Parvovirus

I would like to start by saying that we are not in the middle of a parvovirus epidemic. In Calgary, the puppies who were euthanized at the Calgary Humane Society were all from one "breeder". In Okotoks, it was one family who lost two puppies. It is sad that twelve lives were lost to this disease.

Canine parvovirus is a highly infectious virus that attackes the intestines of puppies and adolescent dogs. Once an unprotected puppy is exposed to high enough levels of the virus, there is a 3 to 7 day incubation period before getting sick. If you have a puppy with vomiting and diarrhea, you must go to your local veterinarian as soon as possible. The virus attacks the intestines (vomiting, diarrha) and this also allows bacteria to leak out of the intestines into the blood stream (septic shock).

Infected dogs shed the virus in their stool for two weeks after exposure. In general, they shed 35 million viral particles per ounce of stool!

Diagnosis:
Sometimes, when we as veterinarians enter a room, our suspicion of parvo is easily set off. Picture this: you walk into the appointment and the puppy is laying lethargically in the corner. Your first question needs to be "has your puppy had any vaccination?" The answer of "No" will cause you to quickly leave the room to get your handy ELISA test. In less than 15 minutes after swabbing the rectum of the puppy, you will have an answer.

Treatment:
There are no antivirals for the parvovirus. This means we must admit the puppies into a quarantined ICU and give supportive treatment. This can include IV fluids, IV antibiotics, anti-nauseants, anti-emetics and plasma transfusions. Bloodwork, specifically CBC is also used to see how well the body is producing the white blood cells needed to fight the infection. It can take anywhere between 3 to 7 days of hospitalization to get the puppy back on its feet. The sad part is that we cannot save them all. One out of every four puppies will not make it out of the hospital.

Decontamination:
Indoors, the virus takes approximately one month to lose its ability to infect. Shaded areas will be contaminated for 7 months while areas having good sunlight will be contaminated for 5 months. Freezing will completely protect the virus so one must wait for the appropriate times after thawing before introducing a puppy to the area.

The best disinfectant is bleach as it kills the parvovirus. You dilute one part bleach to 30 parts water and leave on for ten minutes. Do not do what I have done in the past which is to wash in undiluted bleach. Your arms will feel "soapy" - this is not a good thing!!!

Attempting to protect a puppy from exposure to the virus is completely futile. The virus is literally everywhere (yards, parks, sidewalks, houses and stores). Don't let this fact cause you to think you must keep your puppy cooped up indoors until (s)he is fully vaccinated; more dogs will die due to behavioural issues than will die of parvovirus. So socialize your puppy, and don't forget one of the safest places to do so is your local veterinary hospital!

That odd picture is a real parvovirus particle.

Not a chance!!!

So, we get a call today from someone looking to euthanize their pet. As always, if it is a new client, we need to know the pet's age and medical issues. When I overheard the conversation (the staff accuse me of having freakishly good hearing), I got a sense that all was not as it should be.

This is where I started listening to what my receptionist was saying. So,the dog is only six years old. Hmmm, okay, what kind of medical issue does it have?

There are no medical issues, we've been getting complaints from the neighbours.

Okay, so has he bitten anyone? (It is illegal to euthanize a dog within ten days of having bit someone - Rabies could be a possible issue)

No, he hasn't. I just need to euthanize him.
I'm sorry, our doctor has a policy of not euthanizing otherwise healthy animals.

Look, I don't have time for this dog so I need it euthanized.

Sir, we will not be able to euthanize your dog.

*&^%&$$ and the line went dead.

Yes, there are certain situations where we do need to euthanize younger animals and there has to be a very good reason for it. I have always and will always refuse to do convenience euthanasias.

The picture is of my second oldest, Kodak, who has four different kinds of aggression that are under very good control. His aggression is not convenient but I have taken the time to help relieve his anxiety.

No pain like back pain

I have a very lucky Dachshund as a patient. A short time ago, Maggie was brought in by her parents because she was having difficulty moving her hind end. She had deep pain (could feel me pinching her hind toes) but no proprioception. Testing the proprioception is easy. You simply turn the foot over so the top of the foot is on the ground. If they can feel their foot, they put it back in the proper position. Maggie had very little control over her hind end.

After the physical exam we did a radiograph. The arrow is pointing at a normal intervertebral space. If you look between the vertebrae of L6 and L7 plus L7 and S1 you will see white spots. These are actually calcified discs that have moved upward and are pressing on the spinal cord. Since the signals are not getting through this area, Maggie couldn’t move her legs.

