Dog Cartoon Of The Week: Bone To Pick

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Dog Cartoon of the Week is brought to you by Andertoons. Check out the website for more great cartoons.


Cartoonist Mark Anderson lives in the Chicago area with his wife, their children, two cats, a dog and several dust bunnies. You might have seen his cartoons in a number of publications including Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Good Housekeeping, Forbes, Barrons, Woman's World, Harvard Business Review, Saturday Evening Post, American Legion Magazine, Funny Times.

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Jasmine's Mysterious Swelling And Interdigital Cyst Update

Jasmine's interdigital cyst is just about healed. She always responded well to antibiotics, and it held true this time as well. So that's the good news.

The bad news is that the swelling remains.

Apparently the cyst was just a coincidence and the swelling is due to the yeast infection. We're doing the medicated foot baths religiously, every two days. I also change all her sheets after every bath. Those have to be the cleanest sheets in the history of clean sheets.

The salty smell is gone but the swelling is not.

It has temporarily improved after Jasmine's underwater treadmill session on Saturday. She also got cold laser treatment on all her feet. But the next day it seemed to look about the same as at the beginning.

What would my life be if I didn't have something to worry about?

Jasmine's vet, though, isn't surprised by this and says that he wouldn't expect the swelling go down until Tuesday or Wednesday. We also made a follow-up appointment so he can check it out. With our planned trip to Jasmine's ranch (we're supposed to leave Thursday early morning), I would really like for this to be resolved before that.

So it all depends on whether the leg looks good by then and/or whether her vet clears her for the trip. I would hate to run into complications while virtually in the middle of nowhere and I'd prefer having a vet whom I trust on the case.

So far we're acting as if we're going as planned. 

Jasmine is already on low-glycemic diet, just low starch veggies and animal protein. I am wondering whether I should add some coconut oil or oregano. A bit of coconut oil shouldn't hurt anything. I am somewhat worried about oregano because Jasmine doesn't do all herbs equally well.

One virtue that I am not very fond of - patience.

Oh Lord, give me patience, and give it to me now! 

On second thought, never mind patience, give me healthy Jasmine. Thank you so much. Amen.

Related articles:
Jasmine's Mysterious Swelling And Another Experience With VetLive
The Diagnosis Is In: Jasmine Has An Interdigital Cyst  

Jasmine's Acute Lameness
Jasmine Doesn't Like "Doing Time"
Our Of Jail Free Pass
When It's Looks Too Good To Be True … The Lameness Returns
The Day Of The Treatment
First Time For Everything: A Healing Crisis(?)  
From Zero To Sixty In Four Days: Stem Cells At Work
The Calm After The Storm 
If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Jasmine
This Is What Jasmine's Episode Looks Like
Gotta Try Everything Once (Or Twice): On The Quest To Figure Out Jasmine's Episodes 

***
Meet Jasmine
I'm Still Standing! (Happy Birthday, Jasmine)
How Dogs Think (Well, Jasmine Anyway)
How The Oddysey Started: Jasmine's ACL Injury
Jasmine is Vet-Stem's poster child!
Rant About Quality Of Life Versus Quantity, And Differential Diagnoses
Jasmine Is Headed For Her Next Stem Cell Treatment
Jasmine's Stem Cells Are In
Arthritis? What Arthritis? 
Guess Who Is An Ever-Ready Bunny And Really Liking The Bit Of Snow We Got? 
Don't Knock It Until You Tried It: Animal Chiropractic 
Jasmine's Fur Analysis
Back At Chiropractic Care

Further reading:
Jasmine’s Story: Can Chronic Diarrhea and Soft Tissue Injuries be Normal?
Jasmine’s Story: An ACL Injury and a Cancer Scare
Jasmine’s Condition Deteriorates: Another ACL Injury and an Abdominal Abscess
Jasmine Recovers from Surgery and Jana Discovers TCVM
Who’s Minding Your Pet’s Health?
Pet Owner Perspective On Stem Cell Therapy
Difficult to Manage Lameness Treated with Physical Therapy
Our Journey to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

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Adoption Monday: Nikki, Labrador Retriever/Terrier Mix, Deerfield, NH

Check out this beautiful girl at Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption!

Nikki is a 1 year old, spirited and happy girl.

 
She is outgoing, friendly with people and children, other dogs as well. Very usual puppy energy.

Nikki will be a great family dog.

She is house trained, spayed and up-to-date with her shots.

Nikki is ready for you. Are you ready for her?

Want more info on Nikki? Call Mary's Dogs: 603.370.7750 or send along an email: marysdogsrescue@gmail.com

Ready to bring Nikki home? Tell us about yourself and your interest in Nikki in our adoption questionnaire. Check out all the wonderful dogs on Mary's Dogs Facebook Fan Page.

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Mary’s Dogs rescues and re-homes dogs and puppies from Aiken County Animal Shelter, a high-kill shelter in South Carolina, USA. They also serve as a resource to communities in Southern New Hampshire and pet owners nationwide by providing education and information on responsible pet ownership, including the importance of spay/neuter, positive behavior training, and good nutrition.

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Dog Food: The Multi Billion Dollar Infographic

Does your dog suffer from itchy paws, stinky ears, and low energy? Does he constantly seem to drop large, smelly stools? These may actually be symptoms of a poor diet.

Researchers at Pet365 took a long look at the pet food industry, examining the ingredients in packaged dog food and comparing them to a natural diet. In addition, they checked pricing across the board in order to find the best values. Even branding trends came under consideration.

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I don't agree that dogs should not eat raw meat (as per section 4). I know enough people who feed their dogs raw diets, after long battles with various health issues, and their dogs are doing amazingly well.

Many dogs also do great having yogurt, cottage cheese and other dairy products in their diets. Jasmine's original recipe, from a nutritionist, also had these ingredients in it. Many of the recipes also include tomatoes. So I don't agree with all the foods to avoid on those lists.

