Great Opportunity

Would You Like To Get Your Pet Food For Free & Earn Extra Income?You are invited to attend a special conference call to learn how you can get your pet food for free and earn extra income!

Don't let a bad economy get you down! The pet business is BOOMING! People will spend anything on their pets and only want the very best for them.Find out how YOU can be a part of the booming pet industry!

The Purr-Fect Business For Pet Lovers And Pet Professionals!•Trainers •Groomers •Breeders •Kennels •Pet Sitters •Dog Walkers •Veterinarians •Daycare Operators •Shelter Workers and olunteers •Animal Rescue Operators •Emergency Service Professionals (K-9 and rescue units)

Date: Monday, March 30, 2009
Time: 8:00 PM EST
Phone Number: 616-347-8200
Passcode 800479#
Contact: Keith Niesenbaum, VMD
Phone: 516 746 1566
http://www.thevetschoice.com/

FLEAS!! And what to do before you burn your house to the ground.

I know it is probably bad formatting to start with a picture, but I want some credit for being able to post an illustration at all. Now I'll explain it.

The adult fleas live on our pets, they take a blood meal (bite the pet) and then mate and the female lays eggs. These eggs may stick to the pet, or fall off into the environment. They hatch and molt and develop into larvae. These in turn make a cocoon and pupate. The pupae then mature into adults, hungry for a blood meal and the whole cycle starts again. How long does this cycle take? It depends on the environmental conditions, but if things are just right they can go from adult to adult in a couple of weeks. Even more ominous, the pupal stage can survive for months in the environment, hatching out when conditions are right.

This life cycle is important to understand because it will help you to prevent flea problems and aggressively treat infestations if you missed the opportunity to prevent the problem.

Prevention is easy. Monthly application of a topical flea product that not only kills adults but prevents the immature stages from developing will keep your pets and your home flea free. We recommend Frontline plus or Canine Advantix for our dog patients. These pets are on monthly parasite control (see previous post) so we don't need to worry about worms or heartworms (see next post). For cats we recommend Advantage Multi or Revolution. You can use a product that is only for fleas and ticks, but if you are going through the trouble to use a product for fleas, why not take care of internal parasites and heartworm disease at the same time. Yes, cats can get heartworm disease but that is for a future discussion.

Now if you were naive enough to think that your pets would never get fleas and your house is now infested with the pesky buggers, you have to deal with the fleas on the pets, and the fleas in the environment. I no longer recommend owners treating the surroundings themselves. Gone are the days of setting foggers off in the home and contaminating the environment with toxic pesticides. If you have a severe infestation, use a professional exterminator.

In moderate to severe infestations, you can still get by without dumping poisons into the living room. Use a quick kill product such as Capstar that you can get from your veterinarian. This will kill all of the adult fleas on the pet in less than 24 hours. Unfortunately it doesn't last so new adults will jump on. I have clients use it every 2 days while we are getting a problem under control. Then add a topical product to every pet. This will continue to kill fleas as they jump on the dog or cat. The growth inhibitors will also control fleas in the environment where the pet spends most of its time (the pet bed or corner of the run where they sleep.)

Vacuum the house well and throw out the bag when you are done. Wash all bedding in warm water. You can use an area spray for the highest traffic areas. If you are going to bath your pet, do so before you put the topical products on, no sense in washing them right off.

Now I know you are going to think, I can get a cheaper product from the pet shop. Fight the temptation as not all of these products are as safe or effective as those that your veterinarian will have on hand. In addition, the person advising you at the store may not be well trained and could possibly give you incorrect advice.

And why is it important to treat these fleas? Well besides the fact that they are gross and icky, they can cause disease in people and pets. I have seen dogs and cats actually die from anemia as these parasites suck the very blood from these poor animals. What a horrible way to die. They are also vectors for diseases that can infect both people and pets. If you follow this post, you already saw the link to Ted Nugent last week.

