Hereditary
genes
Did you know that aggression is
as strong a hereditary gene as HD (hip dysplasia),
so pretty strong, but that fear is
the highest hereditary gene of them all?! So make
sure you meet both parents when you get your next
puppy and check that they are neither aggressive or
nervous.
Arthritis
in dogs and cats
Arthritis
in Pets Resource Center A very informative site about
arthritis in dogs and cats. Dozens of articles on treating
arthritis in dogs and arthritis in cats, information on
glucosamine and other treatments, a newsletter, and a
message board community.
Toxic substances
WARNING! - Grapes
and Raisins are toxic for dogs!
This email was forwarded to me from a colleague:
"Subject:
Raisin toxicity (Permisson has been given to cross-post
from Borzoi-News)
This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity
ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56 pound, 5 yr old
male neutered lab mix who ate half a cannister of raisins
sometime between 7:30 AM and 4 :30 PM on Tuesday. He started
with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1 AM on Wednesday
but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7
AM. I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing
acute renal failure but hadn't seen any formal paper on
the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In
the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the
doctor there was like me - had heard something about it,
but....
Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison
Control Center and they said to give I V fluids at 1 1/2
times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the
next 48-72 hours. The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level)
was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine
over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors
of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an I
V catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal
values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine
over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids.
At the point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure
and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor
urine output overnight as well as overnight care. He started
vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values
have continued to increase daily. He produced urine when
given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting
medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting.
Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over
120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very
elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying
around 150, skyrocketed to 220. He continued to vomit
and the owners elected to euthanise. This is a very sad
case--great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins
could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has
a dog of this very serious risk. Poison control said as
few as 7 raisins could be toxic. Many people I know give
their dogs grapes or raisins as treats. Any exposure should
give rise to immediate concern. Feel free to contact me
if you have any questions.
Laurinda Morris, DVM
Danville Veterinary Clinic
Danville, Ohio"
For
a web site listing poisonus plants, please go to www.dogpack.com.
General info about toxic substances for dogs, go to www.vetinfo4dogs.com and www.petalia.com.
For web sites about the toxicity in onions, try www.jlhweb.net.
Slug
Bait poisoning
One of my day dogs was put to sleep due
to slug bait poisoning. She was a 2,5 year old Labrador
in good health. I was devastated by the news and I
can't imagine what her owner must have gone through.
Slug bait poisoning can cause a really violent reaction
in the dog, so please keep your dog safe by not
using such substances in your own garden and watch
over them when you are out walking them. Read Emma
the Vet's article about slug
bait poisoning, and BVA's article about poisonous
substances. Cat.org.uk has also put together
an interesting article about slug
pellets (even if it is difficult to read
with the overpowering background! My suggestion
is copy the text and paste into a Word document,
so you don't have to strain your eyes!).
Fireworks
night
The most important advice I can give
you is NOT to leave your dog on his own on Guy Fawlkes
night or New Years Eve, even if it is just a for a couple
of hours. If you HAVE TO go to that party, bring your
dog with you or get someone your dog knows and likes
to come and dog sit while you are away. Even
if you think your dog can cope with the fireworks, you don't
know that there won't be a big bang right outside your house
that scares your dog and he/she won't have anywhere to flee
and no one there for support. I think most of you would
agree that isn't fair.
Don't
rely on another dog to keep them company, worst case scenario
you'll end up with 2 scared dogs instead of one!
DON'T
MAKE A SCENE...
Nor should you make a fuss off your dog while the fireworks
go off, try to be as normal as possible. Have a cup of tea,
read a book, watch your favourite soap, do whatever it is
you normally do in the evenings. If your dog shows any tendencies
to worry, then put the TV and radio on loud, to drown out
some of the bangs outside, but obviously make sure they
aren't banging off fireworks on the radio/TV as well... Try
not to constantly look at your dog/puppy to see if he/she
is alright. The extra attention will alert your dog that
something isn't right... look through the corner of your
eye, if you have to look...
DON'T
PUNISH...
If your dog is scared of the fireworks, please don't punish
him when he is trying to crawl up on your lap/sofa/bed.
He's just trying to get as close to security as he can and
you/your sofa/your bed are it!
Feeding
tablets to a dog
Feeding tablets to a dog isn't
half as difficult as it is feeding them to a cat. Hide
the tablet in something irresistable, for example liver
pate (really hide the whole tablet in a big wedge of
liver pate), butter (margarine just wont do), tuna pate,
pressed into a cube of ham, chicken or cheese, rolled
up in your breakfast bacon, etc. Don't restrain your
dog or you'll make them suspicious and less likely to
take the treat/tablet. If they refuse, you probably
haven't hidden the tablet well enough. if your dog is
very small or just refuses to take large treats (maybe
he's old and hardly has any teeth left), divide the
tablet into quarter pieces first and hide each piece
individually.
Feeding
tablets to a cat
Feeding the next door neighbour
cats, when they go on holiday, I know how easy it is
for cats to get worms and how hard it is to give them
worming tablets... So I came across this site with tips
on how to feed tablets to cats and I found it very
useful.
Books
to read
It is a jungle of dog books out there.
It is really difficult to know which ones are good ones
and which ones you are better off leaving behind. We
do some of the leg work for you, by sorting out the
diamonds of the dog book world.
For recommendations and reviews on good dog
books to read, please visit our book
page.
|
