On April 30, 1990, I opened Garden Ridge Animal Hospital. My ex-husband and I envisioned a free-standing homey small animal hospital where we could be our own bosses, grow a business, raise children, engage in our community, and have a wonderful life. The business succeeded, but the marriage failed in 1997 shortly after the birth of my son, Wayne. Life went on, I met a wonderful man in 2002, we married, and today we are celebrating 15 years of marriage.
Here I am 30 years later, and it has been a wonderful ride. The technology, computers, websites, and medicines, children and my hair color have changed, but the fundamentals of the human-animal bond, examining a pet, doing surgery, and communication with staff and owners are steadfast. The types of patients I have seen has changed slightly over the years, especially since I started seeing exotic pets like rabbits, ferrets, birds, reptiles, and pocket pets (rodents, hedgehogs). The last six weeks have been a crazy period, but we are still open for business. I am missing seeing my clients, many I have known for close to 30 years. I even have two clients I knew before 1990 from the first practice I worked at in Dallas, Hines North Animal Hospital.
I have been blessed with fantastic staff, pet parents, wonderful patients, lots of interesting cases, and social involvement. I have been on the City of Lewisville Animal Control committee several times, serving 6-8 years all together, most recently during the construction of the new Animal Shelter by Railroad Park. I have lead Girl Scout troops, Cub Scout troops, and hosted numerous scouting merit badge events. I have done Career Days at the High School level and Middle School level. I have worked with child daycares for Bite Prevention. We treat classroom pets. We work with pet stores to keep their critters healthy.
Lately, I have gotten involved with the Medical Reserve Corp in Denton, and Ham radio out in East Texas where we have a small cattle ranch and Airbnb lodge. My mom is alive and well, but cannot drive, so we do a weekly “lunch”, and run errands. And I get to enjoy my granddaughter in Flower Mound!
Achievements:
AAHA certification since 2006
Fear Free Certification since 2017
Best Animal Hospital People Choice Award
Best Landscaping award in 1995
I had hoped to do something special for the 30th anniversary. Something like a big open house, or a big 30% off sale, but that is not going to happen during the time of the Coronavirus. Maybe I will just have to do it for the 31st anniversary!
I hope to see ya’ll soon! Stay safe. Hug your pets.
Category: Exotic
155 Rabbit Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak in Texas
Finally, something that does not involve the Corona virus! It does involve another highly contagious and highly fatal viral disease of animals, specifically bunnies, both pet and wild species. It is not contagious to people (not zoonotic). Rabbit Hemorrhagic Fever is not new in the world but is new in the United States. Worldwide, there are 2 different strains, RHFV1 and RHFV2. The latest outbreak here in Texas is RHFV2, and it spread from New Mexico this month, mostly from wild rabbits because of the coronavirus has cancelled all the rabbit shows.
Who? We have several pools of rabbits in Texas. I mostly deal with individual pet rabbits, but some people raise rabbits commercially for show or meat or fur. There are Rabbit Shows just like there are Dog Shows. I saw hundreds of rabbits at the Fort Worth Stock Show in February. Wild bunnies, like jackrabbits and cottontails, are a slightly different species but are also affected by RHFV2. Currently, RHFV2 is limited to rabbits, domestic and wild, in the Texas Panhandle (Lubbock) and TransPecos (El Paso) parts of Texas
What? It is a virus from the calicivirus family (not coronavirus). For the symptoms, think Ebola for rabbits. This virus causes life threatening bleeding in a matter of days, from exposure to symptoms, and they die quickly by bleeding out.
“The time from infection to first signs of disease may be up to nine days. Affected rabbits may develop a fever and die within 36 hours. Infected rabbits may appear dull and be reluctant to eat; have congested membranes around the eyes; show signs of nervousness, incoordination or excitement; and/or make paddling movements. They may have trouble breathing. Upon death, they may have a blood-stained, frothy nasal discharge. Infection with the RHD virus causes lesions throughout internal organs and tissues, particularly the liver, lungs and heart, resulting in bleeding. Mortality rates range between 40% and 100% for RHDV/RHDVa and 5% and 70% for RHDV2.” Lisa Wogen, VIN, April 14,2020.
