Buy a Dog or a Cat and Enjoy Longer, Healthier Years Together

With the New Year fast approaching, we are bombarded with advertisements for gyms memberships and treadmills to aid our New Year’s resolution to be "healthier." Instead of buying weights that will, inevitably, collect dust in a corner, why not own a pet?
More than half of all U.S. households have a companion animal. Pets are more common in households with children, yet there are more pets than children in American today. There are more than 51 million dogs, 56 million cats, 45 million birds, 75 million small mammals and reptiles, and uncounted millions of aquarium fish.
It is important to acknowledge that these populations of pets benefit and impact our physical, social, and psychological health, as humans.
I know from personal experiences that the animals in my life are therapeutic assets and enrich my life.

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When Fido prefers to walk rather than run painful joints may be the culprit!

Dogs, cats and other animals can suffer from arthritis just like people and the severity can be just as painful, says Dr. Carol Osborne, a veterinarian in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

The fact is: a joint is a joint, and a bone is a bone, whether it’s on a person or a pet. Dogs and cats get arthritis just like we do because the factors that are responsible are similar in both.

It’s a very common problem in older dogs and cats just as it is in people. Treatment methods are also very similar.

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Avoid the Pet ER this Holiday Season!

Winter is a time of cold weather festivals, holiday parties, and changing weather. For pets and pet owners, this season can bring its own unique set of challenges and hazards. Keeping your pet safe during this time of year will require some preparation and homework.

Family gatherings and get-togethers can be a potential trial for pet owners. With so many strangers and so much food, many pets will take advantage of this situation to the fullest. Be sure to tell your party guests to avoid feeding the four-legged vacuum cleaner. Many of the traditional holiday foods can possibly be dangerous or even deadly to your pet. If your dog or cat will not behave, you may have to relegate them to their room for the duration of the festivity.

Holiday plants, such as mistletoe and holly, have been known to cause severe stomach upset to dogs and lilies of any sort are almost certainly deadly to cats. Artificial decorations pose their own threats. Glass ornaments can cut, electric cords can burn if chewed upon, and the traditional strands of tinsel often end up causing an obstruction in the belly of a cat.

Outside, the situation might actually worsen. A very common poisoning during the winter months is antifreeze. Antifreeze has a very sweet taste and most dogs and cats will readily consume it. If you suspect your pet of drinking antifreeze, you must act immediately and contact your veterinarian or local animal emergency hospital.

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From the forum…

Question: How do you give a pill to a cat?

I have tried sticking it down her throat and she holds it until it dissolves and the saliva foams out of her mouth, I put it in milk, I pulverized it and added it to her food, and she knows it and refuses all.
Dora

Answer:

Hi Dora,

Wrap your cat up in a large bath towel, like a burrito ~so only her head sticks out-then place the pill between your thumb and index finger and quickly place the pill in the back of her mouth. Close her mouth, rub her throat and blow gently into her face to help stimulate a swallow.

Alternately, you can use a pet piller, pictured below to administer medications to your cat, so you don’t have to put your fingers into your pet’s mouth. They work well, and are very inexpensive.

Thank you,
Dr. Carol

From the forum…

Hi Dr Carol
My dog has allergies-can you offer any suggestions.
Thank you
Lydia

Hi Lydia
I have a supplement called PAAWS that builds internal immunity and in the long term will help reduce the incidence of allergic outbreaks by about 80%. PAAWS along with distilled water, weekly organic, oatmeal baths and a natural or organic diet are very helpful for dogs with allergies.
Thank you,
Dr. Carol

Due to concerns of lead paint in children’s toys made in China, as well as the massive toy recalls, pet owners and veterinarians alike are becoming concerned about dog and cat toys as well. To date, there have been no scientific studies to determine how lead from toys might affect our pets. Unlike human toys that are tested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, pet toys are not specifically tested by any organization.

The following website is a detailed article about pet toys sold by Wal-Mart and the on-going battle of words between Wal-Mart and ConsumerAffairs.com (this is NOT an objective article) http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/pet_food_recalls76.html

A news station in Phoenix, Arizona had several pet toys tested at a laboratory and found levels of lead that were far below levels that are deemed safe. However, these standards were based on levels of lead in paint and no similar standards have been set for pet toys.

