Pet Wounds: Preventing Abscesses

Wounds heal much faster if they are immediately opened and flushed thoroughly to remove bacteria. This is true for any pet wound. Use an antiseptic flush or soap that kills bacteria, such as 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. If no antiseptics are handy, use warm water mixed with table salt or Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate). One-half teaspoon salt in 8 ounces of water is a fairly dilute solution and will not sting when used to flush wounds. Doubling the salt strengthens the solution so that it kills bacteria more rapidly as it flushes them away. This stronger solution may sting some pets. If you’ve mixed more solution than necessary, store the remainder in the refrigerator. The weak solution may grow bacteria if left unrefrigerated or if kept for more than a few days. The strong salt solution is less likely to grow bacteria.

Allow the wound to dry.

If the wound involves an area of the skin that gets dirty, such as the feet, bandage carefully after the skin and fur are dry. If the area will stay clean, leave it open and unbandaged.

To speed healing, encourage the wound to heal from the bottom up by keeping the skin edges open. Flushing wounds twice a day helps keep skin edges open so that wounds heal properly. Flushing also removes bacteria, dead white blood cells, and pus so that your pet’s body has less clean up to do before it heals.

Wounds heal faster when exposed to sunlight, so encourage your pet to rest in the sun.

If the skin closes over and the wound is not healed, an abscess is likely to develop as bacteria within the wound grow. The bacteria most likely to grow are facultative anaerobes—those that function well whether there is oxygen or not. Pseudomonas, E. coli, and many bacteria found in pet feces are facultative anaerobes and thrive in low-oxygen environments deep in wounds. If these bacteria create an abscess, your veterinarian will recommend some of the following treatments:

• herbal flushes,
• herbal or salt compresses,
• oral herbs such as echinacea and astragalus, or
• antibiotics, and
• homeopathics.

Pet Health: Wounds in Cats & Dogs

Cat wounds do not heal as easily as dog wounds. Maybe cats need nine lives because their wounds become abscessed so easily. In addition to being predisposed to developing abscesses, cat wounds are slower to heal than dog wounds.

There are two ways to describe healing wounds:

• wounds that are stitched up--these undergo what’s called “first intention” healing, and
• wounds that are left to heal on their own--these undergo “second-intention” healing.

Stitched wounds always heal faster than unstitched wounds because the cells do not have to multiply and fill in a large gap. However, with both stitched and unstitched wounds, cats heal more slowly than dogs.

One of the factors that causes cat wounds to heal more slowly is that wound cells contract and pull together differently in dogs and cats. With dogs, the skin cells at the center of the wound began contracting, but with cats, the skin cells at the edge of the wound begin contracting.

In addition to having wounds that are naturally slow to heal, cats often have infected wounds, especially if they are cat-bite wounds. Tiny sharp cat teeth penetrate deeply and deposit bacteria deep within a wound. With a puncture wound, the sides of the wound collapse so that bacteria have an ideal environment—dark and moist—in which to grow. As bacteria multiply under the skin, a fast-acting form of white blood cell (WBC), the neutrophil, rushes to eliminate them. Neutrophils release destructive enzymes that engulf and destroy bacteria. The enzymes also destroy many of the cat’s own healthy cells. This process creates an abscess.

Tomorrow, we’ll cover wound treatment to prevent abscess development.

For Pets Here on Earth

Doctors in France are doing surgery aboard a airplane in weightless environment, and on Earth legislatures in the U.S. are preparing to change laws so citizens can buy drugs they need from Canada. Good heavens. Would this be happening if dogs ruled the world? Cats?

Pet Poison: Xylitol

Xylitol is a sweetener used in a wide range of sugar-free products such as sugar-free gum and candy, power drinks, and diabetic products. Although Xylitol is safe for humans, it is not safe for pets and, according to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, has poisoned several hundred dogs.

