Horse owners should maintain a regular care and disease prevention program for their horse. Having a regular immunization plan will allow your horse to avoid life threatening illness and allow them to live many healthy, productive years.

Horses should be vaccinated at an early age against influenza and tetanus and should be kept on a regular, annual schedule for boosters. As common as the flu (influenza) sounds, when contracted by a horse, influenza can cause weakness, dehydration and potentially death. Additionally, tetanus will protect horses from foreign pathogens that can be introduced into the horses’ blood stream through everyday cuts and scratches or accidents that cause deeper wounds.

Consult with your local veterinarian to set up a regular immunization schedule. Your veterinarian can also recommend other necessary precautionary measures for the area of the world where you live.

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Things are crazy in the Middle East right now. With all the attention that is being paid to the daily happenings in modern day Persia, how about a little pet history from that area of the world?

Hamsters were first discovered in Syria in 1830 when an Israeli Zoologist working in the Syrian desert found them burrowed into the sand and captured them. He brought three hamsters back to his lab and was successful in breeding them. Many years later, in 1839, they received their modern day name of the “Golden Hamster” by a British zoologist named George Waterhouse. All common household pet hamsters are descendents of the Syrian desert hamsters.

Hamsters are wonderful pets because of their cleanliness, their disease free nature and their quiet, friendly way.

Providing your pet bird with a healthy balanced diet is not hard to do if you get into the habit of providing your pet with the right kinds of food. When buying bird feed, look for feeds that are high in vitamin A. Other dietary supplements such as sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, spinach, corn, apricots, eggs and fish oils are rich in vitamin A and good for your bird.

Feeds that contain large volumes of sunflower seeds, pinenuts, and peanuts can cause your bird to become addicted to these high fat foods and cause nutritional imbalance. Seeds and nuts contain addictive fats that can create an energy boost, similar to a “sugar rush” that humans feel when consuming sugary products. This boost from fats creates a preference for high-fat foods. When birds become hooked and then are deprived of the fatty nuts and seeds that they prefer, they become lethargic and depressed.

Keep your bird healthy and fit by providing it with proper nutrition.