Critters Chronicle Blog

Brushing our pet’s teeth is something we all know we should be doing, but no one likes to do.  Attempts to brush teeth usually end up feeling like a battle and because of that we all have a tendency to “forget” or to give up altogether.   Part of the problems is that pets just don’t want us in their mouth.  And yes, there are some pets that will never let you brush their teeth, but MOST pets will. Pets and owners need to be taught that not only is it NOT meant to be a form of torture, but that it can be a very positive way to have one on one time between puppy and owner.

Step 1: Start by rubbing or scratching their muzzle right over where the teeth are on a daily basis.  Don’t try and lift the lip or open their mouth in any way.  Do this on one side and then the other rewarding them with praise and a lick of the dental toothpaste from you finger and with a dental treat.  You want to continue using the toothpaste as a treat until the pet starts getting excited when they see the tube of toothpaste. (There are many different flavors of toothpaste available for pets, so if your pet does not like one flavor there are others to choose from to find one your pet will like.)

Step 2: Continue rubbing or scratching their muzzle right over where the teeth are only now start lifting their lips to see the teeth as well.  Again you want to continue using the toothpaste as a treat licked from you finger.
Step 3: Continue rubbing or scratching their muzzle right over where the teeth, but now when you lift the lip, rub your finger over their teeth without toothpaste. Continue using the toothpaste as a treat.
Step 4: Continue as before only start rubbing the toothpaste on their teeth.
Step 5: Eventually you will be able to move on to a figure brush or a toothbrush.

Each step could take a couple of days or a couple of weeks, but the key is to TAKE IT SLOW, and always reward them for each positive step.

By brushing your pet’s teeth at home you may be able to decrease the amount of periodontal disease and plaque build-up in your pet’s mouth. 

This applies to cats as well as dogs.

**VERY IMPORTANT: If your pet is aggressive or prone to biting you can substitute a tooth brush in place of your finger in the steps above. HOWEVER if there is any sign of aggression STOP!  There are other safer ways care for your pets teeth that won’t result in a trip to the ER for you.

WHEN SHOULD I START?

The best time to start is when pets are puppies and kittens.  Your pet will be much more open to having their teeth brushed if they learn it from an early age.  And just as with children as long as they have teeth they should be cared for.

If you have an older pet, the best time to start is after a dental cleaning.  You have a clean slate to work with and there shouldn’t be as much sore gum tissue or bad teeth as there could be before a dental.

SO WHAT IF I JUST CAN’T BRUSH MY PET’S TEETH?

There are special dental diets and treats available from your veterinarian that are designed to help break down tartar, prolonging the time between dental exams and cleaning procedures.

Oral rinses and additives to a pet’s drinking water are also available to help minimize the amount of harmful bacteria present in your pet’s mouth.  The less bacteria present the less plaque and tartar buildup.

Dental disease in pets, just as in humans, can be controlled with the proper care. Ask your vet to evaluate your pets teeth and recommend the best course of action for your pet.

Click here to check out our special dental offers for the month of February!!

There are 5 main steps to a professional dental cleaning and polishing.

Step 1 Oral Cleaning

All the teeth are cleaned by the use of hand scaling and ultra-sonic scalers.  Tartar and plaque are removed on the tooth surface and under the gum line.

Step 2 Tooth by tooth assessment

• Each tooth is evaluated for movement, fractures, sores, bleeding, receding gums, and cavities.
• Teeth are probed and pockets measured. (A pocket is a detachment of the gum from the tooth roots)
• Radiographs are taken to evaluate bone loss and tooth root damage or infection.
• Extra or missing teeth are noted and recorded.
• The gum tissue is examined for infection or excessive growth.
• All findings are charted on a dental evaluation chart.

Step 3 Treatment

Once evaluated, each tooth is treated as needed whether it be subgingival scaling ( removing tartar from under the gum line), extraction, removal of excess gum tissues, or referral to a dental specialist for root canal or other treatment.

 
Step 4 Prevention

• The teeth are polished to smooth out any grooves in the enamel to make it harder for bacteria to attach to the tooth.
• The mouth is then flushed with a bacteria killing rinse that removes debris and other infectious agents from the subgingival area, allowing the mouth to heal without the fear of infection.

