pet connection

Just on the other side of security at the Sacramento airport, I noticed the ad at right. Wow, how’d they know? That’s exactly where I’m heading!

Kim and I are hanging out at the American Animal Hospital Association’s convention in Long Beach this weekend.  I’m looking forward to meeting Jason Merrihew, AAHA’s smart, funny and helpful PR guy. I feel as if I know him — I know he and his wife are expecting a baby next month — and yet, we’ve never met.

Kim and I aren’t the only ones covering cool stuff this weekend. Christie’s spending the day at the House Rabbit Society’s seminar.

Next week, I’m on the road again, meeting Dr. Becker, David and Liz at Global Pet Expo.

And then, I have to come home and finish the book Dr. Becker and I have due to the publisher May 1.

I’m getting stressed out just thinking about it. So I won’t.

***

Our free monthly e-mail newsletter has gone through a major revamping, with more focus on keeping everyone current on the latest pet-care news. We’ll also be offering some subscriber-exclusive freebies and plan a few big giveaways. If you’re not signed up, you ought to be. Go here.

That’s it for me now.Gotta catch a plane.

I promised you updates on how our elected officials are doing with respect to the pet community.  So far, so good.

Austin approves no kill policy: The Austin, Texas, city council last week approved a no kill plan for the city’s major shelter.  From the Austin American-Statesman:

The plan includes three dozen provisions aimed at reducing euthanizations and increasing adoptions. The plan’s goal is, within two years, to have 90 percent of the animals leave the shelter alive. The city euthanized 7,003 animals last year, or 32 percent of the animals it took in.[...]

There are still funding questions to be worked out, and as always the devil is in the details, but the Austin city council deserves a hearty handshake for standing up for what’s right. And no, there’s no truth to the rumor that they did it just to impress Christie, who was there for the  South By Southwest Interactive conference.

Georgia House sends  Grace’s Law to Senate: Gas chambers for animals are one step closer to becoming a thing of the past in Georgia after the House approved HB 788 by a vote of 115-46.   We haven’t crossed the goal line yet, though.  Now it’s on to the Georgia state senate for consideration, and after that, Gov. Sonny Purdue’s desk. Purdue, interestingly enough, is one of very few veterinarians holding public office.

Pets returning to Santa Cruz? If you live in Santa Cruz, Calif., you haven’t been able to walk your dog (or any pet, for that matter) on downtown’s main drag since 1976.  That may change soon.  The downtown merchant’s association voted overwhelmingly to recommend the city council repeal the ban, in order to add shoppers who might like to bring their pooches with them (like the dog peering out of the passing vehicle).   From the Santa Cruz Sentinel:

The Downtown Association’s specific recommendation includes the following restrictions:

• Leashes can be no shorter than 3 feet and no longer than 5 feet.
• No dogs after dark.
• No panhandling with dogs.
• A maximum of three dogs gathered together in close proximity.

Widening pet access often comes about as a result of grassroots efforts, and in this case a driving force is a woman named Whitney Wilde:

The founder of Woofers and Walkers, a dog-walking group that advocates for responsible ownership and expanded access, has collected at least 335 signatures for a council petition to repeal the ban.

“Everybody is so happy,” she said.

I wasn’t able to get confirmation as to whether or not banana slugs (the mascot of the University of California, Santa Cruz) would be allowed downtown, but I doubt it.

Pyrethrin suit in New Jersey: A series of lawsuits over the use of pyrethrin in flea and tick control products have been filed, alleging pets have been sickened by the medication, and violations of New Jersey consumer fraud laws.  The Morning Call of Allentown and Lehigh Valley and North Jersey.com say the suits have been filed  in New Jersey, as four of the five defendant companies are based in the state:

Secaucus-based Hartz Mountain Corp., Summit VetPharm LLC of Rutherford, Morristown-based Bayer Healthcare LLC, Merck & Co. Inc. of Whitehouse Station and Sanofi-Aventis Inc. of Bridgewater are named as defendants in suits filed over the last four months.[...]

Five pet owners filed suit against Hartz Mountain and Summit VetPharm last week in U.S. District Court in Newark, alleging that their flea or tick treatments contained Pyrethrin, or a synthetic version of the chemical Pyrethroids, which are ”known to poison animals.”

The suit accuses the companies of negligence, violating New Jersey’s consumer fraud law and liability for creating an ”unreasonably dangerous product.” The products named include Hartz Ultra Guard flea and tick drops and Summit VetPharm’s Vectra 3d.

Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, based in Nebraska, and Merial Ltd of Georgia are also named as defendants.  From NorthJersey.com:

Rich Parsons of California said he worried he might be carrying fleas when he returned from helping reconstruct parts of the Mississippi Gulf after Hurricane Katrina, and might infect his Scottish Terrier, Duffy. So Parsons treated his dog with Hartz flea and tick drops, the suit says.

