All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

What to do about your dog’s toenail tear

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Few things hurt more than an injury to the toenail — no matter your species! What should you do when it happens to your dog? That’s what a reader asked, and below is my answer!

Q: My Lab tore his toenail at agility class. What’s the best thing to do for it? I’ve heard lots of different advice.

A: Oww! If you’ve ever had a hangnail or cut your nails too short and got to sensitive skin, you know just how your dog feels when he breaks or cracks a nail.

Labs and other active dogs are prone to torn, split or broken toenails. It’s not unusual for these dogs to get toe injuries from jumping and landing wrong, banging the toenail against a hard surface or getting it caught in something.

A cracked or broken nail can be super painful. Interestingly, a toenail that’s cracked or split is often more painful than a nail that’s torn all the way off. Dogs have a much richer blood supply to their paws than humans do to their feet, and every blood vessel is accompanied by a nerve. With each step, the broken edge pushes into sensitive tissue. If the nail is completely torn off, there’s little bleeding, although the paw is still painful.

Depending on your comfort level with the procedure, you can clip off the remaining bit of torn or split toenail. If the thought of that makes you queasy, take a quick trip to the veterinarian so a vet tech or the vet can perform the procedure. With time, the toenail’s tissue will become less sensitive, and eventually the nail will grow back. Wash it with warm water and mild soap, keep it clean and watch for signs of infection, such as redness. You can also bandage it for protection during the healing period.

Your dog’s paw may be sore for a week or two afterward.

It’s a good idea to avoid walking him over rough surfaces while the nail heals. Talk to your veterinarian about prescribing a pain reliever.

Read this and more in this week’s Pet Connection!

How a nasty little protozoa can make life miserable for your pet

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

What’s single-celled, ancient, and can make your dog or cat pretty sick — but might also infect them without causing any symptoms at all? The answer is coccidia, and here’s what I told a reader who wrote asking me about it.

Q: I took in a fecal sample for my 9-year-old dog, and the results showed that she had coccidiosis, even though she didn’t have any symptoms. What can you tell me about that?

A: Coccidia are single-celled protozoa. (Interestingly, the word protozoa means “first animals.”) Four different species can infect dogs: Cystoisospora canis, Cystoisospora ohioensis, Cystoisospora neorivolta and Cystoisospora burrowsi.

Dogs can become infected with coccidia by swallowing soil or eating feces that contain the parasites. Dogs can also acquire coccidia by eating infected animals. Once inside the dog’s body, coccidia inhabit the intestinal wall. Statistically, anywhere from 3 percent to 38 percent of dogs are harboring coccidia.

Infection with coccidia is common in dogs (and cats). Veterinarians usually see coccidia in puppies, but older dogs like yours can also become infected. In puppies, infections can be severe, causing appetite loss, lethargy, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. It can even be fatal. Older dogs may not show any signs at all.

Medication is available to treat coccidia. Your senior dog doesn’t have signs, which is great, but she is probably shedding oocysts, which are how protozoa multiply.

The best way to prevent coccidia is to clean feces from your yard as soon as your dog deposits them, and to prevent your dog from eating the poop of other animals. Lots of dogs love eating poop from other dogs, cats, deer, bunnies and poultry.

People with new puppies should take them in right away with a stool sample to make sure they aren’t infected and to get treatment for them if they are.

By the way, you don’t have to worry about getting coccidia from your dog or cat. Dogs and cats can’t transmit their coccidia to each other or to humans.

Read more, including what to do about feline litter box woes, in this week’s Pet Connection!

Video: Goose reunited with his person greets her with hugs, cries

This and That, , ,

I’ve been writing and learning about the human-animal bond for decades now — since I was in veterinary school. And I’ve never seen anything like this video of a woman and a goose greeting each other after an absence.

Geese tend to have a reputation as being aggressive and unaffectionate. It’s hard to believe that once you watch this video.

I can’t stop smiling!

Blue Buffalo, Wellness announce pet food recalls for elevated thyroid levels

News, Veterinary Medicine, , ,

Two pet food brands, Blue Buffalo and Wellness, have announced recalls of some of their products for “potential elevated levels of naturally occurring beef thyroid hormone.”

