Animals - page 6

Justifiably clients are always worried about putting their animal under anaethesia, this article is geared to hopefully reassure clients and to show how veterinary medicine has grown in leaps and bounds to reduce anaethetic risk to your pet. 

Animals live for a comparatively short time , they have to compress the equivalent of our 70/80 years into around 15 years. The majority of us will undergo a surgical procedure at some point of our lives, the equivalent is the same for our pets. 

Pre-anaethetic checks?

All our animals are thoroughly checked prior to anaethesia. Vaccine history, lifestyle, and any medications all influence how your pet may respond to anesthesia. We recommend a pre-surgical examination and diagnostic tests that help identify any underlying conditions that should be addressed before your dog undergoes anesthesia.

Recommended diagnostic tests usually include:
Chemistry tests to evaluate kidney, liver, and pancreatic function, as well as sugar levels
A complete blood count (CBC) to rule out blood-related conditions

Electrolyte tests to ensure your dog isn’t dehydrated or suffering from an electrolyte imbalance

Additional tests may be added on an individual basis.

In addition to blood tests, we may recommend the following:
The placement of an intravenous (IV) catheter as part of the anesthetic preparation. The catheter can be used to provide anesthetics and intravenous fluids to keep your pet hydrated; additionally, if needed, it would serve as a pathway to directly administer life-saving medications, should a crisis arise.

ntravenous fluids to help maintain hydration and blood pressure. IV fluids also help your pet with her recovery process by aiding the liver and kidneys in clearing the body of anesthetic agents more quickly.

How your dog is monitored during anesthesia?

Several safeguards are put into place to help reduce your dog’s risk during anesthesia.

They include:
The surgical assistant/veterinary nurse: A nurse or assistant is present during the anesthetic event to monitor your dog’s vital signs and to help adjust anesthetic levels, under the direction of the veterinarian.

A heart rate monitor counts your pet’s heartbeats per minute. Anesthesia and other factors, such as surgery itself, can affect heart rate. By monitoring your dog’s heart rate, your veterinarian can make anesthetic adjustments quickly.

An electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors your dog’s heart rate and heartbeat pattern. It can detect abnormal heartbeats called arrhythmias. If an arrhythmia is detected, your veterinarian can make suitable changes in anesthesia.

Core body temperature may be monitored, especially if your dog is undergoing a prolonged surgical procedure. Changes in body temperature can cause dangerous complications. 

A blood pressure monitor measures your dog’s blood pressure. When used in conjunction with other monitoring equipment, it provides detailed information on your pet’s cardiovascular condition.

Pulse oximetry will be used to monitor the amount of oxygen in your dog’s blood and her pulse rate. Any decreased oxygenation of the blood for a prolonged period can cause irreversible organ damage. 

Carbon dioxide (C02) is monitored together with oxygen, as it helps determine if your pet is receiving the right amount of oxygen during anesthesia.

Monitoring after surgery

Immediate care post surgery is just as crucial. After all surgeries our team closely supervises your pets, any postoperative complications, rare as they are, are picked up promptly. Recent improvements in anesthetic agents allow for a quick recovery, and your pet should almost be back to normal when you pick it up after the anesthetic event. It will be quiet for some time after the surgery but this is mainly dependent on what procedure it has undergone, for example a castrated dog will recover a lot faster than one that has gone through a laparotomy.

IN SUMMARY

All the above is possible due to serious investment by the clinic where we are constantly upgrading the quality and care provided to our clients. Your pet’s safety during surgical procedures is paramount; a nurse is always assisting, monitoring the animal so that the veterinary surgeon can concentrate on the surgery. Our new anaesthetic machine will measure the concentration of exhaled anaethetic gases and will also ventilate your pet to give your treasured friend that extra level of protection. Anaethesia should not be taken lightly, there is always a small risk but this is mitigated by the quality of care.

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

This year we have had quite a few cases of dogs swallowing fish hooks. My article this week will be quick guide on what to do when confronted with this problem.

Obviously prevention is better than cure. With lockdown and our travel and movement restrictions there have been many instances  where people walk  their dogs in areas where people are fishing. Personally I would avoid walking my dog off the leash when passing fishermen, the risk of your dog picking up a bit of bait with a hook attached are quite high. 

First thing you must never do if your dog picks up some bait is pull the fishing line and try and retrieve the hook this way.  The hook is designed to travel in one direction only, you will not be doing any favours by trying to hold onto a fishing line, just cut it and let the dog swallow the fishing line. 

95% of swallowed hooks pass through the intestine and out naturally without causing any problems whatsoever. It is important to follow the passage of the hook through the GI tract with x-rays daily in the off chance that you are you unlucky and the hook gets caught up in the intestine.  I strongly advise that if you take your pet to your vet and there is a fish hook in the stomach or intestine, DO NOT ELECT FOR SURGERY until you have monitored the hook for at least 48 hours, if it hasn’t moved by then, then you will have to go to surgery. Abdominal surgery is quite routine and any experienced vet should be able to find and remove the hook. 

