Do the research before adopting a boa constrictor

By Dr. Anndrea Kapke - Greenwood Animal Clinic

A boa constrictor is a cold blooded killer: a non-poisonous carnivorous snake. Snakes are reptiles, which can’t control their body temperature by creating heat themselves like we mammals do. They rely upon their environment for their body temperature. This must be taken into consideration when caring for one as a pet. As the name suggests, boa constrictors squeeze their prey to death by wrapping it in their muscular coils in a fatal hug. Then they swallow their prey whole, dislocating their lower jaw if necessary. You may remember as a kid singing Shel Silverstein’s “Boa Constrictor.” “…I’m being eaten by a boa constrictor And I don’t like it one bit. Well, what do you know? It’s nibblin my toe. Oh, gee It’s up to my knee…” On to… “…Oh dread, “It’s up mmmmmmmmmmffffffffff….” Technically, considering the way the boa constrictor kills his prey, the song should end a lot sooner. Boa constrictors live in the wild in Central and southern America and some Caribbean Islands. They are large snakes, growing to 3-to13-feet and adults may weigh sixty pounds. They are usually colored in shades of brown with darker transverse bars going down the back. Boas live 25 to 30 years. If your ten-year-old son asks for a boa constrictor for a pet, be prepared to care for a potentially 8-foot long, forty pound snake when you son goes off to college and lives in a dorm. Then be prepared to snake-sit again when your son marries and has babies and toddlers in his home. Boas are Houdinis and like to escape their enclosures. A large boa is a danger to a human baby. Additionally some reptiles are carriers of the bacteria Salmonella. Giving a reptile antibiotics will not cure this. Young children, elderly people and immune-compromized people are at most risk of becoming ill or dying from Salmonella exposure. Boa constrictors have heat sensing cells that help tip the scales in their favor when hunting prey. And their forked tong flicks out of their mouth “tasting” smells. I can think of a multitude of smells I’m thankful I don’t have to taste. Boa constrictors need to eat whole prey in order to be healthy. The type of prey depends on the size of the snake. Mice or rats are often used although rabbits or chickens may be fed to larger boa constrictors. Once a snake begins swallowing his prey, he is committed to finishing the job even if halfway through the process he realizes he is swallowing an electric heating pad. I’m glad this isn’t the case for humans; otherwise putting your foot in your mouth would be a terminal experience. When deciding to keep a boa constrictor as a pet, it is important to recreate its normal wild environment as closely as possible. Most health problems in captive snakes are a result on inadvertent poor care. For example, you want to have enough cage space that your boa doesn’t feel constricted. Discussing the care needed for a boa constrictor would change this article from the length of a garter snake to the length of a…well, you can guess. Before deciding to have a boa constrictor as a pet, be sure to research feeding, skin shedding, temperature gradients, humidity, cage types, materials for bedding, and safe options to provide heat and light.

