David R. Gross's Blog: Docdavesvoice, page 5

My ten-year old dog is drinking more water and urinating much more than he used to. What’s going on?

It could be diabetes, bladder disease, bladder or kidney stones, or an infection of the urinary system, your veterinarian can check for those and other possibilities. The more usual cause in an older dog is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Signs of CKD (sorry veterinarians are using initials for diseases more and more, the same as MDs) include polydipsia (excessive drinking), polyuria (excessive urinating), and nocturnal incontinence (leaking urine when asleep). As the disease progresses, and it usually does, you can expect vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia (loss of appetite), weight loss, depression, pale gums and weakness. Poor kidney function can lead to weakened bones and spontaneous fractures, high blood pressure leading to blindness, puritis (itchy skin) bruising or gastrointestinal bleeding.

The kidneys contain thousands of functional units called nephrons. When our pets, are young and healthy, not all of the nephrons are functioning all the time there are nephrons in reserve, so to speak. As your pet ages, or if the kidneys become damaged from disease or from some sort of toxicity, some nephrons no longer function. When that happens the body recruits the reserve nephrons and everything is hunky dory. If there are no longer any “extra nephrons” available signs of CKD manifest.

The kidneys are complex filters that remove waste products, the result of metabolism, old cells breaking down, toxins, poisons and many drugs. When the nephrons are not functioning properly, or there are not enough of them functioning, these toxic substances build up in the blood. The body tries to rid itself of these substances by increasing water intake and increasing the urine flow. So, the kidneys filter out body water with almost everything in it. Then the kidneys reabsorb a host of substances that the body requires to maintain the necessary levels of such things as; water, sodium, potassium, calcium, Vitamin D, sugar, and many, many others. To make things even more complicated the kidneys also function as an endocrine organ producing hormones responsible for regulating blood pressure, water balance and stimulating the production of red blood cells.

Because the kidneys do so many different things, signs of kidney disease can be very confusing.

To make the diagnosis and formulate a prognosis and treatment plan your veterinarian will have to run a number of laboratory tests, on blood and urine. It may also be necessary to take radiographs (X-rays), do an ultrasound exam, a kidney biopsy, cultures for bacterial infections, and tests for ability of the blood to clot normally. In most cases, the more expensive testing is not necessary.

CKD cannot be cured. Your veterinarian will prescribe diet and treatment designed to flush out toxic waste products from the animal’s body and extend his or her life as a companion.

I adopted my longhaired, mixed breed dog (he came from a very good neighborhood) five years ago. He has recently started to shed more than usual, has put on a lot of weight and he has a smelly discharge from both ears. What should I do?

Take this poor guy to your veterinarian as quickly as you can. There are several possible explanations for these signs but one possibility is hypothyroidism, low activity of the thyroid gland.

The thyroid gland is located in the neck and produces hormones that influence the function of many other organs in the body. In dogs, overactive thyroid glands occur only rarely and when it does is usually associated with cancer.

Hypothyroidism is usually a result of inflammation or shrinkage of the thyroid gland. The condition occurs most frequently in medium to large breeds of dogs and usually during middle age. It seems to be most common in Golden retrievers, Doberman pinchers and Irish setters but don’t ask me why this is, because I have no idea.

The most common signs associated with this condition are loss or thinning of the fur, a dull hair coat, excess shedding, scaling of the skin, lethargy, and cold sensitivity. The hair loss seems to affect mostly the body of the dog with the head and legs less affected. Excessive itchiness is usually not reported but the skin may become thickened, and develop increased pigmentation particularly where the front and rear legs rub against the body. Hypothyroid dogs frequently suffer from ear infections with resulting pain and foul odor. Some hypothyroid dogs develop skin infections that are itchy and can result in scabby sores. Some dogs with this condition accumulate mucopolysaccharides particularly in the muscles of the face. The result is that the affected muscles lose tone, droop and the dog develops a tragic facial expression. The cartoon character “Satchel” in Darby Conley’s comic strip “Get Fuzzy” looks to be a likely candidate for this condition, just one man’s opinion.

