Top Dog Emergency Seen During Memorial Day Weekend is Heat Stroke

Heatstroke is very preventable in most dogs. When your dog is hot and tired, you need to stop. It sounds simple but many dog owners and the dogs are having too much fun and aren't paying attention to the first signs of heat stroke. It is also difficult to stop having what seems like a really good time until things suddenly go bad. But that may be too late. Heat stroke effects the organ systems and can cause irreversible damage and often death even after you think you have cooled your pet off. 

Your pet is absorbing heat through the pads on its feet while walking on hot trails or roads. They also are not wearing a hat to prevent exposure to their heads. Even though they may be drinking water, they need to be able to wet their entire mouths with cool water to be able to effectively cool down. If they are panting warm air, they are not able to effectively cool off on a hot day.  Digital thermometers are small and light and you may want to keep it in your day pack or fanny pack if you want to be certain of the temperature of your pet and weather it is at risk of heat stroke. It the temp is above 103 degrees it is time to stop and go home to a cool place. If it is 104 or above you need to drive your pet to the nearest available veterinary office for proper treatment. Once your pet is experiencing heat stroke it needs veterinary care.

Symptoms: Rapid or labored breathing, Loud panting vomiting, Diarrhea,  Fast heartbeat, Refusal to obey commands, Staggering, Staring, , anxious expression, collapse, dry gums, & temperature above 104°
Treatment/Action

·        Get the pet to a well ventilated area while getting towels or blankets wet with a garden hose, stream, pond, or pool, and wrap the pet  in the wet towels.

·        Continue to monitor Temperature. Do not over cool the animal.  When pets temp is 103^ο stop cooling methods.

·        Offer a small amount of cold water to drink but don’t force it

·        Transport the pet to a veterinarian immediately as organs can be effected even if pet has responded well.

Rattle Snake Bites

            With spring upon us and the weather starting to warm, I saw my first rattlesnake bite of the season.

            Hiking with our dogs is a great way to get some exercise for both dogs and their owners. But dangers lurk on the hiking trails. Snakes are not looking to attack you or your dog and most often strike to defend themselves or to scare away larger predators that find them accidentally or intentionally. The variables for snake bites are many.

Most dogs are bit on the face or neck area because they are curious about the rattling sound coming from under a rock or bush and have to poke around to see what it could be. The front legs are another common area as the dogs are usually barking and jumping at the snake if it is in sight. I have seen very few dogs bitten in the back half of the body but when running across a snake unseen by the dog it has occurred. The closer the bite is to a major artery or vein, the worse the location. Although swelling of the neck can occlude breathing, it is rarely the demise of the dog. It is how close the bite is to the jugular vein that can pose a very dangerous situation. Also a dog bitten in the rear inner thigh near the femoral artery is at great risk.

Size of the dog makes a large difference. Smaller dogs have a faster circulatory system and transfer the venom quite quickly throughout the body.  

Size of the snake doesn’t matter. The younger snakes have slightly smaller venom sacks but they also have less control of the release making them not more toxic than adults but equally as toxic if when they bite. An adult rattle snake has more control of their strike and often will do a “dry” strike, injecting no or very little venom into the dog. Their goal is to scare the menacing but unknowing dog away. A snake that has recently eaten also has less venom in the sack to release when they bite the offending dog.

The reaction of the dog also plays an important factor. Just like in bee stings, some dogs are less reactive to the venom than others. But all reactions are generally pretty nasty no matter how immune the dog may be.

A rattle snake vaccine is available through veterinarians. It requires two vaccines a month apart initially and then annually. Recommendations are that you give it at the start of the rattle snake season which would be early spring most of the time. The vaccine has very little reaction issues. Most commonly if a reaction is to occur is a temporary swelling at the injection site. Rarely a sterile abscess occurs that needs to be lanced by your veterinarian. These reactions are so rarely seen or in need of treatment that most veterinarians feel the vaccine reaction ratio is virtually none. For more info about the vaccine you can go to http://rattlesnakevaccinefordogs.com for more information.

