April 25th, 2010 | 
Author: Renal failure in cats is all-too common, especially with the seniors. Cats evolved from the Egyptian desert part of the world where water was (and still is) scarce, so their little bodies were used to getting needed moisture from the blood of juicy prey, and it just doesn’t usually occur to them to drink much water. Caution: if you do have a cat who drinks a lot of water please have her checked for diabetes or a thyroid condition.
Several years ago we started noticing that whenever we fed cats those little pouches of morsels and gravy, 99.9% of the time the cats would lick off the gravy and either eat the morsels later or ignore them altogether. Watching that behavior is how we learned that it’s in cats’ DNA to drink as much tasty liquid as they can get and that’s when we invented the recipe called Cat Soup (“catsup”–get it?:) Here’s the secret recipe:
Cat Soup
1 can/pouch wet food + as warm water to fill the bowl
Filtered/bottled water is best, and imperative for any cats (or dogs) who have been diagnosed with kidney issues, as chlorine is hard on the kidneys.
One of our new petsitting clients in Smyrna was showing us his cat’s routine and we were delighted to see that he was already making Cat Soup (photo left) for Stubby.
And then we were extra-pleased to learn that he was also doing something else cats (and dogs too) like: providing running water, in their case using a Drinkwell pet fountain (photo below). Cats in particular love running water because–again it’s in their DNA–they know running water is safe to drink and not contaminated. Show of hands here: how many of you have cats who prefer drinking out of a faucet instead of their water bowl? Now you know why! So, the two things that can instantly increase your cat’s water consumption are (1) tasty water; and (2) running water.
One of the reasons we started blogging, Facebooking and Twittering was because these media have given us the forum to help educate all of our clients, readers, fans and followers about pet care issues to help you keep your beloved pets healthy, safe and happy. We are always delighted to give anyone free advice about any of the thousands of things we have learned in our 15+ years in our Atlanta area pet sitting business, so if you or someone you know has any questions for us–just email us. We’re here to help your and anyone else’s pets any way we can.
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Posted in Cats, Dogs, Pet Health | 
Tags: Cats, diabetes, Dogs, Kidney disease, Kidney failure, pet sitter, Pet sitting, petsitter, Renal failure, thyroid | 
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Just days after I published my post about our beloved Homer’s suddenly fatal hemangiosarcoma, Dr. Jon Rappaport of Pet Place wrote a great educational piece in their newsletter about this tragic disease: here it is…
The other day my neighbors went out for dinner and when they came home, their dog was dead. Just dead. They were devastated. They said that their dog had not been sick a day in her life.
The dog’s name was Maggie and she was a 9-year-old mixed breed dog – I think she had some lab in her and maybe a little border collie as well. She was a sweet dog and very loyal to her owners.
I asked a few questions. Earlier that day Maggie had vomited once (but this was not uncommon for Maggie). She also seemed lethargic and a little weak.
Looking back, I asked if there were days where Maggie seemed really weak or if she had ever collapsed. They thought she did seem quite weak some days, but when given a day or two she seemed better.
I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that Maggie had Hemangiosarcoma.
This is a relatively common cancer that can occur. I see a fair number of sick dogs come into the clinics with this condition … some were already dead.
It is frustrating because often the first sign that they have this problem is when they collapse – and by then, the condition is life- threatening.
This is how it works. Hemangiosarcoma is a malignant cancer of the cells that form blood vessels. Because these tumors start in blood vessels, they are frequently filled with blood. Consequently, when a blood-filled tumor ruptures, it can cause problems with internal or external bleeding.
It comes on fast. Often the first sign of a problem is a dog that was fine – never appearing sick – and then suddenly the dog just collapses.
Hemangiosarcoma is considered to be a very aggressive tumor and it can spread rapidly to other organs.
Hemangiosarcoma occurs in middle-aged to older dogs 9 to 11 years of age, and German shepherds appear to be predisposed to developing this cancer.
The most common primary location of this cancer in dogs is the spleen.
Signs of this disease are usually the result of the tumor rupturing, which causes bleeding. This may occur without any warning, and the symptoms will depend upon where the tumor is located. When a tumor in the spleen or liver ruptures, the signs are usually due to bleeding into the abdomen. This causes anemia, weakness and, if the bleeding is severe, collapse. The dog’s gums may appear to be pale or white.
In relatively few animals the diagnosis is made before the tumor ruptures. It is frustrating and terrible. Many dogs die. And it comes on so fast.
