Heartworm Disease

April is National Heartworm Disease Awareness Month!

The hot summer months and humidity bring with it mosquitoes which can transmit many diseases to pets and humans. Heartworm disease is prevalent in dogs and to a lesser extent cats and ferrets. Mosquitoes feed on the blood of warm blooded animals. Mammals infected with heartworms have circulating larvae in the bloodstream. When a mosquito ingests blood from a heartworm infected animal, the larvae mature and develop in the host. The larvae eventually migrate into the heart and pulmonary vessels where they mature and cause clinical signs of heartworm disease.

The clinical signs of heartworm disease in dogs often to do not become evident until  late in the course of the disease. These  signs include coughing, exercise intolerance, lethargy, collapse, and even sudden death.
Heartworm disease diagnosis in cats can be challenging. The disease in cats tends to cause signs that mimic asthma. Coughing is the predominant sign, but vomiting and acute sudden unexplained death has been reported. There is no treatment for heartworm disease in cats because cats go into anaphylactic shock when the worms die. The object of heartworm treatment is to kill the heartworms which could induce anaphylaxis. The drugs that are used to treat heartworm disease are also toxic in cats.

Heartworm disease is preventable in all the affected species. The heartworm prevention comes in many forms including : chewable monthly tablets, monthly topical applications that have flea prevention included, and now a 6 month shot for dogs.

Heartworm treatment is expensive. Heartworm prevention is inexpensive and safe. Heartworm disease can cause permanent damage to the pet’s heart. Pets that are not on heartworm prevention, especially in Florida where the mosquito is the state bird, are likely to result in the pet becoming infected with heartworms. I tell clients it’s the proverbial, “ You  can pay me now or you can pay me later!”
There is no reason for an animal to develop heartworm disease. Yearly heartworm blood tests and monthly heartworm prevention will ensure our pets will not contract this potentially deadly disease.

Canine Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease transmitted by the spirochete bacterium Leptospira spp.  The bacteria is shed in the urine of an infected host which can include mice, raccoons, skunks, deer, sheep, dogs and even humans. The bacteria remains viable in the environment as long as it is moist, so it is most prevalent in Florida during the wet summer months.
Dogs most commonly come in contact with the bacteria by licking urine off the grass, or drinking from puddles in the yard that have been contaminated with infected urine. Clinical signs are jaundice (yellowing of the skin, eyes), bloody urine, fever, lethargy, vomiting, inappetance, and kidney failure, and death. The incubation period in dogs is 2-20 days. In humans the signs include lethargy, fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and jaundice, and death. The incubation period in humans is 4-14 days. People who are exposed to contaminated water such as surfers, and professionals who are exposed to contaminated urine such as veterinarians, and slaughterhouse workers are most at risk.
Diagnosis is made from blood samples and fresh urine in early infections.
Treatment if caught early, is with antibiotics such as penicillin, and doxycycline. Penicillin is given initially to control shedding of the bacteria in the urine, then doxycycline is used to get rid of the carrier state. The key is prevention. There are no vaccines available for humans, but there are effective vaccines for dogs. The canine leptospirosis vaccine contains the 4 most common serovars, and is included in most distemper/parvo vaccine combination protocols. There are some veterinary practices that do not include leptospirosis vaccine in their annual vaccination protocol and 3 years ago we had 4 cases of leptospirosis. Two of the dogs were not current on any vaccines, and the other two came from veterinary hospitals that did not include leptospirosis in their vaccine protocol. We were able to save two of the dogs. This also posed a significant risk to the owners’ health. We advised them to avoid contact with their dogs’ urine and confine the area where their dogs urinate to limit the area that could become contaminated.
We strongly recommend that all dogs be vaccinated against leptospirosis annually to prevent this potentially fatal disease.

Veterinary Dental Care

February was National Pet Dental Month. We extended pet dental month at Kelly's Animal Hospital through the month of March due to the overwhelming response by our clients. This is a good time to re-evaluate your pet’s oral health.  Oral care is second nature for us humans. We religiously brush and floss our teeth at least twice a day and have our teeth professionally cleaned twice a year.

A recent survey showed that only about 5% of pet owners routinely brush their pets’ teeth. Most clients are open to the idea, but when it comes to implementing oral care into their busy daily schedules, reality sets in, we tend to not follow through. The best time to start oral care for our pets is when they are young. This then becomes part of the daily routine for both pet and owner.  There are many good products to help us maintain good oral health in our pets from chicken flavored toothpaste, soft toothbrushes, finger cots, oral rinses, water additives and dentachew treats and oral care diets.

Good dental hygiene is important in our overall health as well as our pets. The bacteria that grow in our mouths create gingivitis causing erosion of the gums and tooth loosening. The bacteria that generate in the mouth can become systemic affecting the heart, kidneys, and liver.  Prevention is the key to sound dental health. A favorite expression of mine is “ Better to catch something early than to wait and have the treatable become untreatable!”

We do comprehensive dental cleaning, scaling and fluoride treatment on our patients, just like we receive at our own dentists. Because dogs and cats have not mastered the rinse and spit technique, they must be sedated for the dental prophy. We take great care and require pre-anaesthetic bloodwork to make sure there are no unknown issues that could affect anaesthesia. All animals are intubated and the anaesthesia we use is the same ones that are used in human practice. All animals have heart and oxygen saturation monitors. The procedure normally takes about 15-20 minutes and most patients are awake with 10 minutes,. We call all our pet owners as soon as their babies are awake, and they can usually go home by early afternoon.

Age is not a limiting criteria for doing dental care. We have had numerous patients that came from other veterinary practices that were told that their pets were too old and it was not worth it. I absolutely do not ascribe to that philosophy. I would rather do a dental cleaning on a healthy pet that is eating well, regardless of age, than to wait until they stop eating because of loose teeth, or a tooth abscess and then do the dental cleaning. The pet is now more compromised and a greater anaesthetic risk. I keep telling my clients that age is not a disease and as I get older and grayer, I hope my own doctors have that same consideration for me.

Take advantage of pet dental month and get your pets’ mouths evaluated. We are discounting the cost of dentals this month and your pet will be healthier for it.