Archive for the ‘Dogs’ Category

Which toys are best for dogs?

The range of dog toys available to us has positively exploded in recent years as we increasingly seem to enjoy treating our beloveds to new and interesting playthings. From budget tennis balls to high-end, luxury toys that wouldn’t be out of place in a child’s bedroom, the choice can be overwhelming. So which toy is best for your dog? We have compiled a few tips to help you make the right choice.

It’s horses for courses

It is worth considering your dog’s breed when choosing a suitable toy, as well as their personality in general.

For some, the clue is in the name. For example, ‘Labrador retrievers’ and ‘golden retrievers’ are likely to want to chase and retrieve an item. So a ball (with a flinger to save your shoulder) is likely to go down a storm with these guys. Even better, these gun-dog breeds with ‘soft mouths’ will take pride in returning a soft toy to you, you can even buy them in the shape of common game birds.

Perhaps your dog is a sucker for a game of tug. In which case, a strong rope-based toy is likely to be the most satisfying. A word of caution, take care of your dog’s teeth and mouth, don’t play too roughly with them. Likewise, watch your hands! Keep your fingers at a safe distance from overzealous nashers, by using a rope toy that is long enough for the both of you.

What about those who are incessant about sticks? These individuals are a real worry since we know what potential perils can result from running with sticks. Fear not, there’s an alternative for stick-lovers too. Kong make a toy that is sticklike in shape but made of rubber and features safe, soft, rounded ends.

Then there are the young and inquisitive puppies who will find toys of different textures fascinating. A crunch sound here and soft mouthful there, some toys incorporate a range of sensations within the very same toy. Teething puppies can find relief from sore gums by mouthing on the right kind of material. It is important, however, that a toy such as this is designed for purpose. There is a danger of damaging delicate baby teeth with overly hard materials, or of ingestion of small chewed parts.

Brain training

There is a vast array of toys on the market designed to mentally stimulate your dog, providing hours of fun. Many involve the promise of a treat once they work out how to access it for example the Kong Wobbler whereby the dog must knock the treats out. Others reward your dog by flinging a ball for them to fetch if they press the right button. Many owners find these useful for overactive individuals for whom hours of exercise doesn’t even cut it (Collies spring to mind). These toys should never be a replacement for exercise, but something to complement your dog’s routine and exercise regime.

Plaything pitfalls

As vets, it’s not uncommon to see dogs who have, quite literally, bitten off more than they can chew. Some dogs see a toy as a challenge, something to be destroyed as quickly as possible and seem to have teeth like razors. The trouble comes when pieces are accidentally (or otherwise) ingested. The classic culprit in these scenarios is the plastic squeaker from a soft toy. Squeakers and other large inedible toy parts are likely to require surgical removal, or at the very least cause stomach upset. There will be owners out there who are accustomed to seeing the stuffing stripped from soft toys and strewn around the sitting room. If you are one of these, it is important to account for all toy-parts and phone for advice if you can’t piece the puzzle back together again.

So are there toys out there that can stand the test of time? Well that depends on the pooch. There are tough ranges of toys that claim to, however the most tenacious of dogs can often defeat these too. It is sensible to be savvy in these cases and choose toys that serve a different purpose.

One example is the Kong Extreme, which is not only designed from super-strong materials but also refocuses the mindset from one of destruction, to one treat-seeking as it allows you to stuff the cone-shaped toy with their favourite flavours. You are likely to find that your dog is occupied for much longer too!

Another consideration is the importance of buying size-appropriate toys for your dog. This can be tricky if your pack includes the likes of a Labrador as well as a Chihuahua for example. Mini tennis balls are available on the market for those with mini-mouths. It just so happens however, that these slip easily down the windpipe or can be easily swallowed by larger breeds of dog, we need not explain the problems associated with that, we’re sure. Large, hard, chew toys for large breeds are also likely to damage the mouths of a small breed dog, often size-guidance is provided by the manufacturer.

