Does Your Dog Need A Prosthetic After A Limb Amputation?
Can Your Dog Live With A Prosthetic After The Operation?
Is your dog facing the possibility of having one of its limbs amputated due to an accident or a disease? This surgery is not uncommon, especially when dog owners have pets that experience a terrible car accident or bone cancer, which calls for an amputation.
We call these amputated canines ‘tripods’ which is a lovable description known by all dog lovers for the animals that have to live with three limbs. It is understandable if you feel upset and confused about making such a big decision for your dog, but do not be worried.
It is also quite understandable to feel at a loss when facing a decision that will clearly change your dog’s life forever. The good news is that your pet will be okay (depending on the reason of course) once the surgery is over.
Your Vet Will Help You With The Decision
The first thing your vet will advise you, is whether to have your dog amputated at the leg, shoulder, or the hip. This of course depends on a few factors, such as the reason for the surgery or whether or not the dog will have a prosthetic limb mounted to replace the missing one.
Does Your Dog Have Cancer?
If your dog has cancer, which is cause for the amputation, it is best to remove the entire leg. However, if there is no medical reason for the surgery and you have the choice of leaving a stump, then this would be the ideal situation for a prosthetic. A stump will help the prosthetic to remain secured tightly.
Having a stump will make attaching the prosthetic replacement limb much easier. If the amputation is done below the knee, a prosthetic will allow your dog to have full function of the leg. The bottom of the stump must be healthy. The surgeon may even add a pad to the bottom, or pull excess muscle from the bone to place at the end of the stump. This is for protection, as well as to further aid in the attachment of the prosthetic leg.
If your dog needs to have the leg completely amputated, as with many bone cancer cases, there really is no proper way to have a prosthetic installed.Forced replacement would be extremely rigid and quite uncomfortable for your dog. The only option is to leave it alone and allow the animal to get used to life with three limbs, which all dogs can accomplish quite easily and without pain.
My Dog Has Fleas and They Are Out Of Control
Every time warm weather approaches, veterinarians are once again overflowed with complaints and questions from worried dog and cat owners, who are waging the recurrent battle against external parasites, particularly fleas and ticks.
The problem of parasites and the complications they cause is an extensive and serious one, but one that has been faced by nearly every pet owner at one time or another. In an effort to spare your pet a great deal of suffering this coming summer, we would like to answer two questions that are most commonly asked by pet owners about those annoying parasites; fleas and ticks.
What Exactly Are Fleas & Ticks?
Fleas are tiny insects that, as adults, must suck blood from another creature to sustain their own lives. Fleas are wingless, six-legged parasites, capable of jumping with surprising speed and may infest your pet alone by the thousands. The flea is a dark, reddish-brown color, similar to dried blood and is a common external parasite found in most parts of the United States.
The tick, a friend in misery to the flea, is generally dark in color, several times larger than the flea and when on your pet does not move about but rather attaches itself to your pet’s skin and remains at that spot until it has satisfied its hunger for blood.
The female tick, engorged with blood, may look like a large, grayish-white, puffy pea-sized object, which on closer inspection, is attached by its tiny mouth to the animal’s skin. Often in close proximity to the underbelly of the female lies another smaller tick, a male waiting to complete the breeding cycle.
How Will I Know If My Pet Has Fleas Or Ticks?
The most common reaction of an animal infested with external parasites is an insatiable desire to scratch or chew at its skin. Frequent periodic checks of your pet’s skin and coat are advisable, especially during warm spring and summer months when the parasite problem reaches its peak performance. Fleas are frequently spotted leaping from place to place across the animal’s body.
If no fleas are readily apparent, part the animal’s fur close to the skin and check for flea excrement, which are specks of black, pepper-like dirt that, when wet, regain the color of the blood ingested by the flea. This discovery is a very good guarantee that fleas are present in your pet. On longhaired animals, checking the lower abdomen, genitals and other areas of sparser hair growth will sometimes give clues when all else fails.
Ticks are more easily identified since they are easily seen by the naked eye. If long hair is in the way, a thorough stroking of the animal’s skin from head to toe will usually reveal the whereabouts of ticks by the feel of their tiny, hard-shelled bodies close to the skin.
Engorged female ticks are generally quite obvious because of their greatly enlarged size and distinctive appearance. Ticks frequently go unnoticed when lodged in ears, around the anus, on the tail and in between paw pads, so be sure not to neglect those areas.
Avocados: A Surprisingly Healthy Fruit For All Dogs Part 2
Most dogs love avocados. They taste good and they are an excellent source of fat. Fat is responsible for providing dogs with an extra amount of energy and gives them healthy skin as well as an extra glow in their coat.
Strangely enough, it was the dogs themselves who led us to the idea of using the avocado as a supplement to the canine diet. It seems that avocado growers’ pet dogs were competing with the growers for any fallen fruit. The growers became curious and decided to compare the nutrients that this amazing fruit contained with those needed by canines.
According to a Veterinary professor at Iowa State University, this fruit enhances hair quality as well as skin tone. Avocado growers have reported this improvement in their dogs is most likely due to the amount of linoleic acid of the fruit when added to the dog’s diet.
