The best form of prevention is daily homecare. Toothbrushes, enzymatic toothpastes and products with chlorhexidene are standard products available at vet clinics and pet stores. Diets also play an important role in homecare. Hills makes a very good dental food that can be purchased from your veterinarian. Greenies and CET Chews are also great products to assist in keeping your pet’s mouth healthy.

Daily teeth brushing is one of the most important steps to keep your pet’s mouth healthy. Here are some steps that you can take to develop a teeth brushing regimen:

Step1: Introduce a brushing program to pets gradually. Avoid over-restraining your pet and keep brushing sessions short and positive. A cat or small dog can be held in your lap. Praise and reassure your pet throughout the process.

Step 2: At first, dip a finger in beef bullion for dogs or tuna water for cats. Rub the soaked finger gently over the pet’s mouth and teeth. Make the initial sessions short and positive.

Step 3: Gradually, introduce gauze over the finger and gently scrub the outside of the teeth in a circular motion.

Step 4: Finally, you can introduce a soft toothbrush designed for pets. Use a sensitive or ultra-soft brush designed for pets. Special pet toothbrushes are available from your veterinarian or specialty pet store. You also will need to use toothpaste designed for pets. Human toothpaste contains ingredients that will make your pet sick.

Once your pet is comfortable with the toothbrush, you can use the technique demonstrated in this video:

If you are unsure of the level of disease present in your pet’s mouth, call us today and schedule a free dental exam. We can also show you how to brush your pet’s teeth.

Food Items that Could Cause Problems:

• Alcoholic Beverages
• Chocolate (baker’s, semi-sweet or milk chocolate):  the amount of damage is determined by the size of your pet, the amount of chocolate it ate and what kind of chocolate.  The closer the chocolate is to cocoa form more harmful it is.
• Bones: chicken bones especially can shatter and splinter in your pet’s mouth and intestinal tract.
• Food Scraps: just not healthy
• Fatty Foods: just not healthy
• Onions, onion powder: not good in any amount
• Garlic, garlic powder: not good in any amount.
• Coffee (grounds, beans or chocolate covered espresso beans)
• Yeast dough
• Salt: like people, animals don’t need a lot of salt.
• Grapes/raisns: the research hasn’t discovered the exact cause, but grapes and raisins cause kidney failure.  However, they are not consistent.  Some pets eat them all their lives and others can go into kidney failure after eating just one or to.  So, better to error on the side of caution.

If you pet does happen to ingest any of these items that are really harmful, please call us or the emergency clinic immediately for treatment.

Food Items that Could Cause Problems:

• Alcoholic Beverages
• Chocolate (baker’s, cocoa powder, semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
• Bones
• Food Scraps
• Fatty Foods
• Onions, onion powder
• Garlic, garlic powder
• Coffee (grounds, beans or chocolate covered espresso beans)
• Yeast dough
• Salt
• Raw eggs

Plants:

• Lillies – can cause kidney failure or death in cats
• Poinsettias – ingestion may cause vomiting or nausea
• Mistletoe – ingestion may cause stomach upset
• Holly – ingestion may cause vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and lethargy.

The Christmas Tree:

• Christmas tree water – may contain fertilizers or bacteria which can lead to vomiting or diarrhea
• Electrical cords – If chewed on may electrocute your pet or your pet may ingest them.  If ingested the cord may need to be surgically removed.
• Ribbons and tinsel – can get caught in the intestines and cause an obstruction especially in cats.
• Glass Ornaments – can cut the tissues of the gastrointestinal tract if ingested
• Ornaments – can cause an obstruction if ingested.
• Batteries – if ingested corrosive agents can cause ulceration to the mouth, tongue, and the rest of the gastrointestinal tract.

Other Winter Hazards:

• Antifreeze – has a pleasant taste but is lethal in small amounts.  1 teaspoon or just licking its paws after walking through antifreeze can be deadly to a cat and 4 teaspoons can be deadly to a small dog.  Clean up spills promptly and keep the antifreeze stored in sealed contains in a place inaccessible to pets.  Contact us immediately if you think your pet has ingested antifreeze.
• Liquid potpourris – exposure to some types can cause sever oral, skin and eye damage.
• Ice melting products – can irritate skin and mouth.  Some types may cause drooling, depression, vomiting or electrolyte imbalances if ingested.

This list contains some of the items that may cause harm to your pet during this holiday and winter season.  While we love your business, we like to see happy and healthy pets.  Please do your part to keep your pet healthy this season.  In the event that something does happen, please call us as soon as you can.

