Maureen Berry commutes from Roslindale to work in South Boston with Nicholas,
her 13-year-old Yorkshire terrier, in his stroller.
Ultrasound is an important diagnostic tool for veterinarians
When an animal is ill, veterinarians use physical exam results, blood tests, X-rays, and sometimes an ultrasound, writes veterinarian Lawrence Gerson. Ultrasounds are painless and noninvasive and only require the fur over the area of interest to be shaved. Dr. Gerson relates one case in which an ultrasound of a jaundiced cat revealed gallstones as the culprit, a condition that is uncommon in dogs and cats.
By Lawrence Gerson, V.M.D.
When presented with an ill animal, veterinarians will start with a history of the problem and will perform a comprehensive physical exam. If the diagnosis is not obvious, we usually rely on diagnostic testing that may include urinalysis, a fecal exam, or blood tests for a complete blood count and a blood chemistry and a thyroid test. X-rays may also be needed.
Occasionally, additional imaging such as an ultrasound is performed. An ultrasound exam is a noninvasive test that can show the details of body systems with great accuracy. Not only can we see the size and shape of the organs but also the inner structure of most of the abdominal and cardiac structures
Amarillo, a 9-year old gray tabby cat had been losing her appetite over several weeks. Her gastrointestinal tract was upset, and she had not eaten for two days before seeing the veterinarian.
By that time, she had lost a significant 10 percent of her body weight. The veterinarian noticed that her eyes were yellow-tinged, indicating jaundice.
“A yellow kitty is a very sick kitty,” the veterinarian said.
Getting an accurate diagnosis of liver malfunction can be a difficult and expensive process. A blood test confirmed that the liver was not working well as the bilirubin level was high. Because her thyroid level was normal, that eliminated thyroid disease as the cause of jaundice.
She was not anemic, which is another cause of jaundice because of the breakdown of red blood cells.
Palpation of the abdomen did not reveal any obvious tumors or other abnormalities, but she was a bit tender about having her abdomen examined.
The veterinarian recommended an abdominal ultrasound. Commonly, humans have diagnostic ultrasounds of their kidneys, liver, gallbladder or urinary bladder. Ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves (higher than can be heard by human or even dogs) to look at the organs and tissues of the abdomen and into the chest of animals.
Ultrasound is painless and only requires a shaved stomach and some gel to get a good image. Some veterinarians will ultrasound pets in their offices, while others use the services of a specialist with many years of additional training and experience to view the internal organs.
Amarillo had gallstones. Although not unusual in humans, gallstones are very uncommon in cats and dogs. Additionally, she had stones in her bile duct, causing a blockage of bile flow.
She eventually had surgery to flush out and re-route her gallbladder, and she was back to her adventurous self in two weeks.
Pittsburgh is fortunate to have numerous specialists who can consult with local veterinarians on difficult cases. Some of these specialists will visit area veterinary hospitals to provide additional expertise.
Additional care is also provided at specialty hospitals, giving veterinarians and pets many options and hope for those complicated cases.
Lawrence Gerson is a veterinarian and founder of the Point Breeze Veterinary Clinic. This column was co-written by Nathaniel Myers of Pittsburgh Veterinary Internal Medicine. The biweekly column is intended to educate pet owners. Consultation with a veterinarian is necessary to diagnose and treat individual pets. If you have a question you’d like addressed in Pet Points, email petpoints@post-gazette.com. Please include your name and municipality or neighborhood. First Published September 15, 2012 12:00 am
Pet strollers keep older animals on the go
U.S. pets are living longer than ever before, and with age often comes back, hip or knee problems. Owners are increasingly purchasing pet strollers to improve their pets’ mobility. AVMA statistics indicate that between 1987 and 2011, the percentage of dogs in the U.S. over 6 years old increased from 42% to 48% while the share of older cats increased from 29% to 50%. The Boston Globe
Strollers for dogs: The latest in pet pampering
Strollers offer one way for people to get around with pets that are inform, elderly — or just a little lazy
Really, it should be no big deal. After all, we already live in such a pet-centric world that the sight of a dog wearing Ralph Lauren, or checking into a five-star hotel, or dining on organic, locally sourced food, barely causes a stir. And yet, even in 2012, a dog riding in a stroller seems one pamper too far.
“Sometimes people make snide remarks,” said Soderstrom, 28, an executive assistant who also designs and markets her own line of jewely. Or they point and laugh, and hint that 5-year-old Louis is a “diva.”
Let the public mock. The white dog with the big pink ears has long struggled with a bad back and hips, but he got around OK until a few months ago when he injured a knee, making the two-block walk to the park impossible. “But I wanted to keep him happy,” Soderstrom said.
