Cats have teeth too

Remember when your pets didn't have teeth? We all remember when cats and dogs went to the vet annually like clockwork, got vaccinated, got a free rubdown by their veterinarian and were sent out the door with a recommendation to be seen again next year.

Times have changed. Veterirnarians have upped their game, and pets are the better for it. Also, It turns out that pets do, indeed, have teeth. And those teeth get dirty, infected and broken just like ours do. It also turns out that if we are proactive we can keep them healthier in the long run.

With one caveat, and sadly that caveat is cats. Yes cats do get tartar; they do get infections, and if they do enough in-home acrobatics they may even break a tooth now and again. Cats also get cavities. Unlike our cavities which our dentist likes to cruelly and unfairly pin on our candy and soda addictions, cats' cavities seem to be caused by bad genetics and some viral diseases.

Seem to be, because we (the veterinary profession) has yet to completely nail down the cause(s). We know genetics plays some roll because Asian cats (Siamese, Burmese, etc..) are notoriously prone to these cavities.

Which, whoops, brings us to the real name of kitty cat cavities, which is not kitty cat cavities, even though that sounds awesome, and I would have named it that, but I'm not a veterinarian. Veterinarians when given half a chance to give something a complicated name will jump at it, so: Feline Oral Resorptive Lesions (FORLs)

Resorptive because unlike our own cavities these ouchy guys start down below the gum line when the body begins destroying the tooth from the roots. Often all we see on exam is redness at the gum line.

However, if you've ever lost a filling, you know that these things hurt. Which brings us to regular veterinary visits (you know I was going there). We can't diagnose what we don't see, and guess what, your cat isn't going to yowl, scream or starve itself to show you it has a painful mouth.

At every visit we look in your cat's mouth. We do this not merely to annoy the cat (though that is an added bonus) but to look at the teeth and assess the gums.

Red gums equals pain, and both of us know that no pet should ever be in pain if we can help it. So, once again, if you cat has not seen a vet, any vet, in a while, make an appointment now. Your cat will thank you for it - well not really, but she will be healthier for it.

Our Winner! Maya Martin

Remember if you want your cat's photo in our blog, please post to our Facebook page. The kitty with the most likes by next Tuesday WINS!

How cats benefit from regular veterinary care

And the winner is: Jamie Dyan Carpenter's cat Gracie. Thank you everyone for posting your kitty pictures. The contest will restart now, so get those pictures posted and collect those likes, and remember, if you haven't liked Ventana Animal Hospital yet, please do!

As we have already mentioned repeatedly, April is Cat Health Awareness Month. Cats need veterinary care too, and though many cats are dearly loved by their pet parents, these same cats are receiving inferior veterinary care to dogs, often in the same household.

We at Ventana are working hard to make veterinary visits more relaxing (like Gracie up there) for our feline patients.

As was brought up in our last blog post, inferior cat care is often due to misperceptions made by owners, and it is our duty as pet care professionals to help everyone understand the importance of regular pet care. 

Alaina, our in-house cat care specialist has compiled a series of blog posts to help us all out (as I confess fully to my own dog bias - having exactly zero cats).

Annual visits to the veterinarian can be stressful to both beloved cat and loving owner, but neglecting these visits can lead to missed opportunities to catch a little problem before it becomes a big one. There is a misconception that these visits are merely for the cat to “get their shots.” The purpose of the annual exam is not to vaccinate your cat; rather it is to do a head to toe examination to assess their health.

During this visit our doctors will check teeth for tartar and gums for gingivitis. We will examine his eyes and ears. The doctors will listen to your cat’s heart and lungs and then palpate his abdomen to check for any pain or abnormalities. During the exam you will be able to address any concerns you may have, in fact we encourage you to make a list of any questions you have to bring to the appointment with you. After the physical exam is complete the doctor will administer any vaccines that may be due. 

Alaina Rhodes

Okay, I admit, Christina Jones' cats Oscar and Bombadill did not actually win the contest. But, for dog people, orange cats are a close to dogs as cats get, so I have a weakness for them.

Have a fantastic week. Stop by and see us at the SAHBA Home and Garden Show this weekend. Please, if you have not already, Like us on Facebook so that your cats too can become famous, check out our web page and most importantly, if we have not seen one of your cats recently, please bring her in. You can follow this link to make an appointment today.

