Keep your cool this summer
Don’t let your pet get hot under the collar this summer. Heat stroke is
a devastating condition and can result in brain damage and death.
• Make sure your pet has access to shade. Shade cloth may need to be
erected over kenneled areas and hutches if they cannot be moved out of
sunlight. Remember the sunny areas move throughout the day and a nice
cool morning spot may be a sun trap by afternoon.
• Small furries such as guinea pigs are exquisitely sensitive to heat
and in danger of heat stroke once the temperature is over 29°C. Place
large bottles of frozen water in their cage for them to stretch out
alongside. Bring them indoors into air conditioning in extreme heat.
• Never exercise a dog in the heat of the day. Most dogs will not say no
to a run in the sun and do not know when they need to stop and rest.
• Fine mist sprays and wetting the animal’s environment can help to keep
the local temperature reduced through evaporative cooling.
• Make sure your pet has access to fresh cool water. Provide pottery or
plastic water bowls and keep them in the shade - metal water bowls heat up
too quickly. For the small furries, check the spout of sipper bottles
daily as although there may be water in the bottle the animal may not be
able to access it if the spout is blocked. Animals such as guinea pigs
are very messy drinkers and can clog up the mouth of a sipper bottle with
chewed up food.
• Dogs die in hot cars. Without adequate ventilation the temperature
inside a car quickly rises above the outside temperature. Care also needs
to be taken with “Ute” dogs. It looks fun on the back of a Ute with their
tongues lolling in the wind - but the metal of the tray can become hot in
the sun and burn their feet. Rubber matting or a piece of carpet can help
prevent this.
The symptoms of heat stress range from panting and salivating through to
vomiting, diarrhoea, seizures and coma. If you suspect your pet is
suffering from heat stress, spray the animal with cool water and seek
veterinary assistance as quickly as possible.
Sun-worshipping cats
Cats love to bask in the sun with faces raised and eyes closed. This
is a real problem in our sunny Australian climate as cats with little
colour pigment on their faces are very vulnerable to skin cancer. Skin
cancer, or squamous cell carcinoma, is most commonly found on the
non-furry part of the nose, on the ear tips and the eyelid margins. A skin
cancer often starts as a small scab or crust. At this stage it is commonly
mistaken for a small scratch - but if the scab is picked off it will soon
grow back. Over time, it ulcerates and becomes a deep, non-healing sore.
Eventually it can spread to local lymph nodes and other parts of the
body.
Small early lesions can be treated with cryotherapy (freezing). This
needs to be performed under general anaesthetic as the lesion is frozen
and thawed several times. These cancers are often slow growing so if they
are detected and treated at an early stage, the prognosis is good. Larger
lesions require more aggressive management and have a much poorer
prognosis. There are many treatment options including surgery, localised
chemotherapy injected into the cancer and radiation therapy. Some of
these options will only be available from a specialist facility.
Protect your cat from sun damage by keeping it indoors between 10 am and
3 pm. Sunscreen helps on the ears tips but is impractical on noses as it
is licked off. There are hats available for cats. However, not
surprisingly, many cats are not compliant at keeping their hat on!
Treat my pet!
Euthanasia
In the past, pet euthanasia was often carried out ‘behind closed doors’.
Clients were discouraged from attending as veterinary staff felt the pet
owners would be too distressed. To some people, this gave the image of
‘secret vet’s business’ and, as a result, many pet owners have extreme
anxiety about euthanasia.
These days, veterinarians see euthanasia as a gift that we can offer a
suffering animal. Euthanasia, done well, is often the best death possible
for an animal. It may seem the most difficult for the owner before the
event but afterwards, many are ‘pleasantly’ surprised - their fears having
been much worse than the reality. There are many ways in which vets try to
make the whole process easier for the owner, and several ways to improve
this final experience for the pet. Every vet has preferred protocols and
it is important that you are comfortable with them before you commit to
the decision.