If your dog is vaccinated it does not mean that you are free and clear if your dog is bitten by a rattle snake. Treatment should be sought by a veterinarian immediately. I have seen many vaccinated dogs still need anti-venom and treatment. What it does mean is that the recovery period and the lasting effect from the venom is supposed to be lessened. I have some vaccinated dogs recovery in amazingly a short period of time and others take longer. It may again be the difference in the severity of the bite, the location, and the dogs natural response to the vaccine and against the venom.

Another factor for treating snake bite is the variables in giving anti-venom.  Anti-venom is best when giving as soon as possible by the veterinary staff. The problem is anti-venom is hard for veterinary hospitals to get as it frequently becomes unavailable for pets, and it is very expensive to the veterinarian and that cost is passed on to the dog owner. Some animal hospitals that rarely see snake bites rely on the pet emergency clinics to keep some on hand and will send you and your pet there for treatment. This may mean your pet goes for several hours before actually receiving treatment. You may want to verify if your veterinarian keeps anti-venom on hand and if they do not where do they recommend you go. So now you are at a veterinary hospital that has the anti-venom but how much should they give. The vet can best determine this by monitoring your pets blood.(another quite expensive procedure) but even they are giving their best guess. It is not uncommon for a human to require up to 4 vials of anti-venom and many more. It is neither practical nor affordable for the average pet owner to give more than 2 vials of ant-venom. It is also important that the anti-venom being used is most effective for the snakes in the area. Unless you are in the Mojave Desert, most veterinarians carry anti-venom to treat all western rattle snakes. But be cautious and ask your vet, as some veterinary hospitals are using a cheaper and more available anti-venom from So. America. The problem with this is that some feel although the results have been good, it does take twice as much and can take longer for recovery.

Fortunately the recovery rate of a treated dog is great. Unfortunately it is pain staking when your dog is the one that does not survive. It is highly recommended that you and your dog enroll in a snake avoidance class. The positive avoidance classes are most helpful and will help you how to distract your dog away from a rattle snake and how to reinforce your dog to avoid them in the future. My dog was very affectively trained in this method and does not require “reminder” training from a professional but just reinforcement from me once a year. I do not recommend the shock method because it can cause displaced aggression, needs frequent “reminder” sessions, and if the dog ever realizes the stock collar is not on when it encounters a snake, beware. They often attack with more intensity and are now more likely to get bit. Plus, unless you have an extreme case with a large bully breed, it just isn’t necessary anymore to resort to training anything with shock.

Snake bite: Recognize snake bite symptoms:

• Local or general swelling
• 2 parallel strike marks
• Bleeding due to bite and anti-coagulation effect of venom.
• Intense pain not just at the site of the bite
• Weak pulses-Low blood pressure
• Dead tissue around the wound
• Shortness of breath
• Weakness
• Renal failure

What to do if you think your pet’s been bitten:

• Remember to stay calm.
• Keep your pet calm, too, by limiting his activity.
• If your pet was bitten on the neck, remove his collar.
• Seek veterinary care for your pet immediately.
• Treatment options such as cold packs, ice, tourniquets, alcohol, bleeding the wound and trying to suck out venom should not be attempted in place of getting your pet to the vet—they may just waste precious time. Tourniquets can actually make the bite worse when the sudden blood flow increases upon releasing the tourniquet.
• Always keep your personal safety in mind and do not try to catch or kill a snake yourself.
• Even if you think a snake is dead, never handle him. Some dead snakes are capable of inflicting a bite by muscle contractions.

Hoping everyone is prepared for the wonderful spring weather and all the fun it contains for you and your dog. Also hoping that your dog will not get bitten by a rattle snake, but if it does come in contact with one this Spring and Summer, I hope you are properly prepared either by avoidance class, vaccination, or emergency care.

For info on Pet CPR & Emergency Care classes please go to www.petalthedog.com

Buster Needs Surgery!