Signs of Xylitol poisoning in dogs include weakness, loss of consciousness, and seizures. The dog’s blood sugar drops, and the liver stops functioning. Usually signs of poisoning occur within 30 minutes, but some dogs do not develop symptoms for several hours.

If you think your pet has eaten a product with Xylitol, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435.

Pet Food: Azmira

There was a question recently about why I think so highly of Azmira. All veterinarians believe that providing good basic nutrition does more to improve pets’ health than any action pet guardians make. There are hundreds of pet foods, but many can be eliminated as good for pets’ health based on:

1. ingredients,
2. history of problems, and
3. company ethics.

1. Here is a list of harmful or unhealthy ingredients that some companies put in pet foods because they are cheap:

• chemicals (BHT, BHA, ethoxyquin),
• hormone-fed beef, lamb, or poultry,
• farmed fish,
• fillers,
• animal fat,
• dyes,
• sugars,
• citric acid, and
• gimmicky ingredients.

2. Company problems that eliminate them as reputable sources of pet food include marketing foods with:

• corn that is not tested for aflatoxin
• excessive amounts of Vitamin D
• mold that forms in storage
• packaging that does not preserve nutrients, especially the antioxidants.

The first 3 problems have been in the national news recently for killing pets. Unfortunately, more often than aflatoxin, vitamin imbalance and mold kill pets outright, they just make pets sick and the food is not suspected as the cause of poor health.

3. Company ethics that eliminate them as a reputable sources of pet food include using:

• a list of ingredients that is manipulated to place meat higher on the list than it would normally fall. Companies using this tactic buy an ingredient in many forms then list each form separately. Thus, rice becomes white rice, rice middlings, brown rice, rice bran …. When each ingredient is weighed separately, it will weigh less than meat and will be listed below meat on the ingredients list. This places meat first but pets are not actually receiving much meat.
• advertising that suggests a useful concentration of an ingredient, such as glucosamine, when the ingredient is in a token amount.

Azmira is a company with stellar ingredients, great ethics, and no history of problems. In addition, their foods are formulated by a naturopathic physician with a PhD in nutrition. Azmira foods have been selected every year for the past 5 years by Whole Dog Journal as among the best. (The Journal has only tested foods for 5 years.) Azmira is also a company that is pleasure to do business with.

An equally important reason for recommending Azmira, is that in food test trials pets chose to eat Azmira foods before the choose to eat other foods. You can’t get better than that.

Turtles and Salmonella

Turtles are one of the most fascinating reptile pets, but keeping them happy and healthy can be a challenge. Turtles breathe air, lay eggs, and are exothermic, which means they need an outside source of heat. They are best raised in a herpatorium that provides water for swimming and land with warm rocks for sunbathing.

Many of the turtle’s health problems are caused by how they are raised, housed, and feds. If you’re interested in turtles and would like to learn from a turtle enthusiast who is soon to graduate from pharmacy school, contact Tony Lagoa at Lagoa99@gmail.com. Tony has developed expertise in turtle environment and husbandry concerns:

• feeding,
• medicating,
• filtering water,
• cleaning the habitat,
• providing UV light and
• setting up heat lamps.

Tony’s deep love of animals and concern for his own pet’s heath problems pushed him to learn all he could about turtles. He even knows a sure fire way to tell if your turtle is male or female. Contact Tony at Lagoa99@gmail.com for your turtle questions. You might ask him how to bathe sick turtles in Pedialyte, how to administer Vitamin A drops, and how to create a healthy habitat.

Because turtles carry salmonella bacteria that causes human illness, be sure to wash your hands with antbacterial soap after handling them. Salmonella also causes infections in dogs and cats, so keep your pets away from the herpatorium. If you feel your dog or cat has a salmonella infection contact your veterinarian. For skin infections your veterinarian may recommend that you wash the wound twice a day with Chlorhexiderm. If your dog or cat has diarrhea due to salmonella, use proviotics to immediately populate the intestines with healthy bacteria. Your veterinarian may also recommend antibiotics.

