Girls And Their Horses

My love for horses started when I was around 5 years old.  I am not sure from where the love grew because I grew up on a farm where my dad milked dairy cows twice a day and cash cropped until I was about 7 years old and horses were not included; tractors were cheaper to keep and the milk cows didn't need herding in for milking.  On the farm, unless it earned it's keep, it was an unnecessary expense, therefore would have been a luxury.  Since my parents did not grow up with horses, they didn't see a need for them.  But I wanted one all the same.  Perhaps the desire was fed when I started reading.  Little Black, A Pony by Walter Farley, was a book I remember reading a thousand times, crying at the sad moment when the little black pony got his leg hung up in a downed tree.

I don't remember asking for a horse, but I must have expressed my wish for one to my dad, because one day he drove into our drive in a grain truck, after having been at the sale barn and in the back of that big truck was a red and white Shetland pony.  Since my parents had no experience with horses, they didn't know that a Shetland is probably about the meanest and stubbornest pony you can buy a kid; but I wasn't discouraged.  I was bit at, kicked at and got pitched in more wheat stubble and sand burrs then I care to remember; but I was not discouraged.  I would greet Francis, the milk man who picked up our milk, with pony and gear in the ready, to have him saddle Sonny for me.

Even when we left the farm for town living and I had to give up my ornery pony, my love for this majestic creature was nurtured with more stories from Walter Farley.

I could envision myself as Alec, riding bareback on 'The Black' with my hands wrapped tight within his mane, running wildly through the fields of the farm.  I read all 21 books in the Black Stallion series.  These stories and others like King of the Wind and Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry, Smoky the Cow Horse by Will James kept the fires burning for me, until I could once again be atop a horse.

Finally, again living in the country, I was 10 years old, my parents got us our first real horse, a quarter horse mare.  My brother, Brian and I would saddle her up after school, and after homework.  Teaming up together, we would lead Sugar under a tree and with a wash tub turned upside down near the tree, we would lift the heavy saddle up and drop it to her back from the lowest tree limb, then stand on the tub to tighten up the cinch (we were too short to reach her from the ground).  Then off we would go!

Throughout my teenage and early adult years, horses were the center of my world.  My parents hauled me and my horses to every rodeo and horse show throughout Southeast Kansas and then some.  My parents even got the bug and started raising colts to run on the race track.  Even after I started having children of my own, horses were still central to my life.  I read those wondrous Walter Farley stories to my girls (four of them in total) hoping to plant that the seed of horse fever within their souls.  While the girls all enjoyed riding and competing when they were younger, they have taken different paths as adults and horses have not been central to their lives.  This is ok with me.  I feel that they gained a great deal by having horses in their lives when younger.  Now I get to attempt to spread the fever amid my grandchildren!

Why do some of us girls love horses?  I think it is genetic, something we are just born to love.  I am now 58 years old and still ride with passion.  I still ride despite a broken collar bone from being up ended while atop a crazy mare 8 years ago.  I still ride despite being pitched and left afoot to walk home by my newest crazy horse (no broken bones) in this last two years.  I will continue to ride until my decrepit old bones refuse to raise my body into a saddle.  It's in the genes and the soul.

    

  

Give Your Dog a Life Line

This morning our surgery schedule was interrupted by an emergency HBC (hit by car).  We started to work immediately in attempt to save the small breed cocker mix.  I.V. fluids were initiated in order to replace his rapidly diminishing blood pressure drop.  Shock will cause a drop in blood pressure (hypovolemia) and replacement fluids will help maintain their blood pressure.  Unfortunately, fluids were not enough for this guy.  Our patient was loosing blood rapidly within it's chest cavity and passed away.

A difficult thing for this owner to learn, but for a simple leash, this dog's life would have been it's life line.