Next post I'll finish this series with a discussion of heart worm disease in dogs and cats. Hopefully by then I'll be able to put my graphics in the middle of my post.

Keith Niesenbaum, VMD
www.TheVetsChoice.com
www.CrawfordDogandCatHospital.com

Worms

As promised, here is the second post in a series of four on pet parasites. I picked the generic title to try to titillate the search engine spiders in an attempt to get more readers.

Intestinal parasties, or worms, are parasites that live in our pets' (you guessed it) intestines. They are important because not only do they cause disease in our pets, but some of them are zoonotic, meaning they can cause disease in people as well. This is why we emphasize regular fecal tests, parasite control for all dogs and cats, and prompt treatment when worms are found. At Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital, we follow the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control as Outlined by the Companion Animal Parasite Control Comission. Their website will provide excellent information on different parasites, their life cycles and more in depth descriptions of each worm.

Well how can my pet get worms? "My cat never goes outdoors", or "my dog doesn't even like other dogs". Many pets are infected long before they came to live with youl. Both round worms and hook worms have very short life cycles and can infect puppies and kittens in the uterus, before they are born. Most treatments, do not kill all of the larval stages of these worms, so even if your fluffy one has been dewormed, only the adult worms were killed. The larval forms will continute to mature and eventually shed eggs into the environment. Potentially re-infecting the pet or exposing the people in the home to parasite infections as well. This is why you need to deworm them multiple times if they are infected.

Older pups and kittens can be infected through their mother's milk. And after weaning, pups and people are at risk of infection from microscopic eggs in the environment. It is very important to clean up pet wasted before these eggs mature. In the south, it is very important not to walk bare foot where hookworm larva may be in the soil.

The curious thing about round worms and hook worms, is that they can lay dorment in their animal hosts for years. That's why it is important to test all pets regularly and use some sort of preventative. These dorment infections can become active later in life, so the mature cat that is walking on the kitchen counter can have rondworms eggs on it's feet, even if it hasn't been outdoors for years.

Prevention and detection is easy. Regular fecal examinations are a must. Twice a year for dogs and cats that go out. Yearly for cats that have tested negative in the past and haven't been outside for years.

All dogs should be on a monthly parasite control medication such as Heartguard, Advantage Multi, or Sentinel all year long. (that's 12 months of the year) This will prevent heartworms, control intestinal parasites (treat them with some of the products) and some of these products will help to control fleas as well. (fleas will be the topic of an upcoming blog post).

All cats should be on montly parasite control programs as well. We recommed Revolution or Advnatage Multi for cats. Ideally all year long, but for indoor cats, 6 months of the year is probably adequate. These products also control fleas, a source of the bacteria that causes cat scratch fever, the bacterial infection, not the Ted Nugent song.

So we can live safely with our pets. Just keep in mind that prevention beats the crap out of treatment and disease, especially when it comes to intestinal worms. Next post, we can talk about flea control as the weather hopefully starts to get warmer here in the Northeast.

Keith Niesenbaum, VMD
http://www.crawforddogandcathospital.com/
http://www.thevetschoice.com/

Parasite Control 1 of 4

I have been trying to keep my hospital staff trained on the topics of parasite control and prevention in our pets. Here is a summary of what I tell them, regularly this time of year.

I divide our parasite control program into 4 parts. We emphasize prevention over treatment, and I tell them and our clients that there is no one product that can control all 4 parts. The trick is to determine a particular pet's risk factors and create a custom program to keep everyone healthy.

Today we'll talk about ticks. Here on Long Island, ticks are an important vector of disease. Not only are they gross (non-medical term) but they transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and anaplasmosis. In other areas of the country they can carry other things as well. Many of these diseases are contagious to people as well as dogs and cats.

There are several different species of ticks, and they vary in size and appearance. For a good set of pictures of ticks in their different life stages follow this link. Suffice it to say, different life stages carry a different risk of disease transmission.

