PetMeds^® Blog

Behavioral problems in dogs and cats are amongst the most frustrating problems presented to a general small animal veterinary practitioner.  Amongst the more common problems include:

-         The kitty who is defecating and/or urinating outside of the litter box

-         Aggressive pets who bite

-         Separation anxiety causing a pet to be destructive, vocalize excessively and/or urinate or defecate in the home when left alone for short periods

Because many of these behavioral problems have complex causes and many possible treatment approaches, they are often quite time intensive and often difficult to fit into a routine conventional veterinary 15 to 20 minute office visit.   And while veterinarians will often use prescription drugs like Prozac or Clomipramine to treat some of these disorders, the best long term treatment results also depend upon behavior modification techniques, in addition to drug therapies.  Often referrals to veterinarians who specialize in behavioral medicine yield the best results.  Sometimes natural calming agents like Be Serene, Composure Liquid, or Quiet Moments can help in certain cases.

There is an excellent well known veterinary behaviorist named Warren Eckstein, whose website www.thepetshow.com contains lots of useful behavioral information for animal guardians, as well as two wonderful books on the topic. No matter which approach is taken, treating any behavioral problem takes much time, patience, and commitment on both veterinarian and animal guardian’s part.

One of the more stressful times for both animal guardian and canine or feline companion is when a pet needs to be boarded at a local boarding or veterinary facility. While it would be ideal if we could have pet sitters take care of our pets in our homes while we are away or unavailable, there are times when it becomes necessary to board pets at these outside facilities. There are certainly both emotional and physical stress when boarding, in addition to the increased risk of stress induced infectious illness such as Bordetella infection in dogs and/or cats, as well as other upper respiratory or gastrointestinal infections. And while many kennels and boarding facilities require Bordetella/kennel cough vaccination, I find that this vaccination is one of the least effective vaccinations we have.

Most recently many kennels are requiring or suggesting the new canine influenza vaccination. This currently “conditionally-approved” vaccination has not been out long enough for me to comment on its safety or efficacy, so it is one also that I currently do not recommend. There are many things that an animal guardian can do for their pet to help ease the physical and/or emotional stress of boarding. Bringing the pet’s normal diet to the boarding facility is very important in reducing stress on the digestive tract and in cutting down risk of diarrhea and/or vomiting from sudden dietary changes. This is a great situation to use a probiotic such as NaturVet Enzymes & Probiotics, as well as Fast Balance available to enhance digestive tract immune system function while boarding.

Vetri-DMG liquid is also a wonderful oral immune stimulant that I often find helpful in both boarding dogs and cats. There are some great natural remedies to help with emotional stress such as Be Serene, Composure Liquid, and Rescue Remedy, which can easily be administered to boarding animals and can help cut down on emotional stress.

Finally, I find it quite important that animal guardians always visit a facility beforehand to get an idea whether pets are housed properly in adequate spaces and that the facility is kept neat and clean, and free of excessive odors. By following my advice here, I find that such simple steps can help insure that the boarding experience is as least stressful as possible, and cut down on increased risk of stress-induced diseases in our pets.

An emerging topic both in veterinary and human medicine is the recent concern of overuse of antibiotics.  With the emergence of resistant bacteria known as MSRA (methicillin resistant staph bacteria) and other resistant bacteria, many medical experts are cautioning health care practitioners to use antibiotics wisely, and only when there is clear evidence of bacterial infection.

When antibiotics are indiscriminately used in medicine, especially for nonbacterial conditions, that is what leads to this unfortunate set of circumstances. While antibiotics can certainly be life saving drugs, there are certain principles and ideas to keep in mind when and if these drugs are used. The first and most important is to use the most appropriate and least number of antibiotics for a particular body infection.

For example, in urinary tract infections of dogs and cats there are certain bacteria that are more likely to be seen, which will influence which drugs veterinarians should choose. Many times staph infections and/or E coli bacteria are involved with these urinary tract issues, which are usually easily resolved with prescription antibiotics such as drugs of the penicillin class like Amoxicillin or Clavamox, as well as cephalosporins like cephalexin.   It is not necessary to use the “big gun” antibiotics on simple urinary tract infections such as Baytril, as this practice can lead to bacterial resistance. If a pet has recurrent urinary infections, then sterile urine collected by the veterinarian and submitted to a laboratory for a urine culture will generate a list of which, if any antibiotics should be prescribed.   This is especially important in cats with urinary tract inflammation, known as feline urologic syndrome (FUS), where greater than 90 percent of the time, even cats with active straining and blood in the urine do NOT have any bacteria involved in their condition.

