While many humans suffer from arthritis man’s best friend can develop arthritis as well. Arthritis can be quite debilitating and prevent your dog from enjoying even the simple pleasures of going for a walk with you around the block.Â
What is arthritis and what causes the pain?
Arthritis is a general term for abnormal changes in joints.  A joint is a location at which two bones make contact. The surfaces of the two bones at the joint are covered in cartilage.   Cartilage is a rubbery, fibrous, dense connective tissue that is found between bones and permits smooth movement of joints. When the cartilage starts to wear the bony layer beneath it is exposed. The joint will then become inflamed and the tissues of the joint stiffen. Calcium deposits develop and the nerves send pain signals to the brain.Â
Arthritis can result from injury, infection, congenital defects, or ongoing stress on the joints.  Although arthritis can occur in any joint, for many of our four legged friends the most commonly affected joints are the hip, elbow and knee joints.Â
What are the clinical signs of arthritis?
Unfortunately our furry friends can’t tell us when they are in pain so it is up to you,  the owner,  to be able to identify the signs of pain in your pet. Some of the common indicators of arthritic pain in dogs are:
- Changes in gait
- Reluctance to play or walk
- Difficulty in lying or getting up, inability to get comfortable
- Intermittent lameness
- Constant grooming in an area over a joint
How is arthritis diagnosed?
A trip to the veterinarian is the first step in diagnosis. Your veterinarian will palpate the joints for range of motion, signs of pain, and joint noise. He may then ask to x ray your dog. Once the radiographs are taken the veterinarian will examine them for signs of abnormalities and make recommendations for pain control or treatment.
How can arthritis pain be treated controlled?
Together with your veterinarian you can make your pet much more happy and comfortable. There are a number of medications that can be given to decrease the inflammation and pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) are a common medication used to help control the inflammation and pain.  Prior to placing your pet on this type of medication your veterinarian may recommend a blood test to rule out kidney or liver problems. As well, most veterinarians will re-test every six months to a year to ensure that no organ damage is being done.
The most important thing to remember when treating your pet for arthritis is that dogs metabolize medications differently than humans do. Many of the medications that humans take for arthritis can be quite dangerous. Acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol), for example, has been associated with liver damage in dogs. And ibuprophen (e.g. Advil) has been reported to cause gastro-intestinal bleeding.
A more holistic, and somewhat safer, approach to aiding in the relief of pain from arthritis is the use of glucosamine. Glucosamine builds and maintains cartilage, tendons and other connective tissues in the body by acting as a building block for these materials and inhibiting enzymes that destroy cartilage. Glucosamine can be used prior to any signs of arthritis.
Don’t forget an exercise and weight management program is very important to the control of arthritis. Simply reducing the dog’s weight to a reasonable level may cause noticeable changes in the dog’s activity and mobility. Exercise is important to keep the joints flexible and moving.
Tags: dog, veterinary
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Frequently pets need blood transfusions too. Some of the common reasons for transfusions that I have run into are parvovirus, acute blood loss from accidents, preventative measures when a dog with a bleeding disorder like auto immune hemolytic anemia needs surgery, bleeding disorders (AIHA) and others. Now you may think it is strange but yes there are animal blood donor banks. Veterinary clinics often do not have a clinic cat or dog that they can draw enough donor blood from so they often call upon one of the larger emergency clinics in the area or blood donor banks.
Dogs and Cats do have blood types:
Dogs have 7 major blood groups. They are labeled as DEA (Dog Erythrocyte Antigen) 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8. The DEA 1 system consists of types 1.1 and 1.2. DEA 1.1 is the most significant type and all donor dogs are tested to determine if they are positive or negative for DEA 1.1
Cats have blood types too. They are different than dogs. Cats have a blood group system called the AB system consisting of 3 blood types which are: A, B and AB.
Donors:
Large breed dogs are the ones used for donation purposes. Once typed a dog can donate once every 3 months to a clinic and approximately 450ml of blood is taken at a time. Cats must weigh over 12 lbs and a smaller amount of blood is taken from them usually at the most 50ml. Most donor clinics do not take blood from cats because they can be quite fractious without sedation so usually a clinic cat or a cat of one of the staff members at a clinic is a donor.