With the exciting and plentiful array of toys now available to us, there is something available to suit all doggy tastes out there. Of course what is super-important to any playful pooch too, is the time spent with their beloved human. So enjoy!

An Easter menu is not for dogs!

Whilst you can enjoy being an Easter feaster this year, here’s how to keep your dog a happy bunny!

Chocolate eggs

More and more people are aware that chocolate is toxic to dogs, but do they appreciate quite how poisonous it can be, and why? It is the component theobromine within cocoa that is the nasty culprit, dogs simply can’t metabolize it with appropriate speed (thank goodness we as humans can!). So theobromine remains in the bloodstream and develops to toxic levels playing havoc with a dog’s nervous system and heart.

Even relatively meagre amounts of chocolate can cause death, especially in smaller dogs. However, the handy thing is that we have a reasonably good handle on how much cocoa it takes to harm a dog of a given size. Therefore, if you can find out how much cocoa a dog has consumed, any of our vets can indicate just how worried we should be and formulate an appropriate plan, which is likely to include making them vomit (it is important that you never make your dog vomit yourself). So what then, about white chocolate where cocoa content is low to nonexistent?  There is still a good chance of causing digestive upset, and maybe even pancreatitis.

Should your dog get their greedy paws on your Easter eggs this year, remember, the sooner the veterinary intervention, the better the outcome is likely to be. So hide those treats well, because in the case of chocolate, prevention is always better cure…

…and all the more for us then!

Hot cross buns, not hot cross tums

Just the thought of a toasted hot cross bun, slathered in melting butter is enough to get the taste buds tingling. Of course, your dog probably agrees! So how can such a tasty treat be so dangerous to dogs? It’s all about the currants in this case. Grape based products can contain toxins which attack the kidneys of dogs. This can lead to renal failure and even death.

The interesting (and scary) thing about all grape products is that there is no strict rule on toxic doses. A small amount of raisins could indeed prove fatal to one dog, yet cause only moderate signs of poisoning to the next, and none at all to another. This is another instance where a zero risk policy is best. Once again, in the event that your dog gets their mucky paws on a hot cross bun or similar, phone for advice ASAP.

 

Easter Simnel cake

Easter Simnel cake, another rich, fruity delight us humans enjoy at this time of year. But the list of dog-harmful contents within is likely to be extensive. We know there’s a problem with currants; almonds can be an issue too. While not strictly toxic to dogs, they can be hard to digest and cause stomach upset. The same applies to many of the other of the ingredients.

The calorific tastiness of this treat, as with many others, is in part enhanced by high fat content and should your mischievous mutt get hold of a sizeable chunk, they are at risk of acute pancreatitis, a very painful condition that will likely result in a stay at the vets.

A final word on commercially prepared goodies, some contain Xylitol, a compound worth avoiding by dogs altogether. Even small amounts can cause very serious symptoms including hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), liver failure and death.

Down in one!

An abundance of edible Easter treats generally means an abundance of packaging too. Ever caught your dog with something they know they shouldn’t have, and they’ve scoffed the lot before you can say ‘That’s still wrapped in plastic!’? Sadly, a hasty (or hungry) hound won’t likely take the time to distinguish between edibles and their packaging, and it’s this that can cause just as much bother.

The digestive system is a wonderful thing, but it meets its match when it comes to plastic which it simply won’t process. Worse, your dog could actually damage the gastrointestinal tract by consuming non-food items and could even require surgery to remove a life-threatening blockage.

We as vets brace ourselves over festive periods such as Easter, for just these types of emergencies, they truly seem to increase in frequency. In the event of any of the situations described, it is vital that you seek veterinary advice as soon as possible to ensure the best outcome for your dog. Enjoy your Easter treats, just remember to keep them to yourselves!

Our 3 hospital are open 24 hours over the Easter period and any concerns clients can call their normal practice number and they will be transferred to their closest hospital where advice or treatment can be sought.

Whelping Survival Guide Part 2: All About Whelping

In Part 1 of this blog, we looked at how to care for your dog during her pregnancy. In this second part, we’ll look in more detail at the whelping process, what to watch out for, and when to call for help.

