How to help your dog stay comfortable and unafraid during a flight

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

My dog Harper has been on at least 10 flights in her nine years, but most were no longer than three hours. Now we are facing a long-haul flight of 10 hours for an upcoming trip to France. Even for intrepid dogs like Harper, flying can be stressful, so I’m planning ahead to make sure everything goes as smoothly and comfortably as possible. These tips may help you, too, if you’ll be flying with your dog or cat this summer.

I started by asking my Pet Connection veterinary partner Dr. Marty Becker, founder of the Fear Free initiative, what advice he has for people flying with pets in the cabin, especially if it’s for the first time. He says making sure a pet is comfortable being in a carrier is job one.

Your dog’s crate or carrier should be her happy place. If it’s not already, start by leaving it out in a conspicuous area in your home. Let your dog investigate it at her own pace. Encourage exploration by tossing a favorite toy or treats inside for her to find. Any time you see your dog inside the carrier, praise her and hand out a couple more treats. Feed meals inside the carrier to create an even stronger positive association.

You can also use pheromone products to help your dog feel at ease inside the carrier, both at home and during the flight.

“Pheromone sprays and wipes contain a substance that mimics the calming pheromones that mother dogs produce after giving birth,” Dr. Becker says. “It’s a chemical communication processed by the vomeronasal organ rather than the olfactory pathway. Your dog may recognize it and associate it with a feeling of security.”

What should you look for in a carrier? An important consideration is that it must fit beneath the seat in front of you with your dog inside it. If possible, take it to the airport well before your trip and make sure it fits in the luggage sizers located near the check-in area.

Harper’s carrier (borrowed from a friend) has wheels and rolls in a stable fashion. Previous wheeled carriers frequently fell over, so test drive it before you get to the airport. This is good practice for your dog to become comfortable in a moving carrier. We also like this carrier because it zips open at the ends and at the top. Harper can easily walk into it or be lifted out of it.

Accessories we’re packing in a carry-on bag are a collapsible silicone dog bowl for dinner and breakfast and a water bottle with a bowl that sits on top. Squeeze it and water fills the bowl; release the pressure and the water drains back into the bottle. Wait to fill it with bottled water until you go through security.

Some dogs who suffer from motion sickness may do best flying on an empty stomach. Check with your veterinarian regarding whether this is a good idea, especially if you have a lengthy flight. Kari Puzzullo’s dog Prudence, who recently experienced her first two flights, prefers to have a little food in her stomach.

“On our flight, she started feeling a little sick on takeoff, but we just gave her a little food and she was fine,” Puzzullo says.

Should you give your dog a tranquilizer or sedative? It’s not a good idea.

“Drugs can have different effects at altitude,” Dr. Becker says. “Sedatives and tranquilizers can affect equilibrium and blood pressure, especially in snub-nosed dogs. Ask your veterinarian about other products that can help your dog stay calm without those side effects.”

Bon voyage!

Q&A

Is anesthesia

safe for cats?

Q: My cat needs to have his teeth cleaned, but I’m afraid for him to go under anesthesia. How safe is it? -- via Facebook

A: We know a lot more now about anesthetizing cats safely than we did when I began topractice more than 30 years ago. New drugs and advanced techniques contribute to a safe and comfortable anesthetic experience for cats. If your veterinarian follows the latest anesthetic protocols, your cat should come through his dental cleaning just fine.

A preanesthetic assessment of kidney, liver and bone marrow function is important to ensure that he doesn’t have any underlying conditions that could cause problems. For instance, if lab tests show that your cat has a high white blood cell count, which might indicate a bacterial infection, your veterinarian can modify anesthesia to make it safer or recommend that you wait until the condition is treated. Anesthesia protocols may also need to be modified for cats with conditions such as asthma, diabetes or hyperthyroidism.

Your cat should receive intravenous fluids while he’s anesthetized. Fluids help to prevent dehydration and low blood pressure.

It’s also important for cats to be kept warm before, during and after anesthesia. The body is better able to metabolize anesthesia drugs when it’s warm, not to mention it’s just more comfortable for your cat.

Last but definitely not least, minimizing stress throughout the process will help to ensure that your cat responds well to anesthesia. Practices that can help include use of pheromone products, Fear Free handling techniques (visit fearfreepets.com for more information) and appropriate use of pain-relief drugs before, during and after anesthesia.