Overall, though,  it's a great and interesting infographic.



Created by Matt Beswick for Pet365. Take a look at the full dog food post.

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The Diagnosis Is In: Jasmine Has An Interdigital Cyst

The wait for Jasmine's appointment felt endless. But the circumstances were such that it had to wait till Friday afternoon.

I did send the photos of Jasmine's swelling and the lump found on the toe to her vet and we talked on Thursday morning.

He reviewed it all and said that it looked like interdigital cyst to him.

(Actually interdigital cyst is a common way to refer to this kind of bump, though technically incorrect. Generally, a cyst is a fluid/semi-fluid filled sac. An abscess, in comparison, is filled with pus. An abscess is formed when foreign organisms are attacking the tissues. What is referred to as interdigital cyst is really an interdigital furuncle, in other words, a boil.)

Either way, it was a relief to hear. This would not pose any immediate or future serious threat.

Interdigital cysts are quite common and we kept our fingers crossed that's what it was. I did some research into the subject and there were couple things that worried me.

1. I didn't find any mention of associated swelling
2. There seemed to be no evidence of pain or lameness (these are supposed to be painful and cause lameness)

Of course this thing is pretty tiny compared with photos I found online, so perhaps that's why the lack of evidence of pain.

The swelling, though, kept worrying me.

No mention of a swelling resulting from interdigital cyst anywhere I could find, while mast cell tumors do have the ability to cause swelling. They don't seem to look the same, but pretty darn close, particularly when you're looking at something very tiny. All reference photos of either condition feature large lumps. And I still havd to wait before we could find out.

VetLive:  I have never seen edema caused from a cyst but if it is irritating her body enough then I can see the logic there.

I was a basket case.

I kept checking the lump, which seemed unchanging, and staring at the swollen leg. The more I was staring at it, the more swollen it seemed ...

The lack of any other symptoms was somewhat comforting.

I did look up potential causes behind an interdigital cyst, several were possible. I was leaning toward either ingrown hairs or foreign body, or yeast infection. I did notice that Jasmine's feet smelled kind of salty (for lack of better interpretation of what I was smelling)

I didn't really feel that allergies would be behind this, I keep saying this all the time but it's true--Jasmine is not an itchy dog.

I found that typical treatment would be Cephalexin (antibiotic used to treat skin infections), along with topical treatments. That would be good, Jasmine was on Cephalexin in the past with no adverse effects.

I found out that the most useful diagnostic tests include skin scrapings (for mites), impression smears, or fine-needle aspirates to confirm the presence of an inflammatory infiltrate.

Source: Merck Veterinary Manual

I wanted to be sure we know exactly what we're looking at.

I wasn't certain whether we could do an needle aspirate on such a tiny thing, but I made a list of all the things I wanted to do to confirm anyway. I really do feel sorry for Jasmine's vet.

Finally we made it to the time of Jasmine's vet appointment.

The diagnosis is in: Jasmine indeed has an interdigital cyst, secondary to Malassezia infection (yeast).

So now I know what that salty smell means.

This was confirmed by physical examination and cytology results. We also sent some of it to the lab for further bacteriology.

All four feet are actually affected by the yeast infection, possibly some virulent strain than Jasmine had previously encountered. The vet was asking whether Jasmine met any new dogs; well, she didn't meet them per say but there are a lot of new dogs in our complex now...

The rest of Jasmine's body is infection free, the vet check her all out inch by inch.

The treatment, as I suspected, is Cephalexin and antifungal shampoo.

So I guess I should be able to breathe again. Still obsessing about the swelling, though, so I hope it'll go down some time soon. Of course it would go down faster with steroids but my gut tells me that is not a good idea. So unless things get worse, I'd rather stay away from that.

When I shared the results with VetLive, I realized that I really was not overly paranoid about the mast cell tumor at all.

VetLive: I am SO glad it's not a mast cell tumor! She really has the worst luck so I was hoping it would not continue to this. Some of the sweetest patients have the worst health luck, if there is such a thing.

I was paranoid alright. I even fasted Jasmine prior the visit, just in case she needed any diagnostics or treatments that would need her fasted.

I trust our vet 98%. But the remaining two are enough to drive me out of my mind in a case like this.

And the long wait only fed my worry. I figured that combining his expertise with the cytology results we can be reasonably sure that it indeed is the interdigital cyst. I was glad to get a confirmation.

VetLive: Mast cell tumors practically scream their names on a slide.

So that ought to be enough even for my ever-worrying heart. 

The swelling still bothers me, so hopefully it's not going to be there for much longer.

Jasmine's birthday is coming up next Friday, I so hope she can enjoy it fully with nothing bothering her.

Related articles:
Jasmine's Mysterious Swelling And Another Experience With VetLive

Jasmine's Acute Lameness
Jasmine Doesn't Like "Doing Time"
Our Of Jail Free Pass
When It's Looks Too Good To Be True … The Lameness Returns
The Day Of The Treatment
First Time For Everything: A Healing Crisis(?)  
From Zero To Sixty In Four Days: Stem Cells At Work
The Calm After The Storm 
If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Jasmine
This Is What Jasmine's Episode Looks Like
Gotta Try Everything Once (Or Twice): On The Quest To Figure Out Jasmine's Episodes 

***
Meet Jasmine
I'm Still Standing! (Happy Birthday, Jasmine)
How Dogs Think (Well, Jasmine Anyway)
How The Oddysey Started: Jasmine's ACL Injury
Jasmine is Vet-Stem's poster child!
Rant About Quality Of Life Versus Quantity, And Differential Diagnoses
Jasmine Is Headed For Her Next Stem Cell Treatment
Jasmine's Stem Cells Are In
Arthritis? What Arthritis? 
Guess Who Is An Ever-Ready Bunny And Really Liking The Bit Of Snow We Got? 
Don't Knock It Until You Tried It: Animal Chiropractic 
Jasmine's Fur Analysis
Back At Chiropractic Care

Further reading:
Jasmine’s Story: Can Chronic Diarrhea and Soft Tissue Injuries be Normal?
Jasmine’s Story: An ACL Injury and a Cancer Scare
Jasmine’s Condition Deteriorates: Another ACL Injury and an Abdominal Abscess
Jasmine Recovers from Surgery and Jana Discovers TCVM
Who’s Minding Your Pet’s Health?
Pet Owner Perspective On Stem Cell Therapy
Difficult to Manage Lameness Treated with Physical Therapy
Our Journey to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

Read More

Veterinary Highlights: Fighting Canine B–Cell Lymphoma With Autologous T–Cells

While chemotherapy for canine lymphoma kills cancer cells, it also wreaks havoc on the dog’s immune system. 