HBC pets are a common occurrence and for many of them, the lack of a simple leash leads to injury.  Some are injured by an unlatched gate, an open door and a mad dash for freedom (an obedience skill worth teaching-wait by the door until a leash is attached), but for many it is the naive belief that their owners voice has greater influence than the cat or squirrel that just run in front of them across the road.  My dog, Port, has an excellent recall aka 'come', but I can promise you that if a cat from across my road runs through my neighbors yard and he see it…. he is gone and suddenly I am the most boring person he knows and the least heard.

Over the years I have witnessed horrible injuries related to trauma created by cars; collapsed lungs, ruptured bladders, internal bleeding that could not be stopped, and broken bones.  Most of these injuries were preventable with just a bit of forethought and common sense.

I know not all accidents can be prevented, and most pet owners are responsible and have their pet's safety foremost in their hearts.  However, taking the time to leash train your dog, teaching "sit" to wait at the door for leashing, teaching your dog to walk quietly on a leash in face of distractions, can all be measures that every dog owner should take to help decrease the never-ending dangers that exists for them in the big wide wonderful world.

Trifexis Safety Issues Visited in Southeast Kansas

Today, I had a client call and ask me about the safety of Trifexis because she "heard rumors" that it was killing dogs.  We informed her that the "rumors" were unsubstantiated and that I am still using Trifexis on my dogs and recommending it to my clients.  Now what I have to say about these "rumors".

Google Trifexis Kills and you will get 15,200 results in about 0.15 seconds.  If you take the time to scroll through the searched sites, you will note that the majority of these sites are by news media, individual blogs and personal social media groups.  These sources lack scientific medical evidence to support their claims.  In order to give validity to their claims, they must have positive correlated scientific evidence linking Trifexis to an animal's death.

Let's put this is perspective.  In humans, it has been estimated that 16,500 people with arthritis, die every year from NSAID related complications (aspirin, Aleve, etc).   While tragic this happens, the percentage of people that die in relation to the millions of people that take NSAID's that do not die, is extremely small.  Yet we do not remove aspirin from our pharmacological arsenal.  We have to weigh the benefits of taking aspirin versus the possible negative side effects of the drug (bleeding, liver disease).  If the benefits outweigh the risks then we consider it a good medication.  But if the risks are greater than the benefits (more people die taking aspirin than people not taking aspirin), then it is a drug that is unsafe for use.

Every medication (whether designed for man or beast) have negative side effects.  You pick up your medication and your pharmacist hands you a printed list of the possible negative side effects you may suffer.  Your doctor has already weighed the risks vs the benefits for you.  If this is the first time you have taken the medication, you will not know until you take it if the negative effects out weight the benefits.  If you discover the negative effects are greater, the medication is discontinued for you (not the  other millions that can take it with no difficulty) and your doctor will prescribe another alternative.  The same happens in the veterinary medical field.  Our goal is to minimize those risks for as many individual pets as possible.

Trifexis like any prescription drug is FDA approved, meaning is was extensively tested by Elanco (manufacturer), before FDA would approve it's use in dogs.  The FDA and the manufacturers of any drug (for man or beast) monitor reports of potential toxicities.  Your veterinarian also monitors the effect of medications for pets.  If a patient of mine becomes ill and/or dies and I suspect it is the medication that caused the illness/death, I make a report to the company.  The company may request blood work or request the body be sent to a lab for pathology, so that they may determine if the illness/death is directly related to their product or if the patient had some underlying disease (that neither the owner or the veterinarian was aware of)  that may have contributed to the animal's illness/death.

A good example of careful monitoring by veterinarians, manufacturers and FDA is the recall and discontinued manufacturing of the topical flea and tick product Promeris.  After it's extensive testing for FDA approval, and after millions of applications, it was found to predispose cats and dogs to a serious skin condition, pemphigus foliaceus.  We used to carry Promeris in this clinic, we never experienced this skin condition in any of our patients, however in the over all population of the pets at large, there were more incidence of pemphigus reported and confirmed by proper testing.  The risks of using Promeris were greater than the benefits for the overall population of pets using it.

