And Gina Spadafori
Universal Press Syndicate
Three-day holiday weekends are busy times at veterinary emergency clinics. While most of the animals who'll end up in emergency care over the Fourth of July weekend will be there because they should be, others have problems that could probably wait until the regular veterinary hospital is open again.
If you're not a veterinarian yourself, it's sometimes hard to tell a mild health problem from an emergency. But every day, people spend money they didn't need to for emergency clinic trips they didn't have to make. Knowing what's a true emergency and what's not can save you hundreds of dollars, since emergency clinics -- like human emergency care -- can be quite expensive. And it'll also help the emergency clinics take of the pets who truly need urgent care.
The first thing to do is figure out what you'll do if your pet has a medical emergency at night or on the weekend. That means calling your veterinary clinic or hospital now and asking about emergency or after-hours care. If your veterinarian refers clients to an emergency clinic after regular business hours, be sure you know which clinic it is, what the phone number is and how to get there.
With summer's big holiday at hand and lots of veterinarians closed for the three-day weekend, we want to revisit those problems that are definitely an emergency, in hopes of saving some lives.
You should be heading for the emergency vet if your pet has any of the following problems:
-- Seizure, fainting or collapse.
-- Eye injury, no matter how mild.
-- Vomiting or diarrhea -- anything more than two or three times within an hour or so.
-- Allergic reactions, such as swelling around the face, or hives, most easily seen on the belly.
-- Any suspected poisoning, including antifreeze, rodent or snail bait, or human medication. Cats are especially sensitive to insecticides (such as flea-control medication for dogs) or any petroleum-based product.
-- Snake or venomous spider bites.
-- Thermal stress -- from being either too cold or too hot -- even if the pet seems to have recovered. (The internal story could be quite different.)
-- Any wound or laceration that's open and bleeding, or any animal bite.
-- Trauma, such as being hit by a car, even if the pet seems fine. (Again, the situation could be quite different on the inside.)
-- Any respiratory problem: chronic coughing, trouble breathing or near drowning.
-- Straining to urinate or defecate.
Although some other problems may not be life-threatening, they may be causing your pet pain and should be taken care of without delay. Signs of pain include panting, labored breathing, increased body temperature, lethargy, restlessness, crying out, aggression and loss of appetite. Some pets seek company when suffering, while others will withdraw.
When in doubt, err on the side of caution, always. Better to be dead wrong about a minor medical problem than to have a pet who's dead because you guessed wrong about a major one. If you're not sure what to do, call. The veterinarian may need to see you, now.
SIDEBAR
Keep your pet cool when it's hot
The temptation to take a pet along to holiday gatherings can be great, but the danger posed by heat can be greater. Dogs -- especially those with short, broad muzzles -- don't handle heat well and can overheat to deadly levels in just a few minutes. If your dog shows signs of heat stress -- rapid, frantic panting and glassy eyes -- get him to a veterinarian immediately for emergency care.
Swimming is a great way for dogs to stay cool, but remember that not all dogs can swim (dogs such as bulldogs sink like rocks), and even a pet who's an enthusiastic and strong swimmer can get into trouble if pushed to exhaustion or if caught in dangerous currents.
If you do take your pet along, keep an eye on him to make sure he's not getting into trouble. For many dogs, staying home is probably the better option. -- Dr. Marty Becker
Q&A
Is missing tooth hurting sniffer dog?
Q: For the last three years I have been partnered with a drug-detector dog. The first year of our work together, he had surgery for bilateral laryngeal paralysis (a disease of the upper airway, making it difficult for the dog to breathe normally).
Then 10 days ago he had his lower right canine removed. Since then he has shown no interest in his work. He is also breathing heavily through his mouth. A colleague told me that detector dogs require their canine teeth to help them detect or search. Is this true? Also, is there a chance his laryngeal paralysis will come back? -- W.B., via e-mail
A: A dog's ability to detect odors is at least 10,000 times better than ours. That's why, for a dog, smell is the most important of all the senses. With your dog, who not only relies upon smell as a dog but also has a job that depends on his nose, your concern is understandable.
Drs. Gregg DuPont of the American Veterinary Dental College (www.avdc.org) and Kate Knutson of the American Animal Hospital Association (www.healthypet.com) were able to offer some advice, which we paraphrased:
The decreased sense of smell is not a direct result of the missing canine tooth. If fact, an infected tooth before removal can actually interfere with detection ability, because of strong odors created by the infecting bacteria in the mouth and from an overall sense of discomfort from chronic infection.
Your dog's loss of interest in detecting smells and his mouth-breathing may have started after the tooth was removed, but these symptoms are likely not related to the missing tooth.
The roots of canine teeth are long and curved, extending toward the back of the mouth. Because the roots extend deep into the jawbone, surgical extractions of these teeth are invasive. Both root curvature and length necessitate a significant portion of the jawbone to be removed in order to successfully extract the tooth. In addition, tissue is cut to get to the bone and arteries, and veins and small nerves are destroyed in the process. For several weeks there is considerable swelling in the tissue flap covering the extraction site.
The extensive nature of surgery and the postoperative swelling are likely contributors to your dog's decreased sense of smell. Stitches collecting food, bacteria and white blood cells can also affect the sense of smell. A drug reaction to antibiotics or pain medication taken after surgery can cause symptoms as well, which may be related to what you have seen.