How? How did this virus get here? We are not sure, but it is in Texas now. For wild rabbits, it is easily spread through birds and lice and biting insects. For domestic rabbits (pets and rabbitries), it is easily spread from materials such as bedding, food, water, and clothing of handlers. If all bunnies “self-isolate” from others, they cannot catch it through the air. This is easy enough for pet bunnies, maybe hard for commercial rabbittries, but impossible for wild rabbits.
Where? Currently, it in just in far West Texas and the Panhandle. We fear it will spread in wild rabbits to the DFW area eventually. When it is here, we will have to think twice about letting house bunnies outside to play in the backyard.
When? Now is the best time to start strict biosecurity if you have bunnies or visit friends with bunnies. In Spain and France, there are approved vaccines for RHFV1 and RHFV2, but we do not have easy access to those. Vets in Texas are pooling together to get special permission to import vaccine, but we do not have a price or timeline yet. Stay tuned.
Why? We don’t think this was intentional or malicious, unlike the outbreak in Australia in the 1990s to control wild rabbits. It just happened.
This is big news in the bunny world. I will be “hopping” to stay on top of it!
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/fs-rhdv2.pdf
https://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/brochures/TAHCBrochure_BiosecurityRabbit.pdf
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/rabbit_hemorrhagic_disease.pdf
https://tscra.org/viral-disease-confirmed-in-wild-texas-rabbits-die-offs-reported/
153 Tiger By the Tail
As you may have heard over the last few days, one tiger in the Bronx Zoo in New York City recently tested positive for Sars-Co-2 ( the virus that is causing Covid-19 illness in humnas). It really did. And that contradicts what we have generally thought about this corona virus.
I have spent a lot of time this week learning more about this situation in animals. This virus, Sars-Co-2, is new but the first one (Sars-Co-1) that caused SARS in early 2000s has been extensively studied in animals. First, animal get many corona viruses themselves. Dogs and cats have at least 3 that I have clinically seen, so they aren’t rare. They are as common as “the common cold”. Some cause respiratory symptoms, some cause gastrointestinal symptoms.
Researchers over the last 15 years have been seeing if the human Sars-Co-1 could infected animal species like dogs, cats, horses, and ferrets. It can. It rarely goes to dogs, occasionally to cats, and easily to ferrets. So it stand to reason that the new coronavirus could theoretically be transmitted to those species.
Tigers are in the same animal family as domestic cats. The Bronx Zoo cats were not in close proximity to a known infected human, but must have come in contact through the bars to an asymptomatic human zookeeper. One zookeeper noted that several cats has upper respiratory symptoms, and the decision was made to anesthetize ONE to test, out of an abundance of caution. So one tiger did test positive, and we assume all would have but weren’t tested.
So cats (all types) CAN contract the corona virus from humans. That is confirmed.
But can cats be carriers and spread it back to humans? That is the big question and several veterinary laboratories have been doing extensive ( >5000 tests) on cats, dogs, and horses worldwide since February to see if we have any positives in the population. All tests have been negative so far, and they think they have a very specific test. The test by Idexx isn’t available commercially where a vet like in me in private practice can order it, but if the situation changes, it might be.
So YES CATS CAN BE INFECTED from humans (reverse zoonosis), but we don’t believe them to be INFECTIOUS TO HUMANS.
We kind of already knew that after the 2 positive house cats in Europe (that were in households with sick humans) recently. Both of those cats has respiratory symptoms but neither required hospitalization.
Scarier still for my practice with ferrets, is that FERRETS are MORE susceptible to coronaviruses than cats.
In conclusion, if you are sick, stay away from your pets, especially cats and ferrets. Let someone else take care of them. And if we see a sick cat, we will assume it is a cat virus, keep it away from other cats, and maybe run some cat virus panels before we even think about Sars-Co-2.
150 We were still open!
Yes we are still open! That seems to be the Number One question my staff is getting on the phone. We are using “Curbside appointments “ like most vets. I am using telemedicine to examine the patients. So far we have “seen” dogs, cats, and even a rabbit!
