Jumat, 26 April 2013

Tick Season is Here!

It's tick season again... Take steps now to protect your pets! –Kim

Exposure to Ehrlichia Ticks Increased Fourfold in 2012

According to a manufacturer of tests for tick-borne diseases, Ehrlichia exposures in 2012 were four times greater than in 2011. This means the tick that transmits the disease is gaining territory across the U.S.
The recommendation of the Companion Animal Parasite Council is to load up every dog and cat across the country with monthly, year-round chemical pesticides. The problem is, more and more pets taking monthly, year-in/year-out preventives are showing up in veterinary clinics with tick-borne illness. Clearly, encouraging the overuse of these chemicals isn't the best solution to the problem, for a number of reasons.
Chemical tick preventives may reduce – but not prevent – tick attachment. And any tick that attaches to your dog can carry disease. So theses pesticides are not foolproof, but they do add to your pet's toxic load.
The safest and most effective tick prevention strategy is to check your pet's body daily for ticks, remove them immediately and safely when found, and have his blood checked regularly for signs of infection.

By Dr. Becker
January 18, 2013

Last year, toward the end of flea/tick season, IDEXX Laboratories (maker of the SNAP 4Dx test for tick-borne diseases) issued a press release to report there were four times as many Ehrlichia exposures in 2012 vs. 2011 in the south central and eastern regions of the U.S. (Ehrlichia is one of several tick-borne diseases.)

And of course the veterinary community is now being prompted by the Companion Animal Parasite Council – which boasts as sponsors no less than 11 veterinary drug manufacturers and laboratories – to respond in the usual way. From dvm360:

In order to keep that [the spreading Ehrlichia exposure] threat to a minimum, [Dr. Susan] Little suggests that veterinarians follow the Companion Animal Parasite Council's recommendations and urge clients to practice year-round tick control and prevention. "We need to be more adamant with clients about year-round tick control for dogs and cats," Little says. "Tick control protects dogs and cats from tick-borne diseases – the ones we know about and the ones we're still finding out about."

Translation: Veterinarians should increase the pressure on pet owners to give tick preventives year-round, and not only to dogs, but also to cats. It doesn't matter where the pet lives, his lifestyle, or whether he even goes outdoors – just load him up with chemical pesticides and all will be well.
Before you subject your own pet to year-round chemical preventives that may not be necessary or terribly effective, but WILL add significantly to your dog's toxic load, you should read on.

Why Tick-borne Diseases are on the Rise

As I discussed last July in an article about my own dogs and tick-borne illness, there are several reasons for the increase in tick-related diseases across the U.S.

As we are discovering, ticks are hardy little suckers able to expand their geography from one region of the country to others.

In addition, in my opinion we've overused progressively more toxic tick control agents for several decades, with the result that ticks have developed resistance to pesticides. I see dogs in my practice that have received monthly doses of pesticides for years, yet they still test positive for tick-borne illness.

This is because while chemical preventives may reduce the number of ticks that wind up on your dog, those that do attach can still carry disease. So the pesticides being given at ever-increasing rates to our pets are not completely effective at preventing ticks from attaching or preventing disease.

Another reason tick-borne diseases are on the rise is that insects other than ticks – specifically mosquitoes – have been found to transmit some of these potentially lethal infections.

Human management of wildlife populations, as well as a shift in wildlife population dynamics may also play into rising tick-borne diseases.

Diagnosing Ehrlichiosis

Canine ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne disease caused by two bacteria. Ehrlichia canis is transmitted by the brown dog tick and is commonly found in the southwest and Gulf Coast states. Ehrlichia ewingii is transmitted by the lone star tick and is found from the Midwest to New England.

Like other tick-borne diseases, Ehrlichia can wreak havoc on your dog's body if it's not identified and treated. Symptoms can be vague – loss of appetite, low-grade fever, lethargy, swollen lymph nodes. Sometimes there are more noticeable symptoms such as unexplained bruising, lameness or nosebleeds.

A diagnosis can be confirmed with a blood test called a PCR. If your dog tests positive on the SNAP 4Dx screening test for Ehrlichia, you can request a PCR test to confirm infection.

Keep in mind that just because a dog tests positive on the initial screening test doesn't mean she must immediately be treated. In fact, most dogs successfully clear their own infections without the need for medical intervention. For this reason, I don't recommend automatically giving antibiotics to positive dogs.

If your pet tests positive, ask your vet to do additional testing to find out whether she has just been exposed or is actually dealing with an infection.