She carried him back and forth for a while, but that was exhausting. Enter a $130 dog stroller from eBay. “Louis loves it,” she said. “He stands right next to it waiting to be picked up and put in.”
It’s probably too early to declare pets-in-strollers a full-blown trend, at least in Boston. (In certain neighborhoods in Manhattan, Los Angeles, and southern Florida, the unusual dogs are reportedly the ones who are walking.) But the warning signs are building:
Two Pekingese pups were spotted recently in a stroller in the Prudential Center. A Yorkie was seen riding in the South End, where a cat was also observed taking a drive. In Cambridge, a long-haired dachshund was parked in a stroller in front of a Star Market. Reports of stroller dogs enjoying Castle Island and the Gloucester waterfront have also come in.
At the pet-friendly Boston Harbor Hotel, canine guests have begun arriving in strollers, particularly in the winter, the better to protect their paws from ice-melting salt. “It’s a nice easy way for them to get around,” said concierge Rob Fournier. (A stroller even helped one guest sneak a pooch into the hotel’s Rowes Wharf Sea Grille, a jaunt that lasted until a staffer noticed that the body in the stroller was a tad furry.)
And a dog stroller made the iconic September issue of Vogue magazine. “Two days before my dog Rose died, I put her in the stroller and pushed her down the sidewalk,” the best-selling author Ann Patchett wrote. “When my friend Norma bought Rose a dog stroller the summer before, I hadn’t wanted it, but feelings of idiocy were quick to give way to Rose’s obvious pleasure.”
The stroller movement is the natural outgrowth of several other pet-related story lines, including an increase in spending on pet health care, a growing population of elderly pets, and an increasing belief that our pets are not our animals, but rather our children.
In 2001, US pet owners spent $7.1 billion on pet health care, a number that jumped to $13.41 billion in 2011, according to the American Pet Products Association. Along with that spending has come an increase in the percentage of senior pets who, having benefited from life-prolonging therapies, need help getting around.
In 1987, forty-two percent of dogs were 6 years old or older, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. In 2011, that number had risen to 48 percent. The percentage of senior cats is growing at an even faster rate. In 1987, 29 percent of cats were 6 years old or older. By 2011, 50 percent of cats were “of a certain age.”
But strollers aren’t just for infirm or elderly pets. Some are for perfectly mobile pets who are more child than pooch. Because dogs can be zipped securely into their strollers, the carriages allow pets to accompany owners on an entire day’s worth of activities.
“We like to include our dogs in what we do,” said stroller-user Debby Vogel, the owner of three Chihuahuas, a 14-year-old with mobility issues, and two 9-year-olds who know a good thing when they see it. “The girl is lazy,” Vogel, the Animal Rescue League of Boston’s volunteer services manager, said of one of her younger dogs, “and the boy is nervous when people loom over him. In crowds he gets freaked out.”
Time was when dogs like that would have stayed at home, but that time is not 2012. In fact, Vogel and her husband, a muscular mixed martial arts fighter confident enough to push a dog stroller, are so eager to bring their dogs along that they have assembled a stroller wardrobe, one for off-road, one for in-town. “Our son is in college and [the dogs] are the second kids,” Vogel said, laughing.
The stroller trend started to build about five or six years ago, said Tierra Bonaldi, a “pet lifestylist” with the American Pet Products Association, and it’s moved from strictly small-dog doll-style strollers to joggers strong enough to hold a 150-pound dog, and manly enough for even macho men to be seen with.
On the Uncommondog.com website, The DoggyRide Lightweight Jogger-Stroller will run an owner $359.10, and is built on a light aluminum-alloy frame. On Amazon, the PetZip Happy Trailer jogger goes for $265, and comes in a jaunty red or a nice blue, and a Pet Gear Expedition stroller goes for $197. Pricey? Perhaps, but as one reviewer noted, the gear is not solely for the benefit of the pets. “The stroller was the perfect answer to the problem of our dogs tiring out before we did,” N. Brabec wrote, “and it has allowed us to take even longer walks.”
In South Boston, a pink stroller emblazoned with paw prints allows Maureen Berry, an assistant manager at the Fenway Bark dog hotel, to commute from Roslindale with one or two of her three dogs. The trip involves the Silver Line, the Red Line, and the Orange line, and wouldn’t be doable without wheels.
“What do you think, bud?” Berry asked on a recent afternoon as she and Nicholas, her 13-year-old Yorkie, left work. The 18-pound pooch, youthful but with mobility problems, sat upright in his carriage, the wind of Boston Harbor ruffling his tan and black fur, his adorable black nose sniffing like mad. Berry scratched his head and smiled as the pair made their way home, together.
Beth Teitell can be reached at bteitell@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @bethteitell.
