All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

Veterinarians play tooth fairy to homeless pets

News

A group of six San Diego veterinarians traveled to Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month to perform dental work on 32 dogs, 32 cats, one potbellied pig and one rabbit.

Their goal? To help improve the pets’ adoptability.

“It is unrealistic for most potential adopters to take on a large health care investment when adopting a new pet,” says board-certified dental specialist Brook A. Niemiec, DVM. “This makes shelter or sanctuary animals with dental disease significantly less adoptable, which means that these pets tend to have long shelter stays or require placement with rescue groups versus an adoptive family.”

Read more, including tips on how to find your pet if she goes missing, in this week’s Pet Connection!

Medicating your pet doesn’t have to make you miserable

Veterinary Medicine

Stella3Veterinarians make it seem like magic. There’s a pill and a pet, and somehow the pill ends up inside the pet.

But it never seems that easy for you. Cats know exactly when you’re trying to give them medication and disappear. Dogs are a little easier – at least until you realize he ate the treat you gave him, but left the pill!

Veterinarians face many challenges when they’re trying to help your pet, and one of the biggest is… you.

If you can’t follow through with medications, chances are you and your pet are both going back to the vet’s office. What can you do to make the process easier?

Make pill-time less stressful for your dog or cat by starting with a positive attitude. Don’t anticipate failure! Your pet will know if you approach them with dread and defeat. After you pill your pet, reward them with a treat and praise.

You can also talk to your vet about new technologies or alternatives to pills. Compounding pharmacies can turn pills into tasty liquids that are much easier to administer. Some medications are available as trans-dermal prescriptions, which are applied to the pet’s skin.

Whatever you do, give all prescriptions to the end of the supply and exactly as they are prescribed. If your pet hasn’t improved after you’ve given all the medication, you must call your veterinarian.

And if you’re struggling, ask for help! Your veterinarian wants your pet to get well, and can only help if she knows there’s a problem.

 

White cat with two colored eyes being examined by a veterinarian

10 signs your pet might have cancer

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Do you know the warning signs of cancer in your pets?

As they age, pets are more likely to develop some type of cancer. Signs include:

  • Lumps or bumps that grow or change
  • Wounds that don’t heal
  • Persistent or recurrent lameness
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Lack of appetite
  • Difficulty eating or swallowing
  • Bleeding from the mouth, nose or rectum
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Straining to urinate or defecate
  • Lack of energy

If your pet shows any of these signs, take him to the veterinarian right away. Cancer is treatable with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other techniques, especially when caught in the early stages.

Read more, including suggestions for how you can volunteer to help animals, in this week’s Pet Connection.

The healing power of the pets of the homeless

Healing Power of Pets, This and That

I often hear people say things like, “I’d live in my car before I’d give up my pets.” Those same people also often say they don’t think the homeless should be allowed to have pets, because they aren’t able to take care of them.

I wish they could read about cats like Spaghetti, who were all their humans had when they lost everything:

Around 2008, Southeast Portland resident Pam Bartel lost her job at the company where she had worked for 12 years.

Not long after that, her ex-husband lost his job and about six months later, they lost their beautiful Victorian home.

In the aftermath of that dark time, Bartel didn’t have much left except for Spaghetti, the Siamese cat she received as a “bonus” from her previous employer.

“I lost everything I owned, and I was thinking about taking Spaghetti to the humane society because I couldn’t afford anything,” she says. “It broke my heart, and I couldn’t do it.”

[…]

Pets like Spaghetti can provide a vital link to those who have lost everything else in their lives, says Cindy Scheel, executive director of the Portland Animal Welfare Team.

“These folks will and do give up anything in order to keep their pets with them,” says Scheel, whose organization provides basic veterinary care and services to pets of Portland’s homeless and extremely low-income population.

“Their world has gotten smaller and smaller, they’ve lost this belonging and that belonging until now they’re literally down to their human children and their four-footed family members.”

Around 60 percent of the organization’s clients are families, says Scheel. Many are older couples who have no health insurance and face devastating medical bills.

The Portland Housing Bureau doesn’t have data on how many homeless people have pets, but during a 2013 homeless count, 42 people said they slept outside with their pet on the night of the count.

The next time someone you know says the poor and the homeless shouldn’t have pets, tell them to read this article from the Oregonian – and remember that there but for the grace of God go any of us.

Diseases people and pets can give to each other

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Can you get diseases from your pets? Yes. And they can get them from you, too! Here’s what I had to say to a reader who wrote me about the spread of diseases between humans and pets:

Q: With all the talk of the Ebola virus a few months ago and how it can live in both people and animals, I’m curious about what other diseases can affect humans and animals. How are they spread and can they be prevented?

A: That’s a great question. Diseases that can be spread from animals to humans are called “zoonoses” (pronounced zo-uh-NO-sees). Some diseases, called “reverse zoonoses,” can also be spread from people to animals. The causes of zoonotic disease are bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Zoonotic diseases or infections can be transmitted through bites or scratches or when the infected area is touched.

Some zoonotic diseases you may have heard of are rabies, ringworm and salmonellosis. Other diseases or parasites that can spread between animals and people include E. coli infection, roundworms, hookworms, leptospirosis, Lyme disease and Staphylococcus infection. Staph infections are a good example of reverse zoonoses, being more commonly transferred from people to animals.

Zoonotic diseases are of special concern when someone in the household has a weakened immune system. This could be someone who is sick or who is simply very young or very old. Those people are more at risk of contracting disease because their immune systems aren’t strong enough to fight off disease-causing invaders.

Good hygiene is the best way to prevent the transmission of diseases between animals and people. Always wash your hands with soap and water after handling your pet (especially if he has an infectious disease), as well as after handling pet food, including dry food. Make sure kids do the same. To prevent transmission of parasites such as Cheyletiella or scabies mites, roundworms and hookworms, deworm your pet regularly. Rabies, of course, is fatal, so it’s essential to vaccinate your pets against the disease as required by law and to seek immediate treatment if you are bitten by a potentially rabid animal.

Read more, including what your cat’s body language is telling you, in this week’s Pet Connection!

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com!