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Anesthesia free dental cleaning: The danger that runs deep

November 24, 2013 By Sunny Lim

The assumption that putting elder pets under general anesthesia would a high risk of death has been long-held. As pet owners, we are all afraid that we might become the accomplice in causing our pet’s premature death and vets don’t want to either. As a result, many have chosen to let establishments that boast anesthesia free dental scaling handle their pets teeth cleaning.

Imaging the difficulty some of you are already having when cleaning your pet’s teeth with a normal toothbrush. Fact is, grooming like cutting nails, teeth brushing is a very unnatural and invasive process for animals. Nothing in the wild would give them the same feeling that would make teeth brushing feel natural, and pets let us brush their teeth only because of trust.

Recall the last time you went for your regular dental checkup. Even when we brush our teeth twice daily and your teeth looks healthy, there’s still the need to remove calculus and plague from under your gumline; a procedure that many would agree, far from comfortable and soothing. So imagine a grooming salon using the same ultrasonic teeth scalers for your pet. Although they might be able to get rid of obvious tartar, it would be hard to imagine how does one do a thorough cleaning below the gumline without the use of anesthesia on our pets.

As saliva loses its antibacterial properties as your pet ages, or as the tooth becomes rough from tartar buildup, you might find that calculus can build up even with daily brushing. Take a small dog for example, it’s considered geriatric beyond 7 years old and I’ve seen a lot of dogs who are 17. But to be reasonable, lets say it lives till 13, are you going to deny your dog dental treatment for 6 years? You see, poor dental health doesn’t just cause bad breath. Especially at old age, tartar and decaying tooth can cause a myriad of problems. When I just adopted my Maltese, the nose and eyes had yellow discharge and diagnosis by the vet said it was a result of the poor state the whole set of teeth was in. Even in old age, giving your pet a dental overhaul, if it needs one, will do more good than harm.

“A more serious danger is the bacterial infection and resultant inflammation in the gums, which can send bacteria through the dog’s bloodstream, where it can wreak havoc with the heart, lungs, kidney, and liver. Dogs with chronic health problems that affect these organs and dogs with immune-mediated disease are at special risk of experiencing complications due to periodontal disease. For this reason alone, owners of these dogs should be the most proactive in keeping their dogs’ teeth clean.” – Nancy Kerns, Whole Dog Journal

Unless the animal have existing health problems, there are so many aged animals rescued from pet farms and their new owners would bring their adopted pets to have them sterilized and have their teeth cleaned and extracted if necessary without any complications. I believe that if the clinic is responsible, ethical and proper tests and screening are done prior, it’s relatively safe to put your pets under anesthesia.

Here are some professional opinion that’s able to address this matter in further detail:
Anesthesia-Free Pet Dentistry – By Animal Dental Care and Oral Surgery
Nonprofessional Dental Scaling – By Mercola.com
Anesthesia-Free Teeth Cleaning For Your Dog – By The Whole Dog Journal

Foods safe for us but are deadly to your pets

September 21, 2013 By [email protected]

A man’s poison could be another man’s meat. Most probably you’ve heard from fellow pet owners about some of the dangerous food that pets aren’t allowed to consume. But how about the rest of the stuff we eat everyday? Here’s a rather comprehensive list, organized properly that makes it easy to remember:

>>Toxic Food For Pets<<

The silent killer: Heartworms

August 16, 2013 By [email protected]

I’m sure you know that mosquitoes spread deadly diseases like Malaria, Dengue and the recent Chikungunya. However, not many are aware that mosquitoes can spread a dreadful parasite called Heartworm to your beloved. Though rarely seen in humans, it’s quite a common occurrence when owners bring their newly adopted pet for a checkup.

The issue with heartworm is that it takes approximately 7 years for the parasite to mature and when the symptoms start showing, irreversible damage might have already been done to the heart and lungs, very much like heatstroke. Unfortunately for most pet owners, there is a mix of ignorance and complacency – If their pet seemed healthy, there isn’t anything wrong. Plus, we like to shroud ourselves with denial – that we aren’t that unlucky. But please! We live in Singapore, ticks, fleas, lice, mosquitoes, they are active all year round!

Easy to prevent

Here’s the good news, there are easier methods to preventing heartworm than applying mosquito repellent on poochy everyday. These methods come in the form of monthly topical applications like Revolution, oral medications like Heartguard and yearly injections. That said, because these preventive medications are useless against existing heartworms and in some cases it might even be life threatening, hence it’s important that you have your pet checked for heartworm before they start on any medications.

And you might have guessed it, if you have been skipping your heartworm prevention, make sure you have your pet tested again.

Symptoms

To be honest, there is little point in discussing the symptoms of heartworm. First as mentioned, it’s usually a tad late and secondly, the symptoms looks like a simple flu or any other disease. But if your dog shows sign of lethargy, coughing and/or breathing difficulties. So especially when your pet is old or long into adulthood and shows these signs, please do not rule out heartworm.

Still the best thing to do, get a test done today. It takes around 15 minutes for the blood test results to be out and generally costs $50 – $100 depending on where you go.