Pets experience pain like we do — they just don’t show it
Veterinarian Lee Pickett writes that dogs and cats have the same kind of central nervous system that humans have and feel pain in the same way we do but are programmed to hide it. Any condition that would cause pain in a human should be evaluated by a veterinarian when it occurs in a pet, even if the animal is not showing obvious signs of pain, she adds. Dr. Pickett also addresses colitis symptoms, causes and treatment in this article. Reading Eagle Press (Pa.) (8/31)
Dear Christopher Cat: During Misty’s recent exam, her veterinarian showed me that her teeth are covered with tartar and her gums are swollen and red. They look painful, but she doesn’t rub her mouth, drop food or cry while she’s chewing. Do cats not feel pain the way we humans do?
Christopher responds: Research has shown that cats and dogs have the same type of nervous system humans have and feel pain the same way.
The difference is that we pets don’t show pain the way you humans do.
Humans learn early that if they cry, a loving parent will sooth the hurt.
In contrast, our feline brains are programmed to hide distress, lest a predator see us as weak and therefore easy to kill.
Not only do we hide our pain, but we continue eating, because if we don’t, we know we’ll die of starvation.
So if Misty develops a condition that would cause you pain, assume it’s hurting her. If it would prompt you to see your doctor, take her to her veterinarian.
In this case, a professional dental cleaning and treatment will not only help Misty feel better but also improve her health.
Vets and physicians find research parallels
Dr. Jonathan M. Levine at Texas A&M studies spinal cord injuries in pets like Dexter, a dachschund.
By WILLIAM GRIMES
Published: September 10, 2012
Three times in the last two months, researchers from St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan headed across town to the Animal Medical Center to look at dogs.
Doctors at the hospital’s Vascular Birthmark Institute were enticed by the chance to study anomalies of the arteries and veins that are rare in humans but common in dogs. And the traffic between human and animal hospitals flows in the other direction, too: Late last month, veterinarians from the Animal Medical Center began meeting with their counterparts at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to set up trials of a noninvasive device for removing tumors of the urinary tract with electrical impulses.
Exchanges of this sort are becoming increasingly common. Once a narrow trail traveled by a few hardy pioneers, the road connecting veterinary colleges and human medical institutions has become a busy thoroughfare over the last five years or so, with a steady flow of researchers representing a wide variety of medical disciplines on both sides.
One reason is a growing frustration with the inefficiency of using the rodent model in lab research, which often fails to translate to human subjects. So researchers are turning their attention to the naturally occurring diseases in dogs, horses, sheep and pigs, whose physiology and anatomy more closely resemble those of humans.
“The drugs cure the mice and keep failing when we try them on humans,” said Dr. John Ohlfest, an immunotherapist at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center, who began working with the university’s veterinary school in 2005 to study canine brain cancers. “The whole system is broken.”
Dr. Laurence J. N. Cooper, who develops immune-based therapies at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and recently started making canine T cells for lymphoma research at Texas A&M’s veterinary school, said: “There’s got to be a better way. Canine biologies look like ours, and the treatments look like ours.”
The growing realization that vets and medical doctors may have very good reasons to talk to one another has led to a host of collaborative research projects aimed at speeding the journey from lab to human clinical trials and, in the end, producing a result that can be applied to human and animal patients alike.
These projects often emanate from partnerships like the National Cancer Center’s comparative oncology program, created in 2006 to coordinate canine cancer trials among 20 oncology centers across the United States, or the Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research at North Carolina State University’s veterinary college, which recently signed a partnership agreement with the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to do research on regenerating organs in humans and pets.
“In the past I might have gone over to the medical school with a specific problem and ask advice,” said Dr. Larry D. Galuppo, an equine surgeon at the University of California, Davis, who has been experimenting with the latest stem-cell therapies to repair tendon injuries in horses. “But it wasn’t programmatic the way it is now.”
It is not unusual, these days, for veterinary surgeons to call in their human-medicine counterparts for consultations or even to take part in tricky operations. Vets go on rounds at hospitals for people, and vice versa. Both sides attend each other’s conferences. “It’s still grass roots, it’s still early days, but it’s very exciting,” Dr. Ohlfest said.
In part, the proliferation of partnerships reflects a philosophical movement known as “one health,” or “one medicine,” the recognition that about 60 percent of all diseases move across species and that environmental pollution, animal diseases and human diseases constitute a single interlocking problem.
This was the subject of a joint declaration by the American Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2006 aimed at encouraging information sharing and joint projects among the far-flung branches of veterinary and human medicine.