Dog donors cannot be unspayed females or dogs who have had a previous litter of puppies. The reason for this is that a unspayed female dog who has had a litter may create antibodies circulating in her blood. These antibodies may pose a harmful risk to the recipient dog by triggering a severe transfusion reaction.
All donors should have had all their vaccinations up to date as well.
Tags: pets, cat, dog, veterinary
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Did you know that approximately 45% of pets brought to veterinary clinics are overweight? It’s true. These are some guidelines that I follow when determining if a pet needs to go on a diet…
1. Feel your pets rib cage. You should be able to feel individual ribs. If not your pet is overweight.
2. Stand over your pet. Does it have and hourglass figure? If not your pet is overweight.
3. Look at your pet from the side. Is there a tuck at the abdomen? If not your pet is overweight.
These are some quick things that you can do to see if your pet is overweight. Now as for putting your pet on a diet that is another issue. First switch your pet (slowly over a week or two) to a reduced calorie diet. Two of my favorites are R/d by Hill’s or Calorie Control by Royal Canin. Take your pet to your veterinary clinic, talk to the staff there and weigh your pet. Both of these companies offer pamphlets that help to determine what your pet should be eating to lose weight.Â
Some other tips to help lose the weight are exercise, small frequent meals (so your pet feels full all day instead of being a voracious eater at one meal and hungry the rest of the day), feed carrots or low calorie treats and exercise. Some people ask how can I get my cat to exercise…..sure its easy for the dog people they just have to walk the dog but what about my cat. I offer the following suggestions……
Put the food bowl up or downstairs so your cat has to do the “stair” workout. Use enticing toys like laser pointers, feathers on strings or flicking sticks to get your cat to move around.
Just like with humans it is important to lose the weight at a decent rate. Most will agree that 10% a month in weight loss is a steady rate. I also encourage people to take their pet into their veterinary clinic once a month to get weighed and talk with the staff with regards to any questions you may have or to adjust the amount of food that your pet will get daily.
Remember, losing weight is never easy for humans or pets but with perseverance and the assistance of a good diet and the help of your veterinary staff you can do it and so can your pet.
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Introducing a new kitten or a cat to your house means having a litterbox. While you may think it is quite a nice litter pan your cat may not agree. Here are some tips for the new litterbox………
Most cats have an innate tendency to use a litterbox. That means that they do not have to learn in order to perform. When kittens are very young they often like the feel of soft ground on their toes and will scratch in the area and often eliminate there as well. So unlike their dog counterparts cats usually do not need to be shown how or where to eliminate. In fact putting a kitten in the box and scratching with its front feet in the litter is often an unpleasant thing for the kitten and they sometimes will not go back to the box.
Picking a location for the litterbox is difficult. Usually owners will want to put the box in the basement, on a cold concrete surface beside a noisy appliance. This can pose a few problems. One, if a kitten is little often it will not make a flight of stairs to go to the washroom. Two, imagine how scary an experience it will be if the washing machine hits the spin cycle while you are trying to urinate, this will usually mean that the kitten will not go back to that area. Three, most cats like to scratch around the litterbox when they are “done”. This may be a perfect time to introduce a scratch pad. Some owners will start a kitten’s litterbox in a nice quiet area on the same floor as the family living space and clean it frequently.Â
Picking the litter type is important as well. Most cats prefer a soft, grainy type of litter. I find that my cats have liked a product called “World’s Best Cat Litter”. It is organic, scoopable, flushable and quite soft to the touch. However some cats may like the bargain brand clay litter. Try several types of litter and see what your pet likes the best and then stick with that same type. A change in litter can often lead to behavior problems like eliminating outside the box.
Deodorants and odors that we may find pleasing to the nose does not necessarily agree with your cat’s nose. Most cats are often offended by smells that we like so a fine layer of baking soda on the bottom of a litter pan is often enough to contain odors and not offend your pet. Cleaning of a litterbox should be done with a simple soap and water. Bleaches and other harsh chemicals are not pleasing to a cats nose and may end up causing your cat to eliminate outside the box.