Tips for Preventing a Tick-borne Infection

When flea and tick season arrives, check for ticks daily, and don't overlook areas of your pet's body where ticks can hide, like between the toes, the underside of the toes, in the earflaps and around the tail base. If you're ever unsure whether you're looking at a tick or some other bump on your dog, get out a magnifying glass and look for the telltale sign of a tick – legs.
Remember that ticks must be attached to your dog for at least 24 hours in order for the disease-causing bacteria to be transmitted from the tick to your pet. That's why daily tick checks and removing ticks immediately is a huge part of reducing your dog's risk of acquiring a tick-borne disease. This is hands-down the safest and entirely non-toxic method of tick prevention!
If you find a tick on your dog, be sure to remove it correctly. Don't use your bare hands. People can become infected by handling or crushing an infected tick. Wear gloves, or even better, use a tick-removing tool.
Grasp the tick very close to your pet's skin with our Tick Stick, a similar tick removal tool, or a pair of tweezers. Carefully pull the tick's body away from the skin. Once it's off, flush it down the toilet. Then disinfect your dog's skin with soapy water or diluted povidone iodine (Betadine). Disinfect the area really well and monitor it for the next few days. If you notice any irritation or inflammation of the skin, you should contact your veterinarian.
Have your dog tested for tick-borne diseases about three to four weeks after removing a tick. The type of test to ask your vet for is the SNAP 4Dx test, which is a screening blood test. If you don't have the 4Dx test done, you'll want to watch your dog closely for several months for any signs of loss of appetite, lethargy, changes in gait, fever, intermittent limping – all the symptoms of potential tick-borne diseases.

Checking your dog externally for ticks and having his blood checked regularly for internal, silent infections is the very best approach to keeping your pet safe from potentially devastating tick-borne diseases.

Source: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/01/18/tick-borne-diseases.aspx
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola

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Sabtu, 20 April 2013

Dog Bites BPA & BPS

Having lost a dear companion to cancer from BPA toys, this topic is very important to me. –Kim

Chemicals Leak from Plastic Training Toys

Dogs that chew on plastic training devices and toys may be exposed to hormone-altering chemicals. Bisphenol A (BPA) and Phthalates – ingredients of hard plastics and vinyl – readily leach from bumper toys, which are used to train retrieving dogs. But Bisphenol S (BPS), the chemical now being used in place of BPA in many "BPA-free" products, may be just as harmful – if not more harmful – than BPA.

By Lindsey Konkel
Environmental Health News
Nov. 29, 2012

Dogs that chew on plastic training devices and toys may be exposed to hormone-altering chemicals, according to research at Texas Tech University.

The researchers found that Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol S (BPS) and Phthalates – ingredients of hard plastics and vinyl – readily leach from bumper toys, which are used to train retrieving dogs.

The new study is one of the first to examine dog products as a potential source of exposure for pets. No one knows, though, whether the traces of the chemicals pose any health risk to dogs. Previous research has focused on the risks to infants and toddlers from baby bottles, toys and other items that contained the chemicals.

"A lot of plastic products are used for dogs, so to understand the potential for some of the chemicals to leach out from toys is a new and important area of research," said veterinarian Safdar Khan, senior director of toxicology research at the ASPCA's Poison Control Center in Illinois. Dr. Khan was not involved in the current study.

Philip Smith, a toxicologist at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech, became interested in chemical exposures from bumpers after using them to train his own Labrador retrievers.

Retrieving dogs often are trained with plastic bumpers,
which when chewed can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals.

"Some of the dogs are exposed to plastic bumpers from the time they are born until the day they die. We all want our pets to be healthy," said Smith, co-author of the as-yet unpublished study, which was presented this month at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry conference in California.

"A lot of plastic products are used for dogs, so to understand the potential for some of the chemicals to leach out from toys is a new and important area of research," stated Dr. Safdar Khan.

In humans and rodents, BPA, BPS and phthalates have been linked to a number of health issues, including impaired development of reproductive organs, decreased fertility and cancers. The United States and the European Union have banned some phthalates in children's toys, and in July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups.

The researchers, led by Kimberly Wooten, a graduate student in environmental toxicology at Texas Tech, studied factors that affected how much BPA, BPS and phthalates leached from plastic bumpers into dishes filled with artificial dog saliva.

They tested orange and white bumpers from two unidentified makers. The bumpers subjected to simulated chewing leached more BPA, BPS and phthalates than brand new bumpers and those left outside to weather for a month.

Researchers said they suspect that the levels of chemicals observed from the bumpers would be considered very high when compared with children's toys.

Since simulated saliva was used, it is difficult to say how much actual leaching would occur in a dog's mouth, the researchers said. "We don't have enough information at this time to begin to estimate actual exposure," Smith said.

Smith said they suspect that the levels of chemicals observed from the bumpers would be considered very high when compared with children's toys.

