Pet Care
This Pathfinder is no longer being actively maintained by ipl.
General Information &Where to Start
This guide is designed to help in finding more information about caring for your pet and keeping your pet healthy and happy.
If your pet is sick, or in need of routine veterinary care, there are sites that will help you find health care for your pet in your area. Yahoo’s Yellow Pages will allow you to locate animal care in your area. First enter your town and state or zip code and then search for “veterinarian” or “animal hospital.” This site will also allow you to download directions and maps to these businesses. The American Animal Hospital Association will help you to locate an animal hospital in your area through their website at www.healthypet.com
There are numerous books available on all aspects of pet care. There are books to appeal to all interests and age groups. One series that offers books on many types of pets is “A Complete Pet Owners Manual” published by Barron’s from Hauppauge, New York. Many of these books should be available from your local book store or public library.
There are also a great number of magazines dedicated to pet care. These magazines may be very general or specific to one type of animal. Many magazines appear in both print and online forms. One general pet care magazine is PetView. Numerous specialty magazines include CATFANCY and Rat and Mouse Gazette. For more magazines dedicated to the care of pets see Yahoo’s listing of animal, insect, and pet magazines. Additional magazines may be found at your local library, bookstore, or newsstand.
Most public libraries in the United States use the Dewey Decimal Classification; some call numbers of interest are listed below. Library staff can help you find more information.
- 636.1 Horses
- 636.6 Birds
- 636.7 Dogs
- 636.8 Cats
- 639.3 Fish, Lizards, and Reptiles
Things you can do on the Net
Although sick and injured pets or pets in need of routine medical care should be taken to a veterinarian, there are many sites on the web that give tips and ideas on how to keep your pet healthy and happy.
Care for Pets, produced by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has a lot of good information dealing with pet health. Topics include animal health, animal safety, and information on choosing a veterinarian.
Pet Care, from Purina is a commercial site with lots of advertising. However, there is still a fair amount of good information dealing with pet care. There are answers to frequently asked questions, sections on pet nutrition, pet behavior, selecting a veterinarian, and a column devoted to pet care.
Although there is not a specific category for pet care in Yahoo! the section on animals, insects and pets is a good place to start. Veterinary medicine is also well represented in Yahoo!
There are lots of newsgroups on the topic of pet health. These range from very specific to very broad. For example rec.pets is a newsgroup for general discussion of pet health topics, while rec.pets.dogs.health is specifically geared toward canine health. Google Groups contains both rec.pets.dogs.health and rec.pets.cats.health+behav, as well as a listing for pet groups.
For more newsgroups try searching Liszt for Newsgroups for “pets”. Mailing lists can also be found using Liszt by clicking on “nature” and then “animals” in the directory.
This pathfinder created by Alisa Mizikar.
You may also wish to see IPL : Pets Resources (/ref/RR/static/ent73.00.00.html)