Archive for October, 2006

Scardy Cats and Dogs…..Halloween is Scary for Pets

Sunday, October 29th, 2006
Things to Watch For on Halloween

Halloween is a fun time for kids and many adults, but can be a frightening and stressful time for your pets. As a pet owner, you know your pet best, but here are some points to consider for your pet’s safety.

  • Continual doorbell ringing and people at the door (in costume, no less!) can be stressful for a pet. Some pets may experience stress-related diarrhea or potentially injure themselves if crated or otherwise contained. Keep your pet in a quiet and safe place on Halloween.
  • Watch your pet around strangers in costume — some animals may become unexpectedly aggressive or fearful, even normally friendly pets.
  • Candles and Jack-O’-Lanterns within a pet’s range are a fire hazard. Wagging tails and frightened cats zooming through the house can easily tip over a candle or carved pumpkin, causing burns or a fire.
  • Candy - many pets have a sweet tooth. General overindulgence, chocolate, and plastic/cardboard candy-filled toys can cause added problems if ingested.
  • Keep your pets indoors on Halloween night, especially black cats. Animals are at risk for cruel treatment by some Halloween pranksters. Many adoption agencies and humane societies will not allow adoption of black cats around Halloween for this reason.

Look at all of that candy!
For many people, Halloween = candy. Please warn children not to share their goodies with the family pet.

Chocolate is poisonous for pets. Granted, a 50 pound dog would have to eat about 50 ounces of milk chocolate (but only 5 ounces of baking chocolate) for a toxic dose, but much smaller amounts can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Signs of chocolate toxicity include tremors, nervousness, vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate, and in severe cases, seizures and death. If you suspect that your pet has eaten chocolate, consult your veterinarian.

Other candies, such as lollipops and those with plastic components, pose a danger if ingested. Lollipop sticks and plastic parts can cause intestinal obstruction and potentially rupture the intestines, which is a life-threatening emergency.

Look at the variety of pet costumes! How can I resist?

  • While viewed as fun and adorable for some pet owners, caution is advised when putting a costume on a pet. A pet in costume should NEVER be left alone and unsupervised.
  • Tight elastics on the costumes can get lost in the pet’s hair, potentially causing owners to overlook them, leading to swelling and pain in the area of the elastic.
  • Some pets, if left alone in costume, may chew it up and ingest it. This could cause intestinal obstruction if more than small shreds of material are consumed.
  • If the costumed pet escapes or is frightened away, the costume could entangle the pet on trees, fences, etc.

Play it safe and have fun
With a little caution and some common sense, Halloween can be a fun time for kids and pets alike. If any acts of animal cruelty are seen or suspected, please call your local shelter or animal authorities. Happy and safe Halloween to everyone.

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Interesting Litterboxes

Friday, October 13th, 2006

Here are some cool litterboxes that I found on the web.  The links to the sites show more styles.

Cool for the small house, no room syndrome

Classic look

Littermaid Mega - self cleaning

For the Diabetic Cat - great for a cat that needs it’s urine tested

Fancy Covers

Do you have a pic of your "fancy" litterboxes that you would like to share?  I wish I had taken one of a litterbox I made out of one of those huge platic totes…..I had 2 rather large male cats that would fling litter all over the place….so I made a litterbox that was more like a sandbox for the boys to play in.

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Leptospirosis-Not just a human problem

Thursday, October 12th, 2006

Leptospirosis is a disease of worldwide significance that infects both animals and humans. The scientific name of the infecting organism is Leptospira interrogans sensu lato. While cats can be infected, they rarely show signs of disease. The disease is much more of a problem in dogs, people, and livestock.

Transmission

Leptospirosis is transmitted between animals through contact with infected urine; veneral and placental transfer; bite wounds; or the ingestion of infected tissue.  Indirect transmission occurs through exposure of susceptible animals to contaminated water sources, food, or even bedding. Stagnant  water provides a suitable habitat for Leptospira. As a result, disease outbreaks often increase during periods of flooding. In dry areas infections are more common around water sources.

Freezing greatly reduces the survival of the organism in the environment. This explains why infections are more common in summer and fall and why the infection is more prevalent in temperate areas.

Infection

Leptospira bacteria penetrate mucous membranes or abraded skin and multiply rapidly upon entering the blood system. From there they spread to other tissues including the kidneys,liver, spleen, nervous system, eyes, and genital tract. As the body fights the infection, the organism is cleared from most organs, but they may remain in the kidneys and be shed for weeks or months in the urine.

Symptoms

In acute infections a fever of 103-104°, shivering, and muscle tenderness are the first signs. Then vomiting and rapid dehydration may develop. Severely infected dogs may develop hypothermia and become depressed and die before kidney or liver failure has a chance to develop.

In subacute infections, the animal usually develops a fever, anorexia, vomiting, dehydration, and increased thirst. The dog may be reluctant to move due to muscle or kidney pain. Animals with liver involvement may develop a yellowing of the skin. Dogs that develop kidney or liver involvement may begin to show improvement in organ function after 2 to 3 weeks or they may develop kidney failure. Despite the possibility of severe infection and death, the majority of leptospiral infections in dogs are chronic or subclinical. Dogs that become chronically infected may show no outward signs, but may intermittently shed bacteria in the urine for months or years.

Diagnosis

A positive diagnosis can be made through a blood test.  Acutely infected or chronically infected dogs will most likely be shedding Leptospira organisms in their urine. It is possible toculture a urine sample and get a positive diagnosis. However, because of intermittent shedding and bacterial contamination this is not always the best way to diagnose the disease.

