By Rob Graham, CVT

Halloween is a fun time for kids and grownups alike, but how will it affect our pets? Some pet owners include their pets in the festivities, and I’m sure that many of you have seen the e-mail pictures of our animals adorned in Halloween costumes. I wonder what the pets think about all this. If they’re anything like my kids, they just appreciate the extra attention!

Although Halloween is a fun time, there are some things we need to realize when it comes to our pets. There are certain dangers that can jeopardize our best friends’ well-being. With a little knowledge and minimal planning, we can avoid big problems for little Fluffy.

First things first: chocolate is toxic to your pet. This isn’t usually a concern with cats because they are less likely to raid the bag of candy lying on the floor except to bat the contents around. You need to keep chocolate away from your dog because he or she will eat all of it at the first opportunity. Dogs tend to eat first and ask questions later. While baking chocolate is the most concentrated as far as toxic quantities, the milk chocolate can still cause problems such as vomiting and diarrhea. The wrappers on the candy can also irritate the lining of their bowels. If your dog ultimately gets into any chocolate, it is imperative to seek veterinary help to determine whether your canine friend ate a toxic quantity and whether medical treatment is necessary. However, any type of candy can cause gastrointestinal problems, so be sure and keep it all out of reach of your pet.

The next potential problem is stress. Some animals become very distressed by all of the accompanying commotion. Some costumes may scare your pet, and the doorbell ringing and all of the excitement outside can adversely affect some pets. If your pet tends to be a little on the nervous side, you may want to take measures to keep him or her comfortable during trick-or-treat time. A kennel in a quiet part of the house is a good idea. Some pets may even require sedation.

Another danger that our pets face during Halloween is abuse. This is an unfortunate but real problem that we see this time of year. There are bad people out there that find some kind of sick satisfaction in abusing animals, especially black cats. The best bet is to keep your pet indoors and safe from any potential threat of abuse.

Just being aware of these potential dangers will help you keep your pet safe and healthy during the holiday. If you have additional questions or concerns, contact your veterinarian. Happy Halloween!

Contact Dr. Graham at askthevet@northvalleymagazine.com.

By Dr. Cliff Faver

For veterinarians, obesity continues to be a major concern in the management of health care and longevity of their patients. The pet food industry is thriving nationwide, and along with many good diets intended for the different stages and conditions of an animal’s life, there is mass production of substandard diets that are low in cost and high in palatability. While affordability may appeal to the consumer and tastiness may please animals, these diets lack the documentation to support our pets’ individual nutritional health needs.

The key to understanding the regulation of pet food begins with product labeling. Nutritional awareness varies with each specific breed, age, exercise requirement, and health status. Some pet food manufacturers would have you believe that all pet diets are created equal, containing only the finest quality ingredients. Regarding dog food in particular, be forearmed and familiarize yourself with the AAFCO statement on many dog food bags that recognizes the tested contents to be nutritionally balanced for the maintenance of dog health. Read also the list of ingredients, keeping in mind that the list is in descending order of the amount of each ingredient. How many of the first few items would you honestly associate with any so-called premium diet? Couple this with the addition of fats, salts, preservatives, and artificial colors and flavorings, and you’ll see that any nutritional value can only be lost!

What impact will this ultimately have on our beloved pets? Currently, there are many popular diets produced and labeled as meeting the nutritional requirements for “all life stages.” This is nothing more than advertising lingo! These particular products are designed to reduce the cost of manufacturing through the creation of fewer diets, thereby increasing the companies’ profit margins. The companies maintain that the nutritional requirements for growing puppies are identical to the diet recommendations for senior dogs, whose nutritional needs are not only completely different, but require a caloric intake that is 40 percent less than that of a young dog. The impact will be a decline in the dog’s health, and this decline often begins—and ends—with the onset of obesity.

What is a conscientious pet parent to do? Our best advice is to seek out a trusted professional in your community who is well versed in dietary management. A nutritional consultation with your local veterinarian will certainly enlighten you. Together, you can devise a suitable regimen of diet and exercise, knowing that your contribution will help extend the life expectancy of the loving companions in your life.

Their future is in the hand that feeds them. Please, don’t let them down!

By Dr. Cliff Faver

Loving life in the desert, for most residents, is innate. The majestic scenery and flood of everlasting sunshine make this corner of our state conducive to a variety of outdoor activities.

