Stray cat saves man from fire at infamous site
In the same spot where a shootout involving the infamous “Bonnie and Clyde” gang left a sheriff’s deputy dead and the sheriff severely wounded eight decades ago, a stray cat has made history again — this time saving a life. The cat visited the bar-turned-fruit-and-vegetable-stand for a year and woke its 85-year-old clerk when a massive fire broke out, ultimately burning the stand to the ground.
By MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff WriterPublished: 7/5/2012 2:17 AM Last Modified: 7/5/2012 7:35 AM
STRINGTOWN, OK – Parked at a juke joint south of town, Clyde Barrow was sitting in a stolen car with a couple of other guys from the notorious “Bonnie and Clyde” gang.
The music spilled outside and the crowd came with it, trying to catch a breeze in the Dust Bowl heat, still sweltering after dusk.
Sheriff Charles Maxwell didn’t know it was Barrow, at least not at first. But he went over to the car anyway.
Some say he thought the group looked suspicious.
Others insist that he just wanted to tell the guys to put their moonshine away, since Prohibition was still in effect.
Either way, the conversation didn’t go well.
On the west side of U.S. 69 about two hours south of Tulsa, a stone marker commemorates “The Stringtown Shootout” of Aug. 5, 1932.
By most accounts, it really wasn’t much of a shootout.
The sheriff noticed a gun in the car and then recognized Barrow.
“You can consider yourselves under arrest,” witnesses heard him say just before he fell to the ground with seven gunshot wounds.
Maxwell somehow survived. But his deputy, Eugene Moore, took a fatal bullet to the head before he could fire a single shot.
Barrow and his gang got away. And that’s about all the excitement that ever came to this little town.
Until now.
Maybe Stringtown needs a second historical marker in this very same spot – to remember a disaster that was averted and the unlikely hero who saved a man’s life.
Night watchman
A doctor had told 85-year-old Leland Duff that he shouldn’t live alone anymore, so he moved to South Dakota to stay with his son.
“It was unbelievably cold,” he says. “And I didn’t have anything to do up there but sit around all day.”
A couple of friends offered to drive 1,600 miles round-trip to bring him back to Oklahoma last year. But Duff doesn’t take charity.
He would come but only if he could repay them by working at their family fruit stand.
The place didn’t have a name. The sign just said “Tomatoes and Peaches.” But locals knew it was the famous old saloon.
Instead of contraband whiskey, Phyllis McPherson kept watermelons behind the bar. Where a jazz band used to play, she piled up cartons of squash and cucumbers.
“It wasn’t a very big place,” McPherson explains. “Back then, a tavern didn’t have to be. But it was big enough for us.”
Duff slept in a back room, partly because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. But the fruit stand also needed a night watchman.
“People around here have a habit of picking things up and walking off,” Duff says, “especially when nobody else is looking.”
About a year ago, a stray cat started coming around, and Duff would leave food out for her.
She found a place to squeeze through a crack in the walls, coming and going as she pleased. But she never bothered Duff, until one night in early April.
“About 4 a.m.,” he remembers, “she jumps up on my bed and lets out a big ‘meow.’ I thought, ‘What’s wrong with this cat?’ ”
Half asleep, he smelled smoke and decided to get up.
“I walked outside and didn’t see nothing,” Duff says. “Then I turn around and, whoa! The whole top of the building is on fire.”
Feline family
A rectangle of scorched dirt is all that’s left of the place.
But Duff and McPherson have reopened outdoors with a couple of lawn chairs and some netting for shade.
He lost all of his family photos and his clothes.
“But I have nothing to complain about,” Duff says. “If it hadn’t been for that cat, I would’ve burned up in there myself.”
They hope to rebuild, but without insurance, it could take a while to find the money.
Duff keeps the stand open seven days a week, sun-up to sundown.
But business stays pretty slow until the weekends, when drivers stop on the way back and forth between Dallas and Tulsa.
After the fire, the cat disappeared, and Duff figured she must have died.
Then, four days later, she showed up again with two kittens.
They live with Duff in a borrowed camper, no bigger than the bed of a pickup, parked about where Barrow and his gang must have been sitting all those years ago.
“I keep the little ones safe inside, but the momma cat can run around all she wants,” Duff says.
“She’s under my feet most of the time, except when she goes off hunting. Ever since the fire, she hardly never leaves my side.”
