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Monday update: Baltic is rescued – and adopted
By David S. Greene
February 1, 2010
Baltic’s remarkable journey: This is not the kind of story that usually ends well. Poland is in the middle of an uncommonly cold winter. A dog became stranded on ice in the middle of the Vistula River, then started floating out to sea on a fast moving current. At that point, you’d expect the worst, right? Not this time. After more than 100 miles on the ice, the dog was picked up. It gets better. Dogster reports the Polish crew members are adopting their furry castaway.
Poland’s President, Lech Kaczynski, known as a dog owner, sent the crew a letter of praise.
“Such gestures make our world a better one,” Kaczynski wrote.
The dog has been named “Baltic,” after the sea on which he was found, and after the research vessel, the Baltica, where he will be spending his days.
The problem with physicians who diagnose their pets: Pet Connection’s BFF Dr. Patty Khuly addresses a problem that really gets to veterinarians: Physicians trained to care for people may — and on occasion do — impede the care of their own pets. The problems arise when their pet’s symptoms lead them to treat as they would a human patient. However, people aren’t cats or dogs, and treatments aren’t automatically transferable from one species to another. The consequences can be tragic, as Dr. Khuly’s anecdotes in her USA Today column illustrate:
A cat’s lethargy prompted her pediatrician-owner to assume his cat had a fever. Baby Tylenol twice daily for three days led to an irreversible blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. She died less than 24 hours after her owner brought her in for the “fever” he was still trying to treat with acetaminophen. (Her body temperature was actually five degrees too low when she arrived, but who’s counting?)
The moral of the story is uncomplicated. Even if you graduated from Harvard Medical School, let your veterinarian take care of your pet. In return, your vet promises not to diagnose your patients.
The scourge of pet obesity: Last week I mentioned it can be difficult to find reliably labeled, low calorie pet food. Nevertheless, the statistics on pet obesity are daunting. Half of all dogs and cats in the United States today are overweight or obese. Julie Brayton, writing for NBC Los Angeles, makes the point.
But like people, pets could get some serious health problems if they continually carry around too much weight. They could have difficulties with their joints, develop arthritis, have metabolic problems like diabetes and heart problems.
So if your pet is getting a little rotund around the middle, it might be a good idea to get your pet out and start exercising, but start slowly.
“If you’ve got a couch potato dog, you can’t just go jogging for a mile because that’s going to exacerbate all of the problems that are already going on, joint injuries and problems that can be intensive and expensive to fix,” according to Dr. Mark Stickney, veterinarian.
But if you and your pet work together, perhaps you can both shed some of those extra inches before you’re done.
A kitteh to whom I can relate:
Thanks to the good people from icanhascheezburger. See more Lolcats and funny pictures
Got a tip? Got a story? Don’t keep it to yourself. Send it to me, or give me a shout in the comments.
Photo credit: Baltic, Maciej Czoska/AP
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Awesome news about Baltic! Just goes to show there are good people all over the world. We just don’t always hear about them. BTW what a beautiful dog she is! Thanks for starting my week out with a smile.
Comment by catmom5 — February 1, 2010 @ 6:39 am
This really is a great story. I’m glad someone found the poor pooch before the cold got to the best of him.
Comment by Animals Away — February 1, 2010 @ 11:02 am
I couldn’t get an email to go through, so am posting this under comments. Sorry if it is off topic, but I thought it important to pass along:
FW: Please Read and Please Cross-Post: Cancer researchers need samples
********************************************
The Van Andel Research Institute, a world class human cancer research
institute, recently received a Federally fund grant through the National
Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, to study five types of
cancer that occur in both dogs and humans. The ultimate goal is to develop
improved diagnostics and more individualized therapies for both canines and
people.
We are requesting the help of purebred dog owners, who may own a dog
affected with one of these cancers. The five initial cancers we are studying
are:
1) Hemangiosarcoma
2) Lymphoma
3) Osteosarcoma
4) Malignant histiocytosis
5) Melanoma of the mouth or toe
We are requesting fresh (NOT in formalin, NOT frozen) tissue samples from
tumors, when pets have biopsies, surgeries such as splenectomies, or are
euthanized. Samples may be collected post mortem, as the euthanasia
solution does not affect the DNA in either the dog’s blood or in the tumor
cells.
Additionally, if you have a dog with one of these cancers who has already
been treated (splenectomy, chemo, etc), we would still appreciate a blood
sample along with a histopath report confirming the diagnosis. We need 3-5
mls of whole blood in an EDTA (purple top) tube. It can be sent priority
mail, and blood can be shipped at room temperature.
If the pet is scheduled for surgery or, sadly, euthanasia, if you or your
veterinarian contact us ahead of time, we can FedEx a collection kit which
includes an overnight FedEx return shipping form, along with collection
media and containers.
Owner consent forms and veterinary info pages can be found on our website,
at:
http://www.vai.org/helpingdogs
I will be happy to answer any questions I can, as well. Owners,
veterinarians and researchers working together will help us to unravel some
of the mysteries of these nasty diseases.
Roe Froman, DVM
Senior Veterinary Research Scientist
Van Andel Research Institute
333 Bostwick Ave NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
616.234.5556
roe.froman@vai.org
http://www.vai.org
Comment by Mary — February 1, 2010 @ 3:20 pm
when beagles “attack” . . .
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/st.....id=7251306
local news said apparently they get dumped there during hunting season if they don’t get enough rabbits. . . .
Comment by straybaby — February 1, 2010 @ 3:22 pm