Heat Stroke: Prevention, Symptoms and Treatment

July 14, 2013 By Sunny Lim

Last month’s news about how a dog died while being left unattended in a vehicle serves as a reminder to all of us of how your pet can be a victim of heatstroke and complacency. Especially in Singapore where the whether is constantly hot throughout the year, it’s easy for accidents like these to happen to anybody.

We humans have a more efficient way of dispersing body heat through perspiration and what we are able to tolerate might not be necessary so for our fur friends. Just imagine the horror of wearing a fur coat and just dispersing heat from your tongue and paws.

Admittedly, it’s terribly hard to know if poochy is overheating. Take my dogs for instance, the moment I take out their leash to take them out for a walk and their pupils dilate, heart palpitate and pant like they’re back from the walk. But as most good owners would agree, common sense and being meticulous would definitely prevent tragedy from happening.

Make sure that:

You don’t leave any pets in an unattended vehicle in the afternoon even with the windows wind down and under a shade.
They have access to cool, clean water at all times.
Your pets have access to shade.
They are not muzzled for extended period of time when outdoor. If need be, loosen the muzzle.
Refrain from strenuous activities during the morning and afternoon.
You give them sufficient rest in between activities. It’s easy to forget that while everybody’s having fun.
Older pets or pets with health condition should be given exercise during cooler periods of the day.

What’s dangerous about getting a heatstroke is that it is difficult to assess an early stage heatstroke and when your pet starts showing signs of symptoms, the body is already in a critical stage. A dog’s normal body temperature is around 38-39 degrees Celsius. If their body temperature reaches 41 degrees Celsius and up, the overheating will cause irreversible damage to the organs.

Symptoms of heatstroke:

Excessive panting and salivating
Disorientation
Bright red gums and tongue. Gums will turn pale as shock sets in.
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Weakness

If you notice signs of heatstroke, treat your pet immediately. The precious minutes before it reaches the vet can make a difference between life and death.

Treatment:

Move to a shady area.
Spray your dog down with cool water. Do not use cold water as this will constrict blood vessels, slow down blood flow, reducing heat dissipation from the body and can even cause shock to the system from the sudden change in body temperature.
Wet towels, shirts and place them in between their groin and neck. Constantly wipe their paws and ears with a cool, wet towel. These areas accumulate and dissipate heat the most.
Allow the dog to drink cool water bit by bit. Do not force feed, do not allow your dog to gulp nor should ice cold water be fed.
If the condition seems to be improving, dry them with a towel to prevent their temperature from falling further and seek veterinary assistance immediately. It’s easy for pets to suffer from shock even when your pet might seem fine.

Health: 5 Indoor Activities You Can Do With Your Pets During the Wretched Haze

June 20, 2013 By Sunny Lim

Poor Fido must be wondering why we’ve been cutting down on walks. But Fido doesn’t care if there’s the haze, it just wants to play! Even with the haze it shouldn’t let it dampen your mood and deprive your pets from important stimulation. Try some of these indoor activities for pets, it’s a great way to build a strong bond between you and your pets.

Hide and Seek

Not only good during this period, it’s great way to expend energy for dogs with too much energy and for us who have too little.

How to play this game:

Throw a treat on the floor and issue the command ‘Find it!’ at the same time. Do this for a few times and just let Fido have fun picking up the treats.
Have Fido sit or stay while you allow it to observe you hide a treat where it can see and reach. Go back to your dog and encourage it to find the treat. Also repeat this for several times.
Finally, have Fido stay stationary while you hide treats in places varying in difficulty. Have your dog work as hard as it can and don’t be too eager to help when they can’t find the treats. Show them only when they seem to lose interest.

Teach new tricks

You have no excuses this time. Using the usual time used for walks, reinforce basic commands or teach them tricks that you’ve seen that Jack Russel perform on YouTube.

Toys and games

How can anyone miss this out? Simple and everybody has fun. Even watching them play is a real joy on its own. It’s tiring to keep throwing and throwing toys for them to fetch (I may seem perpetually tired, but another reason to keep fetching games short is because the sudden stopping action when they pick up the toys causes stress on their joints.)

If you have more than one dog, why not make them play tug-o-war? Or if you have some cash to spare, get them some new toys that you can stuff treats into. Not only is it stimulating and can be hours of fun, it’s able to distract them and mitigate symptoms of separation anxiety that causes them to bark/whine excessively and lick/scratch themselves.

Shiatsu

Yup, massage. A great skill to learn that’ll help dogs relax and improve their well-being. It’s also a great activity to soothe a fearful dog during a thunderstorm.

Grooming, spa treatments

Not because I’m a pet groomer, but because since you have the time, why not spend it grooming your pet? Not only does grooming keep your pet clean and healthy, it’s a time for bonding and getting your pet accustomed to the grooming process. Besides that, you can also prepare some DIY spa treatments to pamper your pet and at the same time treat skin ailments.

If you find any of the suggestions interesting, internet is really a great resource to find more information and solutions catered to your pet. But above all, stay safe and it won’t hurt staying indoors and keeping your activities minimal for a week (hopefully just a week). Sometimes less is indeed more.

>>Toxic Food For Pets<<

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