Like the fruit stand, the cat still doesn’t have a name.
People have made a few suggestions – probably the best one being “Peaches,” considering the color of her fur and the stand’s most popular item.
But Duff doesn’t see the point.
“I just yell ‘Hey, kitty!’ and she comes running,” he says. “She’s just like a dog that way.”
Angel Fund Recipients Rosemary and Simon
The Cat Care Clinic in Orange used the Angel Fund to offset costs for Rosemary, whose cat, Simon, ingested Advil and was suffering from ibuprofen toxicity. We hope that Simon makes a full recovery!
How poop helps veterinarians keep pets healthy
Routine fecal sample evaluation is an important means of protecting the health of pets and their owners, according to veterinarian Sandy Willis. Several intestinal parasites present zoonotic risks and can be detected on a fecal flotation, a method in which parasite eggs can be separated from fecal material and identified using a microscope based on size and morphological features, Dr. Willis says. This blog post details how the samples are evaluated, what organisms are detected and how to best collect and store a sample until it is tested.
Question: Vets typically want to test a stool sample from our pets during an annual exam. It can be a smelly and messy collection, and many pet owners ignore the request. How valuable a diagnostic tool is poop?
Answer: The importance of a routine fecal examination and deworming has grown in recent years.
A fecal exam is very helpful in health and disease. It will identify most gastrointestinal parasites in a healthy pet and those that may be causing disease in a sick pet with a variety of signs, including diarrhea, vomiting, poor skin and hair coat, weight loss, etc.
Most pets acquire parasite infections from the environment because parasite eggs often can exist for long periods of time in the soil and grass. Fecal examinations in healthy pets will identify asymptomatic shedders, allowing us to treat them, eliminate shedding, serving to reduce overall contamination and exposure of other pets to infection.
Furthermore, restricting access of children to contaminated areas, such as sandboxes, pet-walk areas and other high-traffic areas, is important.
An important zoonotic parasite is the raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris. Raccoons defecate in areas called latrines, and surrounded soil can be contaminated with Baylisascaris eggs.
People should discourage raccoons from their yards but not feeding raccoons or other animals around their homes, carefully removing any raccoon fecal material, and not allowing children to play in areas where raccoons have been.
Question: What can a fecal sample tell you about a dog’s health?
Answer: Fecal examination will identify internal parasites, such as worms, coccidia including giardia, and sometimes larvae such as lung worms.
In puppies, parasite infections often come from the mother, so the health of the puppy and bitch can be assessed by a fecal examination.
But the exams do not identify all infections, and, thus, routine deworming is important even if fecal tests are negative.
This is particularly important in the puppy and in recently infected older dogs. In these dogs, worms are present in the intestines but they are not yet shedding eggs, resulting in a negative fecal examination.
Our common antiparasiticals have become so much more advanced in recent years.
They are safer, easier to administer and kill and prevent more infections. However, the fecal examination remains important to make sure we are treating the dog or cat with the most appropriate antiparasitical.
Clients should seek advice from their veterinarian on which dewormers are best. There are many out there, some less effective than others, and the veterinarian’s advice can save costs by making sure the right one is selected from the beginning. We also have to be careful with cats and make sure they receive dewormers appropriate for the feline.
Question: What can’t a fecal sample tell you?
Answer: There are other causes of diarrhea, including pancreatic insufficiency, small intestinal disease, hormonal problems, even cancer. Routine fecal examination will not diagnose these.
Bacterial causes of diarrhea are rare in small animals. A fecal culture, looking for unusual bacteria in the stool, is needed to diagnose a bacterial diarrhea. Parvovirus diarrhea is not diagnosed on a routine fecal examination, but there is another fecal test for this viral diarrhea.
Question: What specifically are you looking for in fecal tests?
Answer: We are looking for worms, small, moving organisms such as tritrichomonas and eggs of common gastrointestinal parasites.
Question: Is one stool sample usually enough?
Answer: Generally, yes. Sometimes we prefer to check multiple fecal samples because shedding may be intermittent, which can be the case with a giardia infection. In a patient with diarrhea, we may end up treating for gastrointestinal parasites even though a fecal sample is negative because a negative result does not absolutely rule out all parasites.
Question: What kinds of common issues are typically found?
Answer: The worm eggs: roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, coccidian, shown right, including giardia in small animals. Stomach worms, tapeworms, some whipworms and hookworms are seen in large animals.
