Pet Cancer Awareness Month & Pet Diabetes Month

Pet Cancer accounts for nearly half of disease- related pet deaths every year, and is the leading cause of death in older cats and dogs. However, cancer is also one of the most treatable diseases, unlike heart or kidney failure. There have been amazing advances in the treatment of pet cancers that can improve your pet's life for many years. The causes of cancer are largely unknown; however certain breeds do tend to get some types of cancers more often than other breeds. Treatment options will depend upon the type of cancer, as well as the grade and stage. Just like in humans, treatments can include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.

Pets can also suffer from diabetes mellitus (or diabetes) just like their humans. Diabetes is a condition that affects the concentration of glucose (sugar) in your pet's blood. Diabetes results when your pet's body makes too little insulin, or doesn't process insulin properly. Insulin deficiency results in an increased level of glucose in the blood.

Signs of diabetes include:

• Increased thirst and urination 
• Increased appetite and weigh loss 

Treatment options can include regulating the diet as well as giving insulin injections. Well managed diabetic dogs and cats can live a normal and happy life.


Contact the Quarry Ridge Animal Hospital Team today with any questions you may have 203-438-8878.

Halloween Safety Tips

Attention, animal lovers, it's almost the spookiest night of the year! The ASPCA recommends taking some common sense precautions this Halloween to keep you and your pet saying "trick or treat!" all the way to November 1.

1. No tricks, no treats: That bowl of candy is for trick-or-treaters, not for Scruffy and Fluffy. Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for dogs and cats. Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can also cause problems. If you do suspect your pet has ingested something toxic, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.

2. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively nontoxic, but they can produce stomach upset in pets who nibble on them.

3. Wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations should be kept out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet might suffer cuts or burns, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.

4. A carved pumpkin certainly is festive, but do exercise caution if you choose to add a candle. Pets can easily knock a lit pumpkin over and cause a fire. Curious kittens especially run the risk of getting burned or singed by candle flames.

5. Dress-up can be a big mess-up for some pets. Please don't put your dog or cat in a costume UNLESS you know he or she loves it (yup, a few pets are real hams!). For pets who prefer their “birthday suits,” however, wearing a costume may cause undue stress.

6. If you do dress up your pet, make sure the costume isn't annoying or unsafe. It should not constrict the animal's movement or hearing, or impede his ability to breathe, bark or meow. Also, be sure to try on costumes before the big night. If your pet seems distressed, allergic or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting him go au naturale or donning a festive bandana.

7. Take a closer look at your pet’s costume and make sure it does not have small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that he could choke on. Also, ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury.

8. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours. Too many strangers can be scary and stressful for pets.

9. When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, take care that your cat or dog doesn't dart outside.

10. IDs, please! Always make sure your dog or cat has proper identification. If for any reason your pet escapes and becomes lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip can be a lifesaver, increaing the chances that he or she will be returned to you. 

SOURCE: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/halloween-safety-tips

September is Happy Cat Month!

Cats are not small dogs! Cats have their own health and medical concerns. They also have vaccines specifically for them. We use a Pure rabies vaccine for our cat patients. It only lasts one year, but unlike the three-year version, it is less likely to cause a tumor at the site of the injection.

To help with visits to the veterinarian, acclimate your cat to the carrier. For scheduled appointments, take the carrier out several days ahead of time, open the door, and leave it alone. Maybe put treats inside, too. When it is time to leave for your appointment, you will find it easier to scoop up your feline friend and put them in the carrier. You might find they are already sleeping in there!

Even if your cat is strictly indoors, flea and tick prevention is a good idea, especially if there is a dog in the house that can bring in these parasites.

Permanent identification, in the form of a microchip, is also a good idea. Cats are good at sneaking out the door, or even pushing out screens in the window.

Provide enrichment for your feline friend, such as toys and things to climb on, or use a laser light to stimulate your cat and interact with them. Don’t forget things to scratch on and vertical and horizontal surfaces to give variety.

Train your cat to do tricks. It is possible, and if there is a treat your cat loves, it’s not too hard! Experiment and have fun!

Time to Clean Your Pet's Ears?

Veterinarians see a lot of patients with ear infections. In fact, it's the second most common reason for a client visit, according to pet health insurer, VPI Pet Insurance. With ear problems prompting so many trips to the vet, should ear cleaning be a necessary part of grooming your pet?

Generally, cleaning a dog's ears on a routine basis is not necessary, according to Leonard Jonas, DVM, MS, DACVIM, a veterinarian with Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in Wheat Ridge, Colo. That's because animals have a naturally occurring self-cleansing process.

"I've had pets my whole life," Jonas said. "I don't remember ever routinely cleaning out their ears."

However, that doesn't mean pet owners should never take notice of their dog's ears. Certain breeds, lifestyles and physical characteristics will make a dog more prone to what Jonas calls "abnormal situations," in which the pet's normal homeostasis is disrupted. This is when something, either systemically or locally in the ear, interferes with the normal surface barrier defense system and the normal cleaning process that keeps bacteria and yeast under control.

