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10 Things You May Not Know About Your Dog

1/29/2014

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Impress your friends with this doggy data!

10. Your pet isn't the first pampered pooch. Three dogs from First Class cabins (two Pomeranians and a Pekinese) survived the sinking of the Titanic when their owners refused to leave them.

9. Doggy dreams are real. Dogs have the same patterns of sleep as people and it is not uncommon to see your dog running or even eating while in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep!

8. Dogs pant to cool down due to their limited ability to sweat - their only sweat glands are in their feet. When panting, a dog's respiration may be 300-400 breaths per minute compared to the normal 20-40!


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7. Black and white vision? Yeah right! Scientists actually think dogs see mostly in shades of blue, green, yellow and gray.

6. Many dogs will kick after going to the bathroom. This adds a scent marker from their feet to help claim their turf!

5. You're not alone if you travel with your pooch. A service dog named Nesbit earned over 1 million Delta airline miles and had his own frequent flier card.

4. Dogs can learn about 250 words and have the intelligence of a 2 year old child.

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3. "It's me or the dog!" Don't take away a dog lover's best friend. When Lord Byron attended Cambridge Trinity College he was not allowed to bring his pet dog. He retaliated by bringing a tame bear as there was no regulation forbidding that pet!

2. Dogs have wet noises due to secretion of mucus that helps them pick up scents and determine the direction they are coming from. When they lick their noses it also carries the scents to a chemical receptor in the roof of their mouth to further increase nasal acuity.

1. According to the American Pet Products Association, about 45% of dogs in the USA share their owner's bed (and most probably also steal the sheets). Move over, Rover!

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February is National Pet Dental Health Month!

1/22/2014

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Why does my dog or cat's breath stink?

Have you ever opened your pet's mouth and been totally shocked at what you see? Pets should have white teeth and nice pink gums. Any amount of tarter on the teeth can cause an odor. Because pets don't brush daily, the teeth develop plaque, a thin coating of bacteria. Plaque builds up over time and leads to dark hard tarter on the teeth. The hard tarter or calculus is bacteria and bacteria smells bad. An excessive amount of tarter also leads to gingivitis or inflammation of the gums, a bright red line of inflammation right above the teeth. Gingivitis and excessive calculus can often lead to tooth loss.

Once tarter appears, the only safe way to remove it is to do an ultrasonic scale and then polish the teeth white again - exactly the same as a dental cleaning with your dentist! Pets are under full anesthesia for the procedure but they are generally able to go home the same day. While asleep, a certified technician will scale and polish each tooth and examine every tooth closely for "pockets". A dental instrument is used to probe each tooth at the gum line making sure there is no sign of gingival recession leading down the root causing a tooth root abscess - ouchy! Long term infected teeth can also lead to liver disease or heart problems, both of which may shorten the life of the pet. Any teeth that show signs of infection are removed. Pets do quite well following dental extractions as their source of pain is gone.

To check your pet's teeth, lift their lips or open their mouth. Look for tarter build up, broken or cracked teeth, and red swollen gums. If the teeth look okay but the gums are red and inflamed there still may be a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Daily or even weekly brushing at home can help slow down the progression of dental disease, and there are special dental treats and water additives that may help. Despite the best home care, there is no substitute to having  your pet's teeth examined at their yearly visit by your veterinarian to identify any problems and determine if a dental cleaning is needed. Good oral care is an easy way for you to prevent long term health problems and to keep your pet smiling for years to come!

- Dawn Carter, CVT
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The Truth about Vaccines - Part Two

1/15/2014

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Last week our blog post talked about annual booster vaccines and why they are important. It makes sense that over time the body's response to a vaccine would decrease and a booster would be needed (think of those horrible tetanus vaccines every 10 years). But what's the deal with puppy and kitten shots? Why does a vaccine need to be given every 3 weeks?