Dog Farts

Some dogs can flat knock a person over with their flatulence. If this is a problem for your pet, supplement with enzymes to break down gas bubbles. Enzymes also break down the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into smaller molecules. The smaller molecules move more easily into the intestinal cells and through them to the blood, then on to the liver and throughout the body. With enzymes, pets absorb and use more of the nutrients we’re paying for in their food and less offensive gas is passed. This is a blessing on all fronts.

At one time, enzymes were present in high concentrations in food, but with monocrop farming, that is no longer the case. In addition to having fewer enzymes in food, most enzymes are destroyed when food is stored for a long time or is processed into kibble. These days, it’s necessary to add enzymes to our pet’s food.

Although most cats are too gentile to admit to passing gas, enzymes are good for them too.

If your pet has a gas problem that is so overwhelming you’re rolling down windows, rather than use NaturVet Enzymes, use Super E 12 Enzymes from Cell Tech. Your veterinarian may have additional ideas for your pet, and may suggest switching your pet’s food to Azmira because it has no chemicals, dyes, hormones, fillers or additives that irritate intestines and increase gas formation.

Poisoned pigeons fell from the sky in Texarkana

Poisoned pigeons fell from the sky in Texarkana TX during the Quadrangle Festival. According to the Texarkana Gazette, Anti-Pest Company of Shreveport, La placed poisoned corn on the roof of the Texarkana CapitalOne Bank so that pigeons wouldn’t harass bank customers. Anti-Pest Co claimed they were only trying to make the pigeons sick. Who are they kidding?

Poisoning birds causes poisoning to all creatures in the environment. Birds eat poisoned seed, slow down, stay longer on the ground, and become prey for dogs and cats. Cats eat the birds and get sick. Dogs eat the birds. Dogs get sick. Rats eat the birds….. We cannot kid ourselves that poisons rid us of pests. Poisons put toxic chemicals into the environment and create a domino of death. When poisoning was tried in Beijing China to control insects, insects died, birds died, trees died. The city became a dustbowl from which it has yet to recover. Because the Chinese engaged in poisoning with such enthusiasm, they had widespread damage.

When CapitalOne Bank of Texarkana and Anti-Pest Co. Inc. of Shreveport, La engage in poisoning, they should realize the results are the same as those that occurred Beijing, just on a smaller scale because they were spreading poison on a rooftop, not throughout the city. If they had been poisoning all of Texarkana’s pigeons, imagine what Bank President Lacy McMillen could have used as a sound bite: “We kill to keep your cash comfortable!” Certainly a statement like that would be more believable than what she said as dead pigeons rained down on the Festival: "It was not the intention of the bank to harm any of these birds." The former governor of Texas, Ann Richards, would not have approved of McMillen’s style one bit.

Purity

Because we are concerned that drinking water is not pure enough, Americans spend millions of dollars on bottled water. We know that water drawn from a local lake that is not pristine is not ideal to drink no matter how many times it’s run through a treatment plant.

Fish oils are the same. No matter how well they are distilled, the significant factors in purity are

• what fish is in the oil and
• where the fish come from.

What fish is in the oil
Sardines and anchovies are ideal for providing pure fish oils because they are low on the food chain. Every time a fish eats another fish, it concentrates within its body the heavy metals and pesticides from the fish it consumed. Because salmon are high up on the food chain, they contain more contaminants than sardines and anchovies.

Where the fish came from
Waters the fish live in are another significant factor in purity. Farmed fish do not live in pristine waters; they live in crowded ponds and are fed antibiotics and grain-based fish pellets. Studies show that farmed fish, including farmed salmon, contain high levels of contaminants. On the other hand, wild-caught fish from cold waters away from population centers are exposed to fewer environmental contaminants. They also contain higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids because they eat algae or other fish rather than grain-based pellets. Fish from clean northern waters are the best.