Step 5 At Home Care

• Medications such as antibiotics and pain medications may be needed to help the teeth heal properly after a dental cleaning.
• There are special dental diets and treats available from your veterinarian that are designed to help break down tartar, prolonging the time between dental exams and cleaning procedures.
• Oral rinses or additives to a pet’s drinking water are available to help minimize the amount of harmful bacteria present in your pets mouth.

Ask your vet about special toothpaste and tooth brushes that you can use. Dogs and cats require a special kind of toothpaste. By brushing your pet’s teeth at home you may be able to decrease the amount of periodontal disease and plaque build-up in your pet’s mouth. 

Dental disease in pets, just as in humans, can be controlled with the proper care. Ask your vet to evaluate your pets teeth and recommend the best course of action for your pet.

Click here to check out our special dental offers for the month of February!!

Lets face it, when in comes to caring for our pets (vaccines, heartworm prevention, parasite prevention, etc) one of the last things anyone want to hear the vet say is, “Fluffy also needs to have a dental.”  Everyone has that little voice inside their head saying, “But all he has is a little bad breath?”

 BUT Imagine what your dentist would say to you if you didn’t brush your teeth for… 

Here are a few other points to ponder:

1. Its more than just bad breath! At minimum its inflamed gum tissue caused by bacteria; at worse it’s abscessed (infected) and loose teeth.  Either way it’s painful!

2. Routine dental cleanings are just as important for pets as they are for people.   Bacteria from a pet’s mouth can also enter the blood stream where it will travel: hearts lungs, liver and kidneys can all have dangerous and long term effects from untreated dental disease.

Yearly dental cleanings not only minimize the amount of tartar and plaque build up that can infect and kill teeth, but it can help prevent long term adverse effects throughout the body.

3. Prevention is KEY!!!!!  The more preventative care you do at home decreases the frequency and severity of the dental cleanings needed with your veterinarian.

There are special dental diets and treats available from your veterinarian that are designed to help break down tartar, prolonging the time between dental exams and cleaning procedures.

Oral rinses or additives to a pet’s drinking water are available to help minimize the amount of harmful bacteria present in your pet’s mouth.

BUT NOTHING BEATS BRUSHING YOUR PETS TEETH!

Ask your vet about special toothpaste and tooth brushes that you can use. Dogs and cats require a special kind of toothpaste. DO NOT USE HUMAN TOOTHPASTE. Most human toothpaste is not meant to be swallowed. Brushing your pet’s teeth at home decreases the amount of periodontal disease and plaque build-up in your pet’s mouth. 

Click here to check out our special dental offers for the month of February!!

The holidays are over and it’s time for everyone’s favorite New Years Resolution… shedding those recently gained and very unwanted holiday pounds.  I myself am no stranger to this New Years resolution, and I am also no stranger to failing miserably in my attempts.  I find though that where I fail in controlling my own eating habits; I am more responsible when it comes to my pets.  Whether it is from a decrease in activity or an increase in holiday goodies; our pets suffer from the same winter weight gain issues that their humans do.  So what can we do to help “Fluffy” keep her girlish figure?

Here are some helpful hints for losing those extra pounds

Good Nutrition – a healthy food formulated for your pet’s life stage is the perfect place to start, but your veterinarian may recommend a special prescription diet food to help your pet lose weight more easily.

Measure, measure, measure – Saying that you only feed 1 cup of food a day isn’t exactly accurate when that cup is a large fountain drink cup.  A marked measuring cup of appropriate size should be used to help you measure how much food you are actually giving at each meal.

Meal feeding – Feeding several small measured meals may keep your pet from begging or snacking when he or she is bored.

Healthy treat choices – Treats do have calories no matter how much we wish they didn’t. As a matter of fact, often pets get more calories in the treats that we feed them than they do in their actual meals. Offer vegetables instead of cookies to keep the extra calories to a minimum. You can reward your pet without putting on those extra pounds.

Exercise – Burning calories is a great way to lose weight. Low impact activities are the best place to start: walking, behavioral training, or swimming. When your pet’s endurance increases try playing fetch, jogging, or agility classes. Start slowly to prevent injury. For an inactive patient a few exercise events of 10 minutes duration are a better start than 45 minutes of steady activity.

