Last night I was reading some veterinary journals. They always have case histories of animals that have come down with some weird disease, or a weird presentation of a common disease. The history given is usually limited to the clinical signs, and never include what I want to know: And when were they last vaccinated? And what were they being fed while they were vaccinated?
All vaccines come with an insert, that little piece of paper that tells you how to use the vaccine, what percentage of animals can be expected to be protected by it, etc. I never read these myself until about 3 or 4 years ago, when I suddenly wondered what was on this little piece of paper that comes with the vaccines.
Vaccine inserts mention several times that the product is for use in healthy animals, and that only healthy animals should be vaccinated. At the end there are precautions, including the tidbit that animals who are stressed (do you really think your cat likes to ride in the car?), malnutritioned (every pet on dry precessed kibble food), or incubating any disease shouldn't be vaccinated because....well, they don't say what might happen, because it's unknown. It is completely not known what kind of effects, short or long term, the vaccine might have on your pet.
Another article mentioned that viruses for the cat vaccines are grown in feline kidney cell culture. Guess what happens when you inject them into your cat? That's right, the cat develops antibodies to everything in the injection, including...cat kidney cells. Maybe that's why just about every cat develops kidney disease at some point.
Hmmm, food for thought.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
It's Hot Today
Unbelievably hot today. I walked the dogs early this morning, right after morning rush hour - I have to walk them down the main road to get to a safer place to walk them. It was so early the mosquitos weren't quite done with their own morning rush hour.
I think the dogs still got heatstroke. It was hotter than hell.
Tonight I went a little light on their raw food for dinner, and added yogurt. It seemed kind of like dog ice cream. Now Alice is eating grass compulsively. Sigh. Maybe the dairy is not a good choice when it's so hot out. Now they're lying around in the house being miserable. Sigh. Me, too.
Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter. I don't know if I'll walk them at all.
Days like this remind me of when I was working as a farmhand in the desert on the Egyptian border. One night, sitting around the camp fire, there were a couple of new girls from Zimbabwe. The Israeli guy turns to them and says, "It's hot today." Yes, they agreed, it was. A few minutes later he repeated, "It's hot today." Turns out that was all the English he knew.
It's hot today.
I think the dogs still got heatstroke. It was hotter than hell.
Tonight I went a little light on their raw food for dinner, and added yogurt. It seemed kind of like dog ice cream. Now Alice is eating grass compulsively. Sigh. Maybe the dairy is not a good choice when it's so hot out. Now they're lying around in the house being miserable. Sigh. Me, too.
Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter. I don't know if I'll walk them at all.
Days like this remind me of when I was working as a farmhand in the desert on the Egyptian border. One night, sitting around the camp fire, there were a couple of new girls from Zimbabwe. The Israeli guy turns to them and says, "It's hot today." Yes, they agreed, it was. A few minutes later he repeated, "It's hot today." Turns out that was all the English he knew.
It's hot today.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Old News
At a used book store last week I picked up a copy of Current Veterinary Therapy, Volume 5, published in 1974. I checked to see what the vaccine recommendations were back then, and found this tidbit in the chapter "Minimal Disease Prevention for Cats":
"During the third part of the initial examination, the veterinarian should discuss diet and general health programs with the owner. The owner should be advised of the importance of adding raw meat to the diet and of offering a variety of foods not only to promote a well balanced diet but also to guard against the feline tendency to become addicted to certain meats. A daily vitamin program should be established....."
Thank you Nancy Kowall, DVM, from Pasadena, who wrote these sage words! Where had all this gone by the time I was in vet school, in the mid-90's? By then we had become corporatized, and our cat and dog nutrition lectures were taught by employees of Hill's Science Diet. What had been learned from Pottenger's cats had been unlearned, and was presented as fact.
Interestingly, the previous chapter, Minimal Disease Prevention for Dogs, has eight authors and only discusses the benefits of vaccines. There is no mention of other things that help prevent disease, like diet, vitamins, and a healthy lifestyle.
"During the third part of the initial examination, the veterinarian should discuss diet and general health programs with the owner. The owner should be advised of the importance of adding raw meat to the diet and of offering a variety of foods not only to promote a well balanced diet but also to guard against the feline tendency to become addicted to certain meats. A daily vitamin program should be established....."
Thank you Nancy Kowall, DVM, from Pasadena, who wrote these sage words! Where had all this gone by the time I was in vet school, in the mid-90's? By then we had become corporatized, and our cat and dog nutrition lectures were taught by employees of Hill's Science Diet. What had been learned from Pottenger's cats had been unlearned, and was presented as fact.
