Download Fall 2015

Fall 2015
SPIRITS
KINDRED
WASHTENAW
VETERINARY HOSPITAL
2729 Packard Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
C E L E B R AT I N G O N E A N OT H E R
W V H Fa ce b o o k
U p d ate
K I N D R E D S P I R I T S C E L E B R AT I N G O N E A N OT H E R
Dr. Danskin will be on maternity leave
for approximately three months this
winter and while she is away, Dr. Eberly
will be taking care of all of your pets
with the help of Dr. Black on Mondays.
appointment well in advance if there is a specific day or time
you would like to be seen.
However, this means we will only have
one veterinarian available each day rather than having two
doctors seeing appointments most days of the week. So
if your pet is due for an annual exam or regular check up
during the winter months we recommend scheduling this
In the upcoming months, WVH will be closed for the following
holidays: Thanksgiving on November 26th and 27th, Christmas
on December 24th and 25th, and New Year’s Day January 1st.
We will only be open for half of the day on December 31st for
New Year’s Eve.
Washtenaw Veterinary Hospital
has a new Facebook page! Please
“like” our page to see educational
information, veterinary related
news, and behind-the-scenes
photos from around the clinic. We
also love to show case our patients
so let the WVH team know if you
would like your pet’s picture taken
for the WVH Facebook page.
And make sure you “check in” on
Facebook during your pet’s next
visit to receive a complimentary
toenail trim!
loving spaces and provides a floor that is easily sanitized
following each patient visit. This keeps the floor looking
beautiful as well as decreasing the potential for disease
transmission between pets. The new coating has zero
VOCs, is slip-resistant, and will last for several years so it is
environmentally friendly and safe for you and your pets.
Stay tuned for more
social media updates
coming soon, including
Washtenaw Veterinary
Hospital Twitter and
Instagram pages!
Schedule Changes for the Winter Months
This is also important if you would like to schedule a routine
surgery or dental cleaning as we will only have surgery
appointments available one day per week instead of two.
WVH Building Updates
WVH has made an exciting building maintenance
improvement recently! Many of you have already noticed
that the floors in the exam rooms are looking a little cleaner
and very shiny. This is due to the deep cleaning and new
application of a high performance coating material by
Shorewood, a local facilities company (www.goshorewood.
com).
As a veterinary hospital, our floors hold a lot of germs from
animal urine, feces, blood, vomit, hair, and all of the dirt and
grime that our shoes and our pets’ little paws bring through
the doors. Regular cleaning methods aren’t very effective
at removing those microscopic contaminants that have
made their way into the cracks and crevices of the floor. The
high-performance coating serves to seal all of these germ
www.wvhcares.com
phone: 734.971.5800
Caring Hands for
C o m m u n i t y P aw s
Washtenaw
Veterinary Hospital
fax: 734.971.8299
From the Desk of the Doctors:
As we say goodbye to the long days
of summer and prepare for the colder
months ahead, this edition of Kindred
Spirits contains some helpful tips to
keep your pets happy and healthy
through the upcoming winter and
holiday season. We also have various
updates in our clinic that we are
excited to share with you.
We are all still enjoying our Halloween
candy and before you know it we will
also be dining on delicious holiday
food but this doesn’t mean that
your pets should be sharing in the
festivities! Many of our favorite treats
this time of year are toxic to our pets
so be sure to keep your Halloween
candy safely stored away and your
holiday food out of reach to prying
noses! For more information about
common food toxicities, check out
the Nutrition Update in this edition of
Kindred Spirits.
The temperature has already started
to drop and stray cats will be seeking
warm places to take naps in the
coming months. A favorite place for
them to hide is under car hoods and
in wheel wells. So if you are parked
outside, be sure to give your hood a
few taps to scare any cats that may be
napping under there before turning
your car on!
And though it seems a lot colder
outside the fleas and ticks aren’t
gone yet! This time of year external
Dr. Danskin and Dr. Eberly
parasites are even more likely to jump
on board your warm furry pet because
they are trying to get out of the chilly
environment for the winter. Be sure to
continue using your topical flea and
tick prevention until we have snow
sticking to the ground!