There are signs to watch for if your pet is having an issue with its ears. These, according to Jonas, include:

• Shaking its head
• Flapping its ears
• Rubbing at its ears, either with a paw or by rubbing against furniture or carpet
• Self-massaging the ear to ease itch, pain or irritation
• Debris and/or redness inside the ear
• Sores inside the ear
• Odor in the ear due to abnormal oils and bacteria

"If you [the pet owner] look in the ear, you can see sometimes a lot of debris," said Jonas, explaining what an ear with an infection or problem may look like. "Then [you] see redness on the ear flaps (inside) or sores developing. And then there's also odor that occurs when you have an abnormal ear."

Breeds to watch
There are certain breeds of dogs—such as Shar Peis, bulldogs and poodles—that have narrow ear canals and have a higher chance of incurring ear issues. Poodles, especially, have more hair in the canals, Jonas explained. "The hair itself is not a problem, but if they've got something abnormal with their whole defense system, all that extra hair in there makes it difficult."

Cocker spaniels are notorious for ear problems, Jonas added.

When to clean your pet's ears
According to Jonas, it's best to consult your veterinarian before going forward with an ear-cleaning regimen. Unlike cleaning the teeth, cleaning the ears does not need be done regularly. If a pet owner suspects that something may be wrong with the ear, it's advised to visit the veterinarian and establish whether the dog's ear needs to be cleaned by the owner either routinely or for an instructed period of time.

Cleaning the dog's ears without first seeing a veterinarian is not a good idea, Jonas said, "because you don't know what's going on inside. You don't know if there has been a ruptured ear drum; you don't know if there's a stick or a stone or something stuck down inside the ear that needs to be fished out by a veterinarian."

A veterinarian can diagnose the problem and make the proper recommendations, which may be cleaning and/or medication.

Typically, there are two situations for which a dog's ears would need to be cleaned regularly. The first is when a veterinarian instructs for it to be done, and the second is when the dog is frequently in water. "Water in their ears disrupts the normal defense barrier system in that ear, and can make them prone to getting infections and irritation and inflammation," Jonas said.

If there needs to be ear cleaning
A veterinarian should show the owner how to properly clean the dog's ears because "there are a lot of different techniques, and it depends on what the problem is," Jonas advised.

There are a couple of precautions to always remember, according to Jonas. First, never use a Q-tip, because it tends to push the wax and debris further into the ear. Second, be sure a groomer does not pluck the hair out of the dog's ears, unless that hair is contributing to an ear problem; Jonas believes that doing so may cause irritation.

One thing pet owners should also consider is that if the dog has an ear infection, it could be very painful for them. Forcing the dog to get its ears cleaned or putting medication in them can be a dangerous situation for the owner and the dog.

"If your pet doesn't want you to do it, don't, because it hurts," Jonas said. "You're just going to create a problem, and you need to look to alternatives."

Originally published by Healthy Pet.

Make Sure They Can Get Home: Check Your Pet's Microchip

Is your pet's microchip up-to-date? If your pet were lost, would an animal hospital or shelter be able to contact you once your pet was found?

It's important to get your pet microchipped; but it's just as important to make sure that microchip contains the correct information in order for your four-legged friend to get home.

How does a microchip work?
The microchip, which is about the size of a grain of rice, is injected by a veterinarian or veterinary technician just beneath your pet's skin in the area between the shoulder blades. This is usually done without anesthesia, and the experience can be compared to getting a vaccination.

Each microchip has a unique registration number that is entered into a database or registry, and is associated with your name and contact information. If your lost dog or cat is found by an animal hospital, shelter or humane society, they will use a microchip scanner to read the number and contact the registry to get your information.

Make sure you can be found, too
While it may be comforting to know the microchip won't get lost or damaged, and that it will probably last the pet's lifetime, the microchip is useless if you're not updating your contact information with the registry. If your pet has been microchipped, keep the documentation paperwork so you can find the contact information for the registry. If you don't have the documentation paperwork, contact the veterinarian or shelter where the chip was implanted.

Keep in mind there are more than a dozen companies that maintain databases of chip ID numbers in the U.S. By using AAHA's Universal Pet Microchip Lookup at petmicrochiplookup.org, you can locate the registry for your chip by entering the microchip ID number. If you don't have your pet's microchip ID number, have a veterinarian scan it and give it to you.

Only about 17% of lost dogs and 2% of lost cats ever find their way back to their owners. Prevent the heartache and ensure your pet has an up-to-date microchip.

Originally published by Healthy Pet.

August is Adopt a Homeless Pet Month

Did you know that August is Adopt a Homeless Pet Month! This day was created to help raise awareness about the large number of homeless animals in the world.

Below are a list of area shelters. The facilities in RED are local shelters. We urge you to adopt a pet in need. 

