A visit to South America inspires a new goal to help dogs

You've probably heard the phrase "all dogs go to heaven." If you ask your dog if he likes his life, he'd probably tell you that living in your house is heaven on earth. But what about quality of life for dogs in other countries or continents? How are they treated?

I've been blessed to have traveled to more than 80 countries in my life and career. While there are places where canines live lives that are as good as or better than what ours have in North America -- I think of France as a great example -- in most developing countries and some modern societies, dogs are lucky to survive. Only a precious few thrive.

My wife, Teresa, and I recently took a six-week trip to South America, where we visited several countries, including Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. In Argentina, we saw many "paseadores de perros," or dog walkers, on the streets, with six to 10 dogs at a time. As you know, walking is good for both a dog's mind and body, and this is a great social activity. Unfortunately, the vast majority of dogs we saw were living lives that focused on the basics of food, water and shelter.

At home, we watch our dogs like children. We have fenced yards, walk our dogs on leashes and are diligent about protecting them from dangers ranging from antifreeze spills and poisonous plants to traffic and aggressive dogs.

In most of South America, many dogs are let inside to sleep at night but are turned out in the morning to go explore the farm, neighborhood or town. You see them moving down sidewalks or roadsides like commuters headed to work. They spend the day rummaging or begging for food, playing, grooming each other, exploring or snoozing in the sun. We never saw anyone physically abuse an animal by hitting, kicking or throwing rocks, but we also saw that people had little physical contact with the dogs. It was rare to see anybody petting or hugging them, let alone kissing them. They were largely treated like animals, not family members.

Almost all of the dogs on the street (who weren't being walked on a leash or carried) had fleas. It was two steps forward, stop, scratch, continue on. Or they'd lie down, close their eyes, wake up to scratch or bite those pesky fleas and close their eyes again. Because of the fleas, lack of regular bathing and poor nutrition, the dogs' coats were typically coarse, dry and thin, with skin that looked and smelled unhealthy.

Being a veterinarian and a lifelong pet lover, I always look for ways to interact with local dogs. I can tell you from having done this at least 100 times in six weeks, every time Teresa or I approached a dog, baby talked to him and pet him on the neck or chest, he'd close his eyes with pleasure and lean in for more. Many would roll over for a belly rub. Most of these dogs didn't suffer from physical malnutrition but instead from emotional starvation.

This trip and our travels throughout the world have redoubled our support of World Vets, who do so much for animals all over the globe.

I'm blessed as "America's Veterinarian" to have a large pulpit and a wide network of pet lovers. Teresa and I have made it a goal to find a way to provide free flea control to pets in most of South America before we leave to be reunited with our dogs in heaven. Giving every dog relief from fleas and offering more physical touch is our dream with deadlines.

Please consider donating to World Vets (worldvets.org) to help provide care and kindness to animals in need.

Q&A

Rabies vaccine

important for cats

Q: Does my indoor cat need a rabies vaccination? It's not required by law in our state. I want to protect her, but I worry that she'll get cancer from the vaccine or have some other bad reaction. -- via Facebook

A: I understand your concern, but even though the laws of many states don't mandate rabies vaccinations for cats, the American Association of Feline Practitioners considers rabies a core vaccine for cats, even those who live indoors. The reasons are twofold. One is because rabies is a public health problem. The other is because life is uncertain. There's no guarantee that your cat won't escape outdoors someday, or she may one day live in a home where she is allowed outdoors. And it's not unheard of for bats, the primary species causing rabies exposure in humans, to fly into homes through open doors or windows or to inhabit houses in areas such as attics.

According to a 2014 article in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, rabies was confirmed in 247 cats in 2013 (the most recent numbers available). That's more than in dogs, with only 89 cases during the same year.

To reduce the risk of vaccine-related cancers, my colleague Alice M. Wolf, DVM, an internal medicine specialist who speaks widely on vaccination, recommends using nonadjuvanted rabies vaccines in cats because they produce little to no inflammation at the site of the injection. That's important because it's suspected that chronic inflammation is associated with the development of vaccine-associated sarcomas.

According to the 2013 fact sheet on feline vaccinations from the AAFP, cats with a history of injection-site sarcoma believed to be associated with a rabies vaccine should not be revaccinated, although local rabies ordinances or statutes may apply. -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Shed pounds, help

pets at new gym

-- Want to work out and exercise your dog at the same time? If you're in Radcliff, Kentucky, near Fort Knox, you've struck gold. The Lost Pounds Fitness and Pet Center is set up so people and pets can hit the treadmill side by side. Founders Norma Cooper and Toshie Murrell wanted to help dog owners and their pets stay healthy. "Obesity is just as unhealthy for pets as it is for people," Murrell says. Fitness classes are available two to three times a week. The facility also offers day care, boarding and grooming and fosters animals in need of homes.

