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For the month of November and December we decided to outline some information
to keep your pets safe during the Holidays. The Holidays are a wonderful time for humans but can hold many dangers for
out four-legged family mambers. We found a couple wo websites that had some information that could be helpful to our
clients. The two sites used were www.suite101.com and www.articlebase.com.
Christmas DecorationsChristmas decorations can pose a number of hazards
to pets. To keep cats and other animals safe: - Supervise
pets (particularly kittens) around fragile glass Christmas ornaments. Ideally, ornaments should be large and unbreakable for
safety, especially when spending Christmas with young animals.
- Cats and dogs, and particularly kittens and puppies, may chew on the electrical cords used to power Christmas lights.
Cords should be located out of reach or at least covered.
- Don’t
use loose Christmas tree tinsel, as pets may swallow it and suffer intestinal blockage. Icicles made out of solid material
are a better choice.
- Anchor the Christmas tree well so that there
is no risk of pets pulling it over.
Pet Holiday Hazard 3: The Holiday Decorations The Christmas tree poses its very own danger. Cats may try
to climb the Christmas tree, causing the tree to tip and fall, breaking glass ornaments and light bulbs in the process. Cat
owners should either keep the tree in an area that is off-limits to the cat when a human is not present to supervise, or consider
tethering the tree using a bit of wire and some strategically placed eye hooks. Pet owners should also avoid using glass ornaments on their Christmas trees, as this can pose a hazard
to dogs, cats and humans if the glass ornaments are knocked off the tree and break. If glass Christmas tree ornaments cannot
be avoided, place the breakable ornaments on the higher tree limbs. Also avoid using tinsel on the Christmas tree or
in other locations. Tinsel can cause intestinal obstructions in a dog or cat. Caution should also be used when placing garland
in the home as a holiday decoration. Candles or the menorah can pose a danger to pets, especially if unattended. The
cat may wander too close to the flame, resulting in burns. Or a playful dog may bump into a table and knock a candle over,
starting a fire.
Christmas GiftsTo ensure that gifts and gift wrap don’t cause problems for pets:
- Avoid buying anything for cats that has small pieces which could present a choking
hazard.
- After unwrapping gifts, remove ribbon and other
items that pets might swallow or choke on.Pet
Holiday Hazard 5: The Presents
If a gift contains a food item, like gourmet chocolates, a dog is going to know exactly what's inside - the
dog's nose always knows! So if a wrapped gift is placed under the Christmas tree, this provides the dog with an opportunity
to "open" the holiday gift before December 25. Before placing a present under the Christmas tree, always ask the
gift giver if the contents include a food item that may attract unwanted attention from the dog. Pet Holiday Hazard 2: The Holiday PlantsPoinsettias, mistletoe, holly berries and some Christmas trees (cedar) can be toxic to dogs, cats, birds and even children!
So pet owners should learn what plants are toxic to pets and avoid bringing those potentially poisonous plants into the home. And even non-toxic plants can cause quite an upset stomach
if ingested by a dog or cat, so keep even "safe" plants well out of the reach of cats, dogs and other pets. Pet Holiday Hazard 1: The Holiday Food The incidence of pancreatitis in dogs increases dramatically around Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas, as well-intentioned
owners feed their dogs fatty foods and even fat trimmings, which cause a potentially deadly inflammation of the pancreas.
So avoid feeding fatty food and large quantities of a new food, as this can cause diarrhea or vomiting in dogs and cats. So before the holidays arrive, pet owners should learn what foods are toxic to dogs and cats
and keep the ASPCA pet poison control center number (888-426-4435) handy, just in case. Pet Holiday Hazard 4: The Holiday Party/Dinner Guests and Other Holiday Visitors There's many guests coming into the home around the holidays this poses many dangers to pets. A child who does not know how to properly interact with a dog or cat may end up the victim
of a dog bite incident or cat clawing. As guests enter and exit the home for Thanksgiving dinner or a New Year's Eve party,
this provides an opportunity for dogs, cats, and birds to escape, so all pets should be secured when holiday guests are expected. A visitor may feed an inappropriate or toxic food to a cat, dog or other pet, resulting in
a holiday pet poisoning incident. And a house guest may leave inappropriate and potentially toxic food items (i.e. chocolates)
inside their guestroom or in their open luggage - easy pickings for a curious and hungry cat or dog. Educate guests about
the do's and don't's inside a home with a pet.
