My Dog Ate What?

With a Labrador in your house, you have to be beyond careful about leaving any food around…anywhere.

Who Me?

While we try–counters are kept clear, garbage cans have air-tight lids, and food is never left lying around–our Lab Ranger has the uncanny ability to swoop at the precise moments when we have let down our guard.

In the almost-three years that we’ve had him, here are a few of the highlights of Rangers “hunting” spoils:

4 lbs of Hershey Chocolate Chips- found in a visiting relative’s suitcase. 

A pack of Sugar Free Gum- found in the couch cushions.

1 Bag of Ricola Cough Drops- swiped from the back of my desk.

and

A WHOLE Gym Sock- who knew he’d eat a whole sock!

I’m sure Ranger has eaten countless other things that I am either blocking out or unaware of and yet he is still alive.  The only items that required stomach pumping were the Sugar Free Gum–Xylitol, the key ingredient in sugar-free gum is highly toxic– and the Large Gym Sock which had the potential to bind up his intestines…yum.

You’re probably thinking what about the the chocolate; isn’t that extremely toxic? Yes you’re right, chocolate is highly poisonous to dogs, but thankfully the chips were of the milk chocolate variety and moreover most Hershey Chocolate Chips are relatively low in actual chocolate content. Had the chips been something gourmet or of a higher cocoa content, we’d have been in trouble.

The vet advised us to watch for any lethargy or shaking. He showed neither and in fact was scheming for more food.  So while not a pretty site (read heaps of chocolate poop and vomit) Ranger survived without a trip to a vet. NOTE: if your dog eats chocolate do not take my word on this one…CONTACT YOUR VET ASAP because every situation is different.

Stomach pumping or not it’s always scary when your dog eats something foreign. So how do you know if what you’re dog has eaten is dangerous??

Here are two great resources…

1. Download, print out and keep on hand this very helpful Toxic Food Guide.

or

2. Contact the Pet Poison Helpline 1-800-213-6680. There is a 35 dollar charge per call–there isn’t any public funding for something like this–but that a small price to pay for your dog’s safety and your piece of mind.

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Saying Goodbye, A Dog Obituary

It is always difficult to say goodbye to a beloved pet, and explaining how you feel to non-dog-crazy people is like adding insult to injury; not everyone understands how much our dogs mean to us.

Through the magic of the internet I have met a wonderful, dog-loving woman named Judy. She is a friend of my sister’s who lives in Singapore with her husband Russel who is a photographer (hence the amazing pics) and a pack of beloved Golden Retrievers.

Golden's at Christmas

Sadly, Sidney her first boy, his health had begun to deteriorate in recent months. Knowing that her friend Cynthia’s sister was a crazy dog person, who might understand her situation, she reached out and we began chatting online.

Judy wrote me the most beautiful emails about her beloved Sidney and her fight to keep him healthy and vital. Unlike the US where vets are abundant and understanding of the desire to keep dogs alive and well at almost any cost, Singapore was somewhat behind. And yet Sidney was born in 1994! Certainly Judy was quite a dog mom to have a Golden live strong for 15 plus years.

Sydney wearing Louis Vuitton Sneaker

But last week, it was time to let Sidney go.  I asked Judy to write something about Sidney because if we honor our family and friends with obituaries, we should do the same for our four-legged family member who we love so dearly.

Here is what she wrote:

There is such a strange void and silence in my house after Sidney died. I can’t explain it. Even though I still have 3 dogs, I think his aura was really big.
My husband, Russel, brought Sidney home about 15 and half years ago. We were dating, not married yet. I named him Sidney (after Sidney Poitier) and he was the finest blonde I’d ever met! Like people, some dogs have a presence that cannot be explained and Sidney had that X factor. Everyone always remembers Sidney. It’s not that he did special tricks or anything uniquely special, but people have always gravitated to him. Even when we finally settled and with 4 adorable goldens, Sidney was always the one that stood out.

