My Awesome Pet Official Blog

Archive for June, 2009

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Have you ever heard of a French Spay? I took my Yorkie to a vet to get spayed, and they almost lost her. The vet said that she was oozing blood from some of her organ tissues, and couldn’t find where the blood was coming from. So, instead of doing a regular spay, and make more cuts on her, the vet did what she called a French Spay.

Laura
Somerset, CA

Until you wrote to me, I had never heard of a French Spay. And a Google search revealed that the term isn’t commonly used. But after sorting through several worthless links, I found a discussion forum that seemed to offer the answer. A French Spay is an ovariectomy.

Normal spays, as every vet I know performs them, are ovariohysterectomies. In this procedure, the ovaries and uterus are removed from the body. In a French Spay only the ovaries are removed.

A French Spay will render a dog infertile and will eliminate heat cycles. Because the uterus need not be transsected, there is less risk of bleeding during surgery. However, a dog with an intact uterus will be at slight risk for uterine infections or cancer later in life.

If your dog was bleeding abnormally during surgery, a French Spay probably was a wise choice. However, I am worried about the abnormal bleeding. Bleeding like that doesn’t just happen–there has to be a reason.

Yorkshire Terriers and other small breeds of dogs are prone to a problem called liver shunt. This can lead to bleeding problems (and many other issues) in some cases.

I’d recommend that you pursue this matter further. Blood tests and diagnostic imaging may help to determine whether it is safe to correct the inguinal hernia that you have described.

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I was wondering what are the “official” signs of an insane cat or as the vet told me a “special edition”?

Jazmin
Montreal, QC

In my opinion “special edition” isn’t the most diplomatic way of describing a cat whose behavior and temperament aren’t “normal”.

Of course, the word normal needs to be in quotes because the truth is that there is no way to define a truly normal personality in any species. And there certainly is no official definition of insanity in cats.

There is no DSM-IV for cats (heck, we don’t even have a DSM-I in veterinary medicine). Nonetheless, it is clear that cats and dogs can suffer from anxiety disorders (including separation anxiety in dogs), obsessive-compulsive behaviors (such as psychogenic alopecia in cats), impulse control problems, and a host of other psychogenic issues. (Vets use the term psychogenic in place of psychological.)

Brains are exceptionally complex organs. Hereditary traits and environmental conditions during development can lead to irregular brain circuitry and chemistry that are linked to behavioral or psychogenic issues in pets.

At this time, the field of veterinary behavior (which is the closest thing vets have to psychiatry or psychology) is still more or less in its infancy. But in due course I am confident we will make great strides towards understanding the basis of “abnormal” behaviors in pets. And maybe, some day, we will even have our own DSM.

If you love dogs, you’ll love MyAwesomePet.com. My Awesome Pet is the number one social site for pet lovers. Their pet friendly community is like a "My Space" for pets. Create a free profile for you and your pet. Post lots of pictures, pet videos, read their professional articles and blogs.

Clearly they meant well . . .

From the “It must be true . . . I read it in the tabloids” section of the July 3 - 10, 2009 issue of The Week.

Two baby flamingos at . . . London Zoo have developed a phobia of the color pink. The month-old chicks, named Little and Large, both have the pale gray plumage flamingos are born with. In an attempt to feed them, zookeepers used a pink sock-puppet of an adult flamingo, but it only terrified the chicks. Their resulting phobia of anything pink has worrying implications for their future mental health. “We’ll just have to hope they get used to the color,” said keeper Alison Brown.

If you love dogs, you’ll love MyAwesomePet.com. My Awesome Pet is the number one social site for pet lovers. Their pet friendly community is like a "My Space" for pets. Create a free profile for you and your pet. Post lots of pictures, pet videos, read their professional articles and blogs.

Are you a pet lover? Join the number one community site for pets and their owners. Visit MyAwesomePet.com

Yesterday a client brought a young male Pit Bull puppy to see me. The client was worried about eight small lumps located along the dog’s underside. Could they be flea bites? Some sort of rash? A strange form of juvenile cancer?

She was surprised to learn that the lumps in question were the dog’s nipples.

She asked why a male would have nipples. Before the advent of modern embryology, that question triggered an existential dilemma for many people. But these days the answer is known.

I started off with, “for the same reason that men have nipples.” That seemed to satisfy her, and she declined to listen to the rest of my explanation. It’s probably for the best, since the explanation is quite boring: the cells that develop into nipples differentiate prior to the release of sex hormones that lead to sexual dimorphism.

If you love dogs, you’ll love MyAwesomePet.com. My Awesome Pet is the number one social site for pet lovers. Their pet friendly community is like a "My Space" for pets. Create a free profile for you and your pet. Post lots of pictures, pet videos, read their professional articles and blogs.

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My three-year old spayed female cat is being treated with Clavamox for a UTI. She’s had five doses of the Clavamox over the past 2 1/2 days, but is still spraying urine and also calling loudly as though she were in season. She has never done this before, but has also never had a UTI before. Is this to be expected? How soon should I expect a reduction in symptoms?