T-cell killing cancer cell. Image OMICS Group, Scientific blog

Researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found that solution to this dilemma could lay in culturing the patients' own T-cells, harvested prior the chemotherapy treatment, and re-introducing them into the blood stream after the chemotherapy is over.

(There are already other therapies out there using the same concept--employing patient's own cells to treat disease; such as the stem cell therapy and platelet rich plasma therapy)

The preliminary study yielded better results than expected.

B-cell lymphoma, the most common type, is the most deadly when untreated. Standard chemotherapy treatment often results in only one year of durable remission.

Could T-cell therapy replace chemotherapy for canine lymphoma all together?

Dr. Wilson’s Texas A&M team, along with researchers from MD Anderson, are working on it. The initial trial results are promising. After all, a healthy immune system was designed to prevent cancer from developing to start out with.

I think it's a great idea. Helping the immune system instead of crippling it.

I am excited to see what else this research brings.

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Dog owners interested in helping with this research may be able to get involved in Texas A&M’s clinical trials. The Clinical Trials page on the university’s website explains which dogs are eligible to participate, and how to enroll in the trials.

Source article:
Using Autologous T–Cells to Treat Canine Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

Further reading:
Adoptive T-cell therapy improves treatment of canine non–Hodgkin lymphoma post chemotherapy

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Jasmine's Mysterious Swelling And Another Experience With VetLive

So I was going to write about Jasmine's acupuncture session ... meanwhile she prepared a different challenge for today. I'll post about the acupuncture later on.

For couple days, when looking at Jasmine sleeping at night, I felt that her rear right leg didn't look quite right. It seems somewhat chunkier than I believe it should. More staring didn't bring more insight and I wasn't sure whether I wasn't just seeing ghosts. Until today.

Today she was lying in such position that I could really compare the two legs well. The right one certainly did look thicker.

I decided I was not seeing ghosts and that there really appear to be some swelling. Nothing better to mess with my peace of mind.

Ok, so the leg seems kind of swollen. What is going on?

There didn't seem to be any pain or associated lameness. Jasmine didn't seem bothered by it, just me. There has been some licking of her rear right foot around the toes but I couldn't see any discernible reason.

What I would really liked to have done would be taking her to see her vet right that minute.

Unfortunately, that was not possible. Hubby teaching classes till late evening and no hubby means no transportation.

I needed to talk to somebody which an expertise and somebody who was available right then.

I have to admit that first place I turned to was justanswer.com. I've had a subscription there for quite a long time now and it works well for simple questions. So I posted my question there. The answer I got was fine but came nowhere close to easing my anguish. Sometimes you get the answer you need and sometimes you do not.

It was time to turn to VetLive.

I have used them in the past and the thoroughness of the answers and the investment in each of their cases is amazing.

First thing to expect when you turn to VetLive is more questions.

Questions are good. There are no answers without questions.

VetLive: What does the swelling feel like? Is it kind of squishy? When you press on it (holding pressure for about two seconds), does it immediately swell back out again? How long does it take to "fill out?"

Is the swelling even up and down her leg, below the knee that is?

Is her foot swollen?

Is the color between her foot pads normal? What color?

Any lameness? Decreased energy? If so, estimate a percentage please.

When did you notice this? Has it gotten worse?

Any other abnormalities--changes in urination, thirst, appetite, cough, etc.?

What is Jasmine's current drug regimen and has anything changed?

I'll probably think of other questions but this is a good starting point. Can you can take pictures (several are better than one but one is better than none).

Thanks in advance for your thought in answering these questions. Also, has her vet taken a look at the swelling yet?

Of course that was when our camera refused to cooperate so I at least took a few shots with my phone. You know, those days when everything is bound to go wrong.

I answered the questions the best I could.

Jana: Actually, now, playing with it, it seems it is only from the hock down (hock area inclusive)

It doesn't feel like much, doesn't really feel like a swelling, not squishy. It doesn't really feel differently from the other leg to me, just the leg looks thicker.  It's quite subtle, just the leg doesn't look right and doesn't look as "bony" as it typically would and as the other one does.

When I do push down on the area that seems the "thickest/flashiest" the indentation does come right back.

I thought it seemed pretty even overall, now, when staring at it, it seems a little more pronounced on the top of the metatarsus(?) and foot and underneath the hock.

The top of her foot, just before the toes is swollen.

The bottom of the foot appears normal.

There is no lameness observed on that leg (there has been some on the left rear leg due to the angry muscles/just did acupuncture for this Monday/the swelling was present prior the acupuncture treatment/I just wasn't sure I wasn't just making things up in my head)

Energy seems consistent with her normal level; just one thing I noticed she might not be as quick to come to greet hubby at the door as usually last couple days; otherwise ready to go on walks, ready to rumble ... overall I'd say there is possibly 5% decrease in energy but I couldn't bet my life on it

Appetite is also normal/very good.

I think I noticed this Sunday night but wasn't sure what I was seeing. Definitely saw this on Monday. Doesn't appear to have gotten worse, seems the same. The licking of the top of her foot had gone on for couple weeks but nothing we could find being a problem there so figured to wait for her next appointment with that. It is not severe licking, maybe 20 minutes a day total ...?)

