Wood Buffalo Small Animal Hospital in Fort McMurray, Alberta is a veterinary hospital that treats domestic animals. We have seen a lot of dogs come to the clinic suffering from vomiting and diarrhea lately. It's not a very &quot;pretty&quot; topic to talk about in this edition of Kelly's Corner, but none the less, an important topic! Pets, like ourselves, can sometimes get upset tummies. It can occur from simply switching food brands too quickly, eating a new treat that doesn't agree with them, parasites, or it can be caused by a virus or toxin. Treatment for these different problems do vary, so it is very important to speak with your veterinary team to figure out the right course of action. Many times, if your dog eats something it shouldn't have, you will see explosive diarrhea 12-24 hours after they have eaten whatever that &quot;disagreed&quot; with them. Most dogs will still seem happy, but have diarrhea. Most dietary indiscretions usually resolve after a few days, with the help of fasting your pet, and the feeding of a bland diet afterwards. <br /> <br /> Puppies commonly get diarrhea from parasites, but adults can get them as well. We recommend deworming puppies every month for three months, (this correlates to their puppy vaccinations as well) and then once a year after that. If you travel a lot with your pets or you have hunting dogs, we may recommend a more frequent deworming protocol. There are many different creepy crawlies that your pet can pick up, if you find that after deworming, your puppy still has diarrhea, it may be time to do a fecal. This is a test that we can do at the clinic or we send it out to a lab. We analyze your dogs feces to check for other parasites a general dewormer wouldn't cover. Puppies are also prone to viruses that can cause a life threatening diarrhea. Parvovirus and Corona virus are two viruses that are known as puppy killers. These viruses are also 100% preventable through vaccinations. Puppies can get very sick, very quickly because if diarrhea. If at any time your puppy seems very depressed, stops eating and is listless, call us immediately to get your pup seen. <br /> <br /> One other topic I would like to touch on, is a disease we are seeing a lot of this summer.......Kennel Cough. Kennel Cough is a virus that is spread from nose to nose contact with other dogs. We see outbreaks in kennels, classes and anywhere dogs have lots of nose to nose contact with many dogs. Here in Fort McMurray, we are seeing a correlation with dogs that visit the dog park. Kennel Cough starts off as a mild cough that progresses into a loud honking cough any time the dog exerts itself or has its throat irritated. Please keep in mind that some dogs pull on their leashes until they cough and gag, this is not kennel cough. Dogs that have the virus will cough even when they aren't on leash. The virus can also get a secondary bacterial component to it. These dogs cough and gag, but will also have a yellow/green discharge from the eyes and nose. If you think your dog has Kennel Cough, don't hesitate to call us. We will probably ask you to keep your dog in your car until your appointment, to keep the other patients in the hospital from being exposed to the virus. We've even done full exams out in a car! Kennel cough is treatable, but it can take a long time, and it can be costly. There is a vaccine for this disease, and we highly recommend it to owners who have dogs that visit the dog park, take any obedience classes or that board their dogs in a kennel. The first vaccine for Kennel Cough is actually drops in the nose. Then, every year after that, it's an injection under the skin, like the other boosters. <br /> <br /> So there's the skinny on diarrhea and kennel cough! If you have any other questions, please give us a call! http://www.wbsah.com/Kellys-Corner.page?ArticleID=53752 2010-09-06T23:22:05.9229175Z Well, I think Spring has finally arrived! Fort McMurray hasn't had snow for awhile, so hopefully we won't see the white stuff until the Fall! With the warmer weather, everyone is heading outdoors to soak up some sun, including our 4 legged friends! I just wanted to remind everyone of some potential hazards that we see at the clinic when the weather warms up. <br /> &nbsp;<br /> First and foremost, please keep your dogs on a leash when you are walking them! The most&nbsp;common, and most deadly Spring emergency we see are dogs that are hit by cars. The weather is nice, vehicles are travelling at a much faster speed, and your pet is no match for them. The second most common emergency we see&nbsp;are dog fights, especially big dogs attacking little dogs.