| A common question asked by pet owners is, “Why does my pet excessively pant?” Since dogs have very limited sweat glands, panting is actually a major way for dogs and cats to dissipate heat, and so the the most common cause of panting would be a pet that is hot or running a fever. Panting can also occur due to perceived pain from some sort of illness, whether it is an external injury, or some sort of internal illness or disease process. |
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Many older pets will often pant due to a problem in their thermoregulatory center in their brains, and just like an elderly person, being frequently chilly or cold, elderly pets tend to run on the hot side and will pant often more frequently than younger pets. Finally, excessive panting in dogs and cats can sometimes indicate high blood pressure in middle aged or older pets. Thus, if no other causes of panting can be found, your pet’s blood pressure should be measured to see if hypertension exists and whether medical therapy is indicated.
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If your dog has recently had puppies, at approximately 3-4 weeks she will start to move away from the nursing puppies while standing on her paws and walking when they get tired of that. The denial and rejection from the mother grows stronger at this age, necessitating the puppies to find an alternative food source. First, the mother will simply stare at the puppies, and later will growl as she attempts herself to wean them off of her. At about this time it is good to start to offer an easily digestible food such as Halo or Artemis puppy foods, which contain all of the needed nutrients to satisfy the puppy’s growing needs.
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To help the food become easily digestible for the puppies, pour warm water on the food, and let it soak in. Once the kibble has come soft, you can stir it until it is an appropriate consistency to be eaten by lapping. You can easily encourage the new puppies to eat by wetting a finger in the food mixture, and letting them lick or suck on the end of your finger directing them closer to the food bowl. Only allow 15 minutes at a time for the food to be left out, offering it 3 to 4 times daily for this time period. Gradually reduce the quantity of the water, as they get used to the new diet.
The daily ingestion will depend upon the size and breed of dog and most excellent puppy foods do have feeding guidelines on the label. Feeding puppies a quality pet food from the beginning will help their immune system, so there is no need to supplement them with milk. In addition, adding milk can cause problems in some dogs because of their inability to digest lactose.
| “My dog is eating grass. Is that bad?”
Often times a pet parent will come in and ask me this question. However, the truth is that this behavior is usually nothing to worry about for canine guardians. Many dogs in fact will nibble on grass to cleanse their systems of toxins and poisons by ingesting the chlorophyll of the plant and trace minerals found in grass. However, some pets will ingest extra grass if their digestive tract or pancreas may be inflamed. In those cases, if the eating grass is accompanied by a decrease in energy, lower appetite, vomiting or other digestive upset, than a veterinary exam may be indicated to make sure there are no medical issues that need to be treated. |
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As long as a pet is not ingesting grass that has been chemically treated, than usually the ingestion of grass is not harmful for dogs. In fact, many more holistic animal guardians will often grow grass in their home or purchase grass like wheat grass or barley grass and give these to their pets.
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A loss of appetite in pets is unfortunately a common yet nonspecific symptom for pets that may be ill. The causes for a loss of appetite are numerous and can include anything from viral/bacterial causes, parasites, metabolic diseases of the liver, kidney or pancreas, foreign body ingestion, cancer, as well as inflammatory bowel disease to name just a few. |
If a loss of appetite is greater than a few days, or accompanied by other signs of illness (loss of energy, changes in behavior) or other signs of illness (vomiting or diarrhea) a veterinary assessment is always recommended to find out the cause of the symptoms and the best treatment plan.
If there is a history of simply nonspecific loss of appetite (i.e without other more serious or prolonged signs of illness), many times animal guardians can tempt such pets to eat by adding a new or different wet food diet to a pet’s plate. Sometimes adding some bland hamburger and rice, or baby food to their every day kibble, can help if a pet has a mild upset stomach.
Pepcid AC (Famotidine) can be often used at a dose of one half mg per pound, once to twice daily, and can help if a pet has a sour stomach to enhance appetite. B-complex vitamins given orally, and/or brewers yeast added to meals can often increase appetite and palatability of many foods.
Has your pet ever experienced a loss of appetite? What were some ways in which you helped your pet to regain their hunger?
| This week (May 15-21, 2011) is National Dog Bite Prevention week. Every year almost 5 million people are bitten by dogs, with the highest incidence being in children and the elderly. Proper training and socialization, as well as educating children on when and how to approach strange dogs can all help in lessening dog bite episodes. |
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There are several tips animal guardians can implement to lessen dog bite encounters. The cornerstone of any prevention is keeping dogs healthy and current on vaccinations such as rabies, as well as on both internal and external parasite control for heartworms and fleas and ticks. Healthy pets will less likely bite.