With ticks, prevention is the key. Once a kennel or home is infested with ticks, good luck getting rid of them. Also, preventing tick attachment is the best way to prevent disease transmission.

Several tick myths debunked:
1. Ticks do not burrow under the skin and disappear into the host animal. They do feed, engorge with blood and drop of into the environment to moult to the next life stage.
2. The best way to remove a tick is to hold a match to it. Actually, the best way to set your pet on fire is to hold a match to the tick. You can coat the tick in Vaseline as this will block it's breathing pores without the risk of combustion. Or, using a tweezers,gently grasp the tick behind the head, and applying gentle traction, pull it from your pet's skin. Here is one of several tick removers you can use. (Disclaimer: I have not used this particular product and am not associated with the company in any way)
3. You can get ticks off your dog by soaking it in motor oil. See above for combustion comment. If you really think this is a good idea, we need to talk, I mean really talk.

Prevention is much easier than it used to be. In the old days, OK when I graduated from school, we used smelly, relatively toxic dips. Now there are several products on the market that work very well. We recommend and sell Canine Advantix for use on dogs and Frontline Plus for use on dogs and cats. Both are applied monthly, have good residual activity against fleas and ticks (another post on Fleas will follow) and are safe for your pets. They can be purchased from many sources, but the best place is from a veterinarian or a veterinary supervised source as the product can be assured to be dated well and safely stored. Use as directed and contact your veterinarian if you have any questions.

Next post will be on internal parasites you know, icky WORMS.

Keith Niesenbaum, VMD
http://www.crawforddogandcathospital.com/
Life's Abundance Field Representative

Seizures in Pets

This is an article that I borrowed from a friend of mine, Judy Bishop. I have reviewed the information and with only minor editing changes have posted it here for my readers so that you can have exposure to some very important information.