Problems arise when dog owners pull on the fishing line or it gets caught and the dog pulls back on the hook. If the hook gets caught in the oesophagus especially in the thorax then the plot thickens and its removal can prove problematic. Locating the hook with an endoscope is simple enough but if it is lodged in the thoracic oesophagus and it can’t be removed then the dog will require thoracic surgery where its chest is cut open to try and remove the hook, this is evidently surgery that is fraught with potential pitfalls. 

So the takeaway from all this is 

DON’T PULL ON A FISHING LINE!!!

WHAT ARE THE RISKS?

As we live through this awful pandemic that has caused some much heartache and disruption across our lives there has been so much fake news and scaremongering across many media platforms. 

I will try to add reason to some of the stories, in many cases fables that contaminate social media platforms.

First thing that has to be acknowledged is that most of the species we come into contact with us are very different genetically to us.  Evolutionarily we have common ancestors with dogs and cats about 100 million years ago, in the case of primates, our common ancestor  was roughly 60 million years ago. The Great Apes have a common ancestor to us that is quite recent and that is approximately between 5 and 8 million years ago.

The significance of this is that the majority of diseases tend to be very species specific, therefore there is low risk of contagion between species in the majority of diseases . There are always going to exceptions to the rules, such as rabies, but that is the rule of thumb. The closer a species is to us evolutionarily the higher the probability of zoonosos and reverse zoonosis.  For example if your dog has kennel cough you are not going to catch it. In many cases you can isolate pathogenic bacteria from different species but in most cases even the same type of bacteria has become so specialised that it cannot cross species. 

So we come to Covid 19, in principle the animals most at risk from this disease are any of the other Great Apes, e.g  chimps, gorillas, bonobos  and the orang-utans. As they are relatively close to us evolutionarily there will be susceptible to this disease and it is critical that we do not have contact with these majestic animals, not to protect us but to protect them. 

The animals we come into regular contact on a daily basis are not significant with regards to infection to humans. Animals, felines, have tested positive for Covid, but with minor if any clinical disease and with the virus load so small  there is a miniscule risk of zoonosis.  Stories going round that pets will have to vaccinated against Covid 19 are a nonsense. 

2020 has been a good year for pets but will 2021 be one too?

Our lives have been totally disrupted and put on hold over the last year with Covid, with Brexit looming and an incompetent self serving Tory Government it has been pretty much an annus horribilis. 

However it has been an excellent year for our pets!!  Pets have never had us at home for such extended periods of time; families have been able to spend quality time for their pets. From a veterinary point of view, we have been able to pick up clinical disease earlier as clients have noticed problems at a more seminal moment. 

More people have taken on homeless dogs, in some cases fostered but in most cases as a ‘forever home’.  This is great as there will always be pets out there that will need a home. 

As we move into 2021 and  as the population is vaccinated against Covid things will slowly go back to normal .( please don’t be sucked into the conspiracy theories  about vaccinations , when they come get vaccinated asap)  With that people will go back to their normal work ,recreational and holiday patterns will return to normal , sooner than later people are forecasting  in my opinion. This will bring problems at home with our pets!!

My main worry is the separation anxiety that I am sure will become apparent in our pets as soon as the normality returns. Our dogs and cats have been used to having us around the house for extended periods and many will become stressed and disorientated when suddenly they are left ‘abandoned’ at home. 

• Separation anxiety can be manifested in many ways:
• Destructive behaviour when left alone
• Aggressiveness , especially with other pets 
• Urinating and defaecating in house or not using litter tray
• Howling and barking when left alone 
• Become excessively attached when you return home after a period away
• Eating disorders, can lead to excess  or reduced eating . Coprophagia in some cases . 
• Panting , trembling and pacing 

What owners need to do is try and mitigate and any problems that may arise over the next few months by starting to take action now.

 Primarily start getting the animal to spend periods of time on its own. Don’t let your pet follow you around the house 24/7, keep them in rooms separate to yourself even when you are in the house, get them used to time alone.  Maybe put on a radio or telly on for them so that there is some distraction. 

Don’t let your pets sleep in the same bedroom as yourselves; make sure there is a separation between yourselves and them. 

Don’t submit to their requests; for example, don’t feed them when they ask. Feed them on your terms. 

Change dog walking patterns to ones more in tune to what will happen when life returns to normal. This will also help with toilet issues in the future. 

The other major problem that I see arising over the next year and beyond will be unwanted pets that have been taken on over lockdown. This genuinely worries me and I see this being a future issue. 

