Don’t Panic! (Yes, there is another pet food recall)
Recalls happen all the time. For any number of reasons. If you think I’m kidding about that, you should check out the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) recall website! Some recalls get more media attention than others. This recall is hitting the news, and while it doesn’t impact our side of the country yet, it is still something to be aware of.
To prove to the manufacturer that you (or your pet) have been affected by the object in question, you really have to have the packaging. The lot or production number and best by dates are possibly more important than the entire packaging. Where to find the numbers will vary with different types of food.
The current recall is due to possible Salmonella contamination. Salmonella can make pets and people sick (think bad stomach flu) and requires medical attention. Not all pet foods are included in this recall, in fact, it has been traced to one dry dog food production plant. Yet the list of affected products continues to grow. Hopefully this recall won’t continue to snowball. Diamond Pet Food claims that most of the recall is precautionary, only four bags of food have actually tested positive for Salmonella, and they have suspended production at the plant in question.
So far, the recalled food is only known to have shipped from the manufacturer, Diamond Pet Food, to the Eastern United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Sample of production codes recalled
The following brands of dry dog food have been affected by the recall:
- Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
- Country Value
- Diamond
- Diamond Naturals
- Premium Edge
- Professional
- 4Health
- Taste of the Wild
- Apex
- Canidae
- Kirkland Signature
Assistance Dogs
We’ve seen them working; the dogs with the funny harness or jacket, always attached to a person. Ever wonder how the dog got to that point? What it takes to actually be a service dog? Who does the training? How much do they cost? Is there a difference between a service dog and a therapy dog?
Assistance dogs, no matter what type of help they provide, assist the disabled with their physical limitations. They can pull wheelchairs, turn lights on and off or pick up dropped items, to name just a few. Guide dogs are trained to maneuver the visually impaired around obstacles, Hearing dogs are trained to alert to sounds. In addition to whatever they are trained to do, they also provide emotional support. They can also help ease some of their human’s feelings of social isolation that can come from being different.
First things first. Where do the dogs come from? Guide dogs are bred specifically for that job. GDA has a breeding/whelping facility called “The Puppy Nursery”. Their females are bred once per year. Between all the females, about 200 pups are born per year. Labrador Retrievers are used 70% of the time, Golden Retrievers 15% and German shepherds 15%. Labs make up the majority as they have proven to be the most successful breed for training to be a guide. Some of the other service dogs are adopted from shelters. They are chosen for their temperament and can be any breed and size. Dogs need to be 18-24 months. Younger dogs will not show their adult temperament and some health problems will not appear before they reach adulthood..
When the GDA puppies are returned to the training facility, they are put through several tests including eye and orthopedic exams. A stress test is also performed. These tests are done with the other service dogs prior to adoption from the shelter. Dogs that GDA decide are not able to continue, for whatever reason, are moved to the “Adoption Program” to become a family pet. The puppy raiser has the first option of adoption. After that, there is a 6-8 year waiting list. GDA is no longer taking names for the waiting list.
At the end of training, GDA holds a graduation ceremony. All participants of the breeding, raising and training are invited, including the family and friends of the recipient. This is a true celebration of teamwork. It really does take a village to raise a puppy.
A service dog’s working life is 6-8 years. When the time comes for retirement, the guide dog user has the choice of keeping her as a pet or putting him in the adoption program. They also could choose to give her to a family member. It is often difficult to keep them as they can become depressed or jealous of the new guide doing her work.
Guide Dogs of America does not charge their recipients for the guides. They fly them to the training facility, spend 3 weeks training the human part of the team and take care of the veterinary needs for his working life. They receive no government monies. All there funds come through private donations. Other service dogs can cost up to $20,000.00. The Assistance Dog United Campaign is there to help the disabled get service animals. Assistance Dogs International is a wonderful resource as well.
Therapy dogs are completely different from service dogs, except of course they are dogs. They can also be any type of cuddly, likes-to-be-handled and gentle-spirited animal. A therapy dog is trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing home, and mental institutions. Disaster areas also benefit from therapy dogs. Making that human/animal bond does immeasurable good for healing.
Therapy animals are usually the personal pet of the handler, and typically works with it’s handler in attendance during sessions. Dogs must pass an obedience test and be evaluated before becoming certified. For more information contact the Pet Partners (formerly the Delta Society), or Love on a Leash.
Kim, CVT
Bringing Home a Baby
Sara,who wrote this article, passed on her early-age affinity for animals to her son.
When I was asked to do a blog article about bringing a baby into a home with pets I balked at the idea. I have pets, 2 dogs and 4 cats and I had good intentions of following recommendations. I talked to the veterinarians, printed out various handouts, tried to read them and start enforcing them before Malcolm arrived. I meant well.