At this point, we have two options. One is to refer to a specialist for back surgery or medical support. Since she is ten years old, we decided to try aggressive medical support. This was possible as her owners are retired and could be at her beck and paw. They were to keep her quiet, make sure she got her anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants. They were very interested in alternative therapy and asked about chiropractic adjustments. As one wrong move would have our prognosis go from poor to none, they went to a veterinarian who does laser therapy and hydrotherapy.

Guess what, Maggie is doing fantastic! This is what it is all about!!!

End of the trend

One of my patients, Maple, is a four year old spayed female. She has a history of chronic urinary tract infections. When they started up again a few months ago, we did multiple urinalysis, urine cultures and extended antibiotic trials. It seemed that no matter what we did, we couldn’t get it resolved. Maple kept licking herself through it all.

Finally, I decided on plan e. The e stands for episioplasty. Maple had an excessive amount of skin folding over her vulva. This created a warm, wet environment resulting in her reoccurring urinary tract infections. This surgery removes the excess skin and fatty tissue from around the vulva.

Basically, the surgery involves making two crescent-shaped incisions around the vulva. As this is a very vascular (many vessels) area, one must take the time to ligate all bleeders. I am now looking into getting an electrocautery unit. Rather than having to ligate the bleeders by suturing them, I could just bloody zap them all! The subcutaneous tissue is sutured back together and finally a simple interrupted pattern is used to close the skin.

After the surgery, Maple's owners had to make sure she wore an Elizabethan collar at all times. She was given NSAIDs to control the pain and they also hot packed the incision to make her feel more comfortable. Apparently, she soon learned those sessions were very soothing.

The top picture is the pre-surgical view. You can’t even see the vulva for all the extra skin. The lower picture was just taken last night. We are about 3 weeks post-op.

Oh boy! Here's a new one

Last week, someone brought in a bird that had flown into their window. When it did not get up and fly away, this person picked it up, put it in a carrier and in they came.

When I looked at the bird, it did look a little odd. One of those I’m looking at you but not really seeing you moments. I picked him up to check for broken bones and he tried to bite but he couldn’t succeed. His beak and eye coordination were off by a half inch. As I’m thinking “if I didn’t know better I’d say he was drunk”, Lindsay walked up. She took one look and said “that’s a Cedar waxwing and he is as drunk as a skunk”.

After we sent him home with directions to keep him in the carrier for a couple of hours (to sleep it off), I started to look into these little guys. Cedar waxwings eat a primarily fruit diet and some insects. They eat the fruit whole (so when the berries are overripe and have started to ferment…..). Another cute thing I found out is that during courtship the males will often pass the female a small gift such as a fruit, insect or flower petal. They will pass it back and forth until the female decides to eat it.

Something so small

A patient was brought in who had a mass on his lower left lip. It had occurred after spending a weekend at the cabin. The swelling had become the size of two large grapes. They had not seen any change in size in a week.

It was fairly easy to see the mass from the outside of the mouth but when the lip was pulled back, you could see the mass and the “weak” spot. He wasn’t thrilled with me doing the examination so we elected to sedate.

When I incised the weak spot, out came some purulent material leaving a pocket. The next step was to flush the area. That’s when it came out. As you can see from the smaller picture it was a grass awn. He was sent home with some antibiotics and within a week, you couldn’t tell he’d had anything there.

The Day I Needed Caller ID

I get some very interesting phone calls. I was reminded of one today when I made myself a peanut butter sandwich (with some great jam thanks to Carol’s mom).

On a daily basis, we see animals who are stressed simply by coming to the hospital. We use treats and toys as a way to make them feel more comfortable. Our goal is to change their emotional response to the situation. No matter what kind of day I’m having, I always have to grin when a dog gets excited when I stand by the cupboard with the treats. Rather than being scared by the procedures they are looking forward to the treat.

Now, back to this phone call. This woman called because her dog was scared of her baby. In my mind I was picturing a toddler running, squealing and falling around the dog. It turned out that the baby was only 3 months old. For a dog to be running away scared from a baby of this age is a very dangerous situation. She told me that she “had done everything” to make the dog like the baby but was very concerned about what would happen when her baby started to move and crawl.

The woman proudly told me that she had tried to make the dog associate the baby with its favorite treat, peanut butter. I was pleased that she was using something which could elicit a positive emotional response until she told me how she went about this. My staff can attest to the fact that my response to the woman telling me that she slathered the baby in peanut butter and had the dog lick it off was not one of my better professional moments! Unfortunately, she had not given me any personal information so I was unable to contact the authorities. Wish I’d had caller ID……..