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Sorry that it has been a while since my last post, but in spite of my best intentions to post on a regular basis, stuff got in the way.  Sure, some of it was work related, you know that medicine and surgery stuff.  Some of it was staff training and business stuff. Gosh, some of it was even maintaining our practice facebook page, bringing you updates on goings on and news items. OK, and some of the delay was a well needed vacation.  But, I'm back and I saw an interesting case that I would love to share with you.

Neurology is the study of the nervous system, and while a great mystery to many of us, it is sort of a master circuitry that makes us work.  Think of the brain as a super computer and the spinal cord and nerves as the cables that link our body like a huge, complex (very complex) LAN.  While we may think of the brain as an amorphous grey blob, it really has some very distinct structures, each with a special function, and not all completely understood.  Here is a photograph of a cat's brain.  I'm going to skip down a couple of lines, because it is an actual photograph and I don't want to surprise anyone with it.  I didn't take it myself.  I didn't remove it from the cat.  I didn't harm any cats in obtaining it, although, it's probably safe to assume that the cat that it came from is not in the best shape now.  

 I saw a cat in the clinic last week, his name is Dizzy.  His owners had adopted him as a special needs kitten because they felt that he would have difficulty finding a home with his condition.  You see, Dizzy has cerebellar hypoplasia.  You can see the area of the brain called the cerebellum on the photo above.  Here, let me upload a cartoonish drawing that will show you where it this part of the brain is in a cat.

Now we know where the cerebellum lives, you might ask, what does it do?  Well, the cerebellum is responsible for for helping us move in a coordinated fashion.  It keeps track of where our limbs are in space and by sending and receiving messages via the spinal cord, helps us move about without really giving it much thought.  In cats, it forms late in the third trimester and continues to develop in the early weeks of the post natal period.  It's incomplete development at the time of birth is why newborn kittens are so cute and spastic when they are first delivered.

Damage to the cerebellum is commonly a result of infection with a virus, feline panleukopenia virus, during this period of development.  It can also be caused by exposure to a live virus vaccine during this period of time.  The consequences of this damage is that the cat cannot walk normally.  It is a non progressive disease, that is to say, that the symptoms don't get worse with time.  In fact, many cats learn to compensate and with time can get around, especially if the owners (as is the case with Dizzy's parents) make certain modifications in the home environment.  They need to make sure that the cat can get into the litter box, won't inure itself falling, and has access to food and water.

Dizzy is one lucky kitty.  He has landed in a caring home and I'll tell you, his mommy sure does love him.  He was in to see us for his neutering surgery and he did just fine.  In fact, he was such a good boy that our post op assistant held him in her lap until he was awake enough to go back into his carrier and return to mom.

If you want to see a classic video of how a cat with relatively severe cerebellar hypoplasia gets around, Dizzy's mom gave me permission to post this video on the clinic page, have a look.  Now, this will be my first attempt at posting a video, so it may take me a while to get it up there, so check back in a couple of days if it isn't there right away.

I thought that I would just continue with the previous post's theme of bugs.  Now I know, you think I'm going to jump on the flea bandwagon again. I need a little more credit than that, I write about fleas every year and if you haven't gotten that message yet you can find old posts on the blogspot post (just search, it's old but the internet is forever and it's out there) and possibly on our practice facebook page as well. ( I want you to go there so I provided the link)

No today's rambling post is about another pesky, insect vector of serious diseases for man and beast.  One that is the bane of our existence be you human, canine, feline, or even equine. This multi specied monster has spread diseases such as Equine Encephalitis, Yellow Fever, Malaria, West Nile Disease, and Heartworm disease.  You guessed it, 

 The Mosquito!  Look at this blood sucker, engorged with the life fluid of it's unsuspecting host.  The problem is that they are intermittent feeders and will go from host to host, picking up infectious agents from one and injecting them into the next, like a dirty needle in a shooting gallery.  (OK, maybe I crossed a line there but you have to admit that the imagery is great)

Why is this important?  Like all of our current problems, blame the mild winter.  We never had a hard freeze in the Northeast and many more immature mosquitos survived and will become adults.  More bugs equal more vectors equals more potential disease.  

What can you do?  Well, one might argue that moving to higher altitudes or drier climates might help, but for those of us that are somewhat committed to staying put here on Long Island, this just isn't an option.

First, make sure there is no standing water in your yard.  Second, try to avoid going out with your dog or cat (or friend or horse) in the early evening when mosquitoes are most active.  Third, USE HEARTWORM PREVENTION! FOR DOGS AND CATS!  You read that correctly, DOGS AND CATS.  Although less common in cats,  heartworm infection can cause severe respiratory disease in cats.  It can also cause sudden death in cats.  We recommend that all pets in our area be on year round parasite control, including heartworm.  Including CATS.  

