Animal Therapy Archives

Living With Intrathoracic Tracheal Collapse

December 12, 2019 By Amanda Yantos 263 Comments

Ever since Wynston was about 6 months old, he’s had an issue with coughing. At first, the vet thought perhaps it was just due to getting acclimated to the air outside of the puppy mill. As time went on, the vet thought maybe he had a collapsed trachea, as it’s common in small breed dogs.

Well, Wynston’s coughing got progressively worse as time passed. The episodes of honking and coughing went from once a week, to multiple times a day over three years. Thankfully I’ve come up with a home remedy to treat tracheal collapse in dogs, and now his episodes are rare.

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Dog Mom With Depression: Speaking of the Stigma

March 6, 2016 By Amanda 10 Comments

Depression sucks. Depression really, really sucks. How do I know? I have clinical depression. It runs in my family and unfortunately it’s just one of those things that I was (insert sarcasm) lucky to inherit. Depression is something we don’t talk about enough. People hear the word and they think “Oh my God. That’s so bad. We can’t talk about depression! How DEPRESSING!” Well, okay. That makes zero sense. With all of the social media and internet capabilities in our hands today, it’s my belief that those of us who have suffered from depression should speak out about the struggle and what helps us cope. For me, it’s my dogs.

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Dogs 101: Essential Oils

January 29, 2015 By Amanda Yantos 9 Comments

My cat Edison broke his leg on a cold November night in 2011. I rushed him to the emergency vet around 11pm, where the doctor told me I was going to have to put him down or amputate his leg. The next day, I took my Edison to my regular vet, where the doctor told me to cast his leg for 6 weeks and he’d be fine! Turns out, Edison was fine, all it took was a cute festive cast and some TLC.

I learned after the traumatizing experience that you can’t always trust “professionals.” Sometimes you need a second opinion, and sometimes YOU have to decide what is best for your animals – after all, nobody knows your animals like you do.

Essential oils, courtesy of Google Images.

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Pet Loss: Helping Your Surviving Animals Through Their Grieving Process

January 29, 2015 By Amanda Yantos Leave a Comment

Animals grieve like people do. Ask anyone who’s lost a pet in a household with multiple animals. Just like humans, each animal deals with loss and mourning differently.

When my cat Edison ran away in July 2013, I was devastated. I had a bond with Edison that was unlike any bond I’ve ever had with a cat. I mourned his loss for quite a while, and to be honest, I still do because I don’t know what happened to him.

Shortly after Eddy went missing, my younger cat, Sadie, became very depressed. She started howling everyday, multiple times a day. She became less active and started to gain weight. I sought help from my vet who suggested a low dosage of anxiety medications but I decided to get a second opinion.

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