Daily Paws

Pet news, tips, entertainment and opinions from VetLocator.com

Archive for the ‘Pet News’ Category

Most Dangerous Pet Dangers of Easter

Sunday, March 24th, 2013

easter-pet-dangersToday is Palm Sunday and many people are getting ready to celebrate the Easter festivities.

However, even though Easter is actually a time of celebration of rebirth for some Christians, their pets might not be ready to be resurrected if they have consumed one in all the five most dangerous pet dangers of Easter.

Easter Lilies

Although the Easter Lilly is one among the most common plants used to celebrate the arrival of Easter, it is the foremost lethal of plants to cats. Even merely ingesting a few of its leaves can lead to grave, acute renal and kidney failure which might result in your cat’s untimely death.

However, it is not simply the Easter Lilly that’s harmful to cats – all plant members of the Lilly family are potentially lethal.

As a friendly reminder stay those darned Easter lilies OUT OF YOUR HOUSE! There are dangerous and benign lilies out there, and it’s important to understand the distinction. Peace, Peruvian, and Calla lilies contain oxalate crystals that cause minor signs, such as tissue irritation to the mouth, tongue, pharynx, and esophagus – this ends up in minor drooling.

Locate a vet or call an emergency vet hotline.

Foil or Plastic Easter Grass

Easter grass is the second most commonly found dangerous part of Easter to pets, especially cats. This is as a result of the brightly colored foil makes an extraordinarily enticing cat toy.

Similar to tinsel used during Christmas time, this plastic and foil grass will cause intestinal distress in cats that needs immediate veterinary care.

Because it is hard to monitor, opt instead to use paper grass, or better yet, cat grass.

Chocolate Bunnies

It’s not Easter without those yummy chocolate bunnies! Just watch out that young children don’t inadvertently feed one to your cat or dog. Make sure that none of these chocolate bunnies, or different chocolate treats, are out of the reach of inquisitive pet noses. Chocolate will be extremely lethal to both dogs and cats and can conjointly require immediate veterinary attention.

Easter Eggs

Brightly colored laborious-boiled eggs will be a child’s delight and their pets too. However, day previous eggs that have not been properly handled or refrigerated will spoil on the inside, creating them lethal to pets.

When hiding these Easter eggs around your house or yard, be positive to stay count of them and build certain that they are all found. Another smart tip is to remind youngsters to throw away the eggs in the garbage after they are done eating them.

Baby Animals

Whilst it may appear tempting, getting a baby chick, baby bunny, or a baby duckling, may not be such a nice idea. Most of those baby animals can carry Salmonella which will then be passed on to your children and alternative pets.

If you actually do want to buy one of those baby animals for your child as a present, it is best if you wait till when Easter and then take your child to go to your local animal shelter or humane society. Here you will most undoubtedly realize a giant selection of baby bunnies, baby ducklings and baby chicks that are abandoned over the Easter weekend.

The best part is that not only can you teach your child about the importance of Easter, however you would conjointly have taught them the worth of pet adoption which is that the ultimate example of Easter rebirth.

House Guests

Since Easter is time best spent with family, take a few further precautions to confirm the security and comfort of your pets when guests come to go to. Create positive your pets have their own room or house in that they will get back when they become overwhelmed. Remind any visiting children to not feed Easter eggs or chocolates to your pets.

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Aggressive Treatment Needed for Pet’s Orthopedic Pain

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

Here is an excellent article from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine on what to do about a pets joint pain  by Sarah Netherton

“Orthopedic pain is considered a severe type of pain that any mammal can experience,” asserts Dr. Ashley Mitek, a veterinarian who is completing an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana. And anyone who has broken their arm or torn their ACL would probably agree.

In pets, acute orthopedic pain can be caused by a traumatic injury, such as being hit by a car or a tear in the cranial cruciate ligament—the equivalent in human medicine being the dreaded “ACL tear.” Orthopedic pain can also occur from a surgical procedure such as limb amputation or fracture repair.

If pain is left untreated, systemic problems can develop, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure and decreased wound healing and immune function. It’s also important to note that, “the longer pain goes untreated, the greater the risk that the animal may develop chronic pain, which can be difficult to manage,” says Dr. Mitek.

