Memorial Day honors Americans who have given their lives in the service of our country. This weekend, lets remember that not all soldiers are human- here are just a few of the many dogs, cats, birds and other animals who have protected the American public.

Stubby

via Vet Dog

The most famous American War Dog in World War I was a dog named Stubby. Stubby was a stray Pit Bull who was picked up on the streets of Hartford Connecticut by a soldier and smuggled on board his troop ship headed for France. After being gassed himself, Stubby learned to warn his unit of poison gas attacks. He also helped locate wounded american soldiers buried beneath rubble. Stubby was involved in over 17 battles and awarded 6 Medals by the US Military.

Rags

via dnbhistory.com

During WWI, this pup was found by an American soldier named James Donovan somewhere near Paris. The dog quickly became a mascot for Donovan’s unit, but when Donovan was transferred to the frontlines, he decided to leave Rags behind. Rags was having none of it, however, and tracked Donovan to a trench over 100 miles away. Recognizing the animals tracking potential, Donovan began having Rags run messages between units and locate wounded soldiers.

Chip

via Vet Dog

The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender.The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart, shortly before passing away.

Roselle

via PRweb

Roselle, who was never a military recruit, saved over 30 people during the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Roselle was a guide dog working with her blind owner on the 78th floor of Tower 1 when the attacks began. She led her owner and 30 others down 1, 463 steps surrounded by fire, debris and smoke so thick it was impossible to see. The decent took over an hour, and the experience left Roselle with permanent damage to her lungs. She received the Dickin Medal for her service and sacrifice.

Judy

via Daily Mail

Judy was a pointer found drifting in the sea by allied troops. Unfortunately for her, these men were almost immediately taken prisoner by enemy forces and moved to a POW camp. These men managed to smuggle Judy in with them, but animals possess no official wartime rights, so it didn’t look to good for our girl Judy. However, an officer named Frank Williams took a shine to the animal and convinced the enemy officers to grant her full POW status. THEY’RE MISTAKE! Judy began protecting her fellow POWs and saved the lives of numerous prisoners by actively attacking any guards attempting to deliver beatings. Then, things get even crazier! When Williams was being transferred to another POW camp, he managed to convince enemy officers to let her aboard his transfer boat. That boat was promptly torpedoed and sank. And Judy swam back and forth rescuing the drowning men by dragging them to floating pieces of driftwood. Judy disappeared sometime after this, only to re-emerge at Williams’ new POW camp having tracked him there for two weeks.

Oral Health and Dental Disease

If your pet has bad breath, it may be a sign of dental disease or other serious illness.
The oral health of our pets is an often overlooked aspect of general healthcare for dogs and cats.  The American Veterinary Dental Society estimates that, by age three, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have signs of oral disease.

Periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues that surround and support the tooth.  Initially, bacteria begin to build up on the tooth, forming a film of plaque.  At first, this film is soft and can be removed by at-home brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush.  Over time the plaque can become calcified from calcium in the saliva, forming tartar.  This hard, rough surface allows yet more plaque to accumulate.

Eventually, if left untreated, gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums may develop.  As this inflammation of the gums progresses, plaque and calculus begin to accumulate below the gum line.  In the end stages of periodontal disease, infection can form around the tooth root and the tissues surrounding the tooth begin to erode, causing the tooth to become loose.

Progression of periodontal disease is a painful process.  In addition, infection of the oral cavity may affect other body systems or organs, including the heart, kidney and liver.  Many of these problems can be avoided with regular oral examinations, dental cleanings and at-home care.  In fact, the AAHA Dental Care Guidelines recommend annual oral examinations and dental cleanings under general anesthesia for all adult dogs and cats.

At Briarcliff Animal Clinic, assessment of your pet’s oral health begins during the routine physical exam.  Prior to any dental cleaning or other dental procedure, a pre-anesthetic exam, including bloodwork, is performed to assess your pet’s health and suitability for general anesthesia.  If needed, further tests including x-rays, cardiac ultrasound or electrocardiograph may also be run in order to ensure the safety of your pet.  While under anesthesia, vital signs including heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, EKG, blood pressure and oxygen saturation are continuously monitored.

The teeth are scaled to remove plaque and calculus, then polished to smooth the surface of the tooth.  After cleaning, a periodontal probe is used to evaluate the teeth and measure periodontal pockets.  All findings are recorded in the dental chart and compared to past and future evaluations.  Digital dental x-rays are another tool used to help assess your pet’s oral health; they can help confirm the need for dental extraction as well as uncover abnormalities that are not detectable by visual exam and periodontal probing alone.

