Southcoast Animal Hospital
35 Saltfleet Street
Port Noarlunga SA 5167
(08) 8384 4363
Winter Newsletter 2012
In this issue:
1
How pets keep
you healthy 2
Pets and Joint
Disease 3
Training cats
4
Beagle
How Pets Keep You Healthy
Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday
8am - 5pm
Sunday
9am - 5pm
Consulting Times by Appointment
Morning 9.00 am - 11.30 am
Afternoon 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm
Evening 5.00 pm - 7.00 pm
Emergencies will be given priority
Hospital is closed on most
public holidays
All the following statistics are from published data!
•
64% of Australian households own a pet.
•
13.1 million Australians have contact through their daily lives.
•
Pet owners are less likely to have the sort of problems that lead to heart attacks.
•
Children brought up in the presence of animals show better non-verbal communication, popularity and social competence.
•
Dog and cat owners make 12% fewer visits to doctors, spend 32% fewer nights in hospital, and are less likely to be on medication for heart or sleep disorders.
•
It has been estimated that pet ownership saved Australians $10 billion in medical expenses between 1990 and 1995.
•
Pet owners have improved survival after serious heart attack.
•
Children who grow up with cats have a lower incidence of asthma. Children brought up with a dog and a cat have a lower risk again.
Pets and joint disease
Winter is a great time of year for walking in the rain, and running down
deserted beaches. Unfortunately for dogs and cats, just like people, these
conditions can exacerbate joint disease and arthritis.
Some animals are more prone to
arthritis than others.
Some predisposing factors are;
•
Breed
The larger the animal
the greater the risk.
•
Age
Risk increases with age.
•
Weight
Obesity increases the risk
of arthritis.
•
Breed
Some breeds have a genetic predisposition to certain forms of arthritis.
•
Old injuries
Previous injuries can cause arthritis in later life.
Signs of Early Arthritis
•
Limping.
•
Difficulty rising after rest.
•
Sleeping more.
•
Reluctant to run, jump
or climb stairs
(especially cats).
•
Lethargy or behavioural change
(quiet or depressed).
•
Increased vocalizing (especially cats).
Many older dogs and cats suffer from arthritis. The disease is particularly hard
to detect in cats as they notoriously mask disease (they try not to show signs of
pain. Cats are naturally solitary in the wild, so showing pain just means they
are more likely to get eaten by another predator).
Normal Knee
Arthritic Knee
Articular Cartilage
Joint Capsule
Synovial Fluid
Meniscus
Thickened Joint
Capsule
Eroded Articular
Cartilage
Meniscal Tear
Osteophytes
If your pet is showing any of the signs listed, we should check them for signs of
arthritis. This is a disease that can severely diminish your pet’s quality of life yet
help is at hand. Lots of good treatment options now exist for arthritis.
These include:
•
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s). These decrease inflammation around joints increasing mobility and decreasing pain.
•
Disease modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOAD’s), such as pentosan polysulphate. These drugs. These drugs inhibit harmful agents in joints, as well as promoting an environment which maximises the bodies ability to heal.
•
Diets designed for animals with arthritis are now available.
•
Surgery can occasionally be useful ( such as total hip replacements).
•
Stem cell therapy. Stem cells taken from your own pets fat tissue
can be injected in to joints to decrease inflammation.
Life style factors are also important. Keep your pets at a good weight,
and provide regular exercise. Ensure they have a warm bed, raised
off the ground.
Short frequent walks ( 3 or 4 times a day) can be better than longer walks,
especially in the early stages of treatment.
For more information please contact us.
2
Training cats
Most dog owners train their dog, to varying degrees. Most cats’ owners don’t
train their cat, except accidentally. This happens for a few reasons.
Firstly cats are good at doing things for themselves. Unlike dogs they will tend
to use a litter tray of their own volition, so don’t need to be toilet trained.
Secondly there is an inherent belief that cats can’t be trained. Originally cats
were solitary animals living on a large (3-4ha) territory, only meeting other cats
at the edge of the territory to mate (hence female cats “call” for a partner).
As such they are less programmed to obey instruction than a pack animal,
like a dog. That’s the theory.