-- A veterinary clinic that cares for pets of people who are homeless finally has a full-time home of its own. Located in Sacramento, California, the Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Pets of the Homeless celebrated the grand opening last month of its new facility, the Tom Kendall Teaching Clinic, named in memory of its cofounder. Started in 1992, it spent 24 years operating in various temporary locations with the purpose of providing pets with exams, treatments, vaccinations, parasite preventives and spay or neuter surgery, all at no cost, supported only by donations. The clinic's current goal is to purchase more surgical equipment to become fully functional.

-- If you've ever giggled at the iconic "I can has cheezburger?" cat, you're familiar with the British shorthair. The large, handsome, dignified breed was the fifth most popular registered by the Cat Fanciers Association in 2015. People like them for their calm personality, wide variety of colors and patterns and love of sitting in laps (although they're not wild about getting carried around). Choose one if you'd prefer a cat who's happy to go no higher than your sofa when it comes to exploring, leaving your kitchen counters and curtains safe from feline incursions. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. They are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and are the authors of many best-selling pet-care books. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.

When the unthinkable happens and one pet wants to kill another, rehoming one of them can be the best -- and only -- solution

By Kim Campbell Thornton

At first, Clooney loved Esmeralda. He treated her gently, and everything was perfect. Then his love turned lethal. Clooney began to stalk her, lying in wait and attacking. Esmeralda feared for her life.

"Clooney did not ever draw blood, but I was right there and intervened instantly," says Deborah Wood of Hillsboro, Oregon. "I was truly afraid he would seriously hurt her or even kill her."

Clooney is 12 pounds of big, powerful cat. Esmeralda is 5 pounds of passive dog.

In the past, Clooney lived happily with the two papillons Wood had when she adopted the cat. After the death of her last papillon, she looked for a small, gentle dog that Clooney would like and adopted Esmeralda, a Chihuahua-mix.

But after their auspicious beginning, Clooney became increasingly aggressive toward the little dog. He batted at her with his paw, making her cower or run. He attacked when she came in through the door.

"The attacks began as swats of his paw with the claws in, and eventually became full attacks with him grabbing the dog and rabbit-kicking her," Wood says. "Esmeralda shook in fear when we'd return from walks and would struggle to not come inside."

Wood is an experienced pet owner, and as the aggression problem developed, she tried everything to make the situation work. She separated the two, placed Clooney on Prozac prescribed by her veterinarian and fed a cat food meant to have calming properties. She placed a Feliway diffuser in each room to help Clooney feel relaxed and dosed the water dish with Rescue Remedy. She had her veterinarian perform blood work on Clooney to rule out thyroid and other medical problems that can cause aggression. She gave Clooney attention on his own and played with him every day to tire him out.

For many cases of feline aggression, these steps would have resolved the problem, but nothing worked. Clooney was increasingly obsessed with Esmeralda.

The day Wood knew she needed to rehome one of them was when the smoke detector went off in Esmeralda's room because the battery needed replacing.

"While I wrestled the ladder into the room, Clooney darted between my feet and attacked Esmeralda," Wood says. "Imagine a cat running into a room with a blaring smoke detector screeching away. That is a cat that wants to attack."

Making the decision to place one of her pets in a new home was agonizing. Wood loved Clooney, and she'd had him longer -- four years.

"If the aggression toward the dog had started when I adopted her, I would have given up the dog," Wood says. "However, by the time it developed, I was really bonded to both of them."

Ultimately, Wood decided to rehome Clooney.

"He was the one who was aggressive, and I feared that if I kept him, I would have problems between him and future pets. Keeping Esmeralda gives me the ability to have future pets in the household with her. I was fortunate that both pets were very adoptable. If one had not been adoptable, I would have kept that one."

After trying desperately to place Clooney with someone she knew, including offering to pay for his pet insurance and promoting him on Facebook, Wood turned to a local shelter that specializes in cats. Clooney was adopted within two days of becoming available.

It's easy to give people grief for making the decision to place a pet, but Wood's story is not uncommon. She says a number of friends shared stories of pets who had attacked and even killed other pets. All said they wished they had rehomed the animals earlier.

"I struggle with the fact that I do not know the adopter, but it was the best choice I had under the circumstances. Those feelings are balanced by Esmeralda's happiness. She wags her tail when we come home rather than shaking in fear."

Q&A

Why do dogs bark

but wolves don't?

Q: I read recently that wild dogs like wolves don't bark. How come dogs do? -- via Facebook

A: Wild dogs aren't silent, that's for sure. They howl and yip and whine, but they don't make the percussive and repetitive sound that we know as the bark. It's one of the behaviors that separates dogs from wolves.

