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

I'll let her brush mine if you go first....

Dr. Ron DeHaven, CEO of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA),  notes that neglecting our pets’ dental health can cause them a lot of pain, and it can also cause life threatening disease. He estimates that 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some degree of periodental disease that can in advanced stages lead to diabetes, strokes, heart disease, and kidney problems.

Check with your veterinary clinic to see if they offer a discount for dental care during the month of February. Don’t be shy to ask if they’ll extend the discount into March if they’re already booked up.

My little 15 year old Shakti Paw Love Monkey has breath that could knock you silly if you’re unlucky enough to be nose to nose on the exhale, but the precious little Zen doggy will not allow me to clean his teeth. I’m struggling with the decision of whether to put him through the risk of general anesthesia for a teeth cleaning at his age versus the risk of not taking care of the source of that stinky breath.

For those who have a more cooperative pet, here is a link to a video from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) on how to brush your pet’s teeth:

http://www.avmatv.org/media.cfm?m=1769

Other things you can do to improve your pets’ dental health include special foods or food supplements, treats, and certain chew toys. Check out the the Veterinary Oral Health Council’s list of approved products at http://www.VOHC.org. You can also post examples of your pets’ pearly whites at AVMA’s Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=pearly+white+teeth+pets&m=text .

Technorati Tags: pet health, dental month for pets, brushing your dog’s and cat’s teeth, dental disease and threat to pets’ health

ShaktiPaw and new BFF Gus

As my regular readers know, senior pets are my achilles heel. I can’t resist them, whether as pet sitting clients or as members of my own family. The orphans seem to find me long before I have a chance to go looking for them.  They are such a joy to live with, mellow, well-behaved, and oh so appreciative to find a loving home when life had to be feeling pretty bleak. 

On that note, meet Gus, the newest addition to my senior family. His human died suddenly, and after living with her for his whole nine years, he was bereft, whimpering day and night for weeks.  A month after joining us, he’s  a happy member of our family, and he has brought new spark to 15 year old Shakti Paw.

I’m sharing my own joyful experience with senior pets in hopes of convincing at least a few people to consider a senior next time they’re in the market for a pet. I guarantee, even if you have only a few years with your new friend, it will be worth it — for both of you. To hedge my bets, I’m including a heart-warming You Tube video featuring senior dogs and hope it will persuade you if you’re still on the fence.

If you’ve adopted a senior pet, please share your story and tell us about the pros and cons of living with a senior.

Technorati Tags: adopting senior pets, living with older dogs and cats

Goodbye, my friend.

As I grappled with the impossible decision that all pet owners face, I searched for something that would make the decision clearer. My 15 year old beagle mix, Ernie, had been failing all year from an illness no one could quite pin down. As he wobbled through his last days in September, we realized it was kidney failure.

One day I had a helpful talk with Dr. Jule at North Seattle Veterinary Clinic. I was trying to come to grips with how close we were to the end.  You know how it goes. You ask how severe is the disease, is he hurting, is there any hope of recovery, how long does he have, and of course the big question, how will I know when it’s time. She was kind and informative.

I felt her sympathy and appreciated she wasn’t hiding behind a professional facade of neutrality. She offered me a tool to help with the decision, since it ultimately resides in the pet’s quality of life.  I found the scale she referred to on  Veterinary Practice News website. It was designed by Dr. Alice Villalobos to help pet owners determine when it is time to let go. It helped me;  see if you think it would help you make that final decision.

Quality of Life Scale  By: Dr. Alice Villalobos

To download Dr. Villalobos Scale, Click here 

                                                  
1.Adapted by Villalobos, A.E., Quality of Life Scale Helps Make Final Call, VPN, 09/2004, for Canine and Feline Geriatric Oncology Honoring the Human-Animal Bond, by Blackwell Publishing, Table 10.1, released 2006.

Technorati Tags: euthanasia, pawspice, putting a pet to sleep, end of life decision for dogs and cats, quality of life scale

Who will take me in?