These must be distinguished from common contaminants in stool, including environmental yeasts and fungi, pollen and other plant material, grain mites and parasites of other species (such as rodents, amphibians, large animals and horses) that are acquired from eating the species (i.e. frogs) or their stool (sheep and cattle).
Parasites from other species are just passing through, cause no disease in the dog and cat and do not require treatment.
Question: What are some of the more unusual diseases detected?
Answer: We can occasionally find organisms that are not related to the gastrointestinal tract, such as skin parasites like demodex and sarcoptes. These are mites that are usually picked up in skin scrapings made of the skin, placed on a slide and examined under a microscope. Sometimes the itching dog or cat will ingest these mites, they will pass unchanged through the gastrointestinal tract, and we will find them in the stool. Pretty cool.
We have occasionally seen a huge load of worm eggs from a species other than the one being sampled, such as deer worm eggs seen in the feces of a dog that routinely ingests deer poop!
We occasionally also see eggs that might cause significant disease in a sheep, goat or llama — in the stool of a dog. It is not necessary to treat the dog for the parasite, because these worms are generally species specific and only cause a problem in the natural host, but it is important to contact the owner of the pasture and have them do a routine deworming of their livestock.
Question: What is the worst thing it can reveal?
Answer: Sometimes we see such large infestations of parasites that the patient must be really ill. Overwhelming gastrointestinal parasitism can cause severe illness and death, particularly in young and immunocompromised patients.
In the Pacific Northwest, we also see a disease called salmon poisoning, shown right. Salmon poisoning occurs in domestic and wild dogs from northern California and Washington. This disease can be fatal if not identified and treated.
It is caused by a small microscopic organism called a rickettsia. Clinical signs include fever, not eating, weight loss, vomiting and diarrhea, which can sometimes be bloody. Signs are severe and dogs can become very ill, needing immediate veterinary care.
The interesting aspect of salmon poisoning is this: the rickettsia, called Rickettsia helminthoeca, is carried within a trematode or fluke. The fluke requires two other life-forms, the snail Oxytrema spp., which is only found in fresh and brackish stream waters in our coastal areas, and salmonid fish (salmon), certain nonsalmonid fish (such as trout) and the Pacific giant salamander. The dog becomes infected by eating or sometimes even licking, a fish or salamander. We diagnose the infection by finding the fluke eggs in a stool sample. It is rare to find the rickettsia agents themselves.
Salmon poisoning only occurs from the ingestion of raw fish. Cooked fish do not present a problem. Thus owners should really discourage their dogs from eating any raw fish.
This disease is not seen in cats.
Question: Which diseases, parasites, etc., can only be detected in an analysis of poop?
Answer: We can only detect the presence of gastrointestinal parasites, such as worms, trichomonads, coccidia, etc., by a fecal examination. There are no blood tests for these organisms.
Question: Are there any situations in which diseases/problems can be caught early by examining poop, before more serious symptoms develop?
Answer: We can occasionally detect fecal parasites before we see signs of disease such as diarrhea, blood in the stool, weight loss, poor skin and hair coat and condition, etc.
In addition — and more importantly — some parasites are zoonotic, meaning they can cause an aberrant infection in man, such as roundworms and certain hookworms. Thus we do want to make sure our pets are parasite free by performing routine fecal examinations and deworming.
In salmon poisoning, if we find the fluke eggs on a routine fecal examination, we will generally treat to prevent the disease with a tetracycline antibiotic.
Question: Vets usually want the samples to be “fresh.” Why?
Answer: Even the finding of one egg can be diagnostic, thus we want the samples to be fresh. With time, samples and eggs dry out and disintegrate.
Also, fecal samples in the environment can quickly become contaminated with fly eggs, free living larva or worms from the soil, and other contaminants that can be confused with real parasites.
Question: What is the best way to collect a sample? What do you suggest it be scooped up with?
Answer: The sample can be scooped up with anything clean and submitted in a special fecal vial provided by the veterinarian, a clean dry cup of any type with a lid, or even a plastic bag. The key is to not gather up too much of the environmental contamination, such as leaves and dirt and little box clay.
We usually only need one to six grams of a sample, thus the owner does not need to provide a huge amount. When there is diarrhea, the sample size should be larger. With firm stool, we need less.