Hedgehogs, not cuddly, but cute

By Submission For The Southside Times

The renowned psychologist, Sigmund Freud, drew attention to the Hedgehog’s Dilemma. A group of hedgehogs wanted to crowd together for warmth, but they kept inadvertently poking each other with their prickly quills. Freud compared this to the perils of human interaction: that despite good intentions, intimacy may bring harm. This is similar to making the decision to own an exotic pet. They may be cute or cool, but not domesticated, therefore pet ownership might not be without harm to both parties. That being said, humans will be humans, so better to be an informed hedgehog owner than an uninformed one. Even though hedgehogs’ backs are covered in sharp quills, they aren’t related to porcupines. Their quills don’t come loose to stick into an inquisitive dog’s nose, like a porcupine’s would. Hedgehogs are usually five to eight inches long and weigh one-half to one and a quarter pound. They live four to seven years. They are native to Europe, Asia and Africa and have been introduced into the wild in Scotland and New Zealand where they are now considered pests. In many instances, local law is confusing at best, but currently it appears that it is illegal to own a hedgehog as a pet in Canada, California, Hawaii, Georgia, New York City and Douglas County, Nebraska. There are very restrictive hedgehog laws in Arizona, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Maine. Hedgehogs defend themselves by rolling up into a ball so their quills stick out in all directions. Once he rolls up, if you were planning to have a conversation, you’ll just have to wait patiently until he calms down and unrolls again. Leather gardening gloves are a handy hedgehog handling fashion accessory. A pet hedgehog will need at least two square feet of cage space, like a large, covered aquarium. The flooring should be solid, not wire, so it doesn’t catch and injure his little toes. Wood shavings are good for bedding, but don’t use cedar because it causes respiratory irritation. You don’t want a hedgehog with a smoker’s cough. Your hedgehog should have a water bottle. If you give him a water bowl, he’ll just happily toss wood shavings in it and replay famous naval battles. For a food bowl, use a small, heavy ceramic crock that is hard for him to tip over so he won’t start impersonating a squirrel. You should feed him dry hedgehog, ferret/mink or cat food, supplemented by pinkies (baby mice), crickets and mealworms. Sometimes pet owners will hunt for earthworms for their hedgehogs, but if insecticide has been used in the area, it is very easy for that to make the hedgehog sick. He should also have a hedgehog wheel with a solid floor for exercise. If he attempts to roll up and can’t, then he is too fat. Although this might not seem like much of a problem if there aren’t any girl hedgehogs around for him to impress, fat hedgehogs are at risk for fatty liver disease and heart disease. Hedgehogs can also get cancer. Hedgehogs aren’t easy to cuddle up to and they don’t make good croquette balls either. In Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts used hedgehogs as croquette balls-she swung at them with flamingos as mallets. When she wasn’t looking, the hedgehogs would unroll and quietly creep away.

Spay Neuter Indiana Pets, Inc. receives $5000 grant

By Submission For The Southside Times

The local nonprofit organization Spay Neuter Indiana Pets, Inc. (SNIP) has been awarded $5,000 in grant funds to assist pet owners or feral cat caretakers with the cost of spay/neuter surgeries. The awards are from the Summerlee Foundation of Dallas , Texas and the Petco Foundation, and are for the purpose of reducing pet overpopulation in Johnson, Morgan and Hendricks counties. “We are quite honored that these two national foundations have entrusted our organization with these generous awards in order to provide low cost / high quality spay neuter services to pet owners here in our area” stated Tonja Robertson, founder and President of SNIP. Now in its fourth year, SNIP organizes Low Cost Community Spay Neuter Days 2-3 times per month with participating veterinarians. Pet owners can sign up and pay online. SNIP provides free transportation to the vet clinic in the SNIP van from towns including Greenwood and Plainfield. For more information, contact SNIP at (317) 727-9183 or on the web at spayneuterindianapets.com.

Feline leukemia: Deep cover spy

By Dr. Anndrea Kapke - Greenwood Animal Clinic

Feline Leukemia is a viral disease of cats. It isn’t contagious to dogs or humans. If a cat is exposed to the Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), he has three options. If he’s lucky, he will clear the virus and be fine. [ad#single-post] He will stay sick and have the virus in his bloodstream for the rest of his life. He will become latently infected, meaning the virus will vanish from his bloodstream and hide in his bone marrow like a deep cover spy, making it hard for veterinarians to detect and waiting for a stressful event to launch itself back out into the bloodstream and make him sick again later. Like any good spy, FeLV can appear in a variety of guises. It can act similarly to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and cause immunosuppression in the cat, leaving him unable to fight off other diseases. It can hide itself in his genetic material, causing damage that leads to the cancer, lymphoma. Finally, it can cause the self-titled blood disorder, Feline Leukemia, as well as others, like anemia. Because FeLV can cause so many other diseases, there aren’t any specific symptoms of the disease. It just depends on what form it takes. But general signs may include weight loss, depression, and poor hair coat. Like spies making a live drop, FeLV spreads when a cat is in close contact with infected cats. Infected mother cats can pass it to their kittens before or after birth. Cats can spread it by grooming each other, biting each other, and sharing food, water bowls, and litter boxes. Whenever you get a new cat, have her tested for FeLV as soon as possible and certainly before you expose her to your other cats. There is a blood test that veterinarians can run in the clinic. If your cat slips outside and may have been exposed to FeLV, she should be tested 28 days or more after exposure. If the clinic test is positive, a blood sample can be sent to an outside lab for a second, confirmatory test. If you have cats that go outside, there is a FeLV vaccine. But it is like standing under a tree in a rain storm-better than nothing, but you may still get wet. Not all cats vaccinated against FeLV develop protection to the disease. Additionally there is a slight chance (1 in every 5,000 - 10,000 vaccinations per year) that the vaccine may cause a cancer called sarcoma at the site of injection. This is why veterinarians only vaccinate cats for FeLV that are at risk for exposure. Also, often the FeLV vaccine is given in the cat’s left hind leg so if a sarcoma develops, the leg can be amputated. (Personally, I vote for preventing exposure instead.) Cats with FeLV live an average of three years after contracting the disease, although some may live symptom-free for longer. It is difficult to predict for an individual cat. (My crystal ball has a short.) There currently is no cure for the disease. There are some antiviral and immunomodulating drugs that have been studied, but none have shown to be effective in curing the virus. Feline Leukemia is an incurable disease, spread between cats in close contact that may be prevented by a combination of testing, vaccination and avoiding exposure.