How many boxes should you have? The rule of thumb is one more than the number of cats. So if you have 3 cats you need 4 litterboxes. Most cats will not eliminate where another cat has just gone to the washroom so that extra box allows for a clean box. Cats will usually not prefer one box as being their own but it may happen.Â
To cover or not to cover……..many cats do like the privacy of a covered litterbox and they can also help to control odors. Large cats will not like the box if they cannot turn around so you may have to make a litterbox out of a large plastic tub. Give your new cat the option at first and see which one they approve of.
If your cat starts to eliminate out of the box catching and dealing with the problem as soon as possible may prevent behavior problems later on. Consult your veterinarian as it may be a medical problem like crystals, diarrhea or it could be a behavior problem that needs medical attention. You can also call a local animal behaviorist in the area as they may have some suggestions for you.
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I am going to put a plug out there for a great dog trainer I know. Dara of Mutts N Manners is excellent with both the pet and the person. She not only helps you and your dog learn to work together but she teaches the entire family as it is important that all family members are able to work with the pet and see positive results. Dara only uses positive reinforcement in her classes which is a plus for both the dog and the owners.
Dara offers many different types of classes from basic puppy training to clicker training, advanced training to just being able to take your dog for a walk. Dara is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and is a member of the CAPPDT and APDT.Â
If you are in the market for a dog trainer or behavior consultations contact Dara, I know you will be impressed.
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“Doggles are protective eyewear for your puppy dog. They look alot like swimming goggles for humans and protect your dog’s eyes from wind, uv light, foreign objects and fit quite snuggly on your dog’s face.”
I have seen these used in situations where dogs love to stick their head out car or truck windows to protect the eyes from the wind or a nasty little bug flying into the dog’s eye. I have also seen people use them on dogs that are sensitive to sunlight, like dalmations, old english sheepdogs or any dog whose long coat gets shaved away from the eyes accidentally or on purpose.
If you are interested in these you should check out their website or ask your veterinarian about ordering them in for your dog.
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Feline leukemia virus is a retrovirus (named this way because of the way it reacts with cells). It is similar to HIV in humans because it produces an enzyme, reverse transcriptase, which permits the virus to insert copies of its own DNA into that of the cells it has infected. Feline leukemia virus (Felv) is found worldwide but the incidence or prevalence of infection depends on the cat’s age, health, lifestyle and enviroment that it is living in.
A cat that is at the greatest risk of being infected is one that may be exposed to another cat that already has the disease or through bite wounds. So cats that go outside, or cats living in the same household as a sick cat or a kitten born to a mother with the disease have an increased risk of contracting the virus. Kittens and young adult cats are much more susceptible to the disease as sometimes with maturity also comes resistance but this doesn’t mean that adult cats cannot become infected.
Felv can affect a cat in many ways. It is the most common cause of cancer in cats, can cause blood disorders, and like AIDS in humans can cause a state of immune deficiency that renders the cat unable to protect itself from other infections. In the beginning states of the disease cats may show no signs of being ill. Eventually a cat’s health will decrease or can have intermittent “sick” times. Some of the signs include the following:
Loss of appetite
Slow wasting of weight
Poor coat
Enlarged lymph nodes
Persistent fever
Pale gums and other mucus membranes
Inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) and mouth (stomatitis)
Infections of the skin, urinary bladder, and upper respiratory tract
Chronic or intermittent diarrhea
Seizures, behavior changes, and other neurological disorders
Eye problems like constant weeping, redness, inflammation
To determine if your cat has Felv your veterinarian will want to run blood work. There are 2 types of blood tests that can be run. An ELISA test can be run at the clinic and an IFA test is usually sent out to a laboratory. As with many tests false negatives are always a possibility so your vet may want to repeat a test or do both.