Urination and thirst are normal, appetite is normal, there was temporary decline in stool quality for couple days, seems resolved and not unusual for her (not diarrhea, just not as well formed as it should and some traces of mucus, now also resolved)

No cough, had a lot of sneezing yesterday, none today and none to speak of before.

I can take pictures but have to wait for hubby to get the on the computer (complicated set up here); will be happy to send those once I have them available

medications:
ThyroTabs
Amitryptiline
Gabapentin (for about a month her vet wanted that for those muscles; not doing anything, though)

A lot of supplements, do you want the full list of those? Nothing new was added in the past week.

I swear I checked that leg up and down, looked at the foot, toes, between them, didn't see anything of note.

VetLive: My initial thoughts are that this is non-pitting edema based upon the information you provided but I do want to take a look at those pics as it may not be that severe.

I don't want to provide inaccurate information so I will wait until we delve further. I take it you have given her leg and foot a very close examination to look for scabs, what could have been puncture wounds, bug bites, scratches, etc. If you haven't look over the affected area as closely as possible.

I'll be back with more thoughts (and maybe more questions too) after I can look at those pics.

After several failed attempts with the camera I took a few photos with my phone at least.

 VetLive: I got the pics and it does look mildly edematous, nothing too severe so that is good.

Do you have an appointment scheduled soon? I'll wait until the clearer pics but if it does look edematous you will need to find the cause. I'll help you out with possibilities and where I would start first.

Also, is the swollen area the same temperature? I'm assuming it is or you would have noticed it but I don't want to miss something. Just checking!

I suspect the bottom of her foot is normal because of the pressure that pushes the fluid up when she walks. The top part of the foot doesn't really receive this effect so unless the edema is moderate or severe (and I would say her's is indeed mild) the underside of the affected limb is usually unaffected.

One other question--can you say if the licking of the foot occurred before or after the puffiness? It is okay if you don't know.

Unfortunately, I was still waiting for hubby to come home to see when we might be able to take Jasmine to see her vet.

Jana: Doesn't feel warmer than the rest. I think the licking started before the puffiness, I'm fairly sure but not 100% whether the top of the foot might have had some swelling to it when it started; if so then the rest of the leg would have gotten puffy some time later (that is what I can figure, of course I could have missed it then as we were focused on foreign bodies, infections, wounds etc ...)

Not sure whether the swelling could have gone unnoticed by me, I would think not but, of course, it is possible.

How much do you think I should be freaking out?

I was freaking out plenty.

Still waiting for hubby to see when we can see the vet and get the stupid (it's a great camera, really and I love it--but not today I did not) working.

VetLive: Not emergency situation so I don't want you to be freaking out. I probably will recommend having her seen tomorrow or Friday if it's possible. Edema can take a very long time to find the cause of. I really can't think of a reason she should be seen immediately or be in danger by not being seen. Hang in there! Hopefully I can be more confident in calling it edema or not after seeing the new pics.

It didn't look like an emergency situation to me either but I was worried about something circulatory, lymphatic or neoplastic.

The good thing was that it didn't seem to bother Jasmine, just me.

Jana: ... this would be a good place to say this is not what cancer would look like


VetLive:  It would be rare for it to have anything to do with neoplasia--very rare. There are some rare reports, but even then, they usually have a mass that you can see, feel, etc. With that said, it is still possible. Not trying to scare you, I just believe in full disclosure.

Circulatory, lymphatic, inflammation from an undetected scrape or bite is more likely. Most cases of edema resolve without us finding the cause--I don't know if that makes you feel better or worse. It's simply that most pet parents choose to "try the meds" first for financial reasons and then go through diagnostics if that doesn't work.

There were several other things we discussed.

It kind of didn't make sense to either of us that something systemic would affect a single leg. Also talked about possibility of tick-born disease, but Jasmine was tested not too long ago and everything was negative.

VetLive:  I am glad she didn't get lyme. One would think that systemic causes wouldn't cause isolated edema but the body doesn't always make sense to us.

Considering the whole picture, as in the whole realm of veterinary medicine, this is so mild right, it could even be possible that it would be very rare for most pet parents to detect it at this point. I would consider it possible that it the edema is showing up in this leg first, and I wouldn't rule out that other body parts would follow. When symptoms or diseases are caught early, we know less about how they will progress. I certainly don't mean to say that I think this is likely, I just think it is best to keep an open mind, especially in something as difficult to diagnose as edema. 

Meanwhile, hubby came home. First order of business was getting the camera to work and take some proper photos.

The swelling looked more prominent when Jasmine was standing, which was previously unobserved, as there is normally movement involved also.

One of the photos revealed a red dot on the side of one of the toes. 

Yet still couldn't see anything with bare eyes.

VetLive: Well, the pics do justify a vet visit. After exam, if your vet thinks an x-ray is warranted, I would do it--I would want to do it to rule out a bony infection that could be easily missed. Basic blood work may also be recommended and this is very reasonable.

I can't see the bump you are talking about but our wireless Internet in our house went out due to storms tonight (Florida) so I am using 3G on my iPhone.

A red bump from a bug bite, puncture wound, etc. would be the most likely cause of edema. This would be awesome and I am encouraged. I would still definitely have her check out though.

Hello!

Couldn't help but keep trying to find the source of the little red dot on one of the photos. And that's why we found it.

There is a bump on the inside of that toe; tucked away and very well hidden!

Is this thing behind the swelling? And what is it? A bite? Foreign body? How long has it really been there?

Now, when looking at it, I cannot understand how we didn't find it before!

Hubby can't make it to the vet until Friday afternoon. Can this wait till then?

VetLive: That could certainly be the cause. I would have it aspirated at the vet to find out what it is. I wouldn't skip that step. Based on the aspirate results, x-rays may/may not be warranted. Try and keep her from chewing it tonight.