Monitor your Pets Weight- It is important to bring your pet in monthly for a weight check on approximately the same day every month and keep a chart of how much your pet loses. 

But Be Careful!
Sudden transitions to less fatty diet foods may cause your pet to go on food strike because of curb appeal or an upset tummy from a sudden diet change. Please use our food transition guidelines to ease that transition.

Like everything there can be too much of a good thing. Weight loss of more than 2% per week for dogs and more than 1% per week for cats is not healthy and can cause problems that we want to avoid.

Christmas is fast approaching.  Here are a few tips on how to have a safe and happy holiday!

Many holiday plants are toxic to pets: Mistletoe, Christmas Rose, Holly, Poinsettia, and Philodendrons are just a few.
Avoid placing edible presents under the tree.  Pets have an amazing sense of smell andmay take it upon themselves to open and devour the holiday goodies.
Be sure to keep electrical chords, tinsel, and glass ornaments out of reach of your pet.
Never put a ribbon around your pets neck. Although it may be festive, their potential to be injured greatly increases.
People food of for PEOPLE not pets! 
            Chocolate is just as toxic for your pet at Christmas as it is the rest of the year. Other food such as macadamia nuts, yeast dough, alcohol, grapes and raisin can also be toxic.  
            Even with it being the holidays, avoid giving your pet any leftovers from your meal as it can cause severe GI upset like diarrhea, vomiting and pancreatitis.
            Chicken bones and turkey bones can splinter when eaten and cause serious injury to your pet.
             Secure your trash can so that your pets cannot tip them over and get into unwanted items.   Items that were used with the food such as the string to tie the turkey, aluminum foil, plastic wrap or wax paper can be very appealing to your pet but very dangerous if ingested.
Keep Holiday candles, candle warmers, or warmed pot-pourri’s out of reach of pets. Curious noses or paws could be burned or cause serious fire.
Keep you pets ID tags on at all times.  Expected and unexpected holiday guests provide ample opportunity for your pet to escape. 

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!

 

 

I’m going to start by saying that I know ticks must serve some kind of purpose in the grand circle of life, but as far as I’m concerned they’re just a blood sucking parasite that do nothing but spread disease.  No really they are a blood sucking parasite and they really do spread a disturbingly large number of very serious diseases.

I know I say this every time, but lets start at the beginning.  Most of the ticks in the US (at least the ones that we’re concerned about) are ’3-host’ ticks.  What does that mean?  Well, once a tick hatches from  the egg it goes through 3 different life stages: larva, nymph and adult.  For each one of those life stages, the tick attaches itself to a different host, thus 3-host ticks.  In Stage 1, or the larval stage, the hosts are primarily white-footed mice or birds.  Birds are also one the the biggest reasons for the spreads of ticks to new areas of the country.  In stage 2, the nymph (or teenager) stage, the hosts are primarily humans, deer, foxes or rabbits.  And in stage 3, the adult stage, the hosts are usually cats, dogs, deer, and occasionally humans.  An important fact to remember is that the nymph and adult stages can both transmit disease.  As long as a tick can feed it can transmit disease. It can take anywhere between 5 hours and 48 hours, depending on the disease, for a disease to be transmitted.  As small as the nymphs are (and even some of the adults) you may not even know you’ve been bitten before its too late.
 http://www.capcvet.org/recommendations/ticks.html

But why are we so worried about this NOW?  Why weren’t we as concerned about this 10 years ago, 20 years ago?  Because the number of ticks is growing rapidly. For starters there are more deer and other wildlife than before.  With a desire to preserve natural habitats and vegetation and the use of less pesticides than in the past we have essentially created the perfect environment for ticks.  And with our growing fascination with wildlife (bird feeders, squirrel feeders, deer feeders etc), wildflower gardens, and yards with trees.  We are essentially inviting ticks to take up residence in our own back yards.  In addition, people with pets have become more travel savvy and pets are being exposed to more tick infested areas like national parks and forests, dog parks and hiking than ever before.

