Articles
Advice on choosing a vet and caring for your pet.
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Autumn Hazards: What UK Pet Owners Should Watch For
Autumn pet safety in the UK: learn about seasonal risks for dogs and cats, including toxic mushrooms, mouldy leaves, conkers, acorns, antifreeze, rat poison, cold weather, darker walks, Halloween treats and Bonfire Night fireworks. Find simple tips to help keep pets safe, warm and visible, plus signs of poisoning or stress that need urgent veterinary advice.
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Boarding Facilities vs Home Visits: What Is Best for Your Guinea Pigs?
Guinea pig boarding facilities and home visits can both provide safe holiday care, but the right option depends on your guinea pigs’ health, temperament and daily routine. Boarding may suit guinea pigs that need medication, close checks or skilled care, while home visits often help nervous guinea pigs stay calm in their familiar enclosure. Keep bonded guinea pigs together, give clear feeding and vet details, and choose a carer who understands hay, vegetables, vitamin C and signs of illness.
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Cognitive Decline in Dogs: Signs, Causes and How to Support Your Dog
Learn about cognitive decline in dogs, also known as canine cognitive dysfunction or dog dementia. This guide covers common signs in senior dogs, including confusion, sleep changes, barking, pacing and house-training accidents, plus diagnosis, veterinary advice and simple ways to support your ageing dog at home.
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Alpaca Dental Health: Common Problems and Warning Signs Every Owner Should Know
Learn how to protect alpaca dental health with this clear guide to teeth, dental checks and common problems. It covers misaligned or overgrown incisors, sharp cheek teeth, tooth root abscesses, gum disease and fighting teeth. Spot warning signs such as weight loss, slow eating, dropped food, drooling, bad breath, facial swelling and nasal discharge. Regular veterinary dental checks, especially for older alpacas, help support grazing, body condition, comfort and long-term wellbeing.
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Why Sawdust or Wood Shavings Are Not Recommended for Guinea Pigs
Learn why sawdust, cedar and some pine wood shavings may be unsafe guinea pig bedding. Fine dust and aromatic oils can irritate guinea pigs’ lungs, eyes and skin, and may lead to breathing problems. Find safer low-dust bedding options, including paper bedding, fleece liners, hemp and cardboard pellets, plus cleaning advice and signs of bedding irritation.
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Car Sickness in Cats: Causes, Signs and How to Make Travel Less Stressful
Learn about car sickness in cats, including common causes such as motion sickness and travel anxiety, signs like drooling, vomiting and vocalising, and simple ways to help. Find advice on secure carriers, calm car journeys, feeding before travel, gradual training and when to contact a vet for support.
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The Complete Guide to Keeping Halloween Moon Crabs
Halloween Moon Crab care guide for Gecarcinus quadratus, covering enclosure size, deep moist substrate, temperature, humidity, freshwater and saltwater, feeding, behaviour, moulting and common health issues. These colourful semi-terrestrial crabs need a secure 60 x 45 cm or larger vivarium, with 70–80% land, 20–30% shallow water, and 15–20 cm of burrowing substrate. Keep temperatures at 24–28°C and humidity at 70–85%, feed a varied omnivorous diet with calcium, and avoid handling or overcrowding. With proper care, Halloween Crabs can live for 5–10 years.
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Understanding the Animal Welfare Act 2006
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is the main animal protection law in England and Wales. Learn about the legal duty of care, the five welfare needs, animal cruelty offences, banned procedures, inspector powers, penalties and how to report animal mistreatment.
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Boarding Facilities vs Home Visits: What Is Best for Your Rabbits?
Rabbit boarding vs home visits: learn which holiday care option suits your rabbit. Compare supervision, stress, travel, health needs and bonded pairs, plus key questions to ask and signs of illness to watch for while you are away.
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Understanding and Treating Saprolegnia in Aquarium Fish
Learn how to identify, treat and prevent Saprolegnia in aquarium fish and fish eggs. This guide explains the white cotton-wool growth caused by this common freshwater water mould, its links to injuries, stress, poor water quality and other illness, plus safe antifungal treatment, hospital tank care and ways to stop it returning.
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How to Keep Your Alpacas' Eyes Healthy: A Practical Guide for Owners
Learn how to protect alpaca eye health with simple daily checks and early veterinary care. This guide covers healthy alpaca eyes, common problems such as injuries, corneal ulcers, conjunctivitis, cataracts, uveitis and entropion, plus warning signs including cloudiness, squinting, tears and discharge. It also explains how safe grazing, clean bedding, shade and regular monitoring can help prevent eye problems and protect alpaca vision.
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How You Can Support Your Remaining Cat When You Lose a Cat in the Family
Learn how to support a grieving cat after the death of another cat in the home. This guide covers signs of cat grief, including appetite loss, hiding, clinginess and behaviour changes, plus practical advice on keeping routines, offering comfort, monitoring health and knowing when to contact a vet.
Cats