Adventures with Astrid and the Letter U

We're here for another installment in the April A to Z Challenge.

We are indeed still doing the theme All Things Cat, in which we're sharing all sorts of items shaped like, well, cats. Today's letter is U, and we decided that's going to stand for umbrella.

We sure could have used that umbrella yesterday, as it rained all day. The sun has returned today, though, and we hope you're all also enjoying those rays.

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And now we have for you another edition of Adventures with Astrid. Today's photo of the pup is far from award-winning. It's actually Astrid providing evidence as to why she has to get a leptospirosis vaccine every single year.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease, and one of the common ways dogs contract it is by drinking water contaminated with the bacteria. The water Astrid is drinking there is the creek that runs through our neighborhood. She also drinks from puddles, the fountain in our back yard, and all that jazz. So, Astrid indeed gets a leptospirosis vaccine every year, because she can't be trusted not to drink from any and every water source she finds.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

We're here with another spring pet safety tip today. This one is another repeat tip, but it's also one that we think it's worth saying again. And that is, to indeed considering keeping up with those preventatives. As the weather warms and the grass grows green, pests such as fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks will be out and about in full force. We very recently gave a series of tips on buggers such as these, what parasites they can harbor, and what diseases they can pass on to our furbabies. Tapeworms, heartworms, and Lyme disease, for example, can result if your furbaby falls victim to such pests. This can of course affect their health and happiness, and nobody wants that.

So, in short, do considering keeping up with preventatives for your kitties and pups. Discuss the best options with your veterinarian. And, of course, only give your furbaby a preventative that is formulated for their species, as well as their age and weight. Proper prevention indeed plays a part in keeping our furbabies as healthy as possible.