Talk to your veterinarian beforehand so you understand exactly what will happen, what you can do before the procedure to ensure a good outcome, such as withholding food and water, and what to look for afterward to make sure you don’t overlook anything abnormal. -- Dr. Marty Becker

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

THE BUZZ

Experts predict

rise in parasites

-- Rates of heartworm disease and Lyme disease will rise this year, according to forecasts from the Companion Animal Parasite Council. The increase is linked to above-average rainfall and seasonal temperatures last year, which created ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes and ticks that spread the diseases. Areas where dogs and cats are at greatest risk for heartworm include the lower Mississippi Valley; locations in the Rockies and westward; and New England, the Ohio River Valley, the upper Midwest and Atlantic Coast states. Lyme disease will be a greater problem in western Pennsylvania, New York state, northwestern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota.

-- One-liner summer book reviews: Sam Kalda highlights 30 men who loved and were inspired by cats in "Of Cats and Men: Profiles of History’s Great Cat-Loving Artists, Writers, Thinkers and Statesmen" (Ten Speed Press). Tom Ryan’s tale of a sad old dog’s rejuvenation in "Will’s Red Coat" (William Morrow) is an uplifting look at the transformative power of the human-animal bond. Another Will takes center page in Patricia B. McConnell’s memoir "The Education of Will" (Atria Books), in which a fearful border collie helps her come to terms with her own abusive past.

-- A 3-week-old kitten named Burrito is one in 3,000, statistically. He’s that rare genetic anomaly: a male tortoiseshell cat. A tortoiseshell coat is orange swirled with brown or black. The gene that determines how orange coloration is expressed in cats is on the X chromosome. Female cats have two X chromosomes, while male cats have an X and a Y chromosome. Any cat with a calico or tortoiseshell coat must have two X chromosomes, meaning they are almost always female. In exceptional cases, a cat ends up with two X chromosomes and one Y, making him an unusual but sterile feline. -- 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.

Canine genomic research provides clues to breed development, appearance, behavior and disease

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

Family lore says we have Cherokee and Choctaw ancestry, but genetic testing didn’t bear that out. My dog Gemma, however, can claim to be a New World dog whose genetic ancestry -- at least some of it -- goes back 10,000 or more years to the earliest dogs who migrated with their people to populate the Americas.

Gemma is half-Chihuahua, according to her canine DNA test results from Embark. A study published last month in the journal Cell Reports found that Chihuahuas were among a group of dogs with large amounts of DNA unlike that of other breeds. Those breeds included the American hairless terrier, Chinese crested (not actually from China, despite the name), Peruvian Inca orchid, rat terrier, toy fox terrier and Xoloitzcuintli (also known as the Mexican hairless). Archaeological evidence of an ancient canine subspecies existed, but this study marks the first living evidence of it in modern breeds.

“What we noticed is that there are groups of American dogs that separated somewhat from the European breeds,” says study co-author and dog geneticist Heidi Parker of the National Institutes of Health. “We’ve been looking for some kind of signature of the New World Dog, and these dogs have New World Dogs hidden in their genome.”

Scientists examined gene sequences from 1,346 dogs representing 161 modern breeds to assemble a canine evolutionary tree. It’s the largest and most diverse group of breeds studied to date and includes dogs from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

What’s the value of such a study? It has several purposes. For one, the map of dog breeds will likely help researchers identify disease-causing genes in both dogs and humans.

“Using all this data, you can follow the migration of disease alleles and predict where they are likely to pop up next, and that’s just so empowering for our field because a dog is such a great model for many human diseases,” says the study’s senior co-author and dog geneticist Elaine Ostrander of the NIH. “Every time there’s a disease gene found in dogs, it turns out to be important in people, too.”

One interesting finding was evidence of shared diseases across groups of dogs. For instance, collie eye anomaly (CEA) is a disease that affects development of the choroid in herding breeds such as the Australian shepherd, border collie, collie and Shetland sheepdog. But it also affects Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers, which until this study were not known to share ancestry with herding breeds. The analysis showed that collies and Shetland sheepdogs were strong but undocumented contributors to the duck tollers' ancestry, making them the likely source of the CEA mutation in that breed.

The study also highlighted how the most ancient dog breeds evolved to perform certain roles. Humans likely began with certain types of dogs -- such as sleek, leggy dogs with strong prey drives for hunting and mid-size dogs for moving flocks -- and then further selected for specific physical traits. The cultural move from hunting to agriculture may have instigated the formation of breeds in multiple regions.

“I think that understanding that types go back a lot longer than breeds or just physical appearances do is something to really think about,” Parker says.

More than half the dog breeds in existence have yet to be sequenced. The researchers plan to keep collecting dog genomes -- often acquired from DNA samples provided by owners at dog shows -- to fill in the gaps.

Gemma? She’s lording it over our cavalier King Charles spaniels because her ancestry goes back farther than theirs.

