From the Pet Connection (one of our favorite sites) comes a review of some of the common vitamins your dog needs and the signs of either a vitamin deficiency or too much of any vitamin.

Becoming acquainted with the signs of vitamin deficiency and excess can help us identify contributors to chronic ailments in our companions. We can then “consider the source” of vitamins and then add foods rich in daily requirements that might otherwise be missing from the diet.

Be sure and read the whole article.  After the problems with Blue Buffalo, this is an important topic.

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Until recently, spaying your bitch meant subjecting her to major abdominal surgery and all the risks that incurs.  Now, bitch owners are starting to have a choice.  Some veterinarians are opting to perform an ovariectomy (removing just the ovaries) rather than an ovariohysterectomy (removing the uterus and the ovaries).  There are many advantages to this new surgery.

From the Whole Dog Journal article by Nancy Kay, DVM, some of the advantages of just doing an ovariectomy are:

• Compared to an OVH, an OVE requires less time in the operating room. This translates into decreased likelihood of anesthetic complications.
• Removal of the uterus requires that the surgeon perform more difficult ligations (tying off of large blood vessels and surrounding tissues with suture material before making cuts to release the organs from the body). A uterine body ligation that isn’t tied quite tightly enough can result in excessive bleeding into the abdominal cavity and may necessitate blood transfusions and/or a second surgery to stop the bleeding.
• The ureters (thin delicate tubes that transport urine from each kidney to the bladder) run adjacent to the body of the uterus. If a surgeon is not being extremely careful, it is possible to ligate and obstruct a ureter in the course of removing the uterus. This devastating complication requires a second corrective surgery; however, damage to the affected ureter and adjoining kidney may be irreversible.
• Removal of the uterus occasionally results in the development of a “stump granuloma” – a localized inflammatory process that develops within the small portion of uterus that is left behind. When this occurs a second “clean up surgery” is typically required.
• We know that the degree of post-operative patient discomfort correlates with the degree of surgical trauma. No question, of the two surgical options the OVH creates more trauma.

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The Veterinary Information Network (VIN) has an interesting article about feeding your pets raw meats.  They quote a New Hampshire veterinarian, Dr. Richard McAroy, who is against it and doesn’t allow it in boarding clients. Here’s a sample of the article, but do read the whole.  It is a balanced report of the pros and cons of feeding your do or cat uncooked meat.

VIN News.

November 22, 2010
By: Carrie Peyton Dahlberg
For The VIN News Service

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Nicholas Dodman visited with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air.  Here’s a taste:

“As dogs age, taking care of them becomes more difficult. Owners of aging dogs often struggle with their pets’ dementia and incontinence — as well as navigating through the maze of end-of-life care decisions.

Veterinary behaviorist Nicholas Dodman is the head of the Animal Behavior department at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has worked with aging dogs for decades. He says that old age isn’t a disease, but a stage of life for pets and owners to navigate.

Dodman recently collaborated with other vets from Tufts University as well as writer Lawrence Linder on a reference guide for owners of older dogs, called Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Healthy, Happy and Comfortable.”

If you order the book though our sidebar widget, it will help support this web site.  Thanks.

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Food usually abounds at holiday time and Thanksgiving is a time we often want to share our warm feelings with our pets by offering food treats. Then too food left out at mouth access height can be impossible to resist temptation for a pet. The wrong kind of treat can make the holiday weekend extra long as you try to find an emergency vet instead of the best shopping spots so its best to be careful what treats your pets get.

