July 18, 2007
New scam to over vaccinate:
Calculating exposure risk. If your animal never leaves the fenced-in back yard,
the exposure risk will be considered minimal and revaccinating only every two
or three years may be acceptable, but if it's out and about and has frequent
contacts with other animals, it should be vaccinated yearly. This is foolish for
several reasons. Vaccinations are, first off, good for life. Secondly, if the
animal is protected for three years against the remote chance of one
exposure, why wouldn't it be protected against the chance of repeated
exposures over that same period? A human regularly mingling with masses of
people doesn't get a booster vaccination from his/her doctor any more often
than someone living in a nunnery. Repeat vaccinations are never given to
people, so why should animals be treated any differently?
Lyme disease in dogs is virtually non-existent, but I am seeing quite a few
cases of a new tick disease called erlichliosis or anaplasmosis. The symptoms
are virtually the same, and the treatment and recovery are also identical. The
animal is usually back to normal in 36 hours. The only difference I can
determine is that this disease only has to be treated for 14 days while Lyme
disease needs antibiotic treatment for at least 30 days, or it relapses. The test
for it is probably not reliable. Only treat for it if symptoms are present.
Symptoms for both are an acute multiple leg lameness (multiple means more
than one leg). It's possible to also see behavioral changes such as
incoordination with this disease.
February 27, 2007
Here is the latest scheme I've come across to pad the bill without benefit to the
pet owner: An animal is brought into the clinic for some health reason and the
doctor gives an exam, probably runs a series of tests and reaches some
conclusion. Then this caring professional strongly suggests keeping the animal
overnight for observation. The implication is that someone will be watching
over and monitoring your pet all through the night. The REALITY is that the
clinic doors will probably be locked at six PM, everyone will go home and not
return until about seven the next morning. Your precious pet will spend at least
12 hours locked in a cage in an empty building and you will probably be
charged in the neighborhood of $100 for this caring procedure. Don't fall for
this!!
January 14, 2006
You might find this interesting, something I learned at the vet conference I just
attended. It's the current recommended treatment policy direct from the
American Heartworm Society (AHS):
The recommended TREATMENT for a dog diagnosed with heartworm is to put
it on a monthly heartworm preventative (preferably Heartguard – ivermectin)
for the first six months. Recall how for decades veterinarians stressed one
must NEVER give the preventative to an infected animal!!!
This slowly kills the microfilaria (heartworm babies) in the blood stream, it kills
any young heartworms (under 7 months of age) that might be present and
renders the female worms sterile. The latter stops microfilaria production and
reduces the size (mass) of the worms so when they are finally killed they won't
cause as much lung damage. After this six month period, the vet then wants
the animal brought into the clinic where he/she can give the dog several deep
lumbar muscle injections of an adulticide to finish off the remaining worms.
What the AHS doesn't recommend is leaving the animal on the monthly
preventative for 12 more months which would give the same end result at
probably much less risk to the animal (the worms would die slowly rather than
in a span of a week), the dog wouldn't have to undergo 2 or 3 deep,
intramuscular injections in the back, and it would only cost the pet owner 12
months of Heartguard (or actually only a few dollars if generic over the counter
large animal ivermectin was used – explained in my book).
Another item I learned: Many vets stress the danger of Lymes disease
affecting a dog's kidneys, supposedly in a fatal way. Guess what? So far there
has NEVER been a CONFIRMED case of Lyme disease involving kidneys in a
dog –- just speculation, hype and several possible maybes. It has NOT
happened in a provable way up to this point!!!!!
New scam to over vaccinate:
Calculating exposure risk. If your animal never leaves the fenced-in back yard,
the exposure risk will be considered minimal and revaccinating only every two
or three years may be acceptable, but if it's out and about and has frequent
contacts with other animals, it should be vaccinated yearly. This is foolish for
several reasons. Vaccinations are, first off, good for life. Secondly, if the
animal is protected for three years against the remote chance of one
exposure, why wouldn't it be protected against the chance of repeated
exposures over that same period? A human regularly mingling with masses of
people doesn't get a booster vaccination from his/her doctor any more often
than someone living in a nunnery. Repeat vaccinations are never given to
people, so why should animals be treated any differently?
Lyme disease in dogs is virtually non-existent, but I am seeing quite a few
cases of a new tick disease called erlichliosis or anaplasmosis. The symptoms
are virtually the same, and the treatment and recovery are also identical. The
animal is usually back to normal in 36 hours. The only difference I can
determine is that this disease only has to be treated for 14 days while Lyme
disease needs antibiotic treatment for at least 30 days, or it relapses. The test
for it is probably not reliable. Only treat for it if symptoms are present.
Symptoms for both are an acute multiple leg lameness (multiple means more
than one leg). It's possible to also see behavioral changes such as
incoordination with this disease.
February 27, 2007
Here is the latest scheme I've come across to pad the bill without benefit to the
pet owner: An animal is brought into the clinic for some health reason and the
doctor gives an exam, probably runs a series of tests and reaches some
conclusion. Then this caring professional strongly suggests keeping the animal
overnight for observation. The implication is that someone will be watching
over and monitoring your pet all through the night. The REALITY is that the
clinic doors will probably be locked at six PM, everyone will go home and not
return until about seven the next morning. Your precious pet will spend at least
12 hours locked in a cage in an empty building and you will probably be
charged in the neighborhood of $100 for this caring procedure. Don't fall for
this!!
January 14, 2006
You might find this interesting, something I learned at the vet conference I just
attended. It's the current recommended treatment policy direct from the
American Heartworm Society (AHS):
The recommended TREATMENT for a dog diagnosed with heartworm is to put
it on a monthly heartworm preventative (preferably Heartguard – ivermectin)
for the first six months. Recall how for decades veterinarians stressed one
must NEVER give the preventative to an infected animal!!!
This slowly kills the microfilaria (heartworm babies) in the blood stream, it kills
any young heartworms (under 7 months of age) that might be present and
renders the female worms sterile. The latter stops microfilaria production and
reduces the size (mass) of the worms so when they are finally killed they won't
cause as much lung damage. After this six month period, the vet then wants
the animal brought into the clinic where he/she can give the dog several deep
lumbar muscle injections of an adulticide to finish off the remaining worms.
What the AHS doesn't recommend is leaving the animal on the monthly
preventative for 12 more months which would give the same end result at
probably much less risk to the animal (the worms would die slowly rather than
in a span of a week), the dog wouldn't have to undergo 2 or 3 deep,
intramuscular injections in the back, and it would only cost the pet owner 12
months of Heartguard (or actually only a few dollars if generic over the counter
large animal ivermectin was used – explained in my book).
Another item I learned: Many vets stress the danger of Lymes disease
affecting a dog's kidneys, supposedly in a fatal way. Guess what? So far there
has NEVER been a CONFIRMED case of Lyme disease involving kidneys in a
dog –- just speculation, hype and several possible maybes. It has NOT
happened in a provable way up to this point!!!!!
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