Anything For Animals

posted by admin on Apr 25

If you are after the greatest pet show - that includes all sorts - not just dogs - then head for the NEC in Birmingham on the 4th, 5th or 6th and May 2009.

The Ultimate Pet Show will include horse stunts, duck herding and ferret racing as well as rabbit show-jumping, spider handling and pet fashion show on the Sunday!  It really has it all.

What Else?
Well, there are many hands-on sections for every type of pet as well as medical advice from the experts.  Seminars, demonstrations and competitions, as well as fun activities and displays including birds of prey.

Also the chance to buy products from all the big names in the stands, free samples and money-off coupons, with names like James Wellbeloved, Pet Plan and The Dogs Trust.

There is also the chance to see the winner announced on the Saturday for ‘Britains Most Talented Pet’ as the finalists all arrive for the judges - which includes TV vet Mark Abraham.

The online price is just £12 - and kids under 5 are free - so you can bring the kids along too - no excuses!

See you there?

posted by admin on Apr 19

Traveling with your cats or dogs can be fun, but taking them into another country needs careful planning.  However, travel around Europe just got much easier with the PETS Travel Scheme - and here is a quick run down….. 

If you are thinking of entering the UK with your cat or dog, you have 2 options to legally do so:

1) 6-months Quarantine
2) A PETS Passport

Basically, the UK is rabies-free and they would like to keep it that way - so they make sure that all possible carriers (mainly carnivorous mammals) are regulated on entry.

This includes both domestic and wild animals that enter the country (by human intervention) and as a result cats and dogs are included in these regulations and as a result need to be proved to not carry the virus.

The only way to guarantee this is to successfully vaccinate the animal and wait 6 months before giving it the ‘all-clear’.

Why 6 months?
The incubation period for the rabies virus (the time it takes from infection to the animal showing symptoms) is around 6 months.  It can be shorter or a bit longer - but 6 months is the accepted incubation period for governmental legislation.

Therefore, if the dog had contracted rabies the day before it entered the UK, it will very likely become symptomatic within 6 months.  As it would have been in quarantine kennels all this time, there is no risk of that dog having passed it on to any other dogs, cats or other mammals.

So Why Is There No Quarantine With The Passports?
The reason is simple.  To acquire the PETS (Pet Travel Scheme)Passport, the cat or dog still needs to wait for a 6 month period to elapse before being allowed to freely enter the UK.

This means that if you find a stray do in Spain and want to bring it to the UK, you have to obtain a valid PETS passport - which takes over 6 months.  Basically the period of ‘quarantine’ is still there, but the dog or cat doesn’t have to spend it in a kennel.

How To Get Your PETS Passport:
Obtaining a PETS passport is very simple and involves 5 simple steps.  Basically you are individually identifying your cat or dog permanently and then proving it has enough rabies anti-bodies in it’s blood to protect against a new rabies infection.

The first 4 steps are to get the passport in the first place and will take at least 7 months from start to finish:

1) Get your cat or dog micro-chipped
2) Get you cat or dog vaccinated against rabies
3) Get a blood test result to prove you pet is protected
4) Obtain an official PETS passport from a qualified vet

The final step needs to be carried out within a 24-48 hour window on your entry or return to the UK:

5) Obtain official Tick and Tapeworm treatment

What Next?
To travel around other countries in the EU does not usually require the PETS passport, but many have their own regulations for transporting your pets.  And these guidelines are mainly for your entry to the UK, so always check the current legislation with DEFRA (UK) or other national body before traveling with your pets.

The PETS passport is valid for as long as the rabies vaccine is in date, so make sure that you do not let it expire by even 1 day - otherwise you will have to start the process all over again!

posted by admin on Mar 24

Can Roundworms Infect Any Animal ?  Basically, the answer is Yes.

These ascarids (a type of nematode worm) occur in all animal groups, including mammals, reptiles and birds and in each case the worm is host specific. They have managed to colonise every environment on earth by using the species that live there - but they do have their limits….

Host Specificity in Roundworm:
Roundworms are very specific in the animals they can reproduce in, but the worms themselves can get into other species and cause illness.  For example the dog roundworm (Toxacara canis) can cause lesions and blindness in humans.

However - host specificity means that they can only fully complete their life-cycle - from egg to larvae to adult - in one or sometimes two species. As mentioned, they are able to stay alive in other species in their larval stage, but can only become adult in their specific host.

Larval roundworms are commonly found in humans - although are inactive - but are still known as a zoonosis - which is a general terms used to describe a disease that can be spread from animals to humans, like rabies and salmonella.