If you’ve been into the clinic in the
last few weeks you may have heard
about (or seen!) some of our updates,
including new laboratory machines
and recently coated floors. Read
more details about these important
and exciting changes in this edition of
Kindred Spirits.
We hope you will all help us welcome
Dr. Archie Black to our schedule! Dr.
Black will be working on Mondays
over the next three months while Dr.
Danskin is on maternity leave. He has
been practicing veterinary medicine
for over 30 years and is a graduate of
Michigan State University. Welcome
Dr. Black!
K I N D R E D S P I R I T S C E L E B R AT I N G O N E A N OT H E R
K I N D R E D S P I R I T S C E L E B R AT I N G O N E A N OT H E R
The Kitty Corner: Vomiting Cats, what’s normal?
For a long time, it was widely
accepted that normal cats vomit
on a regular basis. Some excuses
we’ve used for these cats include
eating too fast, having a nervous
stomach, or having a lot of
hairballs. We’ve accepted that
This kitty is feeling really
some cats are just “pukey” because
sick!
chronic vomiting is so common
that we called it normal. Consequently, the usual treatment
involved changing the diet to something meant for “sensitive
stomachs”, hairball control, or a hypoallergenic diet. Often
times, these diets will improve the clinical symptoms but we
may not get complete resolution of the problem. The truth is
that chronic vomiting is never normal and is often an early sign
of small intestinal disease in cats.
Many people do not realize that the average short haired cat
should only have 2-3 hairballs per year and a long haired cat will
only have a few more. Recent studies have shown that if any cat
is vomiting more than twice per month, it is likely that they have
small intestinal disease and should be seen by a veterinarian.
Also, normal cats will only chew 20-30% of their dry food and
they will swallow the rest of it whole. So if your cat is vomiting
after eating, seeing whole kibble in the vomit does not mean
they are eating too fast. These cats often have some type of
small intestinal disease, which is why simply changing their diet
doesn’t completely fix the problem.
The Importance of Blood Work
So what types of small intestinal diseases are we talking about?
The most common causes of chronic vomiting are chronic
enteritis, often caused by inflammatory bowel disease, and
intestinal lymphoma, which is a type of cancer. Both of these
problems cause thickening of the small intestine, which in turn
slows motility and decreased absorption of nutrients. When food
doesn’t move through the gastrointestinal tract as it should, things
get backed up into the stomach and the cat vomits. We also often
see these cats losing weight because of the decreased nutrient
absorption.
The doctors and staff are happy to announce the arrival of brand
new in house lab machines at WVH! While we have been able
to offer in house blood work in the past, these new machines
provide more diagnostic information and are much faster, which
means shorter waiting times for you and your pet. We often
recommend blood work for our sick patients and the ability to
receive fast and reliable results is invaluable.
We recommend blood work for various reasons but we use our
in house machines most often for pre-surgical patients and
sick kids. Pre-surgical testing is recommended prior to any
procedure in which your pet will be under general anesthesia.
The information we get from these blood tests is helpful even
in apparently healthy patients for many reasons including the
following:
1. To determine which of our anesthetic medications are safe for
your pet. We have many options for anesthetic medication and
our doctors will choose which medications are safest for your
pet based on their age, physical exam, and pre-surgical blood
work results.
2. To identify unseen disease. Even though each surgical patient
receives a complete physical exam prior to their procedure,
there is the potential for a subclinical disease to be missed without the information from a blood panel.
3. To evaluate your pet’s ability to metabolize the anesthetic
medications. Many of the medications we use prior to and during anesthesia are metabolized through the liver or kidneys so
knowing how these organs are functioning prior to administering these drugs is very helpful.
4. To provide surgical peace of mind. The majority of patients
will have normal test results, which is great because they indicate reduced risk associated with anesthetic procedures.
The first step in diagnosing small intestinal disease is a thorough
physical exam performed by your veterinarian. At that point they
will probably recommend an extensive blood and urine panel
to rule out other causes of vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss.
