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The Pet Quality of Life Survey is designed to help owners by providing objective criteria they can use to decide if treating cancer is the right choice. Veterinarian Maria Iliopoulou developed the survey for dog owners but has plans to revise it so cat owners can use it too. Business Insider (9/19)

More than 73 million U.S. households own a pet and altogether they spend $53 billion per year to care for them.

More than half of that budget goes toward medical treatment, with money spent on supplies and OTC medications rising by more than 7% in 2012.

But where do you draw the line between keeping Fido healthy and compromising your finances to give him a few more months of playtime?

“It’s a very difficult situation [for both patients and veterinarians],” said Dr. Kristen Frank, an internist with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  “I’ve had pet owners who don’t necessarily have $15,000 to spend to treat a terminal illness, but they’ve done it anyway through borrowing money or credit cards.”

Emergency treatments can range from $1,500 to $4,000 for dogs, according to Frank, with cancer treatment sometimes costing twice as much or more.

Sometimes, the decision to forego medical care has more to do with the emotional cost of watching a beloved pet go than the potential financial burden.

“Recently I saw a woman who specifically said that her other cat passed way from cancer and she did everything including chemo and she said she did not want to go through that again,” Frank said.

Unlike hospitals for humans, vets don’t typically have the same flexibility to work with pet owners who can’t afford treatments. Pet insurance can be handy, but it often comes with maximum coverage limits, steep deductibles, and pre-existing conditions clauses.

“Payment plans are also hard to come by,” Frank said. “The financial aspect of veterinary care is toughest thing our people have to deal with on a daily basis …We all wish we could provide free care but unfortunately it’s just not possible.”

But how does a pet owner decide whether to pay for treatment or let their pet go?

There is no one-size-fit-all answer, but a Michigan State University research may have found a simple way to help pet owners through such difficult times.

“Pets are like surrogate children,” said Maria Iliopoulou. “In some cases, when a human bond evolves, it makes the decision more difficult.”

Iliopoulou, who owns a small menagerie of pets herself, set out in 2009 to create a “Quality of Life Survey for Canine Cancer Patients” that dog owners can use to look at medical treatment with an unbiased eye.

Before each visit, Iliopoulou suggests dog owners complete the survey, which asks basic questions to help them track major quality of life indicators for canines — play behavior, signs of illness, and overall happiness.

“What we were trying to do with the research was to isolate the emotions to help people make the best decisions for their pet and for themselves,” she said. “It helps the owner to pay attention to specific observable changes and transfer this info to the veterinarian.”

So far, the survey is applicable only to dogs, but Iliopoulou plans on continuing her research in order to create similar tools for a range of animals, like cats, birds, etc.

CLICK HERE to view the survey.

Pets have been routinely evacuated from flood areas in Colorado, despite life-threatening conditions for the rescuers, because officials there made a conscious decision to save pets and people, adopting the motto “No pets left behind,” according to a National Guard spokesman. Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina led rescuers to include pets in their evacuation plans, and temporary shelters have been ready with pet essentials including water bowls and kenneling capabilities. The Seattle Times/The Associated Press

By JERI CLAUSING   Associated Press

Canine circovirus infections have been documented in dogs with vomiting and diarrhea. The distribution of the virus in the U.S. is not yet known, but dogs infected with circovirus have been reported in California and circovirus may be associated with recent illness and death of dogs in Ohio.

CLICK HERE to see the FAQ from the American Veterinary Medical Association

This Orientation is a mandatory step in the process of becoming an AHF Caring Creatures Pet Partners Team. AND it is the last one of the 2013 calendar year.

In order to attend this meeting, you must have successfully completed the Pet Partners Handlers Online Course at www.petpartners.org.

In addition, pre-registration for this meeting is required.

For more information, contact petpartner@animalhealthfoundation.net

The Veterinary Specialists of the Valley turned to the Angel Fund to help save the Ferguson’s family pet, Opie.

September 10, 2013
By: Jennifer Fiala For The VIN News Service

It might look like circovirus and act like circovirus … and still not be circovirus.

That’s what scientists investigating the mysterious illness that’s sickening and killing dogs in Ohio and elsewhere say after diagnostic tests of some infected samples came back positive for Dog Circovirus, or DogCV.