There’s a new kid in town and she has filled a very important gap in the world of animal rescue. Her name is Céline Higgins. She is in vet school at the University of Georgia, and she noticed, like many of us in rescue, that there were no easy resources for helping disabled pets get adopted. Unlike the rest of us, she decided to do something about it. Voilá, a new website, http://www.DisabledAnimal.com.  I love people who see a need and act on it!

So we now have a place to list blind, deaf, three-legged, medically or behaviorally challenged, and senior pets. You can quibble with the word disabled if you want to be PC about it (e.g., my deaf Poodle doesn’t know he is less able than his hearing kitty pal, Rico), but the word gets the point across succinctly for a URL.  Importantly, it’s a URL that is easy to remember. 

If your parent has died or gone into a nursing home, you now have a place to list his or her elderly pet. If you are being deployed, you have a place to list your beloved FIV cat. If you’ve lost your job and home, you now have a place to list your feather-plucking bird. You get the drift.  Dogs, cats, birds, small furry animals, horses, reptiles all have their own sections, with sub-categories for deaf, blind, 3-legged, etc. 

Not only that, but the website has other categories of assistance: transportation, wheel chairs/aids available or needed, supplies needed, monetary assistance, and foster care.  And the site has an international section for people from other countries to post. 

This project is relatively new, but has already caught the attention of Dog World Magazine, with an article coming in early 2011, and Fetch Magazine in Wisconsin. Dogster.com has written an article due out soon and LA Times animal blog has picked up on it.  Please help spread the word to others by sending a link from this blog to your friends, neighbors and rescue organizations, or sharing it on Facebook or Twitter. 

Technorati Tags: adopting disabled pets, finding homes for deaf, blind, 3-legged, diabetic pets, dogs in wheelchairs

February is just around the corner. Have you scheduled your pet’s dental yet? Each February I dust off my credit card and book all three animals for their dentals. It’s a big hit financially, but it’s one of those expenses that may be saving me a lot more in the future. I think of it something like an insurance policy. Hopefully my house will never  catch fire — and my cat will never suffer heart disease from infected teeth — but I can rest easier knowing I’ve taken precautions.

This morning I received the following reminder from my wonderful vet’s office, the North Seattle Veterinary Clinic:

• More than 8 out of 10 dogs and 7 out of 10 cats show signs of poor dental health by the age of three.
• Dental problems in pets – as in people – can lead to pain, tooth loss, periodontal disease, and increased bacteria in the bloodstream.
• Pets’ oral disease invariably progresses with time, as does people’s, and can result in damage to internal organs, including the heart, liver and kidneys.

Even if you brush your pets’ teeth regularly, a dental check up could save your pet serious illness in the future.

I don't feel like going to the gym today.

If the cat's not moving, neither am I.

Holding weight gain in check has been a life-long project for me, so is it any wonder that I would attract rescue dogs and cats who have spent a little too much time at the all-you-can-eat buffet? Who better than me, the master dieter, to help them reclaim the sleek lines of their youth.

Rico, The Boss Cat, did just fine as a feral cat lunching on roof rats and squirrels. It wasn’t until the hunt ended, and his life as an indoor cat began, with a steady supply of premium kibbles, that he began to beef up. He likes to call it buffed up, but most people would put him on the cusp of beefed and buffed.  Then there was Scooty who came to me morbidly obese, a 35 pound dog in a 68 pound body. Over our four years together and many pounds of Brussel’s sprout treats, she recovered her girlish figure. Now comes little Shaktipaw, carrying just two extra pounds, but on his tiny frame he’s 15% overweight.

Judging from the statistics at the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention website, overweight in our pets is a significant problem. Here are just a few facts from their website:

An estimated 14% of pets in the U.S. are obese, compared to 20% of adult humans. Add in the pets who are either overweight or obese, and the numbers jump to 50% of all pets. Just as in humans, obesity in pets leads to a variety of health conditions that compromise either quality of life or length of life  — high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and osteoarthritis.

Almost twice as many cats are obese as dogs.  Hmmm, we keep our cats indoors partly to keep them safe from the threats of wildlife, toxins, and traffic. But this obesity ratio between cats and dogs suggests that we are putting our cats at considerable risk indoors by either over-feeding or under-exercising them.