“Buster” was brought to the shelter after being hit by a car and despite a collar with tags, never claimed by his owner. He sat injured and waiting for a week. At the end of the week, his time was up and he was due to be euthanized.
Buster’s luck changed when a small group of people saw his potential and contacted the PetaltheDog Foundation.
Buster needed surgery to put his hip back in place and repair some wounds. His tail had to be amputated but that just makes him more charming when he wags his long stub.
 

$1500 of the $2000 is Needed!

Any amount donated will help.

Go to PayPal.com
Choose Send Money Online from opening page.
Enter amount and choose Friends and Family.
Send to Petal@Petalthedog.com

Canola Oil: There is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Canola Oil: There is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

10 Reasons Why it's a Bad Idea to Give your Dog a Bone

Here are 10 reasons why it’s a bad idea to give your dog a bone:

1.      Broken teeth. This may call for expensive veterinary dentistry.

2.      Mouth or tongue injuries. These can be very bloody and messy and may require a trip to see your veterinarian.

3.      Bone gets looped around your dog’s lower jaw. This can be frightening or painful for your dog and potentially costly to you, as it usually means a trip to see your veterinarian.

4.      Bone gets stuck in esophagus, the tube that food travels through to reach the stomach. Your dog may gag, trying to bring the bone back up, and will need to see your veterinarian.

5.      Bone gets stuck in windpipe. This may happen if your dog accidentally inhales a small enough piece of bone. This is an emergency because your dog will have trouble breathing. Get your pet to your veterinarian immediately!

6.      Bone gets stuck in stomach. It went down just fine, but the bone may be too big to pass out of the stomach and into the intestines. Depending on the bone’s size, your dog may need surgery or upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, a procedure in which your veterinarian uses a long tube with a built-in camera and grabbing tools to try to remove the stuck bone from the stomach.

7.      Bone gets stuck in intestines and causes a blockage. It may be time for surgery.

8.      Constipation due to bone fragments. Your dog may have a hard time passing the bone fragments because they’re very sharp and they scrape the inside of the large intestine or rectum as they move along. This causes severe pain and may require a visit to your veterinarian.

9.      Severe bleeding from the rectum. This is very messy and can be dangerous. It’s time for a trip to see your veterinarian.

10.  Peritonitis. This nasty, difficult-to-treat bacterial infection of the abdomen is caused when bone fragments poke holes in your dog’s stomach or intestines. Your dog needs an emergency visit to your veterinarian because peritonitis can kill your dog. 

 

*Note* When your dog passes pieces of  bone chunks in the stool than they are not absorbing any nutrients from them and only experiencing the pain and possibly some of the above problems.

 If you feel a need to feed your dog raw bones as part of their diet, grind them up so they can not cause any of the above problems and can be properly digested to be  nutritional benefit.

About the PetaltheDogFoundation

My name is "Petal" because I am not big enough to be a whole flower. I was living on the streets of S. Central Los Angeles, CA; in desperate need of medical attention. Lucky for me I received the help I needed. Others are not so fortunate. My talent has been discovered and I have set training and skills which have offered me roles for motion pictures, commercials, TV series, and ads. I am also a Therapy Dog.

I provide medical help to as many pets as possible with the money received from acting, donations, recycled pet product flea markets, and funds from the Pet CPR & Care classes. I want them to be as fortunate as I am.

I hope to have my own foundation soon.

www.Petalthedog.com

PET CPR & EMERGENCY CARE COURSE

DETERMINING AN EMERGENCY

Some emergencies are obvious, but others are more subtle and harder to determine. Learning how to read your pet’s vital signs will allow you to determine when your pet is experiencing an emergency situation and should receive treatment as soon as possible.

Preparing for emergency situations

• Bleeding
• Choking
• Drowning
• Electrocution
• Allergic Reactions
• Heat Stroke
• Toxic Substance Ingestion
• Burns
• Wounds
• Vomiting & Diarrhea
• Broken Bones
• Bite wounds
• Seizures

Safe Transport

You will learn how to safely move your pet in an emergency situation.  

