Both enjoy national attention in February!

Dental Health

Are you one of those rare, dedicated pet owners who brushes your cat’s or dog’s teeth at least a couple of times a week? Then you probably won’t care that February is National Dental Health Month for pets.

My once-feral orange tabby cat thinks dental hygiene is uncivilized, and my 9-pound Poodle turns into a piranha at the sight of a toothbrush.  So I’m always first in line for the February dental discount at my vet’s office. As you can see from this photo, Gus is due for some serious dental work, and he goes in twice a year for teeth cleaning.

Financially this annual rite of passage into spring can be a bit steep. I always have a houseful of seniors, so their dentals might be more expensive than usual because of periodontal disease, fractured teeth, extractions and other expensive procedures. The lowest bill in the past few years has been around $200 and the highest close to $800.

In case that motivates you to learn how to brush your Fluffy’s teeth, here’s a demo sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB3GIAgrTPE&feature=player_embedded

The risks of skipping your pet’s dental care can be severe.

According to the American Veterinary Dental Society, more than 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some degree of periodontal disease by age three. When plaque and tartar build up on the teeth, especially below the gums, bacteria flourish and can lead to bad breath, bleeding and receding gums, and eventually loss of teeth. Periodontal disease is serious and can release bacteria into the blood stream that can result in infections, organ damage, and even death.

So if you can’t get that toothbrush in your pet’s mouth, don’t skip the annual dental. In case you’re concerned about the risk of anesthesia, especially on older dogs, UC Davis veterinarians note that with advancements in anesthesia for animals, the risk of anesthesia is less than the risk for dental disease.

The UC Davis vet school says choice of diet and toys can have a significant effect on whether a pet has a healthy or diseased mouth. Soft and sticky foods build plaque and should be avoided. Certain toys are designed to stimulate the gums and reduce plaque. By the way, cats and dogs are equally at risk.

Spay/Neuter Your Pets

Did you know that neutering pets not only helps reduce the population of homeless pets, but can save your dog’s or cat’s life?  As National Spay Day approaches on February 28, I hope you’ll give thought to some of these issues. Even if your own pets are spayed or neutered, you might step outside your comfort zone and trap a feral cat or a stray dog and get it snipped. Or take the more time-saving path and donate to a rescue organization committed to sterilization.

Back to saving your pet’s life….According to www.SpayUSA.com here are some of the serious health risks you can avoid by sterilizing your pets:

• Altering your dog will increase his or her life an average of 1 to 3 years, cats, 3 to 5 years.
• Intact animals have a much higher risk of mammary gland tumors/cancer, prostate cancer, perianal tumors, pyometria, and uterine, ovarian and testicular cancers.
• Sterilizing your cats and dogs reduces the urge to roam and decreases the risk of contracting diseases or getting hurt as they roam.
• Surveys indicate that as many as 85% of dogs hit by cars are unaltered.
• Intact male cats living outside have been shown to live on average less than two years (my emphasis).

Let’s celebrate our cats and dogs this month by restoring their pearly whites to good health and getting them or their stray cousins spayed or neutered.

Technorati Tags:  spay, neuter, homeless pets, dog and cat dental health, preventing cancer in pets, keep pets from being hit by a car

Ooh, I don't feel so good.

If you have any kind of chicken jerky treats for your pets that were made in China, they belong in the garbage, not in your dear pet’s tummy.  In 2011, the FDA logged in over 350 reports of dogs getting sick or dying from eating chicken jerky products manufactured in China. The products are sometimes called chicken tenders or treats.  The FDA hasn’t identified the source of the toxin or specific brands or types of treats, so your best bet is to avoid them altogether if produced in China.

I, for one, am getting pretty ticked off about the frequency of Chinese consumables putting our pets’ health at risk. I am boycotting all Chinese-made food products until I see China improving their quality control and/or questionable business ethics.

If your dog has eaten Chinese manufactured chicken treats and shows decreased appetite, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, increased water consumption or increased urination, you should see your vet immediately.

Thanks to Diagnostic Imiging Systems for highlighting this problem in their January Veterinary E-News Magazine.

Technorati Tags:   pet health, dog food recalls, toxic pet products from China, pet nutrition

Each year the Veterinary Practice News holds a contest called They Ate What? They invite veterinarians to send in xrays showing the most unusual objects their client pets have swallowed (technically called pica). If you’ve ever had a dog or cat with an appetite for non-edible goodies, you’ll appreciate these stories. Photos compliments of VPN website and contestants.

9 handballs

Vanessa Hawksin, DVM, of Warrenton, OR. Her patient was brought in for examination of lameness in a back leg. X-rays coincidentally revealed 9 handballs in his stomach.

Here are some of the runners up.

mulch, shoe laces and other delicacies

Lisa Anne Attanasi, DVM, of Eaglewood Cliffs, N.J. saw a 12 year old Beagle for an overdose of shoe laces, mulch, a knee high stocking, a plastic plant, plastic ties, and bristles from a car snow cleaning brush.