Q&A

Teach good

chewing habits

Q: My 4-month-old Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy ate my sofa. Literally! What can I do? I can’t afford to buy much more new furniture. -- via Facebook

A: Congratulations -- you have a normal puppy! That’s the good news. The bad news is that without plenty of training and supervision, things can get worse before they get better. Puppies are hard-wired to explore their environment, and since their paws don’t have opposable thumbs, they use the next best thing: their sharp teeth.

But you don’t have to lose any more furniture. Chewing and scratching provide pets with exercise and mental stimulation, but they don’t have to be destructive -- at least not to anything other than their approved toys. Puppy kindergarten followed by advanced training, as well as plenty of interactive exercise and playtime, can help you teach your pup how to channel his chewing -- and his energy, in general -- into more productive and acceptable activities. Here are some tips.

-- Put his brain to work with puzzle toys that make him think. Some favorites are the Snuffle Mat and the Nina Ottosson Twister. Believe it or not, a good mental workout can leave him too tired to even think about eating your furniture.

-- Provide interesting and long-lasting chew toys. I like the Kong not only for durability but also for its “stuffability.” Load it up with peanut butter, baby carrots, kibble and other tasty treats, freeze it, and then let him go to work trying to get all the goodies out.

-- When you see your puppy chewing on something he shouldn’t, get his attention so he turns away from it, and then give him an acceptable chew toy. Praise him when you see him chewing on his toys; it’s important for him to learn what’s OK for him to chew as well as what he shouldn’t. -- Mikkel Becker

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

THE BUZZ

Pet ownership,

spending rise

-- A new generation is in love with pets. Members of Generation Y, or millennials, have surpassed the baby boomers by 3 percentage points to account for 35 percent of all pet owners, according to the latest National Pet Owners Survey from American Pet Products Association. They make up more than half of reptile, small-animal and saltwater fish owners. In other survey results, the number of pet-owning households is up, from 79.7 million in 2015 to the current 84.6 million. That means 68 percent of American households now include a pet. Spending on pets, including veterinary care, increased to $66.75 billion.

-- Record-breaking animals? Guinness World Records has them. They keep tabs on everything from longest tail to loudest purr. Among the record holders are Merlin, a 13-year-old tuxedo cat whose purr registers 67.8 decibels -- as noisy as an air conditioner. Irish wolfhound Keon lays claim to the title “longest tail.” His measures just over 30 inches. Didga the cat can perform 24 tricks in the space of a minute, and Purin, a 9-year-old beagle, caught 14 balls with her paws in a minute’s time. And a blue-and-gold macaw named Skipper Blue can place 19 rings on a target in one minute.

-- Find out which pet parasites and diseases are of concern in your area at petsandparasites.org, the consumer page for the Companion Animal Parasite Council. It has maps for tick-borne diseases such as Lyme and ehrlichia; internal parasites, including hookworms and roundworms; giardia, a protozoan parasite that can affect dogs and humans; plus infectious diseases such as feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus. Choose your state or county to find the percentage of positive cases. Parasite forecasting predicts a big year for heartworms and Lyme disease. The organization also plans to begin forecasting other diseases and parasites. -- 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 should your kitten be spayed or neutered? Earlier than you might think, experts say

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

It’s kitten season! If you are bringing home one of the little fluffballs, there’s more to think about than cuddling and catnip. Feline veterinary specialists recommend scheduling spay or neuter surgery before a kitten is 5 months old. That might seem young, especially for such a tiny animal, but cats are precocious when it comes to reproduction. Kittens as young as 4 months are capable of producing kittens of their own.

That’s just one of the reasons that the Veterinary Task Force on Feline Sterilization says the optimal age for sterilization surgery is 5 months or earlier. Supporting the recommendation are the American Animal Hospital Association, the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, the Cat Fanciers Association, the International Cat Association and the Winn Feline Foundation.

“The 6-month rule that so many veterinarians and so many clients have in their heads as what is perceived as the ideal time for a spay or neuter procedure is arbitrary,” says AAFP president Lauren Demos, DVM. “There is no solid basis to say that this is the reason spaying and neutering needs to be done at that point in time. There is no specific piece of data that we are aware of that says, ‘This is why cats do better at this date.’”

Kitten population control is an important facet of spay/neuter surgery. Fewer unwanted litters are always a good thing in any community. But there are other reasons veterinarians and animal welfare supporters think spaying and neutering by 5 months of age is a good idea. Performing sterilization surgery by that age has benefits for owners, cats and veterinarians alike.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard a female cat in heat. I have, and the intensity of the screeching still sticks in my mind some 30 years later. Putting off spay surgery until she’s older can land you with a female kitten who is intent on finding male companionship and who is desirous of letting the whole neighborhood know about it. Intact male cats also vocalize, as well as mark their territory with urine and attempt to escape in search of a willing and able female. Sterilizing them before they hit puberty curbs these unwanted behaviors. It also typically costs less to spay a female who is not in full-blown heat.

