Belle Mead Animal Hospital



Summer has arrived! June 2007

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the quarterly newsletter from

Belle Mead Animal Hospital

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Your pets have special needs during the summer when the temperature and humidity are much higher. Most dogs and cats wear a heavy fur coat, and have a limited ability to cool themselves. They have sweat glands only on their paws, so they cannot sweat to stay cool as humans do. Dogs and cats mostly pant to cool themselves, and seek cool places to avoid the summer heat.

If your pet is kept outdoors, make sure he has a shaded place and plenty of fresh water to drink. Your pet will need much more water in the summer to replenish what he loses by panting. Many dogs also enjoy swimming for exercise and to cool down.

Never keep your pet in a car, especially in direct sun, on a summer day. Even with the windows slightly open, the temperature inside the car can soar to 120 degrees or more within minutes. These conditions can kill a pet in less than 10 minutes.

If you like to run or do vigorous exercise with your dog, do so at cooler times of the day such as early morning or evening. If you exercise during the hotter times of day, your dog will have much more difficulty cooling himself and could overheat quickly. He will often try to keep going to keep up with you, and you may not realize that he is seriously overheating, until his condition is severe.

When you exercise with your dog in the summer, stop and let him drink frequently. Make sure he is not overweight and is well conditioned for this activity before the hotter days of summer. You might even soak him with water before you exercise with him so he can stay cooler. This is especially important for long-haired or heavy-coated dogs. Dogs with very short hair have less difficulty keeping themselves cool.

A dog's normal body temperature is 100-102 degrees. If his rectal temperature starts to go above 105 degrees, he is approaching a danger zone of heat stroke. He will often be panting very hard, his gums may very dark pink or even reddish, and he may feel quite hot to the touch. If he is in this condition, soak him with cool or cold water immediately and take him promptly to the nearest veterinarian. This is an emergency situation, and requires immediate care.

How To Keep Cool This Summer!

Arroz con Pollo para Fido

From Every Day with Rachael Ray

2 Servings

Ingredients:

❖ 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

❖ 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

❖ 1 c. enriched white rice

❖ 2 c. chicken broth

❖ 8 oz. ground chicken

❖ 2 pinches of ground cinnamon

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil and turn the pan once with the butter over medium heat. Add the rice and toast for about 2 minutes, then add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Crumble in the ground chicken, add the cinnamon, and cover and simmer over low heat until cooked through (about 18 minutes). Let cool.

Sassy-Kat’s Tuna Pops

Ingredients:

❖ Canned tuna in spring water

❖ Small ice cube trays

Drain liquid from the tuna packed in water. Freeze the liquid in a small ice cube tray (cocktail ice cube trays work nicely, as does a little square pill container from your local drug store, but only fill it halfway). Give no more than two cubes as a time for a treat. Reuse your drained can of tuna by placing it in an airtight container and covering the tuna meat with filtered water overnight for a second batch of Tuna Pop water!

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Heartworm Disease In Cats? Joseph Martins, DVM

The American Heartworm Society and The American Feline Practitioners are trying to educate veterinarians and cat owners about HARD (Heartworm Associated Respiratory Disease.)

Each year cats die needlessly from complications related to this very preventable disease. The new guidelines clearly, now more than ever, indicate the need for veterinarians to encourage cat owners to comply with prevention for the health of their cats.

For years, veterinarians thought cats were resistant to heartworms and if they did become infected, they could clear it. One of the primary reasons for that mode of thinking had to do with the fact that a heartworm infection via blood test is harder to detect in cats than in dogs. Therefore, it was easy to overlook. Some cats never exhibit signs, but even a small worm can be life threatening. Even when the cat does show symptoms, they can take months or years to develop and are often misdiagnosed as asthma or allergic bronchitis. While this is happening, the cat’s immune system is trying to protect itself and eliminate the parasite from its body. Unfortunately, the lungs pay the price and not without permanent respiratory inflammatory reaction and disease.