We are doing grooming ( until the city , county or state says we can’t), but no boarding.
Dr Frank Pena is here in person on Fridays.
We are filling medications, medicated diets, and doing lab work. It is now fully Spring so it is very important to keep those dogs and outside cats on heart worm, flea, and tick prevention.
We are referring truly sick pets that need hospitalization or surgery to the Center for Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Care at 2700 Lake Vista Drive on Hwy 121 near Costco. They are open 24 hours a day. 972-820-7099.
In the vet news: a cat in Belgium who lives with a corona virus positive owner has tested positive. That makes 2 dogs and 1 cat in the whole world. In the US, my laboratory company Idexx, has run thousands of Covid-19 tests on dog and cat samples with no positives. Should the need arise to tests pets, they are ready to go. I don’t think it will happen, unless this darn virus mutates.
Until something changes, we will be open and ready to serve your pet needs, while staying safe. Let’s all use this time to slow down, reconnect with our new 2 legged and 4 legged families, while staying healthy. We are in this for the long haul.
145 Blog Review of Texas laws on Rabies Vaccination
I have been getting quite a few hits on my blog website about rabies vaccinations, and it’s been a while since I have written about it. Here is an updated review of Texas laws concerning Rabies.
All dogs and cats in Texas must be vaccinated for rabies by 4 months of age by or under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian using a vaccine licensed by the USDA. The vaccine must be approved for that species and given after the minimum age requirement and by the right route of administration. There are no exemptions to this requirement, even for medical reasons or by demonstrating measurable rabies antibody titers.
Animals should be boosted according to the recommended interval as established by the manufacturer, unless limited by local ordinances. Most rabies vaccines are boosted at one- or three-year intervals. For a USDA licensed triennial (3 year) vaccine, the typical interval is booster 1 year after initial vaccination, and then every 3 years. For a 1-year vaccine, boosters are given annually. As far as I know, all the local cities and counties recognize the 3-year vaccine interval.
What is the minimum age for dogs and cats to be vaccinated for rabies?This is usually regarded as 12 weeks. The sweet spot is to vaccinate for rabies between 12-16 weeks of age.
What vaccines does Garden Ridge Animal Hospital use? For dogs, I use Defensor 3 by Zoetis, approved for dogs, cats, and ferrets, has a 3-year label, and have use it for over 20 year with no problems. But for cats, I currently use Purevax Feline Rabies by Merial since it is adjuvant free, but it only has a 1 year label. The non- adjuvant vaccine is recommended to reduce inflammation at injection site and prevent injection site sarcomas. No one wants their cat to get cancer because of a vaccine, but it can rarely happen. For ferrets, the Defensor 3 is approved with annual boosters.
What about very old pets or “inside only” cats? The law is clear that they must be vaccinated and stay vaccinated. Realistically, an inside only cat isn’t going to spontaneously get rabies, but if they bite or scratch a human a series of events will happen that puts your unvaccinated cat in rabies quarantine for 10 days, usually at a shelter. If a vaccinated pet bites a human, the quarantine time can often be served at home. All rabies vaccines are killed, dead, not alive. They seldom make pets even run a fever. The human rabies vaccine that I have been given is so safe I could get boosted even when I was pregnant. (Yes, vets are vaccinated against rabies)
What if my pet was vaccinated over 3 years ago, and overdue a booster? Upon receiving a single dose of vaccine, they will be considered current, and assigned the maximum vaccination interval based on the license of the vaccine.
Why does the state care about rabies vaccination and no other diseases like parvo and distemper? Rabies affects humans, is 99.9% fatal, no cure, and the other diseases don’t. We vaccinate pets to protect humans.
How does the state test for rabies in an affected animal that is euthanized? The head (brain) is sent off to the state laboratory. There is no blood test to confirm rabies for pet, livestock or wildlife.
How can I find out if my pet’s rabies vaccines are up to date? If you pet was vaccinated at Garden Ridge, we have record. You can access your pet’s vaccines history online through our Pet Portal, found on our website. You do have to log in the client number that is on your receipts, and then create a password. Many clients who board their pets elsewhere or use doggie daycare find the online portal convenient and always available.
