Diabetes in Obese Pets

Extra body fat can cause a variety of health problems in cats and dogs, including insulin resistance, diabetes, and heart disease. In fact, obesity can lead to a 50% decrease in insulin sensitivity in our pets, which can put them at a high risk for developing diabetes mellitus.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to help regulate blood sugar levels. When a cat or dog is overweight, their body becomes resistant to insulin, meaning that their cells are unable to use the insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. This can cause a range of symptoms, including increased thirst and urination, weight loss, and weakness. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to serious health problems, including blindness, kidney failure, and even death.

Weight management is especially important in decreasing a pet’s risk for the development of diabetes mellitus. If you have an overweight pet, it is important to work with your veterinarian to develop a weight loss plan that is safe and effective. This may involve changes to their diet, increased exercise, and other lifestyle changes.

In addition to managing diabetes, weight loss can also help improve overall health in cats and dogs. Pets that are at a healthy weight are less likely to develop a range of health problems, including joint problems, heart disease, and respiratory problems.

Fireworks and loud noises

Summer is full of celebrations, sometimes involving fireworks. Dogs and cats react to fireworks individually. Some aren’t upset by the explosions, and others get hurt by panicking and jumping through closed windows or bolting through doors to get away from the terrifying noise and lights.

Many pets get lost, injured or killed during this time, so if your pet isn’t microchipped, this could be lifesaving prevention in order to get an escapee returned home. We can do this in a quick simple appointment on any working day. Its also a good idea for your pets to be wearing an ID tag or a collar that contains your phone number – although it may come off, if it doesn’t your pet can be quickly returned.

Signs of anxiety can include pacing, trembling, panting, drooling, attention-seeking (vocalizing, pawing, nuzzling, and climbing on people), hiding, and bolting. Escape attempts tend to involve hiding behind furniture, and staying in a basement or bathroom. Because the source of the noise is confusing, inside dogs may want to escape to the outside, and outside dogs may be frantic to get inside.

Nervous pets tend to drink more water, so keep more available than usual. Try to be home or have your dog with you during fireworks events, as they will be less anxious if you are home. Bring outside pets inside, so they can’t bolt. Keep your cats securely inside, and if your dog needs a toilet break during the fireworks, have them on a leash, even in a fenced yard.

Remedies

What can you do to keep your frightened pet safe and calm? For many frightened pets, just staying in a crate (as long as they are used to one) or in a “safe” room with a closed door is all that’s needed. Music may disguise the bursts of noise; consider loud music with a regular beat. Also, having the TV on a bit louder than usual may help disguise the sudden loud noises associated with fireworks.

Synthetic pheromone products such as Feliway diffusers for cats and Adaptil diffusers or collars for dogs are worth trying. These products imitate the properties of the natural pheromones of the lactating female that gives kittens or puppies a sense of well-being. 

Some pets respond to pressure wraps, the most well known being  “Thundershirts”. The pressure around the body has a calming effect and works well in many dogs. A great benefit is that you don’t need to know exactly when the fireworks will be, you can put the Thundershirt on around the time they are expected and leave it on for days around festive periods like New Years Eve when fireworks may be sporadic for many hours.

Classical counter conditioning can create a positive association with fireworks if the anxiety isn’t extreme. Give high-value food rewards such as small pieces of cheese, meat or liver treats, offer your pet his favourite toys or food puzzle toys, or have your pet practice his tricks with you. The goal is for him to learn that fireworks result in highly pleasant rewards. 

You can teach a desirable coping response. The appropriate response for a dog facing something frightening is to retreat to a safe place until the frightening thing ends – usually the pet needs to choose their own safe place and the owner needs to ensure this space is available during frightening events. Blankets to muffle the sound and a pheromone diffuser will provide natural motivation for the dog to seek this location. Being able to cope when the world becomes overwhelming is a life skill essential for both people and dogs!  Hiding is not a sign of a problem, if the pet quickly returns to a normal behaviour when the fireworks are over. 

Drug therapies can be discussed with your vet for particularly severe or serious phobias (such as dogs breaking down doors). These can be very effective if the timing of use is correct and they are the right choice for your dog. Some can take weeks to be effective, so ensure you see the veterinarian well in advance of expected fireworks events

What on Earth are Anal Sacs?

Anal sacs (also called anal glands) are two small glands just inside your pet’s anus. The material secreted into these sacs is thick, oily, stinky, and is commonly described as smelling fishy. Most wild animals can empty these glands voluntarily for scent marking or in self-defense (like a skunk might do); however, domestic animals have largely lost their ability to empty these sacs voluntarily. Walking around and normal defecation serve to empty the sacs but some animals become unable to empty their sacs on their own at all. The sacs become impacted and uncomfortable.