If your kitty has small intestinal disease, the blood work is often
normal and the veterinarian may recommend further diagnostics
including an ultrasound or intestinal biopsy. Treatment for these
diseases is based on how severe the symptoms are in your pet and
may include a diet change, vitamin supplementation, antibiotics,
or steroid therapy.
As with most diseases in animals, the sooner we catch small
intestinal disease, the better the outcome for your feline family
member. These problems can eventually be fatal so early
diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve your kitty’s
quality of life and extend their life expectancy.
NUTRITION UPDATE:
The new blood machines are centrally located in the
treatment area of Washtenaw Veterinary Hosptial.
5. To establish healthy baseline values. Many patients will
show subtle changes in blood values over time, which would
not be caught without the normal values for this individual
patient.
The blood work that we run on our sick patients are more extensive, providing even more information about the animal’s
organ function and often helping us determine the cause of
the illness. With our new blood machines we can obtain a
lot of information about your pet’s organ function in a timely
manner and begin their treatment before they even leave the
clinic. With the ability for immediate intervention, we are able
to provide faster recoveries for these animals.
We recommend that all pets have annual blood work done to
monitor trends and check baseline values. Please ask about
additional benefits of blood tests at your pet’s next visit!
Xylitol is a natural sugar sweetener that is
This product is popular because of its sweet
Common Toxic Foods and their Effects on our Pets:
often found in chewing gum and can cause
flavor, low glycemic index, and ability to make a
TOXIN:
profound hypoglycemia and liver damage
product soft and spreadable. While it is a natural
in dogs. . In people, xylitol is absorbed
sugar, it can be found in many products labeled
RESULT: Both of these can cause kidney failure in dogs and cats. Often times animals who eat these foods need to be hospitalized for several days so that they can receive IV fluids and have their kidney function monitored.
slowly and has little effect on their glucose
“sugar free”. Unfortunately, it is now being used
or insulin levels. However, dogs absorb this
in several specialty peanut and nut butter brands,
TOXIN:
substance rapidly, causing a strong insulin
including Go Nuts, Hank’s Protein Plus Peanut
release and subsequent drop in blood
Butter, Krush Nutrition, Nuts n’More, and P28.
glucose. If the blood sugar gets too low,
This is a potentially dangerous problem for our
the dog will die and even a small amount of
canine companions since we often use peanut
xylitol can be lethal.
The first symptom of xylitol toxicity is
Wesley is so good about taking his
medication in a spoonful of peanut butter.
butter as treats or to hide medications. So far,
mainstream peanut butter brands haven’t started
usually vomiting, which is followed by lethargy and weakness. Some dogs
using xylitol but we recommend checking the ingredient list on your favorite
may have diarrhea, collapse, or have seizures. Because xylitol is absorbed so
type of peanut butter before feeding it to your furry family members. Xylitol is
quickly, all exposures should be seen by a veterinarian immediately and early
sometimes listed on product lables as Eutrit, Kannit, Newtrol, Xylite, Torch, or
intervention will result in the best prognosis.
Xyliton and most manufacturers do not place warning labels on their products.
Grapes and Raisins
Onions and Garlic
RESULT:These commonly used human ingredients can cause break down of red blood cells, which leads to anemia.
TOXIN:
Chocolate and other caffinated foods
RESULT: Caffeine can cause vomiting and diarrhea but also acts as a stimulant, causing hyperactivity, seizures, and sometimes death.
TOXIN:
Fatty foods
RESULT: Ingestion of fatty foods, which includes many things humans eat on a daily basis, can cause inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) in dogs and cats. Pancreatitis can be a life threatening problem that often requires hospitalization for supportive care and symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and a painful abdomen.
TOXIN:
Human medications like Tylenol, IB Profen, and Advil
RESULT:Even small amounts of these medications can cause gastrointestinal ulceration, liver failure, and kidney failure. Never give your pet a human
medication unless specifically instructed by a veterinarian.