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During the past year, Jan Haderlie and Jonah, her 5-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, have been valuable partipants in Project Positive Assertive Cooperative Kids (P.A.C.K.) at the University of California -Irvine.  P.A.C.K.  is a federally funded, non-medication research study to examine whether adding therapy dogs in a 12-week cognitive-behavioral group therapy intervention is more effective than traditional cognitive-behavioral group therapy without therapy dogs in improving self-esteem, self-regulation and pro-social behaviors in 7- to 9-year-old children who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The P.A.C.K. children have multiple opportunities to bond with Jan and Jonah during their twice-weekly sessions. At each session, children rotate among three stations. The children create arts and crafts projects at Jan and Jonah’s station. The children also have the opportunity to earn the privilege of having one-on-one time with Jan and Jonah during group therapy when they demonstrate on-task behaviors, such as attending to the speaker and making contributions during discussions.

During reading time, the children pair up and read dog stories to each other and to Jonah. Jonah’s impeccable eye contact with the pages of the story amazes the children. One of the children’s favorite P.A.C.K. activities is giving basic commands to their four-legged friends, which demonstrates self-regulation and assertiveness by having a confident voice and a calm body. During this activity, they are also practicing pro-social behaviors by complimenting the dogs for following directions.

P.A.C.K. is extremely grateful to Jan, Jonah and the other Pet Partners teams participating in the project. For more information on the study, visit www.cdc.uci.edu.

Suzannah and Lacey have been an AHF Caring Creatures Pet Partner Team since 2012.

While most pets who fly the friendly skies arrive at their destination unscathed, there have been cases of injury and death in some, and this article provides some tips for owners to help ensure the safety of their animals during flight. Veterinarian Jay King suggests getting pets used to the crate they will fly in beforehand, and he says pets’ disposition and the weather should be taken into consideration before putting animals on a flight. The ASPCA recommends ensuring your animal is up to date on vaccinations and that the collar and crate are labeled appropriately. Freezing a dish of water ensures pets have water to drink when they’re ready for it. St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Along for the Ride blog

In November 2010, a French bulldog died sometime during a pair of Continental Airlines flights between St. Louis and Seattle.

During a necropsy of the 11/2-year-old dog at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, a “small amount of shredded newspaper” was found partially obstructing the opening of the dog’s larynx. The dog’s death was determined to be unrelated to the airline’s handling of the pet.

The cursory account is one of dozens that airlines have filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation in recent years in response to federal reporting rules.

First, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of pets and other animals that travel by air suffer no serious consequences. Continental shipped 6,725 animals in November 2010 with only one incident.

Still, there are enough reports of animal injuries and deaths to gain some insights into these worst cases. During 2012, for instance, 58 animals were lost, injured or died, during air transportation. In 2011, there were 46. In 2010, the number was 57.

Dr. Jay King of the Watson Road Veterinary Clinic said that “99.9 percent of the time, it is noneventful” to fly with your pet. But there are steps you can take to prevent harm from coming to your family pet during a flight.

If your pet is flying in a crate, take the time for the animal to become familiar with it beforehand.

Drive the pet around town to get accustomed to the notion of travel. Tranquilizers may help your dog or cat handle the stress of air travel, King said, but they can also affect an animal’s ability to regulate its body temperature.

In one case, records show, an English bulldog died after its owner administered a dose of Xanax before a flight in late December from Orlando, Fla., to Seattle.

Recognize that some pets — just like some pet owners — are not comfortable with air travel. They can suffer panic attacks or separation anxiety, King said.

“They are in a weird situation,” King said. “They are put in a cargo hold. Their ears pop. Sometimes they will really freak out.”

Take weather into account, he said. If it is too hot or too cold, the airline may not let your pet fly if the animal is going to be shipped in the cargo hold.

Many of the reports filed during the last three years involved dogs that injured themselves while trying to chew their way out of transport crates. After one Alaska Airlines flight touched down in Seattle last December, ramp workers noticed that a dog’s mouth was stuck on the metal wires of the kennel door, according to one report. Workers had to cut a few of the wires to free the dog’s mouth.