Question: What is the best sanitary way to keep a sample if you can’t get to the vet immediately?
Answer: Keep the sample in a container with a lid, or in a bag that is closed. I would keep it in a cool place.
As pets defecate at least one to two times a day, samples should be collected on the day they are submitted or the day before so they shouldn’t need to be kept for long periods of time.
Question: How is a fecal sample prepared for review?
Answer: Fecal samples are analyzed either at veterinary diagnostic laboratories or within the practice. The basic technique of the fecal procedure is to first identify any large parasites within the sample.
We may take a small sample, mix it slightly with water and do a direct examination under the microscope for any moving parasites. Then, another small sample is prepared for a fecal flotation. A flotation technique uses a solution (can be sugar solution, zinc sulfate, sodium nitrate, etc) and either passive ( the sample sits on the counter for a given length of time) or active (centrifugation of the sample) flotation to separate parasite eggs from debris in the sample and allow them to be identified under a microscope by egg size and morphology.
Question: How much does an analysis usually cost?
Answer: This varies depending on the technique and whether the fecal sample in done in the veterinary clinic or sent out to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Costs can vary from roughly $25 to $45. Clients are urged not to shop tests based on cost alone because the cheapest fecal test may not be run the complete way with centrifugation. Also, a clinic is not going to simply run a fecal test without a physical examination, an interpretation of the results and appropriate therapy.
Dr. Sandy Willis
Consumers want pets in nursing homes
Nursing homes are increasingly adopting pets or allowing residents to have their own animals live with them, in part because it brings in business. “More and more, we have families indicating up front that [allowing pets] is a must-have criteria,” said Tami Cummings, senior vice president of A Place for Mom, the largest senior living placement company in the U.S., which reports that 40% of people ask about residences’ pet policies when calling for information. Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
It’s a real zoo these days inside assisted living centers and nursing homes. Cats napping on the beds, dogs padding through the hallways. And that’s just the way the residents want it.
An increasing number of senior care centers, places that once wouldn’t let anything with fur in the front door, now welcome companion animals. Many facilities have a house pet, and some allow seniors, like Georgia Pritchard, to room with their four-legged friends.
Because research has shown some seniors benefit from regular contact with animals, such privileges are expanding to assisted living and nursing units where elders have mild to serious medical conditions.
But there is another reason, too: It’s good for business. Allowing pets is an amenity consumers want, like transportation and flexible meal plans.
A Place for Mom, the nation’s largest senior housing placement company, says about 40 percent of their callers now ask about pet policies. “More and more, we have families indicating up front that [allowing pets] is a must-have criteria,” said senior vice president Tami Cummings.
In the past, facilities cited health regulations when barring animals. But the two Florida agencies that inspect or monitor nursing homes and assisted living said no rules prohibit companion animals. Infection control, environmental or resident rights issues due to pets are dealt with on an individual basis.
At the Clare Bridge Alzheimer’scare unit at the Homewood Residence in Delray Beach, residents adopted Scout, a large black stray cat missing a foot, from an animal rescue group.
Scout now has a box of toys, two beds and a regular spot on the Clare Bridge activities calendar. Residents gather to pet him, discuss his care or play with him things designed to stimulate their memories and get them out of their chairs.
The eight women at Scout’s session one recent morning smiled and nodded when asked if they once had a dog or cat. One called out the name of her pet, gone for many years, as Scout played with a feather on a string.
Ken Martin, of Aventura, saw his mother smile when he asked her if Scout made her think of Sam, their longtime family cat. “Every morning, Sam would jump on my mother’s stomach and she loved him to death,” said Martin. “I think Scout makes her more responsive, and brings her happiness and joy.”
Some elders adopt a pet after moving to an assisted living facility because they couldn’t have one in their retirement condo. Others bring their pets with them.
CPR for your Pet
Here’s the link to this article including visual aid videos:
https://www.dogheirs
Do you know what to do if your dog stops breathing? Knowing a few emergency procedures if your dog is choking, or having difficulty breathing, could save your dog’s life because you may not have time to get to a vet.
If your dog has a foreign object stuck in his throat, it is important to try and dislodge it before performing CPR. Read our article: Heimlich Maneuver for dogs.
Canine CPR
CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) preserves brain function until proper blood circulation and breathing can be restored.
The signs that indicate the need for CPR include unconsciousness, lack of arousal, lack of physical movement, or eye blinking. These symptoms can occur from drowning, choking, electrical shock, or a number of other situations.
