Holistic for Dogs!

Kennel cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection in dogs akin to bronchitis in humans.   Recently, it has been officially titled tracheobronchitis. While this disease can be caused by various bacteria or viruses one of it’s most common agents is the bacteria bordetella.

Bordetella is highly contagious.  It can be transfered via infected individuals, or through infected surfaces.  Due to this, it can quickly and easily spread throughout kennels.  Dogs often contract this disease after spending time in  public places like dog parks, boarding, or the groomer’s.  When adopting a dog, be aware that the kennel situation may be conducive to kennel cough.  Be sure to isolate the new dog from the old ones for about a week to prevent a whole household of bordetella if there is a reasonable chance.  A dog that has been there for several weeks would already have been exposed and treated but a dog at the shelter for less than a week may have contracted the disease but is not showing any symptoms.

Symptoms of Kennel cough

After exposure it may take up to a week to show any symptoms.

The most obvious symptom in dogs with kennel cough is the honking cough.  It’s pretty surprising to first hear a dog  have a coughing fit.  It sounds like a duck? A donkey?  Usually it isn’t just one cough but fit that can last nearly a minute.

Dogs may exhibit other symptoms but those are usually secondary in obviousness to the cough.

When checking if that cough is just a tickle or if it is a sign of tracheobronchitis, take two fingers and rub the sides of the dog’s wind pipe.   Usually, in kennel cough cases, this action irritates the throat and induces a coughing fit.  In combination with a history of contact with the dog public, the induced cough is enough to almost guarantee a diagnosis.

Treatment of Kennel cough

First off, prevention is always better than treatment.  If you are planning to bring doggy out and about to grooming, parks, boarding, a dog party, or anywhere they may have contact with other dogs it is prudent to opt for the kennel cough vaccine.  The kennel cough shot is a yearly shot that can be given to help lessen the chances of your dog contracting kennel cough.

After noticing symptoms of kennel cough, doggy should be taken to the vet.  Sometimes dogs need antibiotics to help fight off bordetella.  While this disease can be self limiting and naturally recovered from, it is always better to check with a vet.

As a courtesy to others, if you believe your dog has bordetella or kennel cough please live him at home and wash your hands before handling anyone else’s dog!

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By now we’ve all heard about the massive oil spill in the gulf of Mexico.  But what can we as pet owners do to help?  Save your clean pet hair clippings and donate them to Matter of Trust!  They create hair and fur mats that can be used to soak up oil from the polluted waters.

Hair is amazing at picking up oil.  It isn’t any skin off of our backs to donate our waste clippings.  It was probably going to go into the trash anyway!   This is the coolest recycle/reuse idea.  The organization is also accepting human hair, wool, and nylons which they use to make mats and buoys.  Almost any natural fiber including horse hair, feathers, or other livestock hairs can be donated too.

How to donate

To begin, visit matteroftrust.org and sign up at excessaccess.org.  By signing up they can send you the address of where your donation is most needed depending on where that oil slick is heading.

If you want to donate please send in relatively clean fur.  It can’t hold much oil if it’s already a greasy, nasty mess already right!   Set up a box lined with a plastic bag to hold clippings.  Any type of hair or fur clipping can be added to the box but Matter of Trust asks that nothing foreign (trash, glass, paper etc) be added to the box.  After it is full, tie up the bag and mail it to the given address.  Be sure to mark the contents of the box.

If you would like to donate nylons, wash them and send them separately.

To get the most bag from your buck, try to hook up with some friends who also have hair or fur to donate.  That way one huge donation can be sent instead of many little ones which is more efficient for processing.  It’ll save you on shipping too.

P.S. Matter of Trust asks that you only send “head” hair if you know what I mean

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The modern lifestyle: fast paced, convenient, stressful, busy.  As our own lives evolve the lives of our dogs change too.  More and more of our families are what we term “modern”.  The stereotypical traditional family is becoming harder and harder to find.  The amount of free time we spend at home is dwindling and the amount of time our dogs spend alone is growing.

With the advent of the modern family our relationship with our dogs is being redefined.  A whole list of new problems is coming to light.  For instance, if everyone is working all day then who will take the dogs out for a lunch time bathroom break?  What legal implications does owning dogs bring?   Where will our dogs spend the majority of their time?   Do we really have to go for a walk?

Our dogs’ role in our families is also changing.  More often than not dogs are viewed as members of the family.  They are not as functional and more ornamental.  They provide us with much needed affection and comfort rather than practical work like herding or guarding.   In popular culture, dogs have been given the status of surrogate children or even accessories.  With this elevated status, what we are willing to give our dogs and the way we allow them to live create new issues that need to be thought over.

This new way of living is really conducive to behavioral problems with dogs.   Dogs left to their own devices can be a disaster waiting to happen.  This combined with our belief that dogs should be allowed in the house as part of the family can be awful.   Bored, under exercised, and unsupervised dogs are household menaces.