More concretely, the completion of the canine genome map, in 2005, set off an explosion in basic research. Although less celebrated than the Human Genome Project, the canine map gave researchers a blueprint with clear potential for human use, since the gene codes for canines could be matched, one for one, with their human counterparts.
Cooperation can take the form of advanced research into new forms of diagnostic imaging, or gene manipulation. Or it can be as humble as fitting a dog with a shoe.
Dr. Robert Hardie, a surgeon at the University of Wisconsin’s school of veterinary medicine, turned to the orthotics lab at the university’s medical school in 2005 when he could not heal a post-surgery foot wound in Sam, a 200-pound Irish wolfhound.
As many other large dogs with footpad injuries do, Sam kept putting weight on the wound, caused when a toe had to be amputated. The orthotics team took a cast of Sam’s foot and made a foam-lined plastic boot with Velcro straps. Dr. Hardie later worked with the team to develop specialized braces for tendon injuries.
Often, partnerships embrace multiple institutions and, within institutions, fields as diverse as biomechanics and textiles.
Dr. Jonathan M. Levine, a veterinary neurologist at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, joined forces with the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, to test a promising new drug that blocks a particular enzyme that inflicts secondary damage, like the aftershock to an earthquake, on injured spinal nerves.
Working with dachshunds and other dwarf canine breeds, which often suffer from spinal cord injuries because of their propensity to develop herniated discs, he recently won a grant from the Department of Defense, which is interested in the application of his research to battlefield injuries.
At the same time, one of Dr. Levine’s colleagues, Dr. Jay Griffin, has collaborated with specialists at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston to develop a new technique, called diffusion tensor imaging, whose sensitivity allows them to see precisely how spinal cord cells die.
The big bet is that veterinary science and human medical science can combine to achieve efficiencies that translate across species. In some instances, this has already happened.
Dr. Hollis G. Potter, head of magnetic resonance imaging at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, has been working with Dr. Lisa A. Fortier of Cornell University’s college of veterinary medicine to analyze meniscus injuries using sheep.
Quantitative M.R.I. techniques like ultrashort echo-time imaging makes it possible to see how knee tissue heals, and how much stress it can stand after surgical repair, information that has immediate application for the human knee. “In just a couple of years, we’ve taken this process from sheep to humans,” Dr. Potter said.
The reverse route is even quicker. “Traditionally there has been a 10-to-20-year lag between animal and human medicine,” said Dr. Chick Weisse of the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan, who for the last two years has been treating hard-to-reach canine tumors with a frozen-nitrogen technique he learned at Sloan-Kettering.
“That gap has narrowed,” he said. “Now you see renal transplants, hip replacements — things they said would never be done on animals. Things are happening so fast right now that it’s almost simultaneous.”
A single heartworm can be fatal in cats
Veterinarian John Kaya reminds owners that cats are susceptible to heartworm disease and should be on a monthly prevention medication because even a single adult worm can lead to the untimely death of a cat. Dr. Kaya relates the story of 4-year-old Chisai, a cat who died of heart failure caused by one heartworm that had become wrapped around a heart valve. MidWeek (Kaneohe, Hawaii)/MidWeek Kauai (8/29)
This story is about Fumiko and her beloved cat Chisai, and their story must be told.
It was a brisk morning in December, and I arrived at the office early to check on a hospital patient. Walking through our parking lot, I noticed a car parked with someone sitting inside.
As I peered in I noticed Fumiko clutching a towel in her lap. I could tell she was distraught, and asked if she would like to come in to the office.
Once inside, I noticed a limp tail peeking through the towel folds and ushered Fumiko into an exam room.
Fumiko complied and gently laid the towel with its contents onto the exam table. With tears in her eyes, she tried to tell me what happened.
“Dr. Kaya, I woke up this morning and found Chisai lying under the dining room table.”
Her voice cracked as tears came rolling down her face.
“I called out to my little girl but she did not move. She just laid there.”
At this point Fumiko began sobbing.
“It’s OK,” I told her, “let me take a look.”
As I opened the towel, I saw Fumiko’s cat lying peacefully, as if asleep. Reaching down, I held Chisai’s cold body and found no pulse.
Fumiko looked at me as I slowly shook my head.
“Look at my baby … Chisai…” cried Fumiko. She then leaned over and cradled Chisai in her arms.
After a few minutes we talked about the events prior to this morning. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Chisai was a happy, healthy 4-year-old indoor cat. I asked Fumiko if I could perform a necropsy to determine the reason for Chisai’s mysterious death.
Culturally, Fumiko had a difficult time making a decision, but in the end consented to the postmortem exam.
Carefully looking through Chisai’s organs, I eventually found the reason for her death. A single heartworm was wrapped around one of her heart valves, which led to heart failure. Although sudden and unexpected, Chisai died quickly and with very little suffering.
