Vaccines are important for pets, especially to prevent rabies because all mammals — like dogs, cats, and people — can get this deadly disease. Vaccines can prevent awful diseases that can make your pet sick and can lead to death. The vaccine’s job is to tell your pet’s body what’s dangerous so that their immune system can be prepared for a real attack. Without vaccines, their immune system is unprepared for a fight, and they may not be able to win the fight because viruses can multiply faster than their immune system can handle. As the saying goes, it’s better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.

There are many types of parasites that can cause health problems for your pet and some can cause health problems for you. Some parasites live in your pet’s blood vessels and heart (heartworms), some live in your pet’s intestines (roundworms, whipworms, hookworms, tapeworms), some live for at least part of their life on your pet (fleas, ticks), some bite your pets for a blood meal (mosquitos), and others like to live in their ears (mites). Those are just to name a few. 

There are many parasite prevention medications out there. It’s best to ask your veterinarian what medica.

People can get surprisingly stressed out about feeding the right amount and type of food to their pets. Fancy pet food companies do a really good job of marketing their products to make it seem like you’re doing harm to your pet if you don't buy super expensive, fancy food. This recent SNL sketch makes light of the confusion and judgment some people might experience when they purchase pet food. “Have you ever looked at the ingredients in that big name brand dog food you’re buying?” says one woman to her friend. “Why don’t you read them out loud in front of your dog?”