While dogs love to ride shotgun in cars and trucks when their owners run errands or shop, veterinarians caution that the pets often should be left home for their own well being.

At the very least, owners should care for their pets with padded harnesses or carriers to protect against sudden stops or collisions and make sure that the insides of the vehicles won’t become sweltering under the summer sun.

This summer, dogs may be at an increased risk of contracting the H3N2 canine influenza virus being transmitted throughout the country at dog shows, so you may want to protect your pet with a vaccination against the disease.

At the beginning of June, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that there were six cases of the highly contagious respiratory disease that causes symptoms similar to human flu: coughing, runny nose and fever.

Dog owners who also are gardeners have been asking us at Cascade Hospital for Animals whether it’s safe to take their pets out with them as they perform various chores such as weeding and fertilizing. The short answer is yes, but be prepared to supervise your pet as you tend to your garden.

It’s almost always a bad idea to buy something on impulse -- even more so when it’s a puppy that has some unwelcomed characteristics that you will have to tolerate for 12 years or longer.

Like their owners, dogs and cats start to feel more aches and pains in their joints as they age, so they may shy away from physical activity that aggravates their conditions. And just like their owners, older pets lose flexibility and put on excess weight as they avoid exercise -- causing the whole cycle to accelerate.

The situation is largely the same when a dog or cat undergoes surgery on their hips, elbows, knees and ankles. When it hurts to move their joints, they avoid activity -- which only causes them to lose even more range of motion.

The staff at Cascade Hospital want to remember former employee Molly Hulbert in the most fitting way they can -- by giving the gift of life to people and encouraging others to do so as well.

Molly, a 14-year veteran at the hospital who succumbed to small cell carcinoma in November, was the type of person “who would help anyone in any way she could,” said LVT Kelli Ferguson, who is organizing a blood drive March 8 at the hospital along with staffer Theresa Hertel. “We felt this is the best way to pass along her spirit of giving. The number-one reason why donors say they give is to help others.”

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, we often step on the bathroom scale and vow to shave off a few pounds in the coming year. We know that we will have more energy and feel better if we control our diet and exercise to lose excess weight – even during the winter months.

But did you ever consider making that same resolution for your trusty buddy – your dog or cat – as well?

When you hear the word “laser,” you normally think of the amazingly concentrated beam of light that can transmit messages over great distances or even cut through steel plate. But physicians, physical therapists, and other medical professionals in clinics across the country are using something called therapy laser on patients every day to relieve pain and promote healing.

Cascade Hospital for Animals has made this remarkable technology available to its four-legged patients as a way to accelerate tissue repair, alleviate pain, and reduce swelling and inflammation from arthritis, tendonitis, and sprains.

Most people have heard the phrase “curiosity killed the cat,” but they don’t know there’s a second half to that old saying that goes “but satisfaction brought it back.”

If that could be applied to humans, it may fit our own Dr. Cherie Anderson, veterinarian at Cascade Hospital for Animals who loves the dare that felines throw down every day to find out what’s wrong with them.

It may come as a surprise to pet owners, but more than 85 percent of all veterinary hospitals and clinics for companion animals in the United States and Canada are not accredited by an independent outside agency as hospitals for humans are.

We were reminded of that last week when we hosted a visit by Wanda Ross, practice consultant for the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) who came through to evaluate our hospital and review its accreditation using about 900 standards of best practices. Established in 1933 and based in Lakewood, Colo., AAHA is the only veterinary association exclusive to pets that does accreditations.