Heartworm disease is more commonly thought of as a disease afflicting dogs.
The worms are transmitted by mosquitos and can live up to eight years. These worms take up residence in the heart and can grow up to 12 inches in length.
Single worm infections are tolerated by the dog, but can be deadly in cats.
In a cat, their presence can lead to lung and kidney damage as well as sudden death, as in Chisai’s case.
Like dogs, cats should be given a monthly heart-worm preventive.
I called Fumiko and shared my findings with her. Although saddened by her loss, she appreciated knowing why Chisai died.
“Maybe Chisai’s story can save the lives of other cats,” whispered Fumiko.
“I’m sure it will.”
Does your pet favor the right or left paw? Tests can tell
Veterinarian Stefanie Schwartz of the Veterinary Neurology Center in Tustin, Calif., developed a method of testing pets to determine whether they are right- or left-paw dominant. It is a series of dexterity tests that can determine which paw is dominant. A previous study suggested that 50% of cats are right-paw dominant, 40% left-pawed, and 10% ambidextrous, while another study showed dogs were equally right- and left-pawed. The Daily Mail (London) (8/28)
Is your pet right or left-handed? The DIY test that uses cheese, sofas and the backdoor to find out… but you have to do it 100 times
Quite possibly not. But if you have, this could be just the thing you’ve been waiting for.
Dr. Stefanie Schwartz of the Veterinary Neurology Center in Tustin, Calififornia, claims to have developed a test to figure out whether a dog or cat is right or left-handed.
Paw preference won’t make a dog or cat walk, talk or wink like a human. You won’t even get a high-five or a fist pump out of it. But vets and owners reckons the curiosity factor will have pet owners clamoring to find out if theirs is a leftie or a rightie.
Results are in: Veterinarian Christina Thompson performs a right-handed-left-handed test with a Chihuahua dog
Researchers are studying things like right brain-left brain connections, genetics and sexual orientation that may one day change the way dogs and cats are bred, raised, trained and used, said Schwartz.
Some horses have to be ambidextrous, said Dr. Sharon Crowell-Davis, a behavior and anatomy professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia.
In U.S. racing, horses only have to lean left because all races are run counterclockwise on tracks, but in some competitions and in some other countries, horses have to race and canter both ways.
‘They have to be able to circle right and left. If not, they can trip,’ Crowell-Davis said. ‘You have to work to get them to take the lead they prefer less.’
Leftie: A cat lifts his left leg during a right-handed-left-handed test
She has never seen an advertisement promoting right or left-pawed dogs or cats. ‘The only time you see it used in advertising is with horses. If a horse if being offered for sale, because of issues on the lead, it may say ‘Works well on both leads’ to emphasize the horse has had training.’
For dogs and cats their well-being doesn’t depend on preference.
A 1991 study at Ataturk University in Turkey showed 50 per cent of cats were right-pawed, 40 per cent were left-pawed and 10 per cent were ambidextrous. That study might be out-of-date, Schwartz said, but it does provide percentages.
A 2006 study from the University of Manchester in England showed dogs were split half-and-half.
About 90 per cent of humans are right-handed and 10 per cent are left-handed.
Here kitty kitty: Dangle a toy in front of a cat and see which paw it uses to bat it
Laterality — the textbook term meaning one side of the brain is dominant over the other — may someday help breeders predict which puppies will make the best military, service and therapy dogs, Schwartz said, and that could be lifesaving.
But for now, if you care enought, Schwartz has a series of tests that she says will determine the paw preference of your pet, when performed 100 times.
She suggests filling a toy with something delicious and putting it in the center of the dog’s visual field. Which paw does it use to touch the toy first? Which paw does the dog use to hold the toy?
Coy: When a cat really wants something, tests show it uses its dominant paw, but when it’s just fooling around, it may use either or both
Or you could put something sticky on a dog or cat’s nose and take note of which paw it uses to remove it? Place a treat or a piece of cheese under a sofa, just beyond a dog or cat’s reach, she says. Which paw does it use to try and get it out?
Other indicators include which paw a dog offers to shake when asked or knock the backdoor with when it wants to be let in. Similarly for cats you can track which paw it uses to bat a dangled toy or to reach a treat lurking under a bowl.
Who’s a good boy? Ask a dog to shake hands and see which paw it raises
Schwartz said there are a few things that might alter test results, including that if a dog has arthritis or an injury in a shoulder or leg, it could use the other to compensate.
When a cat really wants something, she said, tests show it uses its dominant paw, but when it’s just fooling around it may use either or both.
And it is also possible that handedness in dogs, and maybe cats, will change over time as the animal’s motivation changes.