• Make sure dips, and nuts, particularly macadamia nuts, are well out of reach. Don’t rely on the trash can to safely contain anything as scrumptious as turkey bones, ham rind, turkey skin or any sort of cooking fat etc. Foils covered with foods may also be consumed by a dog that smells only the yummy treat on the surface.
• If you want to share a treat with the dogs and cats then make sure it’s a low fat one. While turkey is not ‘poisonous’ to dogs or cats a sudden influx of fat from turkey skin or gravy can cause digestive upset so limit treats of turkey to small portions of the plain meat. Remember it doesn’t have to be a big amount to be a treat and small dogs and cats should only get a very little bit.
• For dogs a spoonful of squash or sweet potato can be a nice treat but skip the butter or sour cream! Avoid any chocolate, fatty foods such as green bean casserole, and of course onions are not a good idea even if the cream sauce is inviting.
• Make sure the pets are safely confined to where an open door will not mean an escape and where they can’t get on the laden table to help themselves while the humans are busy getting ready for the meal.
• Keep alcoholic drinks out of reach. While eggnog may be yummy to a pet’s nose the alcohol is apt to be a danger for the smaller body sizes of pets.
• Inform guests that the pets are not to be fed without asking you first as you don’t want them to get ill. For expert beggars you might want to add a nice bright bandana or t-shirt that says “Don’t Feed Me!” to remind company to ignore those melting eyes.

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Pet insurance is a complicated issue.  It can be a great help if one of your pets needs major surgery or chemotherapy, but there are also pitfalls with it.  Just like human health insurance, it doesn’t always cover pre-existing conditions.

There are two excellent web sites devoted to helping pet owners understand the ins and outs of pet insurance.  The first and most comprehensive is the Pet Insurance University.  This site takes an in-depth look  at pet insurance, offers comparison charts between the plans and lists alternatives.

The second site, the Pet Insurance Fact Sheet, is a one page primer on pet health insurance including this advice on how to select a plan:

How to Select a Pet Insurance Plan

Selecting a pet insurance plan is an individual choice because each person has different needs depending on the pet’s breed, owner’s geographical location and the owner’s budget. First determine if you need pet insurance.

If you can cover the “worst case scenario costs” for your geographic location out of your own pocket, then you may not need pet insurance.

If you determine that you need pet insurance, make sure the pet insurance company you choose has the following attributes:

1) Has good medical coverage .To get the most comprehensive coverage, you want to purchase a plan that covers accidents/injuries AND illnesses. The illness part of the coverage must include (these are common ailments in veterinary medicine):

a) Coverage for cancer

b) Coverage for chronic disease Chronic diseases are illnesses that have long duration and generally slow progression. Examples include: cancer, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and chronic liver disease.

c) Continual coverage for chronic disease If you do not get this coverage, the chronic disease will only be covered in the policy year it was diagnosed, after that, you will have to pay for any continuing medications or diagnostic monitoring yourself. Treatment for most chronic diseases will last beyond the first year of diagnosis.

d) Coverage for Hereditary & Congenital Diseases

e) Coverage for Diseases that are Common to your Pet’s Breed

2) Has a good reputation: Research a pet insurance company’s reputation using:

• • • Pet Insurance Review
    • Better Business Bureau
    • Your state’s Department of Insurance

3) Has a strong underwriter The underwriter is the company that is financially responsible for paying your claim. Use AM Best’s website to research the strength of the underwriter.

4) Has a maximum payout limit that will cover the “worst case scenario costs” for your geographic location. The maximum payout limit is the maximum amount of money the insurance company will reimburse you. This payout limit can be annually, lifetime, per incident, per body system or based on a predetermined benefit schedule. You want to pick a maximum payout structure that will cover the “worst case scenario costs” that could happen for you.

5) Has an affordable premium

6) Pays claims in a timely fashion

7) Does not have unreasonable exclusions and requirements.

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According to the Veterinary Pet Insurance Company, here’s a list of the ten most common cancers.  This list is based on claims submitted to the company between 2003 and 2009.

• Lymphosarcoma
• Mast Cell Tumor
• Bone Cancer
• Cancer of the Eyelid
• Cancer of the Spleen
• Liver Cancer
• Fibrosarcoma (which stem from connective tissues)
• Cancer of the Thorax
• Oral Cancer
• Hemangiopericytoma (a tumor generally arising on a limb)

There is some good news on pet cancer front,  a Canine Melanoma Vaccine has been licensed by the FDA.  Survival  rates for Bone Cancer have increased.  A study at the Rogosin Institute at the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center using enhanced biological feedback control to control the growth  of tumors has been successful enough that they are beginning human trials.