Of course, this fruit alone could not be recommended as the only nutrient source for dogs. An avocado, in small quantities as a supplement, might be helpful if adequate amounts of fat were not available from other sources.
A dog’s requirement of fat depends mostly on the amount of activity he engages in. For instance, an active working dog needs up to twenty percent fat in his diet, while the average household dog that walks a few blocks everyday, needs only five to eight percent of fat in his diet. The very thin dog should get a diet rich in fat until his weight and health improve. The pregnant and nursing female dog also needs greater amounts of fat in her diet.
The majority of canine canned foods contain adequate fat to satisfy the need of an average household dog. However, if the dog is fed a diet strictly of dry meal, it might be moistened with additional sources of fat.
Avocados are an excellent source of fat for this purpose. For canines that get most of their fat from canned foods, this tasty fruit also serves as an occasional treat. Avocados might be alternated with other occasional food supplements to add variety to the dog’s regular diet. Simply put, dogs love avocados and they are good for them!
Word Of Warning: Documented evidence suggests that some dogs, as well as other domestic animals like cats and cattle, can be severely harmed and prove fatal when they eat the avocado pit, skin, leaves and bark of the avocado tree. Therefore, when supplementing your dog’s diet with avocados, make sure to only give him the meat of the fruit.
Avocados Are A Surprisingly Healthy Fruit For All Dogs
If you feed your dog a diet consisting of only lean meat, chances are it could have severe nutritional problems. While a dog is a carnivore, it cannot live on protein alone. Just like its owner, a dog needs a balanced diet including fats, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
Few of us could afford a predominantly steak diet for our dogs, but even if we could, they would be a lot healthier with a cheaper cut of meat. Less expensive meats are better for dogs because they have a higher fat content.
Fats provide dogs with energy and heat and help keep their skin healthy. Not enough fat in a dog’s diet can cause scaly, dry skin. its coat may become coarse and lifeless. A diet low in fat may also cause a dog to become highly nervous and more susceptible to many types of illness.
There are three fatty acids that a dog needs. These are: linolenic, linoleic and arachidonic. Linoleic acid can be found in meat products, suet, butter and corn oil. It can also be found in avocados.
The Avocado
Avocados are one of the few fruits that most dogs love. One reason for this is that these fruits add palatability and texture to food, especially dry meal. It is also a nutritious supplement of fats to the canine diet. This pear-shaped fruit contains sixteen percent of rare oil seldom found in fruits, as well as an unusual amount of protein.
One medium avocado contains about 35 grams of fat, mostly monounsaturated. This fruit also has more potassium than bananas. Avocados are also rich in vitamin E, vitamin K and the B vitamins.
When the nutritional requirements of adult dogs were compared with the composition of avocados, particularly Californian avocados, this fruit proved to be a good source of vitamins and minerals. One half of a medium avocado provides a mature dog with all his daily requirements for magnesium, potassium and niacin. About half of his requirements for thiamin, manganese and vitamin A, are also provided with this awesome fruit.
Compare what the avocado offers a dog nutritionally, to some of the other foods often added to a dog’s diet to improve his skin tone and coat. Half an avocado supplies thirteen grams of fat. There is one gram of linoleic acid in half of the fruit.
An egg has half the amount of fat grams and only a trace of linoleic acid. One half cup of cottage cheese only offers five grams of fat and a trace of linoleic acid, while one tablespoon of corn oil has fourteen grams of fat and seven grams of linoleic acid, but none of the vitamins and minerals that the avocado offers.
Air Travel – Why Are Dogs Dying On Airplanes?
Animal air travel is not always dangerous for your pet. Dog enthusiasts and breeders routinely fly their dogs without having any trouble at all. The airlines make every claim possible that dogs that travel on-board will be perfectly safe. The same claim is held by the Transportation Association of America.
The American Kennel Club feels differently. But the organization’s leading spokesperson does add that air travel may be safe provided that the owners take specific precautionary measures.
The number one suggestion to all pet owners is to completely avoid sending your dog traveling in an airplane unless it is absolutely necessary. Many veterinarians and humane organizations are constantly reporting about dog injuries from air travel, due to dogs that desperately attempt to claw their way out of the crate in order to escape. Some of them actually do escape and become injured in the cargo bay.
It is much safer to bring your dog inside your car or SUV when traveling inside the country. You can take breaks as needed, so that your dog can stretch its legs, use the bathroom and remain free of stress and anxiety. Your dog will also be surrounded by its family which helps provide comfort and security during the long trip.
Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Of course there are a large number of successful trips made by dogs on airplanes, but every now again a true horror story emerges. One of the most important things you can do is to have your dog thoroughly checked by your veterinarian for any medical issues.
This check-up should be scheduled approximately 9 to 10 days before the trip begins. Many dog owners have no idea that there pets may have a pre-existing condition that could become a problem during the flight.
A perfect example is older dogs. They could be at the beginning stages of kidney disease and you would never know because early in this condition, the dog compensates by drinking tons of water. If an older dog in this condition sets foot on an airplane without water to drink, it may experience renal failure.