For the month of October we decided to choose pets with outdoor accidents. We
had a couple of strange cases that we wanted to share with our clients. The first was a pet that was outside playing
with her owners and jumped off the deck and ran down a hill then cried out in pain. Somehow this pet lost all of
her toes on her left front foot. The entire foot had to be removed at Maine Veterinary Referal Center due to the trauma.
Brandi is recovering wonderfully at home with her family. The second case was a Golden Retriever who was missing for
a few hours and presumably went for a swim inn a beaver pond and returned home with multiple lacerations on his
left front paw. This pet underwent surgery to close the wounds here in our hospital. Isaac is recovering nicly
at home with his family.
September
Max is an eight year old Chihuahua who came into us when he had been found after
having been lost for a few days. Max had been hit by a car and was unable to walk home. After radiographs were
taken, it was found that he had broken his pelvis and dislocated his femur ( the long bone of his thigh). He was sent
to Norway Veterinary Hospital for surgical repair by Dr Gauger. Max has healed well, and now is back to running and
playing as before his injuries.
August
Dusty the goat is one of our first small ruminant
patients. He came to us a few weeks after he was born because he was limping and unwilling to walk. His joints were swollen
and he was running a very high fever. Dusty suffered from what is known as septic arthritis. Septic arthritis is a condition
that can occur in small ruminants (such as goats and sheep) as well as horses. His mother was unwell when he was born, and
because of this, Dusty did not receive enough colostrum to provide him with an adequate immunity from basic bacterial infections.
Baby goats derive all of their antibodies to fight infection from their mother's first milk, or colostrum, which can only
be absorbed by the kid for the first 24 hours after birth. After receiving much TLC from his mother, as well as antibiotics
and anti-inflammatories, Dusty has recovered well, and now plays like a healthy kid!
One question that we are
asked on a daily basis is "What can I do to control fleas?" There are many flea control products on the market today, and sometimes it is difficult for
a pet owner to decide which product to use. This month's pet of the month would like you to consider the safety of the product as the most important factor when
choosing how to fight fleas. Unfortunately, we have had many cats come to us after having an unsafe product, or a product
meant for a dog, applied to them in the hopes of helping to control their flea issues. These cats often have uncontrollable
seizures, and may have lasting brain damage if we are able to control the seizures. Please ask your veterinarian for safe
solutions to your flea control dilemnas before attempting to self-treat with a product that may be harmful.
June
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| Griffin |
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| Oscar |
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The
term “blocked cat” tends to reference male cats whose urethras is plugged with an obstruction. That
obstruction may be one of two types of crystals or of a fibrin (protein) or mucus nature. If not removed,
the patient will die of renal failure, typically within a week. In just twelve hours they can be excruciatingly
painful and have a bladder larger than an orange, these are an emergency with a classic history of visiting the litter pan
with squatting and licking with no urine produced. Struvite crystalluria is the most common cause. These
patients have usually been fed an inexpensive (grain rich: corn, wheat, or rice) dry cat food without drinking as much as
they should, these cats have very concentrated urine which magnesium and phosphorus can form crystals. Cheaper
diets made with grains create a neutral or alkaline pH rather than the acid pH caused by eating meat. This
urine alkalinity enhances crystal formation. Idiopathic cystitis is less well understood and seems to reoccur in certain
patients several times a year, often brought on in times of stress. These cats tend to have a five to seven
day bought of frequently urinating bloody urine that might appear as an infection. The large majority are
culture negative. True urinary tract infections are much more rare in males of any species. The
plug here is of the mucus nature, as the bladder lining is very inflamed and has a raw surface. No matter the cause, the goal is to evaluate and support kidney
function, relieve the blockage, control pain and prevent reoccurrence.