Sidney also remembers people really well. He adored Russel’s father (who passed away on 28 Aug, exactly 2 months before Sids) who took care of him when he was a sick puppy. Russel’s father, Dr Wong, would take time out of his rest to nurse and medicate this special doggy every hour on the hour and feed him soft white bread to encourage Sidney to eat. Up to today, Sidney’s favorite food is a loaf of baguette! Whenever Sidney saw Dr Wong, he would just go nuts! He would want to snuggle up close and put his lap on Dr Wong, like he was forever grateful to Dr Wong for saving his life and caring.

During Russel’s photo shoots, Sidney would walk over to the studio and sit down and posed. It was really funny because Russel always had to shoo him out of the studio. Sidney liked posing with people! He really did enjoy taking pictures! But more than anything, he loved being around people and people loved him. He was a sensitive soul, my boy, and he had a lot of friends. So many were in tears when I announced that he died, so many.

Sydney in his favorite spot

I knew he was going to die when I woke up on the morning of the 28th. He was so tired and he was having a hard time breathing. I carried him downstairs (they ALL sleep with me in my bedroom, no matter who is sick) and saw that he probably had hours or another day at most. I finally made the decision to call the vet to the house (I would not have wanted him to die at the vet’s, I had to respect Sidney’s wishes. I know how much he hated the vet’s office) because I just couldn’t bear to see him suffer anymore. What really hurts is that his eyes were so alive and well, but the rest of him was not. That makes me feel so guilty! The logical side of my brain understands that it was the best thing for him, but my heart was just in pieces.

Please God take care of my Sidney and forgive me. I’m trying to make myself remember all the wonderful years and be grateful for every minute of them, to have had the opportunity to love such a wonderful companion and get loved back. But it’s still hard. it’s going to take a while…. a long while.
Meanwhile, I’m just trying to give attention to the other 3 doggies. But there is a huge void in my home and in my heart.

What a beautiful letter Judy wrote and I’m glad we were able to connect and share about Sydney.

If you need to share about your dog, I’m always here at betsy@lovethydog.com or there are some amazing  Pet Loss support resources online, including the ASPCA’s website and Petloss.com which has a lengthy list of grief hotlines.

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A Weekend at The Emergency Vet

There’s nothing quite like spending your weekend at the Emergency Vet. Yep… a big fat U G H… It’s a combo of:

• Boring: you end up having to sit in uncomfortable chairs for what seems like an eternity
• Expensive: Emergency vets are like Emergency Hospitals. Thing just cost more when there is a rush.
• Anxiety: Inducing: you’re scared about your dog’s health and about how much it’s going to cost.

It’s indeed all these things and more wrapped into one package.

Gratefully I think Ranger is now okay, I’m still not sure what was/is wrong with him, but he’s stable. However it wasn’t always so clear, in fact I was pretty freaked out…here’s the break down of the weekend…

Ranger threw up or really spit up on Thursday, but seemed totally fine except for a bit of cough on Friday. Then at about 2am on Saturday morning, and again at 6am he awoke with more explosive hacks and some spit-ups. While he wasn’t lethargic- a telltale sign that your dog is not doing well and you have to go to the vet immediately- I decided Ranger really needed to go to the vet and he needed to go at that moment, i.e. he couldn’t wait until regular vets opened at 9am.

Ranger

I would have preferred to wait-emergency vet hospital visits are (as seen above) boring, expensive and anxiety producing-but Ranger’s regular vet wasn’t even open on weekends so basically I weighed the options, i.e. knowing I was going to get him seen right away but would be paying for that privilege, vs. getting him seen by a vet I knew but that still wasn’t his own a few hours later for about 40% less up-front.

Ugh again, I obviously chose the former and headed west down Santa Monica boulevard towards Sepulveda-the Veterinary Hospital Homeland-hoping for the best and still unsure if I made the right decision. See, I’m a bit of a Jewish mom when it comes to my dogs’ healthcare. This can be beneficial, as I know that I had my girl Bella as long and comfortable of a life as possible because I was hawkish about her health, but the flip side is that it can get insanely expensive.

