Animal Welfare Archives | Page 6 of 7

How Do You Stop Your Dog Getting Distemper?

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Les Ellison

“Tell the man in the paint shop not to serve him.” So goes the old music-hall joke. But how did a once common disease of pet dogs get the same name as a kind of paint?

Distemper – also known as Hardpad first appeared in the UK in the mid-1840s, though it had been known in Europe since the Middle Ages. ‘Hardpad’ refers to one of the symptoms of distemper known to veterinary medicine as hyperkeratosis.

Keratin is the hard protein that toughens skin, hair and horn. In hyperkeratosis, so much extra protein is laid down in a dog’s feet that its pads become hard enough to make a tapping noise as it walks over hard floors of wood or stone.

‘Distemper’ comes from the Latin ‘distemperare’ meaning ‘to mix in the wrong proportions’, which later came to describe a whitish water-based paint mixed with glue and used on walls and murals. As hyperkeratinsed skin breaks away in large, white flakes, an infected dog’s face and coat look like it’s covered in flaking white distemper paint.

The first signs of canine distemper

In the mid-1500s distemper came to mean ‘bad temper’ and eventually ‘upset’ or even ‘deranged’. The first signs of canine distemper might be a dog that’s ‘out of sorts’; sneezing and coughing with thick mucus around the eyes and nose. Fever, a general lethargy, vomiting and diarrhoea are also symptoms of the distemper ‘paramyxovirus’ virus.

Before the discovery of the paramyxovirus, veterinary scientists suspected the weather and climate of spreading the infection. Modern veterinary research shows that infection is dog-to-dog through contact with fresh urine, blood, saliva, and through shared food and water bowls – especially among puppies.

A call to your vet is essential as soon as symptoms are suspected

Although an effective vaccine is readily available, distemper is still a serious health risk to young dogs prior to vaccination, and to dogs with a weakened immune system. A call to your vet is essential as soon as symptoms are suspected or whenever you give a home to a new pup.

With the FASTest Distemper Strip veterinary diagnostic test, your vet’s veterinary laboratory will be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the cause of your dog’s symptoms and determine whether or not paramyxovirus is present.

Distemper is no music hall joke and can prove fatal, or leave your dog with serious neurological damage. But with the right diagnostic test, your vet will be able to recommend the best course of action to treat your dog and recommend methods to prevent further infection.

Pet Hospice Movement: At-Home End-Of-Life Dignity For Pets

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Les Ellison

Pet hospice providers believe a loved pet deserves the same care at the end of its life as it did in its prime.

Euthanasia has become the responsible pet owner’s first last resort when faced with a terminally sick, suffering or simply aged pet with a rapidly deteriorating quality of life. But when that first diagnosis is made, it may well be that such a step is not immediately necessary.

Also, many owners are shocked when they first receive the news that their pet has a life-limiting condition. They’re often not ready to ask their veterinary surgeon for euthanasia of their companion animal, but neither do they want their pet to suffer the stress of repeated visits to the vet.

Outside help and expert palliative animal care

Add to that an understanding that some owners won’t have the time and resources to make their home into the place of refuge their pet needs, and it’s easier to appreciate the growing interest in calling in outside help and expert palliative animal care.

In the past, a pet owner’s regular veterinary professional has been the main provider of palliative care and medication. Monitoring the animal through home visits and preparing owners to make the difficult decisions at the right time, the regular vet has also been the one who will carry out the euthanasia.

More recently, vets with a particular interest in the lifelong animal-human bond have begun to offer pet owners specialised end-of-life care for their animal companions. The package of care provision can be tailored to the individual needs of a pet and their owners. This might include home visits from representatives of pet cremation or burial services, pet sitters for work days or holidays, animal psychologists, grief support counsellors and faith-based chaplaincy services.

Avoiding the unnecessary suffering of pets and the emotional distress of their owners

Critics of the pet hospice movement accuse owners of selfishness and providers of exploitation. In truth, the motivation of professionals and providers is almost always to avoid the unnecessary suffering of pets and the emotional distress of their owners.

Sensitively informed and advised by the veterinary practice that provided preventative, laboratory diagnostic and medical care for the pet and its owner throughout their lifelong bond, a pet owner will be able to make a considered decision on what kind of care is required and affordable.

Most of all, a pet owner will be able to look back on these last days of their time together with affection, and in the knowledge that they honoured their bond with their pet right to the end.