When life returns to normal people will start to travel again, weekends away, more nights out etc etc . These pets that have been a lifeline to a lot of people and have kept many individuals sane and accompanied over Covid will suddenly become an encumbrance and a cost, often cases will be closely linked to separation anxiety issues. I have seen this many times over my career , I have heard all the excuses known to mankind, sudden ‘allergies’ develop, suddenly house gets too small, suddenly the dogs doesn’t get on with the owner , etc , the list is endless.  I just hope that we don’t see too many of these cases over the next year.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a much better year than the one we are coming out off,  wishing you all health and happiness , and TAKE THE COVID VACCINE  so that life returns to a semblance of normality the soonest possible.

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

These fur-babies are looking for their forever homes. Please don’t shop but adopt one of us.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year – but not always for your pets! Here are some tips for keeping your pets out of danger.

• Food to avoid giving your pet at Christmas
• Alcoholic beverages
• Chocolate (can be toxic to pets especially dark chocolate and cocoa powder)
• Coffee
• Mouldy or spoiled foods
• Salt
• Chicken or Turkey bones (they can splinter)
• Raisins and grapes have on rare occasions caused acute irreversible renal failure in dogs, so be aware of this. 

Avoid giving your pet any of your leftovers as this can cause diarrhoea. This is particularly the case with dogs that are used to a dried diet, owners often feel that their pet has to partake in the Christmas binge and this can result in acute gastroenteritis.

 Also keep your pet away from cooked bones: they can splinter or get lodged in your pet’s throat or can cause serious damage by puncturing the intestinal tract.

Pet hazards around the Christmas tree

• Fallen Christmas tree needles are very sharp and can easily get stuck in your pet’s paws or throat. Sweep tree needles up regularly.
• Do not hang your chocolates from your Christmas tree: they can be toxic and your pet will be tempted if he can see and smell them.
• Cover up electric cords and flashing tree lights so your pet can’t chew them and electrocute himself.
• Try using fairy lights that don’t flash as some pets when up close can get very scared by these.
• Christmas tree decorations can cause a nasty accident or be fatal to your pet. Cats, and young pets especially, will show a great interest in decorations hanging from your tree. Try to use unbreakable decorations and nothing too small. Avoid tinsel or ribbons as these are dangerous to the gastrointestinal tract if your pet swallows them. I have on numerous occasions had to perform life saving surgery on cats who have swallowed long strands of tinsel. 
• Be very careful with any balls purchased for your dog to play with, if they are large enough to swallow but too small to pass through the intestines they will cause an obstruction.
• Make sure your tree is well anchored so your pet can’t pull it over.
• Cats have a fetish for eating tinsel, on many an occasion I have to operate on cats as a result of this. On one occasion the client waited too long before presenting the cat for surgery and sadly the animal died

Other Christmas dangers to pets

• Remember loud noises will panic your pet, such as Christmas crackers, poppers, balloons, and champagne bottles.
• Remove your Christmas wrapping paper (and toys) from the floor to avoid your pet chewing or swallowing it.
• For your pet’s safety this Christmas always buy your pet’s presents from a reputable outlet.
• In many households this is often the only time of year that your pet is exposed to large gatherings of noisy excitable people and children. This can scare your pet, and this may result in unusual behaviour, placid dogs have been known to get aggressive in this scenario. Therefore make sure your pet has some place where it can find a degree of sanctuary.
• Locally lilies and poinsettias are seen as common Christmas decorations; these are poisonous to pets and must be kept well out of reach.

FIREWORKS AND YOUR PETS!

Fireworks are enjoyed year-round by lots of people but many animals are frightened by them. It doesn’t have to be that way though, so if your pet is scared, there are lots of things you can do to help. The government has stopped doing fireworks displays , which is a blessing , however sadly this will not deter individuals from purchasing their own , especially those dreaded ‘petaldos’. 

Make sure your dog or cat always has somewhere to hide if they want to and has access to this place at all times. For example, this may be under some furniture or in a cupboard.

Make sure your cat or dog is always kept in a safe and secure environment and can’t escape if there’s a sudden noise.  Have your pets microchipped in case they do escape  –  by law, your dog should already be microchipped.

During fireworks seasons, walk dogs during daylight hours and keep cats and dogs indoors when fireworks are likely to be set off.

At nightfall, close windows and curtains and put on music to mask and muffle the sound of fireworks.   

Never punish your pets when they are scared as this will only make things worse. 

Each evening before the fireworks begin, move your dog to the play area and provide toys and other things that they enjoy.

Make sure that there are things for you to do too so that your dog isn’t left alone.

Ignore the firework noises yourself. Play with a toy to see if your dog wants to join in, but don’t force them to play.

Each evening before the fireworks begin, move your dog to the play area and provide toys and other things that they enjoy.

Pheromone diffusers and pheromone collars are available from the vet clinic. These disperse calming chemicals into the room and may be a good option for your dog. The collar centralises the pheromones around the dog so in some cases is more effective. 

In some cases we may prescribe medication. These are tranquilisers that will sedate your pet and make him less aware and therefore less frightened of fireworks.

Finally from myself and all the staff at the Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic we wish you all a fabulous Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.