Dogs with impacted anal sacs usually scoot their rear on the ground in an attempt to empty the glands. Some dogs will lick their anal area and other dogs will chase their tails. Cats often lick the fur off just under their tails. Some animals are simply vaguely uncomfortable, holding their tails down, shivering, showing reluctance to walk or hiding. Strangely, some animals seem to refer their discomfort to their ears and scratch and shake their ears as if an ear infection were present.

What to do about Scooting?

You should bring your pet into visit us at the clinic.  We can manually empty these glands by inserting a finger into their rectum and gentle expressing the material out of the gland.  This is often all that is needed to relieve the discomfort.

What if Scooting Continues?

If scooting continues for more than a few days after sac emptying, the sacs should be re-checked. For some individuals, it takes several sac emptyings in a row before the sacs stay emptied. If the sacs are empty and scooting is persisting, another cause (such as itchy skin, tapeworms, or even lower back pain) should be pursued.

What Happens if an Impacted Sac doesn’t get Emptied?

An abscess can form and rupture out through the skin. This is a painful, messy and smelly condition often mistaken for rectal bleeding. If an anal sac abscess forms, it will need immediate veterinary treatment.  We may need to flush the glands under sedation and antibiotics will be needed.

How often should Anal Sacs be Emptied?

This is a highly individual situation. The best recommendation is to let the pet tell you when the sacs are full. If the pet starts scooting again, it is time to bring him in.

What if My Pet’s Sacs seem to Require Emptying all the Time?

A non-invasive technique that helps some patients is a change to a high fibre diet. This will produce a bulkier stool that may be more effective in emptying the sac as it passes by.

Anal Sacculectomy

If the sacs need to be emptied every few weeks or more, you may opt to have the sacs permanently removed. This procedure is complicated by many local nerves controlling fecal continence, the fact that any change in the local musculature of the anal sphincter area can affect fecal continence, and the fact that with chronic anal sac problems anatomy is distorted. Draining tracts can develop after surgery if the gland is not completely removed. Still, despite these pitfalls anal sac removal is considered a relatively simple surgery by experienced surgeons.

Many people own pets for years without ever learning that anal sacs exist at all and the “wive’s tale” that worms cause scooting erroneously continues. If you have further questions about anal gland disease give us a call

MALOCCLUSIONS – “IT DOESN’T BOTHER THE DOG!”

By Dr Wayne Fitzgerald- Dental surgeon

Introduction

“But it isn’t worrying him.” … we hear these words all the time and what do you say when you know this just can’t be true?
Our patients are very good at masking pain, especially chronic pain. People generally can’t ignore their own pain, but can be pretty good at it if it isn’t theirs!
Dental malocclusions do cause discomfort, even significant pain, and generally result in some sort of pathology.
“In people, the main reason for treating malocclusion is cosmetic; in veterinary medicine however, the reason for performing orthodontic correction is to enhance function and prevent disease.” (Jan Bellows, 1999)
Affected animals often become defensive around their head making examination difficult; however, given time these may progress to hard or soft-tissue pathology and even loss of function. Malocclusions are most often hereditary but some such as a tipped tooth may be acquired. Trauma or illness (during a growth period of the jaw bones) may also alter these relationships by changing growth patterns producing a wry mouth or altered functions.
Humans introduced line- or in-breeding, later, these became established types and hence ‘breeds’. Malocclusions are primarily the result of inherited dento-facial proportions governed by breeding for a desired head shape.
Malocclusions may be produced by inheritance in 2 ways:

1. Inherited disproportion between the size of the teeth and the size of the jaws producing a crowded or abnormal spacing of the teeth, or

2. Inherited disproportion between the size or shape of the upper and lower jaws causing improper occlusal relationships.

Genetic isolation and uniformity as seen in wild dogs, rarely produce instances of malocclusion. When this group carries the same genetic information for tooth and jaw size, there is little possibility of individuals inheriting discordant characteristics. Genes that introduce disturbances into the jaws would tend to be eliminated from the population. The ‘typical” specimen has a normal scissor occlusion and tooth/jaw size discrepancies are infrequent as each tends to have the same jaw relationship.
When cross-breeding between distinct breeds occurs, malocclusions may develop. In 1941, this genetic problem was demonstrated by cross-breeding dogs and recording their body structure. It was believed that malocclusions occurred in cross-bred dogs more from jaw length or width discrepancies than from tooth/jaw size imbalances.  However, the miniature dog breeds were examined where the latter is common.  This research confirmed that “independent inheritance of facial characteristics is a major cause of malocclusion and the rapid increase in malocclusion accompanying urbanisation was probably the result of increased out-breeding.”  That is, breeding between dissimilar dogs such as Basset Hounds and English Bulldogs, and we have seen the emergence of such ‘designer breeds’ in the last few decades.