Heartworm Prevention month

For those of you who may not be aware, Dr. Burrows, who lives in the Tanque Verde Valley got West Nile last fall. It took a bit of chasing to diagnose it, and when they finally did, all they could tell her to do was wait it out. Luckily for Dr. Burrows other than feeling pretty punky for a few weeks and having a bizarre tingling in her fingers that lingered for a month or so, the symptoms were very mild.

Which brings us to heartworms; heartworms do not affect people or they would be far more frightening than West Nile. They affect cats and dogs, and as the name suggests these worms migrate and live out their lives in the arteries around the heart.

What links these two diseases is the mosquito. Mosquitos account for more human deaths worldwide than any other animal. Arizona, with its dry climate is home to 46 varieties of mosquito according to the Arizona Department of Health. Mosquitos, the things that we, as Arizonans, take great pains to claim that we do not have are very much a part of our world. And as Dr. Burrows shows, not only do we have them, but they are carrying dangerous illnesses. (and yes, she picked up West Nile here)

No one wants to see their pets get sick, and every decision that we as pet owners take is a part of a balancing act between cost (not neccessarily financial) and benefits. We elect to put our dogs on tick prevention in the off chance that they may come into contact with a tick carrying a debilitating or fatal disease, or we deem the annoyance of tick products, their cost, their unsavory feel in our pet's coat, their toxicity no matter how small, too high and use them sparingly during travel.

This is a cost/benefit analysis and we, as pet owners do it every day. However, the only way this equation works is through education.

So, what we want pet owners in Southern Arizona to know, and what we strive to reinforce every day, is that the tightrope between cost and benefit that we have been walking for some time when it comes to heartworms has swung and that the danger of this disease, its rising prevalence in our coyote population, the increased interstate travel of your neighbors (and yourself) have all made the risk of doing nothing too high.

No one, not even veterinarians talked about heartworms in Southern Arizona even 15 years ago. But part of the belief that something isn't here is not looking for it. It was the advent of easier heartworm tests that saw an upswing in positives across Pima County. After Katrina and the dispersal of heartworm positive Katrina dogs into area shelters, veterinarians who hadn't already, felt a need to step up monitoring and prevention efforts.

Sadly, the numbers indicate that at least two or three of the dogs in our practice are, at this very moment, positive for heartworm. Perhaps they have no symptoms, or they have an occasional cough, or they are slightly more lethargic and the owners have put it off on age. We want to find these pets and help them feel better, and more importantly, we want them to stop carrying this deadly parasite in their blood.

The hearts represent all of the dogs who have come in so far this March who are protected against heartworms

We urge you, if you haven't already, to come in, have a heartworm test done and put your dogs on heartworm prevention.

Heartworm disease is devastating. It is expensive and awful to treat, while being largely inexpensive (around a $120 a year for a 100# dog) to prevent. The prevention that we use, Heartgard Plus also prevents against roundworms and hookworms.

Have we seen your cat lately?

Cats account for over 50% of the pet population, however, nationwide they account for fewer than 30% of vet visits. Why is that?

Actually, The answer is complex, but two recent events will help explain both the reasons why cats rarely see the vet (especially in Tucson where all of our cats are indoors) and why they really should be seen more often.

I have been in the veterinary industry for over a decade, and so, I would hope that at least some of my constant carping about poor pet care would have rubbed off on my family.

Alas, my own sister who just acquired a kitten called to ask if her kitten, now that she has had all her shots will ever need to see the vet again. 'Really?!' I thought, "you've got to be kidding me!? Have not heard one word I've been saying?' Then because I assumed my sister couldn't hear the ranting in my head, I decided to share it with her. She was impressed with my passion if not my actual words, which in the end amounted to a, "Yes!!"

Then my own mother, whose evil cat finally succumbed at age 21 after years of hyperthyroidism and slowly escalating kidney numbers, explained to me how her year and half old cat didn't need a rabies shot because it was indoors. This time I didn't rant, I sighed, after all if the people closest to the veterinary profession don't understand that their own beloved cats should receive regular veterinary care maybe it wasn't their fault but mine - or in the case of the profession - ours.