Seizures in pets are scary, but very treatable. You feel helpless, hopeless and panicked when watching it happen. What should you do if you suspect that your pet has had a seizure? What are the treatment options and prognosis? When are seizures an emergency? In some cases, your dog or cat may not need medication, but there are things you should know about epilepsy and seizures in pets and what you can do to keep you and your pet safe. What is a seizure? Although seizures are often thought of as dramatic events, there are a number of different types of seizures, some of which may appear to be quite subtle. A generalized seizure (Also known as grand mal seizure, fit or convulsion) generally causes an acute decrease in state of consciousness, repeated movements of the body, excessive salivation, vomiting and often a loss of bladder and bowel control. This event may last from 30 seconds to a few minutes. It is generally followed by a period of drowsiness, difficulty walking or seeing as well as changes in behavior which can last around 24 hours. This is known as the "Post-Ictal" period.The other main type of seizure is a focal motor seizure which is a much less dramatic occurrence. A focal motor seizure will cause just a repeated twitching movement in either the face or limbs and usually only lasts a few seconds. These type of seizures may often go unnoticed especially if they involve fairly innocuous movements like swallowing. Seizures are one of the most frequently seen neurological problems in pets. A seizure is also known as a convulsion or fit. It may have all or any combination of the following:1. Loss or derangement of consciousness2. Contractions of all the muscles in the body, stiffness, or sudden, violent shaking, muscle twitching or slight shaking of a limb.3. Changes in mental awareness from non-responsiveness to hallucinations, including staring and altered vision.4. Involuntary urination, defecation, or salivation5. Behavioral changes, including non-recognition of guardian, viciousness, pacing, and running in circles. A seizure may last from one to five minutes. Afterwards, the pet may seem exhausted, confused and disoriented.What causes seizures in pets?Seizures can be caused by numerous things - poisons, skull injury, viral and bacterial infections, congenital malformations, heat stroke, parasites, fungal infections, low blood sugar (diabetics), and so on. By doing a physical exam and blood work, most causes can be eliminated. Seizures occur because of a change in the electrical activity of the brain. This can be caused by a variety of things including diseases of the nervous system and the brain itself such as epilepsy. Seizures may also be the result of a blow to the head, chemicals, poisons, fever and even nutrient deficiencies such as calcium deficiency in nursing mothers.What are the three phases of a seizure?Seizures consist of three components:1) The pre-ictal phase, or aura, is a period of altered behavior in which the dog or cat may hide, appear nervous, or seek out the guardian. He may be restless, nervous, whining, shaking, or salivating. This may last a few seconds to a few hours.2) The ictal phase is the seizure itself and lasts from a few seconds to about five minutes. During this period, all of the muscles of the body contract strongly. The pet usually falls on his side and seems paralyzed while shaking. The head will be drawn backward. Urination, defecation, and salivation often occur. If it is not over within five minutes, the animal is said to be in status epilepticus or prolonged seizure.3) During the post-ictal phase, there is confusion, disorientation, salivation, pacing, restlessness, and/or temporary blindness. There is no direct correlation between the severity of the seizure and the duration of the post-ictal phase.Is your pet in trouble during a seizure?Despite the dramatic signs of a seizure, the animal feels no pain, only bewilderment. They do not swallow their tongues. If you put your fingers into his mouth, you will do no benefit to your pet and will run a high risk of being bitten very badly. The important thing is to keep the animal from falling and hurting himself. As long as he is on the floor or ground, there is little chance of harm occurring. If seizures continue for longer than a few minutes, the body temperature begins to rise. If hyperthermia develops secondary to a seizure, another set of problems may have to be addressed.What is the conventional treatment for seizures? Treatment for seizures is directed at the underlying cause or disease in cases where this is known. Anti-epileptic drugs such as Phenobarbital are commonly used to prevent seizures which are severe or occur frequently.When should I consult my pet’s veterinarian?Seizures are frightening to witness. Stay calm. Try to time how long the seizure lasts. First thing to do is to stay clear. Seizing animals may bite (without knowing it) and trying to hold them down may cause injury. They will not 'swallow their tongue' as you may have heard. Keep fingers away from the pet's mouth. Remove any objects in the area that can injure the animal.Call your vet. With the first seizure, the patient receives a full physical exam, laboratory work up including blood tests, urine analysis, and sometiems an EKG -- seizure control medications usually wait at this point. UNLESS the first seizure is a severe cluster seizure (several happening at once) or a continual seizure called Status Epilepticus, this is a medical emergency. If anything is found on physical or blood work that may cause seizures, the underlying conditions will be addressed and treated. It is important to seek medical care for your pet if he/she has more than one seizure per month, has changed behavior in between the seizures (Excluding the “Post-ictal” period directly after the seizure) or becomes generally lethargic, has difficulty in walking or refuses food.What should I do if my pet experiences seizures?While the owner should keep a diary of when/where the seizures occur, how long they last, was the animal acting strangely/doing any activity in particular before the seizure, and how long after the seizure did it take for the animal to be 'normal'. This may provide clues if a pattern is noticed.There are definite seizure triggers for some animals, and if they can be identified, the number of seizures can be reduced if the trigger (activity, excitement, etc.) can be avoided.What can be done to prevent future seizures?Veterinarians generally prescribe 1-2 weeks of anticonvulsant therapy and then re evaluate the pet. The next treatment is determined by how long it takes for another seizure to occur. That may be days, months, or years. At some point, many animals have seizures frequently enough to justify continuous anticonvulsant therapy other times, medication can be gradually discontinued under veterinary supervision. Veterinarians usually do not recommend medication until seizures occur about every 30 days or unless they last more than five minutes.It is important to avoid sudden discontinuation of any anticonvulsant medication. Even normal dogs and cats may be induced to seizure if placed on anticonvulsant medication and then abruptly withdrawn from it. Your veterinarian can outline a schedule for discontinuing the medication. A prevention plan is a simple method of enhancing the level of nutrition and making lifestyle changes. It is an attempt to address any special needs your pet may have. Rule out other health problems such as Thyroid, Diabetes, Cancer, Liver or Kidney disease. A health problem may be triggering seizures. Over the past decade, natural approaches have been found to be helpful in some patients, either prior to stronger medications or in addition to them, so that you may not need as high a dose. Feed High Quality Food. Poor nutrition is a direct cause of many major and minor diseases. Therefore, a commitment to optimum health and longevity for your pet must include a high quality diet. Research has shown that a low quality diet -- meaning a diet loaded with chemicals, fillers, stabilizers, coloring agents, sodium nitrate (found to produce epileptic-like changes in the brain activity of rats who ate it regularly) and by-products -- can lead to allergies, nervousness, hypertension, diabetes, weight problems, dry skin, and many other common ailments. Because of what goes into pet foods today and what does not, it is important to know how to read labels, and know the history of the company manufacturing the pet food. We recommend HealthyPetNet Life's Abundance Premium Food for Dogs and Cats. HealthyPetNet products use high quality ingredients -- healthy ingredients that are useful to your pet's body. It is essential to choose a high quality food. It is also important to supplement your pet's food. This is important, since every animal is unique and has different nutritional needs. Even healthy dog and cat food may not provide all of the vitamins and minerals your pet demands. Differences in pet age, surroundings, exercise level, and genetic makeup produce animals with widely varying needs. Some dogs and cats may need a quality supplement in addition to a quality food. We recommend HealthyPetNet All Natural Dog and Cat Supplements.