Was I being overly cautious and neurotic, or was I being careful? I debated even as I was filling out the intake form at the Emergency vet. Thankfully I have insurance, which made me feel much better about going for the more expensive option.

Everyone at the emergency hospital (I went to ASEC) was very nice, and the vet I got assigned was so sweet and smart-she went to PENN after all (I happen to grab my PENN sweatshirt as I was getting dressed so we bonded immediately.)

University of Pennsylvania

But even as nice as everyone was, it’s just an overwhelming experience: between the estimates they give you and the options for treatment… do you keep them in the hospital or take them home for observation… do I go with the expensive blood panel or do a more limited one and then see…all that while you’re worrying about your dog’s health as you watch a stream of other dogs and cats facing some scary illnesses come through the door. With my rescue work and Bella, I’ve gone through the vet hospital experience more times than I care to think about, but you really never get used to it. It’s really enough to make your lose your mind.

At about 6:30am on Saturday they took Ranger back to get x-rays and do some other diagnostic tests. When they came back the very nice vet showed me what appeared to be “a fabric-patterned object” in his GI track. But it was unclear if this was what was causing him to hack and wheeze. His tummy was also full of poop so they needed to get that to pass so they could get a better view.  So they asked me to come back at noon.

I went and took a Pilates class that I had scheduled at 10:30, returning at noon upon which time they asked me to come back again because they had a dire emergency to deal with. While some people might have gotten upset at this delay, I knew that this meant that Ranger was stable enough to be back-burnered for a bit, so I went home, watched super disturbing episode of Toddlers & Tiaras (in case you don’t know about this show, it’s a disturbing look at the world of Pageants. It’s on TLC and I’m obsessed) and then came back at 2pm.

Toddlers & Tiaras

In that time the doctors witnessed one of his wheeze-fits and while they were still concerned about the GI issue, it was clear that whatever was going on with him was directly affecting his respiratory system and that is what needed to be dealt with. Gratefully Ranger still wanted to play and eat and eat some more so while they were worried that they didn’t know what was wrong, his clinical signs were pretty good.

So they sent me home with a cough suppressant and antibiotics. I could have left him at the vet for observation but who wants to leave their babies if they don’t have to-particularly for hundreds of dollars a day. This goes back to that expensive part that makes Emergency vets so challenging. They literally take a credit card deposit from every client in the amount that the vet anticipates your animal’s treatment is going to cost in advance of the treatment really even getting started. They do this because-and I know that this happens all the time because in rescue we get dogs that have been dumped at Emergency vets quite a lot, so they’re not making it up-people will simply leave a dog if the cost is too high. People literally take off and leave the vet to eat the cost, and care for the pet.

So back to the rundown… after we went home around 4ish, we ended up back at about 7:30pm-ish because Ranger’s hacking cough was just downright scary.

I was there with him until about 11pm when were discharged with new meds that would hopefully soothe him. Unfortunately they didn’t and we ended up back at 2:30ish.

Ranger stayed from 2:30am until about 5:30pm Sunday when I picked him up with different meds but still no new diagnosis. Thankfully though there was a decrease in the intensity of his coughing fits and some pending tests that might tell us if he has some sort of cooties.

The vets gave me instructions to keep him quiet and give him a combo of meds that should ease him, and the suggestion to bring him to his regular vet for follow-up. So we headed home and straight to bed to watch the Emmy’s together under the covers.

Ranger only woke up about every two hours or so with some coughs and the meds they gave me to give him, did seem to help soothe him. Too bad they didn’t give me any meds to help me through not having slept much over the weekend… but I guess that would have been somewhat illegal, appreciated but illegal.

Ranger is currently spending the day at his regular vet where I will be picking him up after work. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a new diagnosis… I’ll keep you posted…

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Animal Care for Artists

It’s been way too long, I know, since I’ve last blogged, but wow it’s been a busy month here in NYC working on the upcoming New York Video Voter Guide. I have been a little better about keeping up with my Facebook status and posting dogs in need. And I thank all of you who have helped with my latest posted pooches.