What’s Breed Got To Do With It? 25 Years Of The Dangerous Dogs Act

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Les Ellison

25 years on from the introduction of The Dangerous Dogs Act, researchers from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home have published a report claiming there’s little evidence to suggest that the controversial law has reduced the frequency of dog attacks in the UK.

The 1991 Act outlawed four dog breeds; the Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa and the Fila Braziliero. However, according to the Home’s Chief Executive, the Act has failed by: “focusing on how a dog looks rather than on anything it has done or the actions of the owner”.

In Battersea’s survey of 215 UK dog behaviour experts, 74% said that breed was at most only slightly relevant to whether or not a dog could be judged dangerous. Further, the four named breeds were not the most likely to be involved in aggressive behaviour.

30 dog attack fatalities including 16 children over the life of the Act

Against the 25 Pit Bull Terriers put to sleep by the charity in the last year, the NHS recorded 7,227 dog bite admissions in the same period – a 6% year on year increase, with 30 dog attack fatalities including 16 children over the life of the Act.

Calling for the repeal of the Act, Battersea argues that a law based solely on an animal’s breed or appearance does not enhance the protection of the public from dangerous dogs.

Citing the Home’s reception of 91 Bull Terrier type dogs in the last year alone, Battersea also claims that the Act has failed to deal with the rearing and sale of the breed that triggered the Law, instead of pushing the trade in dogs of this type underground.

Continued care by the owner is no less important than a good start with the breeder

Of the experts consulted, 73% thought the treatment given by the breeder more significant than the breed itself, while 86% highlighted the treatment given by the dog’s owner as more likely to influence a dog’s aggressive nature than its appearance or type.

The vast majority of responsible dog breeders, dealers and owners do show themselves willing and capable of giving the lifelong behavioural, emotional and veterinary care a dog needs. If a dog of any breed is to behave acceptably in a family and in a wider social setting, then continued care by the owner is no less important than a good start with the breeder.

For a good start, all dogs should receive vaccinations for the common dog diseases Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Distemper, Adenovirus and Leptospirosis. Attentive, ongoing care will spot any early symptoms of illness or disease which your vet will be able to quickly diagnose with a Veterinary Diagnostic Test Kit, recommending the best treatment to put your dog on the road to recovery – whatever the breed!

Vets In The Charity Sector: Good Will is Good Business

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Les Ellison

As the UK pet population grows and personal finances shrink, the opportunities for vets to engage with animal charities can only increase.

In 2015 The BVA found more than 70% of UK vets in some kind of reduced fee arrangement with animal charities and over 40% carrying out totally unpaid work for animal welfare organisations. The variety of services offered ranged from hands-on treatment through providing laboratory diagnostic services, to support for re-homing and rehabilitation centres.

The size of the UK animal charity sector is second only to children’s charities and hospitals or hospices. Last year, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) estimated over 20% of the UK population donated cash to animal-related good causes accounting for 7% of the nations near £11billion worth of charity donations.

Opportunities for involvement in charity work are many and varied

For vets, the opportunities for involvement in charity work are many and varied. Routine services – such as participation in cat neutering schemes, can provide regular and predictable work. Accidents involving domestic and wild animals will produce a more random level of demand. Although disrupting the routine of a busy practice, willing practitioners will be rewarded with variety, interest and valuable clinical and laboratory experience.

Sadly, in the current financial climate, the greatest call on animal charities – and on the charitable services of vets, comes from pet owners who can’t afford the treatment their loved animal needs. In 2013-14, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported around 5 million people earning less than the accepted living wage, and pensioner poverty running at 17%.

Careful co-operation between vets and animal charities

Animal charities see their duty of care not only to the sick or injured animal, but also to the pet owner who might rely on their pet for companionship and sense of purpose in life. Careful co-operation between vets and animal charities can function as an economically viable and important social service. In such a partnership the benefits for vets can outweigh any drawbacks. Charitable work cements the bond between the veterinary practice and the community; proving the vet’s value and commitment in a social framework where all professions are under scrutiny for their contribution to the greater good.

Veterinary laboratory suppliers are ready to play their part in support of animal charities and the veterinary profession. With offers of enhanced service levels and appropriate discounting, suppliers of veterinary equipment and veterinary consumables with animal charities and vet professionals, can together make the difference – to pets and to pet owners, in these hard times.