So, give us a holler and find out what options are appropriate for you pet and lets keep these biting, buzzing, vampires from ruining our pet's lives as well as our own. 

Those of you that have been into the office, know that both Dr. Spar and I are avid outdoors, endurance athlete type guys.  So, it should come as no surprise that we get a fair amount of our information from, let us say, non veterinary channels.  Dr. Spar sent this link to me via my twitter feed (@knvet) He meant it as a warning to me as I have been enjoying the spring weather on some trails in the area, but it got me thinking, what about all of the dogs that I see out there?

While this mild winter has been a boon to triathlon training, it has also done little to decrease the population of insect vectors of disease in our area.  Usually a cold hard freeze will decrease the population of these critters and make the great outdoors a little safer for our pets, but not this year.  Lucky for you, Dr. Spar reminded me (lucky for me I guess as well) of the risk that waits in the scrub out there.  Lucky as well, I was able to find all sorts of disgusting pictures of today's featured bug, the TICK.

Let's talk about ticks in general.  First there are some myths.  They don't burrow into the body and and disappear into the dog. You shouldn't try to burn them off with a match, I've seen too many dogs with singed hair, and worse because their owners inadvertently set them on fire. Don't soak your pet in motor oil, it might drown the tick and it might poison your pet.  They don't fly, they don't jump, they just live in the shrubs and grasses and wait for an unsuspecting victim to wander by.

I'll use this picture of the deer tick to illustrate several points.  First, there are 4 stages to the life cycle.  Each needs a host, it climbs on board and takes a blood meal.  It engorges, drops off, and molts to the next life stage. (This dropping off is probably the origin of the burrowing into the skin myth).  This life cycle takes two to three years to complete, depending on the tick species.  Deer ticks like the one pictured above are a two year tick.  Here's the problem, this time of year, we are seeing larval ticks.  That picture is double actual size, so guess what?  You'll never see the larva on your pet.  I've had pets present with "pepper" sprinkled in the coat.  The pepper was thousands of deer tick larva, all potentially carrying the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.

Not all ticks are so tiny, and not all ticks carry Lyme disease.  The dog tick is actually more common, larger, and more disgusting than the deer tick.

 See, here's an engorged dog tick.  This is what most people see on their pet.  Nymphs can be found this time of year adults later in the season, but they are all big enough to see easily.  They don't carry Lyme disease but they can carry a variety of diseases such as Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  These diseases are not only contagious to dogs, but to us as well.

So if they are everywhere and there are more of them this year than in years past what can we do?  Well first, we recommend that all dogs get tested for Tick Borne Diseases annually.  We do this in our office with a simple blood test that we do with the same drop of blood that we use to test for heartworm disease. Second, dogs that test positive need to be followed up, because many of them will require some sort of treatment.  Positive dogs and dogs at risk for tick exposure (positive dogs are at risk by definition) should be vaccinated against Lyme Disease. They also need to be on some sort of tick preventative.(This would be third if you are keeping count)  There are several options and we will be glad to discuss them with you.  There are a couple of excellent collars as well as some very safe and effective topical products available.  There are also some very unsafe and not so effective products available out there so please, don't just grab something off the shelf at a big box store because it looks like a product that you think that you might have used in the past.

 Oh, and here is a picture of our newest problem in the tick borne disease arena.  This monster is the Lone Star Tick.  I used to think that it was called that because it was found in Texas, but now I believe that is not the case and it is the distinct, single light marking on it's back.  These ticks are very aggressive feeders and spread disease as well.  We didn't have them in this area (they were all in Texas infecting the Dallas Cowboys) until recently.  This darned warm weather, the storm patterns, and adoptions of rescue dogs from the south, have all conspired to bring them to our fair neck of the woods.  I took a couple off of dogs last year, and expect to see more this year.  The same tick control products that work on other species will work on these as well.  

Now that you are totally grossed out, I'll leave you to your outdoor sports.  Remember to take the advice in the initial link to protect yourself.  While you're at it, take a moment to stop by your veterinarian's office and protect your pets as well.  And not just the dogs, cats can get ticks too. 

So it appears that I made it through Pet Dental Health Month (February for those not keeping track) without writing anything about pet dental health. This was probably facilitated by not posting much of anything in the month of February at all.  Why? you might ask.  Well, I think that pet dental health is so important to the well being of my patients that I don't want to relegate it to a single month.  Every month is Pet Dental Health Month at Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital.  So why break my silence now?  I need to write about something and I had some pictures to share with you.

