Dog Safety and First Aid!

Pet safety is a topic every pet parent should be educated on. Dogs are pretty accident prone in general - eating things they shouldn't, getting injured in situations ranging from simple accidents while playing to trauma from car accidents, having things caught in their paw, mouth, eye, etc. Dogs (and cats) vomit, get diarrhea, cough or gag, limp, are lethargic, or experience a host of other symptoms from a variety of causes, and our pets can't explain to us how they feel or "where it hurts." If you google the terms "common pet emergencies" or "common pet injuries" you'll get a whole host of explanations for the types of things that can happen!

Here are a few examples of "emergencies" I've experienced with Mumble:

Laceration from moving his crate - When Mumble was 5 months old, on the day he had his neutering surgery, he had to be crated while I took a friend to the emergency room (it was not a good day all around for emergencies). Mumble decided he didn't want to be there in his crate that day, and experienced an "opposite reaction" to his sedative, basically meaning he had super-dog strength. From inside his crate, he moved it about 7-8 feet across the room by continuously throwing his body against the side of it. Problem? There was one of those water bottles attached to the side of the crate that has the little metal spout that the dogs drink from, and this basically gashed Mumble's back open. This didn't stop him from continuing to move the crate, so by the time I got home, the gash was pretty bad.

Eating plastic bags - Mumble went through a phase where he thought plastic bags were the most delicious things ever. I once came home and found part of one on the floor, and thought "at least he didn't eat all of it." Turned out, however, that he had actually gotten inside the kitchen cabinet (a high one) and climbed up it, and pulled all of the plastic bags out of the dispenser and eaten most of them.

Sudden limping - Mumble had an injury recently, and I had no idea when or how it occurred, but suddenly one morning we went out for our usual walk and he was limping.

Allergic reactions - Mumble's had allergic reactions to all kinds of things, resulting in sneezing and wheezing all night, foaming at the mouth, itching and scratching to the point of making the skin around his face bleed, and panting heavily. Mumble also once had an adverse reaction to vaccinations, which made him extremely sick and lethargic.

Car accident - Mumble was in the car with me when I had a car accident. Thankfully, he was not hurt, but it really made me realize how much I need to know what to do in an emergency if he is injured!

Each of these ended up in either a visit to the vet or an emergency phone call to the on-call vet for instructions. Thankfully, none of these incidents has ended up with serious injury or illness, and Mumble has come out ok every time. Still, accidents are not infrequent with pets, so we should all be prepared!

Enter the Pet Safety Seminar at Zoom Room Culver City. The Zoom Room had guest speaker Melanie Monteiro, author of "The Safe Dog Handbook," give a talk to a group of dog owners about pet safety tips, first aid, and emergency preparedness.

First off, I highly recommend Melanie's book. You can order it online at this link. I bought a copy at her talk that night, and I've already read it cover to cover. The book is so practical and user-friendly, it is definitely a must for the shelf of any pet parent. If you google Melanie, you will also not only find her website and more information about her, but also videos on youtube with tips and info about pet safety.

At the talk, Melanie gave us great insight into the importance of being prepared and of prevention. Prevention is the biggest key to pet safety! Even though we've all been told to "puppy-proof" our homes, Melanie explained that poisoning from substances like rat poison is still common!

Being prepared for an emergency includes simple things like having all of your pet's emergency contact numbers handy (the vet, the after-hours vet, the poison control hotline, etc) to having a well-stocked first aid and emergency kit. One of the most interesting things I learned is how to read your dog's vital signs - Melanie explained that it is important to know how to do this not only in response to a crisis but in order to be prepared for a crisis. You should know your dog's vital signs at their "normal" state so that you have something to compare to.

Melanie also demonstrated some pet first aid / emergency response skills. She showed us how to make a muzzle out of gauze, for situations when your pet needs to have medical attention and you want to prevent biting, which can be common in times of stress. She taught us which way to hold a dog that is injured if you have to carry it - with the wound towards your body, cradling the dog from underneath. She demonstrated (on a moving dog dummy) how to give a dog CPR, including the chess compressions and the respiration. For "mouth to mouth" on a pet, you do not breath into your dog's mouth, but into their nose! She showed us how to form a "seal" around the dog's (or cat's) nostrils in order to do CPR properly.