When greeting each other we often ask “How are you?”  We often reply “Fine”, “good”, or something like “upright and taking on air”.  How do we really know?  Sometimes we answer the way we do just to say something.  Sometimes we flat out lie about our feelings and condition.  I know I have said the above things when feeling the opposite.  I can tell when my wife answers positively when she really means the opposite.  She might just be testing my concern for her and is searching for some affirmation that I really do care about her.

Do you ever think?  ”How am I”  I was listening to a talk show once and the host said that he knew what it felt to be middle aged.  He said that every twinge in the chest and you think “This is it” only to find out that it was just stress.  I went to my doctor once for a black spot on my nose.  I was sure that I had melanoma and being in the health profession I was looking for that reassurance that I was so good that I had caught it early and was not going to need my nose completely removed.  Well this sounds morbid but it just turned out to be a small cyst.  It was removed and I look just the same which for me is good but maybe for others it is bad.

So why do you care about my ramblings?  Have you asked your pet “How are you?”  Even if they could answer they would probably be misleading us half of the time.  Animals age at a much more rapid rate and also hide their symptoms due to being pack animals.   If they are perceived as week the rest of the pack would remove them due to that weakness.  This instinct is still intact in our domesticated pets.  We often see a pet for “ADR” which means “AINT DOIN RIGHT”.  By the time the owner loads them in a car and hauls them to us they are miraculously cured.  When they go home again they redevelop the symptoms.   So how were they really?  Well we have learned to listen to our clients and not the pets in this situation.  I have also had the experience of having the client tell me that their pets were slowing down due to age.  Only to find that the pet had severe dental disease and when treated the pet started acting like a puppy or kitten again.

It is estimated that 20% of pets over the age of 6 that were examined by a veterinarian and considered normal actually had some abnormality detectable by blood work.  So.  How are you?  How are your pets?  How do you know?

Call today to set up an appointment for a complimentary exam and baseline bloodwork for only $18!

• A handyman or contractor accidentally lets your pet out
• Your cat escapes through an open window or a broken screen
• Your dog digs a hole and escapes under a fence
• While traveling together, your pet wanders off into unfamiliar territory
• A thunderstorm or fireworks display causes your pet to panic and flee
• An emergency situation or natural disaster causes your pet to get lost in the turmoil
• Your pet is stolen

Our clinic has had many success stories of reuniting lost pets with owners because they were microchipped. The process of implanting a microchip is simple and can be done at any office visit. Our veterinarians simply injects a microchip for pets, about the size of a grain of rice, beneath the surface of your pets skin between the shoulder blades. The process is similar to a routine shot, takes only a few seconds, and your pet will not react any more than he would to a vaccination. No anesthetic is required.

A microchip is permanent pet ID. The microchip itself has no internal energy source, so it will last the life of your pet. It is read by passing a microchip scanner over the pets shoulder blades. The scanner emits a low radio frequency that provides the power necessary to transmit the microchips unique cat or dog ID code and positively identify the pet.

If your pet gets lost and is taken to an animal shelter or veterinarian, they will scan the microchip to read its unique dog or cat ID code. This is the number used to identify the pet and retrieve your contact information, which is used to contact you and reunite you with your pet.

We would love to be able to reunite every pet that gets lost with it’s owner. Please call and make an appointment today to get your pet microchipped. (Did we mention it’s on $44 for your pet to have a permanent ID tag!)

Is my pet overweight?

If your pet is 5-19% above its ideal weight it’s considered overweight. If your pet is 20% or greater than its ideal weight it’s considered obese.

Think of it this way, if your pet is 35 pounds at its ideal weight and it gains 7 pounds, it is obese. This would be comparable to a 150 pound person gaining 30 pounds!

Your pet’s ideal weight will be determined at your initial visit. In general, an ideal body condition can be measured by a few criteria. One should be able to appreciate a tapering at the waist (area behind rib cage) when viewing the pet from above, and, be able to gently press the rib cage and easily feel an individual rib.

What health problems can be associated with obesity?

Congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, liver disease, arthritis, diarrhea, breathing difficulty, increased blood pressure, mammary tumors and skin disease. All of that extra weight is a constant physical stress to all the body systems.

What can I do to help my overweight pet?

It all starts with a visit to your veterinarian. A combination of appropriate diet and exercise is fundamental to any weight loss program. In addition, some dogs may have a metabolic problem brought on by too little thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism). Whether or not a thyroid test is indicated, will be decided during your initial visit. Blood tests are used to check the thyroid level. If it is too low, thyroid supplementation will make a tremendous difference in your pet’s abilit to lose weight.

