Holidays with the Pets

During fall break for Thanksgiving I return home to Austin, Texas to celebrate the holidays with my family which means I take a break from volunteering. However, the holidays are never a time for me to take a break from animal care especially since the winter and holiday season is the worst time of the year for animal deaths and accidental poisonings. Pets suffer from frostbite from the cold weather to toxic holiday products and food found in abundance around the house. Mistletoe, chocolate, Christmas trees preservatives, fake snow, modeling clay, alcoholic beverages, and nuts list just a few items that can be highly toxic and deadly in small quantities according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. The best way to protect from these accidents is to ensure these products are out of reach of prying paws or when used protected from pets. I know this last rule by experience as last year I went through an episode where my male Yorkshire Terrier named Tramp got into a large thing of chocolate covered fruit and nuts left sealed on the coffee table in the living room. After gorging himself sometime in the night, Tramp then passed out having diarrhea, the shakes, and vomiting over the course of 12 hours. I had the veterinary on call, forced him to drink water all day, and watched him carefully for seizure symptoms as chocolate is a neurotoxin, meaning targets the nervous system. Tramp got through the chocolate fruit disaster without having to go to the veterinarian as his system got rid of the toxin naturally by making him vomit and have diarrhea. Other pets are not so lucky. If you feel that your pet has eaten something toxic first call poison control to figure out the toxicity and symptoms to watch for, second call you veterinarian if these symptoms appear, and three watch your pet carefully for any change in behavior. The holiday season is a great time of the year, but also should be a cautious one when pets are concerned.

Fluid Puppies?

My time this week at the Humane Society was chaotic consisting of lines of people waiting to do visits with animals and long list of animals who got adopted. All the animals that I interacted with and got to know were immediately adopted out and thus I have no animal of the week to display. Instead, I want to share a story from a veterinary clinic I volunteered at this week describing an unusual situation with a young female Husky. (Names and affiliations will be kept unknown to preserve confidentiality)

On Friday, November 9 a woman entered the veterinary clinic to which I volunteer with her 10 month old Husky as she made an appointment to evaluate the dog for a spay procedure. Upon entrance to the clinic the staff was aghast at the dog's appearance as the 10 month dog had an enormous belly indicating that the dog might be pregnant. However, once the veterinarian performed an evaluation on the dog, the inclination of the belly being from pregnancy faded as the extended belly felt fluid filled. The veterinarian immediately performed an x-ray on the dog to discover if the dog was truly pregnant or if a different situation existed. The x-ray revealed that the dog's organs were being squished next to the spine because the uterus was filled with fluid. Now the situation was dire because an swollen, fluid-filled uterus, condition known as pyometra, is life-threatening and emergency surgery must be performed when diagnosed. The veterinarian scrubbed in and the dog was prepped for surgery for immediate removal of the swollen infected uterus.

The vet began doing the normal procedures for a spay that would end in the removal of the huge uterus, but after removing the ovaries, the situation became extremely complicated. The uterus was attached to the bladder and one of the kidneys that was extremely small and abnormally shaped compared to the other kidney. The veterinarian then started to drain the fluid from the uterus which was identified to be urine. Obviously, this animal did not have pyometra but some congenital birth defect where the abnormal kidney was draining its fluid into the uterus instead of the bladder. Unsure what to do next, another veterinarian scrubbed in and tried to help, but again the circumstances were such that neither vet knew how to handle this situation; a problem that would require a licensed veterinary surgeon. One of the vet techs called a veterinary surgeon to come to the clinic and help with the case. In the meantime the prognosis for the dog looked grim. The veterinarians decided to let the owner say her final goodbyes in the surgery suite as it was highly unlikely much could be done to save this pet. Within 30 minutes, the veterinary surgeon arrived who began assessing and performing surgery on the female dog. Within another hour, he had got the kidney and the uterus out and was suturing the dog. He saved the dog's life.

While I was volunteering at the clinic today, the same pet came in for further observation as its still uncertain that her urinary system is going to function normally. But, even with one kidney and 10 pounds less weight, the Husky did not act that she had underwent 6 hours of surgery the day before being unruly, uncooperative, hyper, and very talkative; all good signs of recovery.

I am not sure what will happen with the Husky, but I do know that this owner did the right thing. Again and again I see cases where owners see something abnormal occur in their pet, whether it be a weird bump or behavior, where they wait and wait before taking their pet to the veterinarian ending more than likely in a bad prognosis or euthanasia. By waiting so long, the disease got to a point where it could not be reversed and or the cost to fix the condition is too much for the owners. One I cannot believe an owner would let their pet suffer that long and two the earlier you can diagnosis and treat a disease, the less the procedure will cost as the treatments will most likely be less involved and invasive. Bottom line, take responsibility for having a pet. Pets are not toys and by buying and caring for a pet you take responsibility for getting medical treatment as animals do feel pain and its cruel to let them suffer. If this is something you cannot afford, then maybe a pet is not right for you as you cannot invest only half way.

