Hit the road

I hope everyone enjoyed their first official weekend of the summer season. It is time for backyard cookouts, long evenings enjoying the warm weather and travel. Some of you may be planning on car trips, whether for the day or a week. Others may be traveling by plane. And at least some of you may be planning on bringing your pets with you. There are few things that you should consider before traveling with your pets.

If you are traveling by plane you will need to have your pet checked by a veterinarian before travel to obtain a health certificate. The health certificate is the airlines’ way to be sure that whatever animal they are transporting is healthy enough to travel at high altitude. You will also want to check with whichever airline you are using to be sure that you have any necessary paperwork, paid any additional fees and understand what type of carrier is required for transport.

In general we don’t recommend sedating animals for travel, especially for air travel. Most animals will experience stress and anxiety during travel. They may also become air sick and will need to vomit. If they are sedated their bodies natural responses to stress and sickness may be inhibited and they may be unable to respond appropriately. If you feel very strongly that your pet needs to be sedated please talk to your vet first. They can recommend options based on their knowledge of your pets state of health as well as something appropriate for the type of travel you are undertaking.

If your pet is prone to motion sickness talk to your veterinarian before you travel. There are several options for helping your pet with motion sickness. If you pet becomes very anxious when traveling in the car you should start with short trips, lots of praise and treats. For some more tips for making your pet comfortable in the car check out http://www.VeterinaryPartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1422

Depending on where you are traveling, you may need to take some preventative steps to prevent certain types of infections. Tick control is important to prevent diseases such as Lyme and ehrlichia. Tick control is best done by applying a monthly topical product such as Frontline, Revolution or Advantix. Talk to your vet for recommendations on what product best suits your pets individual risk factors.

In most parts of the United States your animal should also be on a heartworm preventative. Heartworm is an internal parasite transmitted by mosquito bite. It lives in the heart and can be fatal. If you are traveling to heartworm endemic areas, talk to your veterinarian before travel to start your pet on a heartworm preventative. For more infomation about tick prevention and heartworm disease check out the American Heartworm Society at www.heartwormsociety.org.

As always, be sure to travel safely with your pet. Be sure they are restrained properly in your car. Never leave your pet in the car on a warm sunny day, even if the outside temperature is moderate. Take regular breaks to allow your pet to use the bathroom and make sure they get regular access to clean water. Never let your pet out of the car without a leash. In an unfamiliar place, even well trained and attentive dogs may become scared, disoriented and run away. Microchipping your dog is another good way to identify them. While microchips do not allow you to track your dog. They are a permanent form of identification that can be found by veterinary clinics, animal shelters and most animal control organizations. Registering the chip is vital to its success. If your pet is already microchipped but you aren’t sure if it is registered or with whom you can search for it on the American Animal Hospital’s microchip lookup tool at www.petmicrochiplookup.org. This will tell which company has the chip enrolled. You will then need to contact that company to be sure the registration information is accurate.

As always, have fun with your pets. It is a wonderful time of year to make some memories and have a great time.

I see sun!

Hooray, the sun is out! At least for those in Western Washington I hope you are able to get out and enjoy some of our beautiful weather. And hopefully, if you have dogs you are enjoying some of that sunshine with them. Most of our dogs do not get enough exercise (like many of their owners, I suspect). Now is a great time to start taking them for walks, throwing the ball or frisbee, or visiting your local dog park. Just be sure everyone is up-to-date with their vaccines.

There are few precautions that should be taken as the temperature heats up. Make sure you provide access to plenty of water. Dogs are only able to "sweat" through their foot pads and by panting. Most of their heat loss is accomplished via that

big happy open mouthed "grin" and heavy panting. But panting results in a large amount of moisture loss as well so your dog will need a chance to drink clean water regularly.

Don't assume that because your dog likes to lay in the sun they should be allowed to do that for as long as they like. Dogs can become overheated and

even suffer from heat stroke or heat shock when their temperature rises. And not all dogs are bright enough to move into the shade when they get hot! Short nosed (brachycephalic) breeds such as pugs and bulldogs, obese dogs, dogs with heart disease, and older animals are at increased risk for heat stroke and should havelimited time outside in hot conditions. Watch your dogcarefully for difficult breathing or very high breathing rate, vomiting, diarrhea or anything else that makes you concerned. Animals suspected of having heat stroke should see a veterinarian immediately.

Of course, never ever leave your pet (or child!) in a car unsupervised in sunny weather. And it doesn't have to be "hot" for the temperature of your car to rise dangerously high. Even if the outside temperature isn't particularly high and you crack the windows, the temperature will rise fast. On average about 3 degrees for every minute your car sits in the sun, even if the outside temperature is only 72 degrees. The majority of the temperature increase (about 80%) occurs in the first 15-30 minutes to don't think you can be fast enough either according to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. (PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 1 July 1, 2005

pp. e109 -e112)

One other thing to think about with lightly colored dogs or those with lightly colored noses. Just like in people, fair skin is prone to sunburn. It is a good idea to apply sunscreen to pink noses and ear tips. To keep your dog from licking it off, immediately follow the application with a few good treats. Peanut butter works great for this since it keeps them busy for several minutes while the sunscreen soaks in.

Want some more summer safety tips? Check out the American Kennel Club website's summer safety information at http://www.akc.org/public_education/summer_safety.cfm.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Topical flea and tick preventatives-are they safe?

I initially planned to make this first blog post a little background information on me. But I want to address some recent news out from the EPA regarding the safety of topical flea and tick preventatives.

EPA recently reviewed all the reports of adverse effects of topical flea and tick preventatives. There has been an increase in incidents reported in the last year evaluated (2008). EPA has concluded that all topical preventatives can potential cause a toxic reaction. However, out of 2 million plus doses sold last year only 44,000 caused problems (less than 1 in 6,000). And most of these problems were minor (itching, redness, localized hair loss).

This is balanced with the potential risks from flea and tick bites. Fleas and ticks are not just a nuisance. Even in WA we can see flea and tick transmitted diseases. Tapeworms, Lyme disease and other blood borne fevers can be devastating not just to your pets, but to you as well.

Just like any medication, flea and tick preventatives should be used after careful discussion with your veterinarian. To ensure safety when using these medications please read the packaging carefully. NEVER apply a dog product to a cat. Do not allow animals to lick the product off themselves or other pets. Be sure you know the weight of your dog or cat to ensure you are using an appropriate dose of preventative. And as always if you have any questions or are concerned you are seeing an adverse reaction, contact your veterinarian.

I personally will continue to apply a monthly flea and tick preventative to my pets. I feel that the risks of problems are low compared to the risks of other diseases. Also one of my dogs, Lexi, has some skin allergies that are severely worsened by even a low number of flea bites. She is miserable even if I am just a few days late with her preventative! I am happy to see that EPA will be working with the various manufactures to make packaging and instructions more clear and also to improve dosing especially for small dogs. Hopefully, further research will also help us to determine what exactly is causing these adverse reactions, especially the most severe reactions.