Before proceeding, your vet may ask if you have seen euthanasia before
and, if so, whether you had a good or bad experience. Specific fears and
concerns can be addressed. Your vet will describe the processes used and
the drug/s involved. You will be advised of the clinic’s protocols for
euthanasia - whether they use a needle in the vein (traditional) which
requires that your pet be held by an assistant, or whether (increasingly
these days) they prefer to use an intravenous catheter and extension set -
to allow you to nurse your pet unimpeded as they drift away from
consciousness. Vets may offer home euthanasia, or direct you to someone
who is able to provide this service.
Your vet may discuss with you what to expect from your pet as they pass
away and what to expect from your own grief response. Your preferences for
the handling of your pet’s mortal remains will also be tactfully explored.
There are many options for professional burial and cremation available,
and many owners now choose these options to help honour their pet’s
memory. Your vet may ask if there is anything that will make this
experience more meaningful for you. Being able to hold your pet while
they pass, have a home euthanasia performed, receive a fur sample or paw
print as a memento or even take a photo, are things that some clients take
great solace in.
After euthanasia, you may be offered time with your pet’s body. If this
is not offered but you would like to do so, do not be shy about asking for
this time. Sometimes staff might make suggestions about ways that you or
your family (especially children) can memorialise your pet. This might
include creating a small shrine, writing poems or letters, starting a
scrapbook or planting trees.
Many people are scared of euthanasia, adding fear to the unbearable
sadness it brings. While the extreme sorrow is unavoidable, fear certainly
is not. Demystifying the process of euthanasia is not always comfortable,
but can be reassuring. If your vet does not spontaneously provide the
information you need, then make sure to ask any questions you have. It is
very important that you feel confident and comfortable with the procedures
and protocols described to you. This day, this saddest day, is in some ways
the most important day of your pet’s life.
Emergency!
Plan for the Worst…
….and hope for the best! Any veterinarian will tell you of caring owners
faced with heartbreak - euthanasing a much-loved pet because the cost of
treating them in an emergency is beyond their means. In times gone by,
veterinarians occasionally offered short-term credit to selected clients.
However this is now so much harder to do. Vets are run as small businesses
and, with bad-debt accumulation and the increasing costs of providing
quality veterinary care, many find themselves in the position of having to
decline a request for a payment plan.
While it is relatively easy to budget for our pets’ annual vaccinations
and preventative treatments (which include desexing, worming and
vaccinations plus heartworm protection and tick prevention – depending on
where you live), how many of us really plan ahead for the worst
case-scenario? A veterinarian at Murdoch University’s Pet Emergency Centre
(MPEC) provided an estimate of some initial costs with a typical trauma
case. Using an example of a small to medium sized dog hit by a car (at
midnight), sustaining minor chest injuries and a ‘simple’ limb fracture;
the costs were estimated as follows (figures in $AUD):
- Initial examination - $202
- First 12hrs pain relief - $30
- First 12hrs oxygen support - $200
- Chest drainage (thoracocentesis) - $75
- First 12hrs intensive care - $275
- X-rays of chest and limb - $260
- Intravenous fluid therapy - $185
The immediate overnight expense with this 24-hour care facility would be
in the region of $1225.00. Assuming a simple limb fracture was located on
x-ray, requiring ‘internal fixation’, one could estimate at least another
$1200 for surgery with the pet’s regular veterinarian.
Although there are some lenders who specialise in offering short-term
finance for veterinary care, many pet owners are now turning to pet
insurance to give them peace of mind. With ‘trauma only’ insurance from
around $25/month, and ‘full’ coverage from $35/month, pet health insurance
begins to look like a sensible precaution for the average family with an
adored pet. Increasingly, owners are making this investment in order to
guarantee their pet receives the veterinary TLC they need, when they need
it, without compromising the family budget.
