Category: illnesses

174 The Fleas are BACK!

This weird weather of 2021 has led some clients to relax on their flea vigilance, and “surprise”, fleas are back. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t see a pet with fleas, or symptoms of recent flea bites, often from people that have never had fleas before, or pets that never leave the backyard. I have been finding myself explaining the flea life cycle A LOT lately.


Fleas are the most common external parasite of companion animals. In addition to causing itching and other skin problems, fleas can transmit diseases to animals and people. Most of the flea population (eggs, larvae, and pupae) are found off the pet and around the home, where you can’t see them.
The ideal flea control program uses products that target all the various stages of the flea life cycle and treats the pet’s environment.


The Life Cycle of the Flea: Ctenocephalides felis
The flea life cycle consists of egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. Eggs are laid in the hair coat and are designed to fall off your pet and into your home. Larvae hatch from the eggs and develop in a pet’s environment by feeding on adult flea feces (looks like dirt but is digested blood) that fall out of the hair coat of the pet. Larvae eventually spin cocoons, often within carpet fibers, for pupation. Pupae are resistant to freezing, drying, and insecticides, and can lie dormant for many months! New fleas develop from pupae and can begin feeding within hours of finding a dog or cat. The entire flea life cycle can be completed in as little as three weeks.


Today’s Flea Control Products
In the past, veterinarians and pet owners had to try to control fleas by treating the environment of the animal for the immature flea stages. This approach was labor intensive and required frequent applications. Although some older flea control products could be applied to pets, these products did not kill fleas quickly enough or were not long-lasting.
In 2021, we have some great prescription systemic flea control products in our arsenal for dogs and cats. There are now many effective and safe new products to choose from. For dogs, we carry Credelio, which is in the same class of drugs as Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica and Simparica Trio. You can also order any of these at our online pharmacy, VetSource, with a link found on our website, gardenridgevet.com. For cats, we recommend Revolution, which we carry.


Flea Control Recommendations
• Treat all pets with a monthly flea control product. Do NOT use permethrin-containing products on cats. As fleas can live indoors even in the winter, your veterinarian may also recommend year-round flea control.
• Sometimes a pet’s indoor environment also needs to be treated for fleas using a flea spray designed to quickly kill fleas and stop their reproduction. To use a spray around your home:
• Remove your pets from the area to be sprayed.
• Wash all bedding.
• Vacuum all carpets and upholstery and then discard the vacuum bag. This will prevent the flea eggs from hatching in vacuum bags and spreading through your home.
• Spray all surfaces until damp to the touch.
Don’t get lax on your flea control in August (or September or October).

Remember to treat ALL your pets. And the oral systemics do work even better than OTC topicals like Frontline.

https://www.credelio.com/about-credelio

https://www.gardenridgevet.com/

173 Thank you for your patience (and patients) for a “Rocky” few weeks

I recently missed some shift due to kidney stones and a short vacation to the Rockies. As some of you may know, my hereditary disease is kidney stones, and I seem to pass one every 2-4 years. This was one of those years. I struggled with intermittent pain all June, finally ending up in an ER in Colorado, where they confirmed that I had several. Then I had to have 2 “procedures” to get rid of them back here in Dallas.

I apologize for not being here during this episode. I am back 100% now, and pain free. I have a new appreciation for dogs and cats in chronic pain, and empathy for pets that make bladder stones.

Our vacation was hauling our 1931 Model A Ford to Colorado on a trailer, and driving around the Rocky Mountains with our Dallas Model A Ford Club. It would have been more fun if I hadn’t been in pain. I still got some pretty pictures of antique cars and enjoyed their cooler weather.

171 Anaphylaxis- a severe allergic reaction

Many of you know that I am a beekeeper. 2 years ago, I had a very bad day when I was stung about 30 times through my bee suit and was very sick. I then got a better bee suit and carried Benadryl with me whenever I worked my bees.

Last weekend, I was stung by a bee (probably) while we were driving in an open antique car. Within 15 min, I felt light head, and could not sit up. My heart was racing and was sweating all over. Fortunately, my husband quickly got some Benadryl into me, and was eventually OK. I now have a new appreciation for my dogs and cats that experience these severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis is a sudden, severe, potentially fatal, systemic allergic reaction that can involve various systems of the body such as skin, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular. Onset of symptoms may be suddenly in minutes or to two hours after contact with the allergy causing substance. Allergic reactions may be mild to life-threatening. When I see a vaccine reaction in dogs and cats, it is usually withing two hours.

