Only Oscar

Oscar is gone now. 

He was always a challenging individual, lots of problems most not easy to resolve and new ones cropping up at unexpected times. But somehow our relationship endured. He was easy to be around with a placid accommodating temperament even when he was sick. We had our good times and bad, but he always seemed to be willing to try.

And so was I, right up to the end.

I ask myself now “Was Oscar a success or failure” and does that kind of judgment really apply?  He was a small black cat with a compromised immune system from the time we met several years ago.

He challenged my medical and analytical skills, my ingenuity, risk taking and ability to balance what could be done with what should be done. He made me think far outside the box.

When a new problem or reaction to treatment cropped up, his owner Judy and I would look at each other and say “Only Oscar” but always with a smile. He kept me up one night devouring most of a long untouched textbook of internal medicine, manically looking for “the answer” I might have missed. I found some crumbs but nothing more.

Then one day when, yet again, I hoped we might have found the “solution”,  his quality of life deteriorated.  His amazingly devoted owner called me to say he couldn’t jump up and was hiding from everyone. We had “saved him” before, but this time we both knew he had had enough.

What made Oscar  so unique was that he seemed to represent something larger than a medical challenge – the realization that there are no simple answers in life, but in striving to find the small openings along the way we discover our full potential. 

Which is more dangerous ... Valentine's Day or Easter?

It's a delicious time of year for chocolate lovers; this dreamy early spring period between Valentines Day- chocolate hearts and kisses - and Easter with its chocolate bunnies and eggs. And much as I love chocolate, I wasn't really expecting it to enter my exam room one quiet Tuesday morning.

Sally Pearl had come to see me with her fittingly chocolate- colored Standard Poodle Sasha for an annual check up. We were chatting about  Sasha's diet and flea and tick preventives before we started the exam. I was working with a new assistant called Jane. She was cheerful and willing, though her animal handling experience went no further than petting her family's dogs.

I asked Jane to lift Sasha onto the table so we could start the examination and give the vaccines. As she leaned over to pick up the dog, out of the top pocket of her loose-fitting scrub top tumbled half a dozen chocolate kisses.  They landed right in front of the poodle's nose! With a sharp intake of breath, I leaned over and quickly swept them up, luckily before the dog could eat them.  I was only thankful that this wasn't a labrador who would surely have ingested any food item off the floor before we even realized what had happened. How would I have been able to explain to the owner that her pet had eaten a potentially toxic food in our hospital?

As my eyes widened and Jane started to go red in face, realizing what had happened, the owner carried on relating the details of her pet's feeding regime, none the wiser.  The rest of the exam went without a hitch. Afterwards, I told Jane :No chocolate, ever, in the exam room!

So, at this time of year when there is so much chocolate around, do be extra careful not to make it available in pockets, handbags or jeans to your canine friends. Dark chocolate is the most dangerous, but any chocolate especially in the pint-sized pets can be toxic.

If your dog ingests chocolate, call your vet and the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline (888 426 4435) which is open 24/7.

And have a Happy Easter!


See me at www.drevemartin.com

Did my dog catch my cold?

Miss Stone came in sneezing. So did Sasha her cuddly 2 year old Cockapoo.

" I'm so upset," she told me as I picked up adorable Sasha and took off her Burberry rain coat to start her examination. " I just know she caught this cold from me, because I started sneezing last week, and now she is sneezing. I feel so bad."

I reassured Miss Stone that she had not given her precious pet a cold.

Lots of people get colds and seasonal allergies in the Autumn as the weather changes... and it has certainly given us quite a lot of dramatic changes this year. The same is true of pets who are also vulnerable to respiratory infections and allergies at this time of year, but we don't actually share the same viruses.

So the simple answer is that you and your pet may very well get the same kind of symptoms either from a virus or allergy at this time of year -- sneezing, runny nose and congestion -- but you are not likely catching it from your dog. And he is not catching it from you!

Although allergies in dogs tend to flare up in the Fall just like they may do in their owners, dogs often have skin symptoms, like itching and rashes, instead of runny eyes and noses. Surprisingly, dogs have very sensitive skin and allergens like pollen or leaf mold in the environment can really make them itchy -- especially when they roll in piles of leaves!

So, some good ideas for this time of year:

- Keep pets warm and dry.
- Make sure they have appropriate vaccinations against illnesses like Kennel Cough.
- For allergic or itchy dogs, wash them when they come in from leaf rolling to remove any irritants or allergens. Bathe them in hypoallergic shampoo if needed (and make sure to dry them well).
- Give itchy dogs supplements like Fish Oil to keep their skin supple.

As for Sasha? Well she recovered just fine with a lot of loving care... and was rewarded with a new raincoat.

I can't kiss my Bulldog anymore

“It’s all the wrinkles that worry me,” said Mrs  Snell.  I looked up from the medical record and examined her concerned face closely.  I saw a 35 year old woman in pretty good shape with hardly a wrinkle in sight. Then I looked down at Harry her 3 year old English Bulldog, tail wagging double time with the classic body wiggle that let me know he was happy to see me. Of course, I thought,  it was HIS wrinkles she was referring to.

As his veterinarian, I too was concerned about his wrinkles and folds, especially on his face.  “There is a smell coming from them which stops me from kissing him as much,” she went on.  As I examined him (my real patient), I too could smell the somewhat stale odor of skin fold dermatitis. This moist infection often affects dogs belonging to breeds which have wrinkles, like bulldogs.  Although this condition is usually  limited to the face, many bulldogs also have skin issues elsewhere on their bodies because of their sensitive skin.