Pain also contributes to behavior changes. Swelling of the bony socket that holds the tooth could be causing pain. Some dogs even tear out their stitches, leaving open bone exposed, and that can be extremely painful, as you might imagine. Your dog's panting behavior is likely a response to pain.
There can also be other, more serious reasons behind your dog's behavioral change, including a metabolic problem (such as renal failure) or aspiration pneumonia. Please take your dog back to your veterinarian for follow-up diagnosis and treatment as well as medication to address his pain.
You also inquired if laryngeal paralysis can reoccur following surgery. It would be unusual to see signs at the two-year post-surgery mark. However, nothing is impossible. If this is a concern, your dog needs to be lightly sedated so the surgical site can be evaluated. Again, talk to your veterinarian. -- Mikkel Becker Shannon
(Do you have a pet question? Send it to petconnection@gmail.com.)
PET BUZZ
Pet rental bans a big problem
-- Having a hard time finding a rental that will permit your pet? You're not alone. Apartments.com reports that 35 percent of renters with pets say it's very difficult to find an apartment that allows pets. Of renters who don't have pets but wish they did, 33 percent blame their lack of a pet on their building's no-animal policy.
-- Forget a better mousetrap! How about a smarter scarecrow? To keep away unwanted animals from your yard, try the ScareCrow, which uses motion sensors to spray animals with water from a garden hose. Suggested retail is $90 from garden centers or from the manufacturer Contech at www.scatmat.com.
-- Kids who want to be veterinarians are trying it on for size at Wannado City in Sunrise, Fla. That's where children can try their hand at veterinary medicine or more than 200 other occupations, including television director, police chief, dance club DJ and archaeologist. As reported in Veterinary Economics magazine, the animatronic dogs in the pretend veterinary hospital look so real that kids ask if they're OK when the "dogs" go motionless.
-- Less than 1 percent of the total feline population are pedigreed cats. The rest are usually cat-egorized by coat length in the United States, with veterinarians marking them in the records as domestic longhairs (DLH) or domestic shorthairs (DSH). Cats of no particular breed are sometimes also referred to as "alley cats" in the United States. In the United Kingdom, they're called "moggies." -- Dr. Marty Becker
ABOUT PET CONNECTION
Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "Good Morning America" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Gina Spadafori. The two are also the authors of several best-selling pet-care books.
On PetConnection.com there's more information on pets and their care, reviews of products, books and "dog cars," and a weekly drawing for pet-care prizes. Contact Pet Connection in care of this newspaper by sending e-mail to petconnection@gmail.com or visiting PetConnection.com.
THE SCOOP
Begging dogs can be reformed
People say they don't like their dog begging, but they have only themselves to blame for the problem.
When we like the dog's behavior, we say we're "sharing" our food. When we don't like the behavior, we call it "begging." And we foolishly expect our dogs to see the difference.
If you never want your dog to stick her nose in your plate, put her head on your knee or paw at your arm, then don't ever reward her with food when she does.
What if it's too late for that? With patience and consistency, you can change your dog's behavior by never rewarding the begging again. When your dog finally becomes convinced that she will never again see another piece of food delivered from your plate, she'll stop asking. You can also have her practice a behavior that's incompatible with having her nose on your knee -- a down-stay on the other side of the room while you're eating.
But be warned: If you're inconsistent, you'll actually make the problem worse.
Rewarding a behavior occasionally is called random reinforcement, and it's a powerful motivator. In fact, it's what keeps the gambling industry afloat. Even though gamblers know the house always wins, they keep pulling the handle on those slot machines because they get a little back now and then, and because sometimes they hit the jackpot.
Dog trainers use these principles to instill good behaviors in dogs, but many pet lovers inadvertently use them to teach a dog bad habits -- like begging. -- Gina Spadafori
BY THE NUMBERS
Where cats come from
Cat lore dictates that if you feed a stray cat, you've adopted a stray cat. That seems to be largely true, based on a 2004 survey showing where people get their cats (multiple answers allowed):
Pet store adoption program 3 percent
Shelter 15 percent
Breeder 3 percent
Friend/relative 43 percent
Kitten of own cat 15 percent
Classified ad 8 percent
Pet store purchase 4 percent
Stray 34 percent
Rescue group 3 percent
Veterinarian 2 percent
Other 5 percent
Source: American Pet Products Manufacturers Association
PET RX
Thick, shiny coat normal for ferrets
A ferret's coat should be shiny and thick, never dull or dry.
Hair loss, and texture and quality changes are causes for concern. External parasites such as fleas, ticks and mites can cause abnormalities, but they are usually visible to the naked eye. The most common cause for hair loss in a mature, neutered ferret is adrenal disease. The most common cause for hair loss in an intact female ferret during its reproductive active cycle is a hormonal imbalance.
Normal ferret skin is smooth and pink without flakes, scabs or discoloration. In the wild, ferrets would spend a portion of their day in underground dens, where there is a constant temperature of 55 degrees with high humidity. In our homes in the winter, the air can be very dry and warm, which can dehydrate the ferret's skin. A cool home humidifier can help.
Your veterinarian should investigate any lumps, scabs or discoloration of the skin as soon as possible. Skin cancer is a common problem in ferrets and can be successfully cured with early treatment. -- Dr. Marty Becker
Pet Connection is produced by a team of team of pet-care experts headed by "Good Morning America" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Gina Spadafori. The two are also the authors of several best-selling pet-care books. Contact Pet Connection in care of this newspaper, by sending e-mail to petconnection@gmail.com or by visiting PetConnection.com.
4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600