How Do You Get Infected?
As with most endoparasites, animals or humans become infected by close contact with feces.  The eggs are ejected from the host in stools and are protected on the ground until ingested by another creature. 

Dogs and cats continue the cycle by sniffing each other waste for scent, or eating grass or food off the ground in an infected area (the eggs can survive long after the actual stool has gone).

Humans who pick up their animals waste inside or outdoors are at risk from picking up an egg - and needless to say if they do not thoroughly wash their hands before handling or eating uncooked food could ingest the eggs themselves.  The egg hatches to a larva and wil move around it’s new hosts body!

Unfortunately, people do not always treat their pets for worms and so children or adults sitting in parks, doing handstands or generally just playing about could come into contact with the eggs.  As will those who stoke, play or sleep with a pet that has laid on grass and the eggs may be transferred that way.

How To Avoid Getting Infected:
Don’t stop having fun outside or playing with your pets - just take obvious precautions.

Worm your pet regularly with a veterinary approved roundworm treatment following the dosage chart properly and on dates recommended.

Grooming your pet regularly and washing it’s bed/bedding can also reduce the numbers of eggs brought into your home by accident.

Always wash your hands before eating!  If you can remember to wash them after playing with pets or in parks or woodlands, but if you get in the habit of always washing before eating anyway - then you could avoid a lot worse things than roundworms!!
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posted by admin on Jul 18

Heartworm And Heartworm Symptoms.

The heart-worm (Dirofilaria immitis) does not usually occur in the UK but is commonly found in dogs from warmer climates including the US. Cats in the UK are hardly ever found to have these worms, and even in the US it is rare for this species.

The adult worms live in the dog or cats heart as their name suggests, but these then produce immature larvae (microfilariae) which are dispersed into the hosts blood.

Most healthy animals can tolerate a certain amount of heart-worms, but treatment is the best option as they can start to block the action of the heart when their numbers increase, causing coughing to start, but also can induce fainting after exercise and eventually heart failure and death as a result.

How They Reproduce:
Heart-worm larvae are transmitted to new hosts via mosquitoes. Basically the mosquito sucks up the microfilariae when feeding off of an infected dog or cat, then when it next feeds it passes some of these into the skin of it’s next meal. Once inside their next dog or cat host they migrate to the heart and can become adults.

Due to this insect-transmission, the worms are only really passed onto new hosts during the peak seasons for the mosquitoes to be feeding - so in colder months this doesn’t spread. It is also the reason why it is not normally found in the UK as the mosquito involved is hardly ever found there to pass this worm around.

This is why heart-worm prevalence in Ohio and Florida, for example, can be so different - it all depends on the mosquito to act as intermediate host, which ultimately depends on the weather.

Obviously using insect repellents on your pets can help to reduce transmission rates, but continuous treatment is the best course of action - as testing first then treatment could cost more than just routine wormers alone.

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posted by admin on Jul 15

Feline and Canine Whipworms.

Whipworm (Trichuris vulpis) is found in domestic dogs and cats throughout the US and Australia, but is not found in the UK, other than from untreated recently imported animals.

This worm is whip-shaped - hence the name and has one thick and one thin end and usually grow up to 7cm long and live in the large intestine or cecum as adults, where they bury their slimmer heads into the intestinal tissues leaving the thicker end sticking out into the intestines themselves.

A low burden (i.e. not many worms) is tolerated well by healthy adult cats and dogs, and most individual animals will not normally become ill with these worms living in their intestines. However, a large amount of worms - i.e a heavy burden - can lead to unpleasant bloody, mucus filled diarrhoea, which will need treatment from a vet.

How they reproduce:
The female adult whip-worms produce eggs which are passed through their thicker end into the intestines and subsequently are passed out in the stools of the dog or cat.

These eggs are characteristically oval in shape, and under the microscope can be seen to have a ‘plug’ at both ends. They are covered with a thick shell to help protect the larvae inside, and so are very resistant to damage from the environment. Once they leave the host and are dropped into bedding or onto the ground they are on their own, but are more than prepared for it.

In good conditions, eggs containing infective larvae can survive for several years outside a host before being ingested - either licked up or eaten - by an animal. So that is a pretty hardy little creature. They are host specific though, so will only survive and grow to be an adult whip worm in either a dog or a cat - even if swallowed by a bird or other animal.

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posted by admin on Jul 6

History of Rabies in Cats and Dogs.

Rabies - a word derived from the Sanskrit, ‘to do violence’ - which was also known in Latin as ‘the madness’ - is apparently one of the oldest documented diseases of humankind. The symptoms described in ancient literature are exactly the same as we see now in modern times.

