A Call For Calorie Counts On Pet Food LabelsOctober 15, 2012If your exam room observations are anything like mine you’ll have noticed the girth of your patients gradually expand over the past couple of decades. It didn’t happen overnight, and yet it sometimes seems there must be something new in the water for our pets to have plumped up so impressively. So what have we done to address it? Fight fires, mostly. Though we may put our scales, tape measures and body conditioning score know-how to work, getting pet owners to smell the coffee is a losing proposition more often than not. Our overstuffed culture has a way of besting us at every turn. In fact, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll cop to the notion that NSAIDs and insulin are our tools of choice for combating the problem of excess poundage in our patient populations. So even when we do manage to eke out some wins, it’s painfully evident we’re still the big losers in this war. Hence, why so many of us have stopped trying to run in place on the back end of this issue. Prevention, we now claim, holds the key to weight management. Because once they’ve gone glutton, tanked up and porked out, the odds …
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Jennifer Olson, DVM: Following Family TraditionOctober 15, 2012 When Jennifer Olson graduated from Cornell University in 2009, she did more than just earn her DVM degree. She picked up the family’s long-standing torch in veterinary medicine. Dr. Olson is carrying on the tradition of her great grandfather, who earned his veterinary degree in 1909, her grandmother and grandfather who earned their degrees in 1937 and 1957, respectively, and her father, who earned his degree in 1973. All four generations graduated from Cornell University. Olson, who currently works at Alamo Feline Health Center in San Antonio, was fairly certain she wanted to pursue veterinary medicine in elementary school. She explored other options along the way but going into veterinary medicine just seemed natural. She recalls going to her father’s cat hospital after school, helping with appointments, and cleaning cages and baseboards, among other tasks. “The funny thing is, a lot of people said, ‘Oh, my gosh, you work around your parents,’ but I had so much fun with my dad growing up,” she says. When asked if she—an only child—felt it was expected of her to carry the family tradition, she said no. “My parents were really supportive in whatever I wanted …
Probiotics For Pets Support Total WellnessOctober 9, 2012 It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon, and Sean Cater had a feeling something was wrong. A 48-ounce package of chicken lay on his kitchen floor, empty. Bits of wrapping trapped in the yellow Styrofoam fray littered the tile, then the carpet, leading Cater to the inevitable culprit: his 4-year-old greyhound, Shark Face. Shark’s belly was slightly larger than usual, the pinkish gray skin pulled just slightly tighter to her body. Cater’s gut had told him something was amiss, and now he had proof. Gut feelings do matter. Shark-Face’s tummy rumbled as the day continued. Even more than that, Cater was thinking about things many pet owners do not: Shark’s brain, joints, heart and general attitude. Cater is a graphic designer for Vetri-Science Laboratories of Vermont. He takes it upon himself to regularly ask questions about pet health, and knows something many pet owners do not: Digestion is a connective activity. We habitually associate intuition with our guts, so much so that bad news becomes hard to swallow, we get lumps in our throats, and we come to know emotions through our stomachs, from the deepest pits to the flightiest butterflies. Finding a Connection The …
Prebiotics, Probiotics And Intestinal HealthSeptember 27, 2012 While prebiotics and probiotics are often confused or thought of as one and the same, their commonalities end with their stint in the intestine. Prebiotics are fiber that feeds the beneficial microorganisms residing in the intestine. Probiotics are live microorganisms that when ingested, can enhance intestinal microbial balance. Prebiotics have been used in pet foods for decades, probably without pet owners even knowing it. But probiotics’ delicate handling needs means they’re sold in sachets and capsules. They are in something of a state of hibernation, according to Grace Long, DVM, MS, MBA, director of veterinary technical marketing for Nestlé Purina PetCare in St. Louis. The microorganisms become active when they enter the intestine. “Probiotics are heat and moisture sensitive, so it would be very difficult to incorporate them directly into the kibble,” Dr. Long says. “The most effective way of keeping probiotics alive in the packaging process is in a cool, dry environment away from air exposure. Not all probiotics sold in the veterinary market have evidence to support their claims, so veterinarians should make sure that the levels of microorganisms are guaranteed and that the manufacturer can provide support of efficacy.” Evidence …
Multimodal Approach To OsteoarthritisSeptember 4, 2012 Osteoarthritis (OA) has long been recognized as an important source of chronic pain in people, with over 70 percent age 65 or older showing radiographic evidence of it. OA has emerged as the leading cause of chronic pain in pets. About 20 percent of dogs, independent of age, suffer the effects of osteoarthritis. Recent data suggests that 100 percent of cats 10 or older exhibit radiographic signs consistent with osteoarthritis. The veterinary profession does not face any other cause of morbidity as widespread as this. Because the incidence is so high, veterinary health care teams are obligated to expand our understanding of how best to manage patients suffering from OA. One of the most important developments in chronic pain management has been the recognition of the complex nature of the nervous system’s processing of pain. Pain involves many receptors and neurotransmitters and many different mechanisms and actions. The malleability, or plasticity, of the nervous system in the face of pain provides the opportunity for both central and peripheral sensitization, the result of which is often debilitating and difficult-to-reat pain. In animal patients who suffer from chronic OA pain, traditional monotherapy—the use of a single agent …