Leaving The EU: Brexit and Britain’s Animal Business

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Les Ellison

As Britain looks toward a future separate from the borderless union of Europe, the question of whether or not the UK’s animals will be better off is still a hot topic of argument.

Historically, Britain was the first country to pass any form of animal welfare legislation. Known as Martin’s Act – after the MP and animal activist, Richard Martin, his 1822 bill outlawed the “cruel and improper treatment of Horses, Mares, Geldings, Mules, Asses, Cows, Heifers, Steers, Oxen, Sheep, and other Cattle.

Unfortunately, the 1822 bill failed to specifically mention bulls; an omission corrected in 1835 with the inclusion of bulls, goats, sheepdogs and bears. 170 years of further amendments followed culminating in the comprehensive ‘Animal Welfare Act’ of 2006.

European lawmakers have taken animal welfare very seriously

For all the criticism pitched their way, European lawmakers have taken animal welfare very seriously – notably in matters relating to farmed pigs and chickens. In 2012 the EU outlawed bare cages for battery hens, and banned movement-restricting sow stalls for pigs in 2013. What will happen to these EU directed laws, as Britain and the EU part company, has yet to be debated, let alone decided.

Tedious and time-consuming EU regulations might seem, they do offer a single and unified set of regulations imposed and accepted across almost the entire continent. Traders and travellers in each member country know what to expect and what is expected; which also provides an assurance of certified diagnostic testing standards for incoming and outgoing animals of every size and description.

The reality of Brexit will be a testing time for farming

The worry now, especially if other countries choose to break with the EU, is that each will devise and dictate its own independent set of rules and regulations. Widely differing standards of welfare, health certification and levels of diagnostic testing might seriously damage public trust in animal-based commerce resulting in misinformed calls for yet more, and poorly directed, legislation than ever before.

The reality of Brexit will be a testing time for farming, equine and pet-animal businesses. The veterinary profession, with the resources of the veterinary supplies industry, must be ready to provide a bedrock of expertise and reliability on which new and, hopefully, even higher standards of animal welfare, business security and international co-operation can be solidly built.

Year Round Or Block Calving: Balancing Herd Economics and Health

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Les Ellison

High infrastructure and feed costs, combined with continuing low milk prices, mean dairy farmers are moving toward block calving to increase their productivity – but at what cost?

In block calving, all the cows in a herd have their calves over a block of just a few weeks. This means a short but intense period of labour for farm workers, rather than the longer but less fraught activity when a herd’s calving is spread evenly through the year. Dairy farmers will plan their block calving for spring or autumn, and each season has its own set of advantages and draw backs.

Block calving can help farmers make the most efficient use of expensive infrastructure and plan for when pasture and silage is most economically available. However, it can also mean that an entire herd is temporarily out of milk production with the farm’s entire calving investment for a whole year resting on just a few weeks.

Calving in the spring or the autumn

Whether spring or autumn calving, a successful season will see a large number of new and vulnerable calves concentrated in a small area ripe for the growth and spread of pathogens. There are two particular diseases that place every new born calf at risk.

Cryptosporidiosis and coccidiosis are major diseases of new born calves causing debilitating weight loss, diarrhoea and even death. According to figures from the UK Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA, 2012), 38% of cattle enteric diseases, isolated by veterinary laboratories, were identified as cryptosporidiosis, while another 18% could be attributed to coccidiosis.

Both diseases begin through the contamination of food, water or bedding with the infected faeces. In the case of cryptosporidiosis, the infective agent – the parasite’s eggs or ‘oocysts’, can persist in bedding for several months and even, for coccidiosis, from one year to the next.

Infective oocysts are resistant to most disinfectants and cleaning agents

The damage caused by infection is both long-lasting and irreversible. Licensed treatments are available but, as yet, there is no complete ‘cure’. Because infective oocysts are resistant to most disinfectants and cleaning agents, efficient management and constant vigilance are the only safeguards against infection and re-infection.

Clean housing, bedding and ventilation together, with raising feeding troughs above the ground, will reduce the chance of faecal contamination. A policy of low-density stocking supported by a regime of thorough cleaning and disinfecting immediately before and after the calving season, will also help limit the chances of re-infection year on year.

Whether your dairy farm is just coming out of its spring calving, or preparing for autumn calving, diagnostic testing of suspect animals now for cryptosporidiosis might help isolate a source of widening infection even before it begins.