Here’s a link to some ideal weight ranges for cats and dogs. See if your furry friend needs to cut back on the chow or step up the play time.  http://petobesityprevention.com/weight_ranges.htm

Technorati Tags: health risks of pet obesity, overweight in dogs and cats

Shakti as a young man

The house has been quiet for the past month since Scooty left for the Rainbow Bridge. The competitive eating Ernie and Scooty used to enjoy– the Dinner Olympics — came to an abrupt end. In fact, Ernie has outright boycotted the premium kibble he used to race to eat, unless it is laced with a spoonful of cat food. Rico, The Boss Cat, lies around with his chin on his paws sleeping away his sadness.  I wasn’t planning to get another dog yet, but fate doesn’t always work on our schedule.

Two weeks ago I learned a woman named Theresa Marie Gandhi, former wife of the great-nephew of Mahatma Gandhi, was near death. The word that she would be leaving behind a 16 year old, slightly pudgy and arthritic, deaf miniature Poodle trickeled down to me through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. I have hip replacement surgery coming up in a couple of months, and this is not an ideal time for me to add a new dog who is going through his own grief at losing his life-long companion.

Never one to let reason stand in the way of compassion, I drove to Whidbey Island today and met Shakti Paw. His human had died, and the tear stains around his eyes spoke of his loss. He is a little old man with a shaggy haircut, lumps and bumps, no hearing, bad breath, and as  sweet a temperament as Scooty’s. To add to the mystique, his human mom was a woman who would probably have been a good friend if I had known her. She was an activist for environmental responsibility, she was a spiritual leader, and a writer. She rubbed elbows with world leaders, she met with Mother Theresa, she walked across the United States for peace. She was a woman of both global and local presence, and from all I can tell, she left the world a better place than she found it.  And she left behind a sweet little zen dog called Shakti Paw Love Monkey who has now joined my family. We are blessed.

Technorati Tags: adopting a senior pet, healing from pet loss, pet grief

I sniffed out this amusing article from an OldCatsRule tweet. Who do you think is the winner?

OldCatsRule I demand a recount! http://www.wcbs880.com/Dogs-or-Cats–A-New-Poll-Answers-the-Question-/6060081

Let’s hear your comments…..are the poll results correct?

Technorati Tags: dogs vs. cats, pet popularity poll

One of my favorite cat websites is www.LittleBigCat.com, owned by veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve. This month’s newsletter has an interesting article on the effect of toxins in our homes on our pets.

The Environmental Working Group (www.EWG.org) has studied chemical exposures in pets and found them even higher than the levels found in humans. They include carcinogens, neurotoxins, and chemicals toxic to the endocrine and reproductive systems. They come from the products and furnishings we use in our homes. You might want to learn more about this to see where you can minimize exposure to you and your pets.

Other studies have confirmed that second hand smoke is also a risk to pets. Having been a smoker at one time in my life, I know how extremely hard it is to quit, so I’m not one to judge people who haven’t beat it. But perhaps knowing just how dangerous it is to our pets might give that extra boost to kick the habit once and for all.  Here is an exerpt from the Little Big Cat newsletter:

Recent studies have confirmed that cats who live with a smoker have a much higher risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma, an invasive cancer occurring on the mucous membranes of the mouth. Having more than one smoker in the home, or living with a smoker for more than five years, increased the risk even more, according to a study conducted at Tufts University. Because cats groom themselves so thoroughly, toxins and carcinogens from smoke that settle on their fur are taken into their mouths while grooming. Over time, this can cause cancer to develop.

Exposure to smoke also increases a cat’s risk of malignant lymphoma. Since the lymph nodes filter the blood, inhaled or ingested toxins can build up and cause cancer. Cats living with secondhand smoke are three times more likely to develop lymphoma than other cats. In addition to cancer, cats exposed to smoke can also develop other respiratory problems such as asthma and bronchitis.

To read the full newsletter, go to http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=nlarchive&show=volume7no10

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