If it does blow up, or more scary, loses sensation, changes in temperature, she can no longer walk on it, she really becomes painful...these are reasons not to wait until Friday.

So now we have a potential source but we still don't have a cause.

I'll be up all night watching whether the swelling or the bump get worse.

So far it seems the same.

We don't really have any venomous spiders up here. There are some rattlers here but we have never seen one; they are extremely rare ...

Thank you, VetLive, for always being there for me.

Did your dog ever had something like this?

Just when you think that you're observant enough, that's when you miss something ...

 Update: The Diagnosis Is In: Jasmine Has An Interdigital Cyst

Related articles:
The Diagnosis Is In: Jasmine Has An Interdigital Cyst
Jasmine's Acute Lameness
Jasmine Doesn't Like "Doing Time"
Our Of Jail Free Pass
When It's Looks Too Good To Be True … The Lameness Returns
The Day Of The Treatment
First Time For Everything: A Healing Crisis(?)  
From Zero To Sixty In Four Days: Stem Cells At Work
The Calm After The Storm 
If It Was Easy, It Wouldn't Be Jasmine
This Is What Jasmine's Episode Looks Like
Gotta Try Everything Once (Or Twice): On The Quest To Figure Out Jasmine's Episodes 

***
Meet Jasmine
I'm Still Standing! (Happy Birthday, Jasmine)
How Dogs Think (Well, Jasmine Anyway)
How The Oddysey Started: Jasmine's ACL Injury
Jasmine is Vet-Stem's poster child!
Rant About Quality Of Life Versus Quantity, And Differential Diagnoses
Jasmine Is Headed For Her Next Stem Cell Treatment
Jasmine's Stem Cells Are In
Arthritis? What Arthritis? 
Guess Who Is An Ever-Ready Bunny And Really Liking The Bit Of Snow We Got? 
Don't Knock It Until You Tried It: Animal Chiropractic 
Jasmine's Fur Analysis
Back At Chiropractic Care

Further reading:
Jasmine’s Story: Can Chronic Diarrhea and Soft Tissue Injuries be Normal?
Jasmine’s Story: An ACL Injury and a Cancer Scare
Jasmine’s Condition Deteriorates: Another ACL Injury and an Abdominal Abscess
Jasmine Recovers from Surgery and Jana Discovers TCVM
Who’s Minding Your Pet’s Health?
Pet Owner Perspective On Stem Cell Therapy
Difficult to Manage Lameness Treated with Physical Therapy
Our Journey to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine

Read More

Dog Cartoon Of The Week: I Am At That Age

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Dog Cartoon of the Week is brought to you by Andertoons. Check out the website for more great cartoons.


Cartoonist Mark Anderson lives in the Chicago area with his wife, their children, two cats, a dog and several dust bunnies. You might have seen his cartoons in a number of publications including Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Good Housekeeping, Forbes, Barrons, Woman's World, Harvard Business Review, Saturday Evening Post, American Legion Magazine, Funny Times.

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Don't Make This Mistake: Ruby's Death To Heat Stroke

by  Krista Magnifico, DVM

Our evening appointments were interrupted by a woman rushing into the clinic carrying in a white collie mix who was flat out. She was hysterical and her three young half-clothed boys followed like ducklings in tow.

When she erupted into the front doors her shrieking turned into a full exam room of screaming. The receptionists were frantically yelling, the waiting clients were awestruck, and then joined the bellowing, and even though I was only half-way through my examination with a client I too joined in on the hysteria. I literally dropped my papers, ditched the exam, and high tailed it (despite the receptionists screams to "RUN!") behind the congo line parade of delirium. It was pandemonium, and all the neighbors knew.

A very young, intact, long white haired Shepherd mix was placed on the surgery table. 

He was lifeless, but still breathing. He seemed to be entering a comatose state and I knew the minute that I saw his bright red-purple gums and the slightly watered down blood pouring from his rectum that he was a heat stroke victim. As I started to take his temperature the first number that flashed onto the digital read-out was 106. Within 2 seconds it beeped at its max read out of 108 degrees.

I told the 3 techs scrambling for equipment that he was a hyperthermia and that he was likely going to die.

Terrible, cold, short, words to hear. But I knew that surviving 108 plus degrees internal body temp was physiologically impossible.

We immediately transferred him to the dental table so we could start hosing him off with water. 

I reminded the staff to use "cool" vs "cold" water because ice-cold water on an already way over heated animal causes the vasculature on the skin's surface to vaso-constrict and stop blood flow, therefore arresting the cooling process.

I then knew that I had to very quickly go out to talk to the family.

Three boys under age 10 flocked to me like I was some sort of relief aid worker. They were all in summer shorts, no shoes, and no shirts. It appeared that their dogs discovery had occurred mid- afternoon summer play time. Their mom, also in summer pool attire, was crying uncontrollably.

I asked the receptionist to sit in the exam room with the boys while I took mom across the hall to discuss Rudy's condition.

"How did this happen?" she asked.

As much as I didn't have a spare second to try to console her in her grief-ridden confusion I tried to explain hurriedly that Rudy was very hot, and that I needed to know if she wanted me to start emergency treatment measures on him.  although his internal core temperature was above what I could record and that I feared he was too hot to be saved.

She replied "Yes," in a momentary lapse of tears gurgling and incomprehensible babble.

She asked me, "What happened?" and I wanted to pick her up and shake her. 

It was my honest first response. How could she not know what happened? How did she expect me to know?

I replied back to her, "Ruby has gotten too hot. His internal body temperature does not even register. He is above 108 degrees and I am afraid he is going to die." I had no time for platitudes, as there were 3 techs in the back treatment area and her dying dog who needed me immediately.

She started to mutter something to the effect of "we only left him tied out for two hours..."

It was a 100 plus degrees outside and I was going to say things I would regret and Ruby was going to die if I didn't leave. I ran to the back and we started to try to reverse the series of life-ending steps that his body had already started.