For every pet

For every pet, the most significant improvement in health is made by providing:
1. premium food
2. an Omega 3 supplement,

3. enzymes, such as Super E 12 Enzyme product from Cell Tech.

Homeopathy for Pets: Benefit With Chronic Disease

A Swiss and German study of almost 4,000 patients, including adults and children, showed that homeopathic medications significantly improved symptoms caused by chronic illness. Most subjects in the study had been ill for more than 8 years. Patients making the greatest improvement were those with the most severe disease and those who had been ill the longest.

A variety of medical problems \ were treated including allergies, migraine, and skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis. The study was conducted for two years, and at the end of the study the majority of subjects reported that, their diseases decreased from 6.2 to 2.2 on a scale of 1-10. Physicians, who also rated disease progression, calculated similar improvements in subjects.

Animals benefit from homeopathy just as humans do, but it can be difficult to find effective products. Homeopathic medications are unlike antibiotics and other medications we're used to. Homeopathics are affected by the energy of the company producing them. Thus, some companies that once made good products no longer do so. Your veterinarian will help you find effective homeopathics.

Among the benefits of using homeopathic medications—in addition to their clinical success—is that they do not interfere with any other medication your pet is taking. They do not interfere with anesthetics or surgery. They do not have the serious side effects characteristic of many medications, yet their benefits are very powerful.

Dog Food Companies and Veterinarians

The University of Florida appointed a dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine who has spent the last few years working for a dog food company. Dr. Glen Hoffsis will become dean of the Veterinary College in Gainesville in October, 2006. As dean, Dr Hoffsis takes charge of the education of Florida veterinary students. One aspect of veterinary education is nutrition. The recent controversies regarding home cooked diets, raw foods, and commercial foods should be covered in nutrition lectures. Will Dr. Hoffsis promote clear thinking and careful evaluation of the benefits of these different diets, or will he be biased in favor of commercial pet food? What do current veterinary school practices suggest will happen?

The relationship between pet food companies and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), which represents veterinarians and veterinary colleges, is such that

1. The standard book used to teach nutrition to veterinarians was written by a pet food company.
2. Research in nutrition is paid for by pet food companies.
3. Veterinary students receive free dog food while in school.

These points illustrate what a strong role dog food companies play in veterinary education. In addition, lectures on growth and development are often given to vet students by pet food companies. In fact, Dr. Hoffsis’ job at Iams was arranging educational activities for veterinary colleges. Given the current relationship between pet food companies and veterinary colleges, what would show the tax payers funding higher education whether the dean of a college had a balanced approach toward nutrition?

If Dr Hoffsis is biased toward the use of commercial pet food, he will say that pets fed “table food” are prone to illness, and that pets fed raw food are candidates for bacterial infection, such as salmonella. He may also say that pet guardians who handle raw food will also develop salmonella. He may say that everything pets need to be healthy is contained in cooked kibble.

On the other hand, if Dr Hoffsis is unbiased, he will say that nothing is guaranteed free of illness-causing bacteria, including commercial pet foods. He will cite the AVMA journal article that found bacteria in commercial kibble, commercial canned food, and in raw food. He will say the study on cats fed homemade vegetarian diets found cats did ok and did not have vitamin deficiencies, much to everyone’s surprise.

If unbiased, Dr Hoffsis will say, lots of foods are healthy for pets just as they are for us, and that the healthiest foods are those that can be recognized by color, taste, and smell. If it is not possible to look at a food and know what it is, the food has been processed to the degree that its essential nutrients are missing.

Can you recognize any meat in commercial pet kibble? Any fish? Eggs? Oil? Rice or carrots? Can you count any blueberries? If there is yogurt in the pet food, is it still white, creamy, and tart? If not—if you cannot look at the food and tell exactly what it is—the ingredients have been heated, baked, and stored in a manner that robbed it of precious nutrients. To provide for the loss of nutrients, artificial vitamins and chemical ingredients are added. Some commercial foods are dolled up with dyes and perfumed with beef tallow to give them the appeal that raw foods have. After this, many commercial pet food companies add preserve the kibble so it can sit safely on a shelf for a year or two without molding.