In addition, one should never be impulsive when selecting a pet or breed. Puppies should be socialized as young as possible during their vaccination series so that they are at ease around people and other pets. Neutering and spaying can decrease hormonal influences on aggressive behavior. Walking and regular exercise help provide mental stimulation and augment health and wellbeing.
Always use a leash on pets in public, as well as use secure gates in backyards. Always be alert for potentially dangerous situations, and teach children not to approach strange dogs without adults being present and/or permission from the animal guardians. Pet parents should never leave children and young babies alone with dogs.
For additional information on ways you can help reduce the risk of dog bites, visit the AVMA web site for brochures, podcast, and more.
| A common question I receive from pet owners is, “What can I do about my dog who keeps eating their own feces?”
The correct term for this behavior is coprophagy, and the answer to this question would depend upon other signs of illness (i.e diarrhea or weight loss) and/or the age of the pet. Many young puppies with intestinal parasites will ingest their own feces, but in some cases puppies without parasites may ingest their own feces as well. Some puppies will outgrow this habit, or it will resolve if parasites are treated. |
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Sometimes poor quality diets can be involved with this behavior, so an all natural diet such as Nature’s Variety or Halo can be tried to see if the problem resolves. Adding enzymes to the meals like NaturVet Digestive Enzymes may help as well, and there is also For-Bid, which curbs this type of behavior. If an adult pet has chronic diarrhea and/or weight loss accompanying the feces eating, a full workup including testing for chronic digestive or absorptive disorders should be done by your veterinarian.
Coprophagy is not dangerous to a particular pet and in most cases is more of a gross nuisance to clients, rather than a serious medical problem that needs worry or attention. Many animal guardians will try various home remedies such as tomato juice added to food, however, these remedies are often only partially effective in my experience at best.
| As cats age one of the more common behavioral complaints reported to veterinarians is why cats vocalize or howl, acting very restless at night. While cats do undergo senile geriatric changes, these types of behaviors often indicate an underlying illness or disease. |
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Many elder cats who vocalize like this often suffer from high blood pressure. This high blood pressure can be a primary problem or secondary to kidney, thyroid, or heart disease. It is important to have your elder cat examined and blood pressure measured. With early detection high blood pressure can be affectively controlled with medications like Norvasc (Amlodipine). If untreated, high blood pressure in cats may lead to sudden blindness and other internal organ damage.
| One of the biggest reasons pet owners neuter or spay their pet is to supposedly “calm them down” and/or improved unwanted or aggressive behaviors. However, research in recent years actually has been conflicting on this with several studies showing that aggression is actually higher in the neutered male dogs. |
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When looking at populations of dominance aggressive pets at veterinary university behavioral clinics, most of the presenting pets are indeed already neutered. In addition, it is also interesting to note that certain cancers (like prostate cancer) and diseases are actually higher in the neutered male.
In spite of this it is still recommended to neuter male pets to help control pet populations, however, I usually recommend waiting until a male pet is sexually mature at 1 year of age to neuter them.
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Throughout my time as a veterinarian I have had several clients inquire about the sudden loss of function of an area or organ of the body in their older dogs. In most cases this may appear as sudden weakness of the affected part, paralysis, or even seizure-like behavior. The affected area could include the face, limb, or trunk of the body.
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Fortunately, many times these episodes are brief and the dog will often return to function. However, in some dogs these episodes can be permanent or recur at a later time. Many times in general veterinary practice we are often asked what the specific causes of these stroke-like events are. Unfortunately, most of the time we can’t answer these questions only from physical exams, X-rays, or blood work unless there is an underlying metabolic disease.
In most cases veterinarians are left with calling them strokes or blood clots potentially from an underlying brain inflammation, infection, or tumor. Symptomatic management can be attempted and the prognosis of course will be determined by the underlying cause. These events are usually easily distinguished from more common spinal disc presentations, which can be usually diagnosed by physical exam, history and radiographs. However, if a client should want a definitive diagnosis for these stroke-like events, a full neurological workup would be needed including an MRI, cerebrospinal fluid tap and potential culture. Such workups are usually done at referral practices and are often quite expensive.
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Thunderstorm phobias are a common behavioral issue for both dogs and cats, and my clients ask for my recommendations on ways to help calm their pet’s anxiety. Initially, I will suggest natural remedies such as Be Serene or Composure. I will also sometimes recommend bach flowers used in Rescue Remedy for Pets, or mimulus or rock rose available from health food stores. |
If these don’t help then sometimes prescription medications such as Acepromazine or Xanax are needed.
The only problem with these types of medications is that every dog responds differently to these drugs, and sometimes the sedation effect can be prolonged long after the storm has passed, or depending upon the pet, these medications may not work.