ASPCA
http://www.aspca.org/

ROAR- Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue
https://www.google.com/#q=ROAR+ridgfield+

Animal Welfare Society (NEW MILFORD) 
http://aws-shelter.org/

New Fairfield/Sherman Animal Welfare Society
http://www.nfsaw.org/ 

Danbury Animal Welfare Society
http://www.daws.org/

Second Chance Rescue
http://www.nycsecondchancerescue.org/

ARF-Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons
http://www.arfhamptons.org/site/c.inKMINNjEkG/b.5495835/k.BE80/Home.htm

Stratford Cat Project
http://stratfordcatproject.org/

Animals R Family
http://animalsrfamily.org/

Adopt A Dog
http://adopt-a-dog.org/

Free the Chi (Chihuahua Liberation Front)
https://instagram.com/freethechi/?hl=en

Labs 4 Rescue
http://labs4rescue.com/index.shtml

CT Greyhound Adoption
http://ctgreyhounds.org/

Please contact the Quarry Ridge Animal Hospital at (203) 438-8878 with any questions you may have.

Summer Safety Tips

During July the sky will reverberate with the many sounds that accompany the Fourth of July Celebrations. We may enjoy the revelry, but for some pets, fireworks, like thunderstorms, can cause a great deal of stress including:

• Violent shaking, trembling
• Excessive drooling 
• Barking, howling
• Trying to hide or get into/out of the house, fence, or other enclosure
• Refusing to eat food
• Some animals may loose bladder or bowel control or experience temporary diarrhea from prolonged stress

So what can an owner do to protect their pets from the stress associated with fireworks? 

• Keeping pets indoors. Close the windows and drapes, turn on the TV or radio to provide some distraction. 
• A quiet place, such as a carrier or crate may provide your pet with a sense of security and comfort. 
• Using a leash or carrier if you must be outside with your pet to keep them from running off. 
• Making sure pet ID is current. Make sure that your pet has proper identification tags, with current information, in case they get away. Microchipping is strongly recommended. 

Some pets do fine and don't seem to notice the fireworks. But some pets cannot be calmed by petting or talking to them - they are simply too upset by the noise. Animals who are frightened or stressed can hurt themselves and possibly escape if left alone, and the result can be fatal. Frightened animals running loose are in great danger of being lost or, worse yet, hit by a car. 

If nothing seems to work to calm your pet talk to your veterinarian about tranquilizers. They are not for every pet but they can help calm some who are overly sensitive to loud noises. 

For many people, nothing beats spending time in the backyard with good friends and family -- including the four-legged members of the household. While it may seem like a great idea to reqard our pets with scraps from the grill and bring them along to watch fireworks in reality some festive foods and products can be potentially hazardous to your pets. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center offers the following tips: 

• Never leave alcoholic drinks unattended where pets can reach them. Alcoholic beverages have the potential to poison pets. If ingested, the animal could become very intoxicated and weak, severely depressed or could go into a coma. Death from respiratory failure is also a possibility in severe cases. 
• Do not apply any sunscreen or insect repellent product to your pet that is not labeled specifically for use on animals. Ingestion of sunscreen products can result in drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst and lethargy. The misuse of insect repellent that contains DEET can lead to neurological problems. 
• Always keep matches and lighter fluid out of your pet's reach. Certain types of matches contain chlorates, which could potentially damage blood cells and result in difficulty breathing -- or even kidney disease in severe cases. Lighter fluid can be irritating to skin, and if ingested can produce gastrointestinal irritation and central nervous system depression. If lighter fluid is inhaled, aspiration pneumonia and breathing problems could develop. 
• Keep your pets on their normal diet. Any change, even for one meal, can give your pet severe indigestion and diarrhea. This is particularly true for older animals who have more delicate digestive systems and nutritional requirements. Keep in mind that foods such as onions, chocolate, coffee, avocado, grapes and raisins, salt and yeast dough can all be potentially toxic to companion animals. 
• Do not put glow jewelry on your pets, or allow them to play with it. While the luminescent substance contained in these products is not highly toxic, excessive drooling and gastrointestinal irritation could still result from ingestion and intestinal blockage could  occur from swallowing large pieces of the plastic containers. 
• Keep citronella candles, insect coils and oil products out of reach. Ingestion can produce stomach irritation and possibly even central nervous system depression. If inhaled, the oils could cause aspiration pneumonia in pets. 
• Never use fireworks around pets! While exposure to lit fireworks can potentially result in severe burns and/or trauma to the face and paws of curious pets, even unused fireworks can pose a danger. Many types contain potentially toxic substances, including potassium.

Also, 

• Walk with caution. Don't walk your dog during the day's highest heat and humidity, which is usually between 1 and 4pm. This is especially important for dogs with short snouts, who can't pant as efficiently in humid weather due to their narrowed nostrils and windpipes. 
• Look out for heat exhaustion. If your dog shows signs of heat stress -- heavy panting, dry or bright red gums, thick drool, vomiting, diarrhea, or wobbly legs -- don't place them in ice cold water, which can put them into shock. Instead, move them to a cool place, drape a damp towel over their body, re-wetting the cloth frequently, and get them to the vet as soon as you possibly can. A dog's normal temperature is between 100 degrees and 102.5 degrees, so once they hit 104 degrees, they are in dangerous territory (106 degrees F or higher can be fatal). 
• Don't share. Barbecue scraps and fatty leftovers can give your pup pancreatitis, causing severe abdominal pain or death. Corn on the cob is also a huge no-no because they can lodge in a dog's intestines. 

Contact the Quarry Ridge Animal Hospital team at (203) 438-8878 with any questions you may have.