Find a furry friend

By Submission For The Southside Times

Annie is a sweet senior golden girl. Due to changes in their home situation, her owners have surrendered her to GRRACE (Golden Retriever Rescue and Community Education). Right now Annie lives in a foster home with another foster dog, Frank. She does not bark excessively and is up to date on all her shots. She has been spayed and the vet says she is in good health for a senior dog. Annie needs to lose a few pounds but is working on that with regular walks and a good diet and she doesn’t beg. [caption id="attachment_5859" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Submitted photo."][/caption] Annie is an affectionate, but not demanding, dog. She likes to spend time with her owners and will follow them around the house. Because of her age, a home without many steps and young pups would suit her best. If you are interested in adopting Annie, visit grrace.org for more information.

Diabetes for dummies

By Dr. Anndrea Kapke - Greenwood Animal Clinic

I’m a fan of series like The Complete Idiots Guide to Brain Surgery or Rocket Science for Dummies. Diabetes is a complicated disease that can not only afflict humans, but dogs and cats too. I learned about diabetes from our furry friends’ point of view in veterinary school, and then became intimately familiar with the human version of the disease when I was diagnosed with it nine years ago. Very simply, for any species, diabetes is about how the body handles sugar (glucose). We eat simple sugars (like table sugar) or complex sugars (like the carbohydrates in pasta) and certain cells in our pancreas make insulin. Insulin lets our body use the sugar we eat. Human Type I diabetics (sometimes called Juvenile) aren’t able to produce their own insulin so they have to inject themselves with it. Most dog diabetics are similar to human Type I. Human Type II diabetics (sometimes called Adult Onset) may be able to produce some of their own insulin, but not enough, and what they do manage to make, their body might not recognize right. Most cat diabetics are similar to human Type II. [ad#single-post] Just like in people, sometimes cats and dogs get diabetes because of bad luck or bad genetics or bad diet. We can only control the bad diet. If your pet is getting plump, put down less kibble. Preventing your pet from being overweight will help to prevent diabetes. Your dog or cat might have diabetes if she acts tired, quickly loses or gains weight, or drinks a lot and urinates a lot. Sometimes a well house-trained dog or litter-trained cat will start having accidents in the house. A dog with diabetes may suddenly go blind with cataracts. A cat with diabetes may have weak back legs and have trouble walking. A veterinarian can do urine and blood tests to check for diabetes and a complication of diabetes called ketoacidosis. Many animals diagnosed with diabetes are found to also suffer from other diseases such as pancreatitis, dental disease or a poorly working thyroid gland. Diabetes doesn’t have to be a death sentence for pets, but it does require a commitment to a regular feeding, medicating, and testing schedule. Often diabetic dogs and cats are fairly sick by the time they are diagnosed and may need to be hospitalized for a short time and stabilized. Because dogs are usually like Type I diabetics, they are put on a high fiber, moderate carbohydrate, low fat diet (for example, Canine Prescription Diet W/D) and their owners learn how to give them daily insulin injections. Sometimes owners monitor their dog’s sugar in their urine with KeoDiastix® or their blood glucose using a home blood glucose monitor. Blood samples can be taken from the lip, elbow, ear tip or outside of the footpad. Cats are usually like Type II diabetics as well as being true carnivores. So they are put on a low carbohydrate diet (such as Feline Prescription Diet R/D). A few cats can take oral medication for their diabetes, but most do better with insulin injections, often twice daily. Twenty percent of cats that are treated with insulin will go into diabetic remission 4 to 6 weeks later and stop needing insulin. Glucotest® can be added to cat litter. It turns color in response to sugar in the urine. Or blood sugar can be monitored with a home glucose monitor. The goal of treating diabetes is to keep the blood sugar from being too high, which could cause death in a couple of weeks, and to keep the blood sugar from being too low, which could cause death in a couple of minutes. If a diabetic dog or cat on medication has low blood sugar, he may act weak, stagger, collapse, lose control of bladder or bowels, or have seizures. The pet owner should rub corn syrup or honey on the pet’s gums on the way to the veterinarian or veterinary emergency clinic, if this happens. If diabetes in dogs or cats is not treated, it will result in blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure, liver disease, and death. If diabetes is well controlled, dogs and cats can live happily and comfortably for several years. My personal greatest threat to blood sugar control? I’m a confirmed chocoholic. Café Mochas and Heath Bar Blizzards. I guess canine and feline diabetics have an advantage over us humans there. Chocolate is toxic to them, so they shouldn’t even be tempted. Dr. Anndrea Kapke is a veterinarian at the Greenwood Animal Clinic and pet columnist for The Southside Times. You may contact her by sending e-mail to news@ss-times.com

