North Memorial Animal Hospital

Veterinarian

Amanda McGrath

What was that noise?

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As the summer months and holidays approach, it can be a time of more opportunities for your pets to have fun.  It is also a time when we start to hear many more loud noises. Some things we may  hear are the booms of thunder during a lightingthunderstorm, fireworks going off around the holidays or gunshots. The loud noises produced by these things may cause some dogs to become fearful. This fear is known as noise-phobia. A pet may show trembling, salivation, defecation, urination, destruction, escape, panting and vocalization during these times may be exhibiting noise-phobia. Some dogs may be fine one year and have issues the next year.  Associated stimuli may also come to trigger the symptoms of the phobia or anxiety, such as a change in barometric pressure being associated to a thunderstorm, thus causing an anticipatory anxiety.

Here at North Memorial Animal Hospital, we want to help you work with your pet when they experience noise-phobia. If you think your pet is fearful of loud noises fireworksplease contact us. We will work with you to figure out how to best help your pet during these fearful situations. Our technician Dawn has a special interest in all things behavioral and would love to sit down and chat with you about your pet’s special needs.

Some products we have in our office that may be beneficial in these situations is our products Adaptil (available in spray, diffuser, and collar form), thundershirts in multiple sizes, and Composure treats. Please contact us for more information on these products and to learn more about noise- phobias.

During the month of June we are offering 10% off of all Thundershirts!! Come in today to have your pet fitted properly.

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One sick pup

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20140809_113648This month’s post was supposed to be about fleas & ticks, and I’ll get to them later in the month.  Instead I wanted to write about some of our in-house diagnostic equipment.  I have written about them a lot before, showcasing how great they are and how useful it is to have information about a sick pet within minutes.  But before Thursday I hadn’t really gotten how important they are.  You see my own dog, Veda, is a 10 year old Doberman who literally lives to eat. So on Wednesday night when she slowly ate her dinner and just moped around it was of concern.  When Thursday morning rolled around and she wouldn’t eat anything, not even if being handfed her favorite treat (air popped popcorn) I was alarmed.  Like any good pet parent I waited a few hours, why do we do that?  But by 10 am she still wasn’t eating and had started breathing heavy, I called Dr. Altman.  She of course told me to bring her in right away.  Within 10 minutes of being in the office we had bloodwork results, both a CBC and a general health screen, had taken several xrays and were powering up the UltraSound. Because we could do all these things in house we were able to start with one screening and move onto the next as necessary.  Her bloodwork showed nothing unusual so we took several xrays, they showed only normal ag20141123_150251ing signs so we moved onto the Ultrasound. Thankfully nothing showed up on any of her tests, we even sent her xrays via email to a board certified radiologist and they confirmed everything was normal.  The magnitude of what we are able to do has never really sunk in before this.  Think about how awesome technology is and how wonderful that the owner of our hospital embraces it, instead of running scared like some do about change. We were able to draw a small amount of blood, put it in a machine and it told us that Veda’s kidneys, liver, blood glucose and much more were functioning normally.  We were able to lay her on a table, press a pedal on the floor and within 3 seconds of a beep see full screen xrays, that we could then enhance since they were digital.  20150824_102136And to top it all off we could use the Ultrasound to see what her organs looked like inside.  Truly  amazing.  Because she had a 104.5 temperature she was sent home on antibiotics and some pain meds.  I am happy to say she is back to normal, begging to eat any chance she gets and chasing the cats! I am grateful to work at a place with such caring doctors and high tech equipment to care for sick pups.

February is Dental Health Month

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Just like their human companions, pets need routine dental care. Oral health is not only important for the sake of fresh breath, but it is also important to the overall health of the body. Dental disease can lead to gum infections which can release bacteria into the blood stream and cause damage to major organs. It can also cause tooth loss and weakening of the jaw bones.

All pets should have routine check ups to ensure a healthy mouth. During an exam a doctor or technician will asses the tarter build up on the teeth and the appearance of the gums. If tarter build up or gum disease is noticed a teeth cleaning will be recommended.

During a teeth cleaning pets are anesthetized with general anesthesia while being monitored by trained technicians. All teeth and gums are thoroughly examined, and the teeth are cleaned and polished to ensure smoothness and help delay future tarter build up. Any problems within the mouth will be noted and treated. Some tooth problems may require x-rays to determine the stability and health of the tooth. If teeth are unhealthy and unable to be repaired or treated, extractions may be required. If extractions are needed, pain medication will be given to prevent any discomfort.

After all the teeth have been examined and cleaned and any problems have been treated, your pet will be woken up and monitored for several hours. Once fully awake your pet can return home with clean, fresh breath and a healthy mouth.

For the entire month of February we are offering FREE dental exams with one of our certified veterinary technicians.  A technician will do a complete examination of  your pet’s mouth and overall health.  They will tell you if your pet is in need of any dental care.  Call today to schedule! 724-656-0980

Weight Watchers for pets?

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Nationwide studies show that 44% of dogs and 57% of cats are overweight. This extra weight puts pets at risk for serious health problems.

