Saying Goodbye To RosyAugust 10, 2012 FoxyKats Scarlet Rose was her full registered name, but around here for the last 14 ½ years she’s just been Rosy. A mere whisper of a cat at no more than 8 pounds, she was always a force to be reckoned with, whether it was at the vet (often my place of employment) where she turned into one of those “but she never acts like that at home!” cats, to here at home, where her constant need for affection wouldn’t let her even settle down on a lap…always flipping, flopping, wanting to be the center of attention. Sure, she had a few unlikeable qualities, such as drooling while she purred the minute you picked her up and put her in her favorite spot or on the shoulder of a friend. She would sneak up on the bathroom counter during my morning routine and steal my make-up brushes. She also had this obsession with chewing on paper…and the more important the paper, the more she wanted to chew it! I have no doubt that we will continue to find chewed on envelopes, corners of book covers, random paperwork lying around the office for years to come. She even chewed …
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What’s The Best Use Of Ear Cleansers?July 31, 2012 Client care for infected cat and dog ears depends on using medications properly, and practitioners differ on best use of ear cleansers. “I recommend that pet owners clean the ears commensurate with the quantity of exudates that are produced during the course of treatment,” said Jon Plant, DVM, owner of SkinVet Clinic in Lake Oswego, Ore. “Some ear cleansers, like those containing tris-EDTA, are designed to use as a pre-treatment flush 15 minutes prior to applying the topical medication, regardless of the amount of exudate that is present,” he said. “Other cleansers are acidifying, and the application of some ear medications should be delayed so that the pH returns to normal.” Not only do acidic cleansers lessen the effectiveness of aminoglycoside (gentamicin, neomycin) and flouroquinolone (enrofloxacin, orbifloxacin) antibiotics, they sting the animal’s ears, noted Paul B. Bloom, DVM, Dipl. ACVD, Dipl. ABVP, owner of the Allergy, Skin and Ear Clinic for Pets in Livonia, Mich. “Exceptions include tris-EDTA-based products (by Dechra, Sogeval and others) and Epi-Otic Advanced (by Virbac),” Dr. Bloom said. Tris-EDTA is short for tromethamine and edetate disodium dihydrate. Dechra Veterinary Products …
Strategies For Battling Cat & Dog Ear InfectionsJuly 31, 2012 Ear infections in pets are painful, itchy, stinky, greasy, puffy, raw and seem to come in every color of the rainbow. Just about everyone agrees that ear infections are disgusting, but hardly any two veterinarians treat ears the same way. Some practitioners go for a definitive diagnosis. Others treat with a broad-spectrum medication and watch for the response. One veterinarian swears by Animax ointment. Another reaches for Otomax or Tresaderm. Some consider cleansers a key component in ear treatment and care, while others take a conservative approach. Job OneTalking to vendors of ear-care products can be as overwhelming as trying to get veterinarians to agree on the best ones and how they should be used. Veterinary Practice News talked with two nationally known veterinary dermatologists on the subject, along with representatives from veterinary otic manufacturing companies, for a current sampling of remedies. Job One is to diagnose the underlying cause, said Paul Bloom, DVM, owner of the Allergy, Skin and Ear Clinic for Pets in Livonia, Mich. “If you ignore this, you are doomed to recurrence,” warned Bloom, a diplomate of both the American College of Veterinary Dermatologists and the American …
Use Of CO2 Lasers In A Feline PracticeJuly 27, 2012 I have used a CO2 laser for about 10 years. My initial interest in this tool was for declawing cats. I was told that using it would result in less bleeding and less pain. The difference between declawing with it and with a scalpel is not great in kittens, because they heal so rapidly; but the difference is obvious in adult cats, especially overweight ones. Consequently, we abandoned other methods and made CO2 declawing our only option to clients. As we proceeded to use the CO2 laser for declawing, creativity set in. I found that it is a tool that either exclusively permits accomplishment of certain surgeries or is superior to the other options. The following are applications that make feline practice more successful. 1. Lesions in Difficult Places Oral tumors are frustrating because most affected cats are presented for drooling, poor appetite or fetid breath. Owners typically think there is a dental problem that can be solved with a good teeth cleaning or a few extractions. They are shocked to find that an aggressive, malignant tumor is present and that it is beyond surgical removal …
Declaw: Whom Are We Protecting?July 13, 2012 Declaw happens, at least in the United States. Deemed illegal or inhumane in countries across Europe, Scandinavia and around the globe,1 declaw is also opposed by many organizations in the United States. However, U.S. veterinarians still consider onychectomy “routine,” sometimes bundling spay/neuter with declaw as specially priced “packages.”2 In fact, an estimated 25 percent of owned cats in the U.S. are declawed.3 While West Hollywood has banned declawing, 86 percent of southern California hospitals declaw cats, 76 percent do so on kittens younger than 8 months old, 95 percent declaw to protect furniture, 33 percent perform the procedure for no specific reason, and 5 percent earn over $1,000 per hour for the operation.4 How does protecting furniture or one’s bottom line compare with the veterinarian’s oath to employ knowledge and skill “for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering”?5 So, why do declaws continue? “My veterinarian supports it.” Sociologic research on attitudes of veterinarians and staff concerning onychectomy indicated “a number of staff felt uncomfortable with their participation …