Melanie's book has a comprehensive list of all of the things that you should have in a pet first aid kit. There are also lots of resources online to help guide you. At a later date, I'll put together a list on this blog of all of the things that I have in my pet first aid kit, which I am working on putting together now!

I came away from the class with a lot of useful information, tips, and resources regarding pet safety, and definitely feel like I am now more prepared for emergency situations. I think this type of class is something every pet parent should take! There are lots of options you can find, from seminar-type classes, to intensive skill-based lessons.

Here is a list of resources for pet safety and first aid classes, and other related resources:

Melanie Monteiro's Pet Safety videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MelanieLMonteiro

The Safe Dog Handbook: http://www.thesafedoghandbook.com/index.html

Classes and First Aid Training by Melanie Monteiro: http://www.thesafedoghandbook.com/services.html

PetTech's PetSaver classes on pet first aid, CPR training, etc: http://www.pettech.net/programs.html

Dog First Aid book by the Red Cross: http://www.redcrossstore.org/Shopper/Product.aspx?UniqueItemId=95

Cat First Aid book by the Red Cross: http://www.redcrossstore.org/Shopper/Product.aspx?UniqueItemId=160&Page=1&StartAtPage=1&SId=201374&LocationId=0

PETCO's Pet First Aid online classes: http://www.petco.com/product/100690/PETCO-Online-Pet-First-Aid-Course.aspx

Online info from the American Veterinary Medical Association: First Aid Tips for Pet Parents: http://www.avma.org/firstaid/

Online info from the American Animal Hospital Association: Health Pets - Pet First Aid: http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare

About.com's article on First Aid for Pets: http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/diseasesall/a/farnfirstaidtip.htm

First Aid Kits for Pets:

American Red Cross Deluxe Kit: http://www.entirelypets.com/petfirstaiddx.html
American Red Cross First Aid Pack: http://www.entirelypets.com/nepetfiaidki.html
Pet First Aid Kit: http://www.sitstay.com
Various kits by petfirstaid.org: http://www.petfirstaid.org/products.html

Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall

While I was out of town last week, and Mumble was being boarded, I had a bit of a scare about his dry food because I heard the news of a recall of Blue Buffalo brand dog food. Mumble eats the Blue Buffalo Adult Chicken dry food mixed in with his wet food every day. This was one of the "flavors" on the recall list, and since I had left his food with the boarding facility in small baggies, pre-portioned for each meal, rather than the entire bag of food, there was no way for anyone to check to see if the food was one of the specific "batches" recalled! I had to have the boarding people just stop giving him the dry food altogether, just in case. Thankfully, they were able to make up the difference in his meals by supplementing his wet food with a little bit of cooked chicken and rice (which I'm sure he thought was much better anyway).

When I got back home I was able to check the bag, and thankfully it wasn't on the recall list anyway! So I don't have to worry about Mumble getting sick from the amount that he ate out of that bag before I heard about the recall.

Blue Buffalo was able to pinpoint exactly which batches of food had been affected, and even ascertained exactly how it happened. You can read the press release on their website here. If you feed your dog one of the "flavors" on the list, the way you determine if your dog food is affected is by looking at the expiration date. Here is the list from the Blue Buffalo website:

Product	Bag Size	Best Used By Dates
BLUE Wilderness Chicken (Dog)	4.5 lb., 11 lb., 24lb.	JUL1211B, JUL1311B, JUL2611Z, JUL2711Z, JUL2811Z
BLUE Basics Salmon (Dog)	11 lb., 24 lb.	AUG2111B, AUG2211B
BLUE Large Breed Adult Chicken	30 lb.	SEP 22 11 P, SEP 23 11 P, OCT 26 11 P

The recall is due to the discovery by the company of the presence of vitamin D in the product at levels "higher than specifications." According to the Blue Buffalo website, and other information available on the web related to this recall, excessive amounts of vitamin D can be harmful to pets. The FDA indicates that 36 cases have been reported nationwide of illness related to the excessive amounts of vitamin D in the recalled food (read here for more from the FDA on this recall). Blue Buffalo's website states that it will reimburse veterinary bills associated with illness as a result of the recalled food.

