Author Archives: Gary Koesten

Gary Koesten

Gary is the Director of Pharmacy Services at 1-800-PetMeds. He is a member of the American Pharmacists Association, the Florida Pharmacy Association and the Broward County Pharmacy Association. Gary is a Trustee with the Florida Pharmacy Foundation and he is the President-Elect of the Broward County Pharmacy Association.


PetMeds®: Is Having a Pet Good for Your Health?

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Posted by Gary Koesten on September 23, 2009 – 1:50 pm
Filed under Pharmacy Blog

Four references I came across point out that pet ownership has health benefits.

  • In a study of hypertensive patients at SUNY, Buffalo, it was shown that having a pet can help lower blood pressure.
  • At the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition in Great Britain, a study showed that walking a pet can help to reduce stress. Walking, it was noted, helps soothe nerves and offers instant relaxation.
  • A National Institutes of Health Technology Assessment Workshop found that having a pet can help to prevent heart disease by providing the pet owner with faithful companionship. It was also found that having a pet helps to lower health care costs in that people with pets actually make fewer doctor visits.
  • In the book “Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship”, the author finds that pets help to fight depression and loneliness because a pet’s affection promotes an interest in life.

Is it any wonder, then, that according to the American Pet Products Association 2009/2010 National Pet Owners Survey:

  • 71.4 million households in America (62%) own a pet.
  • 38.2 million households own 93.6 million cats (an average of 2.5 cats/household)
  • 45.6 million households own 77.5 million dogs (an average of 1.7 dogs/household)

Pets keep us healthy and 1-800-PetMeds provides a wide range of prescription and non-prescription products that help keep our pets healthy.

PetMeds®: Is “Sugar-Free” Healthy for a Dog?

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Posted by Gary Koesten on September 16, 2009 – 1:08 pm
Filed under Pharmacy Blog

We are, for the most part, diet conscious people. We try to eat healthy and we know that too much sugar is not part of a healthy diet. I know I look for “sugar free” or “diet” on product labels when I purchase colas, ice cream, cake – all the things I shouldn’t be eating or drinking in the first place, but because of those terms,  I can justify their purchase to satisfy my cravings. I know that there’s no sugar in these products. Instead, these products contain artificial sweeteners.

I came across some information from an article reported in the San Diego Union-Tribune. This article pointed out that “sugar free” may not be a good thing for our dogs. One of the artificial sweeteners that can be used in “sugar-free” snacks and gum is xylitol. Xylitol poses no harm for humans, but it can be dangerous for a dog.

According to this article, a 2 year old teacup Yorkshire Terrier ate some sugarless gum containing xylitol as the artificial sweetener. The pet began vomiting and shivering due to xylitol toxicosis. The article mentioned that other symptoms can include weak and wobbly appearance, or extreme lethargy and that these symptoms can appear anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours after ingesting xylitol.

Let’s remember that dogs are curious creatures. They also like to eat whatever they find. Let’s keep our snacks, gum, and anything sugar free, especially if it contains xylitol, out of the reach of our pets. We want to keep our pets healthy.

PetMeds®: Chronic Use Medications for Pets

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Posted by Gary Koesten on August 28, 2009 – 10:19 am
Filed under Pharmacy Blog

When a pet has a condition that either lasts for a long time, or for the life of the pet, this is called a chronic condition. Examples of life long chronic conditions include, but are not limited to diabetes, and hyper or hypothyroid. Other chronic conditions can include pets with joint problems or urinary tract infections.

These chronic conditions require continued use of medication in order to keep the underlying condition under control. If the medication is stopped, for whatever reason, the condition will worsen.

A study just released by CVS Caremark found that 50% of adults under the age of 45 who are prescribed a medication to treat high cholesterol are not taking their medication as prescribed. Troyen A. Brennan, EVP and chief medical officer for CVS Caremark stated, “This data illustrates that younger adults with high cholesterol are not taking their medication as prescribed, putting them at increased risk for developing heart disease, worsening their long term clinical outcomes and ultimately increasing the cost of their care”.

While the this study pertains to human medications, let’s keep in mind that this same issue can also pertain to our pets with chronic diseases. For example, a dog with diabetes that is not properly treated can develop cataracts, weight loss, muscle wasting, and kidney disease. What do I mean by not properly treated? I mean skipping doses of insulin, not having the pet’s glucose levels monitored regularly to make sure the dose of insulin is correct, or perish the thought, not treating the pet at all.

These are tough economic times and we all look for ways to cut our expenses. However, not giving ourselves, or our pets, the dose of medication when it’s due is only going to make things worse. This may result in our spending more money, not less.

To help our customers stay compliant with giving their pet the medication when it’s due, 1-800-PetMeds has an “Easy Refill” email reminder program that our customers can enroll in. This program will notify the customer when the next refill of medication is due. This program helps ensure that the pet has enough medication on hand to be treated with.

