Pawcurious Vet Blog: With Pet Blogger and Veterinarian Dr. V

Heart Pet Day

I don’t think it’s the most politic of things to say, but sometimes we play favorites in life. I’d like to think I’m above that, but I’m so totally not.

Emmett was my favorite dog. I love all of my pets, past and present, with all of my heart, but the bond we had was something special. It is the kind of understanding that is impossible to explain unless you’ve experienced it, and I say it as someone who’s had pets all her life. I get all of my pets inside and out.

But this one got me, and that was singular.

On the day we said goodbye for the last time, I had to work in the morning. That was brutal. I had asked the babysitter to take the kids somewhere for the afternoon so they wouldn’t be home when we actually bid goodbye. I came in the house, already upset, and called for him. He didn’t answer. I looked some more. No Emmett. (more…)

What dreams may come

I love watching my dogs dream. They twitch, sometimes making little running motions with their feet, and Brody in particular makes a noise just like one of the Three Stooges- “whoopwhoopwhoopwhoopwhoop,” a sound never heard when he’s actually awake.

I’ve always wondered what they dream about. Do their brains use the time to work out subconscious fears like we do? What can they be all that worried about anyway? They have it pretty easy.

Are their dreams populated with the surreal workings of REM enhanced grey matter like ours- do they dream of walking through a field of cats naked? Or are they literal dreamers, romping after squirrels and rolling in rotting leaves just like they do during their waking hours?

Brody’s definitely the most physical dreamer in the house. Koa will sometimes put out the tiniest whimper, but for the most part she sleeps like a log. Apollo is for all intents and purposes comatose when he is asleep.

I found an article by psychology professor Stanley Cohen that details some of the scientific evidence that dogs, and even rats, do indeed dream:

At the structural level, the brains of dogs are similar to those of humans. Also, during sleep the brain wave patterns of dogs are similar that of people, and go through the same stages of electrical activity observed in humans, all of which is consistent with the idea that dogs are dreaming.

Of course, you probably don’t need to go so far as brainwave analysis to come to the same conclusion. All you need to do is, you know, watch a couple dogs sleeping.

Mine never run into walls like that poor pup making the rounds on YouTube, thank goodness, but Brody’s come pretty close to launch a few times. Must be a reallllly fast squirrel. Koa, I’m sure, dreams either about being pet by me or eating. Her two purposes in life. Apollo, well, I think he dreams about sleeping.

What do you think your pets dream about?

Heart Pet Day is July 21

I bet you didn’t know that, did you? That’s because I just made it up. It’s the two year anniversary of the day my own heart pet passed on, but I’ve found that the best salve to a broken heart is to commiserate with others who understand that loss. There is sadness, but also joy, in hearing about the bonds you all have shared with those you loved as well.

I really loved putting together the video last year of everyone’s heart pets, and I’ll make sure I re-post that on Thursday. But I’d like to invite anyone who is up for it to post about their own heart pet on Thursday as well, either as a response to my post, on the pawcurious Facebook page, or on your own blog. If more than a couple of people want to write on their own blog I will be happy to make it a blog hop.

I see my memories of my pets like a box in my heart, covered with this grey tarp of sadness I have to lift away every time I want to get to the good stuff. Some days it’s too hard to lift and I have to put the box back, but on this day I want to rip it off and just kind of wade in all the happiness stored within. I hope you will join me!

Giveaway Tuesday: On the Go Kits from VPI

Congratulations to our winners: Quinn, Pamela J, Shelly, Elizabeth and the Lab Crew, and Oralia!

For going on a year now, I’ve been suspicious that Kekoa might have Cushing’s disease. Her symptoms have waxed and waned, certain bloodwork values have gone up and down, but I haven’t quite been able to pin it down.

Have I tested her? Oh yes, I have, over and over. And ACTH stimulation tests, if you haven’t had the pleasure, don’t come cheap- even to us vet types. The tests for Cushings continue to come up normal. So I wait, and a few months later test again. It adds up. Like Mulan, my “free” Golden who waited an entire year before blowing out her cruciate ligament and needing a several thousand dollar TPLO, no pet truly comes cheap, not even a free one.

It’s hard to convey that to the average owner, though. The true cost of pet ownership can be pretty significant, depending on what life and fate throws your way. Sure, $800 for a pug puppy sounds like a lot at the time, but just you wait until you have to throw in the soft palate resection, the cherry eye repair, and the cryptorchid neuter. When owners aren’t prepared for those unexpected expenses, everyone suffers- most of all the pet. (more…)

The Sixth Sense

We all have heard the amazing stories: a dog who can sense when an epileptic seizure is about to take place, some disturbance in the electromagentic field or something that alerts the dog to an impending event.

Or maybe those pets who sensed an earthquake or tsunami was bearing down, and ran for higher ground long before the people figured out what was coming.

Or Oscar the cat, the gentle hospice feline who had a way of knowing when a person was about to pass on, and always managed to find his way to them to snuggle in their last hours.

Animals know things we don’t, and it bugs us as humans when we can’t figure out how they do it. So we wonder, and study them, and doubt their abilities, but at the end of the day all we can do is marvel at the amazing gifts they possess.

Granted, some skills, some sixth senses, are more useful than others. Take Apollo, for instance. (more…)

Much love to tech support

You know how every year, at the Oscars, they host the Technical Awards at some crummy second rate venue in downtown LA and they get a B-list celebrity to come host it? Those people work their butts off to make the movies look good but all they get in return is some lame hotel dinner and maybe a 30 second clip shown at the Oscar telecast. Tech support never gets any love.

