NEW HOPE ANIMAL HOSPTIAL

FALL 2005 NEWSLETTER

AMERICAN HEARTWORM SOCIETY UPDATES GUIDELINES

The completed guidelines of the American Heart­worm Society (AHS) now call for year-­round prevention and annual testing for heartworm disease. These guidelines were unveiled at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Forum in early June. The guidelines constitute recommen­dations for dogs and cats for the diagno­sis, prevention and management of heart­worm infection.

Charles Thomas Nelson, DVM, and pres­ident of AHS, teIls DVM Newsmagazine that the guidelines call for annual testing (instead of every two to three years), addi­tional testing when switching prevention methods and support for year-round pre­vention even in northern climates. Nelson says the new guidelines are based on the latest scientific research.

The guidelines make the recommendations due to reports of positive heartworm cases while on preventives. The reason, Nelson says, is that FDA is receiving reports of preventives lack­ing efficacy. He believes the issue is focused squarely on compliance. In fact surveys suggest only 75 percent of the heartworm preventives prescribed are actually being used. "The science indicates this is a compliance issue.”

The guidelines call for additional testing when prevention medications are changed. As well, year-round testing is supported because it improves compliance. AHS reports that monthly heartworm preventatives have activity against intestinal parasites that inadvertently infect 3 million to 6 million people every year.

AHS says the clinical importance of heartworm disease is amplified in cats because the small numbers of heartworms are potentially life-threatening. "And you don't have to have adult worms in the cat to cause disease," Nelson says.

Therefore, AHS is recommending prevention for cats in heartworm-endemic areas. While the diagnosis of heartworm disease in cats is much more elusive, serology, thoracic radiography and echocardiography are the most useful methods of clinical confirmation.

The guidelines are available for review at www.heartwormsociety.org.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

UNDERSTANDING ‘NATURAL’ AND ‘ORGANIC’ 

            Natural does not mean organic even though these terms are incorrectly used interchangeably. The Association of American Feed Control Officials defines ‘natural’ as “a feed or ingredient derived solely from plant, animal, or mined sources…not having been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process and not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic except in amounts as might occur unavoidably in good manufacturing practices.” Synthetic nutrients such as vitamins also are permissible.

The US Department of Agriculture defines ‘organic’ as “grown, raised or produced without chemical pesticides, irradiation, genetic modification, cloning, hormones or antibiotics.” The regulations also detail the methods and practices that can be used in producing and handling organic crops and livestock. For example, livestock must have access to the outdoors.

The USDA’s National Organic Program breaks organic products into the following labeling categories:

Ø      100% organic: product must contain only organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).

Ø      Organic: Product must contain at least 95% organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).

Ø      Made with organic: Product must contain at least 70% organic ingredients.

Products that contain less than 70% organic ingredients cannot use the term “organic” other than to identify the specific ingredients that are organically produced in the ingredients statement.

While this may be confusing, make sure you know what each means and how it affects what you purchase for your pet.

WORLD’S FIRST DOG CLONED IN KOREA

The Seoul National University in South Korea has successfully cloned the world’s first dog. Named Snuppy this Afghan hound was the only survivor in 1,095 cloned embryos. The surrogate mother was a Labrador retriever and Snuppy is now 4 months old. Remember this is ‘for your information’…no one at New Hope Animal Hospital necessarily endorses it!

HOSPITAL HAPPENINGS

OUR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Dr. Caran Stouffer, nurses Dani F. and Brittany and receptionist Sarah T. attended the Central Veterinary Conference in Kansas City from August 25-28^th. This educational conference is one of the largest in the United States and offered our staff stimulating and useful information to bring to our own practice.

Dr. Nancy Belknap, office manager Tommie, nurses Dani B. and Ashley attended the Southwest Veterinary Conference in Dallas September 23-25. This is a new conference, but the speakers and educational opportunities were great. We were inspired and motivated to provide you and your pet better service and care.

And Dr. Belknap was privileged to be one of 40 veterinarians from across the United States invited to attend a seminar sponsored by Novartis in the Virgin Islands focusing on pain management. This seminar was enlightening and emphasized the need for weight management and physical therapy for the treatment of orthopedic conditions including osteoarthritis.

OUR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast was held on August 18^th and New Hope Animal Hospital again showed its dedication to education by setting up a booth to offer our services to the Rogers and area schools. We are always glad to visit classrooms to share the message of the importance of pet care and safety, to offer our expertise in zoology, to answer health questions and to allow students to explore veterinary careers.  

As another commitment to education, we offered education and information on animal safety to the students and parents at the Mathias Elementary Health and Safety Fair. This was held in conjunction with their Open House September 1^st.  Our booth was well attended and well staffed by Tara, Brittney and her dog Maggie, and David and his dog Freddie. Safety is important around our animal friends!

The opening of the Murphy Memorial Dog Park near the Rogers Humane Society on First Street was September 3^rd. Dog parks are great places to socialize and exercise your dog and the theme at our booth was obesity and its health implications! Nurse Angie brought Creek, her now trim Rottweiler cross, who has lost 30 pounds and Dr. Nancy was there to answer questions on weight control. 

Another fun annual event for our hospital is the involvement in the Howl-O-Ween Carnival sponsored by Dog Days on October 1^st. Our booth helped fund the event and proceeds are distributed to the various humane societies and rescue groups across Northwest Arkansas. We always have a good time and encourage our clients to attend and support this event every year.

PROTECTING YOUR PET

It is often difficult and costly to treat tracheobronchitis. While there are many causes, the infectious form (caused by several strains of the dog influenza virus or bacteria called Bordetella) is especially frustrating because in many cases it is preventable. In an effort to protect your pet from this disease we now highly recommend Bordetella vaccination every 6 months. This vaccine is especially critical if your pet is taken to a groomer, pet store, park, lake or anywhere dogs may have been. We are now requiring dogs staying in our kennel for treatment or boarding to be vaccinated every six months. The vaccine is very inexpensive compared to the suffering of a dog that is coughing day and night. Prevention is certainly the key to any disease. 

IMPORTANCE OF BLOOD SCREENING TESTS

Blood tests (especially in our older pets) are very important to diagnose disease and organ dysfunction early, and therefore have a chance at delaying the progression of many diseases and aging changes. Our pets cannot tell us what is wrong, and more importantly, their instinct is to hide any sign of illness, least they appear to be the weakest of the group to a predator. Careful observation on the owners’ part to detect subtle change in their pets’ behavior is important as well. Many owners are afraid to tell the veterinary team what their pets problems are because they think nothing can be done. But this is not true. Often we are able to treat the pet and extend their lifespan by many quality years.

Remember your dog or cat ages much faster than you!

 Health examinations and wellness checks are very important.

These should be scheduled every 6 months.