Five Things You Can Do To Speed Your Pet’s Recovery

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Les Ellison

Modern veterinary diagnostics, medicine and surgery guarantee your pet has the best chance of a full and speedy recovery from illness and injury. But there’s still plenty that a careful owner can do to help.

Don’t wait until something minor becomes something major

The key factor in any pet’s full recovery is early treatment. With a bit of reading and research, an owner can be on the look out for symptoms even before they occur. Spotting when a pet isn’t acting normally – in the way it moves, looks, sounds or eats is the first step toward accurate diagnosis, prompt treatment and a full recovery.

Know what’s normal for your pet, and what’s not?

Vets really on owners for full and accurate descriptions of an animal’s symptoms. The more you know about your pet, the more you’ll be able to tell your vet about what’s causing you concern or the animal distress. Knowing what’s normal for your pet means you’ll be able to talk about what’s unusual when you suspect your pet’s less than 100%.

Listen to what your vet has to say

Ask questions about anything that isn’t clear so that you’ll fully understand your role in your pet’s recovery. Your vet is supported by a team of vet nurses, vet laboratory scientists and veterinary suppliers, so he or she might use some technical words and terms. Don’t be afraid of asking for an explanation – your vet will be only too pleased to know that you have a serious interest in your pet’s recovery.

Follow your vet’s instructions and advice

Your vet might ask you to give your pet further medication such as an ointment or tablets, or some post-operative care such as rest or some rehabilitation exercises. This is as much a part of your pet’s treatment and recovery as anything that happens at the surgery. Collect any samples your vet asks you to take and don’t miss any follow-up appointments.

Make Your Pet’s Health And Happiness Your Priority

Make sure your pet’s diet is what your vet recommends and make sure that all vaccinations – including treatment for worms and worm eggs, are up to date and recorded on your pet’s vaccination certificate and pet passport. Giving your pet the right amount of exercise and somewhere safe and secure to rest and relax will help guard against accident and injury.

In sickness and in health, your pet relies on your doing not just the right thing, but the best thing. And the best thing for your pet is you and your vet working together.

PETS: Better In The EU Or Out? How Would Your Pet Vote?

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Les Ellison

Undecided about staying in or voting out?

What advice would your dog, cat, ferret or budgie give, if you could ask them?

The biggest concern for pets who like to accompany their owners on trips abroad is what might happen to PETS – The European Pet Travel Scheme. As long as your pet dog, cat or ferret is microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and certified free of the parasitic tapeworms and worm eggs, then they qualify for a Pet Passport allowing up to five of them at a time to pass freely between EU countries with their owners. Pet birds can too – as long there’s no more than five, and as long as they’re not being traded commercially.

EU scheme called TRACES

PETS is of major value to UK animal charities as well as pet owners – especially charities involved in the rescue and re-homing of strays and abandoned pets. At present, an EU scheme called TRACES – Trace Control and Expert Systems, allows rescued dogs and cats safe passage to new homes when accompanied by a CVED – Common Veterinary Entry Document, issued by a qualified vet with access to modern veterinary diagnostics.

Surprisingly, for a nation with around 8.5 million dogs and nearly as many cats, the UK is one of the few EU countries not signed up to the European Convention for Protection of Pet Animals (ETS125). This convention agrees minimum standards of animal care and welfare for owners, breeders, trainers and veterinarians. It also protects the many thousands of abandoned and stray animals from suffering and distress, while also encouraging policies that reduce unplanned and unwanted breeding.

Unscrupulous puppy farms aren’t above faking passports and vaccination certificates

These conventions are intended to make it easier and quicker for healthy, cared for pets to travel around the EU with their owners, but there’s always someone ready to exploit these ideals to the detriment of people and pets. Unscrupulous puppy farms aren’t above faking passports and vaccination certificates to support a lucrative trade in unhealthy, under-age pups for the UK pet market.

Just like you, your pet has a lot to think about in deciding which way to vote on EU membership. One thing every dog, cat and budgie is certain to vote for is an owner who puts their pet’s health and happiness first. Whether your pet is travelling with you or staying at home this summer, its worth having a check-up from your vet supported by all the resources of a modern veterinary laboratory.

Cutting The Risk of FIV Cats from Feral Populations

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Les Ellison

The Belgian Experiment

The greatest risk of FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) to pet cats comes from contact with infected semi-wild cats in urban populations. Researchers in Belgium, from The University of Liege and Ciney Veterinary Collective for the Spaying of Stray Cats, have used FIV testing of feral cats to help cut the risk of FIV to pets.