In doing some poking around online today, I found a very cool project that I think deserves some support, it’s called Animal Care for Artists and its mission is to assist low income individuals, employed in the arts, in covering the cost of medical care for their animal companions.

Animal Care for Artists

In our “new” economy (read crappy economy) anything we can do to stop more sick animals ending up in shelters the better. Helping people who otherwise might not be able to afford proper care for their animals ultimately helps alleviate pressure on the already-overburdened shelter system. Click here to read more about how Animal Care for Artists operates.

What’s also interesting is how this group is going about fund-raising. I found them on a site called Kickstarter which is a supercool portal built for funding creative projects of all sorts. According to the Kickstarter site:”We love artists, writers, designers (of all kinds!), filmmakers, musicians, journalists, athletes, adventurers, inventors, bloggers, illustrators, explorers, curators, promoters, performers, and others.”

So check out Animal Care for Artist and Kickstarter.com and consider making a donation to this group get up and running!

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Pet Seatbelts & Pet Safety

Guest Blog from my friend Amy!

Hi! My name is Amy.  I spent 8 years as a veterinary technician, and now I work as the Happiness Manager of the world’s largest pet insurance company, Pet Plan. 

For over a decade I’ve seen your pets both in a medical capacity and now in the insurance claims that follow. Betsy has asked me to say a little about pets and car safety.  I’m sure that the parents in the reading audience make sure that your children are safely seat belted and/or appropriately secured in your car. Sadly we often fail to protect our pets in the same way. Does Fido bounce around the back seat or sit in your lap while you drive? Let’s talk about dog seat belts.

A few months ago, a claim came to my attention from a family whose dog hopped out of a car window while the car was in motion!  Luckily, Niko survived thanks to the quick thinking of his mom and the emergency hospital, but in the process, he lost his fluffy white tail.

I had a few conversations with his mom and instructed her on car safety (she’d never even heard of seat belts for pets). In researching ways to support Niko and his family I discovered that most of my co-workers let their dogs hang out unsecured in the car. This prompted me to become the seat belt “advocate”.

Some dog seat belts are actually padded vests with straps for the lap belt to thread through, but others are more in the line of a “harness” with extra loops on the back that your lap belt will pass through.

You can even buy a special dog “booster seat” that comes with it’s own straps, kind of like a toddler safety seat. Any of these can give your dog the freedom to move around a bit, and look out the window.  You’ll know that the dog will be safe in the case of an accident, and you won’t have a dog in your lap, obstructing your ability to drive!

My own dog, Baku (see below), has a harness seat belt. It was inexpensive ($19.99 for the “small”), and he can use it out of the car as a harness.  It’s adjustable and he can look out of the window while we’re driving.  He absolutely loves it, and whenever I take it out of the closet, he knows he’s going somewhere fun (even if it’s to the vet’s office…weird dog!)

Baku!

Do your homework before buying one, to get an idea of what you are really looking for in safety and comfort. Check the reviews, if any, of the brand you’re buying, to get the consumers’ opinions.   Buy the appropriate size for your dog, and always put your dog in the back seat, especially if you have passenger side air bags, which have been known to cause injury in pets while they sit in the front seat.

Here’s a good place to start: Petautosafety.com

Thanks for reading!

Interested in finding out about Pet Insurance, please contact  PetPlan @ 866-467-3875 , and be sure to say Betsy Rosenfeld sent you!

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Palladia:New Cancer Treatment for Dogs

Last week (sorry I’m a bit behind because of my trip)  Pfizer announced Palladia a new drug developed to treate cancer in dogs.  More specifically Palladia was designed to treat Mast Cell tumors, a potentially serious type of cancer that accounts for about 20 percent of canine skin tumors. Mast cell tumors can be very aggressive and spread to other parts of the body, including lymph nodes, if not treated.

Canine Cancer Drug

“This cancer drug approval for dogs is an important step forward for veterinary medicine,” Bernadette Dunham, director of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a statement. “Prior to this approval, veterinarians had to rely on human oncology drugs without knowledge of how safe or effective they would be for dogs,” she said. Pfizer said it would begin selling Palladia in early 2010, but will make the oral drug available to certain veterinary oncology specialists prior to that.

