Animals - page 4

Brexit and implications for your pet

Sadly Brexit has been forced upon us by a vote 2000 miles away and the ramifications to our community and way of life will change forever. This will also affect our pets and their movement across the border into Spain and Europe. I will give an overview of the changes and what everyone has to do for easy travel with their dogs and cats.

The one piece of luck that we have had is that Gibraltar by error was listed as a Group 1 in the group of countries outside of the EU that could travel with a Pet Passport.  UK government will have to apply, if they ever get off their high horse, to be included in the Pet Passport travel scheme. 

The old blue Gibraltar pet passport will no longer be valid for movement across the border. This has to be changed for the new design that does not carry the EU ensign. 

Within this document several parts have to be filled in correctly:

•
Name and address of proprietor has to be filled in correctly. There is space in the passport to put in two names just in case different people will be travelling with the pet.

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The specific description of the pet has to be filled in correctly, with age, breed , colour and name . 

•
Pet has to microchipped. The date of microchipping has to be the same day or before the date of the rabies vaccination .

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A valid rabies vaccination. If the rabies vaccine has expired the animal cannot travel across the border. Revaccination must be done before the expiry date, if this is not the case there will be a period of 3 weeks before the animal can move across the border. 

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The Pet Passport must be filled in correctly by the issuing veterinary surgeon. Any errors could result in your pet not being allowed entry into the EU. 

There are also other regulations when driving your pets across the border. Your pet cannot be loose on the back seat of a car. It must be restrained, either with a lead that is fixed to an anchor in the car, placed in a carrier cage or if in the boot there has to be a divider so that the dog can’t jump into the car. These are common sense regulations, the local laws are too lax.  To have a dog or cat loose in a car where in could interfere with the driver’s ability could lead to a serious accident.  

In some cases you could be asked for the dog to wear a muzzle. My advice is that if you have a large breed of dog it isn’t a bad idea to have a muzzle handy, just in case.

The real implications of Brexit will be hitting home soon and it could be a long hard ride. Hopefully the Gibraltar  Pet Passport will be one of the easier obstacles we will have to surmount . 

Please consider adopting one of these babies. They have been waiting a long time for a forever home.

Barbary Macaques

To steer away from pet companions this month I would like to write an article on the Gibraltar Barbary Macaque, an animal that is engrained in our history and our folk tales. 

When I was a child we were told that the macaques travelled to Gibraltar via a tunnel that originated at St Michael’s Cave and traversed the Straits of Gibraltar !!!! The more likely explanation is that they were imported  from Morocco , probably by different entities over the centuries , the Moors and the British Army are the most likely. 

There are in the region of 200 macaques spread across the Upper Rock Nature Reserve , these are divided into different packs . Previous genetic work done on the macaques has shown that the macaques originated from two regions in Africa . One line comes from the Rif Mountains in Morocco and the other comes from Algeria.  The females from these two blood lines are distinctly different , the Moroccan blood line adult females are larger animals , they weigh approximately three to four kilos more than their Algerian sisters !!! It is as a result of there being two different genetics pools that the Barbary macaque has been so successful in Gibraltar , if there had been only one blood line there would have been problems genetically as a result of inbreeding and very little genetic divergence.  

Packs are divided down family lines, all the group structure is held together by the females in the pack . As a general rule mothers, daughters , sisters etc form the nucleus of the pack and stay together , it is the males that move away from the pack when they reach puberty and it is this that leads to genetic diversification as they move from one pack to another .      

Females can breed from as early as 3/4 years of age and they produce one offspring every year( rarely twins are born). Females tend to remain fertile until well into their 20’s. We have a population of approximately 200 macaques , on average 100 are female , with approximately 70 being breeding females.  

If we had 70 births every year it wouldn’t take too long before we were overran by macaques and one of the luxury blocks being built would have to be used to provide housing. 

So how are numbers controlled? Vasectomising males is a complete waste of time. Females in season mate with multiple males, a way to maintain dominance and social cohesion.  So the only way to control population is by contracepting the females.  There are two main ways to carry this out, either using contraceptive implants that last around 3 years or by laparoscopically sterilising the females. The latter procedure involves tying off the fallopian tubes, in this way the females continue to menstruate and mate normally without getting pregnant. This is crucial as in this way there is less social interference in the group , if the females had their ovaries removed this would stop the normal breeding cycle and have an impact on the pack’s social structure.  Thanks to investment by this Government under the direction of Prof John Cortes we now carry out laparoscopic sterilisation. A few years ago we used to have around 50 births a year, last year we had 15 births. 

This is just a small insight into what goes on with our macaques , having wild free ranging macaques is a treasure and one we must protect, they are not a nuisance as some people think they are , they are a valuable part of our heritage and one that must be cared for, both as sentient animals and what they represent culturally . 

For more information please phone
Gibraltar Vetinary Clinic on 200 77334

Please consider adopting one of these babies. They have been waiting a long time for a forever home.

Please consider adopting one of these babies. They have been waiting a long time for a forever home.

Please consider adopting one of these babies. They have been waiting a long time for a forever home.

HEPATO PORTAL SHUNT / LIVER SHUNT AN EMERGING PROBLEM?

Over the last ten years there has been an emerging problem diagnosed in small breed dogs primarily, affecting Chihuahuas, Yorkshire terriers, Shih Tzus and French bulldogs mainly but it can happen in any dog although pedigree dogs appear to be worst affected.

