With the return of school comes the opportunity for us to educate our children on how to prevent dog and cat bites. Many elementary schools sponsor health and safety fairs for their students, and, as always, New Hope Animal Hospital participates in many of these. Statistics indicate that almost 50% of children are bitten by a dog or cat before they are 12 years old. Often it is a dog or cat that they are familiar with – their pet, their neighbor’s or a friend’s. Of these bites nearly 800,000 require medical attention. The way to prevent your child or a friend or neighbor’s kid from getting hurt is through proper education of children on the behavior and instincts of pets and through proper socialization of your pet. Please help prevent dog and cat bites by talking to your children and educating them about the proper way of acting around pets. They do not need to be afraid of animals, just respect and understand them. If we can help you with your child or their school, please let us know.
FYI (FOR YOUR INFORMATION)
The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (Toller) officially joined the ranks of the American Kennel Club on July 1, 2003. The Toller will be an AKC-recognized breed in the Sporting Group. The addition rounds out the total number or AKC-recognized breeds to 150 and makes the Toller the sixth retriever recognized, along with the Labrador, golden, Chesapeake Bay, curly-coated, and flat-coated retriever.
THE LOVE OF OUR PETS…
Some pets show an amazing and sometimes bizarre attachment to their owners:
· A dog named Greyfriars Bobby from the city of Edinburgh became a local folk hero after his master died. This dog was so attached to his deceased owner that he visited his grave every day for 14 years until his own death. The residents of Edinburgh were so impressed that they built a monument to this devoted canine.
· An American cat once walked over 2,500 miles to find his owners after they moved, unaware they had left him behind.
· A British Army mascot named Sandy was captured by the Germans in Egypt during World War II. This brave dog escaped his captors and walked back to the British base through 140 miles of desert.
From: http://www.pets-in-the-news.com/html/crazy.html
An American Animal Hospital Association survey released in April 2003 indicates that owner compliance is a major issue among millions of pet owners. In fact:
Ø Only 48% of dogs received preventative heartworm medication according to recommendations;
Ø Just 35% of these dogs and cats with grade 2 or higher dental disease received dental prophylactic or other therapy; and
Ø An alarming 93% of dogs and cats diagnosed with conditions treatable with veterinary diets never received nutritional recommendations or were not fed the recommended diets for the appropriate period of time.
Weight management compliance is the area where most clients struggle. One of the reasons cited was that the portions that owners should feed their pets are compared to the portions on their own plate and the owner feels they are underfeeding their pet. And owners struggle and suffer during diets so they assume their pet does too. However, if we set reasonable goals and client expectations, it should be a win-win situation for all.
OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) has a new and improved website…www.offa.org This new site will have a greatly expanded search feature, including instant access to sires, dams, half-siblings and offspring of animals in the OFA database.
Another great new site that I found is www.UnchainYourDog.org. It has informational brochures and other tips for helping chained dogs. There is so much we can do to educate those who do not understand the needs of their ‘pet’ dog!
LOW CALORIE TREATS NOW AVAILABLE!
We are excited to offer low calorie PupCorn® for dogs and PurrPuffs® for cats. These treats only have 3 (three!) calories each and are low in magnesium, sodium, potassium and phosphorus, which if fed in excess can cause health issues for your four legged friend. It is so hard not to give our pets treats! Did you know that three ordinary sized biscuits can add up to 100 calories to a dog’s diet. And a 40-pound dog only needs 900 calories a day for maintenance! No wonder my dogs struggle with their weight! There are two flavors for dogs - beef and cheese. We taste-tested these treats in our exam rooms and our patients found them to be very acceptable! So if your pet is overweight you don’t have to give up feeding treats, just give smart low-calorie treats! We make it easy to spoil even your overweight friend.
The reason your cat starts using something other than it’s litter box may be physical or environmental. It is essential that the cat that develops ‘inappropriate elimination’ be checked thoroughly by a veterinarian and a urine sample obtained. Radiographs and a blood work-up can follow this if needed. If no medical reason is found for the lack of litter box training, the cat’s environment must be carefully studied.
Common environmental deterrents to litter box habits include:
ü Poor location: Cats like privacy and quiet just like us. Review the location carefully. Make sure it is not near the cat’s food, and make sure it is in a place people don’t walk through a lot.
ü Unclean box: Cats have a much keener sense of smell; an immaculate litter box may be requested and required.
ü Litter choice: Changing litter can wreck havoc in a house sometimes. Substrate, as it’s called, is important to a cat.
ü Box size: Kittens need shallow pans; big cats need big pans. Let your cat try a few on for size!
ü Litter box count: Multicat households need one box per cat at a minimum. More cats means more space needed.
ü Moving location: Don’t move the bathroom around! Keep the litter box in the same place…a safe, quiet, low-traffic area.
ü Invaded territory: Stress from the dominant cat in a multicat household, or the fear of an intruder (especially if the box is near a window) in a single cat household, can cause litter box lapses.
ü Punishment strategies: Never toss your cat in its box as punishment. It won’t use it when it’s afraid and it will associate the box with fear.
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HOWL-O-WEEN CARNIVAL
The non-profit organization Paws For A Good Cause is sponsoring a Halloween carnival for dogs on October 4th at Phillips Park in Bentonville! Participants will be able to trick or treat various organizations at the event getting free treats for their dog and tickets for the carnival games (like bobbing for milkbones, Pet Psychic, dog nail painting and dunk the dog catcher). There will also be a costume contest. Proceeds will benefit the strays and not so fortunate animals of Benton County through spay/neuter certificates, donations to humane societies and rescue groups and pet responsibility awareness. It sounds like fun for those who participate and an opportunity to help those who can’t help themselves! Put October 4th on your calendar…for more information visit www.pawsforagoodcause.com or www.pawsforagoodcause.org or call Laurel at 273-2299 or Ryan at 254-9055.
DISEASES TO KNOW AND PREVENT
ERLICHIA
This is one of the more common tick-borne diseases of dogs. Erlichia is found in every state and is spread by ticks common to our area. They are parasitic organisms that attack a dog’s immune system and can be acute or chronic. It is a complicated disease and diagnosis is difficult. The best strategy is to prevent ticks from ever getting on your pet...even one can lead to a fatal infection.
CYTAUXZOON
This tick-borne disease is a problem in cats primarily. Symptoms include a high fever, icterus (jaundice), loss of appetite and anemia. It is generally fatal even with treatment. The bite of one tick can cause it, so it is so important to keep ticks off your cat. We continue to diagnose this disease that is so preventable and fatal.
With good tick control we can prevent these two diseases in our friends…and these are only two of the diseases that ticks can carry. With products that are effective, like Frontline® (dogs and cats) and Advantix® (for dogs only), we have a chance to keep your pet safe and healthy. Please remember to treat your pet monthly YEAR-ROUND in our part of Arkansas…we have ticks year-round! They don’t go away in the winter!
ALERT:
Feline heartworm disease is a growing problem in our area. It is untreatable and usually fatal. Prevention of this disease is easy with Revolution® which is a once a month topical treatment that also protects against fleas, ear mites, hookworms and roundworms.
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