So what kind of ticks should I be most worried about?  The 4 most common ticks are: 

The Deer Tick: (or Black-legged tick) Ixodes scapularis is found in eastern North America.
The primary diseases spread by the Deer Tick are:
1. Lyme disease (There are 30,000 reported cases of Lyme in US every year)
2. Human babesiosis
3. Human Ehrlichiosis (HGE) (a bacterial infection)
4. Tick-borne encephalitis.
5. Human and canine Anaplasmosis

The American Dog Tick: Dermacentor variabilis, is found throughout the United States.
The primary diseases spread by the American Dog Tick are:
1. Rocky Mountain spotted fever (transmit after only 5-20 hours of feeding)
2. Tularemia (hunter’s disease).
It is NOT known to transmit Lyme disease or Babesiosis.

The Lone Star Tick: Amblyomma americanum is distributed spreads the southeastern United States, and along the eastern coast as far north as New Jersey and New York.
The primary diseases spread by the lose Start Tick are:
1. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
2. Lyme disease
3. It is also suspected of causing tick paralysis in dogs
4. Tularemia (hunter’s disease) in humans.
5. Canine and human Ehrlichiosis

The Brown Dog Tick: Rhipicephalus sanguineus is one of the most widely distributed ticks in the world.
The primary diseases spread by the Brown Dog Tick are:
1. Ehrlichia canis (dog Ehrlichiosis)
2. 4 different strains of Rickettsia. (R. rickettsia, aka Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, R. belli, R. rhipicephali, R. montana)
3. Babesia canis or canine Babesiosis.

http://www.cvbd.org/4169.0.html

SO WHAT DO I DO??!
Prevention, prevention, prevention, prevention!  Get your dogs AND your cats on a preventative and KEEP them on it… ALL YEAR ROUND!  And if you find a tick on you or your pet let your doctor or veterinarian know.

The Thanksgiving Holiday is a time for family, friends and food…  lots and lots of food.  And we want to share the holiday with our 4-legged family as well, but no one want to spend it at the emergency clinic so here are few important things to avoid: 

• Keep Holliday candles, candle warmers or warmed pot-pourri’s out of the reach of your pets.  Curious noses and paws could be burned or cause serious fires.
• Foods such as Macadamia nuts, yeast dough, alcohol, grapes and raisins can also be toxic to your pet.
• People food is for people, pet food is for pets.  Even with it being the holidays avoid giving your pets any leftovers from your meal as it can cause severe GI upset like diarrhea, vomiting and pancreatitis. 
• Chicken and Turkey bones can splinter when eaten and can cause serious injury to you pet. 
• Secure your trash cans so that your pets cannot tip them over and get into unwanted items.  Items that were used with food such as the string to tie the turkey, aluminum foil, plastic wrap even wax paper can be very appealing to your pet, but very dangerous if ingested.
• Provide your pet with a quiet refuge away from the hustle and bustle of holiday guests.  Too much attention can become upsetting to your pet and can cause them to become more irritated and agitated than usual.
• Be certain to have your pets current ID tags on at all times.  Expected visitors or even surprise guests provide opportunity for your pet to escape.
  
  If you suspect that your pet may have ingested or been exposed to a potential toxin or hazard contact your veterinarian immediately or call
  National Animal Poison Control Center (NAPCC) 1.800.548.2423.

OK so let’s start from the beginning.  How do our pets get fleas? A common misconception is that fleas jump from pet to pet. In actuality when most pets get fleas they are newly hatched from the pupae or the cocoon-like stage. The flea hatches when it senses the heat of a potential host and jumps on, and a flea can hatch from its cocoon in as quickly as 3 seconds. Once on a host (our pets), female fleas start producing eggs within 24-48 hours. One female flea can produce 50 eggs a day, 350 eggs a week. The eggs are slick and designed to slip off the pet and into the environment where the pet rests. What does this mean for you? Well, think about where your pet likes to sleep or spend most of its time… in a kennel, on the living room carpet, the couch… your bed??? In an environment where there are plenty of hosts to feed off of, it can take as little as 10 days for a flea egg to grow into an adult.  However, fleas in the pupae or cocoon stage can survive for up to a year! And in less that a month’s time, you can have more fleas than you know what to do with. http://www.capcvet.org/recommendations/fleas.html

SO LET’S TALK FLEAS!
Do any of these apply to you?