Various people through the ages, tried to work out where it came from and how it was passed on, mainly due to the effect on humans, which was - before 1900 - madness and certain death!

During the early part of the nineteenth century, European scientists proved in experiments that saliva from rabid humans and dogs would infect healthy dogs. This confirmed the centuries-old suspicion that the cause of rabies being transmitted from one animal to another was associated with the saliva of the rabid animal.

Step Up Louis Pasteur…. 
Perhaps the most famous of all medical experiments involved the early use of a rabies vaccine in humans by Louis Pasteur, which had proved successful only in dogs. On July 6, 1885, he administered his first ‘human vaccine’ to a 9-year old boy who had been attacked by a dog - which almost certainly had rabies. The boy was given thirteen separate injections over the following 2 weeks, and survived.

However this isn’t the end of the rabies story. Only certain countries have cheap and plentiful access to the modern versions of these vaccines. Even now, only developed countries can get vaccinations at a low cost prior to infection at a low cost, and not every country even has access to the vaccine given after infection.

Facts like these go to explain why there were still 55,000 reported human cases of rabies last year alone, with no doubt a large number more that went unreported in isolated communities across the globe.

Rabies Today: 
WHO claim that a huge majority of infected humans last year were children under the age of 15, who were bitten, scratched or licked (on broken skin) by feral or domestic but free roaming dogs. Many of these children were just unable to get treatment either because of where they lived or the very high cost.

Even in areas where the vector animals are being targeted for oral vaccination in baited foods it is not always successful. Worldwide, the percentage of animals ingesting the vaccine is not above the necessary threshold for total control or eradication. Baiting has been successful in areas of Europe, but even the United States cannot seem to control this disease (Hawaii is only rabies free due to it’s isolated location).

It would seem as though the world will have rabies for some time to come.

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posted by admin on Jun 10

Feline distemper symptoms…..

Distemper in cats does not exist - basically cats do not get distemper. So there is no need to worry about the distemper symptoms in cats, or the treatment of distemper in cats.

Cats and kittens do not get distemper - only dogs and mammals related to dogs such as foxes and raccoons can become infected with distemper and spread it to other dogs or dog-related mammals.

Your cat is safe from this one…..

posted by admin on May 31

Rabies Shots For Cats And Dogs

Preventative vaccines are widely available in the UK and the US for our pets and livestock, at a small cost. The program of vaccination depends on the type of vaccine being given, as there are several types available for different animals, containing various active ingredients and length of protection.

There are 2 main types of vaccine:

Inactivated - Contains sufficient antigens (which stimulate an immune response) and no live virus of any type.
Live - Containing a live virus of a slightly different strain which does not cause the actual disease.

There have been reports of the live vaccine causing actual rabies in cats which already have a known immune suppression like FeLV (Feline Leukaemia Virus) or FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). Their bodies simply do not have the resources to produce a sufficient immune response to an actual virus. This can also be found in humans with weakened immune systems.

Vaccine Programs
Initial vaccination involves a single injection. Kittens and puppies of 3-4 months can be vaccinated and given regular boosters throughout their lives. Adult animals need to follow a slightly different vaccine pattern, but will be protected at the same level, if regular boosters are continued.

If bitten by a rabid animal, vaccinated animals can usually produce enough antibodies to fight off the virus before it enters the Central Nervous System (CNS), thereby ridding themselves of the attack before clinical symptoms appear. So, it is possible that you may never even know that your pet was infected.

However, once clinical signs (identifiable symptoms such as drooling or paralysis) appear in an un-vaccinated animal, the disease is already in the CNS and brain, and is nearly always fatal.

Can a dog have a reaction to a rabies shot?
As with any animal and any vaccine, there is the possibility that the additional ingredients used in the vaccine material could react with the chemistry of the animal involved; as can happen with egg and milk allergies in human vaccines.

As a result, there may well be dogs that have an allergic reaction to a rabies shot, but sometimes the result of the vaccine far outweighs the odd animal that could react to it’s ingredients.

Vaccines need to reach a certain %age threshold in a population to be really successful, so the more people that avoid the vaccine for just the minimal chance that their one pet could have a reaction, are as a result, seriously jeopordising the safety of humans around the globe.

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posted by admin on May 17

Rabies Symptoms in Cats.

If you are unlucky enough to live in an area with prevalent rabies, then you would hope that your cat never got affected, but as there are many wild animals that carry this virus in the US - see Common Carriers of the Rabies Virus article - you will either need to get your cat vaccinated or watch out for the tell-tale signs of infection to protect yourself and other pets.