After a thorough dental cleaning, at home care can help control plaque and tartar buildup, improve gum health, and prolong the time between subsequent dental cleanings under anesthesia.  At-home brushing with a soft-bristled tooth brush and pet toothpaste is the best way owners can help to maintain their pet’s oral health.  For an excellent article on how to brush your pet’s teeth refer to the American Animal Hospital Association’s website for pet owners at www.healthypet.com.  If your pet will not tolerate brushing, an anti-plaque rinse or water additive can be tried.  In addition, there are prescription diets designed to control plaque as well as special treats and chews; look for products approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council.

Maintaining good oral health throughout your pet’s life can help improve their health and overall quality of life.  Ask us about developing a dental care plan for your pet and more at-home care tips at your next office visit.

Dr. Tessa Horslev

The 2012 national Pet Obesity Survey, published by the Association for Pet obesity Prevention (APOP) revealed some interesting insights that we at Briarcliff Animal felt should be shared with the pet owning community. Obesity continues to be a problem for pets in the United States. According to 121 veterinary clinics surveyed last year, over 50% of dogs and cats examined were overweight or obese.

It would appear that some dog breeds are more at risk for weight problems than others. Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers are two of the most commonly overweight breeds. In contrast, German shepherds are the least overweight breeds.

The 2012 survey also revealed an interesting trend among pet owners. Approximately 45% of owners assessed their pet’s weight as within the normal range, after their veterinarian assessed the pet as overweight.

Report authors went on to discuss:

“Our goal is to help pets and people live longer, healthier, and pain-free lives by maintaining a healthy weight, proper nutrition, and physical activity. The most important decision a pet owner makes each day is what they choose to feed their pet. Choose wisely. Your pet’s life depends on it.”

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For over 50 years, Briarcliff Animal Clinic has earned its reputation for offering the best in pet care and cutting-edge medical treatment to the Atlanta area.  Your pet deserves to be healthy and happy at the start of the year, and through our comprehensive and caring approach to medical care, we strive to build a lasting relationship with you and your pet.  Call us today to learn out how we can help your furry family members.

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Catherine is one of Briarcliff Animal Clinic’s newest additions! Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, she graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Chemistry (a VERY smart cookie!). Catherine wanted to work with animals at Briarcliff  because she is interested in veterinary medicine. Her favorite part of working at Briarcliff is interacting and playing with animals, so it’s really no surprise that she has several pets of her own at home: 3 dogs and 1 cat. In her spare time, Catherine also enjoys horseback riding.

If you’ve ever lived with a vocal cat, you’ve almost certainly asked yourself this question. After all, who could resist wanting to know what your feline friend is thinking as she meows plaintively at your sleeping face early in the morning or weaves her way between your legs while crying herself hoarse?

Most of the typical in-the-wild feline sounds—like hissing, spitting, growling, and that hair-raising high-pitched screaming thing cats do when they’re fighting and mating—are self-explanatory: They’re angry, scared, or hoping to impress. But the plain-old “meow” can seem confusing to us humans.

Behaviorists say that cats meow at humans because they want something and, most important, because meowing gets results.

Interestingly, some experts say that the sound “meow,” as we know it, developed at least in part because we humans associate it with the needy cry of an infant. But it’s also undeniable that kittens meow when they want something. So it’s no stretch to assume cats didn’t learn to associate meows with requests.

But cats can meow at varying frequencies, pitches, tones, volumes, and lengths. A meow imploring you to open the back door, for example, can sound completely different from the excited, “I’m about to be fed” meow, which is totally different from the meow that happens right before you scratch her right behind her ear at bedtime.

As anyone who’s ever heard two different cats meow knows, no two feline voices are ever exactly the same. But beyond the vagaries of voice box machinery, most of the variation comes from the cat’s own personality. And there’s no predicting how the interaction of any given human-cat personality pairing will affect meowing. After all, when some cats learn that meowing brings them satisfaction, the very act of meowing can become satisfactory in its own right.

So what do you do when the vocal requests get continuous or turn into an obsessive, repetitive behavior? It’s always a good idea to take kitty to the veterinarian’s office to make sure nothing is awry. If the veterinarian doesn’t find any physical problem, you may want to seek out a certified animal behaviorist or a board-certified veterinary behaviorist to get the answer you need.

