Holiday dangers for your dog

We are always happy when it is time to get the Christmas tree set up and start our holiday baking.  However these two activities can potentially be harmful to your dogs and there are some things to think about while preparing for these activities.

The Christmas tree should be well-secured.  It can easily be toppled by a happy puppy and could hurt the dog (or person) who may be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time!  Also remember to watch your dog for the first few days after your tree is up to be sure they are not showing interest in eating the tree or its decorations!  Pine needles can irritate the throat if the dog eats them and lead to subsequent problems.  Christmas ornaments – especially home-made ones that are baked or made from dried pasta - are notorious for getting eaten!   Put them high on the tree or keep them off the tree until your puppy grows up and has been trained to leave the tree and its decorations alone!

Most of us know that chocolate is also harmful to dogs.  The primary substance of concern is called theobromine and it is toxic to dogs in high quantities.  High quantities are prevalent in baker’s chocolate and dark chocolate.  It is present to a lesser degree in milk and white chocolate.  The dog most frequently begins to have nausea that leads to vomiting.  Keep in mind that our large breed dogs can easily access items left on coffee tables and even counter-tops, so be aware of where you set down that box you have been snacking on!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Convenience!

Yesterday we were able to help one of our clients out.  He had to go to work, but also wanted to be present for his cat's appointment and to consult with me.  Here is what we did: he dropped his cat off in the morning on his way to work and we scheduled an appointment for him over his lunch hour.  His cat stayed with us in our recovery ward while he worked in the morning and he came over at lunch for his appointment.  We did the appointment as usual in the examination room and when it was finished, we put the cat back in our ward and he went back to work!  After work he picked up the kitty and went home.  The cat enjoyed seeing the hospital activity from a safe location and got special attention from our staff during breaks.  It was the best kind of visit for everyone involved, even the kitty!

Home Care

Being able to do treatments and care for our pets at home is a wonderful way to save money!  It also really gives us the feeling that we are making a difference in our pet's life.  Whenever possible, I do encourage my clients to take on treatments that they can do at home.  One example is with fluid therapy.  We often give fluids to our pets repeatedly when they are in renal (kidney) failure.  We can teach owners to perform this task in a matter of minutes and then the pet's care can come more under the control of you, the owner.  Ask me more about home care for your pet the next time you are in.

Feeling Great!

Nothing justifies your decision to perform a procedure like the hapiness evident in your pet after it has been completed.  It's tough to know how much a recommended procedure will help your pet until after you have gone ahead and done it!  That's hard medicine to swallow, I realize.  Nonetheless I see this phenomenon time and again.  Case in point: I recently removed retained deciduous teeth (baby teeth) from a dog and now he is acting great, is less moody, and seems like a different dog according to the owner.  That's music to my ears!

Extreme disease

Yesterday I saw the worst mouth in a dog that I have ever seen.  I have truly seen some rotten teeth in my practice.  I won't describe how nasty some dog and cat mouths can get and I will attempt to provide an adequate description here without completely grossing you out...  This dog had it all - loose teeth, recessed gums, inflamed gums, tartar galore, halitosis to beat the band, obvious abscessed tooth roots, food stuck in places it shouldn't be due to pocket formation in the gums, and caked on plaque.  When I looked at the upper canine tooth (the fang) - I knew I had seen it all.  There was a HOLE in the dog's gum.  This hole was above the gum line and exposed the side of the tooth root (if it hadn't been packed full of food, pus, hair, and whatever else you can imagine).  You see, this dog had an untreated tooth root abscess that had progressed so far that the only outlet for the abscess was through the side of the gum.  Painful does not describe it.  My heart went out to this dog.
Why am I telling you this?  Sometimes we all need to be reminded of consequences.  More than anything, I wish this dog had never had to experience the pain and discomfort that I know must have been excruciating.  Dogs do not complain about daily pain.  They live very much in the moment.  They do not think to themselves... "hmmm... I never used to hurt this bad, I think I'll cry about it..."  We do not know what our dogs and cats experience in the realm of pain, but we do know that they exhibit the same behaviors as we would if we were trying to hide our pain from others.  I realize we often don't watch our dogs so closely when they eat that we know when they stop chewing on one side of the mouth, but please keep this in mind the next time your dog opts not to chew that bone, hesitates to climb the stairs, shakes his head a lot, or is slow to get up.  There could be pain and we need to be paying attention.

I'm supposed to look in THERE?

Most of us don't make a habit of looking at our pet's teeth on a regular basis.  This is unfortunate, since our pet's mouths can be a true source of discomfort and disease when not cared for properly.  Even my own dog's mouth can get worse than I imagine it is.  I cleaned my dog's teeth yesterday.  They were... you guessed it... worse than I imagined.  I knew my dog had bad breath and some tartar build up, but it wasn't until I cleaned his teeth that I realized how dirty they really were.  My technician and I spent a great deal of time scaling, scraping, and polishing until we finally cleared away the harmful tartar that had built up and addressed the gingivitis that would lead to horrible abscessed roots if left for much longer.  I'm pleased to report that we were able to avoid extractions this time, but in the future I'll be quicker to address the problem!  I encourage everyone to check their pet's mouth frequently and report to their veterinarian if they notice red gums or tartar building up.  Early intervention will save your pet pain and discomfort in the future.

They live WHERE?

There are so many parasites out there than can affect your dog and your cat.  When you visit the vet they rattle off all these names and it is truly confusing.  I wanted to refresh your memory about one parasite in particular – heartworms.  Yup – they live in the heart.  Technically, the adult worms live in the heart and the “babies” swim around in the blood stream. 

The heartworm is given to your dog or cat through an infective mosquito.  The heartworm has to be transmitted through the mosquito, but the bad news is that lots of mosquitoes carry heartworms.  Yes, people can get them, too, but it only happens in immunocompromised individuals.  Humans are not the natural host for these worms. 

We test your dog for heartworms by taking a sample of blood.  This test looks for adult worms that have established themselves in your dog’s heart.  These are the trouble-makers.  We also recommend you give your pet monthly heartworm preventative.  This monthly pill kills any new baby worms the mosquito may have given your dog or cat before they can grow up into dangerous adults.

Protect your pet from heartworms – they are highly prevalent in our region.

Did you know we could DO THAT?

The other day I treated a dog that had a chronic (long term) ear infection.  This dog had been treated for his ear infection 2-3 times by the former veterinarian and it was still a problem.  Well, there are a few reasons this could have happened.  Let me address one of them. 

It is possible that an ear cytology was not done on this dog when he was seen previously.  What this means is that we can take a swab from the ear and look at it under the microscope.  When we do this, we can determine what is actually causing the infection in the first place.  It is usually either yeast or bacteria, but sometimes it is a combination of both.  By establishing what is causing the infection, we can more appropriately dispense medication to correct the problem.  We can also track the progression of our treatment over time by assessing the numbers of organisms subjectively.

Yup, we can do that right in the hospital, during your visit!  It takes us anywhere from 5-10 minutes to prepare the slide and read it, then we can give you an answer while you wait!  If your pet is shaking his or her head or seems sensitive when you pet the ears, this can be a sign of an infection.  Take them to the vet soon - ear infections can be painful and very irritating!