Heartworm disease in dogs and cats is transmitted through just one mosquito bite. Evidence has shown that indoor cats are just as susceptible to the disease as outdoor cats. Believe this NOW as opposed to regretting it later! Studies have shown that 50% of all cats diagnosed as asthmatic were actually victims of HARD. Please protect your cats and dogs with a simple, safe, once-monthly topical treatment that is easy to apply at home called Revolution.

Please ask us for a free application today! For more information, visit:





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The Importance of Pet Insurance Joseph Martins, DVM

Do you have health insurance for yourself and your family? Of course you do. Did you know that over 500,000 people also have pet insurance? Actually, pet owners with insurance find that it pays for 80% of their annual maintenance expenses and also covers major emergencies which can really help out!

When you crunch the numbers, it really pays for itself each year and can make a huge difference in the event of an unforeseen health crisis. Don’t forget, simple prevention is your first line of defense to guard your pet’s health and insurance makes this even easier.

Please ask one of our doctors or staff members for a pet insurance recommendation. We’re happy to help!

This coupon good for

$5.00 off

Feline Leukemia (FeLeuk)/FIV Test

On any new kitten or outdoor cat

From June thru August 2007

Belle Mead Animal Hospital



908-874-4447

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Kitten Season Is Here Again!

March to November is kitten season, the time of the year when most kittens are born and shelters are busiest with incoming cats and kittens. Reports of people finding orphaned kittens increase during this time. If you've found an orphan kitten, preserving its health is a difficult job requiring prompt action. However, right up front, take a moment to decide if the kitten or litter you've located has truly been orphaned. Sometimes well-meaning people unknowingly separate kittens from their mother, making things worse instead of better. This article will help you determine if you're dealing with an orphan situation.

The mother cat, also called the queen, usually remains continuously with newborn kittens for one or two days after giving birth. She may then leave the 'nest' for short periods. Even well cared-for domestic mother cats with litters indoors may leave the nest for several hours at a time about two weeks after giving birth. Feral mothers, needing to hunt for food, will leave the nest for intervals at a much earlier stage.

Also, a mother cat will often pick up and move her litter to a new location, especially during the first few weeks after birth. Establishing a new nest is part of the cat's instinctual behavior to safeguard her young by not remaining in one place too long.

When you find small kittens without a mother cat present, the mother may simply be away hunting for food or may be moving the kittens, one by one, to or from the place you found them. In other words, don't immediately assume the kittens are orphans. If the kittens are safe for the time being, you should observe the nest to see that the mother returns soon; observe quietly from a safe distance if dealing with a shy or feral mother.

The goal here is to do what is best for the mother and her litter -- and it is best to keep a mother together with her kittens if possible, not for emotional reasons but for the best chance of survival. Not only is hand-raising a young, "pre-wean" kitten an intensive round-the-clock job, but also the mortality rate for these young kittens separated from their mothers is much higher than if they had been kept together.

Remember that if you encounter a lone kitten, mom may be moving the kittens, and the lone kitten could be either the first to be moved to the new location, or the last to be moved from the old.

The same considerations apply to a lone mother cat. For instance, when trapping feral cats, if you trap a nursing mother you must try to find her kittens. In fact if you are trying to trap a feral litter and their mother, you can rely on the mother returning to the nest in order to trap her with her kittens, allowing you to keep the mother and kittens safely together.

When observing kittens you've found, there is no set length of time that you should wait to watch for a returning mother cat, but think in terms of only a few hours. It's a tough call, especially if you don't know how long the kittens have been alone when you discover them. If you wait too long, the kittens can weaken beyond recovery (chilling and dehydration are major concerns).

By all means, if you've found an orphaned litter we want you to be able to help these kittens reach a happy, healthy adulthood. But before acting, consider the information above and take a moment to ask yourself, "Are these kittens truly orphans?"

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