“Duffy tragically died at the veterinarian’s facility three days later,” the suit says. It adds that the veterinarian said the death was due to a “reaction to the insecticide.”

In related news, the EPA announced it would be stepping up efforts to make topical flea and tick products safer for pets:

Steve Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, said new restrictions will be placed on flea and tick products, with additional changes for specific products likely — including possible changes in some product formulas.

[....]

The EPA said it received 44,263 reports of harmful reactions associated with topical flea and tick products in 2008, up from 28,895 in 2007. Reactions ranged from skin irritations to vomiting to seizures to, in about 600 cases, death of an animal.

[....]

In a 29-page report, the EPA said the majority of problems for dogs occurred in smaller dogs, weighing 10 to 20 pounds. Some incidents occurred when products intended for larger dogs were given to smaller animals, the report said. Chihuahuas, Shih Tzus, miniature poodles, Pomeranians and dachshunds were among breeds where problems occurred the most, the EPA said.

Similarly, many problems for cats occurred when they were given treatments intended for dogs. The EPA is likely to require companies to revamp labels to clarify that products intended for dogs should never be used on cats, Owens said.

No dog insurance necessary in Great Britain:  It was a silly idea, anyway.  However, there’s one line in the story that I must share with you:

The opposition Conservatives accused ministers of turning the issue into a “political dog’s dinner.”

Irish kitteh: And finally, since I didn’t have a chance to check in yesterday, a late St. Patrick’s Day smile, courtesy of lolcats, a tiny little division of Icanhascheezburger.com :

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

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 credit:  Hopeful dog in Santa Cruz, Dan Coyro/Sentinel.

Sometimes I feel guilty when I tell a pet owner to give medication to a cat or dog. I know that only a small percentage of pet owners actually give that medication to their pets, and chances are those pills will sit in the refrigerator or cupboard and never find their way into the animal at all.

The reason for this epidemic of non-compliance is simple: it’s hard to give medication to a pet who absolutely doesn’t want it.

There are two problems with this reality. One, of course, is that the pet needs the medication, in the dosage and at the intervals the veterinarian has prescribed. Two, by letting our pets sense that we’re reluctant to give them medication, and then rewarding them for resisting, we are teaching them that medication is bad, scary or otherwise unpleasant.

Fortunately, for many medications, help is available in the form of compounded drugs. Compounding pharmacies can make big pills tiny, bitter pills sweet, and turn your cat’s worst nightmare into his favorite tasty treat. How? By mixing the medication into savory liquids or pastes that pets will lap up eagerly.

Compounded medications are prescription only, and you’ll need to ask your veterinarian for them. The good news is that there are compounding pharmacies all over the country that will fill your veterinarian’s prescription. The bad news is that you need to be a little careful about the use of compounded drugs, as last year’s tragic deaths of 21 polo ponies should remind us all.

At the recent Western Veterinary Conference, Ron Johnson DVM, PhD, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology, gave some tips on how both pet owners and veterinarians can make sure that compounded medications are safe and effective.

Some owners and even a few veterinarians think that compounding is legally questionable, but Dr. Johnson (no relation to our own Dr. Tony!) assured us that’s not the case. “The Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA) was passed in 1994 and become effective in 1996,” he said. “Compounding is legal under AMDUCA, as long as guidelines are followed.”

That means only your pet’s veterinarian — the health care provider like me who has actually seen and examined and made some kind of diagnosis of plan for that pet’s treatment — can prescribe compounded drugs.

We also need to be available to monitor that treatment and change it if things go wrong, or if the pet’s condition changes.

That part’s simple. But Dr. Johnson next launched into a long list of other legal, regulatory and medical issues related to compounding, all of which would make most pet owners and even some veterinarians run just as fast as your cat ran the last time you tried to give her a pill. Fortunately, he also threw us a lifeline in the form of this piece of advice:

Veterinarians wanting to create or prescribe compounded products should seek the advice of a reputable pharmacist.

Those would be members of the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, the Professional Compounding Center of America, or the American College of Veterinary Pharmacists.

The compounding pharmacists should “also be willing to provide product and ingredient information when requested by the veterinarian, including a certificate of analysis and the background of the drugs.” He warned particularly about drugs originating in China, and said that if the pharmacist is reluctant to provide that information, it’s a big red flag that there’s a problem.

What does that mean for you and your pets, especially those notoriously unpillable cats?

As long as you work with your veterinarian and a reputable compounding pharmacy, there’s a very good chance that your pet’s icky medicine can turn into something tasty and appealing, and you can get your pet well without making both your lives miserable in the process.

And that’s just plain good medicine.

Image: Getting pills into pets can be such a problem many owners just give up. A compounding pharmacy can help, by turning “treatment” into “treat.”