&nbsp;Remember, you don't know how someone else's dog is going to react to your dog. Your dog may be a &quot;social butterfly&quot; but other dogs may not be! Some dogs may play well together one on one, but when another dog joins the group, there is a fight, especially if there is a toy involved. Always supervise your pets at play! I'm going to stand on my soap box now! One of my biggest pet peeves is the dog park. I have seen owners all stand around and talk to each other, while their dogs are behind them doing their own thing! We have had to stitch up many dogs from the dog park, because a fight has broken out, and the owners weren't paying attention to their dogs. Dogs are social creatures, but some dogs just don't get along! I have pet play times with some of my friends dogs. We'll meet at someone's house and let the dogs get together in a back yard and have a good time. That way, there is a small number of dogs (that I know), in a controlled area. They have a blast!<br /> &nbsp;<br /> If you have a kitty cat that likes to go outdoors, try to keep them within sight when they go out. When &quot;Spring is in the air&quot; our cats tend to roam to find &quot;romance&quot;, which then tends to lead to kittens! If there are a lot of cats around, that can also lead to cat fights. When cats fight, they use their teeth to create puncture wounds. The&nbsp;bite will&nbsp;heal over quickly, but there is bacteria that stays in the wounds. Those bites then turn into pus pockets underneath the skin, (cat bite abscesses) that can get very large and painful. Most&nbsp;cat bites&nbsp;require surgery to drain the pus pocket. All of the above problems can be avoided by keeping your cat indoors! <br /> &nbsp;<br /> I've had a few clients ask me about their pets eating grass, now that the new shoots are coming up. People aren't sure if they should be letting their pets eat grass, or if it's a sign that their pet is feeling nauseous. I think that&nbsp; you have to look at each individual pet, and see what they are doing. My two dogs love eating grass. I jokingly say that they turn into goats in the summer! They sniff out the new grass and chow down. It doesn't cause them to vomit or have any issues, so I figure that it's just extra fibre for them! Some dogs will gorge themselves on grass if they aren't feeling well, and it will cause them to vomit. There are also those dogs out there that are gluttons, and will eat grass because it tastes good, and they will try to eat your whole lawn! With those dogs,&nbsp;it may cause them to vomit or to have diarrhea. I would monitor them and not allow them to gorge themselves. Always be aware of where your pets eat the grass. People like to have nice lawns, and will use fertilizer. Fertilizer can be extremely toxic to our pets.&nbsp;A little on a blade of grass won't hurt your average dog, but in large quantities, can make them quite sick.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> If you are taking your pets on holiday with you, please give us a call to see if there is anything extra that your pet may require. Heartworm and flea protection is very important, and is easy to prevent an infestation. It's much harder to get rid of them once your pet has them! There are also some vaccines you may want to consider, if you are travelling to certain areas. Give us a call and our team can answer your questions. <br /> &nbsp;<br /> The last thing I want to mention is that 4 Paws Training is offering outdoor classes over the summer. They are offering Puppy Kindergarten, (which I teach!) Adult Obedience, Canine Good Neighbour, and a Tricks and Treats class. The schedule is set for the Summer, so if you're interested call Koralee at 780-743-2000. Summer is a fantastic time to share with your pet. Get outside and enjoy it! http://www.wbsah.com/Kellys-Corner.page?ArticleID=51676 2010-09-06T23:22:05.9229175Z We recently had a few speakers come to the clinic to talk to us. One speaker was our Hill's food representative. He routinely comes up to talk to us about new diets that their company is coming out with and tries to answer any questions that we have or that our clients have. This time we talked a little about how to read a pet food label. <br /> <br /> The first thing we learned was that reading labels can be very confusing! We learned that reading the ingredient label may not be as informative as we thought. I believed that the first ingredient on a pet food label is what was in the diet in greatest quantity. That may be true...But there is no standard that says that the ingredient list must be listed based on dry matter. For example, if a diet lists its first ingredient as chicken, that could mean frozen chicken. But when they put the chicken in the diet it is cooked and dehydrated, so the actual chicken content is quite low, as compared on a dry matter basis. <br /> <br /> Another common gimmick is feeding an all protein or high protein diet to dogs with NO GRAIN! Dogs are not carnivores! They need carbohydrates as well as protein! If you look closely at these diets, you will see that they do indeed have carbs in them...Like sweet potato! Again beware the new &quot;fad&quot; diets. I always tell people that if they are unsure of the diet that they are feeding, they should be able to call them, (A 1-800 number on the bag) and ask to speak to the veterinary dietician to get all the information you need. If you can't do that, then you may want to look at another diet! The unfortunate thing we found out is that there is really not much on a pet food label that lets us know if the food is a good one or not! Our representative showed us a Guaranteed Analysis of one of their diets, and a &quot;mystery diet.