A Hungarian ethologist (someone who studies animal behavior) named Csaba Molnar suspects that dogs bark because, well, we designed them to. In several studies published in various scientific journals, he hypothesized that a dog's barks share information about his emotions or surroundings and that humans are able to understand what dogs are communicating with their barks.

In an article on Wired.com, Brandon Keim explains the results of one of Molnar's studies:

"Molnar's statistical algorithm showed that dog barks displayed common patterns of acoustic structure. In terms of pitch and repetition and harmonics, one dog's alarm bark fundamentally resembled another dog's alarm bark."

That makes sense because it's important for people to recognize an alarm bark quickly.

Other studies found that people could reliably identify the context of different dog barks. People with different experience with dogs were asked to describe the emotional content of several artificially assembled bark sequences based on five emotional states: aggressiveness, fear, despair, playfulness and happiness. The researchers found that people with different levels of experience with dogs described the emotional content of the bark sequences similarly.

According to study summaries, the authors suggest that dog barking emerged through selective processes and that dog barks may present a functional system for communication in the dog-human relationship.

The other thing to know about barking is that in wolves, it's a behavior seen only in juveniles. When we domesticated dogs, it's likely that we selected for more friendly, less threatening behavior and appearance, and perhaps the bark accompanied those traits. -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

CFA announces

Top 10 cat breeds

-- For the second year in a row, the exotic takes the top spot in the Cat Fanciers Association's registration statistics. The popular felines are Persians in all but name and coat, sporting plush short fur instead of glamorous long hair. Of the 42 breeds recognized by CFA, the remaining members of the Top 10 are the Persian, Maine coon, ragdoll, British shorthair, American shorthair, Scottish fold, abyssinian, sphynx and oriental. The 10 cat breeds with the fewest registrations are the American curl, European Burmese, Havana brown, American bobtail, Korat, burmilla, American wirehair, Turkish van, LaPerm and, the newest, ranking 42nd, the Chinese li hua.

-- Is your dog or cat at risk for the mosquito-borne Zika virus? Probably not, says Scott Weese, DVM, on his blog Worms and Germs. Weese, an internal medicine specialist at Canada's Ontario Veterinary College, says there's currently no evidence that pets can get sick from Zika virus exposure or that they could become infected by it and serve as a reservoir for the virus, passing it on to mosquitoes. "The risk to pets in areas where the virus is circulating (areas where there are Aedes egpyti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes) is probably very low," he writes.

-- At Vintage Books in Vancouver, Washington, Becky Milner might hold the title of owner, but she knows who really runs the show: 19-year-old Henry and 7-year-old Dickens, the 6,000-square-foot store's cats. Henry, the more sociable and charming of the two, greets customers, sprawls across keyboards and attends book signings, while Dickens naps on the shelves. Customers who come in ask about the cats before noting their reading needs. Not surprisingly, Henry has favorite people who come in just to visit him. The pair got the star treatment last month in an article in The Columbian on "business cats." -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. They are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and are the authors of many best-selling pet-care books. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.

How often should you vaccinate your pet? Annually is not always the answer

By Kim Campbell Thornton

How often do you have your dog or cat vaccinated? If you're still following an annual schedule, you may want to reconsider.

Vaccines save lives; there's no doubt about it. They teach the immune system to recognize and fight off invading organisms that cause severe and sometimes fatal diseases, such as distemper and parvovirus.

But vaccinating too often brings potential health risks. Vaccine reactions are rare, but they include mild itching or swelling; vaccine sarcomas -- cancer at the injection site -- diagnosed in as many as 20,000 cats per year; autoimmune hemolytic anemia in dogs; and anaphylactic shock leading to death.

Veterinarians have suspected for years that annual vaccinations for cats and dogs aren't necessary, but large-scale, well-controlled duration-of-immunity studies didn't exist to prove it one way or the other. Now, however, published studies have shown that immunity provided by canine and feline core vaccines lasts for at least three years and often for a pet's lifetime.

What does this mean for your dog or cat? Instead of a one-size-fits-all recommendation, your pet's vaccination schedule should be tailored to his individual needs, based on factors such as age, health status and prevalence of disease in your area. In most cases, though, the fewer and less frequent vaccinations received, the better.

Most pets need only what are known as core vaccines. They protect against the most common and most serious diseases. In dogs, the core vaccines are distemper, parvovirus, hepatitis and rabies. (Most states require dogs be vaccinated for rabies every three years.) In cats, core vaccines are panleukopenia, calicivirus, rhinotracheitis (herpesvirus) and rabies (if required by law).