Protecting your cat is trying to prevent exposure to Felv infected cats. Keeping your cat indoors, away from other cats and potential bite wounds is one way. Another way is to test your cats and then test any new cat that you may introduce to your cats that you already own. Felv vaccinations are also available at your veterinarian but again vaccines are not 100% so you may want to talk this over with your veterinary staff. Unfortunately, many Felv-infected cats are not diagnosed until after they have lived with other cats. In such cases, all other cats in the household should be tested for Felv and then you may need to separate your infected cat from the other cats.
If your cat has been diagnosed as being a Felv infected cat then as a responsible pet owner you must keep your pet indoors. It is also very important to spay or neuter that cat, feed it well, avoid RAW diets (increased chance of food-borne bacterial and parasite infections), closely monitor your pet’s health and behavior and bring any changes to your veterinarian’s attention. While it is impossible to predict the life expectancy of an infected cat but with appropriate care and support a cat could live 2-3 years. If your cat unfortunately passes away getting another cat and bringing it into the household poses some clean up solutions. Usually the virus will not survive outside of the cat for longer than a few hours but clean the house with a 10% bleach solution, throw away any old toys, litter pans etc and make sure that your new cat is vaccinated against the disease.
Laboratory studies have not proven that Felv is zoonotic but Felv infected cats may carry other diseases. Immunosuppressed people, such as those with AIDS, undergoing immune suppresion medications, elderly or the very young can have issues with the other diseases that these cats may carry.
Tags: cat, kitten, diseases, pet health
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My name is Lorraine and I have been an animal health technologist for 15 years. I have worked in various veterinary clinics in Canada and thought that I would use this forum to bring information to people about and for their pets. I hope you like the site and find it and the information useful. Thanks for visiting.
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Here in Victoria we have quite a number of societies that help the less fortunate with spaying/neutering/caring for their cats. I have 2 problems with this.Â
1. People who can actually afford getting surgeries performed on their pets use/abuse these programs. for example we had a client phone and book an appointment to have her cat neutered. Then she said to our receptionist “don’t tell them that I have a husband if they (the society) ask, because then we won’t qualify for assistance. Then when they dropped the cat off for his appointment they pulled up in a new truck and were both wearing quite nice clothing.Â
The societies really need to screen better. I know that the societies are run by volunteers but some sort of check should really be done prior to people getting any assistance. As it stands right now all people do is phone, give a sob story and then they get help. Our clinic also offers people a lower cost on spaying and neutering if they are society assisted. For example a neuter for a regular cat is $ 80 while a society assisted price is $ 40 minus the money that a society gives (usually $ 25) so the owner only pays $ 15. Pretty damn cheap and it really yanks my chain when the owners complain about that.
2. Because the societies are taken advantage of they also have less money to go to those people who are in dire need of help. I know that yes people who can’t afford pets shouldn’t have them yada yada yada but you know what……what if that cat was the only thing that a parent could give their child for a birthday present? and they got it for free from a dumpster…..yes we’ve had that happen. I really feel empathy for those who really are having hard times and cannot afford food for their family let alone their pets. So if less people took advantage of the societies maybe those who really need the money would get help.
Victoria Cat Rescue , Greater Victoria Animal Crusaders
Tags: help, animals, pets, neutering, spaying, societies
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I work at a vet clinic in Victoria, BC and this past week we have seen a 6 month old kitten diagnosed with feline panleukopenia. This poor kitten had sudden onset of anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy. He came in Monday morning with those signs plus he was dehydrated. We put him on IV fluids right away and later that nite he was vomiting and passing blood in his stool. He was taken to the emergency clinic, where they performed an exploratory surgery thinking that maybe he had something stuck in his intestines. There was nothing there but they took samples of his intestinal tract and said that his rbc count was low and that his pancreas enzymes were high, possible pancreatitis? He was then leaking albumin and they couldn’t find the reason for it. He passed away Wednesday morning. We received his biopsy results today and it confirmed panleukopenia. The bill for the owner from the emergency clinic……$ 2900.00 cdn. Today we have 2 more kittens with similar signs in clinic…..is it an outbreak? Who knows…..I know last year in Alberta there was an outbreak…….can we do something to prevent the spread of this disease? Hell yeah c’mon people vaccinate your cats even your indoor ones and help prevent this from happening to your pet.