The following information has been updated with latest recommended guidelines outlined by the first evidence-based research on how best to resuscitate dogs and cats in cardiac arrest published in June 2012 by the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER). The study recommends a few updates to current manual CPR practices on dogs:
- Perform 100-120 chest compressions per minute
- Perform a compression to mouth-to-snout ventilation ratio of 30 compressions followed by 2 breaths
- Recommendations on how best to perform cardiac massage / chest compressions on different chest types and sizes of dogs (see diagrams below).
The key to canine CPR is remembering the ABCs:
Airway,
Breathing, and
Cardiac compression.
To perform the three techniques, follow these steps.
- Lay the dog on a flat surface and extend the head back to create an airway. (Current practices recommend laying the dog on his/her right side (heart facing up), however the latest recommended guidelines state that either the left or right lateral recumbency are acceptable.)
- Open the jaws to check for obstructions, and if any exist and are not easily removed, try to dislodge the object. See our article Heimlich Maneuever for dogs for details on how to dislodge a dog’s blocked airway safely.
- Cup your hands around the muzzle of the dog’s mouth so that only the nostrils are clear. Blow air into the nostrils with five or six quick breaths, again, depending on the size of the dog. Small dogs and puppies and require short and shallow breaths. Larger dogs need longer and deeper breaths. Continue the quick breaths at a rate of one breath every three seconds or 20 breaths per minute.
- Check for a heartbeat by using your finger on the inside of the thigh, just above the knee. If you don’t feel a pulse, put your hand over the dog’s chest cavity where the elbow touches the middle of the chest. If you still don’t find a pulse, have one person continue breathing into the nostrils (mouth to snout), while another gives chest compressions / cardiac massage. If you are alone, do the compression and mouth-to-snout ventilation yourself.
- Give the dog chest compressions (cardiac massage) by placing both hands palms down on the chest cavity of the dog. For most dogs, chest compressions can be performed on the widest part of the chest while the dog is lying on his side.
- For dogs with keel-shaped chests (i.e. deep, narrow chests) in breeds such as greyhounds push down closer to the dog’s armpit, directly over the heart.
- For dogs with barrel-chested dogs like English bulldogs lay the dog on its back and compress on the sternum (directly over the heart), like people.
- For smaller dogs (and cats) chest-compressions scan be done with one hand wrapped around the sternum, encircling the heart or two-handed on the ribs.
- For large dogs, place your hands on top of each other. For small dogs or puppies, place one hand or thumb on the chest.
- Use the heel of your hand(s) to push down for 30 quick compressions followed by 2 breaths of air (ventilation) and then check to see if consciousness has been restored. If consciousness has not been restored, continue the compressions in cycles of 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute (the same rhythm administered for people).
- Perform CPR in 2-minute cycles checking to see if breathing and consciousness has been restored.
Ideally, CPR is performed while on route to emergency veterinarian care. If this is not possible, contact a veterinarian once the dog has started breathing.
The following diagrams illustrates how to perform chest compressions on dogs with different chest types. Click on an image to see a larger version. Figure (A) illustrates the technique for most dogs. You can apply chest compressions to the widest part of the chest while the dog lies on its side. Figure (B) illustrates the technique for barrel-chested dogs. Figure (C) illustrates the technique for barrel-chested dogs.
For small dogs and cats chest compressions can be administered two ways. Click on the images to see a larger version. Figure (A) illustrates wrapping one hand around the sternum while supporting the back. Figure (B) illustrates two-handed compression.
Below are a couple of videos on administering CPR on dogs. The first is instructional, while the second is a recorded incident of CPR used for an emergency situation.
Note: The instructional video below recommends a compression to ventilation ratio of 15 compressions followed by 1 breath. The June 2012 study recommends a compression to ventilation ratio of 30 compressions followed by 2 breaths.
Here’s the link to this article including visual aid videos:
https://www.dogheirs
Tufts develops quality-of-life assessments for pets with heart disease
Tufts veterinarians developed two quantitative tests for pets with heart disease that can help owners make decisions about treatments and euthanasia. FETCH (Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health) and CATCH (Cats’ Assessment Tool for Cardiac Health) are surveys that ask owners to rank aspects of their pet’s health from zero to five. JAVMA published evaluations of both FETCH and CATCH.