Real Ham Bone for Dogs could be a real problem: Dogs are reported to be sickened or killed after ingesting Dynamic Pet Products’ “Real Ham Bone for Dogs,” carrying the Frick’s Quality Meats label.   According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the Better Business Bureau of St. Louis has issued an alert saying the treats, made from 8-inch smoked pork femur bones, are splintering, creating intestinal blockages and death.

According to the BBB, a veterinarian who surgically removed bone fragments from one of the dogs said, “Things like this shouldn’t happen. If you can’t say it’s safe, it probably isn’t something you should have in stores.”

ConsumerAffairs.com has received similar complaints.   The bones are sold in stores such as Dollar General, as well as supermarkets nationwide.  Where is the FDA, you ask?  They are looking into it. Meanwhile, the company in question is quoted in a post from omidog saying, well, you can read it here:

The company said Thursday it was saddened to learn of the illnesses and deaths of customers’ pets, and that quality and safety remain priorities. The packaging contains a warning about the product not being for all dogs, and the possibility that it could splinter.

“That is why every package contains a label that provides detailed instructions to owners on how they can help their pets best enjoy our products,” the company said in a statement. “We strongly encourage owners to supervise their pets with any treats or snacks.”

If you have any of these treats in your home, you might want to consider not feeding them to your dogs and taking them back to the store.

Grace’s Law passes Rules Committee: The Georgia House of Representatives will vote tomorrow on final passage of Grace’s Law.   The bill is largely the product of a grassroots effort led by the Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW).  Grace’s Law would outlaw the gassing or heartsticking (injecting lethal drugs directly into the heart of a conscious animal) of shelter pets in the state, and it was reported out of the Rules Committee on Thursday.    The full text of the bill, denoted HB 788, is here.   Here’s the reality:  Passage of the bill isn’t anything close to guaranteed.  The vote could go either way.  If you live in Georgia, please call your representative.  If you have friends or relatives in Georgia (as I do), kindly pass this along to them.    From Valerie Hayes’ Examiner.com article on the bill:

It is particularly important that residents of counties which still use the gas chamber to kill shelter pets call or write in support of Grace’s Law.  They are:

1. Ashburn, City of (In Turner County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
2. Butts County Animal Control
3. Cobb County Animal Control
4. Cordele, City of (Crisp County)
5. Cuthbert, City of (In Randolph County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
6. Haralson County Animal Shelter
7. Hawkinsville, City of (In Pulaski County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
8. Henry County Animal Control
9. Lakeland, City of (In Lanier County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
10. Mitchell County Animal Control
11. Vienna, City of Animal Shelter (In Dooly County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)

Bedbugs?  Put a dog on the case. Let me state at the outset that this topic makes my skin crawl, but as your intrepid news editor, it’s my responsibility to pass it along.   Bedbugs are making a resurgence, and you might be surprised to know that one of the best possible methods of detection is a properly trained bedbug-sniffing dog.  The New York Times explains.

Bedbug-sniffing dogs, adorable yet stunningly accurate — entomology researchers at the University of Florida report that well-trained dogs can detect a single live bug or egg with 96 percent accuracy — are the new and furry front line in an escalating and confounding domestic war.[...]

Consider that six years ago, there were 537 bedbug complaints and 82 violations (in other words, verified infestations); last year, complaints topped out at nearly 11,000, with 4,084 violations cited (nearly double that of the previous year).

Didn’t bedbugs used to be less of a problem?  Yes.  In the 1950’s and ’60’s, they were mostly eradicated with pesticides like DDT, which have since been banned.  However, many countries overseas still have bedbug infestations, and increased international travel has brought the critters back to our shores.

Fuji’s new pet camera: Are you in the market for a new digital camera?  Got a pet?  I’m assuming the answer to the second question is yes, otherwise why are you here?  Our buddy Maria Goodavage over at Dogster spotlighted an intriguing new product from Fujifilm: the FinePix Z700EXR compact camera.  Digital cameras have featured face recognition capability for some years now.  The FinePix Z700EXR goes one step better: It recognizes and optimizes photographic capture of pet faces — both dog and cat, though Maria, understandably, just talked about the dog part (she writes for Dogster, not Catster).  The camera looks pretty snazzy, and there are pets it’s particularly good at capturing, but it has some potentially annoying limitations, including:

• it doesn’t do quite so well with black, or predominately black pets (Gina just frowned)
• it’s not good with pets who are constantly in motion (sorry, FayBee, and Christie’s soon-to-be-arriving puppy)
• pets with large, predominately dark, patches around the eyes and/or nose, won’t be recognized as well
• wrinkly, short, muzzled faces (sorry, Mikkel’s pug Willy)

However, if you have a beagle,  golden retriever, Maltese, Abyssinian, Maine coon, or any of the breeds shown here, feel free to send me a camera review.

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:  Ham Bone, baltimoresun.com. Grace, Phil Draughon.

Our bodies are built to heal, and given the right opportunities, they usually do.

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.