Health insurance -- whether it's for our pets or for ourselves -- is supposed to be a good thing. Right?

After all, having pet insurance means our pet's medical bills will be covered in case of an emergency. Or are they? Unfortunately (as is the case with human health insurance), most insurance companies are in it to make money, not necessarily to help their clients.

The idea is to pay for health insurance in the event that your pet has a medical emergency and needs to be treated for a high-cost ailment such as cancer, for example.

Just to throw in a little statistics, there are about 6 million dogs diagnosed with cancer in the United States alone each year.

So, is pet insurance a good idea or not? That answer can be problematic for pet owners to find, and really depends on more factors than just whether or not you actually need pet insurance.

Did you know that you don't always have to take your dog to the vet in order to get a veterinarian's diagnosis (and maybe even meds) for your dog's minor health issues?

It's true. With any non-emergency doggie ailment, you generally have 3 options:

1. You could call the vet's office & ask your question over the phone.

2. You could take a sample of your dog's pee or poop to the vet.

3. You could take your dog to the vet.

Here's more about each option...

Our dog, Tenor, has such a thick and luscious coat of fur. (He's part Black Lab, part Great Pyrenees, but he mostly just looks like your average Labrador Retriever.)

His skin and coat weren't always in such great shape, though. In fact, a few months ago he had dry, flaky, itchy skin so bad that we thought he had an incurable skin disease!

Here's what the vet recommended. And it worked like a charm!

Use your best judgment...

If your dog is showing a particular symptom or dealing with a doggie ailment, then anything you can show the vet that might be related to "the problem" will usually be helpful when it comes to diagnosing and/or treating your pet.

Here's when you should take samples to the vet... what type of samples to take... and how to gather & transport your samples (e.g. dog pee or poop).

Do you dread going to the vet?

I know, me too sometimes. (And I'm sure my dog dreads it even more than I do!) Luckily, I've learned a few tricks that make the process of going to the veterinarian's office quick & painless -- for all involved.

It has come to my attention that not everyone is familiar with the after-hours veterinary care centers that are available specifically to care for sick and injured pets on weekends and during the evening hours when most vets are closed.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to program the phone number of an emergency care center in your cellphone now. You never know when you might need a little after-hours care or advice.

The world needs more non-profit companies like this one...

The Brown Dog Foundation is from my neck of the woods.

I'm so delighted to hear that something like this is finally available.

I received an e-mail yesterday from "Joyce" who said I had printed the wrong dosage for Imodium and dogs in this article about doggie diarrhea.

Panicked, I rushed to double-check right away, and found that I had NOT listed the wrong dosage... Whew!

Her confusion lies in the fact that I mentioned the dosage for liquid medications in milliliters (ml), whereas others (including a site I actually linked to in that article) sometimes mention the dosage for solid medications (i.e. pills) in milligrams (mg).

For some reason, my dogs have always been more receptive to liquid forms of medicine, rather than pills. No matter what I try to "hide" the pill in, they find it and spit it right out. Whereas with liquid meds, I just mix it in cottage cheese (which they rarely get, so they think it's a special treat ...or sometimes I even mix it in their own dog food gravy), and they never even know it's there!

Which brings to light the fact that it's imperative that you closely double-check dosing information before dispensing any human medications to your pets.

While there rarely is a difference in the effectiveness of liquid vs solid medications, there is a huge difference in dosages if you happened to mistake mg's (milligrams) for ml's (milliliters).

There's no better resource for a dog lover than a veterinarian's blog.

Not only are vet blogs filled with little-known facts and behind-the-scenes info that few are privy to... Vet blogs also show the personal character, fortitude, and never ending love for animals that veterinarians have, day in and day out.

These are the best vet blogs... ever! I refer to them often for their professional expertise and personal opinions.

Emergencies happen when you least expect them.

Take the time to prepare now so your pet sitter AND your vet will know how to handle an emergency, in the event that you're out of town and your dog needs help.