Heartworms in dogs easily preventable
By Michelle Marshall
Canine heartworm disease continues to be a major, life-threatening issue for dogs all over the world. It has been found in all 50 of the United States, and the American Heartworm Society recently released a new study showing an increase in the incidence of heartworm disease throughout the country.
I am often amazed at the lackadaisical attitude that some pet owners have toward heartworm disease. It is easily preventable by giving a medication monthly. Why would anyone choose not to do this for their pet?
The heartworm blood parasite, Dirofilaria immitis, is spread by mosquitoes that feed on an infected dog by taking blood. The mosquito transmits the microfilaria — heartworm offspring — to other animals when it bites them. The microfilaria mature and migrate to the heart and pulmonary vessels, where they produce thousands of infective larvae. Symptoms of heartworm disease include difficult breathing, coughing, exercise intolerance, weight loss and heart failure. Sudden death with no obvious symptoms might also occur.
Heartworm preventative should be given every month, year-round in Missouri. It is easy to give and comes in a variety of forms. Chewable tablets, flavortabs and topicals are all available. For those with difficulty remembering to give medications, you can sign up through several different companies to receive monthly e-mails or post card reminders. Stickers to put on the calendar to help you remember also come in every box of heartworm preventative.
Dogs should have a yearly blood test for heartworms. This is recommended even for those on the monthly preventative. Missed doses, dogs that threw up the medication, confusion over who was giving the medication and tricky dogs who spit out medications are all reasons why yearly tests are recommended.
Testing is one aspect of heartworms that causes a lot of confusion. Heartworms have a very long life cycle, so it takes six to eight months from the time of infection before a dog will test positive. This explains why a dog that tests negative and is given preventative every month for a year might test positive the next year. The test kits used in most veterinary hospitals detect the presence of the feline heartworm uterine antigen. This means that a dog with only male heartworms will not test positive.
There are also some misconceptions about heartworms. One is that inside pets do not need to be given monthly preventative. Even if your dog never leaves the house to go for a walk, play or take care of bathroom duties, it should still be on preventative. Mosquitoes can and do get in the house. It takes the bite of only one infected mosquito to transmit heartworms.
Owners of dogs with long or thick fur coats sometimes question the necessity of giving heartworm preventative. Do not underestimate the determination of mosquitoes. They will find a way to get a blood meal through all that fur.
My favorite excuse that people sometimes give for not using heartworm preventative is that they have had dogs for years and they never got heartworms. You could probably cross the street without looking both ways many times without getting hit by a car, but is that really a good idea?
Heartworms can infect cats and many other species. Heartworm disease of cats poses many challenges and will be discussed in my next column. For more information regarding prevention of heartworms in dogs, contact your veterinarian or go to the American Heartworm Society Web site at www.heartwormsociety.org.
Guest columnist Michelle Marshall is a veterinarian at Horton Animal Hospital Northeast. Susan Hatfield is the president and co-founder of Happy Tails Animal Sanctuary. Jim Johnson is vice president and co-founder. Both can be reached at (573) 445-1680, or visit the Web site at www.htsanctuary.com.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Twitter's Latest Star: A Microblogging Cat
NEW YORK -- He's one of the most popular users on Twitter. More than 500,000 follow his growing celebrity, his every adventure and, well, his cat naps.
Meet Sockington. Twitter's latest star is a microblogging cat who regales more than half a million with his musings on meal time, personal hygiene and the view from the top of the stairs.
Sockington, or "Socks" for short, is the cat of Jason Scott, a 38-year-old computer historian and computer administrator from Waltham, Mass.
Since late 2007, Scott has been tweeting from Sockington's perspective - and finding a "Socks Army" of followers. (Many of his followers are pets, too.)
Dogs and cats in social media isn't anything new. Many have made Facebook pages (there are applications for both "Dogbook" and "Catbook") and Web sites for their pets.
The difference on Twitter is that the running thread of Sockington's feline commentary takes on the dimension of a comic strip. Scott has created a character with a particular voice by tweeting messages from Sockington's point of view like: "I must say no comment to the whole dining room incident. No questions please."