Common skin symptoms are hives, rash, or a prickly feeling, with general flushing or skin & itchiness. Sometime swelling of the eyes, lips, tongue, or throat may occur. I had the general flushing, but not hives this time. Most dogs I see get hives, and facial swelling. The few cats I have see get itchy and a rash all over.

Common symptoms of the circulatory system are paleness/bluish color, dizziness, confusion, fainting. A drop in blood pressure, with shock or weakness may occur. I had dizziness, weakness, and maybe fainting. I do not remember. I have only seen a few animals that fainted, thank goodness.

Lung symptoms look like asthma, including shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing. I rarely see this in pets.

Gastrointestinal symptoms include abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Actually, GI signs very common in dogs and ferrets. I experience nausea much more the first time I got stung by those 30 bees.

Treatment of choice is immediate intramuscular injection of epinephrine, such as an Epi-Pen.

Common causes are insect stings, medications, food allergies, and latex (in humans). The most common one I see in dogs, and rarely cats are post vaccination reactions.

Anyone want to buy some beehives and equipment?

170 Why are Grapes Toxic to Dogs?

We have known for years that grapes are toxic to dogs. But we did not quite know why until maybe now and homemade playdough is the reason. Veterinarian toxicologists at the ASPCA Poison Control Center made the connection between tartaric acid and grapes while managing the case of a dog who ate homemade playdough.


We have known for 20-plus years that grapes, along with raisins and currants, can be poisonous to dogs, but we never knew exactly why. There have been several theories about the toxic component of grapes and raisins. Tartaric acid became suspect when the ASPCA Poison Control Center consulted on a case involving homemade playdough made with cream of tartar, which contains potassium bitartrate, the potassium salt of tartaric acid, instead of table salt like most homemade playdough. Tartaric acid has a wide margin of safety in humans and common lab animals such as mice, and many of the studies in dogs are outdated, so tartaric acid was not previously on the radar as the possible toxic principle.


This dog’s symptoms were different than most homemade playdough cases and were more like the cases of sudden kidney failure seen with grapes than “normal” salt toxicity. The lightbulb moment came with the realization that tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate are uniquely present in high concentrations in grapes, and that dogs are members of a species that has been shown to be sensitive to tartaric acid—with acute kidney failure reported in the older studies. Upon further investigation, tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate kept checking off the boxes in support of the theory that they are the toxic principles in grapes and raisins.


Another food that might fit this explanation includes Tamarinds [a tree that bears fruit that is used both in medicine and in cooking]. Tamarinds also contain high amounts of tartaric acid and potassium bitartrate, and the Poison Control Center has had reports of severe vomiting and acute kidney failure following large ingestions.


The toxicologists anticipate that this breakthrough will open doors to a collaborative effort toward an improved understanding of grape and raisin poisoning and, potentially, better testing, treatment, and prevention.


https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/common-human-snack-toxicities-pets


https://www.aspca.org/news/leahs-close-call-handful-grapes-nearly-cost-one-dog-her-life

#167 April in Heartworm Awareness Month

Most pet owners have heard about heartworms but may be fuzzy on the details about the nasty little critters. I hear clients ask ”why should we do a blood test when they look at their dog’s poo and don’t see worms”, or that they are “just backyard dogs” and never encounter other dogs. Here are 5 IMPORTANT FACTS EVERY PET OWNER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEARTWORM DISEASE (but were afraid to ask)


#1: Blame the mosquito! Pets do not infect each other with heartworms; pesky mosquitoes spread the disease. In fact, just ONE BITE from an infected mosquito is all it takes to infect your pet with heartworms.
#2: Heartworm infection has been diagnosed in all 50 states, but it is very prevalent in Texas. (Link to HW incidence maps- https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/incidence-maps)
We routinely diagnose 3-6 cases of canine heartworms a year at Garden Ridge Animal Hospital.
#3: Cats as well as dogs get heartworm disease. Fortunately, there is a monthly topical prevention for cats called Revolution, and it controls fleas and intestinal parasites too! Unfortunately, cats are not the correct host, and their immune system goes into high gear to fight the migrating larva, which causes severe, and often fatal, lung disease.
#4: There’s no season for heartworm disease. That is why the American Heartworm Society recommends year-round prevention.
#5: Heartworms are deadly, but heartworm prevention is affordable, highly effective and (usually) easy to give. The America Heartworm Society and Garden Ridge Animal Hospital recommend testing dogs for heartworm infection every 12 months and giving heartworm preventives all 12 months in a year. Here at Garden Ridge, we carry 2 affordable complete heartworm/intestinal oral preventions for dogs, and you can order ANY heartworm prevention brand from VetSource, our online pharmacy with a link on our website front page. (http://gardenridgeanimalhospital.vetsourceweb.com/site/view/HomeDelivery.pml)


Some dogs are extra picky and require some “pill pockets” or human food to hide the medicine. Our goal is for your dog to just think he is getting a “special treat” once a month.