Interestingly, the previous chapter, Minimal Disease Prevention for Dogs, has eight authors and only discusses the benefits of vaccines. There is no mention of other things that help prevent disease, like diet, vitamins, and a healthy lifestyle.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Intestinal Fortitude
Yesterday my dogs ate three large bags of brown rice. I can't blame them. My theory is that just the same way it's a prisoner's job to try to escape, it's the dogs' job to hunt for food.
The first clue was that when I got home, my kitchen floor was like that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark....crunchy. The second clue was the open cabinet door. The third clue was the as yet uneaten (but gutted) remaining bag of rice on the living room carpet.
I didn't know what to expect. Would the rice really expand in their stomachs and kill them? Nothing else has, yet. Would they bloat and die?
The four of them seemed pretty happy....and hungry. I fed them dinner. They ate like normal. It's a speed sport, at our house.
This morning they seemed fine. No vomiting, no emergency trips to the yard.
This afternoon they were fine when I got home, but were a little desperate to get outside. They all pooped. A lot. Rice. Lots and lots of rice. Then they ate dinner like their normal fiendish selves.
This is why Katie K9 and I constantly tell people to create strong stomachs in their dogs. For just this occasion and purpose. I can't express how worthwhile it is to have built intestinal fortitude into my dogs. The value is in the peace of mind.
The first clue was that when I got home, my kitchen floor was like that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark....crunchy. The second clue was the open cabinet door. The third clue was the as yet uneaten (but gutted) remaining bag of rice on the living room carpet.
I didn't know what to expect. Would the rice really expand in their stomachs and kill them? Nothing else has, yet. Would they bloat and die?
The four of them seemed pretty happy....and hungry. I fed them dinner. They ate like normal. It's a speed sport, at our house.
This morning they seemed fine. No vomiting, no emergency trips to the yard.
This afternoon they were fine when I got home, but were a little desperate to get outside. They all pooped. A lot. Rice. Lots and lots of rice. Then they ate dinner like their normal fiendish selves.
This is why Katie K9 and I constantly tell people to create strong stomachs in their dogs. For just this occasion and purpose. I can't express how worthwhile it is to have built intestinal fortitude into my dogs. The value is in the peace of mind.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Equine Chiropractic Revisited
On Thursday Peggy's Thoroughbred had his second chiropractic evaluation and treatment. He had retained the improvements that he gained immediately after the last session. He was more flexible on both sides, and didn't drag his feet anymore. Peggy had ridden him a couple of times, but had noticed that his girth didn't seem to fit anymore, so she had gotten him a new one.
The second treatment was just as fascinating as the first. There was a lot less introductory time, as it was apparent that the horse remembered Dr. Stacy fondly. He knew what to expect this time, and was much less surprised by the neck adjustments. He evidently realized that this whole business led to feeling better, and he leaned into Stacy's treatments and helped her find just the right angle of thrust for the adjustments.
It's funny that we get used to our bodies being a certain way, holding ourselves up and moving ourselves around. We get more static and lose flexibility as we get older, both physically and mentally.And yet the underlying fluidity and grace are there all along, waiting to be allowed to express themselves.
The second treatment was just as fascinating as the first. There was a lot less introductory time, as it was apparent that the horse remembered Dr. Stacy fondly. He knew what to expect this time, and was much less surprised by the neck adjustments. He evidently realized that this whole business led to feeling better, and he leaned into Stacy's treatments and helped her find just the right angle of thrust for the adjustments.
It's funny that we get used to our bodies being a certain way, holding ourselves up and moving ourselves around. We get more static and lose flexibility as we get older, both physically and mentally.And yet the underlying fluidity and grace are there all along, waiting to be allowed to express themselves.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Vaccine Sale
The other night I caught the tail end of a TV ad for a new vaccine: the adult pertussis vaccine. The part of the ad that I saw implied that children were getting pertussis from adults. You could be infecting and endangering your children! They could be getting whooping cough from you! Now wouldn't you feel bad if that happened? You should go get vaccinated for this horrible disease!
I wonder why in veterinary medicine the intranasal Bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine is generally agreed to be more effective than the injectable version, but people are still vaccinated against Bordetella (whooping cough) by injection. The studies of incidence of pertussis in adult populations show a wide variety of results, anywhere from <1% to 8%. Several of the studies diagnosed people with whooping cough based on antibody titers....because they were unsuccessful at culturing the actual bacteria from these people.