Here’s some simple information regarding the disease that I found on the web.
What is feline panleukopenia?
Feline panleukopenia (FP), also known as feline distemper, is a highly contagious viral disease that occurs wherever there are cats. Cats at any age may be stricken. Young kittens, sick cats, and cats that have not been adequately immunized are most susceptible; older cats are more likely to have acquired an immunity and, therefore, are infected less frequently.
Urban areas are most likely to see outbreaks of feline panleukopenia during the warmer months. The virus has appeared in all parts of the United States and most countries of the world.
Kennels, pet shops, humane shelters, and other areas where groups of cats are quartered appear to be the main reservoirs of feline panleukopenia today.
Dogs are not susceptible to feline panleukopenia. Canine distemper is a different disease caused by another virus. Neither disease is transmissible to humans.
What does it do to an animal?
The feline panleukopenia virus is passed from cat to cat by direct contact. The source of infection is most commonly fecal waste from infected cats, but the virus may be present in other body secretions.
A healthy cat can also become infected without coming in direct contact with an infected cat. Bedding, cages, food dishes, and the hands or clothing of handlers that contact infected secretions may harbor and transmit the virus.
The feline panleukopenia virus is very stable. It is resistant to many chemicals and may remain infectious at room temperature for as long as one year. Short of raising a cat in total isolation, it is nearly impossible to prevent exposure.
Feline panleukopenia is a complex disease. It can vary in severity from very mild to extreme. The many signs are not always typical and many owners may even believe that their cat has been poisoned or has swallowed a foreign object. Because of this fact, treatment may be delayed or neglected.
After exposure to the virus, many of the cat’s cells are destroyed. This cell loss makes the cat more susceptible to other complications and bacterial infections.
Clinical Signs?
The first signs a owner might notice are generalized depression, loss of appetite, high fever, lethargy, vomiting, dehydration, and hanging over the water dish. The course of the disease may be short and explosive. Advanced cases, when discovered, may cause death within hours. Normally, the sickness may go on for three or four days after the first elevation of body temperature.
Fever will fluctuate during the illness and abruptly fall to subnormal levels shortly before death. Other signs in later stages may be diarrhea, anemia, and persistent vomiting.
Feline panleukopenia virus is so prevalent and the signs of disease are so varied that any sick cat should be taken to a veterinarian for a definite diagnosis.
Treatment?
The prognosis for very young kittens is poor. Older cats have greater chance of survival if adequate treatment is provided early in the course of the disease. Treatment is limited to supportive therapy to help the patient gain and retain sufficient strength to combat the virus with its own immune system. There are no antibiotics that can kill the virus.
The veterinarian will attempt to combat extreme dehydration, provide nutrients, and prevent secondary infection with antibiotics. Pregnant females that contract the disease, even in its mildest form, may give birth to kittens with severe brain damage.
Strict isolation is essential. The area where the cat is kept should be warm, free of drafts and very clean. Plenty of “tender loving care” even after hospital discharge is very important. Cats may lose the will to live; so frequent petting, hand feeding, the cautious use of heating pads, and good nursing care by the owner is essential.
Other cats that may have been in close association with the infected animal should be carefully examined.
Feline panleukopenia is controlled in several ways. Cats that survive a natural infection usually develop sufficient, active immunity to protect them for the rest of their lives. Mild cases may go unnoticed and also produce immunity.
It is also possible for kittens to receive immunity from their mother through the transfer of antibody. This passive immunity from the mother is temporary and its effectiveness varies in proportion to the level of antibody in the mother’s body.
Vaccines offer the safest protection. They stimulate the cat’s body to produce protective antibodies against the virus to prevent infection by natural, disease causing viruses. The vaccines are very effective but are preventive, not curative. They must be administered before the cat is exposed and infected to be effective.
Specific vaccination schedules vary dependent on many factors, such as the disease incidence in the area, and age and health of the cat.
The pet owner should consult a veterinarian for advice on the correct schedule for each cat.
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