Or we have a 12-month injection to prevent heartworms called Proheart 12. https://www.zoetispetcare.com/products/proheart


For more information about heartworms: https://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources

166 Easter Dangers

Every season can have potential dangers and toxicity for our pets. According to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, the top 4 dangers are chocolate, plastic Easter grass, plants, and pesticides/herbicides.

Here are my top dangers for Easter
1) Chocolate. This is easily MY favorite treat, but there is an ingredient, theobromine, that can be toxic to dogs, depending on their size. Theobromine is a relative of caffeine, and can cause vomiting, diarrhea, up to seizures. Dark chocolate is many time more toxic than milk chocolate, and white chocolate has no theobromine. If your pet eats chocolate, call your vet or the ASPCA Poison Control Center (888) 426-4435) to determine if the quantity is in the dangerous range. One Hershey kiss isn’t going to kill any dog or cat, but a whole Hershey bar can. Be prepared tell the vet amount in ounces of chocolate, the type of chocolate ( dark, baking, or milk), and the weight of your pet. I had a patient many years ago that got into the Easter Candy stash not once, but twice, and had to hospitalized both times. Some dogs just really want chocolate.
https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/digestive/c_multi_chocolate_toxicity
2) Plastic Easter Grass. It looks edible, but it isn’t, and can cause GI obstruction
3) Easter Lilies. They are beautiful, but deadly for cats, causing kidney failure. Keep them away from cats, but they don’t seem to be toxic for dogs. https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/lily
4) Xylitol. This is a common artificial sweetener, found often in sugarless gum, but there is a granulated version that some cooks use a sugar substitute. Symptoms are vomiting, seizures, low blood sugar, and liver failure.
https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/endocrine/c_dg_xylitol_toxicity
5) Candy wrappers, esp foil. Like the Easter Grass, they can really mess up a gut.
6) High Fat People Food like Ham, or Brisket. High fat can cause inflammation of the pancreas, with intense vomiting and diarrhea. I would not feed a cooked pork bone to dogs.


https://www.aspca.org/news/top-four-easter-hazards-pets

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/


154 Ivermectin to Treat Covid-19?

Some of you may have heard or read about a study that showed some efficacy of using ivermectin to kill corona virus. I was excited when I first read the headline because I have gobs of ivermectin and its cousins (selamectin, moxidectin, milbemycin) in the form of chewable dog heartworm prevention and large animal products (Ivomec) in pour on and injection forms. Heck, I even use diluted cattle Ivomec when I treat little hedgehogs and mice for mites!

But alas, the article is very clear that they were only testing infected cells in a Petri dish with ivermectin, and that is not going to help us right now. So, don’t go crazy and order some cattle Ivomec and ask me the human dose.

Ivermectin is used in many species, including humans (which I can’t prescribe for) as a tablet for parasitic worms (intestinal strongyloidiasis and onchocerciasis) and topical formulations for the treatment of external parasites such as headlice and skin conditions such as rosacea.

When ivermectin was first approved for use in dogs as monthly Heartgard tablet (not even the chewable), it was a really big deal, because before that we had only had daily DEC ( Diethylcarbamazine= liquid Dirocide or chewable Marmaduke tablets) and it tasted nasty. Some good old boys figured out the ingredient, ivermectin, was in the horse paste, and started giving it to their dogs, based on the weight compared to a horse dose. It was highly inaccurate, and some collie type dogs have a weird genetic mutation (MDR1), that makes them VERY sensitive to ivermectin class drugs and other drugs, and these “horse doses” caused neurological signs, seizures, and death. True story. The research finally revealed that dogs need a super tiny dose to prevent heartworms (about 1.5% as much as the deworming dose/# for horse), and it was safe for all dogs, even those with MD1 mutation.

Veterinarians will be closely watching the research of why a dewormer will kill a virus, and I pray we find a simple, inexpensive cure for this darn Sars-Co-2 virus soon. Until then, don’t eat your dog’s heartworm prevention. He needs it more than you do.


https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/product-safety-information/fda-letter-stakeholders-do-not-use-ivermectin-intended-animals-treatment-covid-19-humans

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.

https://www.idexx.com/en/about-idexx/covid-19-resources/

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.