*courtesy of Antioch Veterinary Hospitals

Here are a few more tips/things to consider:

• Feed your pet based on the required calories for his/her ideal body weight. Most bags tell you to over feed. If you are unsure how much to feed, give us a call and we can help you figure it out.
• Pet wellness promotes a long and enjoyable relationship between humans and animals.
• Overweight dogs snore! Help your dog get lean and enjoy a long, restful, snore-free night’s sleep.
• A brisk walk twice a day can help keep you and your dog fit while reducing arthritis pain and swelling.
• Help your cat get more exercise by splitting up their food into multiple bowls in different locations. This way they have to walk around to get all their food and it more closely simulates the natural hunting and small meals of cats in the wild.
• Cats should get 15-30 minutes of exercise a day. This can consist of walks with a kitty harness, play time with thrown toys, kitty wands or laser pointers, environmental enrichment like toys around the house, kitty condos, additional food dishes, climbing towers, window perches, and scratching posts.
• Dogs should exercise 2-3 times a day for 15-30 mins. This can be in the form of walks, running with owner, swimming, playtime (fetch, play dates, doggie day care) and trips to the dog park

We all want our pets to live a long and happy life. Keeping their weight in check is one of the best things that we can do for them. Feel free to call today to set up a free weight consult appointment and let us help you get your pet on track to a healthy weight! (208) 362-5329

• Zoonotic disease are primarily in animals and can be transmitted to people.
• Most infections occur through soil contaminated with infected eggs and larvae.
• Children are the most at risk for disease transmission.
• An estimated 10,000 cases of human round worm infections occur each year, with more than 700 resulting in vision loss, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC*).
• Heatworms are transmitted from animal to animal by mosquitoes.  The larvae migrate through the body reaching the blood vessels of the lungs.  Once mature they enter the heart where they continue to grow, growing up to 14″ in length.  In time this will result in severe lung and heart disease.
• The Treasure Valley had 27 positive heartworm cases in dogs in 2007 alone and approximately 20 cases in 2008.

Here are 3 steps to protect your family and pets:

1. Drop a fresh stool sample off at our hospital and we will call you with the results. The CDC* recommends a microscopic fecal exam twice a year for each pet.  This is especially important if you have children in your home.
2. Start your pet on a monthly parasite prevention program. We carry two monthly prevention options: Iverhart Max, a once-a-month oral tablet that protects against heartworms and most intestinal parasites; and Revolution, which is apples topically and protects against most intestinal parasites, heartworms, fleas and ticks.
3. Set up an appointment today to have your pet tested for heartwom infection. This only requires a quick and simple blood test.

Dogs and cats can be spayed or neutered anytime. Ideally, between 4 and 6 months of age, before they go through puberty.

Having your pet spayed or neutered greatly reduces the risk of breast, prostate or testicular cancer. If male dogs are neutered before they hit puberty the will not likely develop the habit of lifting their leg to mark territory or of humping things. It can also decrease their tendency to roam. Female dogs that are not spayed can develop pyometra which is a potentially fatal infection of the uterus and requires emergency surgery.

• Just like children, puppies need regular vaccinations to keep them healthy.
• Puppies are born with very few antibodies and only get a few from their mother’s milk.
• Because of their immature immune system they are very susceptible to many infectious and deadly diseases.

The Truth About Parvovirus

• Parvovirus is a highly contagious virus transmitted in the feces.
• Parvo cases can have a high success rate of treatment if treatment is initiated early on in the disease process. However, the cost ranges anywhere from $500-3000. Much higher than the cost of the puppy series of vaccine or the annual vaccination.
• The sooner we see and treat the animal the better the prognosis. Dogs and puppies get dehydrated very quickly from the vomiting and diarrhea caused by the virus. There are a number of potential complications due to the dehydration and the other effects of the virus.
• Parvovirus is almost 100%preventable. It requires a series of 3-4  vaccinations as a puppy and yearly boosters thereafter. This vaccine is included in the typical yearly vaccine so those dogs seeing a veterinarian regularly for vaccines should be protected.

The Truth About Vaccines

• The timing of the Parvovirus vaccine is critical to its effectiveness. If not given correctly your puppy may be unprotected.
• It is very important that your puppies get their boosters and get them 2-3 weeks apart. Boosters produce many, many more antibodies than just one vaccine.
• It is important that your puppy receive their vaccinations from a licensed veterinarian. Buying vaccines and administering them yourself is highly discouraged. The vaccines may not have been handled or administered properly and may be ineffective.