Palladia works by killing tumor cells and by cutting off the blood supply to the tumor.The pill must be taken every other day and the dog will likely have to be on the therapy for several months or longer, depending on tumor response, Pfizer said.

Unfortunately, Pfizer declined to divulge the cost of the treatment or to forecast what annual Palladia sales might be. The world’s biggest drugmaker said it will likely announce the price of the drug sometime this summer. In clinical trials, some 60 percent of dogs treated with Palladia, known chemically as toceranib, had their tumors disappear, shrink or stop growing, Pfizer said.

Tucker

In spending time at The Veterinary Cancer Group I met many dogs being treated for mast cell tumors. One adorable Beagle named Murphy was going to need 20 radiation treatments for his mast cell tumor. Both Tucker, my dog from college and Rusty, my Dad’s dog had Mast Cell tumors, but each was caught early and we were able to have them removed and the cancer never returned

Murphy had to get 20 treatments because his tumor was in his groin region and doctors weren’t able to remove the tumor with large enough margins to be sure it didn’t spread. So for dogs like Murphy Palladia is welcome news!

Unfortunately Palladia wouln’t have helped my sweet Bella, but where there is one cancer drug for dogs I hope more cancer drugs will follow.

Rusty the Rottie

Pfizer Animal Health estimates 1.2 million new canine cancer cases are reported in the United States every year.

To find out more about canine cancer how you can protect your dog, check out the following links:

Land of Pure Gold Foundation

Nine Ways to Precent Canine Cancer

The Morris Animal Foundation

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Dog in a Hot Car!

Last week I was racing back to work after too long of a lunch and saw a gorgeous dog panting away inside a BMW in the hot sun. I was livid, but also late. Painfully ambivalent, I drove past; stopped, started, stopped, backed up, turned around and then parked. I waited for someone to come out hoping someone had just run into one of the houses. No one came out. I started a bitchy note, and headed to the car to check on the dog. Was I going to have to call the police? Animal Control… ugh and I was late!

Just as I was about the put the note on the windshield this ditzy girl emerged from one of the houses. I asked if it was her car and it was. I said oh well I was leaving you a note as it is too hot to leave her in the car. She replied that she was just coming to get her.  Believing that you attract more bees with honey than vinegar, and knowing that I was super late, I stopped myself from unleashing a tirade upon this idiot. Besides she knew she effed up and that she was caught.

But it got me thinking what is the right move in these situations? What should you do if you find a dog in a hot car? And how hot is too hot to leave a dog in the car?

The answer to the first question is if you are concerned about a dog’s immediate health, go searching for the owner in nearby houses, restaurants and or shops and ask around if anyone saw who left the dog. If you are unsuccessful call the police and or the local animal control. If you have to smash the window, it will probably be better for you to have phoned the police first.

MyDogisCool.com

Another option is to  leave one of these genius stickers made by United Animal Nations available on MyDogisCool.com.  And if you have a towel to spare, cover the front windshield which is where a lot of the heat comes from.

And the answer to the second question is that according to a Stanford University test even when it is 72 degrees outside, a car’s internal temperature can rocket to 116 degrees within an hour, even with windows cracked. When it is 85 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can soar to 102 degrees in 10 minutes and 120 degrees in 30 minutes. A dog can only withstand a high body temperature for a short time before suffering nerve damage, heart problems, liver damage, brain damage or even death.

So if it’s over 65 degrees leave your pooch at home! If you must bring them along, mitigate your quick trips in and out of the car by putting up a sunblocker in the front windshield, and installing car window ventilators. I have not used the ventilators myself so use with caution and don’t expect them to make it icy for your dog, just bearable for a few more minutes.

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Sticking to Ranger’s Diet

Ranger with Friends

Like many Yellow Labs, Ranger has allergies. When we first got him, his ears were terribly infected. The doctor said was most likely a result of years of low quality food full of corn and or other fillers to which many dogs tend to be allergic.