But rest assured, the vast majority of vocal cats are not pathologically afflicted. Quite the opposite, most are simply voicing their healthy demands—pleasurably.

As the daughter of a Veterinarian, I remember growing up hearing stories of rabid dogs staggering down the streets of towns with their mouths hanging open dripping profuse amounts of saliva. This was very alarming to me not only because of the dogs’ suffering, but because I knew that these dogs could transmit rabies to me if they were to bite me or get any of their saliva in a scratch or an abrasion on my skin.  And, I really liked petting dogs, even sick ones!

Actually, all warm-blooded animals are vulnerable to infection with the rabies virus. Once symptoms develop, rabies is almost fatal. There have only been six human patients that have survived symptomatic rabies without receiving the rabies vaccine. They received an experimental treatment involving being put into a chemically induced coma and administered antiviral drugs.

The disease is transmitted when the rabies virus is introduced into bite wounds, into open cuts in skin, or onto mucous membranes from saliva or other potentially infectious material such as neural tissue. In humans, it has been acquired by corneal transplantation as well.

Rabies causes annually about 50,000 human deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization. In addition, ten to twelve million people receive post exposure treatment. An estimated 39,000 people in the US receive post exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Worldwide, domestic and feral dogs account for most human rabies deaths and PEP. Parenteral (i.e. injectable) vaccination of dogs has been the single most important means of controlling rabies in people.

Cats now have replaced dogs in the United States as the most common rabid domestic animal. This increase probably reflects the low number of cats vaccinated for rabies. In recent years there have been human exposure to rabid cats or kittens in the US. One well documented exposure was in July of 2007. Twenty seven persons were identified as having exposures that warranted PEP after handling a rabid kitten that was found in a trash barrel during a softball tournament in Spartanburg County, S.C.

Rabid cats commonly become infected with the raccoon variant of the virus presumably following a raccoon attack. Cats are exposed to raccoons because raccoons have adopted well to suburban and semi-urban environments. I can attest to this personally. A few years ago at my home in Atlanta proper, my husband was chased by a raccoon while he was taking out the trash one evening.

Raccoons should run from humans not toward them. When raccoons and other wild mammals such as bats or skunks approach humans or are seen in the daylight, one must assume they might have rabies. This is a good reason why one should not feed or approach raccoons or any other wild mammal.

If you have a concern about wildlife in your yard, you can contact Animal Control. The animals can be humanely trapped and removed.

It is important to know that no premortem diagnostic test is sensitive enough to be consistently reliable for rabies diagnosis in animals. There are tests that can be performed before death on serum, cerebrospinal fluid or tissue biopsies. However, negative results on these tests do not rule out the possibility that the animal is infected. The definitive diagnostic test is the demonstration of rabies virus in suitable brain tissue.

If you are bitten by an animal, you should immediately wash the bite area with warm soapy water. Then report the bite to the police, local Animal Control, Poison Center, health department, and of course your physician.

The best way to help control rabies in Georgia is by following the Georgia law (Rabies Control Law – O.C.G. A-31-19) which requires that all owned dogs and cats be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian using USDA approved vaccines in accordance with the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and  Control.  Domestic ferrets need to be vaccinated against rabies as well. You should check with your veterinarian to learn the best options for vaccination of your pet.

Finally, this discussion of rabies is not intended to scare but to educate. We do not need to take this killer virus for granted. We need to stay vigilant in the prevention of this disease.

Dr. Amanda Reeve is an associate veterinarian at Briarcliff Animal Clinic located at 1850 Johnson Rd., Atlanta, GA 30306. 

Earlier this month, Purina voluntarily withdrew its Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brand dog treat products. The company decided to take this action after trace amounts of antibiotic residue were found in samples of these dog treats.

The antibiotics found in Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch products are currently approved for use in poultry in China and other major countries, including European Union member states, but are not currently among those approved in the United States.

NO OTHER PURINA TREATS OR PET FOODS ARE AFFECTED BY THIS WITHDRAWAL. ADDITIONALLY, CANYON CREEK RANCH DOG AND CAT FOOD (different from their treats), WHICH ARE MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES, ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS WITHDRAWAL.