What does normal whelping look like?

In most cases, the bitch will know when labour is imminent (although sometimes she may be mistaken, especially if she’s very young). 2-4 days before whelping down, she will become restless, and will seek out a secluded space to give birth – if you’ve set it up and introduced her to it properly, it will hopefully be your whelping area! In the 24 hours before whelping, her body temperature will drop quite markedly (as a result, it’s always useful to be checking her temperature several times during the day to get a “heads up”).

She will then go and nest in her preferred area and go into true labour. There are three stages in the bitch:

Stage 1 – During this phase, the bitch is lining up the puppies, ready to come out. It usually lasts 12-24 hours, but although her uterus is starting to contract, this isn’t visible from the outside. Usually, she’ll be firmly ensconced in her nest, refusing food at this point; and as it progresses, there may be a watery vaginal discharge as her cervix opens.

Stage 2 – this is the actual delivery of the puppy! There are visible and strong contractions, and she may pant or yelp. It shouldn’t last more than 2 hours, and in most cases less than one. The vaginal discharge in Stage 2 varies from clear, to red, to green – all are potentially normal! Often, Stage 2 contractions are weak and intermittent to begin with, but should then get progressively stronger and stronger.

Stage 3 – delivery of the placenta, or afterbirth, follows. In many cases, the bitch will eat this, although contrary to popular opinion it isn’t actually that important to her nutritionally. We’d normally expect this to take place about 15 minutes after the puppy.

Most bitches, most of the time, will deliver a puppy, then it’s placenta, then another puppy, then it’s placenta and so on. However, it’s not uncommon to get 2 or 3 puppies, then 2 or 3 placentas, then another puppy etc. It is important not to lose count – if you’ve got more puppies than placentas, it means one is still inside, and if not passed, it could establish a dangerous infection.

What complications might there be?

The vast majority of births go very smoothly. However, there are three common problems that you need to watch out for, as they are potentially fatal to puppies, and/or the bitch.

Uterine Inertia – this occurs when the puppies reach full term, the cervix opens… and then the bitch fails to push. There are a number of possible causes, including very small litter sizes (which may be why this is more common in smaller dogs). It can also be caused by slightly low calcium levels, or exhaustion, but whatever the cause, needs veterinary intervention.

Dystocia – failure to give birth, usually due to a puppy being stuck. This is a life-threatening emergency, and requires URGENT veterinary intervention to save the puppies and the bitch.

Eclampsia – dangerously low blood calcium. In most cases, this occurs a few weeks after whelping, but it may occur at the time, and trigger uterine inertia or dystocia. A key cause is excessive calcium in the diet in pregnancy, which means that the bitch’s body doesn’t regulate calcium as efficiently around the whelping and suckling periods, and allows it to fall too far. This presents as panting and restlessness, and so can be missed immediately before labour; it then, however, progresses to tremors, shaking, collapse and seizures or fits, and needs URGENT veterinary intervention.

What signs of trouble do I need to look for?

As a general rule of thumb, CALL US IMMEDIATELY if the bitch…

  • Strains without producing any puppies for over an hour
  • Fails to produce a pup two hours after the last one
  • Hasn’t produced any puppies two days after her temperature dropped
  • Is having forceful but intermittent contractions
  • Seems exhausted or unhappy

How do I look after the puppies?

You shouldn’t have to – the bitch should normally know what she’s doing. If necessary, rub them gently with a towel to warm them up, but be careful – some bitches are very suspicious of people “stealing” their new puppies! Also do not shake them to get fluid out of their lungs (you can injure them), but if they aren’t breathing, gently tap their chests and CALL US for advice over the phone.

Make sure they all stay warm and on suck, and let the mother do her job; only if she isn’t may you have to intervene – in that case, call us IMMEDIATELY.

If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to call us for advice. If you think something’s going wrong, call us any time, 24/7, and talk to one of our vets.

