Throughout the day, our systems confront a dizzying array of pathogens. If we are healthy, we have a good chance of fending off these disease-causing agents and repairing damaged tissue while carrying on complex chemical reactions. These normal, physiologic defense mechanisms keep our systems humming happily in a state of homeostasis.

Even though the length of our life depends on numerous variables and many fall outside of our control, we do have myriad opportunities to improve our quality of life if we tune in to health and tune out stress. The same principles of reducing stress to restore health apply to our animal companions.

Stress, whether physical, mental, or emotional, upsets both the mind and body. Individuals may resort to self-destructive behaviors or habits as maladaptive coping mechanisms. As a result of stress, pain increases, blood pressure goes up, and circulation to and from our organs diminishes, further compromising their ability to normalize function after illness. Physical problems become harder to treat and often turn chronic in the face of unrelenting stress.

These days, drug companies are more than ready, willing, and able to sell us medications for stress, but why not find ways to stop the problem at its source?

Let’s consider, for example, how stress affects our canine companions and what we can do about it.

Eyes

What’s stressful? Television (flashing lights), boredom (lack of visual stimulation), cigarette or other sources of smoke and pollution, blindness.

Natural ways to relieve eye stress: Shut off the TV, provide walks in nature and safe toys in a healthful and stimulating environment. Stop smoking and provide fresh air. For blind dogs, keep furniture in the same place so dogs learn the layout and cope better with blindness if medical treatment is not an option.

Ears

What’s stressful? Acoustic stress, such as TV (again), loud music, other dogs barking, humans arguing, loud children, video games, car alarms, home construction, slamming doors, etc. Thunderstorms leading to noise phobias.

Natural ways to relieve ear stress: As the canine music therapy folks at “Through a Dog’s Ear” advise, take a “sonic inventory” of your environment to uncover and pinpoint noise pollution in your home. Once you realize how much and how often your dog’s ultra-sensitive ears endure the cacophony of human existence, you can work to eliminate this form of stress. Replace noxious noise with quietude and/or slow, specifically formulated music such as that from “Through a Dog’s Ear.”You’ll be surprised by how rapidly it alters the psychological atmosphere for the better.

Natural approach to thunderstorm phobia: An anti-static cape called the Storm Defender was developed and tested as a means to protect dogs against static buildup, the idea being that thunderstorm phobia might arise from dogs’ fear of shocks from static during unstable weather patterns. However, placebo-controlled research suggests that the benefit of snug-fitting canine capes and related apparel involves the comfort of tactile pressure rather than static electricity reduction. These mechanisms would then closely correspond to the “squeeze machines” designed to reduce tension and anxiety in autistic children.

Nose

What’s stressful? Strong odors, including perfumes, excessive or irritating essential oils, hair spray, air fresheners, cigarette and other types of smoke.

Natural ways to relieve odor stress: Instead of relying on air fresheners to mask odors, eliminate their source. What’s bad for your dog to inhale is also bad for you, and this includes airborne chemicals! For anxiety and fear, some find success with DAP, or dog-appeasing pheromone. Lavender aromatherapy has shown value in reducing restlessness in dogs in shelter environments, but how much is too much is unknown. I have given clients and myself headaches by using too much lavender aromatherapy in exam rooms.

Mouth/Digestive System Stress

What’s stressful? Poor diet and dentition (teeth). Lack of fresh water. Having to compete with other dogs for food, fear of being attacked while eating, etc. Low quality food, or the same food every day. Difficult to chew or swallow food. Bad-tasting or rancid food. Food that causes indigestion, gastrointestinal inflammation or infection, and malabsorption syndromes caused by pancreatic problems.

Natural ways to relieve mouth-related and digestive system stress: Regular dental examinations and prophylactic cleaning. Fresh, clean water and well-balanced nutrition. Peace and safety while eating. Dietary changes may help as well, ensuring enough protein and digestive enzymes if indicated. Some supplement with tryptophan or other serotonin precursors to impart relaxation and counter depression.

