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Consider the Source
Yoda's Advice to the Unknowing
Dear
Yoda,
I think my wife is cheating on me. She recently had
a large litter of kittens and all of them looked like
me except one (we are both Siamese and the kitten was
an orange tabby). Could she have been with another cat?
What should I do?
Arthur Furzarelli
Dear
Furzi,
Sadly, it sounds like she has been seeing another -
cats and dogs can have one litter with more than one
father. If it was me I would give up on females all
together - a nice tuna dinner is much more satisfying.
Dear Yoda,
Lately, my people have been complaining about my breath.
They tell me that they are gong to have my teeth cleaned
by a veterinarian. Isn't there any other way?
Yuck-Mouth Mason
Dear Yuck Mouth,
Your bad breath is probably caused by a build up of
plaque and tartar. Unfortunately, because the tartar
is so difficult to remove, having your teeth professionally
cleaned is the only way to eliminate the problem. After
you have your teeth done, a daily dental brushing is
essential. Fortunately, the tooth paste is delicious,
it comes in mint, malt, seafood and my favourite, chicken
flavouring.
Dear Yoda,
My neighbour's dog, "Butch", bit me over two weeks ago.
The wound hasn't healed, even though I have been licking
it constantly. Do you have any suggestion?
Abraham Lickin
Dear Abe,
STOP LICKING THAT WOUND!!! Because we don't brush
as often as we should we all have bacteria in our
mouths. Licking the wound will make the problem much
worse and possibly cause an infection. You may require
antibiotics to help that bite heal - contact your
veterinarian at once.
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Your
Eagle Ridge Veterinary Hospital Healthcare Team
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"Yoda"
the Cat
Dr. Don French
Dr. Shelley Murray
Tamara Cox
Ramona Doucet
Darla Messner
Jaime Dragan
Kristy Hemstalk
Paige Ryan
Dominique O'Brien
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Goodwill Ambassador
Veterinarian/Owner
Veterinarian
Reg. Animal Technologist
Reg. Animal Technologist
Veterinary Receptionist
Veterinary Recept/Assist.
Veterinary Assistant
Veterinary Assistant
Veterinary Assistant
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SENIORS
DESERVE OUR BEST!
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Senior
pets are cherished members of your family and
caring owners like yourselves are seeking ways
to extend the quantity and quality of time you
can spend together. Given their unique medical
needs, older dogs and cats can benefit from specialized
medical services and diagnostic testing. These
services are designed to help us detect and treat
any early health problems in your senior pet.
Early
detection of potential health problems is essential,
as pets in their senior years age 5-7 years for
every "human" year! A lot of changes
can occur to your pet's health in 7 "pet
years", that is why more frequent check ups
are necessary as they become more vulnerable to
multiple health problems. Other areas of concern
in mature pets are changing nutritional needs,
behaviour changes and muscular-skeletal problems.
Don't assume that your pet is just suffering from
"old age" and cant' be helped. Many
of these changes in your pet's health can be treated
allowing your senior pets to enjoy their "golden
years' in pain free comfort!
We
look forward to discussing our "Senior Health
Screening" programs with you which we are
offering at a 15% discount! In addition to the
discount, if you choose any of our 3 "Senior
Health Screening" programs your pet will
recieve a complimentary bag of food from the "Medi-cal"
company! Keep a close eye on your senior companion
and talk to us about any change, whether it occurs
suddenly or gradually. Come in and see us for
a "senior Health Checklist" that lists
signs of aging in your pet! We want to work with
you to ensure your pet lives the longest, healthiest
life possible!
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DID
YOU KNOW?
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There
is health insurance for pets? Several companies
offer insurance policies to cover the various
expenses of owning a pet. Some have plans that
will cover the cost of spaying or neutering your
pet as well as vaccines and flea control. All
of the companies have accident/illness plans that
will help to cover the expenses of treating many
problem. More recently there are senior pet care
plans that allow you to insure any pet over the
age of 8 years! Pet insurance is a great idea
because just like ourselves, accidents do happen
and it is best to be prepared! There are many
different plans with different levels of premiums
to pay, some of them are under $10/month! If you
would like any information on pet insurance just
come and see us!
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GLUCOSAMINE
AND CHONDROITIN
SULFATE
NATURAL
NUTRITIONAL
SUPPLEMENTS FOR OSTEOARTHIRITIS
Osteoarthritis
is the most common cause of joint pain in both animals and
people. Osteoarthritis a complex destructive inflammatory
process affecting synovial joints, that is, lubricated joints
where the bone ends are covered with articular cartilage.