This problem is as a result in a fault in the development of the blood circulation that perfuses the gastrointestinal tract and the liver. The body is an intricate system and what seems like a minor circulation problem can have profound effects on the whole metabolism and health of an animal. Sometimes the clinical signs of this illness can be so obtuse that a clinician may have problems diagnosing this problem.

In a healthy normal animal, digestion of ingested food in the intestine results in the formation of ‘impure’ products and toxins that are absorbed into the capillaries in the intestine, these then enter the hepato-portal vein, a blood vessel that transports all these products in this ‘dirty’ blood to the liver. The liver is a fabulous organ, is filters all this blood, takes out all the toxins and potentially harmful by-products of digestion and then returns ‘clean’ blood via the hepatic vein to the caudal vena cava and thus the general circulation. This blood will now be full of nutrients, glucose, fatty acids, amino acids ,minerals, vitamins etc all the raw materials needed by cells throughout the body to survive.

There are complications when there is a fault in this system, what happens is that the animal is born with an abnormality, a fault that happens during the embryonic development of the animal.  The problem lies in that a blood vessel remains that feeds the blood absorbed from the intestine directly into the vena cava or the hepatic vein(general circulation) therefore bypassing the liver and the filter system. 

As a direct result of this unfiltered blood entering the general circulation the animal will develop a clinical illness.  Symptoms vary from animal to animal, in many cases there is not a complete shunt therefore clinical signs can be nuanced.

What one has to understand is that there is no abnormality in the actual liver or its function, the problem is that blood from the intestine enters the blood directly. What this means is blood feeding the liver via the hepatic artery will carry in these waste products so eventually the blood will be ‘cleaned’ but not after it has made various circulator passes throughout the body. This explains why the clinical signs can be varied as there are many different elements involved!!

Possible clinic signs:

• Weight loss

• Anorexia

• Polyuria/polydipsia ( drinking and urinating excessively)

• Cystitis

• Kidney stones

• Gall bladder stones/sediment

• Nervous signs, e.g head pressing, fatigue, depressed, not alert,  ( hepatic encephalopathy)

• Poor coat

• Seizures/ epileptic fits

Treatment of this condition tends to be very effective and rewarding with the animals leading a normal life. Surgery is an option in a small number of cases but the mortality rate is high so it is difficult to advise clients to go down this route. Even with surgery medical treatment is still required afterwards. Medical control to reduce the absorption and production of toxins in the intestine combined with a prescription diet and in certain cases liver supplements tends to be the treatment of choice.

With primary liver disease the symptoms can be similar but the prognosis is always guarded as opposed to pets with liver shunts. In  these cases the liver itself is not working properly and therefore medical treatment will not be as effective.

In summary if your pet is diagnosed with a hepato-portal shunt the prognosis is good for your pet . What is important to realise is that it does not have liver failure and therefore the condition can be managed well medically. Also do not fall into a false sense of security if all symptoms subside with treatment and therefore you decide to stop therapy. The condition will not go away, so if you ignore it then the problem will come back and bite you in the proverbial backside.

Please consider adopting one of these babies. They have been waiting a long time for a forever home.

CAN BAD TEETH CAUSE HEART DISEASE?

Cats and dogs are different on this front, with dogs tooth decay etc is a preventable problem whereas in cats with teeth problems there is often a genetic element to it . Dogs and cats are more susceptible to dental conditions because they are carnivores and therefore the pressure they can exert with their teeth is much greater than omnivores or herbivores. What this means is that any minor damage to teeth in these animals can escalate very rapidly.

With dogs dental decay is primarily due to the animals not chewing enough. Puppies have to be taught from a early age to chew hard objects so that they continue doing this for the duration of their lives. 

The actual grinding and chewing action of their teeth on hard chews keeps the teeth clean of plaque and dental decay. 

The dog that does not chew sooner or later has problems. The softer the diet the more rapid the onset of periodontal/ gum disease, accumulation of plaque, tooth decay and eventually tooth loss. If a dog doesn’t chew plaque starts to accumulate on teeth, the foreign material then start to irritate the gums, bacteria build up on the plaque. This hastens the receding of the gums, at the same time the plaque and bacteria damage the integrity of the enamel layer. Once this starts it is a domino effect, the infection gets worse, and the dog ends up rotten teeth. When the upper molars are contaminated this can result in abscesses that appear as swelling below the eye on the maxilla. In severe cases the infection can spread into the bone and cause osteomyelitis!! When dogs have this extent of tooth decay there is a high risk of bacteria embolising into the blood and lodging in the liver and in some cases on the heart valves. The latter can then cause murmurs and heart failure. The pain at this stage is substantial and the halitosis is enough to impregnate the atmosphere. To allow your pet to get to this stage is almost tantamount to neglect. 

If your dog doesn’t chew then it will need regular dentals where the teeth are cleaned with an ultrasonic descaler and polished. This will have to be done at least once a year, otherwise the above will happen. So I can’t emphasise how important it is to get your dog to chew from an early age. Prevention is always better than cure. 

Cats are different , there is often a genetic, allergic or infective element that contributes to tooth decay. In the wild cats hunt and the actual act of eating their prey has a cleansing effect on their teeth . High quality diets tend to have incorporated a harder texture in the pellets so mimic eating prey , softer and wet brands all the time could predispose your cat to dental disease. 

In summary look after your pet’s dental health, he will thank you for it by living a longer healthier life .

For more information please phone
Gibraltar Vetinary Clinic on
200 77334

Please consider adopting one of these babies. They have been waiting a long time for a forever home.