Body, or Whole-System Stress

What’s stressful? Acute and chronic illness is typically uncomfortable and stressful. Temperature stress and climatic factors such as wind and exposure to rain, snow, and ice produce different types of stress. Untreated or undertreated pain takes a long-term toll on health. Excessive exercise (“weekend warrior syndrome”) or imprudent rehabilitation practices can worsen spinal disease and joint pain and cause fear, stress, and more pain in dogs that are exercised beyond their capacity or limitations.

Natural ways to relieve body stress: Comfortable living area and supportive bed, temperature-controlled setting safe from the elements outdoors, regular moderate exercise, medical and home massage and/or other body-benefiting treatments. Some dogs enjoy heating pads or the application of cold on painful areas; what is appropriate depends on the individual and whether the pain responds better to heat or cold.

The list goes on and on. I welcome your input and feedback on what you find helps keep stress at bay in your own dog and cat families. But remember, just as it’s important not to cover up harmful or offensive odors with air fresheners, it’s important not to whitewash an illness by attributing it to “just stress”. The best way to address a bladder infection, a painful tooth, or disk disease is through definitive veterinary care and regular physical examinations.

Yes, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA.

Here is that report, including a link to the source document, on CCF’s PETAKillsAnimals.com Web site. Go read it, and come back.

In the meantime, I’ll note that this incredibly successful site (from the opposition’s point of view) recently gained a sibling, HumaneWatch.com, which is now doing to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) what PETAkillsanimals.com did to PETA: Look for things donors don’t know about and might not agree with and publicize those matters, in hopes of gutting support for the organization.

If you think the HSUS finds this development alarming, you’d be right.

OK, welcome back. Let’s recap: So how many animals who came in the doors of PETA in 2009 left in anything other than a body bag?

39, of which 8 were adopted out, the remainder transferred.

8 adoptions out of …. 2,366 animals taken in.  Yes, a 97.3 percent kill rate, their “best” since 2006. Since mid-1998, the group has killed 23,640 pets.

PETA tells its donors that the animals they killed were unadoptable … suffering, in many cases. When someone challenges that, they don’t provide veterinary records or behaviorist reports — they send out their lawyer to rattle a saber.

They did that to me a couple years ago. And after that letter I posted this:

[W]ere there medical examinations by a veterinarian, and written records of the same for each animal killed? A behavioral analysis by a qualified behaviorist, and written records of the same for each animal killed? May we see them? Or were these determinations made by the animal’s previous owners, and if so are there the signed forms standard at every veterinary office and shelter making sure the previous owner understands that they are turning the animal over to be killed? May we see those forms? Alternately, may we get the names of all the previous owners so we can ask each and every one of them if it was their understanding that they animal was unadoptable and would be killed when they surrendered the animal? So we can ask, exactly, what they were told by PETA?

If PETA staff made these determinations that the animals were unadoptable, may we have the names of these people and see their qualification to perform such tasks? Are they veterinarians or certified behaviorists? May we see the records of their medical and behavioral determinations that these animals were not adoptable? May we see PETA’s guidelines for determining adoptability?

In response … nothing.

Another year, another couple thousand dead animals who according to PETA’s legal eagles were absolutely not hoping for new homes when they lined themselves up for the needle in Norfolk. No matter what PETA itself reported to the Commonwealth of Virginia, in reference to animals taken in “for the purpose of adoption.” (For a thought of why, exactly, PETA  kills, check out what no-kill flame-thrower Nathan Winograd has to say, here.)

Another year, and again, I have to ask:

Why is anyone still listening to PETA?

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Pretty cool dog-training, absolutely. But I gotta wonder: Do people in England recognize that’s the theme from “Hawaii 5-0″? Also: Do you get extra points for wearing shorts in March? When I was at Crufts a few years back, it was freeeeezzzzinggggg.

My daughter, Mikkel Becker Shannon, and I are in Los Angeles talking to producers about a possible new television show. We brought along our number one spokespug, Mikkel’s dog Willy. We figured we can’t resist him, so most likely the producers wouldn’t be able to, either.

We flew down with him from Spokane, and because he’s both small and well-trained, he was able to fly in the cabin with us. Even before we boarded he was charming his fellow passengers. From Mikkel:

We flew from Spokane to Salt Lake City, and then to Los Angeles. I thought that flying with a dog in the cabin would be stressful and that I’d have to keep him in his carrier while we were in the airport, but I was able to have him out with no hassles other than a few barks exchanged with another dog.