One of the concerns I read about was that the cats might try to sleep on the baby’s head. I had panicked about many things, not one of which was the cats trying to sleep on the baby’s face. Last minute, when my friend asked me what to get for us, I told her a cat tent! It is basically a mesh tent that fits in the crib so cats cannot jump on the baby. This is a fantastic idea, until you are dealing with a tiny person who wakes up as soon as you zip the tent closed and a cat whose sole mission in life is to get into said cat tent. I think that the cat has gotten zipped into the tent more then the baby. This also doesn’t work if your kid sleeps with you. Right now our cat tented crib is used for storage.
Daily life is/was a bit harder to navigate then I thought. After Malcolm was born the nurse gave me his tiny hat and told me to take it home so the animals could smell it. We were in the hospital for 2 days! When would that happen exactly? Tiny hat did come home with us and I think the pets sniffed it at some point. Probably right after Margarita, the chihuahua mix, licked Malcolm’s face.
See, Mom, no worries!
When I first got pregnant, I was really upset with the majority of the public outside of my veterinary world telling me, “You’ll see, once the baby comes your pets won’t be as important anymore.” I want to tell you right now that is not true, but the hierarchy in my house has definitely changed. It used to go pets, then people. That has shifted into baby, me, husband, pets. My patience with the animals particularly the dogs is far less then it was before. My dogs are naughty. Elsa and Margarita are both sweet loving dogs who happen to have a very love/hate relationship with each other. Upon bringing another life into our home the problem just magnified. They steal food, poop in the basement occasionally, herd, and especially Elsa the schipperke, bark at anything. They are my little drama queens.
Malcolm is now 11 months and walking. The current constant comment to both Malcolm and the animals is “gentle”. Malcolm is in love with the dogs. He wants to grab them and hug them, grab Margarita’s tail and feet. He is also very interested in cat tails, either grabbing or biting. The animals are quickly learning to get up high or run fast. I am quickly seeing that having a crate trained dog would be nice. The dog would have a nice spot to escape too, perhaps ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for Malcolm. Things are slowly getting better now that Malcolm can feed the dogs whatever he is eating.
When I first brought the baby home the dogs were concerned but fine, now however, the game is on!
April is a Popular Month…
There are a lot of observances happening this month. Stay tuned for more articles and information as we recognize that:
April is…
…Heartworm Prevention Month (Mosquito Season opens in much of the country)
…Pet First Aid Awareness Month (American Red Cross)
…ASPCA’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month
Please share how you plan to participate in any of the above observances. Your ideas and plans might spark someone else’s creativity.
March is Poison Prevention Month – Part 2
So what do you do if you think your pet may have ingested or come into contact with a potentially harmful substance?
1. Stay calm!
2. If your pet is not showing any signs or symptoms of illness it is still a good idea to contact your veterinarian and discuss whether or not your pet should receive medical attention.
3. If your pet is showing any signs or symptoms of illness, you should take them to a veterinarian immediately.
One thing to remember is to please try to provide as much of the following information as possible when you contact the veterinary hospital or bring your pet in to the veterinary hospital:
1. What the ingested substance is ( including all active ingredients ).
2. Keep and bring any remaining packaging material that the agent was in.
3. Approximate amount that the pet ingested or was exposed to the agent.
4. Time ( or best approximation ) of ingestion/ exposure.
All of this information will serve to better help your veterinarian provide the best medical care and treatment course for your pet.
Of course, the best way to prevent accidental poisoning of your pets is to prevent your pet from having access to the agents and knowing which items can pose a threat to them. Some helpful tips include keeping harmful agents in cabinets that are secure and/ or above a height that your pet can not reach, use trash cans with locking lids and keeping compost piles enclosed or protected from access by you pets. Always read and follow the directions on the labels regarding lawn and garden products as well as flea and tick products. Do not give your pet any medications unless approved or recommended by your veterinarian. Keep toxic plants out of your home and yard or at least out of reach from your pets.
There are two Animal Poison Control helplines, one through the ASPCA, 1-888-426-4435, and one via the PetPoison Helpline, 1-800-213-6680. Charges may apply for either service, so have a credit card handy.
Heather B., CVT
March is Poison Prevention Month – Part One
1. Foods - alcoholic beverages, chocolate ( especially dark or bakers chocolate ), coffee, onions, grapes or raisins, avocado, macadamia nuts and gums containing xylitol.
For a household pet safety checklist please visit the ASPCA Poison Control website. For a more comprehensive list of potential toxins, please check out the Pet Poison Hotline website.
Recognizing February as Pet Dental Health Month
You may have seen signs around advertising that February is Pet Dental Health Month. At North Portland Veterinary Hospital, we honor Pet Dental Month all year long. When you bring in your pet for their wellness check-up, our doctors assess their dental health. Sometimes we recommend an anesthetic dental cleaning, sometimes we simply talk to you about what you can do at home to improve your pet’s dental health. If an anesthetic dental cleaning is recommended, we give you a coupon for $50 off that procedure if it is performed in the next 3 months. We even are able to make payment arrangements in most cases. These deals are available all year long, you just have to follow your veterinarian’s recommendations!
Dental health is important!
Bacteria in the mouth is part of what makes bites so dangerous.