The owners told the airline the dog suffers from “extreme separation anxiety,” and that they would be taking it to a veterinarian to check for any injuries to its mouth.

Many of the mishaps involved international flights, which King said can amount to “a nightmare” because of the extra steps required.

In June 2011, an 8-month-old chinchilla that was originally loaded onto a Delta Air Lines flight at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport was discovered dead at its ultimate destination, Moscow.

Delta officials reported that the chinchilla was “in good condition” at JFK International Airport in New York before it was loaded onto the final flight to Moscow. Once it got there, however, the chinchilla was dead. During a necropsy, the doctor determined that “to the best of our knowledge, cause of death was due to a septic gastroenteritis or acute heart failure from stress,” the report showed.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends against flying with your pet — unless it is going to fly with you in the cabin. If you must transport a pet as cargo on a commercial flight, here are some tips:

• Make sure all vaccinations are up to date and get a health certificate from your veterinarian within 10 days of the trip.
• Don’t forget to make sure your pet has a collar and an identification tag, and a microchip if possible. The collar should include information about your destination, in case the animal escapes.
• Choose a direct flight whenever possible.
• Pick a USDA-approved shipping crate, and write “live animal” in one-inch letters on the top and at least one side. Affix arrows to show the upright position of the crate.
• Freeze a small dish of water the night before the trip so it won’t spill while loading. It should be melted by the time your pet is thirsty. King says ice cubes work too.

Your pet is family, so take the extra time to ensure the flight ends happily.

Neutering dogs may impact the occurrence of disorders including hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tears, lymphosarcoma, mast cell tumors and hemangiosarcomas, according to a study led by veterinarian Benjamin Hart at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. Researchers evaluated the medical records of 759 golden retrievers, male and female, finding that early and late sterilization were associated with an increased occurrence of certain disorders. However, Dr. Hart noted that disease vulnerability may vary among breeds, and any connection between neutering and health conditions is likely multifaceted. PhysOrg.com

The study, which examined the health records of 759 golden retrievers, found a surprising doubling of hip dysplasia among male dogs neutered before one year of age. This and other results will be published today (Feb. 13) in the online scientific journal PLOS ONE. “The study results indicate that dog owners and service-dog trainers should carefully consider when to have their male or female dogs neutered,” said lead investigator Benjamin Hart, a distinguished professor emeritus in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “It is important to remember, however, that because different dog breeds have different vulnerabilities to various diseases, the effects of early and late neutering also may vary from breed to breed,” he said. While results of the new study are revealing, Hart said the relationship between neutering and disease-risk remains a complex issue. For example, the increased incidence of joint diseases among early-neutered dogs is likely a combination of the effect of neutering on the young dog’s growth plates as well as the increase in weight on the joints that is commonly seen in neutered dogs. Dog owners in the United States are overwhelmingly choosing to neuter their dogs, in large part to prevent pet overpopulation or avoid unwanted behaviors. In the U.S., surgical neutering—known as spaying in females—is usually done when the dog is less than one year old. In Europe, however, neutering is generally avoided by owners and trainers and not promoted by animal health authorities, Hart said. During the past decade, some studies have indicated that neutering can have several adverse health effects for certain dog breeds. Those studies examined individual diseases using data drawn from one breed or pooled from several breeds. Against that backdrop, Hart and colleagues launched their study, using a single hospital database. The study was designed to examine the effects of neutering on the risks of several diseases in the same breed, distinguishing between males and females and between early or late neutering and non-neutering.                                        google_protectAndRun(“render_ads.js::google_render_ad”, google_handleError, google_render_ad);     The researchers chose to focus on the golden retriever because it is one of the most popular breeds in the U.S. and Europe and is vulnerable to various cancers and joint disorders. The breed also is favored for work as a service dog. The research team reviewed the records of female and male golden retrievers, ranging in age from 1 to 8 years, that had been examined at UC Davis’ William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for two joint disorders and three cancers: hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear, lymphosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma and mast cell tumor. The dogs were classified as intact (not neutered), neutered early (before 12 months age), or neutered late (at or after 12 months age). Joint disorders and cancers are of particular interest because neutering removes the male dog’s testes and the female’s ovaries, interrupting production of certain hormones that play key roles in important body processes such as closure of bone growth plates, and regulation of the estrous cycle in female dogs. The study revealed that, for all five diseases analyzed, the disease rates were significantly higher in both males and females that were neutered either early or late compared with intact (non-neutered) dogs. Specifically, early neutering was associated with an increase in the occurrence of hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear and lymphosarcoma in males and of cranial cruciate ligament tear in females. Late neutering was associated with the subsequent occurrence of mast cell tumors and hemangiosarcoma in females. In most areas, the findings of this study were consistent with earlier studies, suggesting similar increases in disease risks. The new study, however, was the first to specifically report an increased risk of late neutering for mast cell tumors and hemangiosarcoma. Furthermore, the new study showed a surprising 100 percent increase, or doubling, of the incidence of hip dysplasia among early-neutered males. Earlier studies had reported a 17 percent increase among all neutered dogs compared to all non-neutered dogs, indicating the importance of the new study in making gender and age-of-neutering comparisons. More information: dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055937Journal reference: PLoS ONE Provided by UC Davis
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2013-02-golden-neutering-affects-dog-health.html#jCp

