Veterinarian is Out to Change How We Feed CatsMarch 28, 2016Cats instinctively want to hunt for their food, but satisfying that need hasn’t always been easy or convenient for pet owners. That’s a problem that Elizabeth “Liz” Bales, VMD,, set out to solve, and it led her to create the No Bowl Feeding System for cats. nobowlcat.com Dr. Elizabeth "Liz" Bales “I was so discouraged after years and years of my own profession knowing what cats needed but not having a way to help my patients,” Bales writes on the No Bowl Cat website. “I invented the solution myself. My invention, The NoBowl Feeding System, is the safe, clean, easy way to bring back the hunt with the dry food that you are already feeding. I consulted with the world’s leading feline veterinarians, veterinary nutritionists and veterinary behaviorists and then worked with an accomplished team of inventors and designers to create The NoBowl Feeding System — an indoor hunting system that will help keep your cat happy and healthy.” Using the No Bowl system helps satisfy a cat's natural instinct to hunt and, according to Bale, and solves a number of behavioral problems, including: Not sleeping through the night Gobbling up …
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How to Promote Good Canine BehaviorMarch 18, 2016Veterinarians agree that pet behavior problems are on the rise because animal owners tend to wait too long before seeking qualified professional help. What might begin as a simple training issue becomes more serious when owners inadvertently make the problem worse by trying to resolve it based on poor advice. “Understanding and working with behavior is no small task,” said Don Hanson, co-owner and director of behavior services and training at Green Acres Kennel Shop in Bangor, Maine. “It is a field that requires knowledge in a wide variety of areas including ethology, operant conditioning, classical conditioning and more. It is not something one can expect to learn in a one- or two-day seminar.” The No. 1 issue in any study that’s been done on the topic is aggression. Nicholas H. Dodman, BVMS, director of the animal behavior program at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, noted that different types of aggression require different treatments. The most common are conflict aggression (in the home) and fear aggression (directed outwardly at strangers). “I think that’s 70 percent of all …
Veterinarian Treats Cat Thrown From Car on HighwayMarch 16, 2016We see all kinds of things when we’re driving. Much of it we may just shake our heads at. But there are some things we see that we just can’t shake off. For one Good Samaritan the sight that couldn’t be shaken off was that of another driver tossing a cat out of the car window while driving on the freeway in Mobile, Ala. The woman stopped, got out of her car and retrieved the cat. She subsequently took the injured feline to Rehm Animal Clinic where Chris Rehm, DVM, has since been treating her. “She’s lucky she wasn’t hit by another car,” Dr. Rehm told Local 15. “The car was traveling at a high-rate of speed. [They] threw her out and she landed on her jaw and her foot. Those areas got what we call ‘de-gloved’ where the skin gets pulled away from the bone and the underlying tissues.” Rehm and his team have treated the cat for shock and physical injuries. They are still monitoring her for any changes to her appetite or sense of smell, Fox 10 TV reports. The cat, however, appears to be …
How to Talk About Pet Obesity With Your Veterinary ClientsMarch 16, 2016Obesity can lead to a range of medical conditions for pets if not addressed properly, but even with the possibility of dire consequences, many vets still struggle to effectively address obesity with clients. Pet obesity is rapidly becoming an epidemic; an estimated 54 percent of pets in the United States are obese. The result is millions of pets with diabetes, joint pain and even organ failure. In fact, according to a 2014 study from Association for Pet Obesity Prevention found that: “Out of 1,421 animals put to a veterinary assessment last fall, 57.6 percent of cats and 52.6 percent of dogs were classified as overweight or obese. Owners of the obese pets overwhelmingly considered their cat or dog to be of normal weight.” Fortunately, more effective communication with your veterinary clients can make a big difference. Avoid Using the Word “Obese” According to Wendy Myers, owner of Communications Solutions for Veterinarians many of her clients worry about having the conversation because their clients are also obese, but they’re not helping their clients or the pets that way. Instead, she suggests making it about the medical …
What to do When Gums Overgrow Their BoundariesFebruary 8, 2016A 5-year-old male Rhodesian ridgeback presented to me for evaluation of proliferative gingival enlargement over the maxillary canine teeth. Historically, the owner noted a flap of partially detached gingiva over tooth 104, which had since become completely detached, resulting in the unique combination of gingival recession over most of the lateral portion of the tooth and gingival enlargement over the mesial, distal and palatal surfaces of the tooth (Figure 1). John Lewis, VMD, FAVD, Dipl. AVDC Figure 1: The right maxillary quadrant showing generalized gingival hyperplasia and gingival recession over the labial (vestibular) surface of the right maxillary canine tooth (tooth 104). Tooth 204 had a similar appearance, though more irregular, with a large circumscribed area of enlargement toward the distal portion of the crown (Figure 2). Nearly every tooth in the mouth was affected at least mildly by gingival enlargement, though the canines and incisors were affected most severely (Figure 3). The appearance of the gingiva over teeth 104 and 204 likely was due to the following events: Gingival enlargement results in pseudopockets. Pseudopockets allow for hair, plaque and debris to be trapped …