Most travelers and staff at airports are hurried and distracted, but dozens of people, including many airline employees, stopped to get some mutt lovin’, and they each had stories of their own dogs. It was best training experience for Willy, as he was totally immersed in new experiences — all types of people, sounds and different footing, from slick tile to escalator steps.

The best thing of all about the travel portion of our trip was what we found at Los Angeles International Airport: a completely fenced dog yard with a water fountain and bowl, pooper scooper bags and, of course, the essential fire hydrant.

We checked into the Ritz Carlton at Marina del Rey, where Willy’s rock star treatment continued. They even gave him his own specially bottled doggy water and gift box.

This was Willy’s first time on a plane, first time dipping a paw in the ocean (and tasting it, not a particularly successful experiment), and first time wheeling and dealing with the Hollywood power machine.

He visited Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, the Polo Lounge (outside only, due to public health laws he’s working on having overturned), Grauman’s Chinese Theater and Universal Studios.

Traveling with pets isn’t always as easy as it is with Willy. He has the right temperament and he’s had the best training and socialization. He’s even a Delta Society registered Pet Partner:

Delta Society’s Pet Partners program trains volunteers and screens volunteers and their pets for visiting animal programs in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, schools and other facilities.

The Pet Partners program was established in 1990 to ensure that “both ends of the leash,” people as well as animals, were well-prepared to participate in animal-assisted activity and animal-assisted therapy programs. Pet Partners is the only national registry that requires volunteer training and screening of animal-handler teams.

Delta Society’s national network links volunteers with facilities in their own communities that request visiting pets and helps Pet Partners contact facilities to begin visits in new locations.

And he’s pretty good with the Hollywood moguls, too.

Photos by Dr. Marty Becker. You can view more photos from Willy’s Hollywood adventure on Dr. Becker’s Facebook fan page.

A federal prosecutor in Michigan tried to convince a federal judge to order the euthanasia all dogs swept up in a cruelty case this past summer. The problem is, Kent County Humane Society has been housing several of the dogs for months and believes that they’re adoptable.

The solution? Kent County hired a lawyer and filed an affidavit to argue in favor of letting the adoptable dogs live.

Guess what? They won the case today for 11 dogs in their facility, and they also won the right to evaluate four dogs that have been housed in a different facility.

Bad Rap’s verdict?

We were keeping our eye on this case since we first learned of the dogs’ plight and, and are just jumping up and down around here with the good news. We salute Kent County Humane for their MAJOR CAJONES tonight and are celebrating this victory for the dogs.

Read the story here.

Photo: Froggy, one of the dogs involved in the case, who will now get a chance to be adopted.

• $12 million will be appropriated to build a brand new shelter, and more importantly
• Austin will commit itself to a citywide no-kill policy, joining Charlottesville, Va., and Reno, among others.

Congratulations, Austin.

Microchip and insurance requirement in the UK? There’s a movement afoot in the United Kingdom to mandate microchips for all dogs.  A separate proposal would require  dog owners to buy insurance against injury to a third party.   I don’t like this as compulsory policy, but I was interested in reading Dr. Shawn Messonnier’s opinion on this.

Speaking of reporting back, an update on a previously discussed story:

No bark-softening in the Bay State: Following up on previous stories discussing the controversy over bark softening (also called debarking and devocalization), the Massachusetts House voted 150-1 last week to prohibit the procedure for any reason other than the health of the animal.   Petside’s opinion on the matter is clear:

This cruel and unnecessary procedure, along with tail docking and feline declawing, has already been humanely banned throughout the United Kingdom. But, sadly to say I was unable to find any other state in this country that has either passed or that has pending legislation to ban this senseless and dangerous surgery. In fact, California, New Jersey and Ohio have already attempted to broadly ban the procedure without any success.

…or Arizona, for that matter: Meanwhile, Chandler, Ariz. would rather assault the dogs in and near its parks with high frequency sound (thanks for that one, Anne T).

[T]he proximity to homes where backyard dogs might be exposed could upset neighborhood dogs that aren’t barking but sense they are being punished, Smith said.