With limb fractures, a veterinarian may try to immobilize the fracture with a padded bandage if possible, but the animal should also receive pain medication while waiting for surgical correction or casting. One technique that can be used to provide analgesia for hind limb surgeries is an epidural, a procedure that is similar to the procedure used to alleviate pain during childbirth.

“Epidurals have a low risk of adverse side effects, and a combination of morphine (a narcotic) and a local anesthetic can provide pain relief for 12 to 24 hours,” explains Dr. Mitek. “Epidurals work by limiting pain signal transmission in the central nervous system—the spinal cord and brain—to parts of the brain that recognize pain. A single epidural can be administered prior to surgery or a catheter can be placed to facilitate repeated epidurals to prolong the pain relief for several days.”

If your dog receives an epidural for pain control, you might be surprised to see a small shaved spot where the epidural was administered. Dr. Mitek says not to worry, because the hair usually grows back within a few months – though it can take longer in some breeds, and on rare occasions, grow back as a slightly different color than the surrounding hair.

Pain relief techniques for front limb orthopedic pain can sometimes be a bit more difficult. This depends on the location of the injury or the surgical procedure that is to be performed. Some options include a brachial plexus block, which provides pain relief from the elbow to the tip of the foot, or a ring block that provides pain relief specific to the paw and toes.

Any time a nerve is damaged, whether from trauma or as part of surgery, animals can develop neuropathic or “wind up” pain. This results in the animal becoming more sensitive to pain and could lead to a condition known as allodynia, feeling pain from a stimulus that ordinarily does not cause pain, such as the wind blowing across your face; or hyperalgesia, an increased sensitivity to pain. Aggressive pain management can be implemented to avoid this outcome.

“The best way to treat acute pain and prevent chronic pain disorders is to use preemptive analgesia, administration of pain-relieving medication before pain starts,” says Dr. Mitek, “but unfortunately, most of us do not have a crystal ball to predict when Fido or Fluffy might experience trauma. So, if you can’t prevent pain, the next best thing is to treat it aggressively as soon as possible!”

For more information regarding acute orthopedic pain, speak with your local veterinarian.

An archive of Pet Columns from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine is available online at http://vetmed.illinois.edu/petcolumns/

 

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The results are in….readin Daily Paws and Visiting our Facebook Page will make you 44% sharper!

Monday, October 1st, 2012

We know you love our daily picture of the day.  Hundreds of you write back and tell us how much you do, and we love seeing our photos shared with others too.

We have great news for you.  That time you spend looking at our cute photos are actually made you sharper……up to 44% sharper.  Impressed?  We were.

Recently researchers at Japan’s Hiroshima University found people focus better shortly after they’ve viewed cute images.

Here is more about this study in this article from Plos One:

Researchers performed three experiments where they showed subjects a variety of images that included food, people, and adult and baby animals.

In a fine-motor dexterity test, 48 subjects (all between the ages of 18-and 22 and all right handed) played a children’s game very much akin to “Operation.” For those unfamiliar with the game, you use tweezers to remove plastic body parts from metal-encased “cavities” without touching the edges and setting off a buzzer.

Subjects played the games multiple times and, before at least one session, researchers showed them images of puppies and kittens.

Those images, according to the study, helped them play the game 44% better. Full grown dog and cat images also had a positive effect on performance, but not by as wide a margin: just 5%.

Cute images, however, may not only effect motor abilities, but have a positive cognitive effect, as well.

In another experiment, a new group of 18-to-20 year olds performed a series of visual search tasks where they had to identify text and numbers in images and images comprised of text and numbers. They, too, were shown cute images in between tasks. The results weren’t as dramatic, but their ability to properly identify the images did improve by 2%.

So the lesson here?  Cute pet pictures are good for you and for your friends too!

Go ahead, test yourself….look at the picture below……..

 Now don’t you feel better?

(go ahead….share it with your friends…..it’s a good thing)

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Daily Paws Picture of the Day: Woops… Wrong Group

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Daily Paws for Ashburn Virginia

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Children and Pets – Safety Tips

Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

Work of a therapy dog: Stella visited her fost...