If the kidney values on bloodwork are very high,
we cannot know if there is permanent damage. An IV catheter is placed and fluids delivered to help flush
out the toxins through the kidneys and the now catheterized urinary tract. Narcotics are used
for pain relief, antibiotics may or may not be used to control infection from the catheter, and antispasmodics are used to
lessen the pain caused by contraction of bladder muscles and lower urinary tract. These cats typically
spend two days on fluids and in intensive care. To prevent reoccurrence, the best suggestion is to increase water turnover.
The easiest way to do this is assuring fresh water is always provided, and to feed canned food. Additionally
helpful are fountains as cats tend to drink more if water is moving. Do not feed cheap dry cat foods, where
corn, wheat and rice are high on the ingredients list. Cats are true carnivores and require a meat-based
diet.
When choosing the May pet of the
month our staff looked to the local news and chose Marlin. Marlin is a six year old chocolate labrador
retriever. This pet is a hero, he saved his family from a house fire in Gardiner. On
Sunday June 7th in the early morning Marlin’s home caught fire. Marlin woke his owner
up by barking and this very possible saved the family from a much worst fate. For the entire story you can look up the story
in the Kennebec Journal. The article that explains this pet’s heroic behavior was in the June 8th
addition “Gardiner family of 3 escape blaze.”
April
Roscoe is a five year old pug with food allergies. As any of you who have had
a pet with food allergies know this can be a difficult adjustment. This type of allergy is managed by feeding the
pet a hypoallergenic diet. The trick is to find a diet that has one protien source and one carbohydrate source.
There are several different kinds of these diets. The food that is successful for Roscoe is Hill's d/d potato and venison.
Roscoe's owner is very strict in not feeding anything other than this dry food. Now that Roscoe is on the correct
food for his body chemistry his skin is much healthier and in turn he is a happy pet.
Molly is a 14 year old domestic long haired tabby cat. We decided that her
story is one that our staff found interesting and wanted to share with you. Molly's owner recently moved and in the
process of moving jarred a television, Molly must have been trying to help. She fractured her mandible (jaw) and facial
fractures causing swelling of her head and bleeding from her nose. She was shocky and was stabilized with fluids.
Her pupils indicated potential brain swelling and she was circling. A medicine called Mannitol was used to pull the
fluid from the swollen brain. A feeding tube was placed as her injuries prevented eating. We eventually
wired the jaw fracture and discharged her with tube feeding instructions, antibiotics and a pain reliever.
Since February is pet dental health month our staff decided to highlight one
of our more involved dental cases. Maude is a five year old domestic long haired cat. She came in at
the end of February because of oral pain from a broken left upper canine. We preformed a dental procedure due to the
broken left upper canine with several other extractions to include the broken tooth. As with any of our dental procedures
we put together a treatment plan for the owner to review, this allows for the owner to plan. All of our dental procedures
include an admit appoint where th owner sits down with a technician and go over all of the options for the pets
health. Preanesthetic blood-work and IV cathereter (optional dependant on age and degree of the dental procedure)
, Anesthesia, radiographs (optional in some cases),probing (checking for gingival margins), dental probing, tooth extraction
by the doctor ( if needed), adding consil and suturing the openings, scaling (removal of the tartar), polish, and
oravet application. The entire time the the pet is under anesthesia a licensed technician monitors the vitals.
Pain relief medication is administered before during and after the procedure if there are any extractions. A discharge
time is set aside for the owner to sit down with a technician and discuss how the procedure went and what to expect for the
next day or so. Maude went home the same day as her dental and is healing in the comfort of her own home.
January
Bud is a young German Short Haired Pointer who came into us with a hurt right
hind leg on December, 11. After radiographs were taken it was determined that Bub had broken his tibia. Bub's
owners decided that they would have us splint the leg and Bub would be kept quiet for the next several weeks. His
owners did just that they kept their high energy puppy as quiet as possible. Bub came into us four times for splint
changes where we took radiographs of the leg to check the alignment for the bones and change the splint as he was growing.
On January 7th the splint was removed and Bub went home to start to rebuild muscles that he had not used in a while.
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