Bacteria build up turns to plaque and than to calculus. Each stage is more difficult to remove from teeth than the last.
Did you know that your pet can get cavities?
Gum inflammation (any chronic inflammation) can lead to heart disease.
Did you know that the best thing that you can do for your pets teeth is to brush them every day?!
(Please don’t sting me up, I’m just the messenger!) We know that this is a hard task to accomplish. Developing good habits takes time, yes. But overall, you should be able to reach a point where brushing your pets teeth takes less time than brushing your own.
Need help getting started?
Give us a call, we can schedule appointments with the technicians for demos, or with your veterinarian for an oral check up. We also have goodie bags that take you through the steps to brush on your own.
Or you could check out these links:
The American Veterinary Medical Association has a great video on brushing. Cornell University also has a great video on Brushing Cat Teeth, and how to get your cat to like it!
GPS Pet Tag — On Groupon Now!
Groupon deals are something we talk about “behind the scenes.” You know, the “what did you do this weekend?” chatter that co-workers share at the water cooler, coffee pot, or while drawing up vaccines. This Groupon deal I thought would probab
ly interest some of our readers, so I’m linking to it here.
One of the most common questions asked when talking about microchips is, “Isn’t that like GPS tracking or something? What’s next ‘chipping people?” And the answer to that is “Nope. A microchip is a permanent identification tag.”
Well now there is a company that is making tracking devices for your pets to wear (note, this is not something that can be inserted, like a microchip). In fact, it looks just like any other pet tag.
And our friends at Groupon have brought the price down substantially. Woohoo!
Please let us know if you have ordered one, already have one, and what you think about this pet recovery method.
Oh, and the Groupon deal is only good through January 25th.
Growing Concern Over Jerky Treats
The FDA has its hackles raised again over possible illness in dogs related to the treats they are fed. The current suspect: chicken treats for dogs, that can be sold as jerky, strips, tenders, or chews. The treats in questions originate from China. At this point in time there are no conclusive leads, but this “caution” from the federal government is not the first of its kind in recent years. In 2005, there was the giant pet-food melamine recall. In 2007, the FDA gave “warning” about jerky treats for dogs, seemingly unrelated to the early melamine contamination. That warning was elevated to a “caution” in 2008, and then things went quiet.
Perhaps people were paying more attention to where their dog treats were coming from. Or maybe they were making treats at home. 2008 found us in the middle of the housing bust, maybe there were cases of dogs getting sick from treats, but not reportably because the affected families weren’t able to seek veterinary attention, or there were just bigger news items than a “caution” from the FDA.
Part of the issue seems to be that the FDA doesn’t know where to point the finger. They report that research is being done to pin-point the root of the problem. Thus far, they have ruled out melamine. Regardless, we need to know how to keep our pets safe. And how can we do that proactively?
First, buy local. Treat their food as you do your own. Our pets’ metabolism is remarkably faster than ours, so illness pops up a lot sooner.
If your dog is a jerky addict, then purchase a dehydrator (often seen at thrift stores) and make your own.
Save your packaging. If you cannot recall what type of food or treats you are offering, keep the label. You never know when it could be important.
One of the things that I do when I open a new bag of cat food, is dump it into a plastic storage container. I know lots of people do that. It keeps the pets from helping themselves, or pests from getting into it. Something that I could be better about, is clipping the information from the bag and taping it to the container. What information is important? Well to begin with, the brand name, type, and flavor. The expiration dates and lot numbers are crucial if there is a recall — finding those 2 pieces of information can be tough (check along the seams of the bag and by the proof-of-purchase barcode). That barcode could be useful also. Actually, the FDA has a whole list of things that would be helpful if you ever suspect a problem.
In the case of the “off” chicken jerky/tenders/strips/treats, here are the symptoms that have been reported so far:
- decreased appetite;
- decreased activity;
- vomiting;
- diarrhea, sometimes with blood;
- increased water consumption
- and/or increased urination.
As always, monitor your pets’ behavior. If you notice anything odd, give us a call. Likely, the recommendation will be to schedule an appointment or come right in, depending on a number of factors.
STAY Pet Hotel
If you are looking for luxury accommodations for your furry best friends (good enough for humans, even) then STAY Pet Hotel may be the answer. It is called “a boutique hotel for dogs”.
I toured the facility and was very amazed at how clean and good smelling is was. It was about 9 am, the dogs were being fed and barking to get out to the play yard.
Kim, the owner said that she and her husband had an in home pet sitting business in 2002. Then they bought this facility in 2006 which was previously a boarding kennel but was in bad shape.
They have done a wonderful job rejuvenating and remodeling making it a perfect place for your dogs to have a comfortable, warm and fun vacation while you are away. Kim and her husband live very close by. The facility also has an apartment where an employee lives full time.
The address of STAY is 3606 NE Columbia Blvd. in Portland. Their telephone number is 503-288-7829. So give them a call to reserve a “pampered vacation” for your special 4-legged friend!
Loralei, CVT