(Phys.org) — Quality of life has become accepted as an important predictor of survival among human patients with heart failure. Now veterinarians at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University have developed two surveys that may prove to be similarly useful in evaluating the quality of life for dogs and cats with heart disease.
Known as “FETCH” (Functional Evaluation of Cardiac Health) and “CATCH” (Cats’ Assessment Tool for Cardiac Health), the surveys ask owners to rank aspects of their dog’s or cat’s health on a scale of 0 to 5. Veterinarians are then able to assess the animal’s perceived quality of life, which may inform decisions about treatment, nutrition or even euthanasia.
Researchers found that the FETCH and CATCH scores correlated well to the International Small Animal Cardiac Health Council (ISACHC) classification for disease severity.
Results of the CATCH evaluation were published in the May 15 edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, building on the earlier publication of the FETCH study.
“Studies have indicated that pet owners value quality of life much more than longevity in their animals,” said Professor of Clinical Sciences Lisa M. Freeman, board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition . “We want our dogs and cats to have happy lives, and we believe this tool is a helpful in evaluating whether our pets still do.”
The survey tools were developed by Freeman and Professor of Clinical Sciences John E. Rush, board-certified cardiologist and criticalist at the veterinary school’s Foster Hospital for Small Animals. Freeman and Rush set out to create and evaluate a tool for pets similar to the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire, one of the most widely used evaluation tools in human cardiology.
The CATCH tool was validated using studies in 75 cats at Tufts’ Foster Hospital for Small Animals, the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical School and the VCA Animal Care Center of Sonoma County (Rohert Park, Calif.), then tested in 200 cats at the three previous sites, as well as Oregon State University, Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital (Woburn, Mass.) and Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston.
The work on the tools will continue to measure their responsiveness to medical treatment and create a clinical and research tool for clinicians, Freeman said.
More information: J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2012 May 15;240(10):1188-93.
Journal reference:Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Provided byTufts University
Cause of pet vomiting could be serious
When we see our pets vomit, we get a sinking feeling. As we are cleaning up the mess, we are deciding if the episode warrants a trip to the vet.
There are some cats and dogs that occasionally vomit and don’t appear to be affected by it. There are the cats that vomit up hairballs or undigested food that they ate too quickly. Those cats can be given a hairball gel or fed small meals.
But for some cats, vomiting can be a sign of an underlying medical condition. Cats are very good at hiding illness, and if vomiting is associated with other signs, it is important to get it addressed.
If there also is diarrhea, poor appetite, lethargy or weight loss, it could indicate a liver, kidney, pancreas issue or diabetes, especially in older animals.
Younger cats, meanwhile, love to eat things like string, needles, thread, fishing line, yarn and tinsel. The longer the string, the more likely it is to get caught up in the intestinal tract and require surgery. These cats are generally very sick and vomit a lot and become very uncomfortable. Delaying treatment can allow the string to bunch up the intestinal tract like an accordion and damage it.
Then there are the dogs that vomit up yellow bile in the morning or after eating grass. Sometimes feeding them a late night snack will keep enough in their stomach overnight to give the bile something to work on. Grass is more complicated as sometimes they just like the taste of grass, but sometimes they eat it to try to settle their stomachs, which can indicate a bigger problem.
Dogs are worse than cats for eating things that they shouldn’t. They eat toys, clothing, things out of the garbage, and other animals’ feces. At the very least, these things can cause an upset stomach but they also can obstruct the intestinal tract and cause irreversible damage. When something is stuck, dogs will vomit very frequently, not eat, and act painful.
Very serious issue
One issue that is unique to dogs is Gastrodilatation and Volvulus, or GDV for short. It is a gastrointestinal issue that can occur in any dog but is mostly seen in deep-chested large breed dogs.
When it occurs, the stomach gets bloated then twists and rotates in the abdomen. This is a life-threatening situation that requires immediate attention and surgery.
Dogs with this condition do not vomit and cannot vomit because the twist blocks things from coming out of the stomach. They retch without bringing anything up and they often develop a noticeable, firm bloated abdomen.
So don’t think that because nothing is being vomited up that everything will work itself out.
Vomiting can be just a thing a pet will do occasionally, but it also can be an indication of an underlying medical condition. You can never be too safe by having your pets seen by a veterinarian for vomiting.
