Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Scratchings and Sniffings Out Loud: Think PINC!! (Pets In Need Clinic)

Hi everyone, from Tom Collins, peeking out from behind the curtain for a special episode of video clips I shot at the first Pets In Need Clinic (PINC). Dr. Michelle Brownstein organized the event with the help of lots of volunteers — and the sponsors included Purina! Yvonne and I attended the first clinic at Dr. Brownstein's Henrietta Animal Hospital last Saturday, February 21, 2009.

Watch carefully and you'll catch Yvonne in a couple of the clips, too:

New Jaguar Sighting in the Borderlands

Just last week the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGAFD) announced an exciting new development in the ongoing saga of El Tigre in the Southwest US.  

The AGAFD was conducting a study in an area southwest of Tucson involving the movements of Black Bears and Mountain Lions. They got very lucky and trapped a mature, male Jaguar in the process. They attached a radio collar and are monitoring this cat's movements as we speak.

As you may recall from previous posts on this topic Southwest New Mexico and Southern Arizona represent the northern fringes of the Jaguar's historic range. This cat once ranged from Southern Argentina through South and Central America and Mexico into the Southwestern part of the US. At one time, Jaguars lived as far North as the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately the Jaguar met the same fate as the Mexican Gray Wolf in our corner of the world, the victim of an organized program of government hunting and trapping all designed to make the world safe for cows.

Boe, Sgt. 1st Class: Therapy Dogs in the Military

Good friend of mine, Chuck Simmons, sent me an article on therapy dogs in Iraq, which I found pretty compelling. Interestingly, dogs have been part of the military since 1942, according to this Military Working Dog site. (I like their sub-title: Caring for America's Canine Heroes.)

The site notes that more than 30 breeds were originally included but the list has been narrowed to include German Shepards, Belgian Sheep Dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Farm Collies and Giant Schanauzers, now. The story of miliary dogs is fascinating, but today we're here to talk about one military dog, thanks to Chuck.

This dog, Boe, is a 4-year-old English Labrador Retriever. Here is her story:

Boe is a 4-year-old English Labrador Retriever. She lives on Contingency Operating Base Speicher and works as a therapy dog. Boe was donated by the Guide Dog Foundation/America’s Vet Dogs. She accompanies Capt. Cecelia Najera, who is an occupational therapist with the 528th Medical Detachment at COB Speicher. Boe, who also holds the honorary rank of sergeant first class, makes the rounds visiting the different units that reside on the base.

“Her purpose is to bring Soldiers a reminder of home and offer a sense of comfort and well being,” said Najera.

Therapy dogs (and cats) perform outstanding feats of affection and bravery, depending on their location and the need. We know they are a positive addition to nursing homes and even used in psychological medicine. Our furry friends do more than ask for care and feeding, they enrich our lives with true unconditional love. What could be better than that?

What do Veterinarians think of Pet Health Insurance?

I must have had over one hundred conversations with veterinarians or veterinary technicians over the last three days. I was representing PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance at the recently ended Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas. I have a good sense of what veterinarians and their staff are thinking about pet health insurance. My conclusions?

Everyone I talked to thinks that the time has come to get behind pet health insurance. Veterinarians and their staff cannot sell insurance but their recommendation has great weight with clients.

Vets and their staff do have concerns, mind you. When they go out on a limb and recommend a particular provider they are in a sense endorsing that company and if that company provides poor service to the veterinarian's client, they are the first to hear about it.

Keep your Pet Healthy, even in these tough times

I'm in Las Vegas at the Western States Veterinary Conference. It's one of the two largest continuing education conferences in the country. It's not surprising to hear that attendance is down at this year's conference due to the sad state of our economy. Many veterinarians are experiencing the effect of the downturn just like everyone else.

If you've lost your job or even if you are just worried about losing your job it's tough to spend money. Most of us, me included, are trying to save money in fear that things will get even worse. Hopefully the steps our new government has taken will improve things. That will take time, however. We didn't get into this mess overnight and it's unrealistic to think that things will turn around immediately.

In the interim it makes sense to cut back on some things and for some of us that may be a necessity.