1. My pet doesn’t have fleas.

TRUTH 1: If your pet doesn’t have fleas, great! But why take the risk?  It is so much easier to prevent fleas that to get rid of them once you have them in your house.  And since it takes less than a month to go from one flea to an infestation, you won’t even see it coming.  But even if you are still considering not using a flea preventative think about this: fleas transmit Tapeworms, to both pets AND humans, as well as diseases like Bartinella (Cat Scratch Fever) and Richettsia (Typhus), and plague. And yes there are on average 20 cases of human plague in US each year.

2. My cat is indoor only and doesn’t get fleas.

TRUTH 2: Cats are just as susceptible as dogs to fleas.  As a matter of fact it is the Ctenocephalides felis or the Cat Flea that is the most common flea in the US. The reason you may not be seeing fleas on you cat is because cats are really good flea groomers.  So usually by the time you see fleas on your cat it’s because there are so many they can’t groom them off fast enough.

3. I only need flea preventative in the summer months.

TRUTH 3: Keep your pet on a preventative year-round.  As we said above the pupae or cocoon stage can survive for up to a year!  That means as soon as you stop using flea preventative your pet can “wake up” the fleas and it will start all over again… especially in the winter months!

4. If my pet gets fleas I just bathe them in Dawn to kill the fleas.

TRUTH 4: Dawn will drown fleas.  However, it will only kill some of the fleas that are on your pet at that moment.  It will not kill ANY of the fleas that jump on you pet after the bath is over.  In addition Dawn is a degreaser, which means if you have any flea preventative on you pet it will strip it all off and now you have a clean pet with no flea protection. Stick with dog shampoo! It’s easier on your pet’s skin too.

5. I’m use a flea preventative on my dog but is doesn’t work.

TRUTH 5: Flea shampoos and flea collars don’t work all that well for killing fleas, and neither do a lot of the over the counter topical preventatives.  As with most things, the ones you get from your veterinarian will work better and be safer for your pets than the ones you get over the counter.  But if you think it’s not working here are a few things to check:
          1. Double check (even triple check) with your veterinarian that you are applying it correctly.  Yes, it could be as simple as that.  If you are having a major flea issue, have your vet apply it for you so you know it’s applied correctly.  AND USE THE FULL DOSE.
         2. You can’t just treat the pet that is having the flea problem.  ANY animal can be a host for fleas.  YOU HAVE TO TREAT ALL YOUR PETS! (the ones inside and outside)  If you have 10 pets you have to treat all 10 pets or you will NEVER get rid of the fleas.
        3. Don’t bathe your pet.  Ok, so this one varies a little.  With some flea preventatives it’s OK to bathe your pet, some you can only bathe with a soap free/detergent free shampoo, and some you can’t bathe at all.  So what do you do?  Bathe your pet in a regular dog shampoo (oatmeal shampoos or detergent free shampoos are the best), wait 24- 48 for your pet to fully dry, and then apply the preventative. If you need to bathe your pet more frequently than once a month talk to you vet first about what kind of preventative you’re using and see what options you have. But NEVER… EVER bath you pet in Dawn.  It will strip off any preventative you may have applied and then you’re back to square one. 
       4.  If you are still having flea problems… and you might, you may have to think about treating the environment (yard, house) as well as your pets.

JUST REMEMBER: This is a long process.  You’re not going to get 100% results within the first month.  You may not get 100% results within the first 3 months.  That’s why it is so important to be diligent with preventatives for all your pets, because the alternative is….

We have all seen the “reality” shows where the emergency room doctor yells to his nurse, “I need 2 liters of blood STAT! This patient needs a transfusion now or he is not going to make it!”

To me this conjures pictures of gaping wounds and squirting jugular veins. And while this does happen every day to people, it can also happen to our four-legged friends as well. So while the local hospital is well stocked with every type of blood needed for such emergencies, where does the blood come from when a dog needs a transfusion?