Treatment

Treatment consists of antibiotics, fluid replacement, and controlling the vomiting and the problems associated with the corresponding kidney or liver infections. Penicillin, or one of its derivatives is the antibiotic of choice for treating the initial infection. IV fluids are given to rehydrate the animal and help with the damage done to the kidneys.

Vaccination and Prevention

Prevention involves keeping pets out of contact with contaminated water sources, or wildlife reservoirs. Humans can contract leptospirosis and any potentially infected animal should be handled very carefully to avoid human exposure.

There are currently many different vaccines available on the market.  The ones currently available for dogs are chemically inactivated (killed) whole culture vaccine, which unfortunately, make them much more likely to cause vaccine reactions as opposed to most viral vaccines.

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Pet cloning company shuts its doors.

Thursday, October 12th, 2006

Genetic Savings & Clone, a biotechnology company that sold cloned pets, sent letters to its customers last month informing them it will close at the end of the year because of little demand for cloned cats. The company had recently reduced the price from $50,000 to $32,000.  Associative Press

Well thank goodness for that!

"It’s no surprise the demand for cloned pets is basically nonexistent, and we’re very pleased that Genetics Savings & Clone’s attempt to run a cloning pet store was a spectacular flop," said Wayne Pacelle, head of the Humane Society of the United States. "It’s not just a bad business venture, but also an operation grounded on the misuse of animals."

I know it is very difficult when you lose an animal, in fact one of my future posts will deal with the human animal bond, but cloning your pet that is just going a little too far??  What do you think of cloning? Leave a comment.

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Pet Weight Checker

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

I found this really cool tool on how to score your pet’s body condition.  Obesity is not just a dilemma in humans it is also affecting our furry friends as well (over 50% of pets in the UK are overweight, while the number is around 45% in North America).  The Hill’s site has a lot of information on obesity, how to be a personal trainer for your pet, and has some fun stuff on it as well.

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Are we over vaccinating our pet’s?

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006

Just as with human medicine there has been a discussion over the last decade as to whether pets need yearly vaccinations.  According to the Amercian Association of Veterinary Medicine a vaccination protocol should be discussed between an owner and their veterinarian based on the lifestyle of that pet.  A pet’s lifestyle, geographic location and age are all determining factors in deciding which vaccines are core vaccines and how often those vaccines should be given. 

Vaccines have protected millions of animals and humans from illness and death caused by infectious diseases. All medical procedures do however, carry with them some risk. Fortunately, in the case of vaccination, serious adverse responses like anaphylaxis, are very infrequent. Risk can be minimized by reducing the number of vaccines given as well as placing the vaccines at proper injection sites.

Even the drug companies are getting onboard with vaccinosis:

For many years the issue of over-vaccination has been a concern amongst dog owners and breeders and duration of immunity has been under constant scrutiny.  The overall consensus of canine disease experts and associated governing bodies is that vaccination is, and always will be, a necessary control for disease prevention. 

We all recognise the importance of vaccination, but doubt has been cast on the need for routine annual vaccination.   Times are changing and there has, indeed, been a breakthrough regarding its frequency.  Increasingly we are now seeing an entirely new approach to administration of vaccines in dogs.    We are no longer talking about every component, every year for every dog.  Even closer scrutiny is now being given to the duration of immunity, efficacy in the face of maternally derived antibodies and disease prevalence.   Intervet Drug Co.

Traditionally vaccines have been given on a yearly basis to pets, but some research shows that some vaccines induce immunity for less than a year and some last much longer.  For example some rabies vaccine products are available that have a label for 3 years protection while some bordetella vaccines are recommended every 6 months.

The best advice is to talk with your veterinarian about your pet’s lifestyle and for the both of you to make an informed vaccination program for your pet.

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Why meal feed your pet?

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006

Many owners are unaware that meal feeding is much healthier and safer for their pet.  Meal feeding is portioned amounts of food at a certain time of each day.  The other option is free-feeding where the owner would place an unknown amount of food in the pet’s dish and let the pet eat all day.  There are many good reasons not to do this but to meal feed instead.

1.  Meal feeding allows you, the owner, the capability of monitoring your pet’s food intake.  Pets may not be able to tell you if and when something is not right with them.  If you feed your pet a certain amount of food at each meal and you notice that "Fluffy" hasn’t eaten her morning meal and then isn’t interested in supper either then something may be wrong with your pet’s health and you may want to phone your vet.  One of the first questions that your veterinarian will ask when you, the owner, brings in your ill pet will be "When was the last time "Fluffy" ate?" 

2.  Meal feeding may stave away obesity.  If you, the owner, can measure the amount of food your pet is getting then you can adjust the amount if "Fluffy" is getting a little on the heavy side or seems to be losing weight. 

3.  Meal feeding is great for training pets.  If you, the owner, have a dog that you are training the most simple way to train is with treats. Having a hungry dog it is easier to train and get their attention with treats if they haven’t been eating all day.

4.  Meal feeding prevents food from going to waste.  If you, the owner, were to put down a large amount of food in your pet’s bowl and "Fluffy" doesn’t eat it then that food won’t be very fresh for long and your pet may not enjoy eating stale food.  As well if you have a small child in the family it is better to have "Fluffy" eat the entire meal so that your child does not enjoy that food either.

5.  Meal feeding is especially important with puppies and kittens.  A growing pet needs adjustments to it’s energy requirements almost on a weekly basis.  If you, the owner, are able to control the portions by meal feeding then these requirements can be met. 

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