So, if your dog collapses look at his gums. Are they pale? Does he seem weak? Take him to your veterinarian for an evaluation. Tests can be done to help identify these tumors.
Until next time,
Dr. Jon Rappaport
Pet Place
P.S. Cost for diagnosis and treatment of this disease is expensive. It can be $2,500 to $5,000 depending now how sick your dog is and what treatment is done. This is another great reason to consider pet insurance . This type of problem comes up quickly and pet insurance can allow you to make the best decision for your dog. If the tumor is isolated to the spleen, many dogs can live for months with surgery. Some tumors are not cancerous and a dog can live out the rest of his live in normal health. Often the only way you know for sure is to remove the bleeding spleen and have the laboratory evaluate it.
P.S.S. Pet insurance has saved so many dogs’ lives – and one day, it could help your dog, too. But be careful because all pet insurance policies are not the same, so make sure to choose wisely. VPI is the nation’s oldest and largest pet insurance company, helping pets like yours since 1982. That means you can trust VPI to be there when you need them to help you provide the quality medical care your dog needs. Take a few moments to find out if pet insurance is right for you and your dog. Go to petinsurance.com today for a free no-obligation quote. You’ll be glad you did.
This is the story of Homer the dog–not the Greek poet or television cartoon star. I guess technically it should be titled “The Odyssey of General”, since that was his original name, but that just didn’t suit him so he was soon rechristened Homer. DOH!
A petsitting colleague, Sarah Paulk of Pampered Pet Care of Atlanta , had posted his profile on her Facebook page and as soon as I saw his picture I knew I had to take him.
It was Friday night February 19 and I emailed the wonderful Cindy Ganues at Cobb County Animal Control who answered me immediately even though the shelter had been closed for hours. The next afternoon after I had finished my petsits for the day I went out to CCAC and Cindy brought General/Homer into the little Bonding Room and he came in with his head down but his tail wagging furiously and I said “I’ll take him”. Cindy asked “You know he’s heartworm-positive don’t you?” which I DIDN’T know but I didn’t care–I just knew he needed a good home for once in his life. So we did the paperwork and checked out; Cindy started getting choked-up when she said good-bye to him. I walked him to the car with that little girly-girl pink leash you see in the photo which is designed for a miniature poodle, not a big ol’ Bloodhound/German Shepherd mix which is what he appeared to be. He hopped right in the car and away we went to his new Forever home. When we got there he walked in like he owned the place and had lived here all his life and had mastered the doggy door within 30 minutes.
My pets eat raw meat diet and I wanted to transition Homer to raw as quickly as possible but started him out that night on one of the more high-quality, high-fat commercial foods. He was so malnourished a lot of his hair had fallen out and he was covered in sores and scars. He wolfed down his dinner and spent the evening exploring his new territory before clambering up onto the sofa claiming it as his new bed.
The next morning, we woke up to this view:
He had hauled outside every bag out of the garbage that ever contained a crumb of food, the cat litter bag (he ate all the litter–we use World’s Best Cat Litter which is just ground-up dried corn), and the litter scoop (?).
We had an appointment with Dr. Kimberly Parker on March 1 to address his heartworms and malnutrition issues. She performed osteopathy on him and prescribed the following regimen:
ParaGone human parasite cleanse for the heartworms
Colloidal Silver for immune system support
Canine Cardiac Support powder for heart health
Ester C for healing
MSM powder to support joint and skin structure
Coconut oil
Salmon oil
1-1/2 lbs. raw meaty bones/day
1/2 c. organ meat (particularly heart)
Keep in mind that this treatment was for Homer’s specific health problems–another dog’s treatment would be likely to differ. The heartworm regimen was: 15 drops + 2 capules of ParaGone 3x/day on an empty stomach for 15 days, rest 5 days, then repeat. We were in the rest period and everything was going great–his hair was growing in again, his eyes were bright, he was energetic, his constant racking cough (a symptom of heartworms) was completely gone. He still stole food every chance he got; after he jumped up and grabbed 1/2 my bagel he returned to the scene of the crime taking a rotisserie chicken off the kitchen counter and polished off the whole thing.
Then everything went suddenly horribly wrong–one morning he threw up and refused food and was very lethargic. We went back to see Dr. Kimberly on March 26 who took one look at him and immediately diagnosed hemangiosarcoma. So that my readers will know the symptoms, they were (1) suddenly refusing food; (2) lethargy; (3) distended swollen abdomen; and (4) losing weight from the top down–noticeably his head and back. Sweet Homer crossed the Rainbow Bridge on April 2 and we wrapped him in a dog-bone patterned bedsheet and buried him in the backyard of his Forever home.