Bottom line, don't believe everything you read on the internet (my husband is a French Model!!), look at the source of the information you read/hear and educate yourself with the information regarding any medication based on the scientific studies and side effects vs benefits.  Ask your veterinarian questions about the medications they prescribe and share your concerns.  If your pet acts ill after taking any medication contact your veterinarian.  Your veterinarian relies on you to report any problems so that they can protect your pet.

I use Trifexis on my dogs.  They have been taking it for two years. They are alive and well, flea free and protected against heartworms.  The reported side effects of Trifexis (vomiting, anorexia and itchiness)  do not outweigh the risks I feel my dogs have of contracting heartworm disease and diseases associated with flea infestation.  Trifexis may or may not be beneficial for your dog.  To determine if it is the best product for your dog, you must communicate with your veterinarian and together decide if the benefits are greater than the risks.

What You Should Know About Antibiotics

As a mixed animal veterinarian in a rural community, it is not uncommon for me to get telephone calls from ranchers and horse clients about which antibiotics to give their large four legged critters.  Just as often they call and ask if it okay for them to give the same antibiotics to their farm dog.  I also field phone calls from small animal pet owners asking if they can give an antibiotic they have left over from either another pet or from their personal medical doctor, to another dog or cat.  It is easy for many to be casual about antibiotic use; they must be safe to use, after all you can buy them at your local farm and tractor store.  Antibiotics are powerful medications that require a level of understanding of pharmacology and bacteriology, and biology; something you should not trust your farm and ranch store assistant to supply. 

We live in a world where antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world's most pressing public health problems.  Almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment when it is really needed.  These resistant bacteria can quickly spread from your animals to their human family members and to other human-human contact, threatening the household and the community with a new strain of infectious diseases that is more difficult to cure and more expensive to treat.  For this reason, antibiotic resistance is among the CDC's top concerns. 

Here are some things you should know:

1)  Sometimes Antibiotics aren't called for and may even cause harm.  As a veterinarian, unless I have evidence of a bacterial infection, I won't prescribe an antibiotic.  Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, not viruses.  If your pet, horse or cow is suffering from a viral infection without  having a secondary bacterial infection, antibiotics have no benefit and only serves to increase the risk of bacterial resistance in the future. Giving unnecessary antibiotics can disrupt the animal's biological system and leave it vulnerable to other diseases.  Our society has come to seek out a quick fix for it's illnesses, expecting a 'pill' to fix all that ails us and our animals.  Sometimes it's just best to let mother nature run it course and allow the body to do it's work in protecting itself.  

2)  The antibiotic that worked so well for your pet/animal last time may not help him with his most current problem.  Just as true, the antibiotic that worked well for Fluffy may not help Fido, or Lightening the wonder horse.  Different antibiotics kill different bacteria, in different ways, with different potential side effects.  If Fido has a chronic condition such as renal failure, the enrofloxacin I prescribed for Fluffy's bladder infection could be harmful to Fido's kidneys, since it is an antibiotic known to be hard on the kidneys.  This holds true as well,  for left over antibiotics that you failed to finish taking yourself.  While it is true that many medications we use in veterinary medicine are also used for humans, your medical doctor intended you to take all your medication, not save some of it for your pet, just in case.  Failing to take all prescribed medications as directed leads to problems (addressed below).  Often your medication contain more milligrams than may be needed for your critter or may not be enough.  Either way only a veterinarian should be directing which drug is needed and in what concentration and for how long.

3)  Giving antibiotics at the prescribed dosage and time is vital to their effectiveness.  This means that if the doctor prescribes the medication to be given twice a day for 14 days, you should follow the directions.  The doctor knows how long the medication last within the body and will be trying to create a steady stream in the flood so that it is delivered at a constant rate to the bacteria.  