Now, in the past I have posted rants about taking care of your pets' teeth.  I've put pictures of nasty periodontal disease up on posts.  I tweeted a picture of the 12 teeth that I extracted from a single dog recently.  I've shown you before and after pictures of mouths that you wouldn't want anywhere near your face because they smell so badly.  Today, I'm going to address a single, common problem that is often overlooked by owners and veterinarians alike, retained baby teeth.

Much like us, dogs and cats are born with a set of deciduous teeth that are supposed to fall out to make room for adult permanent teeth.  Most times this entire process is complete by 6 months. It is never normal for there to be a deciduous and permanent tooth present in the same location at the same time.  If the baby tooth still has a root, then it isn't going to come out and it is going to cause problems.  What types of problems?

Nope, not what I was thinking of but this picture just cracks me up.  We see a couple of problems.  First, when two teeth try to occupy the same space at the same time, we can get malocclusion.  Things just don't line up correctly.  The teeth are almost always right on top of one another and they trap food and debris contributing to tarter build up and periodontal disease that will affect the adult tooth.  Sometimes, we will see them actually decay, or become necrotic and form an abscess.

This picture shows the brown, dead, and infected deciduous canine behind the normalish adult tooth.  I know the picture is upside down but I was so excited that I figured out how to position it in the center that I forgot to rotate it and I don't want to go through the re sizing and everything again so you'll have to live with it.  The other thing that you will probably notice is that the gingiva (gum) around the adult tooth is swollen and recessed.  If I had a picture of the radiograph you would also see that there is bone loss.  So, leaving this deciduous tooth in place for years has caused a serious and potentially expensive problem.

We usually see these teeth still in place at the time of spay/neuter and recommend removing them at that time.  This picture notwithstanding, it is more common in smaller dogs than in large dogs and we rarely see it in cats.  While the canine tooth is most commonly affected, incisors probably are the next most common problem spot, especially in Shih Tzus and pugs. (sorry Cookie)

Ooops.  I forgot to center the picture because I was so excited that I remembered that I had this one. Bear with the variable focus, it was from my pre - I Phone stage. Even with the poor quality, you surely can appreciate the shark like double incisors in this dog's mouth.  The extras have to go.  Radiographs need to be taken to determine which are the baby teeth and which are the permanent ones.

While this procedure, done as an add on to a spay or neuter does save money over having a separate anesthesia charge, It is still not a trivial extraction if done correctly. We usually need to make small incisions to get the teeth out.  These need to be sutured.  The teeth are very small with long needle like roots that crack easily.  The entire thing needs to come out, and if it isn't in one piece it can take more time than the surgery that it is being added on to.  In small dogs, I've taken more time doing the extractions than the spay.

Here are four little canines that I took out this week.  You can see the root tip that fractured off of the bottom of one tooth.  I can tell you I was less than happy about that one.  We'll be happy that there was loud music playing in the operating room. If a curse is uttered in an OR and nobody hears it, is it still a curse?

Retro virus? you ask.  No, it's not a virus from the fifties, but rather the term retro refers to the way the virus reproduces in the host's body.  The important feline retro viruses are the infectious agents that cause feline leukemia (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency disease.  (FIV).

Both of these viral diseases are limited to felines.  The viruses can have a long incubation period, meaning that it can take a long time from the time of infection until they cause disease.  They do not survive well in the environment, and are easily killed by drying and disinfection.  They cannot be spread by casual or indirect contact, usually spread by direct contact with body fluids and associated with breeding and fighting.

The respective diseases have serious consequences, often rapidly fatal once a cat is sick.  While there is an effective vaccine for FeLV, there is not a good vaccination option for FIV.  Therefor, in both instances, the best thing is identification and isolation of positive cats.  Ill cats that are retro virus positive have a worse prognosis than negative cats.  

 So who should be tested?  All cat should be tested before they are introduced to cats that you already own. The  American Association of Feline Practitioners recommend that all new cats be tested prior to introduction to a house hold or a cattary.  Because of long incubation times, they should be retested 60 days later and contact between the newcomer and existing cats be minimized during this time.  

Outdoor cats should be tested yearly. Indoor cats should be tested at least once as a screening and then periodically as determined by your veterinarian.   All sick cats should be tested, even if they are indoors and previously tested negative.  Testing of feral cats as part of a TNR project is optional.  However, there is value to knowing the retrovirus status of a colony.

Positive tests should be confirmed.  Healthy positive cats do not need to be put to sleep, but you should talk to your veterinarian about what you can do to keep positive cats healthy.