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Pet Medical Bulletins
Topics
Hair everywhere
Hypertriglyceride levels in Miniature
Schnauzers
FeLV and/or FIV Infected Cats
Pigs Ears for Dogs
"New Greenies" still can cause
intestinal obstructions
Pet Food Alert
Pet Anxiety - Thunderstorms or Travelling
Canine Hip Dysplasia and Arthritis
Selective Vaccinations for Dogs and
Cats
Home Cooked Diets for Dogs and Cats
People Food that is Poisonous to Dogs
Hair
everywhere
Don't I know it. My two
short-haired cats turn food into hair at prodigious rates,
and then proceed to adorn my couch, my carpet and my clothes
with their product.
Or, they did. Not any longer. I have discovered the
"Furminator" comb. This is
actually a single # 10 clipper blade on a handle. Very
simple and highly effective. Expensive but effective, it
removes the dead hair, all the dead hair that was about
to cover my kitchen floor. The "Furminator" is only
appropriate for short-haired
dogs and cats. It is not useful for the 'non-shedding'
breeds such as Yorkies,
Wheatons or Persians. The "Furminator" is available at the
Winnipeg
Humane Society gift shop and at various pet stores. It costs
about $50 with taxes.
Hypertriglyceride levels in
Miniature Schnauzers
A recent study of nearly 200
Miniature Schnauzers has shown that a third of this
breed has blood triglyceride
levels above the normal range. The triglyceride levels
increase with age. High
triglyceride levels can result in recurrent bouts of
pancreatitis leading to
diabetes mellitus. High levels can also damage the heart,
liver
and kidneys. (Reference:
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 2007;21:1224-1230.)
Miniature Schnauzers should have their blood triglyceride
and cholesterol levels checked at age five and at age eight.
A fasting blood sample (no food for at least 12 hours) is
collected and sent out to one of our veterinary laboratories
for analysis. A high
triglyceride level can be
reduced without resorting to medications by dietary
modification and one or two
natural supplements.
FeLV and/or FIV Infected Cats
This information is from papers presented at the June 2007
conference of the American College of Veterinary Internal
Medicine of which Dr Stogdale is a specialist member.
A large study of FIV and/or FeLV infected cats in Germany
(17,462 cats tested for FIV and FeLV infection) have showed
that the risk factors for these viruses are similar: male,
older, outside access, and fighting. Most interesting is the
finding that compared to non-infected cats, survival time
was decreased in FeLV-infected cats (expected), whereas no
difference
in survival time was found between FIV-infected and healthy
cats.
Bites from infected cats are a highly efficient method for
transmission for FIV and FeLV due to high levels of virus in
the saliva. Overall, 19% of cats with abscesses or bite
wounds were found to be positive for FIV and/or FeLV, which
is substantially higher than the rate of 3% reported from a
recent national survey of veterinary clinics in the US. All
cats with cat
bite wounds should be tested at the time of treatment and
two months later.
That FIV infected cats have a normal life span is unexpected
considering that we are not treating these cats with
antiviral drugs. However, these cats are cared for and
receive veterinary attention, and were probably kept inside
or, at least, not fighting once the diagnosis was made. This
is great news for those of us who live with an FIV boy such
as my handsome tuxedo 'Orpheus,' but not good news for their
feline companions who are
desirous of being the only cat on the bed such as my
marshmallow 'Phantom.'
Pigs Ears for Dogs
Pigs ears for dogs often contain very high levels of salt.
The amounts are sometimes
so high that it makes the dog significantly increase its
drinking level and urine volume.
"New Greenies" still can
cause intestinal obstructions.
The "New Greenies" are still causing obstruction problems in
dogs as they do NOT dissolve. Here is a quote from one of
the veterinary internal specialists on our listserve: "We
had at least 3 "new" greenies as esophageal foreign bodies.
They do appear softer when we take them out, but they still
got stuck." Derek Duval, VMD, DACVIM Georgia Veterinary
Specialists
Pet Food Alert
This pet food crisis has shown how unreliable, untrustworthy
and profit-oriented is the pet food industry in general -
there are few to no quality control tests done on the
majority of pet foods after they have been manufactured and
before they are distributed for sale. The human food
industry is only a little better. My advice is to seek the
advice of your local pet food store as they are quickly
informed as to which foods to pull off their shelf. Also you
might wish to check the web sites of the brands of pet food
that you feed frequently. The recalls have affected cheap
brands and high quality brands of pet foods. The types of
foods mainly affected are the 'chunks in gravy' type of
canned formulation and a few dry
pet foods.
Pet Anxiety - Thunderstorms or Travelling
Some of our dogs and
cats become extremely anxious either with the onset of our
prairie thunderstorms or when they are travelling in a car or
when visiting their veterinarian. Previously, we have given some
of these pets sedatives. The problem here is that the pet is
sleepy but still anxious. When they are anxious or panicking,
they are unable to learn anything but especially to learn that
this situation is not a problem or a threat to them. There are
several options for decreasing this anxiety level, reducing the
unpleasant experience to a tolerable or even enjoyable event.
