He is starting out at 19.5 lbs with a Body Condition Score of 7.

We are switching him to a canned OM diet, 3 feedings at 2 cans total per day.  He loves the food. Next - his excercise program!

Anyone who has (or has not had) luck getting weight off of an overweight cat, please comment.

You can access our Newsletter and lots of info and tools for addressing overweight pets at www.NaplesPetVet.com

Watch candles that pets might knock over.

Treats can be of particular concern; bowls and bags of candy are tempting,  but can be deadly. 

 Chocolate ingestion can cause problems in a number of ways.  The high fat and sugar content can induce pancreatitis, a condition that can be very serious and require hospitilization.  At the very least, ingestion of large quantities of candy can bring about an  unpleasant upset stomach and diarrhea.  Theobromine found in chocolate  can cause tremors, seizures and even death when ingested in large enough amounts.  The amount of theobromine  in chocolate products varies and the toxicity is dose dependant.  A 50 lb dog would have to ingest 20 oz of milk chocolate to show signs of  toxicity, but only 2 1/2 oz of baking chocolate.  It takes about 4 days for these componants to clear the dog's system. 

A new potential deadly player on the scene is xylitol  Xylitol is an artificial sweeter found in many sugar free gums and products.  While humans tolerate it well dogs do not.  Dogs release excessive insulin after xylitol ingestion, causing blood sugar levels to plummet; weakness, disorientation and seizures can result.  Xylitol has also been found to cause liver failure in dogs.  A 10 lb dog could show signs of xylitol toxicity after ingesting a stick and a half of gum. 

Take a few precautions to keep you pets safe and have a Happy Halloween.

Most arguments against pet health insurance explain that if you put the regular premiums in a bank account and left it untouched, in many cases , you would end up ahead of the game.  I don't know if  this is true or not , but it is, in reality, a moot point. How many of you out there would be disciplined enought to do that - never touching the balance at all ?  Don't think that I would - Could you?

There are more and more pet insurance companies out there these days.  I definitely recommend looking into it.  Those insured clients find it easier to be proactive with health care and are prepared if something bad happens.  The caution is that all pet health insurance plans are  alike.  I found a good link that compares them.  Here it is:

http://frvet.com/insurance.html

Vick has served his sentence for finanacing an illegal dog fighting ring out of his "Bad Newz Kennels" , financing the gambling operation, and participating in electrocuting, drowning and hanging dogs that were "performing poorly" .

Do you think that he should be given a second chance?

If you were/are an Eagles fan, would you feel comfortable rooting for a team with him on it?

If you were and advertiser - (like Budweiser with their dog and Clydesdale commercials) would you find a conflict of interests running your ads during an Eagles game?

Vick is discussing working with HSUS in a campaign to discourage dogfighting - do you think he is doing this because he is sorry about the way he treated dogs , or sorry that it cost him so much?  Does it matter?

What do you think? - your comments can be anonymous.

 In the first letter, "LAJ" explained that her 9 year old 20 pound beagle mix was seen by a vet who noted a heart murmer and suggested taking the dog to a cardiologist. The owner continued that her dog was quite active and was asking Dr. Fox's opinion. His reply was that unless the dog "had poor execrcise tolerance, coughs frequently and/or has a swollen abdomen" he would avoid "costly diagnostic tests."

His next letter, from "PL" concerns a senior cat who was howling in pain and could not move his hind limbs. The owners took the cat to the local emergency clinic where it was euthanized. The Dr. repsonded that this "painful and terrifying malady" was due to a blood clot in the hindquarters called thrombosis, which can be treated if small, but that euthanasia was appropriate.

