PurinaCare Blog

Marleigh learns about fire ants

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:10:00 -0900

Well, what a weekend this was. I took the girls on a road trip to Dallas and before we left, they must have read my post about not too much going on in our little family. At least, I know Marleigh did.

Everything was going along just fine. The girls had made friends with the dogs of the family I was visiting, wrestling and playing chase the whole evening. I was so happy that everything was going well on this road trip!

Those feelings vanished over night.

The next morning we all went on a walk through a nearby park. Maizie found great interest in the fountain in the ground, almost “falling” in a few times - I use quotes because I am fairly certain she wanted to jump in. Marleigh, on the other hand, was being much more curious than usual.

I chalked it up to new smells and places, didn’t think anything of it. That was until she picked up something in her mouth. Immediately, I reprimanded Marleigh and demanded that she drop whatever it was she had discovered. After that, we walked on.

Within a few minutes, Marleigh was rubbing her face on the ground, whimpering and whining. Then, the vomiting started happening and she was lying limp on the sidewalk. Like any owner, I begin to panic just a bit. I noticed in her vomit some black objects. Then, in her beard, I saw them - ants. Marleigh had eaten fire ants.

Her face started swelling and her breathing became labored. I rushed her to the nearest animal hospital, trying to keep my emotions at bay (however, failing miserably) while she laid in my lamp in obvious pain. To me, there is no worse feeling than knowing your furr-baby is hurting and you can’t do anything about it.

The veterinarian gave her a fast-acting injection of antihistamine, cortisone and steroids. It wasn’t more than ten minutes before she was back to chasing Maizie and her new friends around the house.

I’m just glad she is OK. Next time, I’ll make sure she is well fed before we head out on a walk.

-- Chloe Ochse --

It Has Been a Little Too Quiet Lately...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:44:00 -0900

We haven't had much to post about the past few weeks. Things have been pretty quite with Maizie and Marleigh. The most interesting thing to have happened has been the stairs I bought for them to get up on the bed. It took a couple dozen treats and two days for them to decide the stairs weren't out to get them.

I have a sinking suspicion that these two fur-faces are up to no good and planning something for me…

-- Chloe Ochse --

The Dreaded Grass Awn

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:00:00 -0900

It's fall in New Mexico, and in addition to Halloween where ghosts and goblins show up, it's also grass awn season here and they show up in the strangest places.

If you hike with your dog you probably know what I mean when I talk about grass awns. They get stuck in your socks and in your dogs fur, and sometimes they get stuck in other places.

I was up in the mountains hiking with Miles over the weekend, and when I got home I was greeted by one of my daughter's buddies looking for a little free advice.

My daughter's friend's dog was limping on a sore paw. There was a suspicious looking hole between the toes and you could tell there had been a lot of licking going on. The paw was wet and when you gently pushed on the tender area a serous looking discharge oozed out of the opening.

I knew almost immediately what was going on, and yes, it was related to grass seed.

To understand you have to look at a typical grass awn or seed. Some of them are equipped with stickers that help them move around or disseminate. These stickers even help them gain a foothold in the soil. If you examine them closely you'll see that they are most often unidirectional, meaning that they only go one way.

This can be a problem for animals when these awns get stuck in the coat or, in this case, between the toes. They are sharp enough to penetrate the skin and just keep going. In this case, one had worked its way between the toes, through the skin and up into the tissue of the foot. Foreign bodies like these cause a lot of inflammation and pain and can lead to serious infections if they are not removed in a timely fashion.

We got lucky with this one and I was able to retrieve it with a pair of forceps I use mainly for removing hooks from the mouths of angry trout. It's not uncommon to have to use anesthesia or at least a local to remove these things and that has to be done in a veterinary hospital.

In practice I used an alligator forceps with jaws that you could open once the forceps is deep in the tissue. I've removed grass awns that were almost two inches deep in various parts of a dog's anatomy.

In the late summer and fall, and even throughout the winter, grass awns can be a problem. The big seed heads you see now are about to drop. If you take your dog out for country walks it's always a good idea to look between the toes when you get home. Remove any awns you see before they become a problem.

Look at the hair around the ears, too, as this is a common place for them to lodge. Your dog will thank you for the prompt attention.

Why Not Take a Hike With Your Dog?

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 01:00:00 -0900

We took a great hike earlier this week with our good friends Phil and Martha and their dog Alice. Alice is a very lucky dog. She has a great job in the summer helping Phil spot fires from the Hillsboro peak fire lookout overlooking the Black Range in the Gila National Forest here in South West New Mexico.