One tech was still hosing him down. To the touch he was almost completely soaked now. The other two techs were trying to place peripheral i.v. catheters in his front leg.

I barked out orders as fast as I could.

Ruby needed an i.v. catheter in each front leg and fluids as fast as we could deliver them.

My staff is incredibly competent and every technician in the building can place an i.v. catheter within seconds. Multiple attempts at light speed and they still didn't have one catheter in. They stopped their attempts and moved over so I could jump in.

He had no blood pressure, no palpable veins, and hence they had had no success in placing the catheter.

Because he was so hot his blood had already started to condense. They were expecting to see a "flashback" of blood when the catheter entered the vein, but he was too hot for the blood to "flash."  He was a patient with blood vessels like they hadn't seen before and their idea of normal was prohibiting them from believing that their catheters were in the vein. As I advanced the catheter there was only a teeny tiny drop of blood to flash. They were expecting his vein to be the normal tube like liquid-blood filled structure that healthy pets have. But he was no longer a normal healthy pet. I quickly taped the first i.v. in and moved to the other leg.

The other leg was so difficult that I had to do what we call a "cut-down." 

The vein was so small, so obscure, and so damaged that I had to cut through the skin to dissect the vein out so I could then try to place the i.v. catheter. It is a procedure we only do when everything else has failed and we are up against a wall. I placed the second i.v. and we started to push fluids as fast as we could.

"The fluids won't run," they reported to me as quickly as they started to squeeze the i.v. bags.

The veins were blowing because the "tube" of the vein had been heated up to a point where the tube broke down. Not only were the walls of the tubes breaking down, but the liquid-blood inside of them was now a jello-like consistency. He had essentially evaporated off the liquid and congealed his own blood. Both legs i.v. catheters were blown as quickly as we had started to push the i.v. fluids.

Within minutes of cool water cooling his temperature registered at 106.5. It was better than >108, but he was failing, and all of our attempts to save him were too.

He then started to seize. I tried to give an emergency valium dose to stop the seizure but seconds after the seizure started his heart started to beat irregularly.

At this point I looked at my staff. They were begging me to save him, and gazing at me as if I had some magical powers to stop and reverse time.

I said to them again "I am sorry, I think he is going to die."

I looked at Ruby and I said, "I am sorry."

His heart changed from too slow, during his seizure, to wildly erratically irregularly fast. He was in atrial fibrillation now. I grabbed for more drugs. His eyes opened, his head flew back, the pupils went fixed and dilated, and his mouth gaped open as if to release a harboring demon.

The techs begged me to put him down. 

One grabbed for the euthanasia solution as I wrapped my hand around the area of his chest where I could feel his dying bewildered heart take its last few beats.

As he took his last breath I pierced his heart with the pink fluid to relieve his struggle.

He died before the fluid could assist him.

It had been less than 20 minutes and we had all witnessed what we all collectively agreed was the most excruciatingly horrible death.

I returned to the family to notify them of Ruby's passing. 

The boys, who had not seemed upset before, now screamed in a charged guttural grief stricken cry. Their mom held them and tried to comfort them. I could tell that she wasn't going to let herself cry while she stayed strong for her children.

The rest of the family arrived a little while later. I spoke to all of the adults together.

They didn't understand that 2 hours was likely an hour and 50 minutes longer than any dog could tolerate in 100 plus degree very high humidity heat. 

They told me that they never tie him up, but because the kids were out playing, and because Ruby was trying to corral them up, they had tied him to a bush. He had been jumping and barking and when they found him he was collapsed under the bush.

I tried to explain that dogs are about 2 degrees warmer than humans are, they wear a fur coat all year around, and that they have a very limited ability to sweat.

Ruby's death was a terrible tragic accident and my only hope is that his story will save other pets out there somewhere.

Please never leave your pets outside in hot weather. NEVER EVER leave them in a car. And if they start to pant its time to get them wet and cool them off.

Any pet over 103 degrees needs to go to a vet immediately!

My thoughts and prayers are with Rudy's family.

***
Krista Magnifico, DVM owns a small animal hospital in northern Maryland, where she practices everyday. She wants to make quality veterinary care available to everyone, everywhere at any time; trying to save the world 1 wet nose @ a time.  Her blog is a diary of he day-to-day life & the animals and people she meets.

To contact her, you may leave a comment on her blog, email her or catch her on Twitter or Facebook.

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Adoption Monday: Maggie SCAS, Rottweiler, Rockaway, NJ

Maggie is a purebred Rottweiler, and around 3-4 years old.

Maggie was found as a stray and taken to the high kill AC to be euthanized.  

A rescue was called first since she was such a sweet dog, and they hated to put her down.  

The rescue took in Maggie and now she will be heading to Eleventh Hour to find her forever home.

Maggie is nothing but a big teddy bear who loves everybody.  

She loves all dogs, big and small, and will make somebody a wonderful family pet. Maggie has been spayed and fully vetted, and appears to be housebroken.

Maggie is ready for her new home and family, so please fill out an application on her today...she is so sweet she will not last long on adoption day.

***
Eleventh Hour Rescue is a volunteer based, non profit, 501c3 organization that saves dogs from death row.   

Approximately 7 million pets will die this year in shelters across the US. Some die humanely with lethal injection, some will be thrown into a gas chamber and die a slow, frightening death, some will be shot, or beaten. They will die with a feeling of abandonment, lonesomeness, and fear. Yet, these dogs are real, they are living... breathing... beings that crave love, companionship, and trust, while offering the same in return. They feel pain, hunger and sadness and we do what we do because we want to make a difference. If we can bring comfort to just one, we will. If we can save just one life, we will. The stories we read and each dog's story is heart-wrenching, the numbers of those we can't help are overwhelming, and everyday we are haunted by the faces of those we can't save. 

We cannot stop.

We will not stop, until all of the cages are empty.

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Don't Forget Fire Safety

It was not that long ago when one of our neighbors had a house fire in the middle of the night. Somebody came home from a party and got the bright idea of making "stove top" french fries. Filled a pot with oil, turned on the burner and fell asleep...