Using artificial saliva, researchers
simulated a dog chewing a bumper.

The researchers also looked at phthalates, BPA and BPS from pet toys sold through major retailers. They found higher concentrations leaching from bumpers than from other toys but preliminary results suggest some store-bought toys might have leached other hormonally-active chemicals.
A previous study by the Environmental Working Group found that dogs' blood and urine contained the breakdown products of several phthalates at levels ranging from 1.1 to 4.5 times higher than the average found in people.

"Dogs are closer to the ground than humans, so house dust is another potential source of exposure to environmental chemicals," Dr. Khan said.

But little is known about any potential health risks for dogs exposed to hormone-mimicking chemicals.

Since little toxicity data exist for dogs, it is difficult to evaluate risks, Smith said. Nonetheless, "consumer education about potential risk seems to be warranted based on our data," he said.

Source: Environmental Health News
Copyright © 2011-2012 Environmental Health Sciences

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Senin, 15 April 2013

Dog Food Secrets

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Urgent Press Release for Dog Owners

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To discover these amazing secrets, just continue reading and your reward is a super-healthy, incredibly happy dog that stays by-your-side for up to 8.3 years longer than statistically predicted.

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"Commercial Dog Food is Killing Your Dog;
Hear What the Experts Have to Say..."

Continued - Click for more vital information....

Minggu, 07 April 2013

Lost Dogs of the NYCACC

Here's a sad video about the plight of many good dogs under government "care & control." –Kim

A Tribute to Some of the Lost Dogs at the NYC Animal Care & Control

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krPblKdlsfc

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Rabu, 03 April 2013

To Save Animals, You Have to Like People

Here's a great article that I thought I would pass on...hope you find it interesting! –Kim

To Save Animals, You Have to Like People

by Anne Reed
Feb. 25, 2013

"Boy, I hate people."

I hear that all the time from people who work in animal welfare. I disagree.

I understand why they feel that way. When you do this work, you hear stories all the time that make you angry. Abuse and neglect. Domestic violence. Well-meaning stupidity. Even the simple failure to stick with commitments: "I'm moving out of town, so I need to surrender my 12-year-old dog."

These stories would make anyone mad, let alone someone who cares enough about animals to have chosen shelter work over other, almost certainly better-paying, options.

But here's the catch, and it's a big one. The only way you can save homeless animals is by liking people. By trusting people, welcoming people, inspiring people, and helping people keep their own animals and adopt more.

This insight is the core of a fundamental shift in animal welfare work in recent years. Like most powerful insights, it grabs you the minute you get it. Think about it: can you save the lives of more animals....

By screening adopters strictly and allowing only the most qualified, or by believing that most people can give an animal a loving home?
By creating obstacles to adopting an animal that only the most dedicated family can surmount (long waits, home inspections, special requirements), or by making it easy to bring a homeless animal into one's life?
By assuming every animal is better off in the shelter than staying with someone who is thinking about giving them up, or by working with families to find ways they can keep their animals?

Our shelter helped develop this approach, and now we are among many who follow it. We still get criticism sometimes from those who think we should make it more difficult to adopt an animal – but our low return rates, the great stories we hear from our adopters, the follow-up we provide for them, and the number of times we do decline to adopt all make us confident that the approach works.

Liking people has saved hundreds of thousands of animals' lives across the country.

Shelby the Pomeranian

Here's one more thing that happens when an animal shelter decides to like people: we find compassion for some of the things that made us angry in the first place. Not all, but many. The family whose dog's behavior problems got worse after they used an electric shock collar; they had the wrong information, and they didn't know. The couple who doesn't think they're giving their dog enough attention now that they've had a baby; they're exhausted, and worried. The family who is moving; they've both lost their jobs, and don't know what lies ahead.

From this place of compassion, we find that we often can actually help them, and help their animals. When we're not judging people, we can find ways to open their minds to possibilities and ideas.

The only way to help animals is to like people.

(Our pro-people approach is especially helpful when we need to find a home for an animal with special challenges, like adorable Shelby, in the picture. She's unbelievably cute, but easily stressed, so we have her in a foster home, instead of in the shelter, and it will take longer for her to find an adoptive family there. Our pro-adoption philosophy is one of the key tools that allows us to give her, and every animal in our adoption program, as long as it takes.)

Source: http://www.onmilwaukee.com/myOMC/authors/annereed/wihumaneblogshelby.html

Anne Reed is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Humane Society. Before joining WHS, Anne spent almost three decades as a corporate litigator. As a lawyer, she was named one of the Wisconsin Law Journal's "Women In The Law" and was named to the list of "Wisconsin Superlawyers." WHS operates shelters in Milwaukee, Saukville and Racine.

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Good Homes Need Not Apply