Another way you can support healthy teeth is to sprinkle PlaqueOff Powder into their food as part of their daily routine. This helps treat bad breath, gums and breath odor, and results can be seen between 3-8 weeks! All these products can be purchased at your local Healthy Spot.

For a professional service, we also recommend K9 Grillz, a veterinarian supervised, non-anesthetic dental cleaning service available at all Healthy Spot locations. Not only will your dog or cat get their teeth cleaned, but you’ll also be informed about your pet’s current dental health. This is all done without anesthesia, so you get to see your pup or kitten walk out with a smile! You can easily make an appointment at your local Healthy Spot store by calling today!

No matter how busy your lifestyle may be, keeping your pet’s mouth clean will help prevent long-term health problems in the future. Brush those problems away now!

Research Your Fur Baby’s Food

Food is what fuels everyone, including your furry BFF! We know that with a high-quality, healthy diet, we can prevent our own long-term health issues. This is the same for pets, who are affected even greater since they age much faster than we do. By providing a nutritious diet, your pet will feel better, stronger and more energetic! They’ll have a healthier digestion, better skin and coat and even fresher breath. But where to begin?

Start off by understanding food labels. The ingredients are listed by weight from most to least, meaning you should be seeing a protein listed first and weighing more than all of the carbohydrates mentioned, combined. Watch out for meat by-products or meat meals since these often contain unwanted ingredients grounded into a mix during processing. Also, look for deprived quality proteins such as corn gluten meal, wheat gluten meal, rice protein concentrates and soy protein. These are cheap fillers that do not contain any nutritional value.

Move on to the end of the ingredient list, where artificial colors and preservatives are usually mentioned. Make sure ingredients like “Red #5” or “Yellow #40” are not added in their food. Pets are not biologically meant to intake such fillers. Pets should only be consuming ingredients appropriate for their digestive system, such as real meat and organs.

Lastly, look at the Guaranteed Analysis. This section shows the minimum or maximum levels of nutrients in the food such as protein, fat, fiber and moisture. However, keep in mind that wet and dry food are measured differently and their lists cannot be compared. Canned foods typically contain 75-78% moisture, whereas dry foods contain only 10-12% moisture.

Depending on the diet you or your veterinarian think is best for your pet, we recommend getting familiar with food labels, so you can feel confident you’re providing the very best for your furry family member!

Keep Your Pet Flea-Free

Have you and your pet had to deal with pesky fleas? Not only are fleas and ticks irritating and annoying, but these parasites can also transmit diseases such as tapeworms and Lyme’s Disease, resulting in long-term effects on your pet! But how do we keep them clear from these parasites when they are just about everywhere?

Start off by cleaning everything while beginning preventative care! To get rid of and prevent fleas in the future, we recommend a few products that have truly helped many pets, starting with Earth Animal Daily Herbal Powder. By adding this daily to your pet’s food, it naturally changes your pet’s odor and taste of their blood that fleas, ticks and mosquitos absolutely hate. We also like Wondercide’s Flea & Tick Spray, a 100% naturally-derived, fast-acting spray that you can rub on your pet, as well as spray around your home, to kill fleas fast. Lastly, to soothe your pup’s skin and get all the fleas off their body, indulge them with a flea bath at Healthy Spot’s Grooming Salon. With these three actions, we’re confident you’ll win the flea battle! 

For more insight on how to detect fleas and get rid of them, check out a true flea story written by a Healthy Spot team member HERE.

Start Giving Supplements

Kick your pet’s health up a notch! Whether you’d like to add more moisture to their diet or naturally aid issues like arthritis, adding supplements to your pet’s diet may be a great solution. At Healthy Spot, we offer natural supplements from sprays, to gels, to a broth pets can lap up and enjoy!

Boost your pet’s digestion with Spot On Bone Broth! This Healthy Spot brand broth is hormone-free, grass-fed and provides numerous benefits. It helps detoxify the liver and rid the body of toxins while adding collagen to the skin and coat. If you notice your pet has redness on their skin and coat, hot spots, or even shedding excessively, we suggest adding this bone broth to their diet.

Does your pet suffer from joint pain? Give our Mind, Body, Bowl Hemp Oil a try! Not only will this oil calm their hip and joint pain but can also relieve any mental stress they may have. Hemp oil is a natural way to help calm and soothe your pet both internally and externally without any added ingredients or side effects. Also, hemp oil is known to help with long-term pain or even stress when they travel.

Looking for something specific to your pet’s needs? We now carry four Earth Animal Herbal Remedy Tinctures we think every pet owner should have. Tinctures are concentrated liquid herbal extracts, and these by Earth Animal are human grade, so you know your pet is receiving 100% benefits without any hidden ingredients.

Allergy & Skin – Helps maintain healthy skin and soothe skin related issues associated with seasonal allergies

Clean Mouth, Gums & Breath – Neutralizes odor, relieves inflammatory issues, and helps soothe and comfort gums

Vital Eye – Supports healthy eye function, calm irritations and maintain optimal vision

Urinary & Kidney Relief – Maintains normal kidney function and helps normalize bladder and kidney muscle function

With the right diet and appropriate supplements, your pet will thank you for investing in their healthy heart!

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise!

We know this is important, but how much exercise does your pet need? Depending on their life stage and personal needs, here are general guidelines based on your pup’s age:

Puppy – Shorter bursts of energy from your puppy are to be expected. In general, puppies need a few short sessions throughout the day that lasts 5-10 minutes each.

Adult – Sporting dog breeds need 60-90 minutes of physical activity daily and less-active breeds require anywhere from 30-60 minutes of exercise a day.

Senior – 30-60 minutes broken into two or more sessions is ideal.

For cats, it is recommended they get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Explore several types of activities to see which one your kitty likes best, from interactive toys to coaching them to walk on a leash outdoors.

We also encourage physical and mental activities supplemented with social, interactive events such as Healthy Spot hosted Play Dates, Yappy Hours and more. You can view all of our current events HERE so you can start your pet’s journey to being healthy and happy for a very long time!

Show your furry love how much you adore them by prioritizing their heart’s health. This way, you know they are happy, comfortable and have more time to play and cuddle with their favorite human. Have any questions of the products or events mentioned? Stop by or call your local Healthy Spot today!