Children learn wonderful life lessons from pets.  Most parents know this and most experts agree.  So your job is to pick those pets that are right for your children, your household and your life.

When picking a pet,  choose one he can help nurture, feed, and care for.  This helps develop good habits and attitudes in children.

The pet’s safety is also important so consider that too when choosing.

Young children shouldn’t be left alone with a pet because they could unintentionally hurt the animal. A child under five doesn’t have the ability to control his temper and should always be monitored while around the pet.

The best pets for children less than six are fish, gerbils, hamsters, budgies, and Guinea pigs. Rabbits don’t make good pets for smaller children because they are sometimes temperamental. Reptiles aren’t good for children under school age because these kids are more prone to contract salmonella.

The tasks your small child does to help take care of his pet should be appropriate to his age. When younger, he could help you clean the animals bowls or help clean the cage. When your child is older, the responsibility of brushing a cat or brushing and bathing, a dog is more appropriate. When older, he could apply the ear mite medicine to the pet’s ears.

Birds need more daily maintenance like cage cleaning and fresh water and food. They are easy to feed needing seeds and pellets and sometimes fruit.

Fish are also a good choice.  The majority of fish are cheap and easy to maintain and most of them are easy to feed and a simple aquarium will do. Parents will need to be sure that the water temperature, nitrogen level, and the pH balance are correct, when the fish belong to small children and older children can learn to check these things on their own.

Rodent pets such as mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils are basically inexpensive, simple to house, and are low maintenance. Be aware some rodents bite, chew on stuff, and some are escape artists. They are fun to watch and some like human attention.

Have fun choosing a pet, and enjoy it as your children learn the lessons pets help teach.

 

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Pet Health Care Insurance, What You Need To Know

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

by asterix611

How many times have you heard a pet owner wish he had bought pet health insurance?

Statistics show that people are willing to foot the growing medical bills for their beloved pets, making the need for pet health insurance a real concern. Advances in pet health care can leave owners with big veterinary bills. Pet health care insurance is now affordable and available for dogs, cats and exotics.

If you would not think of being without insurance for yourself and your family, that should include your pet companion as well. Pet insurance is not as expensive as human insurance and might come in handy.

Pet health care insurance is similar to human health insurance. Like all insurance, you hope you never use it. Pet health care insurance will pay or reimburse for veterinary services that are covered under the plan. Medical treatments and technologies used for humans are now being used for pets.

If your pet needs an emergency surgery, it would be nice to know that cost is not a factor, and you won’t have to pay for everything on your own. The insurance is just sensible.

Purchase insurance coverage ideally when your pet is still young before pre-existing conditions develop. You can enroll as young as eight weeks. Some plans only allow enrollment up to age 10 for cats and age 8 for dogs (age 6 for some breeds). Once enrolled, your pet may stay in the plan for the rest of its life.

Because of their natural adventurousness and high activity level, very young pets are famous for getting hurt and needing emergency care.

There are many pet insurance companies to choose from, and many different plans available. Read the fine print. Some companies have veterinarians that belong to their network. Under those particular policies, you pay a co-payment up front and the insurance company pays for the covered services. The downside is you have to find a veterinarian that is in the pet health care insurance “network.” Each policy is different and there is no one plan that fits everyone’s needs.

Services covered under many policies include spay surgery, neuter surgery, annual vaccinations, flea preventative, annual heartworm preventative, heartworm test, annual dental cleanings, accidents, illnesses, cancer, x-rays, and surgeries. In many cases, pet health care insurance will cover even more in maintaining the wellness of your loved pet. Your coverage may also include prescription foods, boarding, euthanasia, accidental death, recovery of lost pets, and micro-chip identification. Pet health insurance can prove to be invaluable.

Additional facts to consider when enrolling.

Are pre-existing conditions covered, and what constitutes a pre-existing condition? If a pre-existing condition is covered, what are the deductibles? Does the pet health insurance policy you are interested in cover prescription costs? Will my premium go up over time, as I file claims, or my pet gets older? Does the plan cover chronic or recurring conditions? What are the financial limits of coverage? How are they applied? Do you have more than one pet that could benefit from insurance coverage and are there multi-pet discounts available? Does your particular policy require monthly or annual payments? Talk to your veterinarian about your pet’s health and question the insurance companies about the limits of the pet health insurance coverage before purchasing a particular plan.