1) Many holiday plants are poisonous. Holly, mistletoe, poinsettias, many forms of lilies…these are just a few of the more common poisonous plants. Some plants may cause vomiting and diarrhea, while others can cause organ failure and death. Ask your veterinarian if you have specific questions, but a good rule of thumb, is keep pets away from all holiday plants or opt for imitation plants!

2) Although a holiday tree is not poisonous, it still poses a hazard. It is important to prevent your pet from chewing on a live or artificial tree as the needles are sharp and can irritate the mouth and digestive tract if eaten. The needles are also indigestible and could be painful for your pet to pass. If it is difficult to keep your pet away from the tree, place a pet barrier or child’s playpen around the tree to prevent the ingestion of needles as well as your pet from drinking the tree water. Also avoid using any artificial snow sprays or scents on your tree.

3) Prevent ingestion of tree water. Use a tree skirt as well as the barricade discussed above to prevent access to this water. It often contains preservatives which are sugar based and very inviting to pets as well as other toxic chemicals (fertilizers, insecticides and flame retardants) that were used on the tree.

4) Decorate packages sparingly. Although ribbons and string make your holiday packages look festive, they pose significant dangers to pets. These items can be ingested and cause intestinal obstruction which requires surgery to remove. Do not place ribbons or decorations around your pet’s neck or on their collars. Although it may look great, they are at risk of choking or strangling.

Cats are very good are hiding illness, sometimes to the point of not having obvious symptoms until they are in crisis.  They have the evolutionary position of being both predator and prey.  As with all other prey species, it is very important and protective to not show evidence of weakness because this will make you a good target for a predator.

Cats are also very much creatures of habit, so it is a good idea to keep as much of a regular routine as possible with your cats.  Being aware of what your cat’s normal routine is will help you identify any deviations from the routine, and, as we will discuss, these can be subtle, early signs of sickness.  Just like with people, catching a disease or problem early can help us alter the course of the disease.

1. Changes in interaction—This can mean that a cat that normally sits on your lap while you are reading will now spend the day sleeping in the closet or under the bed (withdrawing or hiding).  It can also mean that a cat that would usually patrol the house, looking out the windows, will now not leave your side (becoming “clingy”).
2. Changes in activity—A cat that ordinarily races up and down the stairs now walks slowly on the stairs could have a painful condition such as arthritis, or may be weak from anemia.
3. Changes in appetite—Most cats are not picky eaters, so a cat that isn’t eating much very likely has a medical problem.  The best way to monitor this is to meal-feed your cats instead of free-feeding.  A cat that loses his appetite can develop secondary liver problems if this is allowed to persist in addition to the underlying primary cause.  An increase in eating can be caused by high thyroid hormone, diabetes, or other health problems.
4. Changes in water intake—Drinking more water can be due to kidney problems or diabetes.  You may notice this by water bowls being emptied faster or your cat trying to get water from unusual sources like drinking out of your glasses or faucets and sinks.  You may also notice more or larger urine clumps in the litterbox.
5. Changes in weight—Unexpected weight loss or gain is a very common signs of illness.  You may be able to feel your cat’s spine and hips more easily when you pet her, or her belly may look bigger in the case of weight gain.
6. Changes in breath smell—This can indicate problems in the mouth such as dental disease or a cancer, but may also be a sign of an infection, kidney disease, or digestive problem.
7. Changes in grooming—A clumpy or oily coat may mean that you cat isn’t feeling well enough to groom or may have arthritis making it painful to groom.  A cat that is grooming so much that he is getting bald or thinned fur could have skin problems or a painful area.
8. Changes in sleeping habits—Goes along somewhat with changes in activity, but a change in the schedule of sleeping, such as being active at night and waking you up for attention or food.  Sometimes this can be associated with aging.
9. Changes in vocalization—Quiet kitties that start yowling, especially at night, could have high blood pressure, high thyroid level, or may be suffering from cognitive problems related to aging.
10. Changes in litterbox habits—Urinating or defecating out of the box can indicate a variety or treatable medical problems which have the highest success rate in treatment if they are addressed early.  Do not think that your kitty is doing this “just to spite” you.  Be aware that the longer this habit persists, the more difficult it will be to break.  Seek help early for this problem.

I am sure you noticed that all of these signs begin with a CHANGE.  You know your cat, and if she is doing something new or different, this can be the early signs of a health problem.  Please consult with your veterinarian about your concerns.  There is so much we can do together to help your cat stay healthy and feel good for as long as possible.