I was personally very curious about this vitamin D issue. Mumble eats a pretty healthy diet - his wet food is organic, and he has various supplements added to each meal. I've been reading a lot about supplements and "natural health" for pets lately, due to the high levels of supplements Mumble has to be on. So I was really curious about how a vitamin that you would believe to be beneficial, or at least not harmful, could cause so much concern. What I read was really interesting. According to many articles, etc, including the "Natural Health Bible for Dogs and Cats" by Shawn Messioner (I love this book!), the most common cause of vitamin D toxicity is from a dog ingesting rat poison! Of course, we all know that rat poison is one of the most common causes of poisoning to pets, but I never thought about it being linked to something as benign sounding as vitamin D.

There is an interesting article I found online on this subject, written by a veterinarian. You can read it at this link. According to Dr. Huston, vitamin D toxicity causes hypercalcemia, a condition that causes a whole gambit of problems and affects the dog's internal organs. The list of possible symptoms of vitamin D toxicity in her website is much more extensive, but with some consistency, than the list on the recall information websites. (*You can also read about vitamin toxicities at the PetPlace website).

The most alarming information I found, at least as it directly relates to Mumble, is the link between fish oil supplements and vitamin D toxicity. Apparently, fish oil supplements are known to be a good source of vitamin D, but it is possible for a pet parent to "overdose" their pet by providing too much of the supplement and causing vitamin D toxicity to occur. Mumble is on a fish oil with probiotics supplement, which, after much trial and error with various other probiotics, etc, was the best thing for him in terms of helping with all of his digestive issues. The fish oil also has a positive impact on his skin allergies. So the information about fish oil and vitamin D was definitely a reminder to me about how important it is to be extra careful with giving him the right amounts. It also made me very grateful for our vet, Dr. Shane, who is excellent at natural remedies and holistic approaches to health, and carefully helps me to monitor all of Mumble's supplements and dietary needs.

Mumble, at age 2

Mumble recently had his second birthday, and we had a birthday party at the Zoom Room in Culver City with a few of his dog friends. He jointly celebrated the day with Kihei, who turned 1 two days before Mumble's birthday. The party was lots of fun for the dogs and the people. We had food, favors, and of course birthday cake (both for people and dogs to eat).

Mumble has been through a lot of changes recently. Several months ago, his regular dog walker moved away and we started the lengthy process of searching for a good replacement. Mumble's new dog walker has not been with him very long now, and although I think in general it's working out, she's had her hands full with him as they both adjust to each other. Some days, inexplicably, he simply refuses to go on a walk with her for more than a few yards away from the entrance to my apartment building! He's such a stubborn, independent dog!

Additionally, Mumble had a sprained leg, which resulted in being on "house arrest" for a few months, with no daycare and no agility. He has recently been given the "all clear" to return to both of those activities, but we are supposed to be "slowly working up to full activity levels," meaning that at this point, he can only go to daycare for a few hours at a time.

I don't know if it was the change in his exercise levels, his "depressed" state when he no longer got to go to daycare, all the training we've been doing, or simple maturity, but definitely there have been some changes in Mumble's personality at age 2. He's generally a little less crazy / hyper and a little calmer, although still far from being what you would call a "calm dog" overall.

Health-wise, we are still on the ever-changing quest for the right balance of food, supplements, and medications to keep him healthy with all of his allergies and digestive difficulties. Certainly we have learned a lot, and all of those issues are much more under control than they were when he was still a puppy. It is such a relief to have less frequent allergy attacks, significantly less frequent bouts of diarrhea, and a quicker response to treatment when either of those things still happen!

Overall, I can (a bit sadly) report that Mumble is definitely more and more of a grown up dog and no longer a puppy!