"He's kind of functioning like a 'Garfield' comic," says Scott. "He's like the 21st century Garfield."
There's the risk that a tweeting cat will only further the impression that Twitter is a flash-in-the-pan success in a sea of online time-wasters.
But in a way, Sockington is a parody of Twitter, where even a kitty cat's life - his daily trips to the litter box, his insignificant household travails - is beamed out to the world.
"Everybody wants this social media bubble. They want something where we're all chattering so much that we all get rich," says Scott. "And this cat makes everybody look like fools because he's got hundreds of thousands of followers. And he doesn't tend to follow anyone but other animals."
Scott's Sockington feed has benefited from being one of the accounts recommended to new Twitter users when they sign up. But the growth of the Socks Army has been gradual over the last year and a half.
Now, it's starting to potentially generate revenue. T-shirts are for sale with Sockington wisdom printed on them and Scott acknowledges he may one day accept larger, impossible-to-refuse offers to offset his credit-card debt.
"I'm happy that at the heart of it all is a funny little cat, and that's why all the attention is happening," says Scott. "There are much worse reasons to get this kind of national attention." .
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pets boost children's health
Pets boost children's health
Pets boost children's immune system
Children who have pet animals at home have stronger immune systems and are less likely to take days off school sick, a study suggests.
Researchers at Warwick University in Coventry found that having a cat or dog exposed children to more infections early in life.
However, this exposure boosted their immune systems in the medium term and meant these children attended school more often, on average, than pupils who did not have pets.
Pet ownership was significantly associated with better school attendance rates
Dr June McNicholas, Warwick University
The authors said the benefits were most pronounced in children aged between five and eight years.
Dr June McNicholas and colleagues tested the saliva of 138 children for the antibody immunoglobulin A (IgA), which is used as an indicator of immune system strength.
High levels of IgA suggest that the immune system is under strain while low levels show that it is vulnerable to infection.
Health benefits
The study showed that antibody levels among pet owning children were significantly more stable, indicating that they had robust immune systems.
Pet owning children were found to have an extra nine days at school over the course of the year compared to those without animals.
According to the researchers, the findings appear to support the so-called "dirty hypothesis".
It suggests that too much cleanliness early in life can leave the immune system weakened later on.
It has been linked to soaring rates of childhood asthma in recent years.
Dr McNicholas, a health psychologist who led the study, said: "Pet ownership was significantly associated with better school attendance rates.
"This was apparent across all classes, but was most pronounced in the lower school (classes one to three, aged groups five to eight).
"Here, the pet owners benefited from up to 18 extra half days schooling per annum than their non-pet owning counterparts."
However, Dr McNicholas warned that pets can also pose health risks to children.
One of the biggest risks is the roundworm Toxicara canis which infects dogs and can cause anything from stomach ache to eye damage.
Nevertheless, the Warwick University study found that despite these dangers three out of 10 children admitted sharing food with their pets while 21% let their pets lick their fingers.
BBC
Pets boost children's immune system
Children who have pet animals at home have stronger immune systems and are less likely to take days off school sick, a study suggests.
Researchers at Warwick University in Coventry found that having a cat or dog exposed children to more infections early in life.
However, this exposure boosted their immune systems in the medium term and meant these children attended school more often, on average, than pupils who did not have pets.
Pet ownership was significantly associated with better school attendance rates
Dr June McNicholas, Warwick University
The authors said the benefits were most pronounced in children aged between five and eight years.
Dr June McNicholas and colleagues tested the saliva of 138 children for the antibody immunoglobulin A (IgA), which is used as an indicator of immune system strength.
High levels of IgA suggest that the immune system is under strain while low levels show that it is vulnerable to infection.
Health benefits
The study showed that antibody levels among pet owning children were significantly more stable, indicating that they had robust immune systems.
Pet owning children were found to have an extra nine days at school over the course of the year compared to those without animals.
According to the researchers, the findings appear to support the so-called "dirty hypothesis".
It suggests that too much cleanliness early in life can leave the immune system weakened later on.
It has been linked to soaring rates of childhood asthma in recent years.