4)  YOU NEED TO GIVE THE ENTIRE COURSE OF THE ANTIBIOTIC even if your animal appears 'better' within the first few days.  Many times your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic for a two week course or even longer.  While you may think it unnecessary or excessive to give a medication after your pet/horse/cow appears healthy, it is crucial that you give the entire course of medication.  Not doing so contributes directly to antibiotic resistance that threatens your animal and you.  Why?  Simple genetics.  The bacteria killed early on are the susceptible ones--while the strong/clever ones are learning to adapt to the antibiotic action survive longer.  Stopping the medication before the stronger bacteria are killed off by the immune system leaves only these smart bugs behind to multiply in the face of the antibiotic and become more resistant to it.  When you fail to finish a course of antibiotics, for you or your pet, you are basically creating an environment conducive to a 'super race' of bacteria.  The infection may return and even be more aggressive than before.  Different antibiotics have different half-lives (how long they stay in the body) and are prescribed for different lengths of time based on the doctor's knowledge of the bacteria and the mechanism of the antibiotic.  These decisions are made based on experience, science and knowledge, not a random antibiotic for a length of time arbitrarily picked or simply to sell more medication.  

5)  If your animal is ill talk to your veterinarian.  If your animal is ill, take them to see your veterinarian.  In order to make a correct diagnosis and prescribe the correct medication your veterinarian will need to see you critter, even for chronic conditions.  We will not prescribe a medication without having the benefit of performing a physical examination and/or performing the necessary diagnostics needed to make a correct diagnosis in order to prescribe the correct medication.  Make no mistake, all medications are poisons, although helpful ones.  All medications have side effects of which we wish to keep at a minimum.  Proper use of these medications should be directed by your veterinarian and not the salesperson at the farm and ranch store.  

As a veterinarian, I am happy to practice medicine during a time when we have an arsenal of medications available to help in curing illnesses; compared to the old days when we used turpentine and arsenic!  We do however need to use these powerful medications judiciously and with full knowledge of their actions, side-effects and proper diagnosis.  Consult with your veterinarian before you reach for those left over medications from your medical doctor or head out to the feed store for a bottle of penicillin.  There is a reason that we are seeing more and more MRSA cases in human and animal medicine, let's not contribute to it.

Helping Others Is What We Do

When asked why I wanted to be a veterinarian, it is easy to say because I love animals.  However, it goes far beyond that.  Loving animals is only part of it, as I am certain it is for most veterinarians.  I remind many future veterinarians, that being a veterinarian is not just about the animal; at the end of every leash is a human being who loves that dog, cat, ferret, horse, cow, etc., and through our caring for animals we are also committing ourselves to helping humans.  One of the many reasons I am driven to be a veterinarian is so that I can promote and help maintain that precious bond between a human being and their animals.  The human/animal bond can be as strong as the love that is shared between a parent and a child.

This bond we humans share with animals is also why I became a puppy raiser for KSDS, an organization that works to provide assistance dogs for the disabled (it was my first service puppy in training that inspired this blog).  Recently I volunteered to be part of a dancing team for our local Rotary Club's 4th Annual "Dancing with our Stars" Charity Event.  During this event, several couples perform a dance routine (yes in public in front of hundreds of people) to raise money for their chosen charity.  My dancing partner, Ted Koller, and I are dancing for KSDS.  Voting for the dancing team is done via monies donated to the team's chosen charity.  Ted and I have been practicing 3-4 times weekly for the past month in preparation for our debut February 15th.  We have to practice a lot because we are both old, fat and out of shape ( I am also terrible uncoordinated).  Just like the time and dedication I put in to training my Service Puppy in training, I am determined to put on a good show and work to encourage donations for KSDS.  If you cannot attend this event, I encourage you to visit KSDS website and donate to their endeavors to provide assistance to the disabled.

Three weeks ago, I had to turn back to KSDS my second puppy in training, Port.  Even though I know full well from his arrival to me, at 10 weeks of age, that he is not mine to keep and that in approximately 18 months he will be leaving for KSDS college, it doesn't make it easier to take him back so that he can continue his training and find his partner.  Though I knew what to expect in taking him back to KSDS;  I had already experienced it with Meade, my first puppy in training, I cried for 15 minutes in my truck after I left the KSDS facility.  The bond we developed and shared during his time with me is strong, and just like the pain a parent feels when their children leave the nest, my heart was heavy, when I had to cut the umbilical cord and leave Port to move forward so that he could go on to help someone with far greater needs than myself.