Kimberly Searles, spokeswoman for the Arizona Humane Society, said the Dog Silencer “does have the potential to negatively affect dogs who are not barking, in that it can make them not want to go to the dog park if doing so is going to hurt their ears.”

You have the right to remain silent….you have the right to an attorney.  However, your pet doesn’t.  At least not in Switzerland.  (thanks, Deb)

Like, totally vetted, man: OK class, pop quiz time.  Hey, pipe down in back.  If you’ve studied this won’t be a problem.  Everyone check out that red bar on the left side of the page where all the interesting pet blogs are listed.  See anything different?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Two links are missing.  Which ones?  Nobody?  OK, I’ll give you the answer.  Pet Connection’s BFF Dr. Patty Khuly has started a brand new blog, called “Fully Vetted.”  It’s an amalgamation of her two older blogs, Dolittler and Daily Vet.  You’ll notice they’re both gone.  This will be easier for her, and of course (more importantly), easier for me to get all the good stuff in once place.

Not so much for the tootsies: And Dr. Khuly has already started us off with a short but totally sensible mini-rant on why she’d prefer not to trim toenails (I presume she’s referring to those of the pets she sees).

Let’s be honest: a dog that gets a nail trim once a year is receiving an all-but-useless service that only serves to make him more afraid of the veterinarian’s office. After all, they’ll have grown out within a month or two — less in some cases. And some dogs really don’t need trimming at all as long as they walk on surfaces that sufficiently file their toenails.

That’s why I’ve begun a campaign to reduce nail trims at my workplace. Unless the animal is easily amenable or under anesthesia, annual or semi-annual nail trims are counterproductive when conducted by a veterinarian or her staff. You want his nails trimmed? Go to the groomer. Go to PetSmart. Go anywhere else except the place where stress should be minimized for medical reasons.

She’s right.  I don’t remember the last time we had to trim Cami and Harry’s nails.

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credits:  Austin skyline, utexas.edu. Pink nails, petmd.com.

I’m OK with that, because life can’t ever be made 100 percent safe, and that’s a fact, too. Honestly, who would want life to be 100 percent safe? Not me, for sure, because that would be awfully damn dull.

I know that even under the best of circumstances food will occasionally be contaminated and need to be recalled. I can forgive a company for that, although my level of forgiveness will vary depending on how likely the company was to know that there was a problem, and how much of the resulting problem was due to accident, or to a decision after doing the math that a few dead pets (or people) weren’t worth the cost of making changes.

When there is a problem, though, I expect — no, I demand — that a company make a real, true and honest effort to let everyone know about it, not dump-and-run a media release late on a Friday night. I want the information front and center on  company’s Web site, and I want to see that the company is making at least as big an effort to get bad product back as they did to market their goods in the first place.

And then I want a company to be honest about what happened, how it happened, and have a plan for getting the problem fixed so the problem — at least not that problem — won’t happen again.

With all that in mind, I say this: Nature’s Variety is a case in point of how to handle a recall right.

They never hid their recall notices — always the first thing you saw on their Web site.  They reached out to retailers, purchasers, media and bloggers to make sure the word got out. And now, they’ve reviewed their internal manufacturing process and are making changes:

… Nature’s Variety now uses High Pressure Pasteurization on our Raw Frozen Diets as a unique process to kill pathogenic bacteria through high-pressure, water-based technology. Having incorporated this state-of-the-art technology on our Freeze Dried Raw products in late 2009, we were able to confidently implement the process universally on all Raw Frozen Diets after the February 11, 2010 recall in order to further enhance food safety. Nature’s Variety also utilizes a test and hold protocol to ensure that all High Pressure Pasteurized Raw Frozen Diets test negative for harmful bacteria before being released for sale.

Let’s repeat that:

Nature’s Variety also utilizes a test and hold protocol to ensure that all High Pressure Pasteurized Raw Frozen Diets test negative for harmful bacteria before being released for sale.

You know what makes me sad? That this sort of thing is news, not standard operating procedure in the food industry.  I have hope, though, that it increasingly will be. Or that we can make sure it will be, by law.

In the meantime, kudos to Nature’s Variety for behaving in such an overtly responsible way.