&quot; They both looked fairly similar.....except the mystery diet was actually ground up leather boots and motor oil. Not something you would want to feed your pet, but the guaranteed analysis looked great! <br /> <br /> We learned that the most information you can get from a pet food label can be found in the AAFCO statement. AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. IF a pet food has an AAFCO statement then that means that they either did a laboratory analysis on the food or a feeding test. The feeding test is a more preferable test because then you know the food was palatable and the animals did well on it. Laboratory analysis means that they did some mathematical calculations on the food, but it wasn't fed to a pet in a food trial. CAN YOU SAY CONFUSING!!!! The AAFCO statement will also tell you what life stage to feed the diet. The different life stages based on AAFCO are puppy/kitten and adult. There are no standards yet under AAFCO for a senior food at this time. <br /> <br /> I think of our pets' nutrition the same way I think of human nutrition. A baby is going to need different nutrients as compared to a senior! Same with our pets, sooooo, if the AAFCO statement says &quot;for all life stages&quot; then basically the diet in that bag, is a puppy or kitten food. Puppies and kittens have a higher requirement for protein, fat, and carbs. If the statement says &quot;for all life stages&quot; then it has to meet the requirements for puppies and kittens! Do you think that type of food is appropriate for a 12 year old dog or cat? Definitely not! Pet food labels are confusing but hopefully this little tid-bit of information will help you wade through all the information that is out there. If you are still unsure, please don't hesitate to call the clinic, and I can help you to the best of my abilities! http://www.wbsah.com/Kellys-Corner.page?ArticleID=45022 2010-09-06T23:22:05.9229175Z The holiday season is upon us! Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Halloween and Christmas are right around the corner. I thought I would take this opportunity, to talk a little about a few things we should think about during this season in regards to our pets. The most common thing we tend to see during the holidays are a lot of upset tummies from getting into food they shouldn't have! Remember, chocolate is toxic to our pets. It contains theobromine, and our pets can't break it down. The darker and purer the chocolate is, the worse it is for our pets. There tends to be a lot of chocolate in our houses now for Halloween. Make sure it's out of sight and smell! If your dog does get into chocolate, call the clinic immediately! This is also the season when we get together with family and friends and have some fantastic Turkey and Ham dinners. A lot of people would like to give their pets a little holiday treat as well. Remember our pets are considerably smaller than we are, so if they get a chunk of ham or turkey, it can be very rich to their system. The end result would be a pet with vomiting and diarrhea, and in some instances they can get a condition called pancreatitis. This condition requires hospitalization, and in some cases has caused death.&nbsp; It might be safer to give pets a special PET treat, as compared to giving them human food! With Halloween, there are lots of little munchkins running around in costumes. It may be a good idea to keep your cats indoors on the 31st, to prevent them from getting spooked, or from them getting caught in some Halloween mischief. With the holidays, comes wrapping presents! Cats are notorious for getting into ribbons and wrapping paper. My cat is horrible for finding the ribbon and chewing it into bits! I've been lucky in the fact that all that's happened to him, is that he's had some very colourful poop! He will actually stalk the ribbon dispenser, and the minute my back is turned, he grabs the end of the ribbon and takes off! This can be a hazard for them in the fact that they can eat ribbon and it can cause a blockage, or tear the intestine.