I would like to add that dogs with seizure ddisorders can lead very long and happy lives. It is important to find and treat any underlying disese, improve the baseline health status of the patient by optimizing nutrition and minimizing environmental stresses, and control serious or frequent seizures with medications.

For more health care information check out our practice web page and follow our blog. We look foward to your comments and suggestions on this and future posts.

What you need to ask your veterinarian

This post is taken from the notes I made in preparation for a presentation on Thursday morning. I am a member of BNI international and each week, a member gets to give a presentation about their business.

I want everyone to think about their veterinarian, specifically, ask yourself if you like your veterinarian. If the answer is no, then this is a short discussion and you have to ask yourself why you still go there. If the answer is yes, or yes, but, then you should ask why you like your veterinarian.

Some people will answer that the doctor is nice, or he/she loves animals. The hospital is pretty, or modern. The facility is clean, and there is no smell. The staff is courteous and helpful. These things are all important, and they are things that you can see and make a judgment on. You certainly don't want to go to an animal hospital that is dirty, or smells bad. You don't want to go where the staff or doctors seem to be unhappy, or don't seem to like animals. But what you can't see, or know, is what goes on once you leave the exam room.

Even in the exam room, you should have a good interaction with the doctor and staff. Do they ask about your pet? Are recommendations made specifically for your pet and it's lifestyle (more about this in a future post), or do the recommendations seem canned and applied to all animals? Do they do a complete physical examination, looking into your pet's eyes, ears, and mouth? Is the chest listened to with a stethoscope and is the abdomen carefully felt for abnormally sized organs or tumors? Are the medical records complete, legible and can you get a copy if you want it? Are all of your questions answered?

While you are asking questions, there are some other things you want to be aware of. If the pet is going to be anesthetized, who will monitor the anesthesia. In NY State, only veterinarians, and Licensed Veterinary Technicians (LVT) can administer medications, anesthesia, and monitor anesthesia. Do they have monitoring equipment? In our hospital, a LVT monitors anesthesia using several machines, keeping an eye on the heart rate, respiration, the oxygen saturation, and body temperature. It looks like a scene from ER, your pet is hooked up to many monitors so that we can do our best to assure a successful outcome.

During anesthesia, do all pets have an IV catheter placed, and do they get fluids to help support them during anesthesia? What types of medications are used and is the pet intubated to maintain a safe airway.