Owners are so familiar with the appearance of their pets that they often fail to recognize obesity unaided.  The simple reason why pets gain weight to the point that they become obese is because they are consuming more calories than they burn.  Further, overweight and obese pets are expected to live shorter lives than that of a normal weight pet.  Heavy pets tend to physically interact less with their families and are less energetic and playful.  Because they tend to lay around more, it is easy to overlook illness since we attribute their lethargy to “normal laziness”.

Some Dangers of Obesity are:

Reduced lifespan

Joint pain

Diabetes

Cancer

Difficulty breathing

Increased surgical risks

At North Memorial Animal Hospital we take pet obesity seriously and have developed a weight loss program designed to help pets lose weight.  Our Technician Lindsay will be heading up this program with the support of our veterinarians.  We are offering the weight loss program at no cost to you.

Your pet will be examined by one of our doctors and if they feel your pet is a good candidate for the program your information will be given to Lindsay.  She will contact you to discuss your pet’s specific diet and lifestyle.  After your conversation, Lindsay will work with our veterinarians to customize a diet and exercise program specifically for your pet.

Ideally  your pet will come in for an initial weight in and measurements.  We know that everyone’s schedules and lives are busy, so if need be we can walk you through the measurements over the phone.  Lindsay will set up a schedule for you to bring your pet into the office for weigh in’s and to discuss their progress.  We are excited about this program and hope you enjoy all of it’s benefits!

How to brush your pet’s teeth

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Teeth brushing is the most effective way to prevent tartar on your pet’s teeth.  Always use pet toothpaste; these products are made to be swallowed.  Using human toothpaste can result in an upset stomach.  Pet toothpastes are also specially flavored and contain enzymes that inhibit plaque.

Tooth brushing 101

Start by choosing a time when you won’t need to rush.  By using a relaxed, calm attitude your pet will be much more likely to cooperate.  You will need a brush, finger brushes or long handled both work well.  It is best to get your dog used to handling their mouth before you jump right into brushing.  Do this by first gently rubbing your fingers over the pet’s teeth, then immediately give a treat. Your dog should quickly realize that whenever the mouth is touched he will get a treat.  This step may take minutes or days.  After your dog is comfortable with your fingers going over the teeth start getting him used to the toothbrush.  Begin by putting a flavored paste on the brush and let your dog lick it off. After a few times, if he seems to not mind the brush, gently rub the large teeth towards the back of the mouth. Continue this step until your pet is comfortable letting you brush all the teeth. Most attention should be given to he outside of the teeth.  Dogs naturally have a fairly small amount of tartar on the inside of their teeth.

Quick tips

  • Start young, a puppy that is handled a lot when small will have no problem later in life with teeth brushing.
  • Go at your own pace, if your pet is scared at any point back off and start again later.
  • It is best to brush everyday, but do as often as your schedule allows.  Try to make is a daily routine, a quick teeth brushing only takes a few minutes.

 

Dental Cleaning; what do we do?

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Once tartar has formed it is necessary to remove it by professionally scaling and polishing the teeth under anesthesia.  The goal of a dental cleaning is to remove the visible tartar, invisible plaque, and the tartar beneath the gum line.
                                                 

Blood work   The first step in a dental cleaning is Pre-Surgical Blood work.  At North Memorial Animal Hospital all pets having general anesthesia have a pre surgical idexx blood machinescreen done.  The panel checks your pet’s liver and kidney functions, which is important because anesthesia filters though them. The panel for a geriatric pet is much more involved.

 

 

 

Anesthesia

Our surgery suite and dental station are equipped with a SurgiVet vaporizer for isoflurane gas.  Isoflurane is one of the safest gas anesthesia used by veterinarians.  Your pet will be completely sedated for a dental cleaning.  We do everything possible to ensure their safety during the procedure.  All pets having dental work done will have an endotracheal tube passed to help them breath.  Monitoring equipment is used to measure the heart rate, level of oxygen in the blood, EKG  and blood pressure.

 

 Scaling  – Scaling the teeth removes the tartar above and below the gum line.  We use hand scalers and ultrasonic cleaning equipment very similar to a human dentist.  By removing all the tartar from your pet’s teeth a much healthier gum line is possible along with fresher breath.  If any extractions were needed they would be performed after the scaling.  Any teeth that have root exposure are broken or loose will be removed.  These teeth cause pets pain every time they chew.  The mouth typically heals very fast and it is much more comfortable to have the teeth removed than a constant pain when eating.

Polishing – By polishing the teeth we can smooth the surface, making them more resistant to plaque and tartar formation.

Flushing – Finally we thoroughly flush your pet’s mouth to remove any dislodged tartar from the teeth and rinse away any bacteria still in the mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polishing  By polishing the teeth we can smooth the surface of the teeth, making them more resistant to plaque and tartar formation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flushing  Finally we thoroughly flush your pet’s mouth to remove any dislodged tartar from the teeth and rinse away any bacterial still in the mouth.