For more information:
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/idcu/disease/rabies/vaccine/pets/
Actual legal state regulations; https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=5&ti=25&pt=1&ch=169&sch=A&rl=Y
117 Why do Small Pets Chew?
This is straight off the Oxbow website. They are THE company for “munchkin” herbivorous pocket pets like rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and mice.
The continuously-growing or “open rooted” teeth of rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas are designed to keep up with the continual wear caused by the natural, high fiber diet of small herbivores. In the wild, your animal would munch on grasses, branches, bark, and any number of other hard, fibrous materials throughout the day. In captivity, it’s essential to provide ample materials to satisfy this instinctual behavior and prevent dental overgrowth.
Chewing Checklist for Your Small Pet
High Fiber Hay
Satisfying your pet’s chewing instincts starts with hay. Every small herbivore should have unlimited access to fresh, high fiber hay each day. Hay is the primary source of fiber in your pet’s diet; in addition to providing essential dental wear, the fiber in hay is responsible for keeping your pet’s digestive system healthy and moving. Without this constant motion, your pet’s digestive system can quickly fall into a dangerous state called gastrointestinal stasis.
Safe, Natural Chews
Hay is great, but it’s essential to provide additional fun chewing options to keep your pet mentally stimulated and engaged. To accomplish this, provide a variety of safe, natural chews each day. Place these items in various locations throughout the habitat, rotating chews regularly to keep your pet mentally stimulated. Ideal materials for chews include untreated wood, hay, natural fibers such as sisal, jute, and vegetable-based dyes.
Woven-Hay Hideouts
In addition to their chewing instinct, all prey animals are wired to hide away to escape stressors throughout the day. Every habitat should include at least one hide space to support this instinct. Choose a woven-hay hideout such as Oxbow’s Timothy CLUB Bungalow to make this experience even more enriching. In addition to a safe space to hide, Timothy Club Bungalows provide an ample supply of all-natural chewing materials.
Tips for Chew-Proofing Your Home
Wires and cords
Electrical wires and cords pose a serious threat to the health of chew-happy animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. Take special care to keep these items out of your pet’s reach. Exercise pen fencing makes a great barrier to areas where cords and wires might be present. Plastic split-length tubing is available at most hardware stores and makes a great protective cover for cords in areas where it might not be possible to eliminate your pet’s access.
Houseplants
By nature, your small pet will instinctively want to forage on any green, leafy material available, including houseplants. Some houseplants can be poisonous to small pets, so make sure to keep all plants elevated and out of reach. If you are concerned about whether any of your plants might be poisonous, be sure to check with your veterinarian.
Furniture, Carpet, Etc.
For rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small pets allowed to roam the house, it can be very difficult and frustrating to prevent damage to furniture, carpet, and other “tempting to chew” elements of home décor. The best way to prevent this type of damage is to offer better, more interesting options. Provide a variety of all-natural chews, toys, and play centers throughout your pet’s living space to help prevent destructive chewing behaviors.
Benefits of Chewing Include:
• Provides essential, beneficial dental wear
• Offers mental stimulation throughout the day
• Promotes play and activity that help prevent obesity
• Prevents boredom-based behaviors
• Helps build your bond with your pet
Check out Oxbow’s new line of toys- Enriched Life- the video is very cute.
https://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/blog/all-about-chewing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk6v3qljUkM&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv3zr7bhtRc&feature=youtu.be
116 “Zombie” deer disease- CWD
You may have heard of a weird disease in deer called the “Zombie” deer disease, which is really Chronic Wasting Disease ( CWD). This is a contagious always-fatal neurologic disease affecting cervids (deer, elk and moose), that is contributing to declines in herds and raising the possibility of local extinctions. It has been identified for 40 years in Western states, but recently has been popping up occasionally in Texas in mule deer on the New Mexico border and some captive fancy deer herds near San Antonio. It is not in our native white tail deer population yet.