These all need to be given to the pet at the onset of the storm
or one hour before travelling:
Homeopathic remedies for loud noices,
travelling or general anxiety
Rescue Remedy (a
Bach Flower Remedy mixture) for mild levels of anxiety
Rx Alprazolam "Xanax"
is a short-acting benzo-diazepam (Valium family).
HomeoPet Anxiety, Travel and TFLN remedies are
homeopathic remedies mainly
derived from a variety of plants that prompt the body's own
healing
mechanisms to return your pet's body to health. While often
effective, they
are not harmful and have no side-effects. They are available
from Aesops
without any prescription fee. We do our best to ensure
availability but
please phone to ensure that the remedy you need is available.
For
additional information,
http://www.homeopet.com
We have started prescribing more Rx Alprazolam this year
with excellent reports by our astute owners. This medication
is effective at reducing anxiety, it is short-acting and has
no adverse side-effects. By reducing the anxiety level of
your pet in stressful situations, you allow your pet to
learn that there is no danger, to relax and to gradually
reduce the need for the medication. If you think your pet
could benefit from this approach, please phone Dr Stogdale
at Aesops Veterinary Care, 487-4744.
Canine Hip Dysplasia and
Arthritis
Hip dysplasia with
the resulting arthritis and hind leg weakness and pain is still
far too common in our dogs. However, when a dog (or cat)
suddenly becomes lame or sore in the hind legs it is often a
stifle/knee ligament tear or rupture that is the problem. Yes,
the pet needs to be examined in order to distinguish whether the
problem is in the hip or the knee or back or elsewhere.
For those dogs who do have significant hip dysplasia, hip
arthritis or laxity with the accompanying hindleg discomfort,
weakness and lameness there are a variety of surgerical options
available:
The latter procedure is fairly new, moderately successful and much
less traumatic than the other procedures. The surgery destroys the
nerves that innervate the hip joint capsule. It is these nerves that
transmit the pain of the arthritic hip joint. This surgical
procedure is straightforward, has a low incidence of problems and
does not preclude the other hip surgeries.
In a published report of 117 cases, two months post-operative, 90%
of the patients operated showed improvement and 50% were free of
clinical signs.
Selective Vaccinations for Dogs and Cats
At Aesops each canine and feline patient has
vaccines selected specifically for his/her
age, breed, life style, previous vaccination
history, health and owner wishes. Dr
Stogdale has taken this approach since
starting Aesops in 1997, following the
protocol advocated by Dr Jean Dodds. Some
years ago Dr Dodds complimented Dr Stogdale
for standing up to colleagues' pressure (who
wanted to continue vaccinating every pet
with every vaccine every year).
When vaccines are required, where possible,
Dr Stogdale uses monovalent/single vaccines,
killed vaccines, non-adjuvant vaccines
especially in cats, and blood titers instead
of vaccines in dogs.
As of 2006, Dr Dodd's vaccination protocol
has now being adopted by ALL 27 North
American veterinary schools.
Home Cooked Diets for Dogs and Cats
Published Home-Cooked Diets for Dogs and Cats are
Commonly Inadequate.
A recent study analyzed 85 home-cooked diets for dogs and
cats that are published in well-respected books. The
results are disturbing: Compared to AAFCO recommendations,
55% of the diets contained inadequate amounts of protein;
62% were inadequate in vitamins; 86% were inadequate in
various minerals; and 8% were inadequate in essential amino
acids. And this is only considering minimal nutritional
requirements, not optimal nutrition!
Results such as this publication explain why Dr Stogdale
does nutritional consultations for each individual pet. This
allows her to consider the dog or cat's breed, age, size,
activity level and any medical conditions present or
anticipated. She recommends the appropriate optimal
nutrition including supplements for intestinal health,
allergy avoidance, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals - all
depending on the individual pet.
People Food that is Poisonous to Dogs
And cats too but they usually don’t eat these foods.
- Chocolate
- Grapes
- Raisins
- Onions
- Garlic in excess of 1-2 cloves daily
- Some nuts (e.g. macadamia)
- Broccoli in large amounts
- Xylitol-containing chewing gum
- And most foods that you know you should NOT
be eating but do anyway.
Other substances that your dog (or yourself) may eat that
cause problems:
- Potato peelings and green looking potatoes
- Tomato leaves & stems
- Rhubarb leaves
- Hops (used in home brewing)
- Apple core pips, pear pips
- Kernels of plums, peaches and apricots
- Coffee grounds, beans & tea (caffeine)
- Yeast dough
- Mouldy/spoiled foods
- Alcohol
- Cigarettes, tobacco, cigars
For even more information, please see:
http://www.petalia.com.au/Templates/StoryTemplate_Process.cfm?specie=Dogs&story_no=257
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1661&articleid=1030
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