PetMeds®: Tax Deduction for pet meds?

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Posted by Gary Koesten on August 19, 2009 – 9:14 am
Filed under Pharmacy Blog

Here’s an interesting tidbit for all of us pet owners. Congress has legislation (H.R. 3501) that was introduced to the House of Representatives by Rep. McCotter, that is titled the “Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act“.

The purpose of the bill, as I understand it, is to create a deduction for allowable pet care expenses in any taxable year not to exceed $3,500 for qualified pets under the act.

The large question is what would be an “allowable pet care expense”? According to language in the bill it means “amounts paid in connection with providing care (including veterinary care) for a qualified pet other than any expense in connection with the acquisition of the qualified pet”.

This bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on July 31, 2009.

Anyone have any thoughts?

PetMeds®: Vaccinating Puppies and Dogs

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Posted by Gary Koesten on August 12, 2009 – 1:09 pm
Filed under Pharmacy Blog

Recently, a customer contacted 1-800-PetMeds because he could not find information on vaccinating his 6 month old puppy. I would refer you to PetHealth101 which has some excellent articles on the topic of vaccines. I thought this would be a great venue for discussing dog vaccines and what a recommended schedule should be. I’ll discuss cat vaccines in another post.

Set of three puppies Lets begin by understanding what diseases we are trying to prevent.

  • Dogs must be vaccinated against: Rabies (Core vaccine)
  • Most dogs should be vaccinated against: Adenovirus, Distemper, and Parvo (Core vaccines)
  • Some dogs should be vaccinated against: Bordetella, Corona, Leptospirosis, Lyme disease, and Parainfluenza (non-core vaccines)

Your veterinarian is the best source of information in determining which vaccines to use and within what schedule. However, a possible schedule could be:

5 weeks: Parvovirus

6 weeks & 9 weeks: “5-Way” combination. Coronavirus if in a high risk environment such as a kennel, or breeding facility.

12 weeks or older: Rabies (local law dictates age at vaccination)

12 weeks & 15 weeks: “5 way” combination or “7 way” combination (includes Leptospirosis and Coronavirus if these are a concern). Lyme vaccine if this is a concern.

Adult boosters: You should discuss the need for boosters with your veterinarian. Factors such as the potential for exposure to disease as well as the breed, age, and health of the pet are factors that need to be considered. Dogs at low risk of disease exposure may not need annual boosters.

PetMeds®: Food for Thought – Pet Nutrition

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Posted by Gary Koesten on August 7, 2009 – 2:38 pm
Filed under Pharmacy Blog

I had a Lhasa Apso named Sandy who lived with my family for 14 years. Sandy died 4 years ago and it’s taken my wife and I all this time to consider getting another pet. I’m sure those of you who have lost a pet fully understand where I’m coming from.

7 weeks ago, we found Max (or Max found us) at a pet rescue in Palm Beach County, FL. Max was just over 6 months old at the time, and we were going to be, including the pet rescue, his 4th home.

Max - Gary's new puppy

Max is a Maltese. He now weighs 5.5 lbs and is the cutest little thing. My wife calls him Mini-Max. Of course he is a little high strung, plays the Alpha Dog thing with our grand dog, Kona (my younger son’s Shih Tzu), and barks (yips) at anyone walking outside really because he wants to be everyone’s friend. We’re going to start an 8 week obedience training program for him, beginning this evening.

The experiences I gained with Sandy will be put to good use in raising Max. First and foremost is the fact that I’m not giving Max any human food if I can avoid it. The first reason why not is because Sandy came to expect human food and every time we sat down to eat, she would jump on us expecting her handout. The second reason is because human food, while healthy for humans, is really not all that healthy for dogs. Of course there are times where giving human food can be a benefit. For example, dogs with diarrhea can be given rice with boiled hamburger, or mashed sweet potatoes.

Dogs are omnivores. We know they eat anything. However, in the wild they don’t eat greasy, fried, salty, or fatty foods. They shouldn’t be eating those foods as our pets. Besides, there are certain foods that can be harmful to a dog. These include raisins and grapes, onions, chocolate, and certain nuts. Not only that, but some foods such as chicken can pose health hazards to dogs if the dog gets hold of a chicken bone.

Want to do your dog a big favor? To help keep your pet healthy and trim, exercise your dog regularly and feed your pet a quality dog food where the first ingredient is meat or meat meal. Try and stay away from dog foods that list grains as the primary ingredient.

A premium dog food to use is Eat Great. Be Well. The first five ingredients of Eat Great. Be Well. include chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, oat groats, and salmon meal. And because Eat Great. Be Well. doesn’t include wheat or corn, it is also a premium dog food for dogs with food allergies.

For more information on the importance of feeding your dog nutritious pet food, read our dog food article on PetHealth101.