Vomiting and diarrhea can be symptoms of many conditions
Vomitus Doggy-Us
I think I am old enough now that I can use the phrase, “You remember the good old days.” If you listen to the “older than me timers” you could feed your dog scraps, bones, pork or anything else lying around. They wouldn’t get sick and still live forever. And that’s a long time. I am not sure how true all this is, but I still hear it said by many of our charming senior clients. These days, we get several calls about vomiting or diarrhea patients every single day. Our patients compared to the past seem to have a much more “sensitive constitution,” as my grandma would have said.
There is good news and bad news with these symptoms, which often go hand in hand. Fortunately, the vast majority of our cases are nothing more than an upset stomach for some very simple reason. Unfortunately for us as veterinarians, vomiting and diarrhea are such vague signs that they can be associated with hundreds of diseases, from benign to deadly. Fortunately, we don’t have to work up every case with blood work, radiographs (x-rays), ultrasound, ct scan, exploratory surgery, etc. to diagnose a cause. Unfortunately, sometimes we do. Fortunately, most vomiting and diarrhea cases are really easy to treat, oftentimes with things you can do at home and with over-the-counter medications you may already have. Unfortunately it may take a few days to get things under control. Fortunately, most of these cases will be normal very quickly.
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure): A Common Problem in Cats
Monday, June 18, 2012 – From the Animal Endocrine Clinic by Dr. Mark E. Peterson
Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure, which is a common problem in older cats. In cats, hypertension is commonly found as a complication of other underlying medical conditions (so-called secondary hypertension). However, primary or essential hypertension (i.e., hypertension that develops without any underlying medical disorder) may also be seen in cats (1).
- Hyperthyroidism (caused by a tumor of the thyroid gland that oversecretes thyroid hormone).
- Hyperaldosteronism or Conn’s syndrome (usually caused by a tumor of the adrenal gland that secretes too much of the hormone aldosterone)
- Diabetes mellitus (caused by lack of sufficient insulin secretion by the pancreas, or resistance to the action of the body’s insulin)
- Obesity (yes, fat tissue is the bodies largest endocrine gland, so obesity is a common endocrine disease)
- To reduce the blood pressure using anti-hypertensive drugs
- To search for an underlying disease, such as kidney disease, which has caused the hypertension. In some cases, for example hyperthyroidism, treatment of the underlying disease may also resolve the high blood pressure.
- To assess what complications of hypertension are present (such as ocular disease)
Cats vary in their response to anti-hypertensive drugs and some will require dose adjustments to normalize their blood pressure. Once stabilized, hypertensive cats should have their blood pressure monitored every 2 to 4 months to ensure that the pressure remains normal.
References:
- Jepson RE. Feline systemic hypertension: Classification and pathogenesis. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 2011;13:25-34.
- Stepien RL. Feline systemic hypertension: Diagnosis and management. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 2011;13:35-43.
Tips for addressing urination problems in cats
There are a number of reasons why a cat will not use a litter box when urinating and there are a lot of cats out there who have this problem. Trying to find the ultimate reason for each particular cat can be time-consuming and frustrating for the owner, the cat and the veterinarian!
Some of the basic reasons that might cause this behavior revolve around the litter pan itself. The placement of the litter box is very important. Litter boxes should be in quiet, low traffic areas of the house. Also, you should have one litter box per cat in the household. Sometimes cats do not like the texture of the litter, so changing the litter can be helpful. If you have recently changed the brand of litter you use, your cat may not agree with your choice.
Also, make sure you are keeping the litter box as clean as possible because most cats are very particular about not using a dirty litter box. If you have a multiple-cat household, then making sure that one cat is not harassing the other cat in or around the litter box is also important.
Stress can also cause a cat to quit using the litter box appropriately. If there have been changes in your household, for example, if you are under stress, your pet may be picking up that feeling from you. This kind of household stress can often cause pets to exhibit inappropriate behavior as a release of the tension they feel.
If you feel that you have addressed all these issues, then the next question becomes Is this health-related? Does your cat have a disease that is causing this behavior? It is essential to rule out other issues, such as a urinary tract infection, metabolic disease, pain, etc., that might be inciting the behavior.
If this has become an “ingrained” behavior then, once all medical issues have been ruled out, your veterinarian might have you try some behavior modifying drugs to see if that will help with curbing the inappropriate urinations.
You can reach at Dr. Miller at drmillercph@gmail.com.