Robin A.F. Olson, founder and president of rescue organisation Kitten Associates Inc, said her cats are always reaching for toys or treats with one paw or another.
‘I try not to be judgmental of my cats’ abilities or lack thereof. We will never worry about the anti-paw.’
It appears that Nora, an internationally acclaimed 8-year-old piano-playing tabby from Philadelphia, owned by piano teacher Betsy Alexander and her artist-photographer husband, Burnell Yow, is right-pawed.
Yow studied her videos and ‘determined that she appears to lead with her right paw, then follow with her left,’ Alexander said.
But she has her ambidextrous, headstrong moments.
‘She uses both paws to reach for specific notes, even black notes … and she uses her head to roll a series of multiple notes.’
Burning question or a waste of time? How to find out if your pet is a leftie or rightie
If you teach a dog to shake, which paw does it offer you first and most often?
Fill a toy with something delicious and put it in the center of the dog’s visual field. Which paw does it use to touch the toy first? Which paw does the dog use to hold the toy?
Put something sticky on a dog or cat’s nose. Which paw does the animal use to remove it?
Place a treat or a piece of cheese under a sofa, just beyond a dog or cat’s reach. Which paw does it use to try and get it out?
Dangle a toy over a cat’s head. Which paw does it lift to bat it?
Put a treat under a bowl. Which paw does the cat or dog use to move it?
When a dog wants in the backdoor, which paw does it ‘knock’ with?
Foods that can poison pets
Veterinarian Tanya Karlecke explains that some staple foods are dangerous and potentially deadly for pets, including raisins and grapes, chocolate and even raw bread dough. Xylitol, a component of many household items such as sugar-free candies and human toothpaste, can also harm pets, writes Dr. Karlecke, who points out the importance of seeking immediate veterinary advice for pets that may have ingested a poisonous substance. The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)
There are several food items that are toxic to pets and should be avoided at all costs:
* Macadamia nuts can cause weakness, depression, vomiting, tremors and hyperthermia (elevated body temperature).
* Grapes and raisins can result in acute kidney failure, which may be fatal even with prompt medical treatment.
* Onions and onion powder can cause damage to red blood cells, which can lead to anemia in dogs and cats.
* There are several sugar-free products and candies that contain xylitol (a sugar-free substitute), which can result in a life-threatening drop in blood sugar. At high doses, xylitol toxicity can also result in acute liver failure. Xylitol is found in many products, one of which is human toothpaste. It is very important to always brush your dog or cat’s teeth using only pet toothpaste.
* Chocolate ingestion can lead to hyperactivity, increased heart rate, tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, increased thirst, increased urination and lethargy. At high enough doses, although rare, chocolate toxicity can be fatal.
* Raw bread dough made with yeast can be hazardous. Upon ingestion, the dough is activated by the animal’s body heat, which causes it to rise in the stomach. During this process, alcohol is produced, leading to signs of abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting, depression and ataxia (lack of coordination).
If your pet has ingested any of these items, it is imperative that you speak to a veterinary professional to determine what type of treatment is warranted, if any. If your veterinarian is unavailable or unfamiliar with a particular toxin, he/she will refer you to the animal poison control hotline (888-426-4435). A veterinary toxicologist will gather additional information from you (e.g., amount of toxin ingestion, the body weight of your pet, information on current clinical signs), and will advise as to what the next best course of action is.
Time is of the essence with any type of toxin ingestion, so it’s important to call your veterinarian as soon as possible.
— Tanya Karlecke, DVM
Identifying, treating and preventing heatstroke in pets
Amid the heat of summer, veterinarian Kathy Gagliardi reminds owners that heatstroke can be prevented by ensuring proper shade and cool water for all pets. If signs of heatstroke such as breathing problems, lethargy and vomiting occur, owners should start cooling measures and bring the pet to a veterinarian from immediate care, writes Dr. Gagliardi. Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)
As we rush toward the comfort of air conditioning during hot weather, we should not forget our pets and their sensitivity to heat — not only for their comfort, but for their health. Heat stroke is a very serious and often fatal disease that occurs when an animal’s cooling mechanisms cannot keep up and their body temperature elevates beyond 105-106 degrees. Cells and proteins in the body are sensitive to excess heat. When they are damaged, they can lead to conditions that include kidney failure, brain damage, heart arrhythmias, liver failure, muscle damage, systemic inflammation and excessive blood clotting.
Since animals do not sweat (except to a minor degree through their foot pads), they do not tolerate high environmental temperatures as well as humans do. Dogs depend upon panting to exchange warm air for cool air. When the air temperature is close to body temperature, cooling by panting is not an efficient process. Cats differ from dogs in that cats that are open mouth breathing or panting are showing signs of serious stress and need immediate veterinary care. With a cat, panting is never a sign of the animal just trying to cool down.