Dr McNicholas, a health psychologist who led the study, said: "Pet ownership was significantly associated with better school attendance rates.
"This was apparent across all classes, but was most pronounced in the lower school (classes one to three, aged groups five to eight).
"Here, the pet owners benefited from up to 18 extra half days schooling per annum than their non-pet owning counterparts."
However, Dr McNicholas warned that pets can also pose health risks to children.
One of the biggest risks is the roundworm Toxicara canis which infects dogs and can cause anything from stomach ache to eye damage.
Nevertheless, the Warwick University study found that despite these dangers three out of 10 children admitted sharing food with their pets while 21% let their pets lick their fingers.
BBC
Friday, May 1, 2009
Chihuahua Training
Chihuahua Training - 4 Easy Steps to effectively train your Chihuahua
Congratulations on your decision to keep a Chihuahua! Let's see... you got a place for your Chihuahua to stay, provided for its meals. The next step would be to train your Chihuahua.
Chihuahuas are some of the easiest dogs to train. It is not necessary to enrol in big classes for Chihuahua training, as training Chihuahuas should either be done on your own or in classes with other small dogs.
1) Chihuahuas respond best to gentle training techniques and force or domination might not work on Chihuahua. Some things to keep in mind when training Chihuahuas.
Chihuahuas generally want to please their human companions and if you show them what pleases you, and with praise and affection, they will be quick to comply.
Always remember to reward the dog when he or she does something according to your wishes or command. This will let your dog know what it should do.
2) Chihuahuas also respond well to food based incentives. Therefore it is obviously not a good idea to start a Chihuahua training session when the dog has just eaten.
Training sessions should be short and fun wherever possible. Keep the Chihuahua training session to no more than 10 minutes at a time. End the training session earlier if the dog already does well.
3) One way of training Chihuahuas is with a ticker. Teach your dog that a “click” means a reward is coming. Then, over time, you only click when your dog has done something you want it to do. This reinforces the behavior.
You should always be gentle when training Chihuahuas and not use choke collars because their necks can get hurt easily. Instead, use the flat buckle collar or harness to protect its trachea.
4) Like all other dogs, Chihuahuas need exercise but Chihuahuas does not require long walks as it has an energetic nature so running around your apartment is enough exercise for the dog.
In summary, patience is your number one factor when training Chihuahuas. Consistency is vital if you want to ensure that your little dog obeys and remains loyal to you.
Congratulations on your decision to keep a Chihuahua! Let's see... you got a place for your Chihuahua to stay, provided for its meals. The next step would be to train your Chihuahua.
Chihuahuas are some of the easiest dogs to train. It is not necessary to enrol in big classes for Chihuahua training, as training Chihuahuas should either be done on your own or in classes with other small dogs.
1) Chihuahuas respond best to gentle training techniques and force or domination might not work on Chihuahua. Some things to keep in mind when training Chihuahuas.
Chihuahuas generally want to please their human companions and if you show them what pleases you, and with praise and affection, they will be quick to comply.
Always remember to reward the dog when he or she does something according to your wishes or command. This will let your dog know what it should do.
2) Chihuahuas also respond well to food based incentives. Therefore it is obviously not a good idea to start a Chihuahua training session when the dog has just eaten.
Training sessions should be short and fun wherever possible. Keep the Chihuahua training session to no more than 10 minutes at a time. End the training session earlier if the dog already does well.
3) One way of training Chihuahuas is with a ticker. Teach your dog that a “click” means a reward is coming. Then, over time, you only click when your dog has done something you want it to do. This reinforces the behavior.
You should always be gentle when training Chihuahuas and not use choke collars because their necks can get hurt easily. Instead, use the flat buckle collar or harness to protect its trachea.
4) Like all other dogs, Chihuahuas need exercise but Chihuahuas does not require long walks as it has an energetic nature so running around your apartment is enough exercise for the dog.
Chihuahuas need your love and patience, therefore avoid training when you are tired and in a bad mood.
In summary, patience is your number one factor when training Chihuahuas. Consistency is vital if you want to ensure that your little dog obeys and remains loyal to you.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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