There is a wonderful place called the Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank that supplies blood all over the country to more than 500 animal hospitals every year. While the idea of dog blood donation is not a new one in the veterinary industry, it is certainly a new one for pet owners. In years past, and in some instances still to this day, canine blood was collected from dogs specifically kept for this purpose alone. They are caged animals that are taken out when a donation is needed and returned to their cage until they are needed again! Sounds pretty awful right?

So when the folks who started the Blue Ridge Veterinary Blood Bank put their heads together, the idea they came up with was to use canine volunteers. These are dogs that live with families who love them and live happy, normal lives. The dogs they use want to volunteer! How do we know this? Because the dogs willingly lay on a table, spooning with the technician and gobbling down more treats than any dog should have in one day and come out happier than when they went in! If for any reason the dog is not completely at ease with the process, the BRVBB team will stop what they are doing and let the pet come back another time.

There are a few guidelines for donor dogs:

1. They must weigh more than a healthy 35 pounds (no chubby Chihuahuas)
2. They must be between the ages of 9 months and 8 years
3. They must be on heartworm prevention and up to date on vaccines
4. They can not be on any long term medications (with the exception of thyroid medication)
5. They need to be able to lay still (with help) for ~10-15 minutes
6. They must have owners that are willing to make the commitment to bring the pet in to donate every 5-7 weeks

So human nature may make us ask, what’s in it for me? Your dog will have yearly blood work which includes: CBC/Profile, Heartworm and Lyme tests, and Brucella testing. And what does this all cost? For you…NOTHING! Simply your time. The BRVBB spends ~$400 per year on their donors making sure they are healthy! And all they ask for in return is your commitment to their cause.

One donation sample can turn into 4 life saving products. So one dog can save up to 40-50 lives per year! For a young donor, that could means hundreds of lives over the course of their commitment. Just imagine how happy you would be if it was your pet that was saved by the generosity of another family.

If you would like to learn more about the organization, you can visit their website at http://www.BRVBB.com or ask one of our staff members. We are honored to be the only blood donation site in Washington County for the BRVBB and many of our dogs are already donors. Our goal now is to get more families involved! Rest assured, we get no kick back from this except the satisfaction of knowing that we are helping animals in one more way.

Please feel free to contact us or the BRVBB directly to sign your dog up!

Halloween was one of my favorite holidays growing up (second only to Christmas).  We would have a community Halloween party every years where we would all dress up, play games, carve pumpkins and come home with enough candy to make us sick for a week. As an adult I still love Halloween.  I still like the costumes and the parties, but the getting sick on candy part… not so much.  I also have pets now, and realize that my pets may not view Halloween as fondly as I do.  When it comes to Halloween, trick or treating and dressing up here are a few things to remember:

1. Don’t leave any pet outside unattended on Halloween.  Pranks against pets, especially Black cats, can be vicious.

2. Keep Halloween candles and lit pumpkins out of the reach of your pets.  Curious noses and paws could cause serious fires.

3. If you decide to dress your pet up for Halloween make sure the costume does not interfere with your pet’s ability to breathe, see, hear, move, or bark.

4. Keep your pet in a separate room during trick-or-treats hours.  Strange people in strange costume could frighten your pet.

5. Also make sure that your pet is properly identified in case they decide to escape out the door or break free from their leash.

6. Halloween treats are for people not for pets! 

• Chocolate is just as toxic for your pet on Halloween as it is the rest of the year.  The theobromine and caffeine in chocolate can cause vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rate and rhythm and possible seizures.  The higher the percentage of chocolate the worse it is for your pet.  Which means baking chocolate is worse than semi-sweet which is worse than dark chocolate which is worse than milk chocolate.
• Xylitol is a sugar substitute in many sugar free gums and candies.  It causes the blood sugar to drop and can lead to possible loss of consciousness, seizures, and liver failure.
• Avoid candy or foods that contain grapes and raisins that can cause vomiting and lead to kidney failure and possibly death.
• Even the wrappers on candy can be a hazard for your pets.  Cellophane and tinfoil can be very harmful if swallowed.

 If you suspect that your pet may have ingested or been exposed to a potential toxin or hazard contact your veterinarian immediately or call
National Animal Poison Control Center (NAPCC) 1.800.548.2423.

For a list of other safety tips visit: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-care-tips/halloween-safety-tips.aspx