However, all this beauty is not without its dangers. Every environment has potential pitfalls, and the desert is certainly no exception. We’ve moved into the neighborhood of a considerable number and variety of predators: rattlesnakes, hawks, owls, coyotes, javelina, mountain lions, and a bobcat or two. With their food sources compromised and themselves challenged in finding a source of food, these desert dwellers watch from the outskirts of human habitation and follow us on our walks, methodically stalking our pets.

Local residents often insist on feeding the wildlife. Over time, this leads to their fear of humans disappearing. Our homes and yards become sanctuaries for them, providing a continual source of food. What began with wild animals attacking and eating smaller dogs and cats has now escalated to an all-out pet alert. We have seen a seventy-pound Labrador fall victim to a coyote attack. Owls and hawks can reportedly carry off dogs up to 30 pounds, and certainly, no cat is safe from these raptors.

One of the most threatening and feared dangers in the desert is the rattlesnake. Bites are typically more frequent in spring and fall, but can occur throughout the entire year. Snakes attempt to avoid confrontation whenever possible, but if a dog should push its luck or become too curious, snakes are never afraid to take care of business. The bites generally are not fatal if treated appropriately; however, the aftermath of the venom can cause significant discomfort.

The summer monsoon rains bring out yet another of our desert dwellers—the bufo, or Colorado River toads. These toads live in the soil and have poison glands behind their ears. Within thirty minutes of ingesting this toxin, dogs can exhibit signs such as hypersalivation, disorientation, and even death. The desert is also home to Gila monsters, black widows, tarantulas, cone-nose bugs, and scorpions, each of which can pose a threat to our pet population.

Encounters with our local wildlife may be unavoidable; however, there are preventative measures pet owners should take to help keep their family members safe. Having your dogs snake-trained, not feeding indigenous predators, and not leaving a pet unattended outside are a few measures that should be taken.

If you would like more information about coexisting with our desert wildlife, please feel free to contact Dr. Faver, or any staff member, at Animal Health Services (480) 488-6181.

By Rob Spooner

Q: My cat sheds all over my apartment. I got a shorthaired cat so that I wouldn’t have as much hair all over the place. Is this normal?

A: Shedding is a normal part of having a body covered with fur. Unlike human hair, a strand of cat (or dog) fur grows to a set length and is then shed and replaced by a new hair. Except in certain nonshedding cat breeds like Devon rex, or dog breeds like schnauzers and poodles, shedding is a normal process. Fur is shed all year long, but the amount varies depending on the season. Winter and summer coats are lost and replaced, so as the days become longer at this time of year, increased shedding is normal.

You can reduce the amount of hair in your home by brushing your cat on a regular basis. A vigorous brushing will dislodge those hairs that are waiting to fall out before winding up on your carpet. If your pet is not vacuum-phobic, you may be able to suck the hair directly into your vacuum.

Excessive shedding may indicate an underlying health problem. Poor-quality diets and vitamin/mineral deficiencies can result in a dull coat, dry skin and fur that falls out readily. A diet change, usually to a better-quality food, sometimes helps, although the effects might take a few weeks to be obvious. Adding an essential fatty acid (EFA) supplement to the diet may also help improve the quality of the skin and the coat. Salmon oil and wild fish oil are good EFA sources and are readily available in capsule form from most health food stores. Poke a hole in a gel capsule with a pin and squirt one-fourth to one-third capsule onto your cat’s food daily (a larger dose for dogs, depending on their size—check with your veterinarian).

Increased shedding accompanied by itchiness, bald patches, or red, inflamed skin, suggests a more serious health issue. These symptoms could be caused by allergies, infections, and internal and external parasites like fleas, worms, mites on the skin or in the hair follicles, and ringworm (a fungal infection of the hair shaft). All these problems can usually be diagnosed and treated by your veterinarian.

Allergic dermatitis can cause similar symptoms and can arise from sensitivity to a wide variety of substances. Food, fleas, and environmental components can all contribute to allergic reactions. Even if your pet is strictly indoors, cotton and wool fibers, house dust and dust mites, pollens, molds and dust coming in through windows can all result in itchiness and hair loss. Controlling an allergic skin problem may be as simple as administering an antihistamine during the appropriate season, but more often it takes time and patience to weed out the offending agents.

If the shedding isn’t accompanied by itchiness and seems to decrease as the change in season progresses, it may just be seasonal. If your pet seems to be uncomfortably itchy (and you’re getting itchy, too) or if the shedding results in bald patches, please take your pet to your veterinarian immediately.