Scheduling sterilization surgery at the same time as other routine kitten wellness care can help to prevent the procrastination effect that often occurs when owners must wait two months to bring kittens back in for the procedure. It’s all too easy to get caught up by other things that need to be done. Making time to get the kitten spayed or neutered is one of those things that often gets bumped down the list because it doesn’t seem urgent.

For cats, one benefit that lasts throughout life is a lower risk of mammary cancer. Because the surgery goes more quickly, kittens are typically anesthetized for a shorter period, Dr. Demos says. She adds that younger patients also bounce back more quickly from surgery.

An advantage for veterinarians is that young kittens bleed less than adult cats. They also have less body fat, making it easier to see organs.

Are there drawbacks? Some studies have found that certain dog breeds gain health benefits from spay/neuter surgery at a later age.

But cats don’t seem to have increased risk for any health problems following sterilization surgery, says Julie K. Levy, DVM, professor at Maddie’s Shelter Medicine at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.

“There’s so much vigor in the natural cat that we’re not seeing major medical outcomes for minor interventions like we might in dogs.”

Q&A

Cause of vomiting

difficult to diagnose

Q: My cat has been vomiting a lot, and my veterinarian wants to run all kinds of tests to figure out the cause. Is that really necessary? -- via email

A: Figuring out why cats are vomiting is one of the more frustrating problems veterinarians face. A whole host of problems, from hairballs to hyperthyroidism, can cause cats to vomit. Among the common causes of acute vomiting -- meaning it comes on suddenly -- are adverse reactions to food, feline infectious peritonitis and acute gastritis of unknown cause -- what we like to call “garbage gut.” Chronic vomiting, which continues over a long period, is usually related to adverse food reactions or intestinal bowel disease. But there is still a wide range of other potential causes, which is why your veterinarian may want to run an assortment of lab tests or order imaging such as radiography or ultrasound.

At last year’s North American Veterinary Conference, M. Katherine Tolbert, an internal medicine specialist at the University of Tennessee, presented some ways to help practitioners narrow the possible causes of feline vomiting. These include looking at the cat’s age, breed and sex. For instance, a middle-aged Siamese might have gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma, while a young Abyssinian is more likely to have feline infectious peritonitis. A middle-aged or senior domestic shorthair should get a thyroid panel to rule out hyperthyroidism. A shorthaired cat who frequently vomits hairballs may have chronic gastrointestinal disease.

Any details owners can provide are important, no matter how minor they might seem. Always let the veterinarian know how often the cat vomits, whether he’s eaten anything unusual or new, or any change in his routine or environment. Depending on the cat’s medical history and the severity of the signs, it may be possible to start with a fecal exam or diet trial before moving on to more specialized diagnostics. -- Dr. Marty Becker

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

THE BUZZ

Cats keep theme

park pest-free

-- Planning a visit to Disneyland this summer? Keep an eye out for some feline characters that you might not have known about. No, not Tigger or the Cheshire Cat. We’re talking Ned, Lucian, Buford, Bernice, Giovanni, Hector, Peter, Jane and Francisco. They are the Disneyland Cats, and their motto is, “When the mice are away, the cats can play.” That’s right, their job is to help keep the park free of mice. Employee benefits include food stations, spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations and other medical treatment as needed. Of course, there’s one mouse who doesn’t need to fear the DC team: M-I-C-K-E-Y.

-- A brewing company offers an unusual and welcome benefit to dog-loving employees: “paw-ternity” leave. That’s right; if you’ve acquired a new dog, you can take a week off to help get your pup acclimated to his new people and surroundings. BrewDog, which recently opened DogTap in Canal Winchester, Ohio, says it is the first company in the United States to offer the benefit, which is available to the multinational brewery and pub chain’s employees around the world.

-- What are the top medical conditions that affect pets? Pet health insurer Nationwide searches its database of 600,000 pets annually to determine the main reasons pets go to the vet. For dogs last year, allergic dermatitis was the No. 1 health concern, with more than 102,000 claims at an average cost of $233, followed by otitis externa (ear infections), benign skin growths, pyoderma (itchy skin), osteoarthritis, gum disease and tooth infections, gastrointestinal problems, cystitis or urinary tract disease and anal gland issues. Cats suffered from periodontal problems, cystitis or urinary tract disease, kidney disease, gastrointestinal problems, hyperthyroidism, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease, allergic dermatitis and valvular heart disease. The most expensive feline condition to treat was diabetes, at an average cost of $905. -- 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.