After all, we are the messengers and if the message isn't getting out it certainly rests on our shoulders to investigate why.

Of course, in the case of my own family I was able to explain that cats are prone to painful dental disease and that only regular visits will uncover this, and that I personally know of two cases where indoor animals were exposed to rabies and subsequently euthanized because of overdue vaccinations (one was a case of a bunch of indoor cats exposed to a rabid bat that got into the house, the other was a Labrador chased through the doggie door by a rabid skunk).

And so, maybe one on one conversations are the way to go. So, that is where we will have to start, with each pet owner, on the phone or in person, with the simple question, "have we seen your cat lately?" We hope that this will trigger a discussion that will ultimately lead to better cat care by the very people who care most for them, their owners.

We at Ventana Animal Hospital are making a concerted effort to speak better to cat owners, to address their concerns and treat their cats. We have a skilled cat guru in the person of Alaina Rhodes a Certified Veterinary Technician, she, working in concert with cat specialists and our doctors, will be driving some of the changes that cat owners will be seeing in how their cats are handled in our practice, our renewed focus on cat owner concerns and a better feel for cat needs.

Alaina, who wrote several of the blog posts you will see in the coming weeks has dedicated her professional career to feline care. She has worked with the Heritage Shelter as an interim director and knows first hand what happens when we, the veterinarians entrusted with their care fail to speak out for cats. Cats are often relinquished because of easily solvable urinary issues and avoidable behavioral misunderstandings.

We take feline care seriously and are striving to express that with renewed enthusiasm to our clients. We our launching our initiative with a cat-focus month. We will have two cat adoptions during the month of April, we are partnering with Boeringer-Ingelheim to provide staff education, and we will be having cat focused contests both within the hospital and out in our community. Our neighbor, Risky Business and the vaccine manufacturer Boerhinger-Ingelheim have both generously donated towards our raffle with the proceeds benefiting Tucson Two Tails Feline Rescue. I hope you will join us in our renewed efforts to provide proper veterinary care to the cats within our community.

The first contest starts right here. As you may have noticed, this post contains no photos. This is because I personally have no cats, so, if you would like to have your cat's photo included in our upcoming blog posts, please post them on Facebook, and the photos with the most likes win. It's that simple!

Tucson Cold Wet Noses

Last Saturday we hosted the local rescue group, Cold Wet Noses at our hospital. Usually stationed at PetSmart, Cold Wet Noses brought out a dozen dogs and a couple of cats and set up in our largest exam room.

Please give me a home. I'm an Aussie, that makes me great!

In spite of the low gray clouds and persistent drizzle, many people came into the hospital looking for a new forever friend.

A 100% volunteer program that fosters dogs and cats, Cold Wet Noses helps unwanted dogs and cats find new and loving families. Cold Wet Noses currently has 130 dogs in need of forever homes. You can see pictures of pets up for adoption at www.Tucsoncoldwetnoses.com.

I want someone to throw a ball for me and take me for walks

During the month of February Ventana Animal Hospital is holding a raffle to benefit Cold Wet Noses. Please stop in and buy a few raffle tickets, the prizes were kindly donated by Patterson Veterinary (a veterinary supply company - thanks Todd!) and PetSmart. We have $70 dollars in gift certificates up for grabs, and 100% of the proceeds go to helping Cold Wet Noses provide homes for these dogs and cats.

Additionally, Cold Wet Noses is always looking for foster homes, so if you can provide a home for a while, please contact them. They can only rescue as many pets as they can place in foster care, so every little bit helps.

I can keep your feet warm.

Thank you to Ronnie who put this whole thing together, and to all of our clients who were so understanding of a slightly more crowded than usual parking lot and reception area.

All photos were stolen from the Cold Wet Noses website, and are dogs in need of forever homes.

January Success!

Whoops! it's been a while! We just got so busy with the holidays and Weight Loss Month that we let the blog slide.

Ventana Animal Hospital is not only a Certified Weight Loss Clinic, but we have two Certified Pet Weight Coaches (Liane our Hospital Manager and Rebecca a Certified Veterinary Technician). Both have taken the time to do 10 hours of continuing education to help our patients remain slim and healthy throughout their lives.