The right insurance plan requires some homework. We’ve brought you the best.

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Pet’s & Technology…it’s over the top! [humor]

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

Yesterday while perusing news alerts for pets and vets, I came across a press release about a company that has just launched a new product. Headphones for cats. And these headphones for cats are soooo good, they will set you back $1000.

A thousand dollars!!!

If you are the teeniest bit interested, here’s a sales infomercial you have to see..

“We had to change the housing to accommodate the unique shape of cat ears and to reduce output for sensitivity,” inventor Combs says. “They also have a mic and remote, but I don’t envision many cats using that functionality.”

(And remember, they only have 10 sets so get yours today!)

Technology for pets, like technology for humans seems to be accelerating faster than dog years.

Who would have dreamed 5 years ago that stem cell treatment for pets would become a common occurrence with a high success in reversing limb and joint ailments in dogs and horses?

Medical technology I can understand. Headphones for cats…well, OK. I don’t really see a need but if you want to spend the money on your cat, OK.

Text From Dog

However, this next one is over the top. It’s about a texting dog and he has a new book coming out called “Text From Dog”

Now that’s ridiculous. A dog who texts? I have problems texting and a DOG is so good they are making a book out of his texts?????

Here’s a description and some sample text images (and, by the way these are fictitious text messages – I’m relieved to say – that are very funny. I’ve included a few below)

Tumblr blog Text From Dog, which publishes fictitious SMS conversations between a dog and its owner, is the latest web entity to land a book deal.

U.K. publisher Headline Publishing announced Monday it would release the book Oct. 25.

The blog launched in April with a brief description: “My dog sends me texts. I post them here. Yeah, it’s weird.”

 

 

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Q: Is it dangerous to feed a puppy or a dog raw meat?

Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

appetite 2

 A: This subject is controversial. There are those who feel that a raw diet is a natural one for dogs and will only feed raw, and there are those who disagree, including many veterinarians.

Recently, the American Veterinary Medical Association adopted a policy advising against feeding raw diets to dogs and cats.

They issued a statement which reads: “The AVMA discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs as well as humans.

Cooking or pasteurization through the application of heat until the protein reaches an internal temperature adequate to destroy pathogenic organisms has been the traditional method used to eliminate pathogens in animal-source protein, although the AVMA recognizes that newer technologies and other methods such as irradiation are constantly being developed and implemented.

Animal-source proteins of concern include beef, pork, poultry, fish, and other meat from domesticated or wild animals as well as milk* and eggs. Several studies reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals have demonstrated that raw or undercooked animal-source protein may be contaminated with a variety of pathogenic organisms, including Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, Clostridium spp, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus. Cats and dogs may develop foodborne illness after being fed animal-source protein contaminated with these organisms if adequate steps are not taken to eliminate pathogens; secondary transmission of these pathogens to humans (e.g., pet owners) has also been reported.

Cats and dogs can develop subclinical infections with these organisms but still pose a risk to livestock, other nonhuman animals, and humans, especially children, older persons, and immunocompromised individuals.

To mitigate public health risks associated with feeding inadequately treated animal-source protein to cats and dogs, the AVMA recommends the following: Avoid feeding inadequately treated animal-source protein to cats, and dogs restrict cats’ and dogs’ access to carrion and animal carcasses (e.g., while hunting) Provide fresh, clean, nutritionally balanced and complete commercially prepared or home-cooked food to cats and dogs, and dispose of uneaten food at least daily practice personal hygiene (e.g., handwashing) before and after feeding cats and dogs, providing treats, cleaning pet dishes, and disposing of uneaten food * The recommendation not to feed unpasteurised milk to animals does not preclude the feeding of unpasteurised same-species milk to unweaned juvenile animals.”

While we personally have not heard of dogs or cats becoming ill from eating raw meat, there most certainly will be some. Just as there are dogs and cats who become ill from canned food that is tainted or spoiled.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide which diet you choose for your pets… and often, your pet will have a lot to say about it too!