This degenerative process causes death of cartilage cells,
deterioration of articular cartilage, thickening of the
tissues surrounding the joint, bone spurs, mechanical destruction
and heightened pain response. The hips, knees, shoulders
and elbows are the most commonly affected joints but others
such as carpus (wrist), hock (ankle), toes and jaw can also
be involved. Individuals can have only one or a number of
joints affected but it develops on a joint by joint basis,
not a systematic basis like rheumatoid arthritis.
There
has been increased interest in recent years in the use of
nutritional supplement to alleviate the pain and debility
caused by this condition. These supplements are referred to
as nutraceuticals, that is, nutritional supplements which
have pharmaceutical-like effects.
Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are two compounds of particular
interest because they are chondroprotective agents (chondor
=cartilage). Glucosamine is a simple sugar extracted from
the shell of shellfish and is involved in the production of
glycoaminoglycans (GAG's). Chondroitin sulfate is the most
abundant GAG in the body and is extracted from shark cartilage.
These GAG compounds enhance lubrication, promote cartilage
repair, inhibit destructive compound, enhance lubrication,
promote cartilage repair, inhibit destructive enzymes and
have anti-inflammatory properties thus reducing pain and arthritis
in the joint. Unfortunately not all glucosamine and Chondroitin
is created equal and some basic information is necessary to
decide what product to buy, how much to spend and what your
expectations should be.
Glucosamine is available in a hydrochoride (HCI) or sulfate
formulation. Both are equally absorbed orally but the HCI
form is 81% glucosamine whereas the sulfate form is only 63%.
Therefore it takes at least 1/3 more glucosamine sulfate to
gt the same therapeutic effect as H.I. Chondroitin sulfate
comes in a wide range of purity and molecular weight, which
affects its absorption and bioavailablity. Increasing evidence
indicates that only highly purified, low molecular weight
Chondroitin is able to cross the intestinal membranes. Only
COSEQUIN can guarantee the purity and low molecular
weight of its ingredients.
COSEQUIN is a patented combination of glucosamine
HCI, highly purified Chondroitin sulfate and manganese ascorbate
that is the "gold standard" in North America. All the controlled,
double blind studies on the effects of glucosamine and Chondroitin
in animals have used this specific product. In addition
to purity, actual content of the label ingredients is another
concern. Studies in the U.S. have shown that some products
contain less than 10% of the ingredients claimed.
For
this reason, Eagle Ridge Veterinary Hospital only sells
COSEQUIN or products from pharmaceutical companies
which have certified pharmaceutical GMP (good manufacturing
practices). As with everything, the better the quality the
higher the cost. Therefore we carry four different products
at different prices, two of which come in flavoured chewable
tablets and one in liquid form. These nutraceuticals don't
make a significant difference to every individual, therefore
only a trial supplementation will determine if this is helpful
for your pet. It's important to note that it can take 4-6
weeks to see the benefits, so treat for at least that long
before deciding if it is worthwhile or not.
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WHAT'S
UP DOC?
PRE-ANESTHETIC TESTING
In
our last newsletter, we let you know about our "IDEXX"
lab system, which allows us to run blood tests right
in our own hospital! One of the very valuable uses
of this machine is "Pre-anesthetic testing"
which consists of a 6-chemistry blood panel, electrolytes
and a PCV (packed cell volume). The six different
chemistry tests help us to assure proper kidney and
liver function, a proper electrolyte balance is vital
to your pet's health and the PCV gives us a quick
assessment to see if anemia (a low red blood cell
count) is present.
A
"Pre-anesthetic screen" is run before we
administer any medications to your pet. This allows
the veterinarian to either proceed with the anesthetic,
change the drug protocols to tailor it to your pet's
needs or to postpone the procedure. In a recent survey
by hospitals performing pre-anaesthetic testing it
was found that the following percentages of dogs and
cats had pre-anesthetic blood test results that promoted
a change in the anaesthetic protocol:
$15.1%
of dogs and cat ages 6 moths - 5 years.
$40.5% of dogs and cats ages 6 - 11 years.
$52.6% of dogs and cats over 12 years old.
As
you can see,"Pre-anesthetic testing" is
a valuable tool in our hospital, especially with senior
pets over 7 years of age. Many of the mature cats
and dogs appear healthy, but blood tests can show
us the beginnings of disease. The best results are
normal results because this establishes a "baseline"
to compare future bloods tests to. This routine testing
for early detection of health problems allow us to
help your pet live a longer and healthier life. We
would be happy to answer any questions you may have
about blood testing for your pet just give us a call!
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