Common situations that can set the stage for heat stroke in animals include:
Being left in a car in hot weather, even with cracked windows and in the shade
Exercising strenuously in hot, humid weather
Suffering from a heart or lung disease that interferes with efficient breathing
Suffering from a high fever or seizures
Being confined on concrete or asphalt surfaces
Being confined without shade and fresh water in hot weather
Having a history of heat stroke
Overweight animals, long-haired breeds, brachycephalic breeds (short faced dogs or cats) and older animals are at increased risk of heat stroke.
Signs: Signs of heat stroke include excessive panting or trouble breathing, bright red gums, lethargy, behavior changes, muscle tremors, bruising, decreased urination, bloody stools, vomiting and unconsciousness.
Treatment: Emergency measures to cool the animal must begin at once. Move the dog out of the source of heat, preferably into an air-conditioned place and call your veterinarian immediately. Successful treatment for most heat stroke animals requires intensive emergency care at a veterinary clinic. Most affected animals will require inpatient hospitalization and intensive care for at least 24 hours, until their temperature and clinical signs are stabilized. Common nursing care protocols that can be done on your way to the veterinary clinic include spraying the animal with cool water; using convection cooling with fans or cooling pads, and using evaporative cooling with rubbing alcohol on the foot pads. Animals should not be immersed in ice or ice-cold water. Cooling a hyperthermic animal too quickly can cause its blood vessels to constrict (peripheral vasoconstriction), which will make it harder for their body to cool down.
Prevention: Some ways to help protect your pet on hot days include limiting exercise during the hottest part of the day, exercising in the cool early morning hours, providing shade and fresh clean water at all times, and NEVER leaving an animal in a car when it is 60 degrees or more outside, even if only for a few minutes.
Early recognition and treatment of heat stroke can mean the difference between life and death. So if you think your animal is suffering from heat stroke call your veterinarian.
What to make of a cat who is drinking and urinating more
The two most common causes of increased drinking and urinating in cats are diabetes mellitus and renal disease, writes veterinarian Jeff Kahler. In the case of diabetes, treatment usually involves insulin injections, which are generally well-tolerated by both owners and cats, Dr. Kahler notes.
Sandra is worried that her cat Chia might have diabetes. Over the past month or so, she has noticed Chia at the water bowl with ever-increasing frequency, and the results of the water intake in his litter box. Having done research on the Internet, Sandra picked diabetes as the likely diagnosis for Chia’s increased thirst.
Increased thirst when associated with increased urination is indeed a hallmark symptom for diabetes mellitus in cats, and dogs. But diabetes is not the only possible cause. In cats, renal disease also is a common cause of these symptoms.
I want to emphasize that cats do not drink for fun or enjoyment. If there is an increase in water intake, there is an underlying reason.
Chia will need to visit his veterinarian for a blood panel, urinalysis and a spot check of his blood sugar level. With these results, we can determine if he is a diabetic or if he has renal disease. While diabetes is manageable with insulin therapy, renal disease is managed in an entirely different way, depending on the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Realize, of course, these are not the only possible causes for Chia’s symptoms. They are, however, the two most likely possibilities.
Let’s assume Sandra is correct and Chia has diabetes. Blood work will show an elevated sugar level because Chia does not have enough insulin in his body to drive sugar in his blood into his cells, where it is used as an energy source. As the blood sugar elevates, it increases what is known as the oncotic pressure within the blood. This increased oncotic pressure is perceived by the brain and the brain tells the cat to drink more water, in essence trying to dilute the blood. This increased fluid within the blood is then filtered by the kidneys, which produce excess urine as a result.
Treatment for diabetes involves the use of insulin to replace the lack of it from the pancreas. There are cases of diabetes that occur in hugely obese cats that can be controlled long term without insulin as long as the weight problem is addressed. Most cases, however, require insulin therapy.
Insulin is given by injection, usually twice daily. This can be daunting for some caretakers. But with proper demonstration in technique, it can be quite simple. In fact, for the vast majority of people with diabetic pets I have dealt with over the years, insulin injections have become as routine as feeding their pets.
Early in the course of therapy, we like to monitor the patient’s response to the insulin by checking blood sugar values throughout the day. This will allow fine tuning of the dosing to fit the individual patient. I have many caretakers who even learn to check their cat’s blood sugar.
There are cats that will not allow insulin treatment and, as a result, successful treatment becomes unlikely. These cats face a grave prognosis. If Chia is diabetic and is amenable to insulin therapy, he’ll have a good quality of life.
(Jeff Kahler is a veterinarian in Modesto, Calif. Questions can be submitted to Your Pet in care of LifeStyles, The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto CA 95352.)