Don’t know what that says about this Labrador’s IQ.  Or the IQ of anyone who doesn’t look at the video and figure out how to make this at home (if desired) for … uh… nothing.

Click on the image to see the vid on Amazon.com.

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Choosing to end a pet’s life is the hardest decision we make when it comes to our pets, and we can tell you from decades of experience that it’s a decision that never gets any easier. Your veterinarian will offer you advice and support, and friends and family can offer you sympathy, but no one can make the decision for you. When you live with an elderly or terminally ill pet, you look in your pet’s eyes every morning and wonder if you’re doing what’s best.

Everyone makes the decision a little differently. Some pet lovers do not wait until their pet’s discomfort becomes chronic, untreatable pain, and they choose euthanasia much sooner than others would. Some owners use an animal’s appetite as the guide — when an old or ill animal cannot be tempted into eating, they reason, he has lost most interest in life. And some owners wait until there’s no doubt the time is at hand — and later wonder if they delayed a bit too long.

Also from Dr. Becker, reassuring news about the safety of pet microchips:

Veterinary experts say there is no evidence that cancer is a problem in microchipped pets. More than 14 million-plus microchips have been implanted with only four cases in question.

Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week! You can also download it just the way we send it to our client newspapers right here (PDF).

Palladia (toceranib phosphate) is what’s known as a “tyrosine kinase inhibitor.” That means it blocks an enzyme that can help cancer spread.

Other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) include the human drugs Sutent (sunitinib) and Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), and a European veterinary drug, Masivet (masitinib), which will be known as “Kinavet” if it’s approved in the United States.

Right now, Palladia is approved to treat mast cell tumors in dogs, and it’s fairly successful at treating those that don’t respond to other forms of treatment. In one study, mast cell tumors were reduced in size in 43 percent of dogs who received the drug, while only 8 percent of the dogs given placebo responded similarly.

Dr. Garrett, who is a board certified specialist in oncology, cautioned that TKIs are not a first line of treatment, but are meant to be used for particularly severe mast cell disease and only after other forms of treatment, like surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, have failed.

Even then, these drugs don’t always work. But for some mast cell tumors, particularly those with mutations in what’s known as the c-kit gene, TKIs have a much greater chance of success. Your veterinarian can have your dog’s tumor tested to see if it has that mutation.

Another big plus to treating cancer with Palladia is that it can be given at home, unlike other forms of chemotherapy. However, that’s a minus, too, because it can cause pretty severe side effects, mostly gastrointestinal. Owners have to be very vigilant in watching for signs of diarrhea or vomiting, and getting the dog to the veterinarian immediately.

There’s another potential benefit for dogs in the approval of a veterinary TKI: research. Manufacturers of human drugs don’t test them for how well they work in animals, but those making veterinary drugs do. Pfizer and AB Science are continuing to sponsor research into mast cell tumor treatment and other uses of their TKIs, which can lead to better ways to treat many kinds of cancer.

And once a veterinary drug is approved for one use, it can legally be used “off-label” to help animals with other problems. So veterinarians can try TKIs in the hope that they might benefit animals who aren’t responding to other therapies. Their outcomes will contribute to the body of knowledge about this class of cancer drugs, and possibly lead to new research and new and better therapies.

The first FDA-approved veterinary cancer drug isn’t going to cure every case, or even most of them. Neither will other tyrosine kinase inhibitors as they roll out of the pipeline. But cancer is one of the worst enemies a veterinarian ever battles. The more weapons we have against it, the better.

Right now, only boarded specialists who treat cancer have access to the drug, although it’s expected to be available to veterinarians in general practice later this year. If your dog is diagnosed with a mast cell tumor and you want more information on TKIs, talk to your veterinarian and see if he’s likely to be helped by this drug.

Photo courtesy of Pfizer Animal Health.

Disclosures: Palladia is manufactured by Pfizer Animal Health, and Pfizer sponsors the web archive of the Pet Connection syndicated feature.

Dr. Garrett does not work for Pfizer, but received an honorarium for presenting on Palladia at the Western Veterinary Conference. She also received, as did all board certified veterinary specialists who treat cancer, free Palladia for use in her patients during its testing and introduction.