As we get close to Easter this year, I began wondering why a rabbit is a common symbol for the holiday. And we have already started getting calls from clients that they have found an”abandoned” litter of baby bunnies in their yard.
Wikipedia had some answers to my Easter Bunny questions. In the 1700s, German Lutherans brought the tradition of the “Easter Hare” who was like a rabbit version of Santa Claus that judged children‘s behavior, would dress in clothes, and carry a basket with eggs and candy. Another theory has to do with the prolific reproductive abilities of rabbits to have many offspring, representing a fertility symbol for spring.
As a vet, I do see pet rabbits of all ages. But I don’t recommend “wild” rabbits as pets, which are not the same species as our common domesticated rabbits. Bunnies, like all live pets including dogs and cats, should not be “gifts” for children.
What should you do if find baby bunnies in your yard? There is some great information on http://www.wildrescuetexas.org/. Wild bunnies are prey, so they don’t stay at the nest like a dog or cat might. Mamma bunnies stay away, only coming in a few times a day, generally under cover of darkness, to quickly feed the babies and leave again. So it is perfectly normal NOT to see the momma bunny. Don’t panic, check out the website for tricks to see if babies are OK, and how to check if mom has checked on them. Fun fact, baby rabbits have their eye closed (like dogs and cats also) until they are 10 days old. By 3 and ½ weeks they are weaned, and by 4 to 5 weeks they are ready to go out in the world on their own.
What if your kids want to “see the Easter Bunny”? He will be at the Lewisville Mall (now called Music City Mall, 11am-7 pm every day until Saturday, March 31, and Easter Sunday he will be there noon- 6pm for pictures. http://www.mcmlewisville.com/ The Highland Village annual Easter Egg Hunt at Unity Park was last weekend, March 24. Last weekend was also the Funny Bunny Festival for Lewisville at Railroad Park with a petting zoo, train, egg hunts and pictures with the Easter Bunny.
There is a new event this weekend called Fido Fest 2018 at Westchester Park in Flower Mound, Saturday March 31, from 10 am to 1 pm. There will be a dog walk, contests, activities, vendors, and entertainment. Admission is free, dogs are welcome, but some activities have fees. For more info, HumaneTomorrow.org/FidoFest.
For more Bunny information:
http://www.wildrescuetexas.org/
https://www.greensourcedfw.org/articles/north-texas-wild-dallas-rehabber-wild-rabbit-rescues-multiply-spring
Month: March 2018
Top 10 Animal Toxins of 2017
Every year the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) releases the top 10 categories of toxins that affect pets. The 2017 list was based on 199,000 cases of potential poisonings. This is not the same ratio I see at Garden Ridge, but it is interesting to see the trends.
1.Human prescription medications: 17.5%
At the top of their list is prescription pain medicine, antidepressants and heart medicines. They are usually accidental exposures
2. Over-the-counter medications: 17.4%
Just like last year, OTC came in 2nd place, and this includes vitamins, NSAIDS( like Tylenol, ibuprofen, and Aleve), antihistamines, cold medicines and probiotics.
3. Food: 10.9%
Some food may not be safe for pets, including, grapes and raisins, onions and garlic, avocados, macadamia nuts, alcohol, raw yeast bread dough and xylitol ( an artificial sweetener).
4. Veterinary products: 8.9%
This is usually over ingestion of flavored or chewable veterinary products. I once had a dog eat an entire bottle (30 doses) of a chewable Rimadyl, an arthritis medicine. We had to induce vomiting on that one.
5. Chocolate: 8.8%
In 2017 the Animal Poison Control Center fielded more than 48 calls a day about chocolate! It is a common problem around Valentine day, Easter and Christmas.
6. Household items: 8.6%
The Tide Challenge for dogs. These laundry pods are a problem for pets too.
7. Insecticides: 6.7%
The most common sources of insecticides are ant baits, bug strays, and yard products. I don’t see nearly as many of these as I used to.
8. Rodenticides: 6.3%
I would put this much higher on my list. While anticoagulant rodenticides are still available, bromethalin, a neurotoxin, is also seen and also very serious..
9. Plants: 5.4%
Plants like lilies (Lilium sp and Hemerocallis sp.) pose a serious danger for cats while Sago palm and oleander plants continue to be a serious danger for both dogs and cats. I have treated several dogs of the years for Sago palm liver toxicity. I wish plant nurseries would stop selling them.
10. Garden products: 2.6%
Garden products are another category that many pets find very tasty. Fertilizer, bone meal and compost are all garden products dogs find irresistible. APCC also gets a fair number of calls about herbicides. While not as tasty, use of herbicides in areas that pets frequent is usually the cause of those calls.
https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/top-10-animal-toxins-2017
#50 National Poison Control Prevention Week- March 18-24, 2018
Every year, the 3rd week in March is the National Poison Control Prevention Week. It is more geared for humans, but pets can be poisoned too.
As a vet, I get to see lots of accidental exposures to poisons in dogs and cats. The most common ones are chocolate (saw one today), rat poison, insecticides, sorbitol (an artificial sweetener), and human pharmaceutics (heart meds, ADHD, birth control pills). Fortunately, I seldom see the nasty ones like Tylenol toxicity in cats, antifreeze, and marijuana toxicity in dogs,
Just like we have to be careful with medications around children, we have to do the same around pets, especially the “my dog will eat anything” kind. So lock them up, use baby latches for cupboards, and store them up high. Don’t assume a childproof bottle will keep a determined Labrador out. It won’t, because they just eat the plastic! And just because your mom’s medicines are on her nightstand, don’t assume the cat won’t explore, knock them on the floor for the Chihuahua to eat. I’ve seen that.