People often tell me they could never be a puppy raiser because they could not handle the letting go after two years of love and building such a priceless bond.  They sometimes even ask me, "how can you let them go?"  I invite you to watch this video I have made and published on Youtube, KSDS Stand By Me , perhaps it can answer that question best.  The love I felt for Meade and Port is forever.  That love has now spread to others and I have become a part of their lives too.

I am a veterinarian and I dance…so the bond that we humans share with animals can open the world up to others and to me.  I am a better person for being a part of something greater than myself.

KILLER DOG BREATH

We have all heard it and I suspect many of us have said it: "A dog's mouth is cleaner than a humans".  I suspect that those that have repeated this myth have never looked inside their pet's mouth!  At least once daily, I have a client ask me why their dog's breath smells bad.  My typical response is to open their dog's mouth and let the owner look inside!  At least 8 out of 10 times they will see reddened gums, tarter build-up, loose and rotten teeth (and this dog is sharing a dinner plate with them and giving them kisses!!)  In younger dogs, whose teeth are still in pretty good shape, I remind them that it is bacteria within the mouth that causes odor and that if they failed to brush their own teeth 2-3 times a day, their mouth would smell as bad as their pets!  Diet can also play a role in having bad breath.  Humans don't usually eat of garbage cans, eat dead things they find out of doors or drink out of germ laden toilets!

Did you know that 80% of dogs and 70% of cats all have signs of dental disease by four years of age?  Did you know that dental disease is a major contributor to other systemic disease such as heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease and chronic anemia?  

What would you think if every day you looked in the mirror and saw gums that were bleeding and receding, and teeth that were discolored, loosening and falling out? “Doggy breath” isn’t normal, and pets need dental care just like people do. Sometimes I flip the lip on a dog I’m seeing — usually for some other reason — and discover gums that look as if a blowtorch had been passed over them. You know these animals are in constant pain. And what about those teeth? Imagine what it would be like to be in excruciating pain every time your tongue touched your tooth, or if you had to try to gingerly eat on only one side of your mouth, away from the affected area. Rather than just ignoring your dog's breath, it would be better to treat it.  You would treat yourself if you had bad breath or a sore mouth…right?

If your pet's mouth already looks like the image above, it will first be critical for you to schedule an appointment with your veterinarian who can get your dog’s mouth back in good shape at any age and can show you how to keep things in good shape. No more pain.  Be prepared, depending on the age of your pet, and other existing age related conditions, your veterinarian may order blood work done prior to dental work and also start your pet on antibiotics ahead of time.  Dental cleaning is an anesthetic procedure, so your veterinarian will need to know if there is anything else wrong with your pet that may require special precautions during the procedure.  In most cases, your pet should be able to go home the same day as the procedure.

What can you do to help keep your pet's teeth healthier before and after their dental cleaning?  
• A well-balanced, meat-based diet is important
• Take your dog to the vet regularly and keep up to date with vaccines
• Brush your dog's teeth on a regular basis or use an oral rinse (available in pet stores and online).
• Maintain routine oral hygiene visits to the vet or groomers
• Give him treats to chew on that will help remove plaque from his teeth
• Regular exercise or some type of physical activity would be beneficial, just as it is for humans, but of course this varies by breed and dog.
• If his breath is very bad, consider using an oral solution made for dogs and cats that help with bad breath

Good oral health care is vital, but in general your dog's mouth is not cleaner than yours.  But I don't let that stop me from kisses (as long as they have a healthy mouth).  We want you to fully enjoy the love without worrying about germs and your pet to enjoy a life free from pain.  Your dog is dependent on you and you are responsible for their health and well-being.  Talk to your veterinarian about dental health care for your pet!