Scratchings-and-Sniffings

Treats and more treats!

The Collins household got a big surprise last weekend. UPS dropped off a package - which isn't that surprising, given the time of year. But, it came from our friends at Greenies - which was a surprise!

Greenis is a BlogPaws' sponsor, as many of you know. They are pretty generous! And, their products are good for your pets. 

Our box was chock full of great stuff! Check out the photo below. We especially love the Greenies dental treats. They last longer and all the dogs, even Chester, loves them. We give each dog one before we leave, whenever we go out (which is a lot more, these days).

Even the cat is eating the treats they sent for her! OMG! She hasn't eaten treats in years.

Thank you, Greenies! We know you care about the health of our pets as much as we do!

 

Bloat in Dogs - A Life-Threatening Condition

Dr. Larry wrote about this and most regular readers know that our Carmie passed on from this horrible condition. It involves bloating of the stomach that causes the stomach to twist inside the dog. It's a medical emergency and when Carmie developed it - we only knew she was in distress. I think if we'd been more aware, we could have saved her.

This video is a must watch - and share with others.

 

Diabetes in Cats & Dogs - A Scratchings and Sniffings Out Loud Podcast

How familiar are you with diabetes in dogs and cats? I've seen many a cat with this disease, but never a dog. The cats we treated at the cat hospital I worked in were almost all overweight and...sometimes a bit ornery.

You'll hear Dr. Grace and Dr. Larry explain how diet plays a part in this disease, and how easy it is to treat your diabetic cat or dog at home. If you have insight, do share. And visit the Cornell website for a great video on how to give an insulin injection to your cat.(sponsored by Purina Veterinary Diets.)

Cat Lapping

Hopefully you saw the article in the NYTimes last week about the science of feline lapping. It was an informative, and actually pretty funny piece especially the video, that you have to watch. Talk about nerds, the MIT scientists that spent two years on this project were picture perfect.

While it might sound strange, how cats lap is really important when you consider how important water consumption is to cats. The more water we can get into them the better, as far as their health is concerned, especially their urinary tract health.

Pet Poisonings: Be Aware!

Holiday times are a'coming! That means a lot of different plants around, a lot of great smells and good food and foot traffic. Our pets are not necessarily ready for the fun of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the many other holidays that consume this time of year.

Of major importance is the focus on those plants and foods that can actually cause harm to the cat or dog. Over at Pets Gone Green, this post on poisonings is a must read. There is a great list there which shows the ten most common items to be aware of... but I found other ones, also.

Another Specialty for Veterinary Technicians

If you've ever spent much time in a Veterinary clinic you've undoubtedly spent time with a Veterinary Technician. Like their nurse counterparts in human medicine, they do the majority of the actual patient care and they provide a good deal of education in the process. 

I wrote a post about an eye opening discussion I had with the executive director of NAVTA (National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America) just last winter. I didn't know that they had so many specialty certifications like Internal Medicine and Behavior for instance. Well now they have a new specialty and it's right up my alley. They just unveiled the Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians (AVNT).

Help With Pet Weight Loss is Here

In my humble opinion the reason people and pets fail at losing weight is that they try to go it alone. That's why I'm so excited about a new program from the Veterinary Division at Purina. It's Called Project Pet Slim Down and it's kind of like the popular reality TV show The Biggest Loser, except no one gets kicked out of Project Pet Slim Down.   

Project Pet Slim Down follows eight pets and their families in the quest for ideal body condition. There are videos on the Slim Down web site of these pets in their homes and at their vet clinics. It's basically a support program for owners and that's one reason I'm so excited about it. We talked about it with Dr. Grace just last week.

A Holistic Approach to Nutrition

I've done a series of posts over on the pet insurance blog about a new approach to nutrition being advocated by the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN). The latter group is made of of board certified Veterinary Nutrition specialists.

 Most ACVN members practice at university teaching hospitals at Veterinary colleges around the country. Others work in specialty referral practices or for pet food companies helping formulate and develop new diets. Purina has several on staff and consulting arrangements with many more around the country and the world.

Back Packing Tune up For Miles

Chris and I took Miles up to visit Alice, Phil and Martha at the fire lookout tower on Hillsboro Peak last weekend. It was Miles' first trip to the peak and a great opportunity to do a test run for our week long backpacking trip coming up.

I really wanted to nail down how much food Miles would need and make sure his new pack was working out well. We learned other valuable lessons, too.

The new pack worked well. We've had problems with other packs. We bought one from REI that looked really good in the store, but didn't hold up well on the trail. Both Miles and Alice have torn the saddle bags off these packs by hanging them up in brush.

Figuring Out How Much To Feed Your Pet

In the last post, I went through a convoluted process tying to figure out how much food to take for Miles on our upcoming backpacking trip. It can be tricky, especially when you consider the tremendous variation in caloric need created by different activity levels.

For most people it should be easier.

There are basically two ways to arrive at a starting point for how much to feed a pet. I say starting point because there can be significant variation in caloric need even in dogs and cats of similar weight and activity levels. That's important because most problems with excess weight happen because an owner feeds slightly more than a dog or cat needs over a prolonged period of time. As few a 15 extra calories a day over a year can add up to several excess pounds.