Essential Oils for Pets?September 21, 2015Whiskey is a tough dog. Born in Cairo in 2010, he was taken from his mother when he was 4- or 5-weeks old. He and brothers and sisters were taken to a pet store the size of a supply closet, in a 115-degree heat wave, with no windows or air conditioning. Instead of mother’s milk, he was fed processed cheese and bologna of questionable provenance by the teenaged boys charged with running the store for the absent owner. Immediately after his adoption at about 6-weeks-old, he became seriously ill with a respiratory infection that threatened his tiny, short life. But once he pulled through, he relatively experienced any health problems. In Egypt, where garbage is dumped directly on the surface of the street each day for collection, fleas and parasites were a constant hazard, but he was a hardy dog and could handle even the harsh Ukrainian generic pesticide sold in Egyptian pet stores as flea medicine. He lived in Egypt through the 2011 revolution, then moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where winter walks were more like ice skating. When he relocated to the Oregon high desert, there was rarely any need for flea prevention. But when visiting with dogs from the warmer, …
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Why Leptospirosis is an Increasing ThreatAugust 31, 2015Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Leptospirosis is being seen in dogs in more and more places across the U.S. The bacterial disease presents with non-specific symptoms such as lethargy, lack of appetite, changes in urination frequency and vomiting. “We see leptospirosis every week,” said Richard Goldstein, DVM, chief of medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. The hospital is a referral center for dogs from the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area, including “dogs who never leave Manhattan.” The disease is caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called Leptospira interrogans. Signs of leptospirosis in dogs vary depending on the infecting strain, the geographic area in which it was transmitted and the host immune response. Some dogs never exhibit symptoms, while others show mild illness and still others develop severe illness, which can result in liver or kidney disease. “Since 2013 in Florida, we have seen a 10-fold increase,” explains Carsten Bandt, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. “Leptospirosis is made up of …
Is the over-reliance on psychotropic drugs affecting veterinary medicine?August 31, 2015The reflexive reach for drugs to treat anxiety, depression and mental health disorder is worsening. Writing a prescription for a psychotropic drug is quick and painless for the practitioner; health insurance reimbursements are higher and easier to obtain.
How to Treat the Congenital Cleft PalateAugust 21, 2015Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Cleft palate surgeries are one of my favorite procedures in dentistry and oral surgery. Maybe it is because the opportunity to see a puppy amidst a predominately geriatric patient population. Perhaps it’s because every cleft palate is just a little bit different than the previous one. The most likely reason is the exhilaration and challenge of repairing a defect that has already had three (or more!) attempts at repair prior to presenting to a specialist. © 2009, John Lewis, University of Pennsylvania. Figure 1A: Bilateral cleft lip in a 7-month-old pit bull. Figure1B: Bilateral clefts of the primary palate in the same dog. Terminology Defects of the primary palate occur from a lack of fusion of the developing incisive bone to the palatine process of the maxilla and/or defects of development of the soft-tissue structures of the upper lip. These defects are often extending from the midline incisive papilla, radiating rostrolaterally, unilaterally or bilaterally (Figure 1A and 1B). Unilateral cleft-lip defects in dogs occur more commonly on the left side, which is also …
How to Provide Better Pain Control Around SurgeryAugust 12, 2015Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Subscribe today! American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) have recently published the "2015 AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats." The entire article is easily found online (for free) to any interested reader. Full disclosure: What follows is not a summary of the AAHA and AAFP article, but a review of a few key points made by the authors as they relate to perioperative pain control. In addition, we interviewed the lead author, Dr. Mark Epstein. NSAIDs NSAIDs are a mainstay for chronic-pain management, as well as for perioperative use. However, "preexisting elevated liver enzymes are not a risk factor." The guidelines state that "the importance of maintaining a normotensive state during anesthesia is considered paramount when utilizing preoperative NSAIDs." Studies have shown that NSAIDs are more effective when given prior to surgery (concept of preemptive analgesia), but if IV …