Kelly

Name: Kelly
Age: 6 years
Breed: Blue Cream Domestic Short Hair
Personality: Sidekick
Price: $ 25
Status: Adopted

Starting October 12, 2007, a small, sweet, shy, half-Persian came into adoptions after coming into the shelter as a stray. Within a week Kelly was adopted out to a family with small children; however, the situation for both the family and Kelly did not work out as Kelly was so scared she hid over the course of 4 days. This incompatibility may have been from the presence of small children that scared Kelly at such an early stage for such a shy cat or the family did not slowly introduce her to a house. Any newly adopted cat should be slowly introduced to a new home, over the course of two weeks, to keep the cat from becoming overstressed and overwhelmed in a new environment. A new cat brought into a house should be placed in only one room of the house allowing them to come out of their carrier on their own volition. Not all cats will immediately become comfortable, but may take several weeks or even a month to warm up to the house and a person. Once comfortable in the new room, which usually takes a week or so, the cat should be slowly introduced to the rest of the house. This strategy helps establish a bond with the person as well as keeping a cat's stress levels low because if stress is high the cats are more likely to hide, run away, and catch infections. For more information on bring a cat home as well as bringing cats home to a house already with animals click here.

After Kelly's first adoption, the Humane society now understood that Kelly would probably fair best in a quiet home with older children. Categorized as a sidekick, Kelly likes attention but also likes her solitude. Her sociability rates medium as well as her valiance or confidence meaning she takes time to adjust and is not instantly attached to a person. In her first personality test of introduction to a novel room, Kelly alternated from coming out and hiding in her carrier with some interaction with the evaluator. Upon call approach, Kelly was willing to come up to evaluator, meow, and even head butt as she became more comfortable. Petting also had to be approached slowly as Kelly was a little scared at first but within minutes Kelly began to enjoy the attention and petting. Kelly is a talkative cat who loves to meow at a person suggesting she wants social interaction but will approach in her own terms. Kelly also is a playful cat who loves to chase and play with a cat charmer. During this play examination, Kelly took no time to start playing versus the other exams that she had to warm up to. If a house is looking for a middle of the road cat that will be independent, affectionate, as well as playful, Kelly will be perfect. Just make sure to introduce her slowly to her new environment and a wonderful relationship can began.

Gandolf

Name: Gandolf
Age: 5 years
Breed: Golden Retriever/ Samoyed
Personality: Orange
Price: 100 dollars
Status: Adopted
Through the last couple years at the Larimer Humane Society I have seen a general trend where adoptable dogs only stay for at most 2 weeks while cats tend to stay for days upon months at the shelter before being adopted. Along with this trend is the pattern where there always is more cats available than dogs available for adoption. However, this week was different. For the first time in almost 6 months the shelter was at capacity for dogs including one puppy. With fewer number of cats at the shelter and many of the ones present there for less than a week, I decided to find a dog who deserved a great home. Upon going through the profiles I came upon Gandolf as beautiful golden/samoyed dog with a gentle nature and calm manners. In the kennel this dog sat patiently and stoically without barking and almost majestic. His personality is a combination of the best traits from both goldens and samoyeds: intelligent, social, playful, and loyal.
Categorized as an orange dog (normal energy and normal maitenance) Gandolf has a great temperment while still being very playful in nature. In the first test, the greeting test, Gandolf became very excited and jumped all around the evaluator but not on the evaluator indicating both love of humans, higher energy level, but also lower maitenance as he has undergone some training. In the next test where dogs are left in a pseudoroom, Gandolf after looking around laid down within 2 minutes and was calm. This result means that he probably can be trusted in a house by himself again leading to a lower maintenance level. The third test evaluated his play level to which he was play motivated liking to play with plush toys more than anything else. This means not only is Gandolf well behaved but he is also a playful dog who is motivated by play which could be used as a training tool. He also scored high on the food motivated test and we found he knew sit, down, come, shake, and roll over. Obviously, this dog was well trained by the previous owners who surrendered him. The only flaw to this dog is he is a fence jumper and the previous owners lost him several times because of this behavior. When watched he would not jump, but left on his own devices he tended to fly the coop. Gandolf is a beautiful, well mannered dog who would be perfect for both family homes with children or for individuals looking for a dog. The only precaution is to make sure you watch the dog when outside or own a fence that is taller than 6 feet if this dog is going to be by itself in a yard with a lower fence.

Considerations before Adopting

Lately at the Humane Society I have encountered a disheartening trend where many good animals are being returned. Granted a potential adopter cannot always predict how well an animal will fit in their family just by visitation at the shelter alone, but returning an animal within in days of adopting does not give adopters an adequate perception if the animal will fit. Animals when they are adopted need time to adapt to their new home which will not happen within a few days. These pets are scared and stressed being in a brand new environment and may not act like themselves for a week or two. This situation can be even more stressful to animals that were once feral (wild) or animals abused by previous owners. Returning an animal for the inability to play well with other animals or that your animals cannot get along with is a valid reason for return in a short period. Major health reasons is another; but returning a pet for being scared and frightened just means that the new owners are too impatient to let the animal adjust. Most of these scared animals are returned within a week making their next adoption even harder as the animals will be even more apprehensive because they will fear coming back to the shelter. Final lesson, if you are considering adopting a pet be absolutely sure you are willing to train, take care of, and be patient with new animals. These animals will not hold all the knowledge of previous training and they will not bond with you as quickly as some would like. Patience and a clear idea of the commitment are needed when adopting a pet and is not something to go into lightly.