Winter Newsletter 2010

WELCOME TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR WINTER 2010

Arthritis….

Winter arthritis: an old chestnut this topic and comes up every year when winter suddenly makes older dogs go stiff with arthritis. For a bed, we recommend a mattress-preferably a flat one on the ground –of foam rubber to enable weight to be taken off the joints when these dogs are lying down.

Keep them warm at night. Remember caution with exercise-this is “a wear and tear” osteoarthritis and the more intense the exercise, the more the wear and tear.

They will need anti-inflammatories occasionally to treat the pain of arthritic flare-ups and they should be on glucosamines full time. For Labradors and Labrador-size dogs, the Hills JD is the ideal diet to cater for age-related arthritis because the glucosamines and Omega3 are balanced out and there is no guess work about dosage.

Hills Feline JD is now available in NZ as well. This is highly palatable and cats eat it very well—saving everyone the hassle of trying to get these neutraceuticals into cats.
It contains glucosamines and Omega 3 for arthritis. Many of you with older cats may have received a sample of this recently in the post.

Video Stars….

Hooray for cellphones-whoever thought anyone would say that! However clever owners have been catching their pet’s behaviours and symptoms on their phone’s video facility and then bringing them in to shows us. That means not having to describe the symptoms-they can just show us precisely what is going on without the usual descriptor we get-you know the one that goes “He’s just not himself-so what could be wrong?”

This has been helpful for viewing epileptic dogs, dogs with funny breathing symptoms and cats with unusual behaviour patterns.

An update on Nikita….

Nikita is a female Burmese cat who comes to spend time with us at the clinic when the owners are away on holiday. Some of you may remember her from her webpage story [Interesting cases:Nikita] - which is now an old story. In 2005 Nikita was diagnosed with generalized cancer [Lymphoma] and underwent chemotherapy at the clinic.

She went into full remission at the completion of her chemo that year, and over 5 years later is still going strong. At 16.5years old, her personality is outstanding and she still comes to stay and boss us around!

Pet Insurance…..

This is an aspect of pet health that has recently developed into helping people out a lot in recent times. There are a wide range of policies available now to cater for different owner scenarios and even policies that actually relate to certain breeds.

So now people know exactly what they are paying for and what their pet is covered for. This now means we are not seeing disappointment should a claim be declined. It is spelled out clearly what your particular pet is covered for.

Those good old broken legs....
Naturally enough, tiny dogs have tiny legs and as a result, their bones are much more brittle and very prone to fracture. Blood supply to the end of their long bones on the front legs is also not great, so when these guys fracture them, successful healing becomes an issue.

The blood supply to this area may be further compromised after the initial trauma to the leg. Circulation is reduced anyway compared to large dogs, and so these fractures simply may not heal.Without a robust blood supply, the fractured bones may just sit quiescently, not healing and these little guys end up with non-union fractures.

This year Molly and Macintosh both broke one of their front legs requiring open surgery to repair. Special compression plates were applied across the fracture site. Both had great outcomes however and after their fractures healed, their bone plates were removed. Both dogs were soon back running around again after full bone unions.

Molly and her xray

Mac and his xray

Hunting birds…..

              As we go into spring watch out for cats hunting birds. It may be a natural prey for the cat but often results in gastroenerits in cats, including Salmonella.

So take these birds off them before they eat them— if you can!

Bones….

           We have had a few bone obstruction problems in dogs recently. Dogs love bones and in general most people get away with feeding these throughout a dog’s life with no problems. However when they do cause problems they are biggees! Open abdominal surgery is usually required.

           Bones are probably good at cleaning teeth but they are also the biggest breaker of teeth. In the wild, canids actually don't eat them-the carcasses of deer, elk and the like are left for the vultures because there is not enough sustenance to be gained by eating a bone; they cause digestive problems and of course they break teeth. A wolf in the wild can not afford any of these problems.