Our hike was in a super secret valley or arroyo known only to local archeology buffs. We live in an area that was home to the Mimbreno culture about 1000 years ago. Our area is rich in rock art and other more spectacular reminders of our native american past. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is only 45 miles north of our house.

This particular hike was through some very rough country. There is no trail to this arroyo so we bushwhacked through Chihuahaun desert for about four miles before climbing up into the arroyo by following a dry stream bed. Alice flushed several jack rabbits and cotton tails on the way up and made a valiant effort at running them down each time. These critters were never in any real danger as they are accustomed to being pursued by Kit Foxes and Coyotes on a regular basis.

By the time we hit the mouth of our arroyo Alice had put in twice the mileage we had. The good news for Alice is that she is used to this type of activity. Either Phil or Martha takes Alice for a long hike every day on Boston Hill right here in town. And that's important when you are considering taking your dog for a strenuous outing.

Just as you should never consider hitting the trail without some preparation, the same thing goes for our dogs. It takes time for them to develop the strength and stamina for hiking. It also takes time to condition their feet for the rigors of rough country travel either on a trail or off. If you are planning a spring break or summer vacation that will involve hiking with your dog be sure to plan in some time for conditioning for both of you.

Work up to a hike of the same distance you'll be doing over a few weeks leading up to your trip. If you have three or four hikes in before the trip you should be OK. Believe me, you'll have a much nicer vacation with a little preparation.

There are other precautions you should take when hiking. Here in the southwest we have lots plants that are full of spines and stickers. We were stopping every hour of so to remove these stickers from our socks and bodies. Alice collected a few too.

It's always a good idea to check your dog's feet during and after a hike. It's particularly important to check between the toes and pads on the bottoms of their feet. Cactus spines and grass awns and other sticky plant parts can get stuck between the toes and actually migrate through the skin and up into the feet. Infections and painful abscesses can result. It's much, much easier to get them out before they they work their way through the skin. You're looking at a trip to the vet once they get up in the foot.

The other important items to remember on a hike are water and food for both you and your dog. Every time we stopped for water Alice lined up to get a squirt from Phil's Camel Back. She's gotten very good at lapping it right out of the air, but it's always a good idea to bring a portable, collapsible water bowl for the dog if there is no potable water on your hike. Be sure to take enough water too. Phil and Alice went through two liters of water on the hike. It's alway a good idea to have more in the car for the end of the hike too, especially in the summer when water needs can increase dramatically.

On long hikes it's a good idea to bring a snack for the dog too. Chris and I used to give Darcie granola bar bites when she was young enough to go along with us. We'd give her a bite every time we snacked and had some of her food in the car for her when the hike was over.

It's always fun to have the pooch along with you if you can. Make sure to check the regulations where you'll be hiking. Most National Parks and Monuments don't allow dogs on the trails. Some places require leashes. For us it was great to see Alice having free roam being able to explore and sniff wherever she pleased.

And you would have enjoyed seeing us all laying around on the couch after the hike. We were all beat, but we are already looking forward to next week end.

Maizie and Marleigh don't like my traveling - at all.

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:56:00 -0900

Maizie and Marleigh are acting out. And, they are doing do in the most inappropriate way ever.

I’ll admit it - I have been an absentee pet parent as of late. I have been traveling a lot for work and when I have been home I have been working. They haven’t been getting the attention they deserve, well, at least not what they are used to.

Let me start by saying that both of these girls are housebroken. I made sure that this happened early on for Maizie and Marleigh. Thus, there is little to no excuse for them to treat my area rugs like a fresh new piece of sod.

When I picked them up from the kennel a couple of weekends ago, I had to go straight to the office. I brought Maizie and Marleigh home, took them for a quick walk, and then headed back to the office. When I got home from work I was greeted with the most atrocious smell. I walked into my bedroom to find it a war zone of poop.

I did as I was taught - don’t react because dogs won’t understand why you are mad unless you catch them in the act. So, I just cleaned it up and ignored them until we went for a walk that night and praised them for doing their business outside. I figured these actions were just Maizie and Marleigh’s way of telling me they didn’t like being boarded and to never do it again. Message received.

Then, the next weekend came around and I was having a friend come and stay with me. After I picked them up from the airport, we went out to have a very pleasant dinner. Upon returning home, I was greeted by two very happy puppies.