Because this recall affects two unrelated brands for the same problem, it’s likely additional recalls will be announced, either of more products within the current brands, or other brands. It’s also possible this will be the extend of the issue.  I’ll do my best to keep you updated as this story develops.

From Blue Buffalo’s press release:

Blue Buffalo Company is voluntarily recalling one production lot of BLUE Wilderness® Rocky Mountain RecipeTM Red Meat Dinner Wet Food for Adult Dogs, as the product has the potential to contain elevated levels of naturally-occurring beef thyroid hormones.

[….]

Dogs ingesting high levels of beef thyroid hormones may exhibit symptoms such as increased thirst and urination, weight loss, increased heart rate and restlessness. These symptoms may resolve when the use of the impacted food is discontinued. However, with prolonged consumption these symptoms may increase in severity and may include vomiting, diarrhea, and rapid or difficulty breathing. Should these symptoms occur, contact your veterinarian immediately.

Read the whole release here.

From the FDA announcement of the Wellness recall:

WellPet has initiated a voluntary recall of a limited amount of one canned topper product due to potential elevated levels of naturally occurring beef thyroid hormone.

Recalled Product Details:

  • Wellness 95% Beef Topper for Dogs – 13.2 oz
  • Best-By Dates of 02 FEB 19, 29 AUG 19 and 30 AUG 19, located on the bottom of the can

Three best-by date codes of one recipe have the potential to contain elevated levels of naturally occurring beef thyroid hormone. Elevated levels may affect a dog’s metabolism and can be associated with anxiousness, increased thirst, increased urinary output and weight loss. However, with prolonged consumption these symptoms may increase in severity and may include vomiting, diarrhea, and rapid or difficulty breathing. Although multiple studies indicate that, for the vast majority of pets, symptoms are reversible once the pet stops eating product with elevated thyroid hormone, if your pet has consumed this product and has exhibited any of these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

View the whole notice here.

As always, please make sure your friends and family who might be feeding these foods are aware of these recalls.

Quin'C

When pet owners are blind to blindness

Veterinary Medicine,

Confession: I’ve had a dog of my own who went blind, probably starting days to weeks before I noticed. What? I’m certainly not a boarded veterinary ophthalmologist, nor am I in one of the best vets in the country, but I’m competent. No, the reason I missed the early signs is that pets are amazing when it comes to staying in routine and masking signs of problems.

The first dog I had who went blind was a 12 year old Miniature Schnauzer named Bode. One Thanksgiving, Bode broke into a trash can filled with the delectable detritus of a monster meal including lots of fat from the roast and ham. Consumption of about a half-gallon of fat caused him to have acute pancreatitis, where dogs can not only have extreme abdominal pain, but go blind.

The lights in his eyes probably went out on Black Friday, but I didn’t notice for about a week. He still scratched to be let outside to potty. Still ran to the gate to bark when UPS arrived at the house. Still ate out of his food dish and drank out of the water fountain. Bode even followed the nightly ritual of treat, outside to potty, and jump into our bed. It was only around December 1 that I knew he was blind.

Dogs know familiar paths in the house and yard (marked with scent and by feel), and every sound in the house has a special meaning. This creak means the treat drawer is opening. Run to it! This drip means it’s bath time. Sneak away. It was only when I held up a piece of hot turkey and Bode was snapping wildly in the air that I literally shrieked, “Oh no! Bode has gone blind!” Then I back-tracked in my mind to “cause and effect.” The fat meal led to pancreatitis that led to blindness. By the way – Miniature Schnauzers are very susceptible to pancreatitis.

More recently, our shelter rescue, Quin’C,  suffered a major seizure and had temporary blindness afterwards. I knew because I tossed a tasty treat his way, and instead of snapping it out of the air like before, it hit him on the bridge of his nose.

In fact, tossing really tasty treats (like pieces of a hot dog) at a dog is one of the ways general veterinary practitioners diagnose blindness. Another is to toss a cotton ball at the face to see if the dogs closes his eyes or does an avoidance move.

Bottom line: If you see your pet having any difficulty finding his way around the house or catching a treat, see your veterinarian immediately. I’ve had some of these cases in my patients turn out to be Canine Cognitive Disorder Syndrome, and others were blind. To paraphrase the old Clairol commercial, “Only your veterinarian knows for sure.”