Lysine for FHV? Researchers Say Don’t BotherJanuary 13, 2016Originally published in the January 2016 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Two virologists are urging veterinarians to immediately stop lysine supplementation in cats suffering from feline herpesvirus-1 because they say the therapy is ineffective. Their conclusion, published Nov. 16 in the online journal BMC Veterinary Research, drew a measured response from two experts in the field who said anecdotal reports of successful lysine use leave open the possibility that the therapy does work. Husband-and-wife virologists Sebastiaan Bol, MS, Ph.D., and Evelien M. Bunnik, MS, Ph.D., reached the conclusion after conducting a systematic review—essentially a study of previous lysine studies. Bol, who like his wife is employed at the University of California, Riverside, began the review after their 8-year-old cat, Aguereberry, was diagnosed with FHV-1, a highly contagious infection of the upper respiratory system. Their veterinarian recommended lysine nutritional supplements to treat and manage the disease. “With my background in biology and nutrition, I was very suspicious, and I started clicking—doing some searches online—and I was not very convinced,” Bol said. “So I started looking into more and more of the publications, and it was really shocking to see that there’s absolutely no evidence [that lysine is effective in cats].” Bol …
Cats and Toothache Vet CostsDecember 4, 2015Dental diseases are extremely common in cats. The American Veterinary Dental Society reports that approximately 70 percent of cats are affected by a dental disease by the time they’re 3 years old, and the likelihood increases as they age. Excessive tartar and plaque or tooth decay can cause painful dental problems in cats. These problems can also lead to other medical conditions in the heart, liver and kidneys, many of which can be fatal. Veterinary experts agree that regular oral care is essential to helping your cat live a long, healthy life. According to the Dr. Carol McConnell, vice president and chief veterinary medical officer for VPI, in Veterinary Pet Insurance article “Cats and Dogs Need Dentists, Too:” “Most people brush regularly and take care of their teeth because they know dental conditions can be painful and costly … Ideally, this mindset should translate to how people care for their pets’ teeth.” Treating dental disease in cats can also be costly. In 2011, VPI policyholders filed more than $8.5 million …
Biogal Offers Rapid Distemper, Lepto TestsNovember 18, 2015An Israeli company this week released time-saving tests for the diagnosis of feline distemper and bovine leptospirosis. Biogal Galed Labs reported that the in-clinic PCRun Veterinary Molecular Detection Kits deliver results within 75 minutes, an improvement over waits of up to a week when polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are done in outside laboratories. The new tests confirm feline panleukopenia virus, also known as feline distemper, and bovine leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that causes miscarriages and other serious health problems in cattle. The feline test also may be used to check for canine parvovirus. The distemper test uses blood or feces samples, while the bovine test requires blood or urine. Both tests are available for research purposes only in the United States pending U.S. Department of Agriculture approval, said Lenny Small, Biogal’s vice president of marketing. Biogal previously released PCRun test kits for canine Leptospira (leptospirosis), Ehrlichia canis (canine Ehrlichiosis), Anaplasma platys (anaplasmosis), parvovirus, Leishmania and feline Mycoplasma haemofelis (feline infectious anemia). Biogal’s U.S. distributor is Phoenix-based Spectrum Labs Inc.
Basic Prices for Pet VaccinesNovember 4, 2015One of the last things most people think about when they bring home a new pet is the cost of vaccinations, but any long-time pet owner knows that yearly boosters can add up, especially if you have more than one animal. When you get the bill after a routine visit to the veterinarian, it’s easy to wonder where exactly the total came from. There are a lot of factors that go into determining that final bill, and several things to consider as you decide where to take your pet for his or her yearly shots. Vaccines for Dogs and Cats First, what is a vaccine? According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: “Vaccines help prepare the body's immune system to fight the invasion of disease-causing organisms. Vaccines contain antigens, which look like the disease-causing organism to the immune system but don't actually cause disease. When the vaccine is introduced to the body, the immune system is mildly stimulated. If a dog is ever exposed to the real disease, his immune system is now prepared to …
Going Broke, UC Davis Fracture Program Needs HelpOctober 30, 2015UC Davis veterinary students learning to save the lives of pets are now trying to breathe life into a service that has assisted hundreds of homeless animals. The Shelter/Rescue Fracture Surgery Program Fund, which was founded in 2008 and relies on donations, is running out of money, second-year student Ayswarya Sundaram said. “The program has been funded for around $30,000 a year, but more recently the costs are closer to $80,000,” Sundaram said. Collaborating with shelter and rescue organizations, the service accepts young dogs and cats in need of fracture repairs. University of California, Davis, veterinarians donate their time in the operating rooms at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, but equipment, drugs and post-surgery care must be paid for. The costs average $800 per patient, Sundaram said. The surgeries also serve as instructional sessions for veterinary students. “[The] fracture program is amazing because it helps us learn about orthopedic surgeries while at the same time helping shelter animals,” one student said. “If this program discontinues, due to lack of funds, it would be a great loss to us and the animals.” More than 450 fractures in shelter and rescue animals have been repaired over the years. Without medical intervention, …