For puppies and kittens, current recommendations are to begin immunizations no earlier than 6 to 8 weeks of age and repeat them every three to four weeks until the animal is 16 to 20 weeks old. To reduce the risk of maternal antibodies interfering with the vaccines, the final dose is usually administered when a pet is 14 to 16 weeks or older, followed by a booster vaccination at 1 year.

After that, pets can be revaccinated every three years. An alternative to triennial vaccinations is titers every three years. Titers, tests that determine whether the body has antibodies to disease, are reliable, and costs are typically comparable to those for vaccinations.

Titers don't measure whether antibody levels are "high" or "low."

"Any measurable titer to a specific antigen means you've got immune memory cells for that antigen," says veterinary immunology expert Jean Dodds, DVM.

Work with your veterinarian to determine which vaccinations are appropriate for your dog or cat, based on lifestyle and risk. For instance, outdoor cats benefit from the non-core vaccine for feline leukemia because they have a greater chance of exposure to the disease. On the dog side, a dog in Pennsylvania or Wisconsin who hikes in the woods frequently with his owner may be a candidate for the non-core Lyme disease vaccine, unlike a dog who lives in a high-rise in Chicago.

Those non-core vaccines, recommended only for animals at high risk, are the exception to the "every three years" rule.

"If they're not given annually, then immunity really will be lost," says Ronald Schultz, DVM, an internal medicine specialist and professor of pathobiological sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison. "Those non-core vaccines don't cause the immune system to maintain immunologic memory."

Finally, just because your pet doesn't need annual vaccinations doesn't mean you can skip an annual exam for him. Pets age more rapidly than humans, and an annual exam is important for catching problems early.

Q&A

The scoop on

dogs eating poop

Q: My dog, a healthy 13-year-old male German shepherd-bluetick coonhound mix, loves to eat stool droppings like candy. We live next to a conservation area with trails where others walk their dogs leash-free, as do we. He never eats any fresh droppings but finds dried ones to eat. I have done everything to stop him, short of putting him on a leash. Do I worry needlessly? -- via email

A: There's a name for that not-so-charming habit: coprophagy. It comes from the Greek words "copros," for "feces," and "phagein," meaning "to eat." For dogs and other species, it can be a natural behavior, but to humans, it's distasteful -- to say the least. Who wants to be kissed with that mouth?

We don't know exactly why animals dig poop, but we do know a few things about the tasteless habit. It's more common in dogs than in cats, and it's more common in females than in males. It's possible that females do it because it's normal for them to clean up after their pups in this way.

One theory as to why dogs eat poop is that they do it out of stress or boredom. Some people suggest that dogs who do this are lacking certain nutrients in their diet or aren't getting enough to eat. Dogs who have been scolded for pooping in the house may be attempting to hide the evidence of new transgressions. The behavior may also be in response to an underlying medical cause.

Besides the yuck factor, eating poop can result in a case of intestinal parasites. And if your dog snacks on manure from a horse recently treated with ivermectin, a common deworming agent, he could become sick.

Take him to the veterinarian to make sure the cause isn't health-related. Otherwise, since your dog seems to only eat poop that he finds on the trail, the easiest solution may be to fit him with a basket muzzle if you're unwilling to keep him on leash. -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Food truck for

Fido in Seattle

-- The food truck craze has gone to the dogs. The Seattle Barkery, owned and operated by Ben and Dawn Ford, rolls out such popular pet treats as air-fried chicken feet and duck neck, bacon "pupcakes," a canine ice-cream sundae -- served in an edible bowl with bacon sprinkles -- and a peanut butter and banana bone, to name just a few. Ingredients are, of course, human-grade and frequently organic. Humans can order their own separate treats -- and coffee, because this is Seattle -- but dogs are the primary customers.

-- The leading infectious cause of death in young cats is feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), caused by a virulent feline coronavirus. A vaccine for FIP is available, but it has little to no efficacy and isn't recommended by the American Association of Feline Practitioners. But a new treatment reported by Kansas State University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE may block the virus from replicating and stop the disease from progressing. The cats in their study recovered fully after treatment with an experimental antiviral. The authors report, "We found that antiviral treatment led to full recovery of cats when treatment was started at a stage of disease that would be otherwise fatal if left untreated."

-- Lucca, a U.S. Marine Corps German shepherd, saved thousands of lives through her patrol work in Afghanistan, where her job was to sniff out explosives. Where she was on the job, no human casualties occurred. But on her final patrol, she discovered a 30-pound bomb. During the search for additional explosive devices, one detonated. Lucca survived, but at the cost of her left front leg. Now she has become the first Marine Corps dog to receive the Dickin Medal, an award for animal bravery in wartime service created in 1943 by animal welfare pioneer Maria Dickin. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet-care experts headed by "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. They are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and are the authors of many best-selling pet-care books. Joining them is dog trainer and behavior consultant Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.