In practice, partially due to 9500 years of domestication, that has changed.
However there is one fundamental difference between training dogs & cats.
There are two types of training techniques. Reward based (praise the good)
or punishment based (reprimand the bad). Both work for dogs, when used
properly. The former is by far the best way to train dogs, and the latter is rarely
used (we will talk about this in future newsletters).
In cats reward based training works well. Punishment works not at all.
If you punish a cat they will not repeat the behaviour whilst you are there: they
will not stop the behaviour. The hardest part of training a cat is finding a food
reward they want enough to work for it.
Once you find the reward. As they sit give them the command
and simultaneously give them the reward. Do not force them to sit. Try to coax
them to perform the action by moving the treat back over their head. DO NOT
give the command until it has been obeyed then instantly give the treat
and the command.
Your cat will quickly learn to sit on command for the treat. Keep using
the treat for some months, then gradually withdraw the treat and only use
it occasionally. Your cat will now sit on command, in hope.
Follow the links below to see what you can achieve. Before you know it,
you will have a circus cat on your hands.
3
For More Cat tricks Visit
http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=cvF_
tW7vc8kMoscow cat theatre
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LLEA1BgJ6YQ&
feature=related
Great tricks!
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=7P_XgJpUTis
Beagle
History
The beagle can trace its ancestry back millennia. The term beagle was originally
applied to any small hunting hound (often smaller than the present Beagle they
were carried in pockets or saddle bags of horses, to end a chase through undergrowth when the larger dogs couldn’t fit). However the breed as we know it is
generally believed to have materialised in the 1830’s from a kennel in Essex,
England. They were bred for hunting rabbit and hares, and were valued for their
highly developed sense of smell. Today beagles are often used as detection dogs
by Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) because of that and because
of their engaging personalities and convenient size. They are breeds of dogs with
no satiatory centre in their brain. In other words they have nothing to turn off
appetite. This means they are very food oriented which can be invaluable for
training. HMS Beagle, named after the dog, is one of the most famous boats.
Setting sail on 27th December 1831 it carried the, naturalist Charles Darwin, on
his epic voyage of discovery. More recently, the British exploration vehicle on Mars
was also named ‘the Beagle’. This may have been an unfortunate choice, as it
disappeared without trace soon after landing (inclined to wander, not unlike its
canine namesake).
Appearance
Beagles are a medium sized dog and should weigh between 10-16kg. They are
short haired and smooth coated. Most commonly beagles are tri coloured though
they do occur in a range of other colours such as tan and white or lemon and
white.
Temperament
Beagles are used to running in a pack, so they like company! They are very
interactive and can be a very engaging family dog. They are an intelligent breed
which may be very amenable to training, though you will need to be very consistent as they tend to be quite head strong and stubborn. Beagles are prone to
roaming so you need good fences. They may also become destructive if they are
bored. Some may be prone to anxiety especially if they are the only dog. As with
all puppies, it is a good idea to meet both parents prior to purchase.
They are very active and appreciate lots of exercise. They were bred to run after
hare and rabbits for long periods, and they are good at it! As a scent hound they
are easily distracted on walks and not usually encouraged to run off lead. This can
be overcome with good reward based training (remember most beagles will do
anything for food!). On that note they are prone to obesity so you need to be strict
on feeding set meals with few snacks. Also keep bins secure and the pantry door
closed. Beagles are an engaging pet for families with time, energy and patience to
exercise and train them. They can adapt to diverse family situations, as long as
they feel included.
4
Inherited diseases
Despite having an extensive list of
inherited diseases identified in the
breed world wide* most are
extremely rare.
In our experience, beagles have very
few health issues and live happily to
be 12-14yrs of age.
Part of the extensive knowledge on
beagle ‘diseases’ may stem from
their general popularity & use as
experimental dogs until relatively
recently.
The most common problems seen are
obesity, inter vertebral disc disease,
‘cherry eye’, allergies, anxiety and
epilepsy.
Breeders should have an extensive
knowledge of their own ‘stock’,
including any health issues observed
in related animals.
It is well worth discussing the issue
with them.
* LIDA – Faculty of Veterinary
Science, University of Sydney
<http://sydney.edu.au/vetscience/li
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.