Whelping Survival Guide Part 1: All about Pregnancy

So, your bitch has met with the stud dog – hooray! But what happens next? What do you have to do? Is there anything to watch out for? No need to worry – read on for all the answers you need!

How long is her pregnancy?

The average pregnancy is 63 days from the first mating; however, the bitch’s season is quite long, sperm can survive inside for quite a while, and so there is always some natural variability. We certainly wouldn’t expect her to produce any puppies before 56 days, and if she’s reached 73 without anything, that suggests a problem with the dates, or uterine inertia.

How do I know if she’s pregnant?

Diagnosing pregnancy in the bitch is not as easy as in humans. This is mainly because the bitch’s body prepares for pregnancy after every season, whether or not there are actually any pups present. So, a progesterone test (for example) is essentially useless – the bitch thinks she’s pregnant anyway, every single time! There is one slightly dubious and two reliable and widely available methods we can use to determine pregnancy:

Palpation – an experienced vet can sometimes feel the puppies between 25 and 30 days after conception – however, a fat, tense or anxious, or large breed bitch can make this really difficult. As a result, you can get false negatives, and occasionally even false positives. We do not, therefore, recommend it!

Relaxin Blood Test – although progesterone tests are useless, there are other hormones in pregnancy! The Relaxin test is reliable and accurate, and can be used from 25-30 days post conception.

Ultrasound Scan – this is the most common and most reliable method. It is first reliable at 25-30 days and at this time the heartbeats can usually be seen quite clearly. In the hands of an experienced vet, sometimes it’s possible to say that she is in pup from three weeks, but it’s impossible to say with certainty that she isn’t at this age. Ultrasound scans also allow us to measure the size of the puppies, and work out how old they are. This can help us narrow down the due date if a bitch was mated several times! However, the ultrasound scan can only give you a rough idea of the numbers – an accurate count of foetuses is not possible.

Are there any health precautions I need to take?

You want the puppies to be as healthy as possible, so making sure she has a good diet and suitable preventative care are really important.

Diet – a suitable fully balanced diet is ideal; we’d generally recommend against a raw food diet in pregnancy as it’s very hard to get the nutrient levels right. We also STRONGLY advise against giving any calcium supplementation – doing so, ironically, increases the risk of eclampsia (see in Part 2). In terms of volume, she doesn’t really need any more calories until the last 2 weeks or so and, if you overfeed, there’s a risk that she’ll be too fat, or the pups will be too big, for her to give birth normally. Of course, after birth, she needs more or less as much as she can get to make milk for her puppies!

Vaccination – puppies are protected for the first 4-6 weeks of life by their mother’s immune system, so it’s important that she is fully up to date with vaccinations, ideally before she gets pregnant. If her vaccination status will lapse during her pregnancy, you can give her a booster, but it’s probably better to boost her 3-4 weeks before she goes to the dog. If Canine Herpes (a nasty infection that is usually fatal to puppies) is a problem, there is a short-acting vaccine given in pregnancy that will protect them – but we don’t think it’s usually necessary.

Worming – some nasty roundworms can invade a puppy through the placenta, and also through the milk. During pregnancy, dormant worms may wake up and become active, so worming with a puppy-safe wormer during pregnancy is vitally important. Talk to us for advice on the dosage because it’s a bit different from normal 3-monthly doses!

How should I prepare as she gets near her time?

In the last couple of weeks of pregnancy, introduce her to the area where you want her to whelp. Remember, she’ll only whelp down somewhere she feels comfortable, safe and secure! Ideally, a box she can hide away in, with comfortable bedding (towels are good – they’re going to get messy! – and newspaper underneath is a must), nice and warm and free from draughts.

In Part 2, we’ll look at the whelping process itself.

If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to call us for advice. If you think something’s going wrong, call us any time, 24/7, and talk to one of our vets.

 

How do I decide when the time has come to put my dog to sleep?