In a small number of afflicted dogs, the disease can result in dilation of the esophagus, known as megaesophagus. This condition results in frequent regurgitation of undigested food.

Another rare sign is a neuropathy (nerve malfunction) that can result in weakness and abnormal gait.

To confirm the diagnosis of hypothyroidism it is necessary to do a panel of several blood tests. The results of these tests can be influenced by other, non-thyroid, diseases so your veterinarian must sift through all the available evidence including her or his complete physical examination of your dog to make this diagnosis.

Treatment is not complicated. It involves giving your dog thyroid tablets by mouth, usually twice a day, but for the rest of his life. Once the hair coat begins to return to normal, the dosage can be reduced to once a day for some dogs. There are two forms of thyroid hormone produced by the thyroid gland, T3 and T4. Normal animals, including humans, convert T4 to T3. Since most hypothyroid dogs who are given T4 will convert it to T3, we usually prescribe levothyroxine or L-thyroxine, the T4 form. Rarely a dog will not be able to do the conversion and will require medication with a T3 product. It is not a bad idea for your veterinarian to monitor T4 blood levels to fine tune the dosage.

If your dog has an ear infection, this needs to be treated appropriately at the same time. It usually takes about 4 to 6 weeks for hair to grow back and for the dog to return to his normal friendly happy self.

How can I tell if my animal is in pain?

Pain is a part of life. All living things experience pain in some form. Pain perception is well documented in living animals and a similar type of response may even occur in plants. Pay heed, you Vegans.

Most of us who live in close proximity to animals will know it when our pet/companion/friend/family member/however you identify the animal that lives with you, is experiencing acute pain. When the animal cries out or limps looking at you with pitiful eyes, you know it. Animals that experience chronic pain, even if it is relatively severe sometimes cover it up. In the wild, this covering up of pain can be a survival strategy. Animals in obvious pain are easy targets for predators.
Dogs and cats in pain will usually demonstrate a change in behavior or temperament. Some individuals will vocalize, whimpering, crying, meowing, etc. I have known some cats that did not suffer stoically. They vocalized and let me know they were hurting. Perhaps this was the origin of “caterwauling”?

If your pet is normally gregarious, happy, and affectionate but becomes irritable and avoids being held, or petted, that could be a sign of chronic pain. If your normally rambunctious Golden Retriever sits or lies around and avoids contact with you, something is up. Many species adopted as pets will lick, scratch or bite at the part of their body causing pain. When this happens, the frequent outcome is self-inflicted injury. Thus, we have those ridiculous looking Elizabeth collars, affixed around the neck of your pet by your veterinarian to prevent exacerbating the condition.

Horses show pain by restlessness, pawing at the ground, looking at the painful area. They may try to kick at the painful place, especially if their abdomen or thorax is the source. If the pain is severe, especially abdominal pain, horses may go down and roll on the ground. This is very dangerous because the rolling can results in twisting of the intestines on themselves resulting in death of the tissue and, without surgery, death of the animal. Some horses in severe pain may refuse to move and just stand, depressed, with their head drooping.

Cattle, sheep and goats frequently grind their teeth when in pain, vocalize by groaning or whimpering, and look and/or bite at the painful spot.

Birds will often pluck feathers from a painful area. Iguanas and other exotic species may try to bite at the offending stimulus. Almost all animals will respond by withdrawing when you palpate a sore area and some may bite or strike at you in response. Almost all animals in pain will stop eating and this may be the first sign.

As it is in us humans, the threshold for pain can and does vary with individuals and in the same individual at different times. Avoid giving your animal human pain medication unless your veterinarian has specifically recommended it and explained the proper dose.

Is it true that my dog can be poisoned by eating raw salmon?

One of my professors once told me; “…any day you don’t learn something new is a day wasted.” Today was not wasted. Until today, I didn’t know about Salmon Poisoning Disease.

Dogs and other canids such as wolves, fox, coyotes, that eat RAW anadromous fish (fish that are born in fresh water spend most of their life in the ocean then return to fresh water swimming upstream to breed) are susceptible. Examples of anadromous fish are salmon, some species of trout, smelt, shad, striped bass and sturgeon. The Pacific giant salamander has also been incriminated, but your dog must be very special to catch and eat one of these.