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Do Sonic bug repellants work?

Monday, August 13th, 2012

Personally, I don’t know of anyone who has not tried one of those sonic pest repellants.  You know, those small plastic devices that plug into an outlet and are supposed to drive away roaches and rats and other annoying pests through the high pitched sound they emit.

We’ve tried them over time, not once but three different times, each time hoping they’d have an effect, ANY effect, on the problem.  And each time the answer was nope.

It has been awhile since we even bothered with those things, but today I was reminded of them when I read this article on LifeHacker.com:

Stop Wasting Money on Sonic Bug Repellants: They Don’t Work

Sonic bug repellants, whether they’re supposed to ward of mosquitoes from your backyard BBQ or roaches and ants from inside your home, are largely based on junk science and wishful thinking, according to a Texas A&M entomologist who’s spent years studying the products. You’re better off keeping your money in your pocket, or just buying pest repellent that actually works.

Several years ago I moved into an apartment with a pretty bad bug problem we didn’t know about until it was too late. I ignored the warning signs and moved in anyway, only to find the place crawling with critters before I could even unpack my boxes. Not wanting to immediately unload cans of Raid and other chemical sprays and baits that could impact my health, I decided to give some wall-mounted sonic bug repellers a try that I picked up from my local big box hardware store. According to the package, all I had to do was plug them into a wall socket and the bugs would vanish. Suffice to say I had less than stellar results. Six months later, I broke lease and bailed on the place.

That’s just my experience, but Texas A&M University entomologist Dr. Roger Gold has spent over 20 years studying and debunking the myth of sonic bug repellants, from mobile apps that promise to keep bugs away by emitting an ultrasonic sound from your iPhone’s speakers to the wall-mounted ones I threw away a few bucks on. In an interview with Buzzfeed, he notes “Based on the testing we have done through the years, the claims of repelling insects [with sound] are unfounded.”

Gold has been testing devices since the 1990s, and he has yet to see one that works—mostly because different insect species perceive sound in different ways, and even those that may be annoyed by some types of sound eventually just get used to it after a while, like any other animal would. One 2002 study by Kansas State University showed 94dB sounds stressed Indian Meal Moths out enough that they didn’t have much success mating, but not enough that they left. Another 2006 study by the same team showed the devices had little to no effect on cockroaches, which backs up Gold’s own research. The moral of the story? Save your money and go buy traps, sprays, or call an exterminator—your money will be better spent.

——————–

I agree :)

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Pet Training Videos Can be Worth The Cost

Friday, August 10th, 2012

by KaffeineKid

Because pet training is often thought of as being difficult and time-consuming to anyone who is new, many beginners will have a tendency to lose their focus when it comes to their pet training efforts. This happens quite often as there are all sorts of things to that must be considered, such as your hand movements when you train your pet, how loud your voice should be, whether or not to use a rough voice, trying not to get frustrated, how many treats to feed, which collars to use, what type of leashes to buy, and a ton of other tools just to get the job done. However, one tool that is often overlooked could easily be worth its weight in gold to the beginning pet trainer. The tool I speak of is the use of video.

There are two main ways that you can use video as a training tool for your pets. The first option is to buy videos of professional trainers working with dogs. This allows you to see and hear the exact steps that are being taken to train the dogs. Better videos will show you the entire training sessions. Do not settle for one that shows you a dog being all aggressive then cuts to another scene a week later where the dog is calm. You cannot verify what happened during that week.

In many cases, you should see some, if not noticeable results within 15-20 minutes of training depending on the lesson and dog. Better training videos will also show a variety of dogs being trained, and will show them in real-life situations. After all, what good is training your pet if the training does not work during your normal lifestyle?

The second method you can use video for is tracking your pet’s successes or failures. If you own a video camera, which many people do these days, consider video taping your sessions. This will also let you know if you are performing the training techniques as you should as well. There is no better way to scrutinize your methods than to watch yourself in a replay.

Keeping a video log of your pet’s training will make it easier for you to refer to training sessions at a later date, keep a record of progress, and maintain documentation of any mistakes. By using video as a training source you can learn how to train your pet better, faster, and more effectively.

 

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