By Dr. Rob Spooner

Q: I’ve recently adopted a 12-week-old puppy from the local shelter. I’ve noticed he gets the hiccups a lot. Is this something to be worried about?

–Concerned New Parent

A: In four years of veterinary school, none of my professors ever mentioned hiccups in puppies. In fifteen years of practice, I can safely state that puppies get hiccups. Period. They happen spontaneously. They happen when the puppy is awake, asleep, eating, playing, and pooping; and they normally go away as quickly.

Reviewing information I found in my texts and on the Internet, I came up with very little as far as an explanation goes. Your puppy may have several episodes daily. As long as they go away quickly and don’t cause your puppy any concern, they should not concern you. If they persist, it could be an indication of stomach irritation. Checking a fecal sample for parasites or changing the diet might be advisable. Contact your veterinarian for more information.

In the meantime, if the hiccups don’t upset your puppy, enjoy them for their entertainment value. They usually grow out of them as they mature.

By Bill Ignacio, DVM

We’re in the midst of winter—the season of colder weather and holiday hustle and bustle. But it’s also a time to concentrate on and appreciate family; and family includes pets! Each year around this time we must remind ourselves to spend more time with our pets. Hibernating in winter is a natural tendency for us humans as well as for our pets, but winter is perhaps the mildest of the four seasons here in central Arizona. Enjoy the cool, refreshing air of the outdoors without being soaked through or trudging through snow! When we take steps to get or stay healthy we feel better about ourselves—and so does the family dog. Here are a few ideas for taking advantage of the season to reconnect with your best buddy.

Get a fitness evaluation

Always a smart first step. Especially if you or your pet is not normally active, this is a great excuse to get a checkup. It can actually be fun to see if you have similar areas for improvement, and then work on them together. Waistline expanding? Cholesterol a little high? Seeing your doctor and getting a veterinary exam will give you a health checklist for what to focus on. Especially with older pets who may be arthritic, find out what’s available to help minimize chronic pain and maximize fun.

Run or walk a 10 K

Or at least 1 K! This is a great goal for a pair that’s getting into an active routine. And it’s also a good solution for counteracting the effect of holiday sweets on your body shape. Take your buddy for a three-mile brisk walk between dinner and dessert. Make a preemptive strike on stress with a ten-mile run before the in-laws arrive. In December, take the dog along with the family on walks through nearby neighborhoods to admire the light displays. There is a variety of options!

Find an agility course

Or maybe Rex can do all the running for both of you! While it’s typically herding or working breeds we associate with agility, I’ve seen all types of dogs enjoying the courses. It’s fun for both of you, it’s a great training tool, and it could lead to a healthy habit. Several training outfits or doggie daycare centers in the area may have a lead on agility equipment.

Try geo-caching

Geo-caching is a fairly new fad that a lot of people and their dogs are getting into. The premise? A cache of “hidden treasure” is stashed somewhere and you have the GPS coordinates to find it. Once you do, you sign the logbook, take something from the stash, and add something for the next explorers. It’s a great experience for any family member and you get a chance to practice “sniffing out” a find alongside your dog! Just Google geo-caching for more information and some potential caches—and you’re off!

Camping

Camping out in an Arizona winter can be pleasant. Camping is a favored activity of my dog, Maile, who loves spending a few nights out under the stars. She enjoys the exploring and friend making that goes along with this event. Just make sure the camping grounds you’re visiting are dog friendly and all their restrictions are followed.

It’s easy to forget how privileged we are to live where we do. Get out and enjoy the season together!

By Bill Ignacio, DVM
Early autumn in the Valley is more than just parties in the pool and back-to-school. It’s a great time to be out and about! But, while we may be enjoying the warm days and the sunshine, remember that our canine buddies sometimes don’t adapt as easily. Dehydration is the first and most obvious topic of concern. If you’re out for a hike with your dog, he or she is going to cover much more ground than you, running back and forth, checking out this or that, burning much more energy!

Always make sure to have fresh water on hand for your pets. Even mild dehydration can cause hidden underlying medical issues that can become more serious. If you take a trip to the lake, there’s lots of water there to freshen up Fido. But take care if you take a coastal trip. Playing in the ocean can help cool down body temperature, but drinking ocean water can cause gastric upset, electrolyte imbalance, and even certain serious infections. Never encourage your dog to drink from the ocean, pond, or lagoon. If you’re out for the day, make sure to plan ahead and have water available.