           The premise that wolves eat bones is actually a myth, so tread carefully. In general the bones should be uncooked and not so small that they can be consumed. Personally for the teeth, I prefer the Hills TD or Royal Canin Dental dry food whereby the biscuit fibres are arranged to clean the teeth when the biscuit is broken inside the mouth. They are nutritionally complete and balanced –and safe.

Blood Scans….

These continue to bring us great relief in early diagnosis of conditions in older cats before anyone (including the owner) knows that anything is wrong. We now have many older cats on special renal diets because of early-detected, renal disease.

These cats are still going strong, years after they would have died if the disease had not been picked up early.

They can thank their thoughtful owners who asked for the Wellness blood tests to check the proper health status of their pet.

Free Clinics….

Don’t forget our free nursing clinics for clipping claws, applying Advantage or worming. And don't forget our High Flyers rewards system that can be applied to any cost in the clinic.

Spring theme....

Algal sprays: beware of using “Wet and Forget”- type products on your property. Every spring we see at least one cat brought in that has accidently drank the run off when the house, pavements or roofs have been treated. It is common to use these products on a nice spring day, have them dry up and then feel secure that we have a job well done.

However at the next rain, cats often drink the run-off from the house or roof and end up with ulcerated burnt tongues and mouths. Occasionally we see cats caught on the roof after commercial contractors have sprayed for moss and lichen and cats make the mistake of walking across these surfaces. After licking their damaged paws, they end up with chemical burns on their tongues and mouths.

Some of these sprays destroy gastrointestinal bacteria and these cats end up very unwell with profound gastrointestinal disease.

In general, these products are very safe to use and most accidental encounters by cats are treatable- however just deploy some wisdom when using them.

Feline Diabetes….

           If cats are drinking lots they must be in kidney failure-right? Not always! High on the list of possible causes these days, is diabetes. Not just a human disease, diabetes commonly affects cats and requires their owners to inject them daily with insulin. We often pick these cats up on our wellness checks, running routine blood scans that detect the disease before symptoms become dramatic.

           Cats are usually pretty good about their injections and often it’s the owners who are nervous about the process.

The injection is usually required twice daily so it is quite a commitment. In recent years, new types of insulin have made it possible to send some of these cats into remission and give relief from this disease. “Boon Me” is one of these cats who has achieved this response earlier this year after 1 month of treatment.

On the other hand another diabetic- “Super Chunk”- has not responded as strongly and may be in for a lifetime of injections.

Ruptured Cruciates….

           This clinic performs a lot of surgeries on dog stifles-i.e. knees to the average punter. Rupture of the cruciate ligament in the knee remains the most common orthopaedic condition in our canine friends and results in a debilitating injury.

           Several clinics around Auckland refer dogs to us for this surgery. Where a conventional surgery has been performed -but failed– the dog has continued to be lame and osteoarthritis progresses.

With a TPLO surgery the dog is soon walking normally on that limb again. We would have performed over 200 of these operations now and for the bigger dog, this is the preferred method of reconstructive knee surgery nowadays. It usually returns these dogs to full recovery with astounding results compared to the old days.

Cat Behaviour…..

           This is the most “hit-on” page on our website with visitors from all over Australasia, USA and the UK visiting us to have a read.
[Cat Behaviour]

       Obviously cats intrigue people world-wide!

Boarding kennels….

           Word on the street says boarding catteries and kennels are filling fast for Xmas already. So if you plan to be away for that time, then you should probably consider making arrangements fairly soon.

           Don’t forget their vaccinations need to be up to date for this as well.

Glendowie-St Heliers

Veterinary Clinic

2 Riddell Rd St Heliers
Ph 5757 688

Mon-Tues: 7.30am-7pm

Wed-Fri : 7.30am-6pm

Sat            : 9am-3pm

Sun            :10am-12.00

Dr MARTIN REID BVSC(Dist) BAgSc(Hons)MACVS

Dr PHILIPPA SPELLMAN BVSc