Gracie is a 4 lb Yorkshire Terrier (“Yorkie”)!

Tammy and Gracie visit and participate in AHF events!

They’ve been a visiting Pet Partner Team since 2007.

QUALITY ASSURANCE NOTICE:  Nature’s Variety has announced a voluntary recall of one batch of Instinct® Raw Organic Chicken Formula with a “Best if Used By” date of 10/04/13. This action is being taken because pieces of clear plastic may be found in some bags and could cause a potential choking risk to pets.  The source of plastic has been identified and the issue has been resolved.

The affected product is strictly limited to a single batch of Organic Chicken Formula with the “Best if Used By” date of 10/04/13.  This includes:

• UPC# 7 69949 60137 1 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula medallions, 3 lbs. bag

• UPC# 7 69949 70137 8 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula medallions, 27 lbs. case

• UPC# 7 69949 60127 2 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula patties, 6 lbs. bag

• UPC# 7 69949 70127 9 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula patties, 36 lbs. case

The “Best if Used By” date is located on the back of the package below the “Contact Us” section.  The affected product was distributed through retail stores and internet sales in the United States and Canada.  No other products were impacted.

Nature’s Variety became aware of a potential issue after receiving a consumer complaint.  The source of the issue was identified and resolved.  To date, there have been no reports of harm to dogs or cats.

Reed Howlett, CEO of Nature’s Variety, stated, “At Nature’s Variety we take quality and safety very seriously.  We believe that under all circumstances, the health and safety of pets comes first.”

Consumers feeding the affected product should discontinue use and monitor their pet’s health, and contact their veterinarian if they have concerns.  Consumers who have purchased one of the above products can obtain a full refund or exchange by either returning the product in its original packaging or bringing a proof of purchase back to their retailer.

Consumers with additional questions can call the Nature’s Variety Consumer Relations team at 1.888.519.7387 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST. Or, click here to email us directly.

For media inquiries, please contact Jeff Dezen at JDPR by phone (864.233.3776, ext. 11) or email (jeffd@jdpr.com).

Bathgate Elementary School in Mission Viejo hosted its second annual “All Abilities Day” Feb. 8, giving students the opportunity to get an idea of what it’s like to have disabilities.

Students visited stations that simulated various disabilities and met therapy dogs Jake and Macy.

Guest speakers talked to students about the importance of accepting others with disabilities.

Bathgate Elementary School students take turns petting Jake, led down the line by therapy animal handler and volunteer Joe Frey. 