If an infection is localized to the airways, then antibiotics such as Doxycycline and Baytril are often preferred due to their coverage against bacteria commonly involved with infections of the airways. And while many veterinarians will prescribe multiple antibiotics for pets with any infection, I highly discourage this practice due to the risk of bacterial resistance, and patient side effects most commonly involving the digestive tract.  Even in pets with nonspecific fevers, this indicates that a pet has inflammation, and not necessarily an infection. For example, many cats with sneezing and nasal discharge most commonly have viruses such as calici virus and/or feline herpes virus involved with their symptoms and would benefit from immune boosters like Vetri-DMG liquid from and/or echinacea and goldenseal rather than the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. Over the counter products like L-lysine can also be of help in these cats. One of the more disturbing trends I have seen in recent veterinary graduates is the overuse of multiple antibiotics for any illness in a pet.

I hope that with increasing articles about the risks of antibiotic resistance in medical journals, and the increasing public awareness about this concern, that antibiotic use of the future will be wisely and not overused.

Feline gingivitis/stomatitis is defined as inflammation of the gums and oral cavity commonly seen in many cats. While there can be specific causes of this chronic and frustrating inflammation such as viral infection with feline herpes virus (rhinotracheitis), calicivirus (FCV), feline leukemia virus and/or feline immunodeficiency virus, most of the time no specific causative agents can be found, placing the cause as ideopathic/immune mediated, which means that the cat’s immune system is attacking its own gums for unknown reasons.

While secondary bacterial overgrowth with bacteria such as Bartonella and many others can occur, these bacteria are rarely the primary cause of a cat’s red and inflamed gums. Symptoms include the appearance of a red line or swelling around the tooth line, which can progress up the gums, and/or to the rest of the oral cavity and tongue. Heavy and often offensive salivation and drooling, as well as difficulty and painful eating, as well as quivering jaws on manipulation on touch can all are seen to varying degrees.   The inflammation often extends to the root of the teeth leading to progressive dental decay and bone loss of the underlying jaw.

Various prescription antibiotics such as Metronidazole, Clindamycin, Antirobe and/or Doxycycline can help many cats with controlling overgrowth of bacteria, and periodic ultrasonic dental scaling can help but the condition often recurs.  Due to the immune nature of this condition, many veterinarians will often prescribe cortisone and other immune suppressive medications. However, these drugs usually don’t have long lasting beneficial effects. Ultimately the only therapeutic option that often works is extraction of especially the back teeth, but sometimes entire mouth teeth extractions are needed to lessen the inflammation.  Even when this procedure is needed, results are still not guaranteed. Feeding cat species appropriate diets, including canned food and/or properly balanced meat based homemade diets can be helpful before severe inflammation takes hold.

In my opinion giving cats raw meaty bones such as chicken wings help to sometimes remove plaque and clean the gums better than any commercial products. Natural products like Fidodent by Animal Essentials and Vetz Life Oral Care spray or gel can help in some cases. I’ve seen some cases respond to classic homeopathic treatment by trained veterinarians when patiently treated and evaluated over time. Animal guardians can learn more about homeopathic treatment options at www.theAVH.org No matter which approach is chosen, treatment of feline gingivitis/stomatitis is never easy, and will require long term commitment and patience on both feline guardian and veterinarian’s part.

While it is normal for a dog or cat to become occasionally gassy or flatulent, when the problem is more chronic, this can indicate more than just an inconvenience to an animal guardian in the line of fire. Most pets with chronic gas or flatulence often have an underlying intestinal imbalance or improper bacterial overgrowth in their intestinal tract.   Since over 75% of our immune systems resides and starts in the digestive tract, imbalances at this level can eventually lead to many sorts of chronic systemic issues as well, including chronic skin/ear allergies, joint, airway and urinary tract issues, all because of a “leaky gut”.

That is why it is important not to ignore that chronically gassy pet. The most important initial action in solving this problem is in looking at that pet’s diet. Many gassy pets are on processed commercial dry pet foods, which often contain an excess amount of grain often used as a cheap and economical protein source. Dogs and cats did not evolve to digest large amounts of grain, so when eating such foods, incomplete digestion often leads to such gas.  Unless your pet has a kidney, liver, or special urinary tract problem, meat-based high protein, high fat, low carb foods are much closer to what dogs and cats evolved to eat.

Natural diets such as Eat Great Be Well, Pet Guard and Wysong are all excellent commercial diet choices. Properly made homemade diets as found in Donald Strombeck’s book or Richard Pitcairn’s book are even better. Adding digestive enzymes and probiotics such as NaturVet Enzymes & Probiotics can often help in digestion, as well as restoring and maintaining normal gut bacterial populations. This is even more important when a pet is under physical or emotional stress, or on any sort of chronic antibiotic therapy.

Other useful products include Prozyme to help in digesting nutrients as well.  With dietary and supplement therapy, not only can the inconvenience of gassy pets be often solved, but animal guardians are also promoting long term good health at the same time  as well.