Tinkerbell really wanted to go for a walk

Jenny Yanson, practice manager at Suburbia North Animal Hospital, treated 6-month old bulldog Tinkerbell who had eaten a training collar off another dog in the home. To the doctor’s and owners’ surprise, this was not Tinkerbell’s first training collar appetizer. They found not 1, but two collars in her stomach.

This duck got nailed

Michael Herko, DVM, in Baltimore, MD found a nail and stones in a duck’s gizzard when she arrived with a lame leg and abdominal discomfort. Silly goose — I mean duck — was back a month later with another nail in her tummy.

This little guy had a sore throat

Lisa Anne Attanasi, DVM, of Eaglewood Cliffs, N.J. seems to have more than her share of mischievous clients. Little Sally, a 1-year old dachshund, swallowed a 2 inch needle.

This baby dog must have really wanted some milk.

Melissa Seavey of Westborough, MA, removed 10 baby bottle nipples from  a 4-month-old  Golden Retriever puppy.

Oh, I feel like I ate a Gorilla

Beth Shannon, DVM, North Liberty, Iowa, treated a 1½  year old Chi-Weenie for a tummyache after he chewed on a bottle of Gorilla Glue.  The glue expanded and molded perfectly to his stomach, but was removed successfully.

Bridget Landon, DVM, Reno, NV, got a surprise when a 9-month-old Golden Retriever came in for vaccines and left minus a gutful of rocks. No wonder the dog had lost her appetite and been vomiting for two days.

If you have a story about some crazy item your pet swallowed, please share it below in comments.

Technorati Tags: pica, dogs and cats swallowing strange items, rocks handballs needles and glue in pet stomachs

Mental Stimulation  We humans get our news from the media or the internet. Dogs keep up on their “world affairs” through pee-mail on hydrants, poles and shrubs, and bulk mail left in the grass.

Socialization  Walks offer a perfect opportunity for dogs to learn the social graces of the dog world. Meeting and interacting politely with other dogs, children and adults makes for a more pleasant walk and a better-behaved dog at home when company drops by.

Training  A walk can serve double duty as both exercise and a chance to run through a few basic obedience commands as a refresher. For busy people who find little spare time to keep up with their dog’s training,  walks provide a great training opportunity.

Street Smarts  Teaching your dog a few tips to help him or her stay safe outside the yard could be life saving if he decides to slip past your ankles in the doorway one morning and head out for an adventure.  I like to teach all dogs to stop and check for cars before entering an intersection, stay on the sidewalk to avoid traffic, keep moving without engaging another dog fiercely protecting its fence, and greet other dogs on leash in a friendly way.

Staying healthy   Breathing fresh air, exercising, burning calories, and staying trim and fit benefit both human and dog. I often hear people say, “My dog keeps me fit.”  We owe it to our dogs to help them keep fit too.

Technorati Tags:   dog walks, exercising pets

Rico the Reindeer-Cat

Escape     When trick-or-treaters come knocking, be sure your escape artists are secured safely and can’t rush out the door between your ankles. Harm to black cats    As unthinkable as it is, there are sick individuals who will brutally harm black cats around this holiday. If your cat is allowed outdoors, keep her or him indoors and safe from this kind of perversion for a couple of days before to a couple of days after Halloween.

Decorations   Cute little witch candles can singe an errant dog or cat tail if not kept out of reach of an exuberant wag. Holiday decoration electrical wires can attract dangerous attention from the family bunny or guinea pig. Be sure they are secured. Fall displays using ears of corn can be appealing to dogs, and if eaten the cobs can end up in an expensive emergency surgery for blocked intestines.

Anxiety   I happen to have a 95 pound guard dog who is scared of the the sound of the ice maker, the UPS truck, or anyone wearing a large hat or carrying an umbrella. So, scary Halloween costumes are not high on his list of favorite sights, even if they’re not on him. If your pets become anxious with frequent knocks at the door, or the sight of gruesome ghouls and goblins, or those freaky looking pumpkins you worked so hard on, you might want to put your pets in another room with music or television on to distract them. If you have an exceptionally nernous nellie in your pack, you might need to use a calming product. There are a number of good herbal remedies; if something stronger is needed, your vet can help.

Scootie & Ernie trick-or-treating

This post will be short and sweet. Readers and fellow animals lovers have been asking me to post a warning about what seems like common sense, but appears to elude some pet owners:  cat’s and dog’s pads can burn on hot pavement.

Veterinary blogger, Dr. Patty Khuly, who posts on www.FullyVetted.com, summarized her article today by saying, “If it’s too hot for you to walk barefoot, it’s too hot for your dog, too!”

Please, folks, use your head (or your feet) in judging whether it’s too hot to walk your dog safely. While you’re at it, take a look at Dr. Patty’s blog.

Technorati Tags: hot pavement burns pet pads, summer safety/risks for pets

Recently I had to leave one of my dogs in the car while meeting with a friend. I’m conscious of how quickly cars heat up even with the windows down a few inches on a sunny day, so I put a thermometer in the car and periodically checked to make sure ShaktiPaw was safe. My friend scoffed at my concerns because the outdoor temperature was only 70°. He is  not alone in his naivete about the risks of leaving a pet in the car in moderate termperatures. 