To understand the reason for puppy and kitten series, we need to know how vaccines work. As discussed last week, when the body is exposed to an antigen (a virus, bacteria, or some protein component from one) it responds by producing antibodies and specific white blood cells targeted to that particular bacteria or virus. Over time the body's response decreases and the animal's titer, or amount of antibody in a blood sample, drops indicating there is less protection against the virus or bacteria. However, if we booster a vaccine, the titer increases above the original highest peak producing better and longer lasting protection. With puppy and kitten series, we are exposing the young animal to new viruses and bacteria they have never seen and have no previous protection against, so it makes sense to booster several times.
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This chart shows the increased immune response (antibody production) with booster vaccines
The other factor we have to consider with puppy and kitten series is the maternal antibody that a young animal is exposed to from their mother's colostrum. When animals are first born and begin to nurse, they are able to benefit from their mother's antibodies which provides protection until their immune systems develop enough to start providing their own protection. This does create a problem for us when we start vaccinating though, because our vaccines don't stimulate as much of a reaction when material antibody is present. Around 10 weeks of age, this protection from mom starts to fade out and the puppy or kitten must develop their own antibody protection. This is the reason it is so important to vaccinate until 14-16 weeks of age - our first vaccines start the process of antibody formation but if we just give 1 or 2 shots and quit, we miss out on the most important vaccine that will have the biggest long term benefit to the animal. Puppies and kittens over 16 weeks of age don't have this competition with maternal antibodies and therefore don't need the whole series that a younger animal would (however they have been at risk for developing a potentially life threatening disease until that point).
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Although it's inconvenient to come see us every 3 weeks from 6 weeks of age until 16 weeks of age, by following the complete puppy or kitten vaccine series you give your pet the best chance of developing a hearty immune system able to deal with the challenges it faces. It also lets us do several checks to listen to the heart and lungs, check for birth defects, treat internal parasites, and monitor growth. We are happy to discuss behavior issues and feeding regimes, and offer help for the new pet parent - all without any extra exam fees! Make the most of your puppy or kitten series and get your new friend started off right!

                                                       - Dr. Kris Hubbard
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The Truth about Vaccines

1/8/2014

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Shots aren't fun. We don't like giving them and we KNOW your pet doesn't like getting them. So why do we give yearly vaccines? And why do new puppies and kittens have to get so many shots?

Vaccines help prevent infections, everyone knows this. They work by exposing the animal (or a person) to a virus or bacteria (or a specific protein from a virus or bacteria) that has been modified to make it incapable of causing disease. The body mounts an immune response to that specific disease causing agent and produces antibodies - special proteins that act like seeking missiles. When the animal is exposed to the virus or bacteria in the future, these antibodies target the body's cells to destroy the invading cells before signs of the disease occur.

So why do vaccines need to be given yearly? Antibodies are already present, right? The short answer is yes, but the body is a very complex system. Over time, antibody production is decreased if the body is never exposed to the virus or bacteria in the vaccine. If a dog isn't vaccinated for 5 years, he may no longer have enough of an immune response to prevent disease. There is research being done that shows most animals probably don't need yearly vaccines; we can measure response to a vaccine over time by measuring titers - or how much antibody is present in blood or other sample. The problem we run into is finding the right time to revaccinate an individual animal. Just like with people, each animal's response to a vaccine is different and can can be affected by health at time of vaccine, age, stress, and many other factors. Without doing a titer, we simply don't know how effective our vaccine was and how much protection the animal is still getting from a previous vaccine. Titers are expensive (usually $50-100 per virus or bacteria) so generally we elect to booster a vaccine rather than testing.

Vaccines are generally very safe, but they can cause side effects. Cats in particular can develop a type of cancer called a sarcoma often in association with vaccines. This is rare (1 in 1,000 to 10,000 cats) and the tumor can also occur in cats that have never been vaccinated, but the tumor can be quite aggressive. To minimize risk of this negative side effect, most veterinarians have changed vaccine protocols for cats. At Cedar County Vet we follow the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) national guidelines for vaccines. Vaccines are given based on risk of infection: indoor only cats with limited exposure can be revaccinated every 3 years, while outdoor cats or those that live in households with a known infection (such as a leukemia positive cat) receive yearly vaccinations. This takes into account the pros and cons of vaccines and attempts to reduce risk for vaccine reaction as much as possible while maintaining the protection of vaccines.

Stay tuned for our next blog post which will cover kitten and puppy series and explain why coming in every three weeks is so important (and worth wrecking havoc with your schedule!).  As always, if you have any questions about your animal's care or any of our policies please ask as your pet's health and well-being is our primary concern!

- Dr. Kris Hubbard

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    The articles posted here are from the doctors and staff of Cedar County Veterinary Services.

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