Adopted bunnies sometimes need to see a vet dentist!

This youtube shows dental care for your pet bunny.  Their teeth are constantly growing, you know?!

Watch this video demonstrating heat stroke prevention

This short video covers the basics of heatstroke prevention.  The dangers are underestimated, as animals who survive may have permanent damage.

Our greyhound died of a heatstroke

Last year, our big tan greyhound, Gibson went for a walk with me.  It was a hot day, so when he pulled back on the leash I did not think much of it because he often would do that, not caring for much of a walk. Then, he started salivating heavily.  I turned around, but he could not go on.  I put him under the shade of a tree and called for help.  We loaded him onto a blanket and carried him to the car, where we gave him water.  We rushed to the closest vet emergency clinic about a 20 minute drive, and watched in horror as he turned purple and lay in his diarrhea and vomit.  Gibson went fast.  If I had been more aware of the danger and signs of heat stroke, I might still have Gibson today.

It is 100+ degrees in our area today, and we are anticipating a fundraiser walkathon tomorrow, so it is a good time to review the facts.  I found an excellant article at DogChannel.com: http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-health/dog-heatstroke-survival-guide.aspx

I plan tomorrow to carry a water spray bottle and I have a cooler which is a dog coat made from material like car shammies with straps to stay in place.  There will be many water sources at the walkathon.

The long term effects of stress on our canine friends

We know a little about the effects of chronic stress on humans.  We really underestimate that, I think.  We often don't  relate a symptom with the true cause, so we treat the symptoms without changing the cause.  That is reactive instead of proactive.  Dr. Becker at Mercola.com further explains the effects of stress on our canine friends.

The Effects of Chronic Stress

Chronic stress – and therefore chronic cortisol release – ultimately results in elevated blood sugar in the long term, which can lead to diabetes. It results in elevated blood pressure, which can be negative for your pet’s cardiovascular system.

There’s also extreme hunger; when your pet’s burning that much blood glucose, then he or she ends up being much hungrier than the average pet. Increased thirst and urination also come about when there’s extra cortisol in your pet’s system.

There’s an accumulation of fat in the abdominal area, as well as thinning skin, poor, thin hair coat, a change in the pigment in the color of your pet’s skin, decreased muscle and bone mass, and increased risk of infection. That infection can come about anywhere, so pets that have chronic cortisol release, and we refer to them as immuno-suppressed, tend to be more exposed to oral, eye, gum, ear, and urinary tract infections. Infection can come about wherever your pet’s body’s weak link is, so it isn’t just in one area.

For animals that have recurring infections – or those that just lag on and on and pets have a hard time getting rid of – you need to think about cortisol influencing your pet’s ability to fight infection.

Types of Cushing’s Disease

There are several forms of Cushing’s disease, and they can become confusing for clients. So I’m going to try spell it out in an easy-to-understand format today. If you have a pet that’s dealing with Cushing’s disease, it’s important for you to know exactly what’s going on. If your pet is currently healthy, I want to help you prevent Cushing’s disease from occurring in your pet.

There are different types of Cushing’s disease because there are several layers of your pet’s adrenal glands. Depending on what layer of your pet’s adrenal gland is overproducing hormone is the type of Cushing’s disease your pet has.Traditionally speaking, the middle layer of your pet’s adrenal gland for typical Cushing’s disease begins overproducing glucocorticoids. The zona fasciculata is the middle layer of your pet’s adrenal glands. When that particular layer of your pet’s adrenal glands overproduces glucocorticoids (which can also be called steroids, cortisol, cortisone, or the synthetic version that veterinarians can give orally, prednisone), it’s called typical Cushing’s disease.

Sometimes veterinarians unknowingly induce Cushing’s disease by giving too-high doses or too long administration courses of oral prednisone therapy. If your pet is on prednisone, that predisposes your pet to acquire Cushing’s disease.

Typical Cushing’s disease is too much cortisol. Atypical Cushing’s disease comes about when the outer layer of the adrenal gland overproduces electrolyte-balancing hormones called aldosterone, or when the inner layer of the adrenal gland begins overproducing sex hormones.

Atypical Cushing’s disease comes about from the outer or inner layer overproducing mineralocorticoids called aldosterone, or sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone precursors.

So it’s all very confusing. Traditional or typical Cushing’s disease (too much cortisol in the system) also has two types. There’s adrenal dependent, and there’s pituitary dependent. Hands down, the most common form of Cushing’s disease in pets is the pituitary dependent form. About 85% of dogs that acquire Cushing’s disease acquire the pituitary dependent form.

This means that the pituitary gland – the master gland in the brain – is sending too much stimulating hormones to the adrenal gland, and the adrenal gland is simply responding to the stimulus to produce more cortisol.

In rare or about 15% of cases, the adrenal glands acquire a tumor, and that causes the up- regulation of cortisol production in the body.

Breed Predisposition among Dogs

It’s very rare for cats to acquire Cushing’s disease, which is much more common in dog breeds.

There’s also breed predisposition. The terriers, unfortunately, are predisposed. These include silky terriers, Yorkies, bull terriers, and Boston terriers, as well as poodles, doxies, and the American Eskimo dog, also known as spitz. All these have genetic predisposition to acquire Cushing’s.

Dogs do not need all vaccines yearly.

We are our dogs' advocate, so when it comes to vaccinations, sometimes we need to say "no". Not all vaccinations need to be given every year, and not all at once. Getting everything at once can make some dogs sick. The full article can be read at:
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_8/features/Annual-Pet-Vaccinations_20036-1.html

New home for hemopet

Hemopet, the first and only national non-profit animal blood bank, and its laboratory diagnostic division, Hemolife, have relocated to a custom built, expanded new facility in Garden Grove, California. The new 20,000 square foot facility houses Hemopet's animal blood bank, the Hemolife laboratory, large living quarters for donor greyhounds, consultation and office space as well as an expanded conference room for professional veterinary and community seminars.  Robert Woods, D.V.M, offers on-site complementary veterinary therapies including acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, hemeopathy, homtoxicology, nutraceutical therapy and flower essence therapy.  hemopet.org  source: Animal Wellness