PHOTO: ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Pet therapy volunteer Daleen Comer walks Macy by a line of Bathgate Elementary students. Macy was rescued from Taiwan in October 20 1 0 and brought to the U.S. A year later, she became a therapy dog.

Accidental pet poisonings in 2012 increased 7% over the previous year, according to the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center, and human medications are often the culprit. Insurance claims for toxin exposure and ingestion submitted to PetPlan averaged $465 after deductibles were met. To prevent accidental pet poisonings, veterinarians recommend storing medications properly and taking them when pets aren’t around. “Assume anything a kid can get into, pets can get into,” said veterinarian Kevin Fitzgerald. The Wall Street Journal

Annie, the Berlin family’s three-year-old Cavachon, has always been alert to the possibility of dropped food, not least thanks to living with three kids under the age of 15.

So when Josh Berlin, 48, went to the kitchen to take two Tylenol for a headache last August, Annie was hot on his heels. Shaking out gel capsules from the bottle, Mr. Berlin accidentally dropped three from his hand to the floor.

“Before I could do anything, she had lapped one up,” he recalls. Knowing that Tylenol’s active ingredient, acetaminophen, is toxic to pets, the Berlins rushed Annie from their Beverly Hills, Calif., home to their local veterinarian, who referred her to a nearby animal hospital. There she received an intravenous neutralizing agent and was kept overnight for observation.

Cases of accidental pet poisonings are on the rise. A new study from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reports that its Animal Poison Control Center, based in Urbana, Ill., handled more than 180,000 calls about poisonous substances in 2012, up 7% from the previous year. The problem might be bigger than those numbers suggest, since many pet owners—like the Berlins—head straight to the vet instead of calling a hotline, says the center’s medical director, Tina Wismer.

Human medications and supplements are some of the most common toxins ingested by pets. Prescription medicines for humans have accounted for the majority of the ASPCA center’s calls for the past five years, with a 2% increase last year to more than 25,200 calls. Over-the-counter medications and supplements ranked third, up 2.8% to nearly 18,500 calls, after insecticides. Veterinary medications came in fourth, up 5.2% to nearly 10,700 calls.

Based on the ASPCA’s center’s statistics, the fatality rate from accidental poisonings appears to be low, at 0.2% of cases. Dr. Wismer says the center isn’t able to determine the outcome of each call, so that rate could be higher.

Follow-up figures suggest that insecticides and rodenticides are the deadliest household items for pets. But common medicines for humans can also prove lethal, depending on the pet’s weight, the amount consumed and the strength of the toxin. “One acetaminophen will kill a cat,” says Kevin T. Fitzgerald, a veterinarian with VCA Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver.

Pets’ tastes tend to follow prescription and health trends. In 2012, calls about prescription pain medications jumped 63%; antidepressants 47.5%. “More and more people are on these drugs, and dogs find them on the nightstand,” says Dr. Fitzgerald. And it isn’t always the medication they want in the first place: Prescription bottles can make an attractive chew toy for a bored pet.

There is some evidence, too, that medications have gotten more tempting in recent years. Supplements for joints are often made of beef cartilage or shellfish, and more manufacturers are using gelatin-based soft gels or capsules, says Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, a website that evaluates supplements. A dog’s sweet tooth makes sweetened or flavored human meds attractive. “Our pets have such good noses that even though the bottle is closed, they can smell the stuff,” says Bernadine Cruz, a veterinarian with the Laguna Hills Animal Hospital in Laguna Woods, Calif.

Dogs are more susceptible to accidental poisoning than cats. Labrador Retrievers got into the most trouble last year, accounting for nearly 14,000 calls to the APCC. “Dogs experience the whole world by tasting it,” says Dr. Fitzgerald. “Cats are a little more picky.”

But not immune. Although more than half of the APCC’s 10,000 cat cases in 2012 involved exposure to insecticides and toxic cleaners that cats walked across and then ingested while grooming, there are certain medications—notably, the antidepressant Effexor—that cats will willingly consume, says Dr. Wismer.