This is not to say that all kibble is bad. Some kibble is good. Azmira makes good kibble. Azmira uses range-fed beef and lamb raised without hormones and growth promoting medications. Most pet food companies cannot make this claim. Azmira uses whole grains, not grain waste products such as corn gluten meal or rice flour. Learn all you can so that your veterinarian, who may have been educated by commercial pet food companies, does not intimidate you into buying products not in your pet’s best interest.

Pet Food: Taste or Health

Central Garden and Pet Co asked their customers what criteria they used when choosing food for their children. The answer was taste. When customers were asked what criteria they used when choosing food for their pets, the answer was health.

A pet can have both taste and health--feed Azmira

Veterinarians

Veterinarians are among the most humanitarian of any profession. For example, they save pets that owners have given up on. Here’s an example of a cat that a veterinarian recently adopted: the cat could not eat and had a feeding tube sewn through its skin into its stomach, no nose, no teeth, ear infection and kidney failure. It’s holding its own with this veterinarian’s care. Here’s another example of a veterinarian adopting a “throw-away” pet—a colleague adopted a vomiting, blind, dehydrated, diabetic cat.

When your pet needs medical attention, realize it is probably receiving care from a member of a truly wonderful profession. If, however, you don’t feel your veterinarian is wonderful, find another. Use the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA) website to find vets who practice both conventional and alternative medicine. The website is www.ahvma.org. AHVMA veterinarians are devoted to both the physical and emotional health of your pet.

Pet Behavior: Ultimate Puppy Toolkit Pocket Pal

The Ultimate Puppy Toolkit is one of the handiest behavior tool on the market.

Inside the Toolkit are 6 booklets, one large wall chart, and a pocket notebook. Yesterday, we described the booklets and chart; today, the Pocket Pal.

Pocket Pal is a 3-by-5 inch spiral-bound notebook that slips into a pocket to provide emergency help when you’re at the park or walking your pet. Although the Pocket Pal is tiny, it is full of illustrations and pictures that will make your training successful.

Dividers in the Pocket Pal are brightly colored to correspond with the covers used on the 6 large, colored booklets. If you’ve studied the large booklets, you’ll immediately know where the same topics will be addressed in the little Pocket Pal.

The writing is simple and direct. The advice is excellent. The information applies to puppies and adult dogs. Ideal for reinforcing concepts with your kids at the park. You can’t go wrong. Use The Ultimate Puppy to train your dog and avoid problems.

Behavior Training: Ultimate Puppy Toolkit

More pets are euthanized or abandoned for behavior problems than for any other reason. Using the Ultimate Puppy Toolkit, anyone with a heart can prevent or change behavior problems. Although its named Ultimate Puppy, everything in the Kit applies equally well to adult dogs.

Inside the Toolkit are 6 booklets, one large wall chart, and a pocket notebook. The information provides guidelines and games that will make your pet a pleasure to live with. The chart details the development of a puppy’s physical and mental characteristics with recommendations for how to promote optimum development.

The 6 brightly colored booklets are simply written, have useful photographs, and are laid out so they make sense. Here’s what they cover:

Start Me Up
How a dog learns, what you’ll need to train a dog, how to trouble shoot if there are problems, different types of training, and resources for every aspect of a dog’s life.

Games
Games are not an option—they are a responsibility! What fun. There’s Drop It, Take It, Leave It, Follow Me, Retrieve, and Which Hand. Plus lots of others. There are tips on getting an uninterested pup to play with toys. Many pets available for adoption have never been played with or had toys. It’s heartwarming to watch them learn what toys are for. Essential reading for anyone adopting or fostering pets.