What’s The Truth About Gluten?August 30, 2012 Before you remove the gluten from that pet's diet, you might be interested in hearing what a clinical veterinary nutritionist has to say. “To me, food is a way of delivering calories and nutrients into the animal,” said Lisa Weeth, DVM, Dipl. ACVN, with Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls, N.J. “As long as the animal does not have a documented food allergy, owners shouldn’t worry about whether the food contains corn, wheat or rice—the ingredients themselves are not important—and more about the quality of food overall,” Dr. Weeth added. Weeth said “gluten” is a term for the protein portion of the carbohydrate. True gluten enteropathies, or sensitivities to gliadin and glutenin, are extremely rare in dogs. “Gluten-free or no-grain diets, which use primarily simple carbohydrates like tapioca or potato, may not have enough fiber compared to diets that include more complex carbohydrates like oats, barley and brown rice,” Weeth said. “What I see clinically in otherwise healthy dogs that are eating ‘gluten-free’ or ‘no-grain’ diets is poor stool quality and increased gassiness. This is often resolved with adding more complex carbohydrate to their diet.” …
What Vet Nutritionists Have to Say About Pet Food Allergies, GrainsAugust 30, 2012Veterinary Practice News magazine interviewed four board-certified veterinary nutritionists on pet food allergies and the role grains play. They agreed on the following: Corn, wheat and soy are usually innocent when accused of causing food allergies. Clients, not veterinarians, often diagnose food allergies. There's a big difference between a true food allergy, which is rare, and a food intolerance. Moreover, vilification of food grains as pet food ingredients may be myths started by small pet food companies as a way to compete with larger, established companies, according to four diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition. “I honestly don’t know where that got started. It’s not based on any data, and there are excellent diets that contain one or more of those items,” said Cailin Heinze, MS, VMD, and a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN). “It may have been started by companies that wanted to distinguish themselves, to sell diets in a crowded marketplace,” added Heinze, assistant professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. “To say that these ingredients are ‘common causes of food allergies,’ as I’ve seen reported, is not very accurate.” “You just have to follow the money trail,” said …
Nutritionists Offer Up Pet Food Talking Points For VetsAugust 30, 2012When it comes to pet food, sometimes the patient is the best evidence of nutritional quality, experts say. Beyond the animal’s response to the food, it’s also a smart bet to go beyond the advertising and find out something about the company that makes it. “The one thing pet owners need to recognize is that the pet food industry is a big business,” said Lisa Weeth, DVM, clinical nutritionist for Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls, N.J. Dr. Weeth, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition, said she looks at not only who makes the food, but how is the pet doing. “Is it vomiting once a week? Is it drinking a lot and urinating a lot? Having chronic diarrhea and excess gas? I try to bring people back to how an animal is doing, and what’s in the animal’s best interest,” Weeth said. “I want them to leave the jingle and glossy ads at the door and really look at the patient,” she added. Commercial pet food diets are all processed and cooked in a similar fashion, comparing dry formulas to dry and canned formulas to canned, and every over-the-counter pet food is very comparable in …
Progress In Treating FIP ReportedAugust 15, 2012 Feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP, has long been a diagnosis without hope. But a new medication shows promise, and a cutting-edge genetic breakthrough might be within reach. Niels Pedersen, DVM, PhD, and Al Legendre, DVM, PhD, spoke of hope to a crowd of nearly 200 veterinarians, cat breeders and cat lovers at the recent 33rd annual Winn Foundation Symposium in Reston, Va. Dr. Pedersen is director of the Center for Companion Animal Health and the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Legendre, Dipl. ACVIM, is a professor of internal medicine and oncology at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville. Once clinical signs occur, FIP has been considered fatal. Most instances of FIP occur in kittens, and it happens a lot, or at least more than previously suspected. According to Pedersen, one in 100 to one in 300 of all cats under ages 3-5 succumbs to FIP. The incidence can be five to 10 times greater among young cats coming from catteries and shelters. A Difficult Disease Since 1963 when FIP was discovered, there had been little real progress affecting the lifespan of those who are diagnosed. …
Taming Territorial Aggression In CatsAugust 10, 2012 While it is not strictly true that cats belong to places and not to people, they are, by nature, a highly territorial species. They also have personality traits that make them more or less accepting of other cats within the social space called home. But even if a cat is relatively mellow and socially accepting, peace is not guaranteed when a new cat is introduced to the home because there is the personality of the newcomer to consider as well. Friends and Enemies Cats that have lived in peace for some time usually have come to some arrangements about the allocation of space and privilege along the lines of timesharing. However, a newcomer can shake up a stable arrangement. On the one hand, the newcomer may begin to throw his weight around and incur the wrath of an incumbent. Alternatively, the incumbent may simply not like him and attempt to expel him from the group. Cats have preferred associates (friends) and others who they conscientiously avoid, so likes and dislikes come into the equation, too. In nature, in a communal setting, preferred associates hang out and outsiders may have to go their own way. However, …