But accidents sometimes happen, and they we go into Poison Control mode. The first step is always:
WHAT did he eat? Not as easy as it sounds when the bottle is missing, or the chocolate bag is shredded. But it is imperative that you bring in the box/wrapper/whatever with you for a possible toxicity. We can look up the exact ingredients. I have even had clients use their cell phones to look up the product on Amazon where they bought it. That helps.
HOW MUCH did he eat? Again not always easy, but we make our best guesses.
WHEN did he eat it? I used to think this was easy, but what if you just came home at 5 pm, and found chewed up pill vials. We never know if they ate it at 8 am or 5 minutes ago.
WHO ate it? I have had numerous cases of multiple dog households where we weren’t sure WHO at the rat poison. So we had to make them ALL vomit. They we could tell. Sometimes the answer is ALL of them.
WHY did he eat it? I never ask that. But I did have one dog that got into bags of Easter Candy not once, but twice before Easter. I did wonder why the owner bought more candy and assumed the dog wouldn’t get into the pantry again.
You can’t just call 911 and get a pet poison control. The best one for pets is Animal Poison Control Center, 855-764-7661, and it costs $59. It’s the one vets use.
# 49 National K9 Veteran Day March 13, 2018
Next Tuesday, March 13 is National K9 Veteran Day. There is a fascinating history of “War Dogs” in the US that started with the “K9 Corp” during WWII. Of course, dogs have been used for centuries during war, sometimes not very humanely. But during WWII they resurfaced as sentries for military bases and to prevent sabotage. They were used extensively in Vietnam and lately in the Middle East. I liked the recent movie Max which is about a Malinois service dog that comes home to “Texas” after his handler dies, is placed with the handler’s family, with adjustment problems. (They were wearing sweaters at July 4th picnic, with mountains in background, so I doubt it was filmed in Longview). I recommend checking it out.
I imagined most K9 Corp dogs were German Shepherds or Malinois, but there was a famous Yorkshire Terrier who strung communication lines and a Newfoundland who played fetch with a Japanese hand grenade. In 2015, there were about 2500 dogs in the military and 700 overseas. For more fascinating history of war dogs: http://www.uswardogs.org/war-dog-history/world-war-2/
And if you know or see a K9 veteran, thank him for his service.
For more information:
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-k9-veterans-day-march-13/
https://www.facebook.com/NationalK9VeteransDay/
#48 What comes after the rain? March 1, 2018
Goodness knows the lakes needed the heavy rains of the last two weeks, but I am ready for some sunshine, and so are our dogs and outdoor cats. I am seeing a lot of puddles, standing water, & soggy grass instead of rainbows. What I can’t see are some hidden dangers.
Leptospirosis- This is a common bacterial disease in our area. It harbors in the urine of wildlife, and can easily get into our parks and yards. Dog can get exposed by drinking the contaminated water or just even splashing in mucous membranes like eyes. This little spirochete then gets into the bloodstream and can cause liver or kidney failure. Symptoms include fever, nausea, diarrhea, yellow tinge to membranes, and death. And it can then be spread to humans if we get exposed to the urine of infected dogs. Cats rarely get this disease, but cattle can too. The local vet emergency clinic in Flower Mound routinely sees cases of canine Lepto. Fortunately there is a vaccine that we recommend for all dogs in our area, but it only lasts for year.
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/Leptospirosis.aspx
Giardia– All the wetness is a perfect place of lots of intestinal parasites, but especially giardia, which is a protozoa, not a “worm”. It causes mild to moderate diarrhea, soft or mucoid stools, gassiness, and is highly contagious. We see it mostly in puppies or kittens, or families that just got a puppy or kitten. It is highly contagious, and difficult to clear a household. It isn’t controlled with heartworm prevention unlike hookworms, roundworms, and tapeworms. Humans can get giardia too.
https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_multi_giardiasis
Mushrooms– We have all seen mushroom pop up in our lawns after rains. These are just the fruiting bodies of many types of normal fungus that live in our soils, not just one kind. Some can be poisonous (hallucination, excessive salivation, or liver failure), others just cause GI upset. It is best to prevent ingestion. I rarely see mushroom toxicity here in Lewisville. If you suspect toxicity, try to collect a sample of the mushroom when you bring the dog to the vet.
http://americanmushrooms.com/lawnandgarden.htm
Mosquitos (think heartworms)– Hopefully, we all know that mosquitos are the carrier of heartworms, and nasty little blood suckers too. This is another reason to keep your dog and outside cat on year-round heartworm prevention.
https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/heartworm-basics
Antifreeze– Good ole ethylene glycol that keeps our car engines from overheating in the summer, and freezing in the winter. Unfortunately, it has a very sweet taste that many dogs and outside cats like. Even a small amount of antifreeze is very toxic to the kidneys and usually causes death. Most of us are very careful if we change our own antifreeze, but it could be a problem in parking lots with standing water where someone else has dripped antifreeze on the pavement. Best not to drink from puddles.
http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/antifreeze/
see our Facebook page about cats hating to get wet
https://www.facebook.com/Garden-Ridge-Animal-Hospital-371475996712/