A Natural Pet Food Choice In Proper BalanceJune 28, 2012It was not unusual that the client who recently inherited her son’s bulldog was proudly pointing out to me that all she fed him was a whole-ingredient dog food whose television commercials appeared every 30 minutes. But, poor guy, every day when she got home from work he had defecated in his crate again! Parasites and the usual culprits had already been ruled out by a veterinarian. Now she was standing in my exam room with her newly acquired love-bundle, desperate for a solution. Like it or not, advertising agencies daily become shrewder and more accurate at targeting consumers. And we all fall for it. As veterinarians, though, we find that watching actors pose as dog experts discussing scientific nutrition principles is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Hill's Pet Nutrition's online pet food comparison tool. The “whole foods” trend has captured the attention of the pet-owning public, who like the feeling they get by doing what those television actors would approve. But those television actors aren’t cleaning up the messes caused by so-called “balanced” pet foods that frankly aren’t. I tactfully suggested to my client a trail …
Picking Right Therapeutic Diet Is Hard With So Many ChoicesJune 28, 2012 The growing understanding of the link between animal nutrition and health isn’t fueling improvement in only therapeutic diets, but in commercially available diets, too. In fact, commercial foods are giving therapeutic brands a run for their money. “Manufacturers are always looking for ways to make their current products better and meet new needs,” says Grace Long, DVM, director of veterinary technical marketing for Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. of St. Louis. “Therapeutic diets can meet the specific needs of pets with diseases or uncommon nutritional needs that can’t be found in stores. But commercial brands are also offering foods that contain ingredients that will specifically help different life stages, breed needs and joint care.” Matching the proper nutrition to the individual animal can speed recovery from sickness, help an animal stay healthy longer and respond efficiently to disease challenges. This is something manufacturers want to make more readily available to consumers. “We have added colostrum to stabilize intestinal microflora in EN GastroENteric brand canine dry,” Dr. Long says by way of example. “Probiotics are the new big thing to help intestinal flora, but vets should be cautious of manufacturers who make claims that viable probiotic …
Homer's OdysseyJune 1, 2012 Don’t cringe, this book from high school English is not about to haunt you again! Here’s this story… My family and I love Barnes & Noble. Despite the fact that the successful chain of book stores may have contributed to the closing of our downtown bookstore that is like 100 years old, we find pleasure in B&N’s huge selection (oh, and the Starbucks coffee for me!). At a recent trip to B&N, I passed by the clearance table and found this book called, you guessed it, Homer’s Odyssey (written by Gwen Cooper, published by Delacorte Press, 2009). Who can resist a feline on the front cover? The subtitle is quite descriptive: A fearless feline tale, or how I learned about love and life with a blind wonder cat! The book is about this blind cat and his extraordinary life, and it’s a wonderful, quick and easy, reading book (great for planes and hotels!). Now I’m reading it to my daughter. I wanted to give it a review, so thanks for indulging me! Homer is found just a few weeks old as a stray, and his eyes were so infected that he needed a bilateral enucleation (both …
Stop Feline Inappropriate EliminationMay 29, 2012 By Nicholas Dodman, BVMS, Dipl. ACVB Feline inappropriate elimination is a common behavioral problem reported to veterinarians, accounting for approximately 50 percent of all behavioral referrals. Unfortunately, not only is FIE a common problem, it is also a leading reason for relinquishment of cats. It is a cold, hard fact that cats who fail to use the litter box once a week are four times more likely to be relinquished; if they eliminate outside the litter box daily, these odds increase to over 28:1. About 4 percent of cats urinate outside the litter box weekly, and 1 percent eliminate outside the litter box daily. Nine percent of adult cat owners mention FIE as a problem to their veterinarians, and 10-24 percent of cats will have such a problem in their lifetimes. In most behavior clinics, house soiling constitutes more than 50 percent of referrals, with aggression coming in as a second most common behavior problem, constituting about a third of all referrals. Reasons Cats eliminate outside the litter box for several reasons. Some concern cats’ natural tendencies and others with the circumstances they find themselves in, though often both factors operate together. The …
When ‘Euthanasia’ Is Just KillingMay 25, 2012 It happened to me for the first time when I was only a month into my first job as a newly minted veterinarian. There I was, flying solo on an overnight shift, unblocking the variously obstructed and ministering to the mysteriously urticarial. I was finally getting comfortable living the satisfyingly routine life of an ER doc when one fine night a cat owner claimed to offer me a “simple” problem: “I just need you to put him to sleep.” This woman was the first in what proved to be a long line of similarly minded, morally challenged individuals seeking my services as executioner. I’m sure most of you are familiar with this crass breed: They’re the would-be pet owners who want little more than to tax our hard-won skills only as far as our way with a syringe-full of pink juice is concerned. Interestingly, I’ve found suburban versions of this individual to be surprisingly uniform in a couple of ways: 1) They inevitably supply one or more reasons for taking such drastic action. In this case, for example, the predominant complaint was that the cat urinated on everything and—sin of all sins—refused to live outdoors …