This is another disease, like Lyme disease, caused by a parasite vector, in this case a fluke named Nanophyetus salminicola. These flukes can be infected with a nasty bacteria known as, Neorickettsia helminthoeca. If your dog eats raw fish infested with these flukes, they attach to the dog’s intestine and release the bacteria. If the flukes do not harbor the bacteria, the dog usually shows no sign of a problem. Cats, raccoons, bears and maybe even sushi-loving humans can eat raw fish containing the parasite with the bacteria but don’t get sick. However, the same fluke can also harbor Neorickettsia elokominica. This bacteria causes a similar disease known as Elokomin fluke fever in canids, bears, raccoons and ferrets.

Signs of Salmon poisoning are; vomiting, lack of appetite, high fever, diarrhea, weakness, swollen lymph nodes and dehydration. Some, or all of these signs, manifest within six days after your dog eats infected raw fish. The bad news is that ninety percent of dogs with salmon poisoning die within a week or two if they are not treated. The good news is that treatment is usually straightforward and successful, if diagnosed early. The key for your veterinarian is you providing the information that your dog ate raw fish.

Your veterinarian makes a positive diagnosis by finding the eggs from the parasite in your dog’s feces and/or finding the rickettsial organism in a needle sample from a swollen lymph node. The treatment involves killing the parasite in your dog’s gut and treating the bacterial infection with an appropriate antibiotic. If the dog is seriously dehydrated, fluid therapy may be indicated.

So, Fido gets no sushi! You, my friend, are on your own.

My family is going camping with our dog and I hear there is a disease he can get from ticks. What is it and what can I do to protect him?

Both humans and pets, mostly dogs, are susceptible to Lyme disease caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacteria transmitted by the bite of ticks. The bacteria, Borrelia burgforderi, was first identified as the cause of an outbreak of rheumatoid arthritis in children in Lyme, Connecticut in 1982. Lyme disease is probably the most common vector-borne disease (diseases transmitted by insect bites) in the United States. The bacteria can be found in a wide variety of wild small mammals and deer and these animals serve as a reservoir for the disease.

Ixodes ticks (blackleg or deer ticks) feed on an infected wild animal then transmit the bacteria to you or your pet. The only way to contract the disease is from a tick bite so it is very important to protect against this danger. A blood test can measure antibodies to the bacteria but not all people or dogs exposed to the bacteria will show signs of the disease and a positive blood test only means the individual was exposed, not that they have the disease.

Signs of Lyme disease are sudden lameness, pain and sometimes swelling in one or more joints. Animals and people can become feverish, lose their appetite, become dehydrated and have swollen lymph nodes. Humans often develop a skin rash at the location of the tick bite but this is rare in dogs. Severe cases can result in kidney failure and death but this is uncommon. The disease usually responds well to treatment with antibiotics.

Ticks embedded in the skin for over 24 hours spread the infection, so removing them as soon as possible is important. Check your family and your dog at least once a day. Check your dog’s toes, behind ears, under both front and rear legs where they connect to the body, around the tail and all over the head. Favorite sites on people are at the junction of clothing and skin, but a thorough examination is important. Run your fingers through your dog’s fur and feel for small bumps. Pull the fur apart to identify any small bumps.

Embedded ticks are usually black or dark brown and can vary in size from a pinhead to a grape. To remove a tick grasp it as close to the skin as possible with a fine-tipped tweezers (make certain you have these in your first-aid kit). Try to avoid crushing the tick and pull it off the skin with a steady motion. After the tick is out crush it and kill it then dispose in the trash or down a toilet. Clean the skin where the tick was embedded with soap and warm water. Do not use petroleum jelly, a hot match, nail polish or other weird techniques to remove ticks the best way is with a tweezers, as described.

There are a number of ways to prevent your dog from getting ticks. You should consult your veterinarian about the technique or product she or he finds most effective. There are also Lyme disease vaccines available for prevention of this disease. Consult your veterinarian about how effective these vaccines are in his or her experience in your part of the world.