Vets from the Ciney Collective routinely trap and neuter stray cats to control the city’s burgeoning feral population. Between 2010 and 2012 Ciney’s vets teamed-up with University of Liege researchers to test 302 stray cats for antibodies to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) – the cat equivalent of AIDS. Positive antibody detection indicates FIV infection in the tested cat.

How to control FIV infection?

With no effective vaccine or cure, it’s highly likely that that infected cats will pass the virus to other feral or pet animals through saliva transferred in bites and scratches. The Belgian vets hoped that one way to control FIV infection might be to remove FIV-positive cats from contact with the feral and pet cat population.

FIV first makes itself known as a fever and general loss of condition. Bouts of illness may be interspersed with periods apparent recovery as the immune system is gradually overwhelmed. More distressing symptoms, such as inflammation of the gums and mouth begin to show and the animal succumbs to recurrent skin, bladder, eye, and respiratory infections. Cancers, blood diseases and seizures may follow.

Selectively removing FIV-positive cats from the feral population

To test their theory, researchers set out to measure the effect of selectively removing FIV-positive cats from the feral population. Researchers also tested for a second feline infection known as feline leukaemia virus (FeLV).

At the start of the programme, they found a high incidence of FIV and a negligible presence of FeLV. Over the three years of testing, scientists logged a significant fall in the FIV infection rate from just over 30% in 2010 to little more than 13% in 2012.

FIV in the UK feral cat population, variously estimated at around the 1million mark, poses an infection risk not only to 7 million pet cats, but also to our only native feline, the increasingly rare Scottish wild cat.

While immunisation against FeLV is readily available, there is no proven effective vaccine for FIV. The separation between healthy and infected animals remains the only safeguard. For UK pet owners, cattery managers and breeders the watchword is vigilance underpinned by reliable FIV and FeLV diagnostic testing.

Screening for Avian Influenza Must Be Affordable As Well As Reliable

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Les Ellison

Controlling the risk of Avian Flu in the poultry industry requires monitoring that’s not only continual and regular, but also timely and affordable. The MEGACOR FASTest® AIV Ag Veterinary Diagnostic Test Kit economically supplies the assurance poultry farmers need to protect their egg or meat production business.

There have been few more panic laden scares to sweep the world in the last several years than the perceived threat of ‘bird flu’ to the human population. While Avian Influenza, to use its less pejorative title, can certainly pose a serious risk to human health, it rarely crosses the species barrier between poultry and people except where the two mix closely and, by western standards, in unhygienic conditions.

Potentially devastating to the livelihood of poultry farmers

Avian Influenza is what’s known as a Type A influenza virus. Most human flu viruses that circulate each winter are of type B, and aren’t responsible for the kind of pandemic such as the Spanish Flu of 1918, – a Type A and of the particularly virulent Subtype H variety. What ever the ongoing danger of Avian Flu to human populations, there’s no doubt that it’s potentially devastating to the livelihood of poultry farmers and, consequently, to the security of the nation’s food supply.

In farmed bird populations, symptoms can be sudden and severe including respiratory stress, a greenish diarrhoea, bloodied oral and nasal discharges, haemorrhages and tissue necrosis, often as a precursor to rapid and widespread death with 100% mortality throughout the flock.

Legislation aimed at the early detection and eradication of AIV

The economic risk posed by Avian Flu, as well as the public health risk, has lead to legislation aimed at the early detection and eradication of Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) Type A. Monitoring and notification of any HPAI (High Pathogenic Avian Influenza) outbreak to the relevant authorities is mandatory on UK poultry farms.

Veterinary monitoring follows the legislated programme using an economical and reliable Veterinary Diagnostic Test Kit. Vetlab’s FASTest® AIV Ag Test Kit requires only a simple swab from a bird’s faeces or directly from its cloaca. Mixed into a little of the kit’s prepared fluid, a single drop is all that’s needed for the test strip to give a sharp colour-change indicating a positive detection, or a negative all clear result.

Because Avian Flu is present in wild bird populations, it may never be possible to eradicate the disease with certainty from farmed poultry. Continual risk makes continual and regular monitoring with Veterinary Diagnostic Test Kits the essential foundation for the prevention of infection and efficient, economically viable poultry management.