Thinking about our pet's health there are certain things that make sense even in the face of economic uncertainty. You've heard the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." When it comes to the health of our dogs and cats that saying makes good sense.

Probiotics: A Scratchings & Sniffings Discussion on gut health

I bet everyone has heard the term "probiotics" by now. But, how many of us really know what it means? Sure, it's all over the health food sites and the news about how to have a happy gut - but how does probiotics work and...does it work on dogs, too?

I was lucky enough to talk with Dr. Larry and Dr. Grace about probiotics in this Scratchings & Sniffings Out Loud session. It's an important discussion about how to keep your dog and cat not only healthy, but happy - using probiotics.

Surprise! Americans Love Their Pets

I bet that's no surprise to you. Not to me, either. I was reading a blog over the weekend that talked about PBS's Nature series and described one show, "Why We Love Cats and Dogs." Of course, it started out with, "some people are cat people, some people are dog people." But, it didn't say - some people are just pet people.

That's us. We love cats and dogs. Cats are seen as easier to care for - and less trouble, but truth is, they require just as much attention as dogs. Lots of love and affection, regular grooming, vet visits, and feeding. The only difference is - most of us don't walk our cats. I say "most" because there are people who put harnesses on their cats, and walk'em around the neighborhood.

And, the cats tolerate it. (who says you can't train cats?) 

Doodle Kisses: Decoration Winners on Valentine's Day!

Hey, how about that Stump? Great job at Westminster...oh, yeah, Dr. Larry beat me to the punch and already wrote about Stump. He even has a great post on Stump's health (a good ProPlan dog) over at the pet insurance blog.

Well, Stump isn't the only winner this week. Over at Doodle Kisses
(for love of Labradoodles), the winner of the Valentine's Day Decoration contest is...Karen and Lucy...for the I Love Lucy valentine.

Hop over to Karen and Lucy's page to see it. Gotta love the slide show of the adorable labradoodles playing here, there and every where. Karen won a beautiful sculpture of two doodles kissing on a park bench. Awwww....

Runner up was (second place) was Teresa...who's header is gorgeous! She has a funny slideshow with doodles walking doodles! And an adorable little girl with a doodle puppy.

So...on this Valentine's Day, what are you doing for your dog or cat?

No chocolate, of course. But, something nice, please. A good rawhide bone, or a catnip toy.

And lots and lots of love! Just look at how much Benny loves Anthony. Thanks to Pawfun and BL for this adorable pic!

Congratulations to Stump and to Pro Plan

As a gray beard bike racer still trying to keep up with much younger riders I take particular pleasure in the fact that a 10 year old Sussex Spaniel named Stump just won Best In Show at Westminster. That's kind of like a 57 year old winning the Tour de France. Or something like that.

As you may heave heard, Stump came out of retirement to win this year. In 2004 Stump won the Sporting Group at Westminster and promptly went into retirement. He also recovered from a major illness in the interim. Kind of like Lance Armstrong, he didn't take illness lying down and he didn't like being on the sidelines. Way to go Stump.

Alice the Dog: Update #2: She's doing better, but...

I went for a short hike with Phil and Alice yesterday. The good news is that Alice has put on weight, looks frisky and has a shiny coat.The bad news is that she is not out of the woods yet.

If you remember from past posts Alice developed a chronic vomiting problem last fall. After a lot of diagnostic work, as much as Phil and Martha could afford anyway, it was determined that Alice either had a food allergy or Inflammatory Bowel disease or some combination of the above.

 

Her veterinarian put her on a hypoallergenic diet and corticosteroids (CS) to reduce the inflammation in her intestinal tract. The initial dose of corticosteroid was high and over time it would be gradually reduced to zero. As of a couple of weeks ago she was off the steroids completely but still on the hypoallergenic diet.

 

Unfortunately, she started to vomit again after eating and she suffered a few steroid related accidents where she urinated on the couch. One of the most common side effects of corticosteroid use is increased drinking and increased urination. Alice is house trained but she probably couldn't "hold it" as well, due to the steroids.

 

When you put all this information together it gets a little confusing. And let me state up front that I'm getting most of my info second hand via Phil so I could very well be wrong. But ...