Plain answers for pet parents in Nigeria: what a symptom might mean, which vaccine is due, what is safe to feed, and when it can't wait for the vet.
Pet insurance and a pet health plan are two different products solving two different problems. Comparing them on monthly cost alone tells you almost nothing useful.
General WellnessMost boarding problems are booking problems. Vaccination windows close earlier than people expect, and the information a sitter actually needs is rarely what gets left behind.
General WellnessWith one pet you remember. With four, you think you remember. Missed boosters and half-treated parasites are almost always a record-keeping failure rather than a care failure.
General WellnessA microchip is permanent and a collar tag is instant, and each fails in a way the other covers. Most reunion failures are not missing chips but out-of-date phone numbers.
General WellnessMost courses that fail are not refused outright. They are given badly, spat out unnoticed, or abandoned once the animal seems better.
General WellnessThe cheapest appointment in veterinary medicine and the one most often skipped. Here is what the vet is actually doing while it looks like stroking your dog.
General WellnessA monthly weight, written down, is the cheapest diagnostic test available to you. Trends catch illness weeks before it becomes visible.
General WellnessMost mismatches between dog and household are predictable before the dog arrives. Heat tolerance, exercise need and grooming load matter more than looks.
General WellnessMost introductions fail in the first ten minutes because they happen face to face. Done in stages over a week or two, the same two animals usually settle without incident.
General WellnessHumidity is what changes. Wet coats, standing water and warm damp ground turn minor problems into infections, and bring one disease that also affects people.
General WellnessMost home grooming damage comes from good intentions: bathing too often, shaving a coat that should not be shaved, and brushing over mats rather than through them.
General WellnessSpaying is the operation that stops a female dog or cat having young: the ovaries, and usually the womb, are removed. Neutering does the same for a male by removing the testicles. Both are done under general anaesthetic, most pets go home the same day, and recovery takes 10 to 14 days of rest.
General WellnessMost people choose a vet by proximity and hope. Here is what actually separates a good clinic from a convenient one, and the questions worth asking before you need them.
General WellnessDeworm a puppy at 2 weeks and 4 weeks old, then every month until 6 months. After that, every 2 to 3 months for life: every 2 for a dog that scavenges, hunts or lives with small children, every 3 for a typical household dog.
General WellnessDry, dusty air changes what pets need. Cracked paw pads, flaking skin, kennel cough and eye irritation all rise together during harmattan, and most of it is preventable.
General WellnessFood is the cost people plan for. Vet care is the one that arrives without warning. Here is what a year of dog ownership actually involves, and which line of the budget causes the trouble.
Skeepers can chat with a vet free, as often as they need, from their dashboard.
Skeepedia is general information, not a diagnosis. If your pet is unwell, see a vet.