Do You Look Like Your Pet?

By Dr. Anndrea Kapke - Greenwood Animal Clinic

Do you know someone who looks like their pet? How about a gruff weight lifter with a Bull Dog or doe-eyed waif with a purse Chihuahua? That some people look like their pets isn’t just an urban legend apparently. The study, Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? was published in the May 2004 issue of Psychological Science. Researchers concluded when people look for a dog, “they seek one that, at some level, resembles them, and, when they get a purebred, they get what they want.” In that study, people who had mixed breed dogs didn’t resemble them. [ad#single-post] I’ve been a veterinarian for 15 years and my husband has been one for 14. We’ve seen a lot of pets and their owners. We do see the stereotypical biker guy wearing leather and tattoos coming in with the Pit Bull named Killer. That reminds me of the actual Pit Bull named Killer, whose owner has to carry him into our waiting room each time he has an appointment because Killer is afraid of our clinic cats. We’ve also seen little old ladies with purse Yorkies in matching outfits. I’d actually like to do that some day. My husband is appalled. I try to dress our 26 pound pug, but he is too big to stuff into my purse. Which brings me to me. I’d like to think I own a pug because they have wonderful personalities, but I’d have to admit that I’m rather height challenged, like a pug, and I do have a pug nose. I also have a greyhound. I’d like to say that I’m sleek, svelte, and run like the wind, like she does, but that wouldn’t be true. I don’t think I resemble a greyhound the slightest bit. My sister says I remind her of “one of those little sharp terriers”. I share the hyperactivity of a rat terrier and admire their tenacity, but I hope she wasn’t referring to the insistent, high-pitched yapping. I’ve always thought my husband would be a golden retriever if he were a dog. Although not as much now, as he did when he was younger and had more hair. He’s going to appreciate that I’ve written this. My dad once wrote an article in which he compared my mom to an old, comfortable sweater. Poor choice in spousal similes must run in the family.