What it is? CWD belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Within this family of diseases, there are several other variants that affect domestic animals: scrapie, which has been identified in domestic sheep and goats for more than 200 years, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle (also known as “mad cow disease”), and transmissible mink encephalopathy in farmed mink.Several rare human diseases are also TSEs. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) occurs naturally in about one out of every one million people worldwide. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (v-CJD) has been associated with the large-scale outbreak of BSE in cattle herds in Great Britain.
What are symptoms? It causes a characteristic spongy degeneration of the brains of infected animals resulting in emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions and death. While yearlings and even fawns can contract CWD (often getting the disease in utero from their mother), late-stage CWD symptoms are usually only visible in adult animals because of CWD’s long incubation period (usually around 18 months but may be as long as two years). In most cases, animals with CWD show no visible, outward symptoms of the disease for all but the last few months of the disease’s cycle. Thus, the majority of infected animals are virtually impossible to distinguish from healthy, non-infected animals. Because CWD affects the neurological system of an infected animal first, other causes of mortality (predators, vehicle collisions, other diseases) usually remove the animals from the population far before outward signs of the disease become apparent.
However, if an infected animal survives to the final stage of this always-fatal disease, the most obvious and consistent clinical sign is emaciation. CWD affected animals continue to eat but amounts of feed consumed are reduced, leading to gradual loss of body condition. Excessive drinking and urination are also common in the terminal stages.
Behavioral changes also occur in the majority of cases of late-stage CWD, including decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowering of the head, blank facial expression and repetitive walking in set patterns. In elk, behavioral changes may also include hyper-excitability and nervousness. Excessive salivation, drooling and grinding of the teeth also are observed. This is where it got the “zombie” nickname.
Why is it important? CWD poses serious problems for wildlife managers and the implications for free-ranging deer and elk are significant. Where it occurs, CWD alters the management of wild deer and elk populations. Ultimately, perceptions about human health risks associated with all TSE’s may erode hunter’s confidence and their willingness to hunt in areas where CWD occurs. This would be a huge hit to Texas deer hunters if people were afraid to eat venison.
Can humans get it? Scientists don’t think so, but health and wildlife officials advise caution. Hunters are encouraged not to consume meat from animals known to be infected. In addition, hunters should take common sense precautions when field dressing and processing deer or elk taken in areas where CWD is found.
How can we control/prevent it? Migrating wild animals are hard to control. States are trying to stop cervids from crossing state lines, running surveillance programs and vaccines are being developed. The latest in vaccine testing was in my vet news this week, but it wasn’t 100% effective in the test cases.
For more information:
http://cwd-info.org/faq/
https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cwd/index.html
https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/170815a.aspx
https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/180915l.aspx
https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/190701l.aspx
106 Veterinary Care of Dragons
I love Games of Thrones. I am looking forward to seeing the dragons again April 14 in the final season of the HBO series.
I was originally planning on writing an article about the veterinary care and husbandry of bearded dragons, a small pet species that I treat and enjoy. I also just watched the latest Jurassic Park movie that had an actual dinosaur veterinarian! And then I started imaging what it would be like being a veterinarian for the Game of Thrones dragons! So many veterinary principles would still be the same. Here are my thoughts on the care of this exotic “new” species.
While a bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is small omnivorous reptile, originally from Australia and quite tame, the Game of Thrones dragons can be quite large, carnivorous, fire belching and quite vicious. So how would I take care of one if Daenerys asked for advice?
Diet: What is the optimum diet for a growing dragon? Sheep? Cattle? Humans? How many a day does one need to eat to optimize growth? I don’t think we know yet, but we would probably want “fresh” healthy prey, not frozen, canned in armor or ill meat (zombies). Do they ever stop growing?
Environment/temperatures: All the reptiles I see are cold blooded, and never do well in the frozen temperatures we saw north of the wall. I can’t imagine flying north is good for our dragon’s metabolism, but they seem to withstand it. Maybe they aren’t cold blooded? Maybe they generate their own heat internally since they breathe forth fire? And what if you are changed to an ice dragon? That may help withstand the cold, but then can Viserion tolerate the heat of Kings Landing?