As I finished my exam, I reassured Mrs Snell that Harry was in great shape generally. We would help solve his skin problem with a short course of antibiotics and cleansing wipes and put him on a supplement of  essential fatty acids  for his long term dermatological well being.

Fish oil supplements contain essential fatty acids which are excellent  for dogs’ coats as well as their joints and general health. It is important to select a high grade product so that it is easily absorbed by the dog. As with other nutrients, it can take a few weeks before the effects are seen. I made an appointment for Harry in three weeks’ time.

When Mrs Snell came into the consulting room the second time, she beamed at me. “Thank you so much Doc. Not only can I kiss Harry all the time, he seems a happier dog.” I looked closely at Harry’s  face; the adorable, kissable wrinkles were still there, but the off-putting odor was gone and he was licking my chin with great gusto.  And his wiggle was as enthusiastic as ever.

We agreed to keep Harry on the fish oil supplement long term and also to bathe him regularly with a shampoo for sensitive skin so that we would be sure that his skin would stay healthy. As she left, I was tempted to quip, “ You may kiss the dog!”

Oh My Aching Legs, All Four of Them

“He’s just getting old,” Mr Waters announced in his dogmatic tone as he entered my small consulting room. He was wearing tennis clothes and carrying a sports bag. I wondered why he had brought Spud, a gentle 12 year old black Lab with soulful eyes and an unsteady gait.  He was here for “vaccines only” he informed me in no uncertain terms. But first he knew I would examine Spud. As  I did,  Mr Waters busied himself reading the Wall Street Journal and studying messages on  his iphone.  

When I had finished the exam, I turned to him and told him that Spud had markedly reduced movement in his hips and knees (yes, dogs do have them about halfway down their back legs) and his elbows moved with difficulty. I told him that this was a sign that Spud had arthritis  and would benefit from a glucosamine chondroitin supplement at the very least and might need anti-inflammatory medication as well further down the line.

I asked if he had noticed Spud  having more trouble getting into the car or going up stairs at home. Did it take him a long time to get up after resting or in the morning? Well, yes he had noticed some of that but he put it down to old age.

“He never shows any pain, “ he informed me.  “Well, that is how animals behave,” I said; “They are hard wired not to show weakness and unless they are in severe pain will try to carry on without complaining. It is a defense mechanism from their wild animal past.”

“Well you’re the doctor,” he replied. This I knew was his way of giving me permission, however grudgingly, to treat his pet and try to help poor  Spud feel a lot better.  

As a vet, I frequently wonder at the attitudes people have to their pets and how they interpret their symptoms. Often it says as much about the person as about the dog or cat. I knew Mr Waters was getting on but still prided himself on being a competitive tennis player and keeping up with  world affairs. And I knew that he cared deeply about Spud. He just found it hard to admit that he too was getting older.

For now, I knew we had done the right thing by giving Spud a joint supplement along with his vaccines.

I Met a Fat Cat Today

I met a fat cat today. He arrived in my consulting room in a mock Burberry carrier.  He was wearing a diamante studded collar and had a black and white dandruff strewn coat.  

As his vet, I was concerned about his size – all 20 lbs of it – but his owner’s main worry was about his fur. She wanted it to be glossier.

When I mentioned his size, she bristled as people often do when their pet’s weight is mentioned. She protested that she only fed him a half a cup of dry food a day.

“And what else?”  I asked as I started to examine him. As I’ve often found with overweight pets, he was delightfully compliant, the model patient.

Then began the list of treats: table scraps, cooked chicken and the occasional  fried fish dinner.

I suggested to her that he was being overfed, getting both a full day’s worth of calories in his cat food and a good portion in “people food”.

“But he is always hungry and he doesn’t move around much. He is an indoor cat and loves watching TV.  I leave it on for him when I go to work, “ she reported. “And if I don’t feed him three times a day he wakes me up at 4am by sitting nearly on my head and meowing.”

We talked about ways to get him more active – moving his food to an upstairs location; playing with him; seeing if he would tolerate a harness and leash for walks; and  trying a laser toy. She nodded but I knew it was an uphill battle.

So I went for the big guns, “How are you going to cope if he develops diabetes ? “ I asked.  She looked genuinely shocked at this prospect. “But I would never be able to give him insulin injections; I feel faint at the sight of a needle,” she replied.

That seemed to have finally got through to her. She loved her cat but it was only the idea of  having to give him insulin injections that actually made her think past his dandruff.

So along with her big guy in his designer carrier, she left the office with a measuring cup for his food and the knowledge that once he was slimmer, he would be able to reach his back to groom himself and the dandruff would get better.

My final words to her were: “ Remember, I’ve never met a cat yet who can open the refrigerator, so it is up to you.” She smiled and said, “Maybe I’ll even enroll him in Weight Watchers with me.”

Scratch, scratch, scratch - itchy dogs are everywhere

Nothing is more maddening than a dog who keeps scratching, especially at night. But think of the poor pet -- he or she is feeling itchy all the time. Allergies to both foods and environmental allergens like pollen are on the rise. What can you do to help avoid skin infections and sores? Start by choosing a single protein food, preferably not poultry based. Give a fish oil or fatty acid supplement and be sure to rinse off your dog's feet when you come in from a trip to the park!