As soon as we got Ranger, I put him on a chicken-based food that is usually good for dogs with allergies and we continued to give him treats and chews. Like his big sister Bella, he was quite a fan of the bully stick, particularly the round ones.

Initially Ranger’s itching ceased and then it all of the sudden came back with a vengeance. He was itch-obsessed. One morning I woke up and realized he also had the beginning of a rash. So I scooped him up and took him to the vet. More money than I want to admit later, Ranger had been given a medicated bath, Advantage, which he now needs to get every three weeks not four like other dogs, and he has to be on a restrictive diet– Duck and Potato from Royal Canin. It’s a food made for dogs with allergies, so it has limited ingredients which helps vets figure out what foods a dog is or isn’t allergic to.

Ranger's New Diet

Pretty much immediately Ranger began to itch less, which is great. But holy crap it’s hard not to give him anything but his food. No treats, no bribery when we’re leaving and I feel guilty… nothing. It’s like being on a diet myself!

Thankfully Ranger is happy with his food. However tonight, he found a left over bully stick. Before I could realize what he had in his mouth, he took off. I chased him up and down the stairs; all around the apartment trying to get it back from him. He of course thought we were playing a game. For what seemed like an eternity, we went round and round the couch in a game of face off. I was laughing hysterically and he was eluding me at every turn!

Eventually I cornered him and got the bully stick back. I literally shouted, bully stick in the air ”A-Ha, I got it!” Defeated, he followed me  and watched as I put the bully stick on top of the fridge. He looked a little sad, and truly I wanted to give him that bully stick so badly, but I couldn’t. So as a consolation prize, I opened another can of his food, went and found his Kong Toy and stuffed it full of a combo of wet and dry Duck & Potato Royal Canin.

Ranger is now happily slurping away and I feel good that at least one of us stuck to our diet today.

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FDA Confirms Probe of NUTRO Pet Food Deaths, Illnesses

This is some scary you know what. I know a lot of people who feed their dogs NUTRO….

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that the agency is investigating NUTRO pet food, following a series of unexplained illnesses and deaths. Consumers have been complaining for more than two years that their pets have become ill after eating NUTRO products; many have recovered when they were switched to other foods. The company has steadfastly denied that its food is to blame.

What's in your bowl?

Until now, the FDA has been mum about whether it was actively investigating the company. Today, the FDA’s Division of Freedom of Information confirmed the agency has an ongoing investigation into NUTRO — and said that investigation could be criminal or civil in nature. The office did not elaborate on the nature or focus of that investigation.

The investigation came to light when the FDA denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by ConsumerAffairs.com seeking a list of complaints and lab results the agency has collected regarding NUTRO pet food. The agency denied the request and said that releasing the information could hamper “prospective or ongoing” action by law enforcement.

Click Here to read full story on the Consumer Affairs website!

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Pasqualina, Our Newly Rescued Mastiff!

My rescue partner Amy picked up a gorgeous new Mastiff girl last week from the East Valley Shelter here in Los Angeles.

We named her Pasqualina because we thought she was an Italian Mastiff; now we’re not so sure of her breed. She may be a Neapolitan, but she also may be a Great Dane, or an English Mastiff or maybe some combination thereof. She’s probably about 18 months old, and weighs in at 92 pounds. That may sound like a lot, but she actually quite underweight.

Part of the reason we can’t tell Pasqualina’s heritage is that she has demodectic mange. All dog have the mites that cause “demodex” as it’s known, but when dogs don’t get proper nutrition, their immune systems sometimes can’t control the mites and these nasty little buggers begin to reproduce causing skin irritation and hair loss. 

In Pasqualina’s case, she has almost no hair left because her previous owners let her mange progress quite far. They then turned her into the shelter.

Demodex isn’t contagious, but it can be difficult to kick if you don’t know what you’re doing. But fear not for sweet Pasqualina, she is being fostered and will be getting the affection, nutrition and treatment she needs to get well soon.

I will keep you posted on Pasqualina’s Progress!

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