An article published in the Journal of Pediatrics,   July 1, 2005, addresses the danger of heat stroke under these conditions. Catherine McLaren, MD, Division of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, and James Quinn, MD, Department of Geoscience, San Francisco State University, wanted a definitive answer to how hot is too hot to leave a child [or pet] in the car. Previous studies had shown the temperature inside a car quickly rose to between 134° and 154° when outdoor temperature exceeded 86°. They wondered whether similarly high temperatures happen inside a car when the ambient temperature is cooler.

They did their tests on 16 clear, sunny days with outdoor temperatures ranging from 72° to 96°. On two of the days they tested with the windows opened 1.5 inches. Here are the results:

Regardless of the outdoor ambient temperature, the rate of temperature rise inside the vehicle was not significantly different. The average mean increase was 3.2° per 5-minute interval, with 80% of the rise occuring during the first 30 minutes.

The final temperature inside the vehicle depended on the starting ambient temperture, but even at the coolest ambient temperature (72°), the internal temperatures reached 117° [my emphasis]. On average there was about a 40° increase….Cracking windows open did not decrease the rate of temperature rise in the car.

Conclusion: even at relatively cool ambient temperatures, the temperature rise in vehicles is significant on clear, sunny days and puts infants [and pets] at risk for hypotheremia. Vehicles heat up rapidly, with the majority of the rise occurring within the first 15 to 30 minutes. Leaving the windows “cracked” does not significantly slow the heating process or decrease the maximum temperature attained.

A dog’s normal body temperature is 101.0 to 102.5. According to the Animal Protection Institute (API), dogs can only withstand 107° to 108° for a very short time before suffering irreparable brain damage or even death.

So with this in mind, I was interested to see the  Too Hot for Spot safety window thermometer featured on a veterinary blog, DrJon@PetPace.com.  This AVMA poster offers a graphic public awareness message. They can be ordered at www.AVMA.org.

Technorati Tags: heat stroke in dogs,   brain damaged pet left in car, risky temps inside car on moderate day, too hot for pets, pet car safety  

Ever wonder what your cat’s bad breath means, aside from the fact you haven’t brushed his teeth in six months? How about that goopy goo that collects in the corner of your pup’s eyes?  Obviously your veterinarian is the ultimate answer, but at midnight on a Saturday, you might want to get a sneak preview of what’s going on. You can pay a vet on line for some preliminary advice, or you can do a little research on your own at one of the on line symptom checker sites.

I was pleased to see how many symptom checker websites popped up in a quick search — until I tried using them. Not surprisingly, some are easier to use and more complete than others.  Not being a vet, I can’t speak to the quality of advice. What I could do was look up a sampling of conditions my own pets have experienced over the years. Based on those results, I found a couple of sites that inspired more confidence than others as a starting point:

Drs. Foster and Smith Symptom Checker

Pet Place

Please be realistic about this. Online research should be no more than information gathering when it comes to your pet’s health. Need I repeat? A full veterinary evaluation should follow any online research you do.

Technorati Tags: pet symptom checker, cat and dog health diagnosis, veterinary advice

Ever wondered whether pet first aid and CPR is something you should learn more about? Your trusty blogger and pet first aid instructor recently did a brief TV demonstration that gives a couple of important techniques for saving your pet’s life. The demo animals are dogs, but the same techniques apply to cats. Take a look:    King 5 TV: saving your furry family members with pet first aid.

If you have one of those problem kitties, you might want to check out Animal Planet’s new show, My Cat From Hell, featuring cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy. Thanks to one of my favorite blogs, Little Big Cat, we have a sneak preview: Cat From Hell Highlights

I hope by now you’ve heard about another Pig Ear recall for possible salmnella contamination. Just in case you haven’t, here is a link to the Key’s Manufacturing Company’s press release:   http://www.keysmanufacturing.com/recall.htm

Veterinary insurance is an idea that has been around for a long time. The last time I had a pet young enough to use it, there was only one (expensive) option in my state. Now many companies offer this important service to animal owners. The challenge now is to figure out which is the best policy for each owner’s pets. Pet MD has added a great new blog to help figure that out called  Healthy Assurance.

Be Kind to Animals Week  is May 1-7 — oops, we almost missed it. To make amends, I want to leave you with a thought-provoking quote from Little Big Cats recent Cat’s Walk Newsletter:

…this is also a good time to think about the many ways that we impact animals’ lives. There is so much thoughtless and even institutionalized animal cruelty in this world, from calf-roping at rodeos and wild animals in circuses, to the millions of mice (who are legally not considered “animals”) sacrificed in the name of science, and the billions of chickens that will be slaughtered  for human consumption this year alone. Let’s all try to be mindful of their suffering, and do our best not to add to it. Consider a donation to your local shelter, or to one of the national organizations that work so hard for animal welfare and animal rights.

Give your pets a hug for all the joy and well-being they bring to your life.

Technorati Tags: pet first aid and CPR, pigs ear recall, cat behaviorist on Animal Planet, Be Kind to Animals Week