I should have known better.

I went into my bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes and found several presents waiting for me on my rug. How. Embarrassing. I kept my cool and cleaned it up and took them out (again).

I figured it would be the end of it when my friend left town. When I came back from the airport, Maizie and Marleigh had, once again, made their point.

At least it was on the wood floor this time.

-- Chloe Ochse --

Time to Get Moving

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:00:00 -0900

The Well Blog is out with another great post this week on the value of physical activity.

Better yet, the post is accompanied by a photo of a dog with his leash handy looking forlorn and ready for a walk.

The general thrust of the piece is that inactivity is bad for you. This article makes the case that sitting around on your behind watching TV is about the worst thing you can do for your health.

I must admit that I watch TV. I'll be sitting around watching the St Louis Cardinals play the San Francisco Giants today and I'm sure that game will last three hours.

I'm planning on getting up and walking around between innings though.

According to the researchers that might mitigate some of the adverse effects of sitting. They make the point that even if you exercise for thirty minutes a day the effects of prolonged sitting can have adverse effects on your health.

They think that failure to flex the big muscles of the hips and legs has bad effects on muscle wasting and even blood glucose utilization.

They acknowledge that many of us are in jobs that force us to sit. When I worked at Purina I sat most of the day, but we did have lots of meetings. Many of us walked between floors instead of using the elevators. That can help.

The best solution is to move about during the day and add exercise to the mix. As we've written many times before, making your dog your exercise partner will help with that. T

The benefits of walking with the dog are tremendous. You get a partner that is always ready to go and you both benefit from the activity.

Having a dog helps with your mental heath too and the shared activity if great for both of you.

So get out there and move. With your dog!

Home Dental Care for Pets

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 01:00:00 -0900

My visit to the dentist went well yesterday - well, the day before yesterday. The Hygienist that cleaned my teeth gave me an A+ for my own dental hygiene efforts. She didn't have a lot of calculus to remove and my gums were in pretty good shape.

If you'd like to get a similar report from your veterinarian on the condition of your pet's mouth there are a few things you can do at home between dental cleanings that will help and maybe extend the time between cleanings a bit.

The best thing you can do is brush your pet's teeth at home. Before you throw up at the thought let me explain. It's really not that tough a thing to do especially if you get started early when your pet is a puppy or kitten.

The first step is to get them comfortable with being handled around the muzzle. Start with petting and scratching behind the ears and move to the muzzle. Practice holding the muzzle in one hand and lifting up the lips to expose the teeth and gum line. Don't be over zealous at first. Be gentle and don't fight it. If they are cooperating give lots of verbal praise. This may take a few sessions.

Once you've got this down try wrapping a piece of gauze around your index finger and rubbing it along the gum line of the exposed teeth. The gum line is where the action is and where the plaque forms. If you can gently rub the gauze along this area you are removing the plaque which is what home dental care is all about. Remember the verbal praise if you have a cooperative patient.

The next step is to introduce the pet tooth brush or a finger brush. Use the same movement as with the gauze; a gentle semi-circular motion at the gum line. It should only take a couple of minutes at the most once per day to get results.

One caution; don't use human tooth paste or baking soda. Both can make your pet sick. Use specially formulated dog or cat tooth paste.

Dental chews can help if you can't bring yourself to brush your pet's teeth. Just remember the chew basics.

1. Make sure they are size appropriate.

2. No small bones that can splinter like chicken, steak or rib bones. Big ole cow bones are best and you might want to boil them first to kill the bacteria.

3. Hooves, ears and other stuff from the pet store are OK as are the newer Greenies.

4. Nylabones can be OK too but don't play catch with them. They are hard and can break teeth.

Good dental hygiene at home can pay off in a big way. Our old dog Darcie lived to be 17 and she had all her teeth at the end.

Go Cards!

The Long and Winding Road

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 06:36:00 -0900

Well, I am still traveling. I noticed something that was kind of funny - maybe more awkward, but still funny.

I was having a conversation with a business partner while traveling and found myself in a very interesting exchange.

The topic was how hard it is to be away from home; how you start to miss the little things that you never really thought of, like your own bed, routines, etc. Then the conversation switched to "kids". I put that in quotes because I think the concept of children comes in many different shapes and sizes - and types.

She was going on about how her children (human) were her whole life. She lived for them. I let her finish before I started talking about the two furry loves of my life. It didn't matter that her kids were of the human variety - our stories were very similar still. We missed them, their antics, the way they could make the worse day suddenly better just because they love you unconditionally.

