Pet Health Library

🐭Gerbil HealthAug 11, 2026

The 3-3-3 Rule for a New Rescue Dog: What the Research Actually Measured

The 3-3-3 rule is a rescue-community rubric, not a research finding. Here is what published studies actually measured in newly adopted dogs — cortisol, night-time rest, body weight and behaviour — and why those timepoints do not line up with three days, three weeks and three months.

🍽️Eating & Drinking

Gerbil Not Eating? How Urgent It Is and What to Check First

A gerbil that stops eating has very little reserve, so this is a same-day question. But gerbils hoard food, so the bowl misleads in both directions — here is how to tell real inappetence from caching, and the causes worth ruling out tonight.

🐭Degu HealthAug 11, 2026

🐭Chinchilla HealthAug 11, 2026

Degu Diarrhea: What Soft or Liquid Droppings Mean and What to Do

Loose droppings in a degu are usually a fermentation problem from diet, or a sign of illness elsewhere. The danger is dehydration and a gut that stops moving, not the stool itself. Here is how to tell true diarrhea from normal caecotrophs, what to change today, and which signs mean call a vet now.

Chinchilla Ringworm: Bald Patches, Treatment, and the Zoonosis Risk

A circular bald patch on a chinchilla's nose, ears or feet is often ringworm — a fungal infection, usually Trichophyton mentagrophytes, that spreads to people. Chinchillas can also carry it while looking completely healthy, so hand-washing and a vet-run culture matter more than how the patch looks.

🐟Fish HealthAug 11, 2026

🐛Parasites

Betta Ich (White Spot): Why the Spots Vanishing Doesn't Mean It's Over

Salt-grain white spots on a betta usually mean ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis). Only the free-swimming stage can be killed by medication, so treatment runs on a schedule — daily at 75°F–79°F, a minimum of 3 to 5 treatments — not until the spots vanish. Here is how to tell ich from velvet and columnaris, and what to do tonight.

🐕Dog HealthAug 8, 2026

Puppy Feeding Schedule by Age and Breed Size

Puppies are generally fed three meals a day from weaning to 6 months, then twice daily from 6 to 12 months, with small breeds often needing more. How much goes in the bowl depends on the food, so start from the bag's feeding guide and steer by body condition.

🐁Mouse HealthAug 8, 2026

🐭Gerbil HealthAug 8, 2026

Mouse Diarrhea: Why Soft Droppings Are an Emergency

A pet mouse weighs only about 20 to 40 grams, so fluid lost to diarrhea becomes dangerous within hours, not days. Here is how to tell true diarrhea from a wet rear caused by urine, what usually causes it, and what to do before you reach an exotics vet.

Gerbil Mites: Why Itchy, Scabby Skin Usually Isn't Mites

Scratching, scabs and thinning fur in a gerbil are far more often nasal dermatitis, barbering or a fight wound than mites — and mites can only be confirmed with a microscope. Here is how the diagnosis is actually made and what to fix at home while you wait.

🐕Dog HealthAug 8, 2026

Dog Car Sickness: Motion Sickness or Travel Anxiety?

Drooling, whining, and vomiting in the car can come from inner-ear motion sickness, from a learned fear of the vehicle, or from both at once, and the two need different fixes. Here is how to tell them apart, what to change on the next drive, and what a vet can prescribe.

🐟Fish HealthAug 8, 2026

🚨Emergency

Betta Dropsy: What Pineconing Scales Really Mean

Dropsy is not a disease you can cure with a bottle from the fish shop. It is the outward sign of fluid collecting inside a betta, often from a failing organ or a systemic infection. Here is what is really happening, what to test today, and what your options are.

🐈Cat HealthAug 7, 2026

🐿️Sugar Glider HealthAug 7, 2026

What to Buy for a New Kitten: The Real Essentials

A new kitten needs about eight things on day one, and the pet store will try to sell you fifty. Here is the guideline-backed split between what actually matters — two litter boxes, a growth-formula food, a multi-level rope scratching post, a carrier, a microchip — and what can wait, plus how the list shifts with your kitten's age and whether you already have a cat.

