Blog

The team at 10 West Bird and Animal Hospital is excited to announce that our blog has been ranked #59 in Feedspot’s Top 100 Veterinary Blogs of 2018! We are honored and humbled to be ranked among the world’s most respected veterinary blogs, and hope to continue to meet that standard as we go forward with our blog in the years to come.

We are also humbled, of course, to have some of the world’s best blog readers. Thank you all for trusting us as a credible online source for pet health and ownership issues!

According to Feedspot, the criteria for ranking is based on:

• Google reputation and Google Search Ranking
• Influence and popularity on Facebook, Twitter, and other SM sites
• Quality and consistency of posts
• Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review

Again, we are excited to be included in this list and want to thank you all for inspiring us every day with your sweet pets and your commitment to their health and happiness.

Cheers!

September is Happy Cat Month! The brainchild of the Catalyst Council, this annual event seeks to raise awareness about the importance of cat health and happiness. There are many components of cat wellness, such as proper diet and disease prevention. Certainly, cats are healthier when these things are maintained, but do they make your pet happier? Absolutely!

Intentional Maintenance

For the first 7 years of a cat’s life, we recommend annual wellness exams. This allows us to stay on top of their general day-to-day health and helps key us into any age-related illnesses. We also love getting to know our patients over the years!

Vaccinations, parasite prevention, spaying/neutering, and microchipping are just a few of the early components of cat care. Continue…

A snake is something we all hope our pets will never encounter, but, unfortunately in Texas, most of us have run across a snake or two. Snake bites are painful and some are also extremely harmful to our pets.

With over 105 snake species in Texas, it’s important to understand which snakes are a risk, where they tend to live, and how to help your pet avoid an encounter. That’s why Ten West Bird and Animal Hospital has compiled a list of things to watch for when it comes to snake safety and pets.

Friend or Foe?

What’s slithering around in our neck of the woods? In Texas, we really only need to know about the two types of venomous snakes that live here:

Pit vipers – Pit vipers are venomous snakes that have an opening on each side of the head, between the eye and the nostril. There are three types of pit vipers in Texas: copperheads, cottonmouths (water moccasins), and rattlesnakes (Texas has 8 subspecies of rattlesnake).

Coral snakes – Coral snakes are highly poisonous, but also shyer than pit vipers. You can recognize them by their red, yellow, and black bands (the yellow and red bands always touch). Continue…