It’s important to recognize the symptoms of heatstroke. This can be as subtle as an increase in respiratory noise while panting to something more extreme, like bulging eyes, distress on the dog’s part, vomiting and, in severe cases, collapsing. If you think you’re seeing some of these symptoms, move your dog to a shady area, try to find or simulate a breeze, offer small amounts of cool water, and cool the pads of his or her feet—rubbing alcohol works great for this. Of course, always phone your family veterinarian if you’re worried.

Now that you’re prepared to enjoy the tail end of our awesome warm weather, get out there and soak up the remaining sun! Just keep in mind the special concerns we have for our canine companions, and everyone will have a great day out together.

By Bill Ignacio, DVM

I don’t think I’ve yet come across a cat that hasn’t definitively let me know just what kind of personality I was up against. There are three basic feline personality types I’ll meet on any given day in practice: the extroverted social butterfly, the shy kitty, and Satan incarnate. Which of these behaviors are innate, and which are a result of environment? I’ve found that it’s certainly a mixture. But it does seem that once a cat has chosen a persona, our only option is to get used to it. While I believe any dog with patient and consistent guardians can adjust his or her temperament, a leopard’s spots don’t change as easily.

As I’ve said before, anyone who claims to understand what happens between a cat’s ears is probably selling something you don’t need. By the very nature of their independence, cats are unpredictable and inconsistent. But this mystique is what endears the species to us—we can surely see a lot of ourselves in them, can’t we? While setting out to “change a cat” is usually a doomed venture, there certainly are key areas where we can influence a cat’s behavior and development. A little overview of what we know is important to a cat may help. At the very least, we may be able to avoid environmental pressures that can create an unruly feline.

Cats are by nature solitary animals. Just like their full-sized cousins, the domestic cat has very little use for companionship outside of procreation and, in some cases, group hunting. Close association with humans over the last eight thousand to ten thousand years has affected this very little. Seriously, if you didn’t show up twice a day shaking a bag of kibble, would Mr. Kitty really suck up to you so much? It therefore shouldn’t be a surprise that multicat households can be a venue for constant turf wars. Cats have very little use for one another, and yet do have an instinctive drive to protect their own territory. In fact, the more cats I meet, the more surprised I am that so many can coexist under good terms! Remembering that the image of domestic tranquility we associate with cats is an anthropomorphic projection is vital.

Sticking with the evolutionary line, diet can have a huge impact on a cat’s behavior. Cats are carnivores. I repeat, carnivores . They eat meat. They lack the required enzymes to digest carbohydrates. Leading dietary research shows that cats will eat until their brains give them the message that they’ve had enough protein. That’s why lions, who eat high-protein diets, only need to eat every few days. A client once showed me a video of her cat eating raw broccoli. Man, I felt sorry for that hungry, hungry cat. But, time-out—I’m not giving you permission to leave a rump roast on the counter once a week. Indoor cats, all things considered, can have life spans four to five times those of wild cats. A pure protein diet is sure to create a cat with irreparable kidney damage and can easily shorten life by a decade. The point is, there’s no one diet that’s perfect for all cats, and your veterinarian is really the person to ask. From a behavior standpoint, animals who are highly motivated by food can be aggressive to other cats and to people when they’re hungry. And, we’re finding that traditional weight-loss diets (high in indigestible carbohydrates to make a cat feel full) aren’t working the way we’d like. They can exacerbate these temperamental stresses. A tip: canned diets are relatively higher in protein when compared with dry, and may assuage a cat’s hunger with lower calorie intake. Again, talk to your vet; he or she knows your cat best.

Ever smelled cat pee on your couch? Kind of makes Days of our Lives less dramatic. Inappropriate elimination is the number-one complaint of owners who surrender their cats to shelters or rescue groups. Surprisingly, medical causes account for fewer than half these issues. The rest are nearly all the same scenario: multicat households with inadequate space for everyone, insufficient number or unhygienic litter boxes, or stress related to food availability. And it’s not only in the litter box that these cats are unhappy. We all notice the “Tootsie Roll” we may find on our pillow when we get home, but we may not notice that we really aren’t getting much snuggle-time with our cats. Behavioral marking is the sign of an unhappy household, and unhappy cats.