Here is the mixed message and my disagreement with the advice given - and the advice left out:

In letter number one, it should be noted that by the time a dog exhibits poor exercise tolerance and is coughing - or certainly has a swollen abdomen, the dog would be in congestive heart failure. At this time , compromises to the heart muscle that are not reversible may have already occurred. In a one yr old dog with a mild murmer, (which just means that one of the heart valves is leaking) and no clinical signs, it might be appropriate to treat conservatively, but a 9 year old dog is a different story. Evaluations of heart size, ability to contract properly, and severity of the leak may lead to appropriate, convenient treatments to prevent or prolong the time before congestive heart failure occurs. These "costly diagnostic tests" don't seem quite so costly when compared to an emergency hospital visit and intensive care treatment as well as the stress from seeing your beloved pet suffering and struggling to breathe that often goes along with congestive heart failure.

In letter 2, Dr. Fox is correct in noting that a saddle thrombus is a painful condition in cats that often does not respond well to treatment. What he neglected to mention was that this condition is most often a complication of - HEART DISEASE. In cats with a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the muscles of the heart wall thicken causing the heart chambers to become smaller compromising the heart's ability to pump blood. Since the blood is not pumped as it should,along with other complicating factors, the static blood sitting in left atrium can begin to clot. Portions of the clot can break loose and lodge where the large vessels supplying blood to the legs split and stop blood flow, causing pain and even tissue death. Sometimes, this can be the first indication that the cat has any sort of heart disease. In cats that have HCM and have the potential for forming these clots, medication to thin the blood and address the cardiac compromise can be provided to reduce the chance your cat will have to experience this "terrible malady." Cats that are prone to developing HCM like Maine Coon cats can now be screened with a blood test to help evaluate disease status. Take home message - don't wait for until it becomes an  emergency - and know the rest of the story.

Dr. Reiff

Secondly, I 'd like to offer some specific reasons for your inlaws; 

 1.  An unspayed animal will go through heats about twice a year.  During this time , unneutered males will be attracted to your property and can become destructive or aggressive.  It is very difficult to keep dogs separated and only takes one "connection" to produce puppies.  This may be especially important in the country, as many more dogs are uncontained.

2.  Female dogs in heat are messy. Do you really want to change diapers?

3.  Pregnancies can be expensive - complications in childbirth, prenatal care, postnatal care, puppy food, etc often is a financial burden.  A single litter of puppies can produce alot of poop when weaning.

4.  Spayed females are healthier.  - Females spayed before their first heat have a much smaller risk of developing breast cancer - that benefit decreases with each heat experienced.  Of course, females who have had an ovariohysterectomy will not get uterine or ovarian cancer.

You also want to encourage good parasite control - deworming and flea and tick control - Parasites can spread disease to people.

In case you missed the story, the dog was found in Bonita by someone who took him home and called Domestic Animal Services.  The dog was scanned for a microchip, and when one was found, the pet was taken to their facility pending contact with  the owner.  The microchip was originally registered to someone in the Miami area who was not able to be located, and the dog was later euthanized. 

Unfortunately, this scenario is not uncommon.  Years ago, my husband was in Greensboro, NC on business and spotted a small black cocker spaniel running frantically in the middle of a 6 lane highway.  When he got to the dog,  she was thankfully unharmed but scared,  jumped right into his back seat, curled up   and promptly went to sleep.  After driving around for an hour unsuccessfully trying to locate an owner,  he brought the dog home.  I was relieved to find  that she was microchipped - only to be disappointed that the chip was sold to the local animal shelter and never registered to the new owner. The  information the animal shelter obtained at adoption was outdated.  After all other efforts to track down the owner failed, Blueberry became and still is a member of our family. The owner may still be wondering what happened to her . 

There are several microchip manufacturers - some charge a fee for registration .  The ResQ chip, which we recommend,  does not.  We feel that the easier it is to register, the more people that will follow through, and the greater the liklihood of reuniting a lost pet with its family.

There are 2 basic types of microchips - ISO complient and non ISO complient chips - so not all are alike.    For more information on microchips, visit our website at www.NaplesPetVet.com and click on the Hot Topics page.

If your pet has beem microchipped, please take a moment to make sure that  registration is complete and all  information current. 

P.S. We have found homes for all of our  kittens - now we need a home for Lollipop.