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/22/2962750/pet-vet-exam-will-diagnose-reason.html#storylink=cpy
The wackiest pet names and how they came to be
Chew Barka’s name refers to the apricot toy poodle’s main activities during his trial overnight with eventual owners Michele and Peter Manzelli III. Chew Barka and cat Pico de Gato topped Veterinary Pet Insurance’s 2012 lists of the wackiest dog and cat names.
Lisa Flam writes
For the fourth year in a row, Veterinary Pet Insurance scoured their pet database of more than 485,000 animals for the wackiest-named cats and dogs around. Meet the pets who inspired these madcap monikers, and the creative owners who came up with them.
Chew Barka
Once their younger child turned 5 and was off to school, Michele and Peter Manzelli III were feeling a bit lonely. They decided against trying for a third child; instead, despite Peter’s allergies, the Chelmsford, Mass., couple decided a dog might just fill the void. So they brought home an apricot toy poodle (a hypoallergenic breed) for a trial sleepover in 2010.
Unsure if they would keep the 6-week-old, 2-pound pup, they weren’t thinking of names quite yet. But his feisty antics, combined with their son Peter’s love of “Star Wars” (he wanted his sister, Gianna, to be named Yoda) led to the pooch’s unusual name.
“All he did was chew at things and bark at everybody,” Michele told TODAY.com.
“We started calling him ‘Hey, Chew,’ ‘Hey Bark,’ because that’s all he was doing,” Peter recalled. “We all looked at each other and said ‘Chew Barka — that’s a perfect name for him.’” The little puppy was therefore named after Chewbacca, the huge, furry Wookiee warrior, and despite sinking his teeth into all of Michele’s flip-flops and gnawing on the area rugs, he was in the Manzelli home to stay.
“Of course everybody fell in love with him,” Michele said, adding that her husband is doing fine with the help of daily allergy medication. “After one night, we couldn’t give him back.”
Though her now 12-year-old son and husband are the “Star Wars” fans, it was Michele who concocted the dog’s name. Her creativity earned Chew Barka the top spot on Veterinary Pet Insurance Co.’s 2012 list of wackiest dog names.
The Manzellis get a great reaction to it. “They love it because he’s so little,” Michele said. “He’s furry all over, but he’s not ferocious-looking. He’s very-timid looking.”
These days, Chewy, as he’s called, doesn’t bite the Manzellis’ belongings as much. But he still makes a lot of noise. “He’s a good protector,” Michele told TODAY.com. “He barks at everybody who walks by.”
And Michele, who works part-time from home, and Peter, who also works at home sometimes, aren’t feeling quite so alone, especially when Chewy snuggles with them at night.
“He’s just like a heat-seeker,” she said. “He loves to cuddle up.”
petinsurance.com
Pico de Gato
The scientific wordplay that led to the names of Vince and Caroline Rye’s two cats leaves many people scratching their heads.
When the San Diego couple brought home their first cat about four years ago, Vince, a physicist, had the idea for the name Mu. It was a combination of the scientific symbol Mu, meaning micro, and the little kitty’s meowing.
“He thought it would be funny, and when we were trying to think of names, he’s like, ‘I’ve got a name that’d be pretty ironic,’” Caroline explained. “He has a sarcastic science sense of humor.”
But the name worked. “It’s was very fitting and he still meows a lot today,” she said.
About a year later, the family brought home another kitten. “Since he was a little baby at the time, we were trying to think of things that were smaller than ‘micro’ or Mu, so we were playing with different words and Pico came up,” Caroline explained. “We were trying to think of something to go with it.”
So they drew on several elements from their lives. The couple often call cats “gatos,” Spanish for cat, and they love Mexican food, with Rye often making homemade pico de gallo.
“We were thinking ‘pico’ is smaller than ‘micro,’ and if we’re going the scientific route, since we always call our cats ‘gatos,’ pico, gato — it just kind of went together,” Caroline said. The name “Pico de Gato” was born, and now it sits atop VPI’s 2012 list of wackiest cat names.
Fittingly for a pet with a food-inspired name, Pico is fond of human food. He begs for cheese and has enjoyed grilled steak burritos, Caroline said. “He goes crazy for it.”
The cat even found his way into a box of doughnuts. “He had a doughnut in his mouth like ‘this is mine,’” Caroline recalled.
But despite the cats’ names, they’re mini no more. Caroline told TODAY.com that Pico now weighs about 18 pounds, surpassing the once-micro Mu by a pound or two. The big kitties better stay spry, as the Ryes’ 9-month-old daughter, Caitlin, is on the move. “She squeals when she chases them,” Caroline said.