Does the hospital have an in house laboratory for running blood tests. At Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital, we have a complete in house laboratory. This enables us to run blood work the morning of surgery to make sure that everything is OK. It also allows us to get results back for sick pets in under an hour, so that a diagnosis can be obtained and a treatment plan formulated. If your veterinarian does not have an in house laboratory, how long does it take them to get back blood test results? This could be important if your pet is critically ill and time may make a difference in the outcome.

Now I know that everyone assumes that the surgery suite is sterile and clean, but it is important to make sure that the operating room is an operating room and used for nothing else. Here is a picture of ours :
http://www.crawforddogandcathospital.com/site/view/102351_SurgerySuite.pml In addition, ask if a clean sterile pack is used for every procedure. One would think, "of course", but I assure you that this is a place that many low cost clinics keep their overhead down. They re-use packs for multiple surgeries.

The technique for performing surgery is very personal. We use a laser seen here http://www.crawforddogandcathospital.com/site/view/102352_Laser.pml because we feel there is less bleeding, less pain, and a faster return to function. Many practices use scalpels, and this is fine, both are just a way to cut tissue. The important thing is that the surgeon be comfortable with what he/she is doing. It is also important that adequate pain control measures be taken. Yes that's right, surgery hurts dogs and cats just like it hurts people, and all of our pets should have pain medication after surgery.

Speaking of some painful procedures, remember your last visit to the dentist? Now I'm not talking about a simple tooth cleaning, although this needs to be done for our pets regularly. I'm talking about extractions, tumor removals form the gums, or even root canals. Dentistry, including cleanings, cannot be done with the dog or cat awake. It is impossible to safely, and effectively evaluate and treat dental disease above and below the gum line in an awake pet. In addition, dental radiographs should be taken, just like when you go to the dentist. See? http://www.crawforddogandcathospital.com/site/view/102350_Dentistry.pml

Everything that we talked about for surgery and anesthesia holds true for dental procedures as well. Adequate monitoring, good technique, competent, trained staff, appropriate well maintained equipment, and post procedure follow up including pain medication when indicated.

I hope that this little glimpse into the workings of our hospital will give you an idea as to what you need to be aware of when selecting a veterinarian for your pet. Check out our full web site at www.crawforddogandcathospital.com, especially the library page where you can search for articles written by specialists about a variety of topics concerning your pets health. We will be posting on this topic again in the future, so follow this blog for more information. You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/knvet for less detailed postings about our day to day activities here at the office and on the road.

Keith Niesenbaum, VMD
Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital
Garden City Park, NY

The Youth of America

So two posts in a week. Must be the bad weather here in New York. Regardless, I had an excellent experience yesterday and I wanted to share with anyone that happens to be out there. No I'm not talking about the run in Riverside Park along the Hudson River, although that was spectacular as well. I'm talking about the New York City Science and Engineerig Fair at City College.

What? you might ask. I know I did when I signed up to judge at the preliminary rounds. Ididn't even know where the campus was (135th street and Amsterdam Ave) That's right, it is Harlem. But boy is it a beautiful campus. http://portal.cuny.edu/portal/site/cuny/index.jsp?front_door=true

There were 400 high school students with science projects on all topics. Some were quite well done, some, not so much. All of the students were very energetic and proud of the work that they had done. I judged animal science projects (6 in all). Makes sense I guess, although next year I might ask if I could do health and medicine. Each student presented their research project, the hypothesis, the experiments they designed, their reults and conclusions. I think I was more nervous than they were. The six projects that I had to judge were all quite good and the kids seemed proud of their accomplishements. The top 25% from each group will advance to the finals later this month. I am going to try to make it to that competition as well and I hope to see the six students that I met there as well.

I don't know if they are accepting judges for this year's finals or not, but if you have a science background you should look into this for next year. http://collegenow.cuny.edu/sciencefair/judges/

Don't forget to check out our practice web page at www.crawforddogandcathospital.com and our on line site at www.petsneedfood.com.