👁️Eyes & Ears

Sugar Glider Cataracts: What a Cloudy Eye Really Means

A cloudy eye in a sugar glider may be a cataract — a painless lens opacity — but cataracts don't hurt, so a painful or weepy cloudy eye points to the surface of the eye instead, and that is urgent. Here's how to tell them apart, and what the literature really says about the mother's diet.

🐀Rat HealthAug 7, 2026

👁️Eyes & Ears

Rat Head Tilt: What It Means and What to Do

A head tilt in a pet rat points first to middle- or inner-ear infection — the branch that responds to treatment, though a case series in companion rats found intracranial spread was not rare. A pituitary tumour is the other differential, and it can cause balance signs too. The two are separated at the vet with an ear exam and imaging, not by watching your rat at home.

🐸Amphibian HealthAug 7, 2026

🐭Chinchilla HealthAug 7, 2026

Frog Fungus: White Fuzz, Chytrid, and What They Mean

White fuzz on a frog may be a water mould, while chytrid — the serious one — often shows no fuzz at all, just changed shedding, dull skin and a frog that stops eating. Here is how the look-alikes differ, and why only a swab or a sample can tell them apart.

🦔Hedgehog HealthAug 6, 2026

Chinchilla Diarrhea: Why Soft Droppings Need Same-Day Action

Diarrhea in a chinchilla is emergency-adjacent, not a wait-and-see problem. Here is how to tell normal droppings from soft or watery ones, what causes them, why warmth and certain antibiotics are dangerous in this species, and the red flags that mean call an exotics vet today.

🐀Rat HealthAug 6, 2026

🩺Chronic & Systemic

Pituitary Tumor in Rats: Signs, Causes, and What Treatment Can Do

An older pet rat that suddenly tilts her head, wobbles, or cannot hold food in her front paws often has a pituitary tumor, but an ear infection can look identical and is treatable, so it has to be ruled out first. What treatment can and cannot do, and how to judge quality of life.

🐈Cat HealthAug 6, 2026

🛡️Wellness & Prevention

Kitten Vaccination and Deworming Schedule: What's Due and When

A week-by-week kitten vaccine and deworming timeline, from the first deworming at 2 weeks to the final core vaccine dose at 16 weeks or older, plus how to adjust it for indoor, outdoor, shelter and unknown-history kittens.

🐸Amphibian HealthAug 6, 2026

Why Is My Hedgehog Losing Quills? Normal Quilling vs. a Skin Problem

A hedgehog dropping quills can be normal developmental quilling or the first sign of mites, ringworm or illness. The difference is in the skin underneath — here is how to tell, what a vet tests for, and why guessing at treatment backfires.

🐟Fish HealthAug 6, 2026

🐛Parasites

Goldfish Flukes: Signs, Causes, and How They Are Diagnosed

Gill and skin flukes are microscopic worms that often appear after a new goldfish arrives. Learn what monogenean flukes are, why Dactylogyrus and Gyrodactylus behave differently, the signs owners notice, and why a scrape under a microscope is the only way to be sure.

🍽️Eating & Drinking

Why Is My Frog Not Eating? Common Causes and What to Do

A pet frog that stops eating usually has an enclosure problem before it has a disease. How to check temperature, humidity, water and prey systematically, the medical causes to rule out, and how long is too long to wait.

🐀Rat HealthAug 4, 2026

🐛Parasites

Rat Mites: Signs, Treatment, and Whether You Can Catch Them

Intense scratching and scabs over your rat's shoulders usually mean mites. How the three rat mites differ, how a vet confirms it, what treatment involves, and an honest answer on whether you can catch them.

🐈Cat HealthAug 4, 2026