Can my dog or cat have a heart attack?

Carnivores, including dogs and cats, handle ingested fats more efficiently than omnivores, including humans and pigs. Omnivores convert excess ingested fats, especially animal origin fats, into cholesterol. Cholesterol is necessary for many physiological functions in the body but excess cholesterol can and does end up as atherosclerotic plaque in blood vessels.

Dogs and cats rarely, if ever, accumulate cholesterol in blood vessels and thus do not suffer from atherosclerosis. Atherosclerotic disease in humans can result in blockage of the blood vessels. When the coronary blood vessels, those supplying the heart, become affected, the result is a heart attack. When the carotid or cerebral arteries are diseased, the result can be a stroke. When blood vessels to the legs are involved, it can result in claudication. These conditions can be induced in pigs by feeding a high cholesterol diet, but dogs and cats fed an equivalent diet do not develop the atherosclerotic plaque.

So the answer is no. Dogs and cats do not suffer heart attacks. HOWEVER, they can and do suffer from a variety of other heart problems. These include a variety of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, related conditions, various diseases of the heart valves, both congenital and acquired, and almost all of the same congenital defects seen in humans. A condition called cardiomyopathy, that seems to have a significant congenital component, is being diagnoses with increasing frequency in both dogs and cats. Many diseases can affect the heart secondarily. All of these problems can result in congestive heart failure, but not a heart attack, per se.

If you pet is showing signs of exercise intolerance, “fainting”, shortness of breath, unexplained lassitude, or dizziness you should have your veterinarian conduct a thorough examination to look for a problem involving heart function. It may be necessary to consult a veterinary cardiologist who can conduct specialized testing with ultrasound, electrocardiography and/or catheterization, but your regular veterinarian can determine if this expertise is necessary.

My cat seems to be spending a lot more time in the litter box. What is going on?

There are many possible explanations for this behavior. In most cases it is caused by either digestive tract or urinary tract abnormalities. One common possibility is constipation. If the cat has long hair, sometimes even in shorthaired cats, this could be the result of an accumulation of hair in the digestive tract, “hairballs” from the cat grooming itself. However, cats also suffer constipation from a variety of other causes including dehydration, colitis, obesity, old age, a condition known as megacolon and more. Your fastidious cat may just refuse to use a dirty litter box. This can result in constipation. In my day, the olden times, we recommended a small amount (about1/4 teaspoon) of white petroleum jelly (Vaseline) smeared on the cat’s nose. They don’t usually object and lick it off very quickly. Don’t use carbolated or other products with extra ingredients. Your veterinarian can prescribe newer, perhaps more effective products, for chronic constipation.

If the cat is squatting and straining, especially if it is dribbling urine, the problem is probably related to the urinary tract. Cats with urinary problems may also abandon the use of their litter box and have “accidents”. Cats are quite susceptible to urinary tract infections that can afflict the bladder and/or the urethra, the tract leading out from the bladder. Kidney problems are also possible, but are less common. Cats also are susceptible to urinary tract calculi, bladder or urethral “stones”. Male cats both castrated and intact, are susceptible to “sabulous” (sand-like) blockages of the urethra. Cancer of the bladder must also be a consideration.

All of these conditions can be quite serious and require veterinary attention. Your veterinarian can determine if the animal is constipated, usually just by palpating the abdomen. The solution to this problem is usually quite straight-forward, but might require an enema in recalcitrant cases. Don’t try this at home!

Urinary tract problems are more serious and more difficult to make a definitive diagnosis. It will probably be necessary to run some laboratory tests on both blood and urine. If large bladder stones are the culprit, it may be necessary to take radiographs to diagnose the problem. In some cases, surgery may be necessary. If your cat is crying out in pain when it attempts to urinate this could indicate a complete blockage and this is an emergency. If not treated a blocked urethra could result in rupture of the bladder and even the death of your pet.

Why does my dog eat grass?

This is behavior that every dog owner/caregiver witnesses. There are several possible explanations:

There is good scientific evidence that dogs descended from wolves. After generations of selective breeding, we ended up with the many different breeds of dogs available today. Genetic engineering is the same process speeded up by identifying specific genes and inserting them or removing them.

