Articles Sponsored by the West Hazleton Veterinary Hospital
Be sure to check out our articles sections for important information on Dry Skin and ithcy pets, feeding your pet bird, arthtitis in your dog, and other important issues.
Arthritis in Dogs
By Kenneth P. Trippett VMD, MS
West Hazleton Veterinary Hospital
570-455-2580
As the weather get cooler, a common problems faced by many dogs is arthritis. Unfortunately, many owners simply assume that nothing that can be done and either let the dog suffer, or worse, euthanize their pets unnecessarily. In the last 5 years, there have been major advances in the area of helping arthritic pets.
The first problem is recognizing arthritis. The three most common presenting complaints are as follows:
1. pain in the hips or knees leading to decrease activity
2. difficulty standing after sleeping especially if the floor is slippery or cold
3. trouble going up stairs, or jumping up onto beds or couches
Once you realized that your pet is suffering with arthritis, you should seek your veterinarian'€™s advice on treatment. Usually, the treatment falls into one of two categories. The first form of treatment is anti-inflammatories. One of the safest anti-inflammatories is aspirin. If you treat your dog with aspirin, you must use only buffered aspirin. You must not give your dog ibuprofen or acetaminophen (Tylenol). As a rule, you would give one regular strength buffered aspirin for every 60 pounds of dog or one baby aspirin for every 14 pounds of dog. If your dog'€™s arthritis is more severe, your veterinarian will probably recommend a stronger drug such as Deramaxx or Metacam. You should always follow your veterinarian'€™s advice on these matters. You must never give any of these drugs to cats. Aspirin, Tylenol, and ibuprofen can all kill a cat with a single dose.
The second category of medicine used to treat arthritis is joint supplements. Joint supplements are considered homeopathic treatments and therefore some veterinarians will not discuss them. A joint supplement is a protein, vitamin, and mineral supplement that will help your dog make more joint fluid. Joint fluid is like oil for the joints. The more joint fluid your dog makes, the more comfortable the pet will become. Joint supplements come in many forms. The two essential ingredients that you should look for are glucosamine and chondritan sulfate. They often contain Vitamin C or other antioxidants as well. MSM is another helpful ingredient to look for. Joint supplements are very safe and help 70-80% of the animals that use them. They have the added benefit of actually slowing the arthritic changes in the effected joints. I recommend them for all of my arthritic patients.
Unfortunately, many of the less expensive over-the-counter supplements do not seem to work well for our canine patients. This is the result of poor bioavailability (i.e. most the supplement is not digested or absorbed proper). Be sure to discuss this alternative with your veterinarian.
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Dry Skin
By Kenneth P. Trippett VMD, MS
West Hazleton Veterinary Hospital
570-455-2580
Typical signs exhibited by both dogs and cats suffering with dry skin are as follows:
1. dandruff
2. itchy
3. red spots
4. problem tends to get worse in late fall
5. problem gets worse with low humidity
As the weather gets cooler and the heaters come on, the humidity in your house drops. This leads to dry skin in many of my patients. Approximately one half of my patients who come in itching and scratching are suffering from dry skin. One must also rule out allergies and fleas. I recommend having your itchy pet checked by your veterinarian to rule out other causes of dry itchy skin.
You should treat your pets dry skin, regardless of the cause. There are two effective treatments. The first treatment is using a good moisturizing shampoo. You should shampoo the pet once per week. Lather the animal, leave the shampoo on for 10 minutes, then rinse off. You must be very careful when choosing a pet shampoo. Many '€śmedicated'€ť shampoos are made to smell good and cover up orders, rather then help your pet. Flea and Tick shampoos are relatively harsh and therefore a poor choice for pets with dry skin. You must pick a shampoo that is both '€śmoisturizing'€ť and '€śhypoallergenic'€ť.
Many pets are difficult to bath. I always warn cat owners that a pair of metal gloves is a necessity for bathing most cats. Many dogs are too big or too unruly to bath. Other dogs just take too long to dry. For these animals, I commonly recommend a good skin supplement. A good skin supplement should contain Vitamin A & E, zinc, and the omega fatty acids (OFAs). There are three forms for these skin supplements. The first is a liquid you can add to the animal'€™s food. This is usually the best choice for animals who get canned food on a daily basis. The second is gel or liquid capsules and the third is beef or liver flavored treats. The best way to help the animals skin long term is to switch to a better quality dog food. Supermarket shoppers should consider IAMS or Purina One for sensitive skin. Even better choices include Hills Science Diet and Proplan. Better quality foods not only help the skin, but can also solve many other common digestive and weight problems as well as add years to your pets life.
Lastly, many dogs and some cats will also respond well to antihistamines. Benedryl (diphenhydramine) is commonly available in both liquid and tablet form. To see if these could help your pet and for proper dosing instructions, you should contact your regular veterinarian.
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Proper Diet for Psitticine Birds
By Kenneth P. Trippett VMD, MS
West Hazleton Veterinary Hospital
570-455-2580
Diet is the most common problem that I encounter with my avian patients. Most people believe that the staple food for all birds should be seeds. This is not true. Seeds are relatively high in fat and low in protein, vitamins, and minerals. As a rule, the larger the psitticine bird, the fewer seeds the bird should eat. Parakeets, being one of the smaller psitticine birds, can eat up to 50% seeds. Cockateil can eat upto 35% seeds and the larger parrots such as African Greys and McCaws should get no more then 20% seeds. Fixing your pet birds diet can have a profound effect on its life span. Parakeets are a good example. Their average life span on seed diets is 6-7 years. Switching that same parakeet to a good diet early in it life, increases its average life span to approximately 15 years.
The best single food source for most birds are pelleted foods. These foods are similar to dry dog food in that everything the bird needs nutritionally, is contained in each pellet. There are many varieties of pellet foods. I my experience, most birds do best with pellets that have different shapes and colors. These foods usually have a fruity smell and are very attractive to the birds. If you have a bird that has been eating nothing except seeds, you might have better luck with small brown pellets.
Another alternative is to feed the bird a large variety of people food. Vegetables, fruits, meats, and cereals are all necessary parts of a bird'€™s diet. I usually recommend that while you are making yourself a meal, you set a little of each item aside for your pet. It is very important to supplement these foods with a good vitamin and mineral supplement.
It can be very difficult to get a bird that has been eating mostly seeds, to eat pelleted foods or people food. The best food choice in this situation is Nutriberries. These are balls that look like seeds, so that they are attractive to birds, and contain vitamin, mineral, and protein supplement seeds. Unlike most supplemented seed diets, the supplement is rolled into the balls along with the seeds, peanut hearts, whole egg, etc. Thus, you can be sure that if the bird eats these Nutriberries, the bird is getting the necessary supplements. The main reason I like Nutriberries, is that most birds will eat them both readily and willingly. I always inform my clients that Nutriberries should be used as an intermediate food. Your goal is to get the bird to eat pellets but this can take months.
Most birds on seed diets are very thin. Feel for your pet birds keel bone down the middle of the chest. In an ideal weight bird, you should feel muscle even with the top of that bone. If your bird is under weight, the bone will feel like a butter knife jutting up under the skin. Switching your bird to a better diet can be very rewarding. Make a point of weighing you pet bird now and again in 2 months. Most bird put on 5-20% of their body weight in muscle in the first 2 months.
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