What if I had known he had cancer before I got him? I would have done everything exactly the same, so get up from your computer right now and go love on your pets while you still have them.
Posted in Dogs, Pet Health |
Tags: Dog Rescue, Dogs, Heartworms, hemangiosarcoma, pet cancer, sarcoma |
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Once your dog has learned how to handle being in a public environment and how to behave, he can then be introduced slowly to other dogs and allowed to make other canine friends by allowing them to smell and greet each other (this is best done with both dogs on leashes so that you can quickly pull them back if one or the other becomes aggressive or displays dominant behavior. You may know the behavior and temperament of your own dog, but you might not necessarily know that of the other dog).
Be sure that your dog and any other that he comes into contact with are current on all vaccines, including Rabies, Bordetella (for kennel cough. note –(Keep in mind that, like the flu virus for humans, the vaccine is designed to prevent against the most common strain, of which there many.) and all DHLPP shots. This will minimize his and other dogs health risks if one or both becomes sick. Remember that, just like people, a dog’s personality comes in all varieties, some dogs may never be able to get along together because and they just aren’t compatible with others. If the first few tries are unsuccessful, take heart, it doesn’t mean the end of the road. Keep trying until a match is found that gets along well together.
Not giving a dog the opportunity to play and interact with other dogs is like having a child and not allowing them to play with other children. This can create behavior problems later in life as they have never been given the opportunity to develop social skills. There are some dogs that just can’t figure out how to socialize and play with others and in this case, they may do best by themselves. You can assist this type of dog and encourage him to play and interact by getting involved in the play yourself. Silly though it may sound, I’ve gotten it to work. One way to assist the shy or fearful dog is through daycare, again, this is not foolproof and some dogs just cannot seem to develop social skills, but at least you would have attempted and hopefully brought him out of his shell. Ideally to be able to take your dog to dog parks and watch them play, socialize and make new friends of their own kind would be great.
They can wear each other out so that you won’t have a hyper or destructive dog on your hands when you get home or if you ever have to leave them home alone. There are young dogs of certain breeds that can mingle comfortably with plenty of others with no problem, but not all dogs are capable of such sociability. When dogs hit maturity, some are no longer comfortable mingling with unfamiliar dogs. Dogs use body language for communicating. Being taken from their mothers early, dogs are left to learn these skills from us humans, unfortunately we don’t communicate in the same ways, which leaves them to figure it out on their own, making it more difficult for them to learn. This is why we need to use caution in allowing our dogs to greet a new potential playmate or friend. The younger the dog the more friendly and pliable he is.
Close supervision will always be needed when he is learning to form new relationships with other dogs. A good parent would initially keep close watch on their young children as they meet new friends for the first time and observe the situation, monitoring closely for problems so that they could intervene when they sense a problem. Imagine being a mom or dad who is looking out for your kids while gradually loosening the leash of freedom. If your dog is being picked on or seems uncomfortable, you may need to come to his rescue. If he’s behaving badly toward others, you may need to remove him from the situation or use a brief “time out” if corrective action doesn’t work. When a puppy is scared to be around others, it shouldn’t be forced, however repeated attempts may bring success as we’ve learned from experience.
A dog that gets too excited and overwhelms others may need to be pulled aside for a brief period, in order to calm down. When playing, some dogs may appear to be fighting and it can often be difficult to interpret. Conflicting misunderstanding may lead to fights if close watch is not kept to keep both dogs in check. Some breeds tend to use growling in their play and others will full on wrestle while some just like to play chasing games and barking can also be a part of play. Crashing and running into each other is a means of play for some while other dogs don’t quite know what to make of it and may feel uncomfortable or threatened by this. Some will use greetings that others may find overwhelming or uncomfortable or even intimidating and threatening, like rushing to greet others and jumping, climbing and licking others, barking at them, or they may exhibit complete fear.
Mounting and other displays of dominance like holding his head above another dog’s head or biting the back of the other dog’s neck are undesirable behaviors and acts of power play and should be corrected immediately. On the flip side, some may show submissiveness in greeting such as lying down or rolling onto their back to show the other dog that they aren’t a threat. So many different temperaments in each individual dog, is why allowing our dogs to simply charge out and greet others may in fact be dangerous to one or both dogs, and why a slow cautious approach is best.
The Importance of Socializing Your Dog courtesy of Dog Articles