What You Need to Know About Oral Eosinophilic Diseases in Dogs and CatsJuly 20, 2015Originally published in the July 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Loved this article and want to see more like it? Then subscribe today! I recently saw a 5-year-old, spayed Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Kaycee. Kaycee was presenting for a dental cleaning and possible extractions. Due to Kaycee’s signalment, I knew I should take a look at her soft palate during her conscious and anesthetized examinations. When I opened Kaycee’s mouth, I could see irregularity to the entire surface of the soft palate, with multiple areas of ulceration. Some of the areas of ulceration had areas of yellow punctate raised plaques. Cavaliers are commonly affected by a condition called eosinophilic stomatitis, which often manifests on the soft palate.1 This inflammatory condition is similar to eosinophilic granulomas in cats, but histologically, the disease in Cavaliers often lacks granuloma formation. Other dog breeds may be affected, including Alaskan malamutes, Siberian huskies, Labradors and Italian greyhounds (Figure 1). Soft palate lesions may also be solitary, circular, raised, yellow/pink lesions (Figure 2). Some dogs are presented with clinical signs of decreased appetite and drooling, but surprisingly, many dogs with significant changes to the soft palate …
What are the Benefits of Long-Term NSAIDs?July 17, 2015Originally published in the July 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Loved this article and want to see more like it? Then subscribe today! Many experts are unflagging proponents of long-term nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to control arthritis pain, and for them the reasons are as plain as the limp in an arthritic dog’s leg. Arthritis pain is a big barrier to wellness in the eyes of B. Duncan X. Lascelles, BSc, BVSc, Dipl. ECVS, Dipl. ACVS. “The main thing is that controlling the pain allows a number of improvements to take place,” said Dr. Lascelles, Ph.D., CertVA, DSAS (ST), a professor of surgery and pain management at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. And Lascelles sees qNASIDs as one of the best ways to control pain, enabling muscle to be built back up, which gives an animal greater control of the joints, resulting in further decrease in pain. Use of NSAIDs also allows central sensitization, which contributes to the pain state, to lessen or reverse. If a pet’s pain oscillates, he said, going from better to worse, that oscillation doesn’t allow for slow, progressive long-term improvements. Julie Meadows, DVM, agreed. She …
Mixing herbs and meds to soothe the psycheJuly 17, 2015As their families’ lifestyles and work habits continue to evolve, many dogs find themselves cooped up in a home or apartment with little to do for long periods of time. Lack of mental stimulation and too little exercise can predispose dogs (and humans, and cats, and others) to mental and emotional disturbances.
10 Tips to Help You Save Time During SurgeryJuly 14, 2015Originally published in the July 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Being a quick surgeon shouldn’t be a goal in itself. Being a good surgeon is a much wiser goal. However, being good and fast might be the ideal combination for the anesthetized patient’s sake. We polled four board-certified surgeons* who shared 10 pearls to become more efficient in the OR. This is a sequel to June’s column titled “How to save time before surgery.” Each suggestion may seemingly only shave off moments. But over the length of a procedure, these moments add up in such a time-sensitive environment. 1) Focus Thoroughly concentrate on the task at hand. Avoid talking about the weather, your upcoming vacation or the last episode of “Dancing with the Stars.” Avoid distractions and interruptions, such as unnecessary staff, loud music or phones in the OR. 2) Technicians During surgical procedures, appropriate staffing should never be underestimated. A well-trained, experienced technician can focus on anesthesia so that the surgeon can focus on the surgery. A good technician won’t be shy about notifying you of true concerns about the patient, as opposed to annoying beeping related to a faulty probe or electrode. The technician should be aware of the …
Vet School’s 3-D Printer Adds Personal TouchJune 17, 2015What they see is what they get at the Mississippi State University Veterinary Specialty Center, which is using a 3-D printer to construct plastic copies of patients’ damaged spines and skulls. The replicas spit out by the $2,200 LutzBot TAZ 4 3-D printer allow veterinarians and students to examine internal injuries up close and plan corrective measures. “We take CT scans of spinal injuries, convert them into three-dimensional images on a screen and convert those to files that can transmit that information to the printer,” said Andy Shores, DVM, MS, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVIM. “The result is a plastic model identical to what was on the screen.” The reproductions also assist in the education of Mississippi State veterinary students and neurosurgery residents, said Dr. Shores, chief neurosurgeon in the College of Veterinary Medicine. “The equipment prints out bony structures, so future students can see exactly how a particular injury looks and get a better appreciation for the condition we’re talking about while on rounds,” he said. “If you have a patient with a broken bone or vertebrae, to be able to put that structure in your hand goes a long way toward the students’ understanding what it is and how …