The Ewoks of the Dog World

By Dr. Anndrea Kapke - Greenwood Animal Clinic

Yorkshire Terriers are those little dogs that look like Star Wars Ewoks that you see peeking out of ladies’ purses. Yorkies have long, straight, glossy hair coats that are described as blue and tan (grey or black and tan for us non-dog-show types.) The Yorkshire Terrier breed standard is nine inches tall and weighing less than seven pounds. They have an average life expectancy of nine to fifteen years, making them one of the longer lived dog breeds. The breed originated, not surprisingly, in Yorkshire, England. They may have been used to catch rats in clothing mills. Although the breed’s history is murky, it appears to have started in the 1850’s, perhaps coming from mixes of Old English Black/Tan Terriers, Maltese, and Skye Fixed Terriers. At the time, Terrier enthusiasts didn’t like the new, little upstart. It was called “the dresser drawer dog” and the breed was predicted to have little future. The American Kennel Club (AKC) recognized the breed in 1885. In 2008, the AKC listed the Yorkshire Terrier as the second most popular dog breed in America. [ad#single-post] Smoky was a famous Yorkshire Terrier that helped popularize the breed. During World War II, an American soldier found her in an abandoned foxhole in New Guinea. He said some standard dog commands in English and she didn’t respond. Because there was a Japanese prisoner of war camp nearby, he took her there, but she didn’t react to Japanese dog commands either. He wasn’t able to find her owner. Another soldier sold her to Corporal William A. Wynn, for two Australian pounds ($6.44 at the time) which was the amount he needed to get back into a poker game. For the next two years, Smoky traveled in Wynn’s backpack. They survived 12 air sea rescue missions and 150 air raids together. Smoky jumped from a 30 foot tower wearing a specially made parachute. She aided army engineers by running a telegraph wire through a 70 foot long, eight inch diameter pipe. After the war, Smoky performed tricks all around the world and appeared in some of the earliest TV shows in Cleveland, Ohio. Wynn wrote a book about Smoky’s exploits, entitled, Yorkie Doodle Dandy; Or the Other Woman was a Real Dog. Yorkies are smart, energetic little dogs that can sometimes be yappy. Their small size makes for good traveling companions, but they are a little too fragile for a home with young children. Some Yorkies can develop dominance behavior issues if the dog owner doesn’t consistently make it clear who is in charge. They also appear to have no concept of relative size and would attempt to defend their owner from a Tyrannosaurus Rex without hesitation. They are relatively healthy for a pure bred dog. Some congenital diseases they may have include: knee problems (luxating patella), liver disease (portosystemic shunt), vision problems (retinal dysplasia), hip problems (Legg-Calve-Perths Disease), and chronic coughing (collapsing trachea). Like other toy breed puppies, young Yorkies are susceptible to collapse due to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Yorkies may also suffer from dental disease. Their lovely hair coat requires frequent grooming and if worn long, daily brushing. The long hair on top of the head needs to be collected in a bow or barrette or kept trimmed short. These lap dogs are wonderful to spoil with fancy collars, bows and dog clothes, but keep food treats to a minimum. It is very easy for these tiny guys to get overweight, which not only makes them resemble a kiwi fruit on legs, but puts stress on their joints and predisposes them to disease.