Socialize
Essential tips for teaching dogs to behave well with all types of people and in all circumstances. Discuses misconceptions, curiosity, and confidence. One of the worst mistakes people make is believing that they will have a better guard dog if they keep it at home and prevent it playing and being entertained by other people or pets. This booklet won’t let you make that mistake. The better socialized your dog is, the better it will be at distinguishing friend from foe.

Prevent
Only the wisest trainers offer information on behavior prevention. Learn how to safely introduce children and dogs. Learn alternative behaviors that stop dogs from jumping up and biting ankles. Learn how to prepare your pet to handle scary things, greet guests, and be alone while the family is at work.

Junior Obedience
Get desirable behavior right off the mark. Use the right tone of voice. Use commands that work and use releases that signal the dog to relax. Learn what distracts a dog, and how long its attention span is. Behaviors covered include leash walking, sit, down, stand, come, follow, and stay.

House Training
Nothing beats a housebroken pet, and this covers the topic from crate to yard. There are also tips on puppy-proofing your home, back yard time, and handling accidents. For many, this is the most important booklet of them all. Look for it; it’s yellow.

Skunk Odor: Homemade Skunk Smell Remover

Skunk spray is an scent that can make our pets outcasts. Here is a recipe for a homemade solution that works to remove the odor. Use it within one hour of mixing it because it loses potency quickly. Do not store with a tightened cap.

Homemade Skunk Smell Remover

• ¼ cup backing soda
• 1 teaspoon dish soap
• 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide

Double the recipe for a large dog.

Application Method

1. Put the solution directly on your pet. Do not add water or get your pet wet before applying the solution. Work this solution into the coat and over the skin. Carefully avoid the eyes. Apply to the head with a cloth. Leave the solution on for 5-20 minutes.
2. Rinse thoroughly with water.
3. Wash with pet shampoo working the shampoo well into the skin and hair to lift any oils.
4. Rinse thoroughly.
5. Apply conditioner.

Additional Help

• For pets with severe, direct hits, reapply the peroxide de-skunk solution.
• For pets normally trimmed at the groomers, have them trimmed to remove lingering scent trapped in the hair.
• Supplement with Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acid products that replenish the skin oils stripped by hydrogen peroxide:.
• Reapply topical flea and tick products, such as Frontline and Advantage, in 24 to 48 hours because they are stripped from the coat along with the skunk scent.

Products That Have Been Tried

• Tomato juice and tomato paste color white coats pink and they are not as effective as the peroxide de-skunking solution.
• Vinegar solutions are ineffective for removing skunk odor. They do help remove the pink color that tomatoes leave.

Your pet appreciates everything you do to remove the skunk odor and allow it to remain in the heart of things.

To help your pet’s skin and coat return to normal after all the scrubbing, feed Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids.

Drug Sniffing Dogs: Midge

Midge, a 6-pound Chihuahua-Rat Terrier is being trained to sniff out drugs. Midge is the smallest canine drug sniffing dog in the United States, but with the energetic determination of Chihuahuas and Rat Terriers, she will excel.

Drug-sniffing dogs depend on a good sense of smell, as well as determination. Fortunately, we can boost a dog’s sense of smell with enzymes. Why use enzymes to increase the sense of smell? The special nerves and sensory cells that carry odor molecules from the nose to the brain require zinc. Zinc is available in many foods, but most pets don’t absorb this mineral well. When a nutrient is difficult to absorb, some pet guardians are inclined to supplement with the nutrient—to give zinc tablets. Not a good idea.

Zinc supplementation creates a molecular imbalance. The imbalance occurs because zinc competes with another mineral—copper—for absorption. A zinc supplement overwhelms the digestive system so that almost all that is absorbed is zinc, at the expense of normal copper absorption. Because copper forms red blood cells, over supplementing with zinc leads to anemia. Instead of supplementing with zinc, provide natural whole foods and provide enzymes so the zinc and other minerals naturally present in food are absorbed in their correct proportions.

With the right care, Midge will become a mighty force in our law enforcement little dog join the forces that protect us.