Dr. Patricia Pesavento is an associate professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. In the wake of reports that dogs in Ohio were dying of a mysterious toxicant or virus, she received samples from three of the infected animals, only one of which tested positive for DogCV.

The dogs’ clinical signs included bloody diarrhea and vomiting, extreme lethargy, neurological problems and lack of appetite. Severe hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and vasculitis are associated with DogCV. Treatment guidelines do not exist apart from supportive care.

“Understanding the pathogenesis of DogCV is in its infancy,” Pesavento explained by email. Pointing to previous research she conducted on DogCV, Pesavento said, “We have identified 10 animals retrospectively that are infected with DogCV and that have vascular-based disease, but there is a large burden of proof for causality.”

By phone, she added: “My bottom line: Circovirus is part of this; we don’t know if it’s the same agent killing all of these animals.”

The Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is organizing the investigation, is asking veterinarians to consult the agency’s Division of Animal Health at (614) 728-6220 if they see suspected cases. Concerned pet owners are encouraged to talk to their veterinarians.

Researchers at The Ohio State University (OSU) also are testing samples from sickened dogs. Melissa Weber, director of communications for the veterinary college, confirmed that one dog was sent to OSU for necropsy.

She stated that OSU does not have the ability to test for DogCV. “Everything else they’ve tested for has come back negative,” she said. “Circovirus is interesting, but that doesn’t mean it’s causing these deaths.”

Even so, mainstream media have run with the idea that dogs are dying after contracting circovirus. “It’s a scary new disease that can kill your dog,” an Ohio news agency reported.

A press release issued last week by State Veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey is less definitive.

“The laboratory confirmation is important because the virus is newly isolated, however we are not prepared at this time to confirm that canine circovirus is the cause of the dog illnesses,” he said. “Because the symptoms being exhibited can also be linked to other known illnesses, additional analysis and information is needed to determine if this virus is alone or in co-infection.”

DogCV is newly isolated and there is very little information available about the virus, where it came from and how it spreads, the Ohio Department of Agriculture press release stated. “The limited research available shows that canine circovirus can cause vasculitis and hemorrhaging in infected dogs.”

Porcine Circovirus, the only other known mammalian circovirus, can cause vasculitis in swine.

Dr. Melanie Butera in Canal Fulton, 18 miles south of Akron, is one of a handful of practitioners in Ohio who’ve treated dogs infected with the novel virus. “I had two dogs come in on the same day with these odd and very severe signs,” said Butera of the first of her patients that presented with signs of the disease on Aug. 24. “These dogs had been sick such a short period of time with normal blood work. I immediately thought there was no way this was a virus. It worked too quickly for the viral diseases we are used to seeing.”

One of the two dogs died. It was then that Butera learned several dogs recently had become ill and three died after visiting a boarding facility in Norwood, north of Cincinnati.

Despite extensive testing of the facility, no bacterial agent or toxicant was found to have caused the cases, which sounded a lot like what Butera was seeing in her own practice. Butera turned to the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online community for the profession, where she consulted colleagues about what she was witnessing.

“What has really stood out to me in these cases is the acute profound lethargy/weakness/depression, and the sinus tachycardia,” she wrote in a VIN discussion. By phone, she added: “The big thing was how sick these dogs were in such a short time period. They had fluid coming out of their gums. They weren’t passing bloody diarrhea, they were passing blood and clear fluid.”

Another dog Butera treated with similar clinical signs is on the mend after vasculitis caused the skin on its back to slough off. She’s now collecting reports from veterinarians in the area who’ve seen patients with similar conditions and has warned her clients about what she says are “sporadic cases.”

“It was one of my patients that tested positive for circovirus,” Butera said. “But I’ve said this repeatedly: Just because they found the virus does not mean it caused the disease.”

Every year, London’s Heathrow Animal Reception Centre handles 37 million animals traveling to or through the London area, working to ensure the animals are comfortable while traveling, properly vaccinated and microchipped. The center encounters all manner of species from elephants and poisonous snakes to dogs, cats and even four cheetahs in need of a microchip check. The Guardian (London)/Shortcuts Blog

Whether it’s pets, elephants or cheetahs being flown in legally, or dangerous wild animals being smuggled, the animal centre at London’s major airport must deal with them.

A confiscated dwarf crocodile at the Animal Reception Centre, Heathrow. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian