In our October 2017 Newsletter, The Meowing Vet highlights the key points that pet owners should remember from our September 2017 articles and provides a sneak-peek of our upcoming blog topics for October!
Our newsletter this month also serves as a reminder that October is Rabies Awareness Month, so take a moment to read and share The Meowing Vet’s article on Rabies to learn how to protect yourself and your pet’s health if you live in or travel to a country where Rabies is a threat.
The Big Fix: Facts and Myths of Spaying and Neutering Your Pets
September 8, 2017
- Having your dogs and cats spayed (for females) or neutered (for males) not only helps reduce pet overpopulation and the number of unwanted animals in shelter settings, but it can also improve your pet’s health.
- Though some potential health risks are increased when a dog or cat is de-sexed, sterilization decreases the risk of many reproductive cancers (mammary, ovarian, and testicular). Each heat cycle increases your female dog or cat’s risk of developing mammary gland adenocarcinoma (“breast cancer”)! Additionally, spaying prevents pyometra, a serious uterine infection in females that can be fatal if not promptly treated.
- Dogs and cats enter puberty around 6 months of age, with females entering estrus (i.e. going in heat) around this time. Ideally, cats should be fixed at 6 months old. Small breed dogs may be spayed or neutered around the same age. However, such surgery for large and giant breed dogs should preferably be delayed until they reach 1 year old to prevent developmental joint diseases, which can cause osteoarthritis.
- Following a spay or neuter operation, your pet should be strictly prevented from excessive activity and from licking his or her surgical incision. Serious complications can otherwise arise.
The Pee Pee Dance: Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) in Dogs and Cats
September 18, 2017
- Lower urinary tract infections (UTIs) involve a bacterial or fungal infection of the bladder and urethra. Most are caused when E. coli from fecal matter or Staph bacteria from genital skin infections travel up the urethra and into the bladder.
- Signs of a lower UTI include increased urgency to urinate small amounts of urine (without an increase in thirst), straining or discomfort while urinating, and bloody urine.
- Bladder infections are more common in females than in males because females have a shorter urethra that is also closer to the anus than is a males. Thus, contamination of the urinary tract with bacteria from feces is more likely to occur.
- A UTI can occur secondary to another underlying condition, such as obesity-associated complications, Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), bladder stones, bladder cancer, a recessed or hooded vulva, Cushing’s disease, diabetes mellitus. A UTI in a cat generally has an underlying disease causing it.
- If left untreated, bladder infections can cause struvite stones to form in the bladder, can lead to diskospondylitis (infection around the bones of the spine), and can spread to the kidneys. Kidney infections are extremely dangerous and can cause kidney failure and sepsis.
- Bladder infections are diagnosed via a urinalysis and are treated with antibiotics. It is very important that you give your pet his or her antibiotic exactly as your veterinarian prescribed for the full course that was given. In addition to antibiotic use, it is also imperative to treat the underlying issue that is triggering your dog or cat to develop a secondary UTI.
- Cranberry extract may help reduce the frequency of recurrent UTIs in some animals.
Disease Spotlight: Rabies
September 29, 2017
- Rabies is an incurable viral infection of the nervous system. It is zoonotic (transmissible between animals and humans) and can cause death to both humans and mammals (including pets and wildlife) within 2 weeks of exposure.
- Once the virus has spread to the central nervous system and clinical signs have developed, death occurs in 100% of disease cases.
- An estimated 55,000 people die of Rabies each year, with most deaths occurring in Asia and Africa.
- Most cases in humans occur secondary to dog bites, with most of these bites involving children.
- Disease can be prevented in regions where Rabies is endemic by avoiding wild dogs and wildlife vectors, receiving proper post-exposure prophylaxis if you are bitten by an animal suspected of having Rabies, and having your pets (dogs, cats, ferrets) vaccinated against Rabies.
Preview of The Meowing Vet’s upcoming article topics for the month of October: (topics or order subject to change)
- October 9: Pet Obesity
- October 20: A Halloween Special
For more information, visit www.themeowingvet.com. And Don’t forget to subscribe to our e-mail notification list to keep receiving these newsletters.
xoxo
Maranda Elswick, DVM
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