Sarah Rothmann, of Charlotte, N.C., suspects that superior sense of smell was what prompted her 10-year-old Basset Hound Shakespear to “counter surf” last August, standing up on his hind legs to paw a bottle of veterinary pain pills off the kitchen island. The intended patient, Woody, another of her six rescued Bassets, was supposed to take half of a chewable, flavored tablet every 12 hours. Shakespear chowed down on eight full tablets in one sitting.

It was the first time Shakespear had surfed for something that wasn’t clearly food. “We have stuff up there on the counter all the time, including medications, and he’s never touched it,” says Ms. Rothmann, 42. After a call to the APCC, Shakespear got a daily dose for a week of human-heartburn medicine Pepcid to prevent stomach irritation from the overdose.

Pet poisonings can be costly. The APCC typically charges $65 for consultations. In 2012, Petplan’s average insurance claim for vet visits associated with accidental poisoning was $465, after a deductible of $50 to $200. Dr. Benson says the company has seen claims as high as $10,000 in more severe cases. And while insurance covers accidents including poisoning, some insurers might not cover a pet that has a track record of eating unsuitable items.

When it’s time to decide what vaccines are necessary for horses, veterinarian Jennifer Coates revisits the American Association of Equine Practitioners guidelines for core and risk-based vaccines. The core vaccines are necessary for every horse, while the risk-based vaccines are recommended for some horses under certain circumstances. Factors including age, sex and geographical location influence risk, Dr. Coates writes. PetMD.com/Fully Vetted blog

As part of this move, I had to dig out his vaccination records to make sure he was up-to-date on everything. This made me realize that as much as I’ve talked about vaccination protocols for dogs and cats in this blog, I’ve never done the same for horses. My bad. Let me use Atticus in an example of how veterinarians determine which vaccines an individual horse should get.
The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) divides equine vaccines into “core” — those that the majority of horses should get, and “risk based” — those that should be given after a risk-benefit analysis is performed. The AAEP’s guidelines list the following as core vaccines for horses:

Tetanus

Eastern and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis

West Nile Virus

Rabies

Atticus got all of those last year. Check.
According to the AAEP, the risk based vaccines for horses are

• Anthrax
• Botulism
• Equine Herpesvirus (Rhinopneumonitis)
• Equine Viral Arteritis
• Equine Influenza
• Potomac Horse Fever
• Rotaviral Diarrhea
• Snake Bite
• Strangles

Atticus’s primary risk factor is exposure to a large number of horses as he and other horses that he has contact with move in and out of boarding facilities, show grounds, etc. Therefore, I also gave him boosters for equine herpesvirus, influenza, and strangles last year. Looking over the rest of the list, I can discount the majority based on his age and lifestyle. He does not need to be vaccinated against rotavirus (he’s not a foal or pregnant mare), Potomac Horse Fever (we don’t see much of it around here, and the vaccine has questionable efficacy), equine viral arteritis (he’s not going to be bred), or anthrax (he’s not pastured in an endemic area).
I’d consider the snake bite vaccine if we did more trail riding in the foothills near us (home to the western diamondback rattlesnake), but those outings are exceedingly rare so we’ll pass on that. The one vaccine I haven’t given Atticus in the past that I now need to consider is botulism. At his new barn, the horses on pasture are sometimes fed from large round bales of hay. This increases his risk for botulism because Clostridium botulinum bacteria can produce their deadly toxin in spoiling hay or dead critters trapped inside bales.

This exercise is a good reminder as to why an animal’s vaccination protocol needs to be reassessed on a regular basis. Things change. Last week botulism wasn’t on my radar screen; now it is.

The AHF welcomes new AHF Board of Trustees member, Jennifer Dentino.  Jennifer has worked in the insurance industry for 20 years and enjoys training dogs and spending time with her animals. She and her husband and their dogs live in Orange County, CA.