&nbsp; If that happens, they have to have emergency surgery. Many people like to decorate for the holidays. Remember your cat sees the Christmas tree as a challenge to climb, not as a beautiful decoration! Have your tree stabilized and use decorations that aren't breakable. Tinsel is a no-no for the same reason ribbon is bad. Our feline family members can't seem to leave tinsel alone....so it might be a good idea not to use it. Bouquets and Poinsettias are also part of the holidays. Some plants are toxic to ours pets as well. Lilies and poinsettias are the most common that you have to keep an eye on. Again, if your pet eats a plant you're not sure of, give us a call. The holidays are a very busy and happy time. If you plan ahead, and pet proof your holidays, you have one less thing to worry about! Happy Holidays!<br /> &nbsp;<br /> K<br /> http://www.wbsah.com/Kellys-Corner.page?ArticleID=35642 2010-09-06T23:22:05.9229175Z We just recently finished our week of emergency on call, and I thought that emergencies might be a good topic for this instalment of Kelly's Corner. Fort McMurray doesn't have an emergency clinic. All four veterinary clinics share the emergency call. It works out that every clinic is on call one week a month. <br /> If you call our clinic after hours, our message will either tell you what clinic is on call and their phone number; or it will tell you to leave a message if we are on call. When&nbsp;we are on call, one of the four Techs carry&nbsp;the pager and are the ones who you will be talking to. We then contact one of our doctors and arrange to meet at the clinic. <br /> Emergencies can be very scary and it's very common for people to get emotional. Remember if you can, when you call the pager, to leave your name and phone number first, then a brief message. I have listened to many messages where people are quite frantic and they tell me their pet's names and what's going on, but no phone number. <br /> When we are on emergency on call, we still go home at night, we don't have access to your files, so it's very important you leave your phone number. The next common question I get from clients is, &quot;What is an emergency?&quot; or &quot;When should I call the pager?&quot; Basically I tell people that whenever you think your pet is in severe distress or&nbsp;has an injury that might be life threatening, call us right away.&nbsp;Another way to look at it, is to&nbsp;give yourself the ailment that your pet has. <br /> For example, if you had a bout of diarrhea, would you rush to the emergency room? Probably not. If you vomited a couple of times? You would probably stay home from work and keep yourself quiet. If it persisted, then you would make an appointment with your doctor.&nbsp;On the other hand, if you had an accident and thought that you broke your leg, you would be heading to the emergency room. We never plan for emergencies, but they happen. Hopefully with this information, if one occurs with your pet, you'll be a little more prepared!<br /> <br /> K<br /> http://www.wbsah.com/Kellys-Corner.page?ArticleID=29756 2010-09-06T23:22:05.9229175Z Welcome to the WBSAH website and Kelly&rsquo;s Corner! This is my premier edition, so let me introduce myself and let you know what to expect in future editions! As you&rsquo;ve probably already figured out, my name is Kelly and I&rsquo;ve been working at the WBSAH for almost six years. I&rsquo;m part of the elite few that actually grew up in Fort McMurray! My official title is Animal Health Technologist, but to make things simpler, I&rsquo;m basically a nurse for animals. I&rsquo;m the one that will take the blood from your pet if they aren&rsquo;t feeling well, x-ray them if they ate something they shouldn&rsquo;t have, place an IV if they need one and will nurse them back to health so they can get back home to you! My other passions are dog training and animal nutrition. I&rsquo;ve been lucky enough to teach puppy kindergarten classes for 8 years, and have seen some wonderful puppies turn into amazing dogs. I&rsquo;ve been a tech for ten years and have seen many different things, and now I&rsquo;ve been given the opportunity to share them with you, here! I have two dogs; Rhanni, a 10 year old border collie with whom I compete with in agility, and Fury, an eight month old border collie who is keeping me very busy at the moment! Last but not least is Vinnie, my cat, who I swear thinks that he is a dog!<br /> <br /> My goal in the editions to follow, is to inform you, the pet owner, on various concerns that pop up. I&rsquo;ll try to update you on upcoming classes and seminars as I hear them come available, and answer any questions that you may have. You can send me your questions at <span id="richTextLabel"><a target="null" href="mailto:wbsah@hotmail.com">wbsah@hotmail.com</a> </span>I&rsquo;ll try to answer as many as I can! Thank you for finding our website and I hope you&rsquo;ll find my column fun and informative. Come visit my little corner often, you&rsquo;ll never know what I&rsquo;ll post next!<br /> <br /> K<br /> <br /> http://www.wbsah.com/Kellys-Corner.page?ArticleID=28176 2010-09-06T23:22:05.9229175Z 9/6/2010 7:22:05 PM http://www.wbsah.com/ 9/6/2010 7:22:05 PM wbsah@hotmail.com