Owning a dog is a terrible responsibility – we care for them, and look after them, and love them, but sometimes the best way to show that love is to be able to say goodbye when the pain or the suffering becomes too much. However, that can be a really hard call to make – especially as, sadly, dogs rarely die peacefully in their sleep. Normally, they struggle on and on, with life becoming increasingly difficult and painful – and that’s something we need to be able to help with. 

So, how do I decide?

The first thing to do is to think about your dog, as an individual. It is useful to do this before they become old and ill, but you can do it at any time. Firstly, make a list of all the things your dog loves doing most – the things that their life wouldn’t be worth living without. This will, of course, vary from dog to dog – which is why it’s important that you do this; even as vets, we can’t do it for you!

Then, secondly, make a list of the things they really hate, the things they truly cannot stand.

When they become old, or ill, you’ll be able to take those lists out and compare them with your dog’s current life.

  • Are they still having a good quality of life?
  • Can they still do the things they love?
  • Are they able to avoid (mostly!) doing the things they hate?
  • Are they getting more good days than bad?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you need to take a long think about their quality of life and decide if it’s time to “call it a day”.

How do I prepare myself and my family?

It is usually best to get everyone on-side – serious disagreement over this is toxic. If necessary, bring your family and your pet to the surgery, and one of our vets will be able to talk to you about quality of life issues, to help everyone make a collective decision.

In the case of children, it’s really important to make sure they’re kept “in the loop” – even if you decide that they aren’t ready to be involved in planning the decision, make sure you “signpost” it really well – that the dog is really ill, and (for example) very old; or that they are in a lot of pain or suffering. You may well find that doing this helps you to gain some perspective as well.

What will happen when we decide to have them put to sleep?

Although it’s a common turn of phrase, “put to sleep” isn’t always a helpful phrase (we’ll discuss why a little later). The technical term is euthanasia, which literally means “a good death”.

If possible, make an appointment well in advance – that way we can arrange to have the staff and time to make sure that everything goes smoothly. If your dog is stressed or anxious, we may give them a sedative to help them settle, and we’ll often leave you alone with them for a few minutes while that starts to work. Then, a small area of fur (usually on a forelimb) will be clipped so we can see the vein, and a veterinary nurse will give your dog a big hug while raising that vein. The vet will put some surgical spirit onto the skin (because it makes the vein easier to see). They will then give an injection of an anaesthetic. It isn’t a nasty poison or anything painful – it’s just a massive dose of anaesthetic, so they go peacefully to sleep and don’t wake up.

You can stay in the room while we work, or not – it’s entirely up to you – but whether you stay or not, we’ll still treat your dog with the respect they deserve. If you do stay (which most people choose to), don’t be alarmed if there are some movements or even gasps after the injection. This isn’t them reacting or suffering, but simple reflexes, and it doesn’t mean anything’s gone wrong.

There are a number of different options to deal respectfully with their remains – typically, home burial, group cremation or individual cremation with ashes back. Talk to one of our staff for more information, but if you can’t make your mind up, it isn’t usually necessary to make the decision there and then.

Afterwards…

It’s quite normal to feel grief, anger, depression or even guilt – these are normal parts of the grieving process. However, everyone deals with grief in their own way, so try to be supportive of people who seem to move through the process faster, or more slowly, than you do. Don’t beat yourself up believing, though, that “it was just a dog” – they were part of your family!

Children in particular need to be handled carefully at this time. However, it doesn’t matter how young they are, they should always be told the truth – don’t lie to them to salve their feelings, as this is usually severely counterproductive. In addition, it is not unknown for children to develop a phobia about bed-time because they had it drilled into them that their beloved pet was “put to sleep and didn’t wake up”, which is why I’m reluctant to use the phrase if young children are involved.

How they understand death and handle grief will vary with age as well as maturity and temperament, but there’s plenty of information here to help you if needed.

Likewise, there are a range of support sites and literature to help you through, if needed – if you want to talk about this to any of our staff, please give us a ring.

If you’re not sure whether it’s time, please give us a ring and talk to one of our vets. They’ll do everything they can to help you, whether, in terms of medical care or making a decision, we’re here for you and your dog.