Emergency Techniques

CPR & Rescue Breathing, not knowing the proper technique can cause more harm than good. But learning the current and correct technique can save your pet’s life..

Taking & Reading vital sign, such as temperature, heart rate, capillary refill time, pulse & heart rate, and respiration are all vital statistics that tell you if your pet is experiencing an emergency.

Determining & Preventing Shock, the body’s response to injury or insult is to shut down to lessen pain and bleeding. But if the body is in shock for an extended period of time, or your pet is not treated for shock, the body will eventually shut down permanently. 

Heimlich maneuver, the technique when used properly can save your pet’s life in a choking emergency.

Wound Care, Bandaging, & Temporary Splinting; you will learn to properly stop a bleeding wound and how to safely apply a bandage when needed. You will also when and how to immobilize a fracture during transport.

  

About the instructor

Dianne is a Registered Veterinary Technician licensed by the State of CA. She has over 25 years experience in the veterinary field, spending much of this time in the Pet ER.. She has seen the emergencies she will be teaching you to prepare for. She is very knowledgeable and is eager to share this knowledge with pet owners so they can be more informed and educated when making decisions regarding their pets.

Beside “Petal”, Dianne owns several different species of pets and participates in many pet advocate groups.

You Can’t Afford not to Take This Course

It is the cost of your pet’s health & safety.

$100 per person

A 3 hour learning session of discussion, demonstrations, and hands on practice with a Dog CPR mannequin and stuffed animals.

All paid participants will receive a Pet First Aid kit, Emergency Care Guide, & Pet CPR completion card you can keep in your wallet or kit pocket.

$50 for partners in the same household who will not receive a kit or care guide

Go to

www.Petalthedog.com

to register  now!

What To Wear-Collars

This is not an attempt to discuss training methods or debate which type of collar your dog trainer recommends. It is to advise pet owners on how collars and harnesses work and to put to rest some myths.

The most important collar is the flat collar. This is the collar that has a buckle or snap lock that your pet should wear on a daily basis. It should contain your pet's identification tag with current phone numbers, the rabies tag if your vet provides one, and your city license tag. It should be placed loosely around the neck. It should either have a quick release-especially for cats- or loose enough that it will slide over your pet's  head if caught on something such as branches or fences. This collar is not used for walking your pet!And definitely not used for training. When used to walk your pet and it pulls, it is the mostly to initiate a coughing response.Working in a veterinary emergency clinic for many years, contrary to owner's beliefs, no collar can do actual harm to a dogs trachea but if your dog already suffers from trachea irritation, pulling against a flat collar can be irritating and cause coughing.

To walk your pet a martingale style is recommended.It is a flat collar with either a chain or cloth pull that will tighten-not too tight- when pulled on by the leash and can not slip off your pet allowing it to escape. These collars are becoming more and more popular for dog walkers as pets frequently slip out of flat collars allowing them to become free from the owner and possibly being hit by a car or attacked by another dog. They also are very attractive and some of the Greyhound Organizations sell some made out of beautiful fabrics. These are my favorite for general dog walking that does not involve serious training   If your dog pulls, this collar can still push against the trachea and coughing can result, but less than the traditional flat collar as it does release to a looser fit when relaxed.

The next collar to use for training and walking would be the choke chain. These chain collars have gotten a bad rap by owners that have not been able to develop the proper technique and some trainers who want to promote their own training collar choices and sell you the collar. The problem with the choke chain is they have to be put on correctly and used correctly. If put on the pet correctly the collar should only be tight when jerked and should automatically release when pressure is released. The trick to this collar is to do a quick jerk and release to get your pets attention. The choke chain, contrary to popular myth, is less pressure on the trachea than a flat or martingale collar even when used incorrectly tightly choking around your pets neck. Again, the choke is less damage to the pets neck unless your pet has a predisposed neck/spinal issue or is actually hanging from a leash or chain attached to it with your pets feet dangling off the ground or floor. If your pet pulls with the choke chain and you have not mastered the jerk and release technique than the next collar may be a better option.