Love is love - two or four-legged.

-- Chloe Ochse --

A Puppy as Therapy

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 01:00:00 -0900

Since October is adopt a pet month I thought I'd share a heart warming story from the New York Times Well Blog on an adoption with a twist.

There is a series on the blog about a young woman dealing with cancer. Called "Life Interrupted", the blog is about her dealing with cancer at a young age.

I've been a loyal reader of this series of posts since the inception.

The entry last week really caught my eye. It was about her new puppy and how the puppy has become an important part of her therapy.

She adopted the puppy from a local rescue organization in lower Manhattan called Animal Haven. The post recalls the extra precautions she takes with the pup as the result of a weakened immune system.

Despite the precautions the puppy has been a most welcome addition and an effective component of this young woman's therapy.

I remember reading a similar story a few years ago. Apparently there is nothing like a puppy to bring someone into the moment.

While some cancer patients understandably become overwhelmed by the various rigors of their treatment, the addition of a dog has a positive impact on many.

It seems that the puppy forces one to live in the moment and gives a patient something else to think about and another being to care for.

The puppy needs food, water, attention and love and giving all the above can be very therapeutic.

In honor of adopt a pet month take a moment or two and read this special story about a special adoption.

More on Hip Dysplasia in Dogs

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:00:00 -0900

I get questions about hip dsyplasia all the time and most dog owners want to know whether it can be prevented.

There is no short answer to this question. The longer answer is maybe, and depends on a number of factors.

Hip dysplasia is an inherited polygenic condition that is complicated by environmental factors. That's vet speak meaning this is a hereditary condition involving multiple genes, and that external factors like how the puppy is raised can influence the development and severity of the condition.

We've discussed before how feeding large breed puppies can have an impact on hip dysplasia. Improper feeding can increase the likelihood that your pup will develop hip dysplasia and obesity really complicates the situation in a dog that has hip dysplasia. Conversely, proper feeding, especially during growth, can result in a normal dog with healthy joints even in a genetically predisposed dog.

In some dogs though, even the best laid plans can't trump genetics. Certain breeds are much more likely to be prone to hip dysplasia. Their genetic make up leads to conformational defects in the hip joint that create joint laxity and sub luxation. That means that their hip joints are loose and semi dislocated and that leads to trauma to the hip joint and eventual degenerative joint disease and arthritis.

Some veterinarians recommend early screening for certain breeds. There are certain diagnostic tests that are highly predictive of future hip dysplasia. Screening can help identify young dogs that can be helped surgically.

Probably the best and most reliable test is called Penn Hip. Penn Hip testing involves three hip x rays and measurements of the hip joint that provide a numerical score called a distraction index that is highly predictive of future disease when performed on dogs that are at least four months old. Depending on that score some young dogs can be helped by a procedure called juvenile pubic symphysiodesis.

Repeat that three times fast. I'm still not sure I can even spell it correctly and I'll guarantee it's not in spell check.

This surgery is done on young dogs and involves the growth center of the pubic symphysis. In young dogs these growth centers are where bones grow. As they mature and their bones reach adult proportions these growth centers close down. In pubic symphysiodesis this growth center is surgically ablated, stopping any further growth in this part of the pelvis.

The rest of the pelvis continues to grow at normal rates. As a result of stopping growth in one place and allowing it to continue in other parts of the pelvis the structure and function of the hip joint is changed for the better. In effect, the socket part of the hip joint is forced to rotate so that it better conforms to the ball part of the hip joint resulting in a much tighter fit, less joint laxity and less potential for future damage. Less laxity, less subluxation, less ongoing trauma, less degenerative joint disease, less arthritis.

Most dogs suitable for surgery benefit from this procedure. In fact, according to what I've seen, almost 95% of surgical candidates benefit. Obviously timing is key as the dogs that really benefit are between four and five months of age.

If you have a large breed puppy you should discuss this with your veterinarian during one of your wellness visit before the pup reaches four months of age. She might advise you to have the hips evaluated. The Penn Hip procedure can be done by trained veterinarians in most metro areas. Your own vet may be certified. I searched in my area and found a couple of nearby clinics offering Penn Hip testing.

The surgery itself is not that invasive in a young puppy and can be done on an outpatient basis in most cases. It is certainly less invasive than the surgical procedures performed to treat existing cases of hip dysplasia on older dogs.