Luckily for cats however, they are less likely to get infected with rabies than dogs, but this does not mean that they will not get it, and in fact several cats a year (in the US) are reported to have contracted this virus. So how does a cat get rabies, and what are the symptoms of rabies in cats?

How does a cat get rabies?
The virus can only get into the cat from the saliva of an infected animal through broken skin or an open sore, so any bite-like wound or unidentified scratches should be treated with suspicion if living in an area known to have rabid wildlife. The site of the wound may become very itchy for the cat, and it may be chewing or scratching this area intensely.

Also, as the virus may be present in the saliva of an animal before it shows any outward signs of having rabies itself (i.e. a very normal looking raccoon could be infected), it is very important to isolate any pet cat which has been bitten by an unknown animal and observe them for at least a week for any changes to their personality or health.

If precautions are not taken, an infected pet cat could pass this on to other pets in the neighbourhood because the pattern of the disease is known to cause an infected animal to become more violent than normal, and therefore more likely to bite something else to pass on the virus in it’s own saliva. What it bites though, could be a human.

What are the symptoms of rabies in cats?
Initial rabies symptoms in cats include pyrexia (raised temperature) and a change in temperament. It is possible that the cat may become more placid and seek your affection, or they may hide away in corners or under beds, or go on longer than normal walks.

There are 2 recognised forms of rabies that cats can be identified as having, depending on the symptoms they show; known as either furious rabies or dumb rabies.

In furious rabies the cat will likely become more and more excitable, in episodes lasting anything from a matter or minutes to several hours. During these episodes, they may become more aggressive, possibly snapping and trying to bite other pets or their owners. They may also just snap at imaginary objects. Cats are also reported to stay very energised and may arch their backs continually.

Many cats with this form of the disease develop a depraved appetite and will chew and eat almost anything they can get hold of. 

As with any animal, the disease will progress quickly, and may include paresis (muscle weakness) in the legs and the tail. The muscles of the face and neck are also affected, commonly resulting in difficulty swallowing, possibly with the classic ‘foaming at the mouth’ which is really just the sick cats way of dealing with the paralysis and it’s nervous state (of the nervous system as this virus travels around the body in the nerve fibres). It may also display an asymmetry and distortion of the face.

With furious rabies, the cat will eventually die during a violent seizure.

Dumb rabies is far more common, with little or no signs - hence it’s name. There are some common traits though and these include a progressive paralysis of the limbs and distortion of the face with drooping of the jaw and drooling, along with difficulty swallowing. This can also affect the eyes, with drooping of the eyelids and squinting.

In this form, the cat will become comatose and may die more peacefully.

Is there a treatment for rabies?
There is no current treatment recommended or practised for cats or dogs with rabies and it is always fatal as a result. The only way to protect your cat from death is to have it vaccinated prior to infection.

This is not because there is not enough known about the virus, but because it is such a direct and often fatal effects on humans. Basically, due to this high risk to humans - the Department for Environment & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)  in the UK, advise that any animal found to have the virus is isolated immediately and that they are informed. When the animal dies (usually within a week or two), it is sent to them for testing to confirm the virus was responsible.

A rabies outbreak is just too much of a risk to humans, so this disease is taken very seriously.

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posted by admin on May 14

What’s the Safest Rabies Vaccine for Cats?

The answer is: the one your vet recommends.

Basically, your vet can only recommend the one rabies vaccine the world has to your cat. Obviously, for each individual animal your vet will consider it’s medical history and lifestyle and balance this against the relative risk of it coming into contact with a rabid animal. In the States, this can be quite a high chance, so the rabies vaccine is your cats only defence against the disease.

I’ve heard of cats reacting to vaccines…. 
Yes, of course it is possible that one cat in a million may react badly to the vaccine, just as humans can, but the unfortunate injury or death of one animal is nothing compared to the amount of cats that could die of rabies if they were not vaccinated against rabies.

However, for a vaccine to work, it needs to be administered to an effective percentage level, for example 85%. This means that over 85% of the population needs to be vaccinated in order to keep the disease in check.

What it means is that if the percentage of animals fall below that level, the overall vaccine program for that region or country will start to break down.

Putting it in simpler terms, if you cover 85% of your cat with a specific flea treatment, it is likely you will kill all the fleas and not see any more for some time. However, if you only use flea treatment on 50% of your cat, it is likely that you will not kill ALL the fleas, and soon our cat will be overrun with them again as they breed.

This is how all vaccines work, so your vet will always recommend it in endemic regions - it keeps you beloved cat protected, and all the other local pets will benefit from it too.

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