If this is the case and there is little chance of going back to a one income family, slow paced, non dog-centric lifestyles we as owners have to work out new ways to easily allow us to coexist with our beloved pets.  In my own meandering way, Holistic for dogs is a site dedicated to not only the improved health and well being of dogs but to the new modern dog lifestyle.  In my own life, I have limited time and resources to dedicate to my dogs and I’ve had to work tirelessly to conquer one problem after another, whether it’s those crappy puppy pads, crazy dogs, or their poor health.  I also hope that I can share all of this with others who may be facing similar problems.

Greetings fellow holistic owners!

I just wanted to point out that we now have a little amazon store.  If you kindly look up in the top bar you will notice shopping for dogs!  Unfortunately, due to this and that technical doodad we are having trouble placing our store directly in the frame.  If you “click here” the store will open in another window where you can browse.

I don’t know about you guys, but I have only recently discovered amazon and it has changed my life.  Not only do I love bulk purchasing, but many online products are significantly cheaper than their in-store counter parts.  And not to mention I don’t have to make a trip to three different stores to get what I need.

In the store, we’ve given a good deal of thought as to what products we want to support as well as finding the best deals.  Shipping to Hawaii is monstrous, so I’ve tried to include as many items with minimal to no shipping costs to benefit everyone.  I’ve also chosen products that I personally have bought or will buy.

So take a look!  Hopefully there is something you like!

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While the most common cause of diarrhea in dogs is dietary changes, diarrhea can also be caused by bacterial, viral, or parasitic infections.

Bacterial causes

Like humans, dogs can suffer from food poisoning.  Eating food contaminated with bacteria like e. coli or salmonella can lead to dangerous diarrhea.  Often doggy food poisoning causes diarrhea, fever, vomiting, lethargy.

During an acute attack of bacterial diarrhea, if the dog is acting severely ill it is important to take them to the vet for antibiotics.  Just like children, mild diarrhea is often easily treated at home with some pedialyte and rest but if diarrhea is uncontrolled, persistent and worrying it is time to go to emergency.

Mild diarrhea can be at home similarly to diarrhea caused by dietary change.  Withhold normal feedings and offer small amounts of bland foods like cottage cheese or rice and chicken.  Provide plenty of water and opportunities to go the restroom.  Diarrhea is an attempt of the body to purge the offending substances in the gut.  Unless it is extreme, it is preferable to allow the body to do its thing and empty out.

Worms!

A common cause of bloody diarrhea is a worm infestation.  Hookworms, whip worms and other parasites can cause bloody diarrhea.  In incredibly bad cases, worm bits may even be observed in the feces.  While there are specific differences between worm lifestyle and certain symptoms, bloody diarrhea is common between all.  Worms can be diagnosed by fecal test and will require worming medication and a thorough cleaning of the home.

Many worms that infest dogs can be transmitted to humans.  If one really wanted to lose weight, I suppose one could wait until he or she hits their weight goal before getting wormed themselves!  However, that is somewhat distasteful.  Worms can be easily acquired by eating infected animals (birds, lizards, rats), ingesting tainted dirt, swallowing fleas, poop eating.  Accidentally coming into contact with the infected feces of our dogs and transferring that to our mouths leaves owners vulnerable to infection.  Exposure to worms may happen as simply as petting our dogs then eating something with our fingers.

Worming may take several treatments to remove a bad case.  After the initial worming, it is important to clean up the house.  Wash all of the dog’s dishes; mop all of the floors; wash the dogs themselves.  Try to remove all of the old offending poops from the yard.  After the worming, make sure all the worms are gone by having a vet rechecking a fecal test.

Worms are not uncommon and shouldn’t be looked upon as being caused by poor care.  They are easily transmitted between animals and could be picked up while on a daily walk.  It is important to do regular fecal tests during vet check ups to rid our dogs of worms if they happen to have acquired them.

Viral Diarrhea

Viral diarrhea is probably the most dangerous cause of diarrhea in dogs.  Diarrhea is a prominent symptom of dangerous diseases like parvo and distemper.  Both of these diseases are part of the recommended vaccinations for puppies meaning they are better avoided than treated.  Puppies that have not completed their recommended series of vaccinations are most at risk for contracting these diseases.

These viral diseases are serious and present with severe diarrhea and vomiting.  Puppies can quickly succumb to these disease.  Both diseases are highly contagious and if suspected the dog will only be seen in the isolation ward of the vet.  Parvo has been known to devastate whole litters or kennels of puppies in a matter of days to weeks.

If parvo or distemper are suspected call the vet immediately.  Any case of severe vomiting and diarrhea in dogs, especially those with spotty vaccination records or puppies too young to have their full immunity, will be treated as though they have the disease until it is decided otherwise.  Infected dogs will mostly be provided with supportive care and antibiotics to prevent secondary infection.  It will be up to puppy to pull through!

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