Although this collar looks totally scary, and I have to admit that until recently working with animal trainers and researching with veterinary specialist, I would never have considered this collar. And I have never had a had a problem with my choke chain technique. If I had, the metal prong collar would be the next in line. What seems like a device of torture is actually the less likely to cause harm to the trachea and unlikely to initiate a cough response when the dog is pulling. Because of it's design, when the collar is pulled or jerked by the owner, the prongs distribute even pressure around the pet's entire neck rather than just at the front of the neck. It also will release as soon as the owner releases without fail. I have to admit I was totally amazed when I saw this collar used by an owner of a small miniature pincher very successfully with minimal instruction from the trainer. The prongs are not sharp or spiky so there is no risk of it puncturing your pet's neck unless purposely misused. Even improper use does not make this collar harmful but actually the least to cause harm or irritation of all the collars mentioned, especially in comparison to the flat collar or martingale. This collar is the least likely to choke your pet as it is not able to put direct pressure on the tracheal area of the neck.

Now the harness. The harness was a stable one design product that fastened around the body so no pressure was put on the neck by either the dog pulling or the owner pulling. Now there are many designs. None really better for the pet than others. The differences in design are nothing more than ease of putting on and taking off for the owner, and marketing skills of the people selling them. The benefit is that it is virtually escape proof once fitted and put on your pet. It also has benefit to dogs that do have neck or spinal disorders diagnosed by a veterinarian. No collar, even if used incorrectly, can cause neck or spinal issues unless it is used in extreme situations such as of hanging. But some pets do have either genetically predisposed spinal issues involving the neck that makes using a harness necessary. The other use of the harness is in situation of a pet needing to pull such as cart animals, sled dogs,or often search and rescue dogs who can be distracted by the control of a collar and follow the handler's lead rather than the natural instinct to follow the scent. Harnesses give little control of the dog to the owner other than they can only go as far as the leash allows. You can not train your dog to walk next to you with a harness. Not to say a dog can't and won't learn to walk next to you while using a harness, it just isn't trained to do this with the use of a harness but with using other tricks or techniques while the harness is on. Harnesses by nature encourage a pulling effect. So if your dog does not have a neck condition and you don't want your dog to pull you down the street, choose a different collar with more control.

Now as far as the Halti, or other over the nose devices used to keep your dog under control that are on the market. These are special devices used by instruction of a licensed certified dog trainer and hopefully are not a permanent device and should only be used during training sessions.There is not enough proof or study to prove such accusations, but it is the opinion of some veterinarians that these collars actually cause more trauma to the neck than any other collar as it forces the dog to hold the head and neck in an unnatural position. Again only speculation and do these affected pets have a predisposition for neck issues and these specialty collars are just hastening the occurrence? Is it the collar or the way it is misused by untrained owners? Too many unanswered questions and I do not have enough experience with these collars because I have always been able to train my pet with a choke chain or martingale collar.


I can not stress enough that if your dog coughs or gags when pulling at the end of a leash, it is not the collar that is causing the initial problem but choosing a different collar may lessen the severity of a condition your dog may already have.

I also can't stress enough, as I have learned, that the most frightening of collars and techniques usually can not do actual physical harm, although I will not comment on the mental harm some unskilled trainers have inflicted on pets no matter what type of collar they use or recommend.


So the metal prong collar is most effective with least amount of trauma or irritation despite it's appearance. The choke chain is second in initiating the least amount of trachea irritation, and the martingale is a great collar for walking and some light training but can still initiate a tracheal response if your pet pulls and is predisposed to coughing due to bronchitis or tracheal irritation. The traditional flat collar is not recommended for walking and never should be used for training but as a decoration that will also maintain identification tags.

As a final thought, pets are very intelligent and if pulling on the collar was really causing difficulty breathing or large amounts of pain, they would stop or pass out. Neither rarely happens on a walk or in a training session.