Therapy animals prove ‘man’s best friends’ hold healing power

By Submission For The Southside Times

When Sunny, a 3-year-old golden retriever, began working for San Diego Unified School District last spring, one of her first students was a fourth-grader with cerebral palsy, mobile only with the aid of a walker. Adaptive physical education teacher Andrea Bazer says that as soon as this young student met Sunny, she was eager to take Sunny for a walk — first with the help of her walker, then with Bazer helping, and finally without any assistance. This transformation took several months, but once the student knew she could walk Sunny without the walker, she realized she didn’t need a walker at all. [ad#single-post] “She walks all over school now,” said Bazer, who has worked as an adaptive physical education teacher for the district for six years. “It’s amazing to see. Sunny gets the kids to do many things that they won’t do for me. When they’re working with Sunny, they forget they can’t do things.” Therapy animals like Sunny are highly trained and play very active roles in the educational or therapy program they’re involved in. Sunny helps by playing fetch and other interactive games with the students. Children in therapy with horses benefit through interacting with the animals and riding them. A client must be confident to lead and/or train a therapy animal, and this provides an opportunity for growth. Today, animals help out in educational and health care settings so often that the wide array of roles they play can be a bit confusing. For example, within the ranks of assistance animals, there are therapy dogs like Sunny and also visiting animals, which visit the sick in hospitals or nursing homes, providing a warm, soft head to pat. Bazer works with about 45 preschool to sixth grade children with disabilities at five schools, and she said that Sunny is an asset in her class. Sunny recently helped Bazer achieve a breakthrough with a preschool-aged child who was refusing to open up when faced with a stranger — Bazer. “The child’s first word during the assessment was ‘dog,’ as soon as he saw Sunny,” Bazer explained. Sunny is a hard worker as well; she works 40 hours a week at schools, and then Bazer regularly takes her to the Naval Medical Center in San Diego to give a psychological boost to wounded soldiers receiving treatment. Dr. Hayden Sears, vice chairman of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Committee on Human-Animal Bond said the impact animals can have on hospital and nursing home patients, people with disabilities, children and the elderly in therapy situations is remarkable to witness. Dr. Sears worked with therapy animals prior to becoming a veterinarian. “I have also done a lot with horses and people,” Dr. Sears explained. “People with multiple sclerosis, people with broken backs, all the way down to children with cerebral palsy, really benefit from working with a therapy horse.” Dr. Sears said that while most people associate therapy animals with a psychological boost for patients, the impact can also be very physical. For example, horseback riding is known to stimulate the nervous system and offer strengthening and mobility therapy for the disabled. Research consistently shows that therapy animals are helpful with multiple conditions, including heart disease, substance abuse, schizophrenia and dementia. The active ingredient in animal therapy is a little-understood concept called the human-animal bond. The AVMA has officially recognized the existence of the human-animal bond since 1982. And the AVMA states that this bond has existed for thousands of years. “Interactions with animals can provide emotional and physical health benefits for diverse human populations, including the elderly, children, physically disabled, deaf, blind, emotionally or physically ill, and the incarcerated,” AVMA policy states. Therapy animals have a long history, as well. Florence Nightingale recommended the use of a small pet to provide companionship to the sick, and ancient Greeks believed dogs had healing powers. While most therapy animals are dogs and cats, therapists have found success using chickens and even small ruminants like goats. “People experience great benefits from living or working with therapy animals, and we must make sure that the animals benefit from working with us,” said Dr. Emily Patterson-Kane of the AVMA Animal Welfare Division. “The real power of the human-animal bond is that people and animals can make each others’ lives richer and more meaningful.” - Courtesy of ARAcontent

Turn Off That Garden Hose!

By Dr. Anndrea Kapke - Greenwood Animal Clinic

Despite the way we may treat them, dogs are not little people in fur coats. For example, their reproductive systems are different than ours. Our veterinary clinic frequently fields phone calls from panicked owners of intact female dogs they find literally stuck to a wandering neighborhood male dog. For some reason, people always want to spray the couple with a garden hose. I suspect that would do the trick for humans, but dogs are another species. [ad#single-post] When dogs breed, and inseparable “tie” occurs. For general audience reading purposes, lets just say that for anatomical reasons those two dogs are going to be “unidog” for the next two to thirty minutes no matter what you do. If you bang pans together and spray them with the garden hose, you’re just going to end up with two slightly deaf, wet dogs tied together. Now, you’ve got two options. You can set aside money to get your family pet spayed this week, or you can set aside money in preparation for her pregnancy and potential complications. The average length of pregnancy for dogs is 65 days. Currently in the United States, there are no Food and Drug Administration approved medications for inducing abortions in dogs. Medications that were commonly used for this in the past have been found to have too high of a risk of causing life threatening complications for the mother. Twenty-five days after the breeding, a veterinarian can draw blood and send it out to a laboratory to do a canine pregnancy test. (Sorry, no over-the-counter urine test for pregnancy in dogs yet.) A veterinarian may be able to feel swellings of the dog’s uterus caused by puppies on the days twenty-six through twenty-eight after breeding. After day thirty, the generalized swelling may make it hard to detect pregnancy by feel. If your veterinarian has an ultrasound machine, she may be able to detect pregnancy after day twenty-five. Puppies will show up on x-rays day forty-two and later because it is at this point the puppies’ bones take on calcium and become visible by x-rays. Dogs should not be vaccinated while they are pregnant. They shouldn’t drink caffeinated drinks either, but that shouldn’t really be an issue. Check with your veterinarian before giving any medication to a pregnant dog. Feed your pregnant dog a premium brand puppy food. Do not supplement her with vitamins. Too much of a good thing is…well, too much of a good thing. A premium brand dog food will have the right amount of vitamins and minerals. Overdosing vitamins and minerals can lead to health problems for the mother and the puppies. At this point, put away the garden hose and be prepared to be a grandparent.