There was smoke everywhere (the kitchen burned down completely and there was enough heat to actually "melt" the stove). The family was in front of the house in their pyjamas, running around frantically.

Their dog was still in the house!

Fortunately, this story had a happy ending. After the fire was put out and the firemen could get it looking for the dog, they found him hiding in the upstairs bedroom and he survived.

40,000 pets die each year in household fires, and pets start 1,000 fires every year – know how to prevent them and be prepared in the event of a fire.

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Symptoms To Watch For In Your Dog: What Can Your Dog's Gums And Tongue Tell You?

In Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, the tongue provides a wealth of information about a dog's health status. This is called a tongue diagnosis and it is quite fascinating. I am not going to get into that today, though.

Today I want to talk about some vital, basic information you can gain from observing your dog's gums and tongue.

Particularly during hot summer months I like to pay close attention to the color of my dogs' mucous membranes.

Make no mistake, heat stroke is a deadly summer danger.

As soon as my dogs' tongue and gums start getting deeper pink in color, it is a signal to me that it is time to take a break and cool down. I am very paranoid about this and watch closely to register even subtle changes.

As the dog's body gets hotter, the pink gets progressively darker.

Eventually it may turn brick red or even purple or blue (as oxygen saturation declines), but these are signs of an emergency and you don't want to let things get that far.

Another sign that your dog is getting too hot is increased panting. I noticed that even with seemingly typical panting (as in play), when my guys are getting warmer, they hold their tongues out further and wider than usually. That again is a sign to me that it's time to take a break and cool down.

At early stages these changes can be fairly subtle but I like to take precautions sooner rather than later. During a walk on a hot day—we do go out either in the morning or evening but even then the temperatures can be pretty high—I will stare at Jasmine's tongue and gums constantly, often tripping and stumbling over things, that's how important this is to me.

I always carry plenty of water, not only for drinking, but enough to be able to wet my guys down if necessary.

Tongues that are even a couple of shades darker than normal are enough for me to take action.

Only once, a couple of years back, Jasmine's tongue and gums started turning red on the drive home, and it almost threw me into a panic. Fortunately, getting her to drink a bunch of water and wetting her body was enough to cool her down and nothing bad came from it.

Jasmine did once suffer severe effects from hyperthermia—it was a drug-induced hyperthermia—and the outcome was quite devastating.

Don't ever underestimate the damage heat stroke can cause to your dog's body.

Pay attention and don't wait for further symptoms to develop.

There are other serious conditions that can cause your dog's mucous membranes change from their normal appearance.

It is always important to consider circumstances and accompanying symptoms.

Mucous membranes that are bright red, pale, white, yellow, orange, blue or purple indicate a serious medical problem.

Besides heat stroke, bright red color might indicate fever, severe infection, poisoning, smoke inhalation, or abnormal levels of red blood cells, which can be caused by dehydration, chronically low blood oxygen levels or bone marrow disease.

Blue or purple membranes indicate a lack of oxygen, which can be caused by heart failure, poisonings, or respiratory problems.

Yellow or orange membranes (i.e., jaundice) are typically associated with liver disease/jaundice or red blood cell disorders.

Pale, gray or white membranes can be sign of anemia, shock, blood loss or, severe dehydration, and more.

Gums with red splotches may indicate blood clotting problem.

All of these changes indicate serious medical conditions which require immediate veterinary attention.

Other things you can check by examining your dog's gums are capillary refill time and level of dehydration/hydration status.

Dry, sticky gums are a sign of dehydration. This is particularly important when your dog is suffering from vomiting or diarrhea or has stopped eating or drinking.

Slow capillary refill time is another sign of a critical illness. To check this, press a finger firmly on the dog’s gums for about three seconds. The area you pressed on will be paler than the surrounding tissue. The color should return to normal in about one and a half seconds. If it takes longer than that,it could be a sign of low blood pressure  or poor circulation (e.g., from heart disease or dehydration), another indication that your dog is really sick.

It is important that you know what is the normal color of your dog's tongue and gums is and pay attention to any changes.

While looking at your dog’s oral mucous membranes you might see red and swollen gums from bacterial infection, such as gingivitis. White spots can mean oral thrush – a fungal infection. Any new lumps, bumps, growths or local discolorations, particularly darkly pigmented areas, of the mouth, tongue and gums should also be examined by your veterinarian.

When was the last time you took a good look at your dog's mouth?

Related articles:
Symptoms: Recognition, Acknowledgement And Denial
Symptoms To Watch For In Your Dog: Excessive Panting
Symptoms To Watch For In Your Dog: Excessive Drinking
Symptoms To Watch For In Your Dog: Bad Odor 
Excessive Drooling 

Signs, Symptoms And Treatment Of Heat Stroke In Dogs
Know Your Dog's Enemies: Heat Stroke Is No Light Matter! 
Heat Stroke: What Happens In The Dog's Body? 

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde: Razzle's Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA)
Battling IMHA With Integrative Veterinary Medicine (part 1)
Battling IMHA With Integrative Veterinary Medicine (part 2)
IMHA Is Not To Be Taken Lightly: Know The Symptoms
I Am An IMHA Survivor! Dylan's Story
Liver Tumor? IMHA? Daphne's Story (Part I) 
IMHA Complications: Daphne Didn't Make It

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Veterinary Highlights: A New Life-Saving Procedure To Treat Death Cap Mushroom Poisoning

I come from a country where mushrooming was very popular. Some enthusiasts were able to go mushrooming through the entire year but most people would pick mushrooms in the fall. There is nothing like a meal from fresh wild mushrooms.

Additionally, some mushrooms seem have great health benefits.

Death cap mushroom. Image Australian National Botanic Gardens

There is one problem—not all mushrooms are fit to be eaten.

The saying they have back in my country is that all mushrooms are edible, but some of them only once.