If you fear a traumatic decision based on finances, it may be worth
considering pet insurance as an alternative. While vets are not legally
allowed to recommend a specific brand of pet insurance, we can supply you
with a number of brochures from different companies, allowing you to
research and choose the plan that best accommodates your pet’s needs and
your peace of mind.
Advances in veterinary medical care are ongoing. Pets that in the past
would have been euthanased on humane grounds can now be treated
intensively and usually with great success. What price peace of mind?
3 Blind Mice
Rats and mice have beady eyes that give the impression they can spot a
lump of cheese from 50 metres. They are, however, quite visually impaired
and rely on other well-developed senses such as hearing, touch and smell to
assist their poor eyesight. Albino rats and mice, with their white coats
and pink eyes, are particularly badly affected due to degeneration of the
retina at the back of the eye.
In rats and mice, the eyes are positioned on the sides of their head.
This gives them a 360-degree visual field apart from a small blind spot at
the tip of their nose. When picking up a white rat or mouse, bear in mind
that they may not see you coming. In order to avoid startling them, make
sure they can hear and smell you.
Symptoms of disease
Fleas!
Aaargh, fleas! Just knowing our pet has fleas is enough to set us off in
a frenzy of scratching!
Small, nimble, hard to see, (and even harder to get your thumbnail on
when you do find them), while adult fleas cause the physical problems we
all know about, it is actually the juvenile forms of the flea that make up
the bulk of the population!
Once an adult flea is on your pet, it will stay there until it dies, is
removed by grooming or killed by insecticides. Fleas don’t jump from pet
to pet, only from environment to pet. Why would they, when there’s enough
blood in a dog for everyone! Like an iceberg, what you see is the very tip
- in this case ‘under the surface’ means everywhere that your pet goes.
If your dog or cat has fleas, then eggs will end up in its environment.
Your environment! Eggs may be damaged, swept away by brooms or sucked up
by vacuums but the majority will fall deep into carpets, pet bedding, your
bedding, fabric furnishings and cracks between floorboards, making them
almost impossible to remove manually.
After mating, the female has a blood meal then lays her eggs. One female
may lay as many as 50 eggs per day on your pet, or up to 2000 eggs in her
lifetime!
The eggs are not sticky but designed to fall from your pet’s coat to the
ground wherever it goes. Once the eggs hatch (the larvae inside use a hard
‘tooth’ made of a substance called chitin), the larvae actively head
towards dark, damp, safe places. They will feed on the ‘flea dirt’
(digested blood) that fell from your pet at the same time as the eggs! As
the larvae grow, they moult twice then form a cocoon. The flea larvae
pupate in these cocoons until conditions are right - this can include the
presence of heat, vibrations or exhaled carbon dioxide…all the signs of a
nearby host in fact! Fleas can, however, stay in the cocooned pupal phase
for months, which explains why they can suddenly attack you and your pet
when the weather warms up. This also explains why fleas can suddenly
bombard people moving into a house that has been empty for some time.
The whole life cycle of the flea can take as long as two years or as
little as two weeks so it is easy to see that a small beginning can
develop into a big problem very quickly indeed. While the array of
different flea products can be variable and confusing, using the right
approach for your individual situation can mean the difference between
success and failure. Ask our staff for their treatment recommendations,
and why they recommend the products they do.
Seeking professional advice, and using high quality products will, in
the end, see you beating the ‘flea’. Then, itch free, you can sit back and
admire from afar their versatility and ability to survive!
The language of alpacas
Alpacas are fascinating animals kept for their strong yet soft fleece.
There is a wonderful collection of names for the various types and
life-cycle stages. Alpacas begin life as a cria. Once a baby cria reaches
adolescence, it is termed a tui. An adult male alpaca is called a macho,
while an adult female alpaca is termed a hembra.
The two main types of alpacas are distinguished by their fleece. Huacaya
alpacas, the most common type in Australia, have a dense fibre growing
straight out from the body - just like a merino sheep. Suri alpacas have
dreadlock ringlets of softer, longer fleece, which hang straight down from
the body.