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There’s a new program in the Portsmouth area, the Seacoast Canine Owners Outreach Program, or SCOOP, which is educating dog owners about the dangers of not picking up after their dogs.  Here’s the Seacoast Online article -

“SCOOP’s main goal is to educate the public on the health hazards that are contained in pet waste left behind on our coastline,” he said. “Dog waste is made up of nearly 100 percent E. coli bacteria, which is communicable to human beings and can cause salmonella poisoning, among other things.”

However, that article generated a response from two doctors.

Human beings, in fact, need the healthy population of E. coli, which live in our guts. On occasion, owing to antibiotic use and misuse, human gut E. coli takes a large hit, and what results is an overgrowth of less friendly bugs, like clostridium difficile, which causes a very nasty diarrheal illness.

Human stools are loaded with E. coli, but the largest component, by far, is anaerobic bacteria. Neither is particularly likely to cause disease in man. Dog feces have a similar composition.

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The Veterinary Information Network (VIN) has an article about possible problems with Blue Buffalo dog food.  This is not an official recall, but it is worth reading the entire article if you do feed your dogs Blue Buffalo.

For The VIN News Service

“Veterinarians are trying to discern whether roughly a dozen dogs testing positive for hypercalcemia and consuming the same high-end diet is merely coincidence or a problem with the pet food in question.

The reports have cropped up on the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online community for the profession and parent of the VIN News Service. In message board discussions, veterinarians have revealed cases of hypercalcemia secondary to vitamin D toxicosis occurring in dogs that eat a single brand of dry pet food: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Diet, chicken flavor. In each of the cases, veterinarians report that dogs’ conditions have improved after switching brands”.

via VIN News.

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Ick! Ticks! I know that is always how I’ve felt when I found one on a pet. Typically my dogs come and bother me any time there is a tick on them, insisting that I remove it. I suspect all that stuff about mutual hunting and dogs hanging around the camp dump and ending up with humans is a simple disguise for the fact our dogs know we have fingers and that we know how to use them! But fingers are not the best way to remove ticks.

The easiest way to remove ticks is to apply a drop on tick medication, such as Frontline or Revolution, or one of the collars containing Amitraz such as Preventic or Tick Detach.  An excellent set of tables showing the products that control fleas and ticks with their pluses and minuses can be found here: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=545 (it says flea products but it shows tick effective products in the second table).

The collars containing Amitraz really do work, but the risk is that, if your dog chews one, it is really toxic so it’s not always best to use these on pets in a home where dogs grab collars while wrestling or try to chew off their own collar. It’s also not safe to use them if your cat washes your dog. In general within 24 hours of the products being used the ticks are dead or dying and will detach and fall off.

But if you do not have access to a tick prevention product and you want that tick off the dog the best method of removal is to use a tick remover tool or a pair of tweezers and get right down near the skin to pull on its head. You pull gently upwards until the head comes out of the skin. Drop the tick or ticks in a previously prepared small lidded container that has rubbing alcohol in it. Plan to throw the tightly shut container away ticks and all when you are done.

You want to make sure to NOT squeeze the tick’s body as that can push fluids into your dog increasing risks of infection. You also want to keep your hands away from any fluids in the tick for the same reason. People can also catch tick carried diseases.

During removal all too often the head comes off the tick no matter how careful you are when pulling upwards on it. The dog’s skin will eventually reject the tick head and it will come off, often with the scab that forms at the site. To avoid skin infection, and to limit infections from the bite whether the head comes out or not, you can apply some Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic ointment to the area or clean the spot with Betadine (or generic Povidine) solution.

• Check the bite spot over the next couple of days to see if it needs more antibiotic ointment or cleaning.
  
• Watch for signs of tick carried illness in your dog and be sure to screen for them when you do your annual vet visit even if you see know signs.
  
• Typically it takes 36 or more hours of attachment for the tick to transfer disease to your dog (if that tick has one to pass on) so keeping up with checks for ticks limits chances of infection as does use of a prevention on a regular basis during tick season.
  

You can read about tick carried diseases in dogs here:   http://mirage-samoyeds.com/tick.htm there is an excellent FAQ on the topic.

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