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 …
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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, …
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 …
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 …
There’s Never A Good Time For LymeJuly 27, 2012 With more than 20,000 human cases reported annually, Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On the canine end, however, the number of Lyme-infected dogs is unclear because of the lack of a central reporting agency. Experts have found that veterinarians practicing in areas thought to be relatively free of Borrelia burgdorferi aren’t looking for Lyme disease. And in Lyme-endemic areas, the experts say, the disease may be overdiagnosed and overtreated in dogs. Though 95 percent of Lyme cases are found in just 12 states, specialists say using a single test—the SNAP-4Dx by Idexx Laboratories of Westbrook, Maine—can detect multiple vector-borne diseases. That means the bacteria/parasite presence in a particular region can be easily determined. “Veterinarians can take pre-emptive measures to detect exposure in pets, help draw conclusions if illness is present, and as public health professionals, use canine patients as sentinels for disease in the region,” says Andrew Eschner, DVM, senior technical services veterinarian at Merial USA of Duluth, Ga. “This organism has evolved to live in specific hosts and it doesn’t want to kill the host animal. It …