8 year old Aussie wrestling the stick from 13 year old German Shepherd

We decided to join the frenzy of weight loss habits changing at the New Year to kick off our own Weight Loss Month. So far so good. We have a poster up in the lobby with our weight loss candidates and they are currently vying for some really nice goodies for the pet who loses the most before the end of March.

Active breeds like border collies can gain weight quickly

Purina Pet Foods has helped us out by offering a whopping $10 off their excellent prescription pet food, OM and their senior weight loss diet (with glucosamine for joints) JM. Check out their weight loss plan online.

Most importantly we helped educate clients on the value of keeping their pets slim. Slim pets live an average of two years longer. They also live those two years (and countless more before) with fewer health issues and more mobility.

Many people think that pets slow down as they age, and while that may be true in some cases, in most cases, even as their racing days lie behind them, slender dogs remain happy and active throughout their lives. Weight gain makes dogs and cats uncomfortable. It makes joints ache and muscles strain. It can cause ligament tears and joint pain.

Kitty, an 8 year old Aussie playing in the mud

So, a huge THANK YOU to Rebecca and Ronnie who helped plan Weight Loss Month. Also a round of cheers to CJ, Gracie, Buddy, Misha, Frank, Pippin and Mary whose owners have stepped up in an effort to help them live healthier, happier, longer lives.

If you would like to know if your pet is overweight, just give us a call at 299-1146 and ask to make an appointment with Becca for a weight evaluation. She can help you formulate a weight loss plan.

Dental Month

February is Dental Health Month! For the first 20 clients who come in and discuss their pet's dental health with our staff, we will give away a CET trial size dentifrice and a CET dental chew. CET dental chews are American made. They are scientifically formulated to help keep your pet's teeth clean. CET provides numerous dental products including pet safe (and flavored) dentifrice, finger brushes, and water additives.

If the technician feels that your pet's teeth need a professional cleaning she will refer you to a veterinarian for an appointment (this may need to be scheduled on a different day, and depending on the timing of your last visit may include an exam fee.)

A dental prophy involves a full cleaning both above and below the gumline, polishing, a full oral exam and probing for disease along the gumline. This can only be done safely with anesthesia. Just as you cannot brush away all future dentist visits, all pets will ultimately need a dental cleaning at least several times in their life. Small pets, like chihuahuas, poodles and cocker spaniels will all likely have yearly dental prophys starting at a fairly young age.

I may be dirty, but my teeth are clean!

Cats can get a painful oral condition called Feline Oral Resorptive Lesions (FORLs). These painful lesions are caused when for unknown reasons the cat's body begins breaking down and reasorbing the roots of the teeth.

Cats will show no signs of this, though many cats after the teeth are pulled (sadly this is the only option for these cats) are much happier after the procedure! This is yet another reason all cats should see their veterinarian at least yearly.

This is what happens to dogs who play with tennis balls and rocks

If we perform a prophy on your pet during the month of February we will give you a coupon for $10 off Purina DH diets or CET chews, whichever you prefer. Purina DH is a dog and cat food made of larger than normal kibbles that are scientifically formulated to not shatter like normal food when chewed. Instead the food resists breaking apart creating a scrubbing-like action that helps prevent tartar buildup. You can feed DH as a full diet or feed as treats.

For dental month, CET is offering a special buy two get one free offer when you buy CET chews from your veterinarian. You have to go to their website to receive their free bag.

Of course, like us, the gold standard for dental care is brushing. Brushing your pet's teeth is far easier than it may seem. If you think your pet would be amenable to toothbrushing we will be happy to give you a demonstration. Just give us a call to make a free appointment with a technician.

Dirty teeth are not just ugly, the bacteria released by infected teeth and gums circulate in the blood and affect the heart valves, kidneys and urinary tract. Red gums hurt, and because pets need to eat, they will continue to do so even if it means that it hurts.

Some level of oral disease exists in up to 75% of pets over the age of 5, and while most of those are not yet diseased enough to need a prophy, all pets can benefit from preventive dental care. See us if you have any questions about your pet's oral health.

You can reach us at (520) 299-1146 or info@ventanaanimalhospital.com

What healthy teeth and gums look like, no redness along the gumline