However, that is another discussion for another time. Wild carnivores typically kill and eat herbivores, plant eaters. After a kill carnivores typically eat the internal organs, including the digestive tract first. This means they are ingesting partially digested plant material. Many people, including myself, believe eating grass is an attempt by the dog to respond to this ancient instinct.

It may be that the animal also has an instinctive desire for more bulk (roughage) in its diet. That would explain dogs that eat large quantities of grass. However, most dogs, when they occasionally eat grass eat small quantities. Perhaps they are looking for specific vitamins or minerals they are lacking. Most commercial dog foods today have everything the dog needs, so this explanation is questionable. Some grass-eating dogs nibble at the grass, chewing and then swallowing, others chomp large mouthfuls and swallow with little chewing. Not all grass-eaters exhibit the same behavior all the time.

Maybe the dog just develops a taste for grass and likes it. I kind of like this explanation especially for chronic grass eaters.

Some dogs will eat grass and then vomit. Is this a purposeful act? Does the dog have an upset stomach and know that if he/she/it eats grass it will result in vomiting? Hard to answer, especially since some dogs eat grass and don’t vomit. In truth dogs, if there is anything in their stomach, can vomit at will. Probably another ancient holdover from both males and females ingesting large quantities of a kill then returning and feeding their young with partially digested vomitus.

Dogs eat grass three days before it rains. This old wives tale probably doesn’t hold up here in the northwest, except maybe in the summer.

In the Garden of Eden, all living creatures lived in harmony. There were no carnivores. All of God’s creatures were herbivores. So when your dog eats grass, it is just the manifestation of a deep seated longing for a return to innocence. Sorry about that!

A note of caution: That very lush looking lawn, yours or your neighbor’s may be loaded with fertilizers, herbicides and other nasties. Unless you know that the grass is safe it’s probably best to pull on the leash.

Ask the Edmonds Vet: About that familiar greeting between dogs

Why do dogs greet each other by sniffing under their tails?

Both male and female dogs and cats have almost vestigial scent glands known as anal sacs. They are located on either side of the anus at 5 and 7 o’clock. Even in modern dogs, the glands secrete an oily substance with a characteristic and individualized — to other dogs — odor.

Because the sense of smell is so acute, your dog can, and does, identify other dogs from this odor. When your dog greets a new dog for the first or even second or third time, this behavior can be quite intense and even annoying to some of us. After the dogs become better acquainted, the behavior reduces in both duration and intensity. The dogs know each other. Cats are much less inclined to do this, probably because they are so secure in their own skin and they don’t really care. However, I have observed this behavior by felines, especially in intact male cats.

Under normal circumstances, the anal sacs partially empty each time the animal defecates. Wild predators, both canine and feline, may mark their territory by rubbing this portion of their anatomy onto trees, rocks, etc. In some dogs and cats, the anal sacs don’t empty and must be expressed manually or they will become impacted and, in some cases, infected. Your veterinarian can do this for your animal and show you how to do it, if you are up to it and ask.

If your dog is “scooting” on his or her rear end, this could be an attempt to express the anal sacs. Sometimes dogs will do this as a way to clean themselves after defecating, so it is not always an anal sac problem. However if the behavior is persistent, you need to have it checked. Other signs of potential anal sac problems include persistent licking or biting of that portion of your animal’s anatomy. Impacted or infected anal sacs need treatment by your veterinarian.

If you have questions about your pet, I will answer it. Just leave it in the comment section below. You can also check out my most recent work at: http://www.docdavesvoice.com

D. R. Gross graduated from Colorado State University’s veterinary school in 1960 and was in private practice for ten years. He enrolled in graduate school at Ohio State University earning a M.Sc. degree in 1972 and a Ph.D. degree in 1974. He retired in 2006 as Professor and Head of Veterinary Biosciences, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Gross is a Fellow of the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society. During his academic career, he published over 90 papers in refereed scientific journals and over 100 abstracts in proceedings of scientific meetings.