Scotti
Cypress, TX

Bladder infections are common in both cats and dogs. In dogs and in older cats, they are the most common causes of uncomfortable urination, bloody urine, and inappropriate urination (cats, dogs). However, in young cats such as yours, another syndrome can have identical symptoms to a bladder infection: feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD).

FLUTD is a process in which urinary chemistry imbalances lead to painful urination. It is linked to crystals in the urine and abnormal urine pH levels. In all cats it is very uncomfortable. In male cats it is linked to a potentially fatal complication called urinary obstruction.

Most bladder infections improve dramatically with one or two doses of antibiotics. If your cat has not had urine tests to confirm a bladder infection, I am suspicious that she may not have an infection. You should talk to your vet about this.

FLUTD usually is treated through dietary changes. It is a chronic problem that can cause intermittent pain and, in male cats, chronic risk of urinary obstruction. It is important to determine with certainty which problem your cat has.

If you love dogs, you’ll love MyAwesomePet.com. My Awesome Pet is the number one social site for pet lovers. Their pet friendly community is like a "My Space" for pets. Create a free profile for you and your pet. Post lots of pictures, pet videos, read their professional articles and blogs.

All animal lovers know that the day may come when they’ll have to say a forever goodbye to their pet. That moment came Monday night on “The Closer” when Brenda Johnson, played by actress Kyra Sedgwick, had to put her beloved cat Kitty to sleep.

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All animal lovers know that the day may come when they’ll have to say a forever goodbye to their pet. That moment came Monday night on “The Closer” when Brenda Johnson, played by actress Kyra Sedgwick, had to put her beloved cat Kitty to sleep.

Are you a pet lover? Join the number one community site for pets and their owners. Visit MyAwesomePet.com

I’d like to thank Denise, of San Francisco, for drawing my attention to a clever program in Merced County, California. The program highlights my all-time favorite blogging theme: the benefits that humans derive from dogs and cats.

Last October this blog covered a program in which veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder trained service dogs. The veterans enjoyed demonstrable improvement and the dogs went on to help other disabled individuals.

Merced County’s program is similar. In the program, at-risk high school students train assistance dogs. According to the county’s website, the students have reaped numerous benefits.

While training service dogs for the disabled, at-risk youth learn about child abuse, animal abuse, and domestic violence, and also explore empathy, citizenship, responsibility, and good choices.

The dogs are accepting and non-judgmental while offering love and motivating the students.

Watching the dogs’ rapid, measurable progress teaches the teens that positive reinforcement, empathy, and an encouraging, upbeat attitude are effective methods of interacting with others.

The children that participated have improved self esteem, behavior at home, school performance, and many are no longer involved in the child welfare system.

Through pre-testing and midway-point testing, HSA is able to show the teens knowledge of dog behavior, domestic violence, and child / animal abuse.

Interviews with the teens reveal diminishing gang involvement, self-injury, and substance abuse.

Interviews with parents show support for the positive impact on the teens, including improved home relationships, grades, and a decrease in trouble at school and negative peer relationships.

The community receives an increase of well-trained dogs to provide assistance to those in need.

As for the program’s downsides . . . I can’t think of any.

According to the County Website, the program was the idea of a social worker who noticed the positive effects of an in-training service dog on children. My hat goes off to that individual, and to the County of Merced.

If you love dogs, you’ll love MyAwesomePet.com. My Awesome Pet is the number one social site for pet lovers. Their pet friendly community is like a "My Space" for pets. Create a free profile for you and your pet. Post lots of pictures, pet videos, read their professional articles and blogs.

Make Your Pet Famous!!! Check out the number one pet community on the internet. And while you’re there, you can create a free profile for you and your awesome pet. MyAwesomePet.com

Almost half of American pet owners gave an animal a human-like name, such as Jack or Sophie, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll of more than 1,000 pet owners released Tuesday.

Make Your Pet Famous!!! Check out the number one pet community on the internet. And while you’re there, you can create a free profile for you and your awesome pet. MyAwesomePet.com

My 7 month old puppy pees at least 10 times a day and poops like 4-5 times a day. After he goes to the bathroom he comes in and drinks a full bowl of water then an hour later has to pee again.

Kortnie
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Anyone who has lived with one knows that puppies and kittens produce proportionately more waste than adult dogs and cats.

Their rapid growth is the reason for this. Young animals must process a great deal of food to make muscles, organs, and tissues. They need to drink large amounts of water in order to process the large amounts of food. And, because they eat and drink so much, they produce large amounts of waste.

Young puppies also urinate more often than adults until they are house trained (this is a behavioral matter). Also, puppies may urinate as a sign of submission. And many different diseases and syndromes may cause changes in urination.

But based on your description, I’m guessing that your puppy is urinating and defecating normally.

If you love dogs, you’ll love MyAwesomePet.com. My Awesome Pet is the number one social site for pet lovers. Their pet friendly community is like a "My Space" for pets. Create a free profile for you and your pet. Post lots of pictures, pet videos, read their professional articles and blogs.