Sometimes I feel a little bit of similar guilt about the tech support here at pawcurious. It’s just a party of one- my husband, but he puts in a lot of time making this site work. He gamely adds buttons to sidebars and widgets to the site and takes awesome pictures of cupcakes even after he’s had a very long day and most likely would rather be reading NFL forums.

This site wouldn’t exist without him. Truly. I would have been way too daunted to set this thing up by myself. He set up the Facebook and the Twitter too, and basically forced me to utilize them. He was correct, of course, because you need those things too, but I tend to like to just stick to jabbering and pounding on the keys and let him wrestle with all that technical gobbledegook. Too much work.

That is pretty much the story of our lives, truth be told. (more…)

Guest post: One is the loneliest number

My mother-in-law is a cat person. She loves the dogs too, don’t get me wrong, but some people are dog people and some people are cat people, and she is a cat person through and through.

Her most recent cat passed away a couple of years ago, and I’ll be the first to admit I am surprised she is still cat-less. I think the urge is calling to her, though. There have been hints dropped and a wayward cat dish randomly winding up in the living room and suggestions of visits to the local cat rescue. I give it another month or two, tops.

“Did I tell you I’m thinking of getting another cat?” she asked me this weekend at her birthday party.

“I think my husband mentioned it,” I replied.

She looked over to see if my father in law was listening, and confirming that he was, she casually amended her statement: “Well, I actually think I should get two. They need company, really.”

His eyebrows raised six inches or so before he interjected that this was indeed news to him, but of course now that it’s been said out loud, in front of witnesses, he unfortunately has little recourse to try and talk her out of it. This is the same tactic I use with great success. The V family men put up with a great deal in the name of animals.

Truth be told, she has a point. Adopting cats in pairs is a time-honored tradition in shelters, with the advantage of not only getting more kitties into homes, it gives them a pre-bonded playmate, assuming you get two cats who have already been living together. So it is very timely that the Found Animals Foundation in LA just submitted a guest post on the advantages of adopting a 2Fer during kitten season. One might say it was fate. My father in law is probably ruefully shaking his head as he reads this, by the way. I hope I am still welcome in the house.

(more…)

Giveaway Tuesday: Iams Sensitive Naturals and Simple and Natural

Congratulations to our winner, Elena! I hope your pet loves the food!

I spend a lot of time reading pet food labels. I usually have to shoo off at least three well meaning but unhelpful store employees every time I’m at the store. Sometimes I’m reading to make sure it’s a good choice for Brody and Koa, and sometimes I just pick up a bag of cheapie food to remind myself of the crummy stuff that’s out there.

I know I’m not alone in this- it seems like every time I go into the store, from a pet food boutique to a big-box super center, the pet food section is devoting an increasing amount of space to premium foods. Fortunately for us, pet food manufacturers are also taking note of this trend and coming up with lines that appeal to the more particular buyers out there.

This week, Iams launched 2 new products in its Healthy Natural Line: Sensitive Naturals and Simple and Natural. To get a little more information on the new products, I conducted an e-mail interview with Dr. Marcie Campion, a nutritionist at Iams. And for one winner I have a 25 pound bag of either formula to give away. (more…)

It’s better in pairs

Today I saw a bumper sticker that gave me a good laugh: Discover Wildlife- Raise Twins.

I couldn’t imagine. My two kiddos are 20 months apart and that is zoo enough for me. Two at the exact same age would probably be more than my rickety knees and/or delicate psyche could handle.

Pets, though, are another story. As much as I look on in horrified fascination at people with 4,5,6 kids and wonder how the heck they stay sane and solvent, I could very easily imagine myself waking up to four dogs running amuk. I kind of love that. Four dogs, three cats, a turtle, a small goat, and a handful of chickens. That would be amazing. Of course, I’d have to get a divorce in order for that to happen, but if my husband were as nuts as me, I’d totally go there. (more…)

Behold the power of the internet

I’ve spent a lot of time rubbing my temples in frustration at the things people pull off the internet and read as gospel- everything from “How To Assemble a Home Bloat Kit at Home Depot” to “Drug Dosing for your Cat” including, of all things, deadly Tylenol. The DIY instructions out there run the gamut from the harmless-but-useless to the downright killer.

On the flip side, the internet can also be an absolute godsend. I say this not only as a medical professional, but as a patient and a caregiver. Our healthcare professionals are pressured to see more and more patients in smaller increments of time, meaning that time we used to have to really talk with our doctors is shrinking away. It’s less pronounced in the veterinary profession than in the medical profession, at least so far, but the trend is still going in that direction.

Professor Pawsy doing a little internet research

Let’s take the example of feline diabetes. You bring your cat in because he’s been drinking a lot, and you think it’s probably just the heat, but hey, he’s getting on in years so you just want to be sure. Several hours and a few hundred dollars later you’re back at home with insulin syringes, prescription food and your head spinning from the turn your life just took. It’s 10 at night and you’re still trying to digest all the information. (more…)

Partay!

It’s a big weekend. A big, big weekend here in North America. To all my Canadian friends- Happy Canada Day! And to my American partners in crime, I hope you’re getting the barbecues cleaned off and ready to roll!

The Fourth of July is the number one day for pets to run off. Number one. So while you are busy perfecting your burger recipe and figuring out how many ears of corn you need for Monday, take just a moment to do a couple of things to keep your pet safe: (more…)

DNA comes full circle

I remember when DNA tests first became routine in crime scene investigations. It was groundbreaking. Murders decades old being solved, sinister crimes committed by evildoing masterminds brought to justice by the tiniest speck of blood. Those sure were the days.

Now, we use DNA to bust people for not cleaning up after their dogs. How far we have come.

Sherlock Bones is on the case. (more…)