I don't know much about humans, but I can tell you how effective the vaccine is in dogs....Not! I have seen some lousy side effects from this simple, supposedly harmless vaccine, and about half of the dogs get kennel cough from the vaccine itself.
It seems that we'd be better off shoring up our immune systems, rather than falling for another profit-driven fear campaign. The vaccine manufacturer must have a lot of extra product around that they need to dump. And well they know, nothing sells like emotion. Now go out there and quit making kids sick!
I wonder why in veterinary medicine the intranasal Bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine is generally agreed to be more effective than the injectable version, but people are still vaccinated against Bordetella (whooping cough) by injection. The studies of incidence of pertussis in adult populations show a wide variety of results, anywhere from <1% to 8%. Several of the studies diagnosed people with whooping cough based on antibody titers....because they were unsuccessful at culturing the actual bacteria from these people.
I don't know much about humans, but I can tell you how effective the vaccine is in dogs....Not! I have seen some lousy side effects from this simple, supposedly harmless vaccine, and about half of the dogs get kennel cough from the vaccine itself.
It seems that we'd be better off shoring up our immune systems, rather than falling for another profit-driven fear campaign. The vaccine manufacturer must have a lot of extra product around that they need to dump. And well they know, nothing sells like emotion. Now go out there and quit making kids sick!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Dog Bite
Last week my little white terrier bit the heck out of me as I attempted to break up a fight between her and the little brown terrier - with my bare hands.
Yes, I know. Stupid is as stupid does.
At first I thought the wounds were fairly superficial and would be okay. Did I mention stupid?
By about noon my ring finger was swollen to gargantuan proportions, and my wedding/engagement rings - which I had refused to remove - I know, I know, stupid! - were cutting off all circulation. Troy had told me to take the rings off right away after the bite. He had to cut them off with wire cutters. Luckily gold is a soft metal. I hate it when he's right.
Of course, my finger stayed swollen once it had been made so unhappy. It throbbed. The back of my hand swelled. My finger looked like a bright red shiny painful balloon.
Just about everybody I spoke to asked me why I wasn't on antibiotics, and why I hadn't gone to a doctor. A couple of people mentioned rabies.
Well, I'm vaccinated for rabies. And my dad's a doctor. I called him. He didn't suggest antibiotics, but did mention that I might have gas gangrene. "I had a patient once with gas gangrene," he said. "He died."
But dad, I said, wouldn't my finger be turning black, and have that crackly feeling like when there's gas under the skin? "By then it's too late," he said. He recommended a tetanus toxoid booster, and told me to soak my finger in hot water several times a day. I soaked my finger.
It's been a week. My finger is healing well. It's only 1 and 1/2 times the size of my other fingers. I can move it a lot more, and it's straighter.
What would I have done if it hadn't healed? Would I have taken antibiotics, gotten the tetanus booster, pursued amputation before it got too late? Who knows? I knew it would heal.
Yes, I know. Stupid is as stupid does.
At first I thought the wounds were fairly superficial and would be okay. Did I mention stupid?
By about noon my ring finger was swollen to gargantuan proportions, and my wedding/engagement rings - which I had refused to remove - I know, I know, stupid! - were cutting off all circulation. Troy had told me to take the rings off right away after the bite. He had to cut them off with wire cutters. Luckily gold is a soft metal. I hate it when he's right.
Of course, my finger stayed swollen once it had been made so unhappy. It throbbed. The back of my hand swelled. My finger looked like a bright red shiny painful balloon.
Just about everybody I spoke to asked me why I wasn't on antibiotics, and why I hadn't gone to a doctor. A couple of people mentioned rabies.
Well, I'm vaccinated for rabies. And my dad's a doctor. I called him. He didn't suggest antibiotics, but did mention that I might have gas gangrene. "I had a patient once with gas gangrene," he said. "He died."
But dad, I said, wouldn't my finger be turning black, and have that crackly feeling like when there's gas under the skin? "By then it's too late," he said. He recommended a tetanus toxoid booster, and told me to soak my finger in hot water several times a day. I soaked my finger.
It's been a week. My finger is healing well. It's only 1 and 1/2 times the size of my other fingers. I can move it a lot more, and it's straighter.
What would I have done if it hadn't healed? Would I have taken antibiotics, gotten the tetanus booster, pursued amputation before it got too late? Who knows? I knew it would heal.
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