Veterinarians recommend that pet owners use toys designed specifically for dogs or cats and not substitute children’s toys. Avoid the following types of toys:

1. Toys that contain squeakers that can be removed by the pet
2. Toys that can be chewed into small pieces
3. Any toy with rope that can unravel and be swallowed
4. Any toy with string or yarn for cats
5. Cloth or rubber toys

Consider all toys to be rated “PG” (Parental Guidance) and don’t leave your pet alone with the toy until you are certain that the toy will stand up to your pet’s playing. Be sure to use size appropriate toys. Avoid giving small rubber balls to large breed dogs, because they can easily become lodged in your pets airway. If you suspect that your pet has swallowed all or parts of any toy, contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. Signs that your pet may have ingested a toy body include retching, vomiting, and/or lethargy. In many cases your vet will take tests, such as x-rays or ultrasound to determine if the toy is indeed the culprit for your pet’s illness. Although some toys or toy pieces may be passed without problem, surgery is often the only option for many pets. In some cases, if the toy is still in the stomach, an endoscope can be used to retrieve the toy, avoiding major surgery. If you have questions about the safety of any pet toy, call your family veterinarian for advice.

Go to www.DrCarol.com for more information or call veterinarian, Dr. Carol Osborne toll free at 1-866-372-2765.

Funerals and memorial services help pet owners grieve and find closure

The loss of a treasured pet is indeed a loss for the entire family. Whether the death was sudden due to trauma or the gentle release of life at the veterinarian’s office, pet owners end up with a sudden void in their life. For some people, the grief can be overwhelming.

Many pet owners and their families say good-bye to their pet in the veterinary hospital and never truly have an opportunity to find closure or to memorialize their pet as a human family member would be remembered. Complete pet funerals, as well as memorial services are becoming more common as pet owners want to find a way of returning the love and dedication of the four-legged friend.

More than 600 pet cemeteries and crematories across North America offer these after-life services for pets. According to industry experts, pet funerals are not a new idea, but more owners are opting for these services in order to bring the rest of the family together and honor their furry companion. Pet owners can choose decorative urns, “family” urns for keeping the remains of multiple pets, or even other ornamental garden keepsakes.

Despite the number of pet cemeteries, only about 10% of all pets will end up buried in one. Some pet owners choose to bury their pets in the backyard, although almost all local ordinances prohibit that action. Most pets will end up cremated and the family will then either keep the ashes or, in some cases, spread the remains across a favored play area.

Grieving for a lost pet is also a completely normal occurrence. Pet loss support hotlines have been set up by veterinary schools and some larger veterinary hospitals. Veterinarians and their staff members now have options for specialized training to help them recognize extreme grief in their clients.

As the end of your pet’s life nears, talk with your family veterinarian about the resources that are available to you. To speak to Dr. Carol Osborne call her toll free 1-866-372-2765 to discuss other options that are now available to help say good-bye to your best friend

Genetic Discovery Reveals Link between dog’s hair coat color and his ability to fight infection and ward off stress.

A discovery about the genetics of coat color in dogs could help explain why humans come in different weights and vary in their abilities to cope with stress, a team led by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine reports.

The study, published in the Nov. 2 issue of Science, answers a longtime mystery: What determines coat color in dogs? While researchers have known since the 1900s that most mammals share the same genetic mechanism to determine coat color, by the 1950s they began to suspect that dogs were different.

Now after swabbing the inner cheeks of hundreds of dogs and analyzing the DNA in the resulting samples, a team led by genetics professor Greg Barsh, MD, PhD, has nailed the gene. To the researchers’ surprise, the gene makes a protein that’s part of a large and variable family called defensins, thought to fight infections.

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About 14 percent of the U.S. population is infected with Toxocara, or internal roundworms, contracted from dogs and cats. That’s according to the results of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study announced at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Philadelphia.

The CDC study shows the transmission of Toxocara from dogs and cats to people is most common in young children and youth under age 20, and more common in non-Hispanic Blacks than in Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites of all age groups. It is highest in lower socioeconomic and less-educated populations. All children, however, are more susceptible to infection given their propensity to play in and sometimes eat contaminated soil.

Infections are acquired by accidental ingestion of Toxocara eggs found in environments contaminated with feces of infected dogs and cats. This includes play areas and sandboxes.

“The results of this study demonstrate that Toxocara infection in the United States is more widespread and common than previously understood,” said Peter Schantz, VMD, PhD, an epidemiologist in the Division of Parasitic Diseases at the CDC and a founding board member of the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC). “Although most persons infected with Toxocara have no apparent symptoms, this infectious agent is capable of causing blindness and other serious systemic illness, which makes it a public health issue.”

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