Emergency rooms have seen their share of mushroom poisoning cases.

The good news is that most non-edible mushrooms are poisonous enough to make one sick but only very few are actually deadly. Those which are deadly, though, are very good at it.

If people, and even people who consider themselves experts, can get it wrong, can expect our dogs to do much better at that?

I've read a number of articles cautioning that just for that reason it is best not to give dogs any mushrooms at all, period.

But dogs don't always wait for what you give them, they can be pretty good at fending for themselves. Our son's dog, for example, had a major fascination with mushrooms when he was a pup; not a good plan.

Kasey, a two-year-old miniature Australian shepherd, thought that helping himself to some yummy mushrooms was a good idea too.

Unfortunately, Kasey helped himself to death cap mushrooms.

Kasey, however, was lucky after all. Veterinarians at PETS Referral Center in Berkeley teamed up with  Dr. Todd Mitchell who is running a trial of an antidote for mushroom poisoning in humans.

He suggested draining the toxic bile from the dog's gallbladder.

The toxins are drawn from the gallbladder by a long needle and syringe. This procedure could become a new standard treatment in a race against time to save dogs who ate poisonous mushrooms.

Why would the treatment work?

After ingestion, the toxin is absorbed by liver cells. The cells affected by the toxin die. All this is then excreted into the biliary system. Once the toxic bile enters the gastrointestinal tract the toxin can be reabsorbed into the bloodstream and cause further damage to the liver. The bile draining limits the amount of toxin available to be reabsorbed to cause further damage.

The toxicity is dose dependent. While when enough of the toxin is digested it can kill quickly the first time around, it is often the combination of the initial and secondary insult to the liver that causes irreversible damage.

Source: just answer: bigislandvet

Source article Inside Bay Area: The Oakley Oakland Tribune: Berkeley: Dog poisoned by death cap mushrooms saved by new procedure

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Lyme Disease: Treating Lab Results Versus Treating The Dog

by Dr. Lorie Huston, DVM

In certain parts of the United States, this is a scenario that happens relatively often. Your dog has a routine test performed for Lyme disease which comes back positive. But your dog is not ill and is showing absolutely no sign of disease.

In my part of the country, roughly 50% of the dogs that are tested come back with a positive test result for Lyme disease. Now, the question becomes: What should you do?

Should you treat your dog with antibiotics even though he is not sick?

In all honesty, this is a complicated question and not all veterinarians and other experts agree on which answer is right. One of the things that complicates matters is the fact that approximately 95% of these dogs that test positive will never get sick with Lyme disease. However, we have no way to identify which dogs make up that 5% that may become symptomatic.

The Argument For Treating All Lyme Disease Positive Dogs with Antibiotics

Some veterinarians recommend treating all dogs that test positive for Lyme disease with antibiotics, usually doxycycline. These veterinarians argue that doxycycline is a safe antibiotic associated with minimal risk of side effects. In their minds, the risk of the dog developing Lyme disease is higher than the risk of treating with the antibiotic.

The Argument Against Treating All Lyme Disease Positive Dogs with Antibiotics

There are other veterinarians that advise against treating an apparently healthy Lyme positive dog with antibiotics. There are many different reasons for this recommendation:

• Approximately 95% of these dogs will never get sick from Lyme disease anyway.
• We have no definitive proof that administering antibiotics actually decreases the dog’s chance of developing disease. In many cases, the antibiotics do not completely clear the Lyme disease organism from a dog’s body.
• Though the risks associated with administering doxycycline are minimal, they are not non-existent.
• There is also the risk of antibiotic resistance developing due to the misuse of antibiotics. This poses a risk to the entire population.

What Should You Do for Your Lyme Positive Dog?

I’ll offer my opinion. Your veterinarian may agree or disagree. I won’t criticize your veterinarian if she feels differently than I do but this is what makes sense to me.

I don’t typically recommend treating otherwise healthy dogs that test positive for Lyme disease. I can’t justify in my own mind using an antibiotic to treat what amounts to little more than a blue dot on a test strip. However, I do recommend monitoring your Lyme positive dog closely for signs of Lyme disease.

Part of the monitoring should be periodic blood screens to monitor kidney function. I also advise testing of urine, particularly looking for evidence of protein in the urine. Also known as proteinuria, protein in the urine may be the first sign of kidney disease in Lyme positive dogs.

If your dog begins to show signs of kidney disease, as evidenced by changes in blood or urine tests, or if other symptoms of Lyme disease (lameness, fever, etc.) occur, then I would advise treatment with doxycycline.

Though we don’t completely understand why kidney disease occurs in some dogs with Lyme disease, this is generally a serious presentation of Lyme disease for a dog and is more difficult to treat than lameness and some of the other symptoms that may occur as a result of Lyme disease.

***

Lorie Huston, DVM is an experienced veterinarian with over 20 years in practice caring for dogs and cats. 

She is an expert in pet health and pet care as well as being a talented free-lance author and blogger. 

In addition to numerous articles and posts both online and off, you can also find Lorie at her blog Pet Health Care Gazette. She is a co-host at the popular Animal Cafe and also works as a blogging/social media consultant and an SEO strategist. 

Her social media blog is Social Savvy Pets.




Articles by Dr. Huston:
Lyme Is Lame (Pun Intended)
The Ticking Bomb
Don't Let Heartworm Become A Heartbreak!
Summer Perils: Blue-green Algae
Your Dog And Leptospirosis
Canine Parvovirus
Canine Distemper Virus
Why Is My Dog So Itchy? Top 5 Causes Of Itching In Dogs 
Vaccination Concerns and Potential Side Effects 
Natural Flea Control for Dogs 
Vomiting in Dogs: Is He Actually Vomiting?
Causes of Vomiting in Dogs
Is Your Dog Showing Signs Of Kidney Disease? How Is It Diagnosed?
Chronic Versus Acute Pain In Dogs: What Is The Difference? 

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