Training: These dragons seem highly intelligent and very food driven. As a new puppy owner, I know I can get them to do a lot for food. I also know they are high energy and need lots of exercise. Dany figured that out the season when she tried to chain them up to not let them fly, and naughty behavior ensued. I wonder if you could use clicker training on them like Owen does for the velociraptors in Jurassic World? What about pheromones? They do seem calmer when around Dany and her Targaryen “scent” and Jon (spoiler alert), so could we bottle that smell and tame the dragons? They obviously can be voice trained as in the “dracarys” command to breathe fire, maybe we can teach them some less lethal commands such as sit, roll over, fetch.
Parasite control: Reptiles commonly get parasites from their prey, so I think dragons would be no exception. I imagine those hordes of Dothraki might have some parasites. We could certainly send out a fecal to look for parasites if we could find a fresh dropping. Or maybe the fire inside kills all internal parasites? What about external parasites? Maybe we could have Dany apply a topical dewormer on their back based on their estimated weights.
Nail trim: I don’t even want to try, but the Fear Free approach might have Dany conditioning them to allow foot exams, then gentle touching and eventually filing or Dremel tool. But maybe their nails should stay sharp to help them catch prey like a raptor? She should have addressed this training when they were small and perching on her naked shoulders. Ouch.
Reproduction: Well dragons obviously lay eggs. But are these 3 dragons related? Are we sure about their sexes? How does one sex a dragon? Does it matter is they are the only dragons in Westeros? Do we want to have more dragons? Couldn’t we just clone them like Jurassic World?
Euthanasia: The current euthanasia of reptiles is sedation, followed by injection of euthanasia solution directly into the heart. Even then it is a slow process. Freezing a reptile is considered inhumane. These dragons seem to have a weak spot for dragon glass. But when Viserion was struck with a magic ice spear, and fell into a frozen lake, she became an undead ice dragon. Winter is coming has just taken on a whole new meaning with more bad tidings. I have questions and where did I put that dragon glass just in case?
93 RIP Spotticus
We had to euthanize our 25 year old leopard gecko today. He has been plagued by abscessing hemipenes the last year or so, and this last time it spread to a cellulitis of his entire cloaca region. Despite our best efforts and husbandry, he got much worse and lost over 20% of his body weight.
Having an older reptile here has been a great teaching tool for the staff and clients on basic reptile husbandry. He was a local celebrity for many children who came through. He was “gifted” to us by a client in 2012, but she had had him since 1993! He was 25 years old. He is survived by his latest “wife” Dotticus.
RIP Spotticus 4/1/1993-1/3/2019
91 Santa’s ELVES Certified
As a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, and USDA accredited vet to write health certificates, I am signed up to be an official “Santa’s E.L.V.E.S.” (Emergency Landing and Veterinary Expert System).
Many of you know that I treat exotic pets, and some done some cattle work, but I have also had a “crash course” on reindeer medicine. Larissa, our new head nurse, and Kayla up front both have worked in mixed animal practice before with cattle. In the event that Santa’s reindeer team needs to make an unscheduled Christmas Eve stop for sled repairs, refueling, or veterinary care, staff at Garden Ridge Animal Hospital will be available to provide needed assistance and ensure a safe and on-time delivery of Santa’s cargo.
Our new illuminated sign will be in soon, maybe in time for Santa to find us easily.
Just like you and your pets, Santa’s reindeer need to be examined and issued health certificates in order to travel between U.S. states or across national borders. Thankfully, they’ve never had a problem being certified for flight, due in good measure to the regular examinations and preventive veterinary care they receive from AVMA’s president to keep them healthy.
AVMA’s current president, Dr. John de Jong, examined the reindeer shortly before their 2018 Christmas flight to make sure their paperwork was up to date and that they were all healthy enough to fly. And … good news! All the reindeer have received full “RTF” (“Ready To Fly”) status, so be prepared to hear on your roof “The prancing and pawing of each little hoof!”
To learn more about Santa’s reindeer, visit AVMA.org/Santa