So, putting it all together, we can get a better idea of how to promote feline harmony in the home. It’s great when cats do get along—they can make a house so much more complete and entertaining. Usually, the secret is introducing cats at a young age. Kittens are much more pliable and can bond with other cats for life. Even a mature cat is more likely to be accepting of a new kitten than of another adult feline. Be smart about space; we’d all love to shelter as many homeless cats as we can, but there is a point at which we’re not doing them any favors. Feed cats meals at set times; I recommend twice daily. It helps with behavioral training patterns. Having trouble regulating who gets what, and how much? Feed cats in separate rooms—I have to do it! Clean litter boxes daily, and be sure that multiple cats have multiple options. Problems can be difficult to correct once they’re established behaviors. Don’t skip yearly veterinary exams—behavioral changes can signal pain or medical disease. And you know what? When all else fails, Prozac can be a cat’s best friend!

Whew! Who said cats are low maintenance? But you’ll probably agree that all this is common sense. It’s little things you can do to ensure that you’re happy, your cat is happy, and that your veterinarian gets to keep all his fingers.

By Bill Ignacio

When people at social occasions learn that I’m a veterinarian, there’s a standard set of questions I’m bound to be asked. My favorite is, “What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever found in surgery?” The reason I love that question is that the answer is, “The other woman’s panties.”

Long story short: a Doberman pinscher was taken to surgery because of a foreign-body obstruction in his tummy. The culprit? A leopard-print thong. So we cleaned it up a little, stuck it in a plastic baggie, tittered among ourselves a little, and showed it to the dog’s family when they came to discharge him. You already know the punch line—it wasn’t mommy’s. Bad dog, both of you!

It may make for a humorous anecdote, but gastrointestinal obstructions really aren’t funny. In addition to being life-threatening, the cost and inherent risk associated with an invasive surgery like this are exceptional—$20 in cheesy lingerie can quickly turn into more than a grand. We see both dogs and cats in our hospital almost every day with suspected foreign bodies in their stomachs. Because the symptoms are fairly nonspecific, we usually consider foreign-body obstructions. Animals with obstructions usually show a lack of appetite and vomit; but hormonal disorders, gastroenteritis, or organ dysfunction can all look the same in the early stages. It can be frustrating because each of these disorders needs to be treated in very different ways. Standard diagnostics include blood work to rule out metabolic or hormonal disease, and X-rays to discover obvious foreign bodies. But often, even that’s not enough. While bones or rocks show up nice and bright on X-rays, panties don’t. In questionable situations, your veterinarian may perform an ultrasound exam or repeat X-rays after an amount of barium has been administered orally to your pet. Barium will highlight foreign objects we can’t see otherwise. And if there is something blocking the road, that’s usually when it’s time for surgery.

While exploratory surgery is common and more than necessary in certain situations, there’s no denying that it’s invasive. Any time the stomach or intestines needs to be opened, there is a very real risk of infection. Other complications following surgery include heart arrhythmias, blood loss and, of course, pain. It sounds scary, and it is, but the truth is that with proper and prompt care, major complications following a foreign body retrieval surgery are rare.

Here’s a list of some popular objects our furry friends seem to find irresistible. Cats: little pieces of stuffed toys that they stalked for an hour, killed, and then of course ate; string, ribbon, and thread; foam earplugs; and rubber bands. I have even seen a few sewing needles in some kitty tummies. Christmastime and birthday parties are key events for cats to find something shiny and indigestible. Dogs: the list is endless, but beware of bones (chewing does not mean eating), toys and balls, and plastic objects from the trash. And incriminating underwear. They’ll eat those every time.

So, if your pet shows a lack of appetite or is vomiting frequently on an empty stomach (especially if you watched him eat a baseball earlier that day), get him or her into your family veterinarian right away. Waiting with this problem can seriously jeopardize healing and increase costs. In some cases, objects that haven’t left the stomach can be removed with an endoscope, eliminating invasive surgery.

Here are some more weird cases I’ve seen lately. Flynt is a handsome little border collie who decided to get hit by a car, develop pancreatitis, and eat half a tennis ball, all at around the same time. He was with us for nearly ten days before we realized he had a foreign body obstruction. Luckily, Flynt has one of the greatest moms there is; she stuck by him the whole time. Flynt did just fine through surgery, and I’m happy to tell you he’s back in fighting form today.

Then there’s Milo, a little ragdoll kitty who got a giant hairball good and stuck in his tiny little intestines. Hairball obstructions in cats are quite rare, but Milo is the second one I’ve treated this year! He’s also lucky enough to have a world-class mom, and he was home in just a couple of days.

So, know what to watch for, but more importantly, help prevent the problem. And for goodness sake, don’t cheat on your wife. There’s nothing worse than being busted by your dog.