Dog Health on the Economy

Debra Gwathney spent her $600 stimulus check on her three cats.

Summer Rose took on a second job to pay for her pug's hip replacement.

And Christine Lewis says she dishes out more on her beagle than her friends do on their toddlers.

Quirky, neighborhood cat-lady types? The kind who dress their animals in knitted sweaters and feed them organic cheese-nip biscuits?

Far from it. But the three Dallas women are part of a growing legion of pet owners around the country choosing to invest in their animals' well-being even as their own health-care costs are rising.

"If you are an animal lover, it's worth it," said Ms. Rose, 30, as she waited for her dog to get $300 worth of shots at Hillside Veterinary Clinic on Mockingbird Lane.

LARA SOLT / DMN

Jake, a 16-year-old cocker spaniel, recouperates at Hillside Veterinary Clinic in Dallas.

She has shelled out at least $12,000 on a litany of dogs and cats in the past decade.

And that's only scratching the surface.

Even with the latest accounts of abandoned pets and packed animal shelters, owners are expected to spend a record $43 billion on their pets this year, $2 billion more than last year, according to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

About 67 percent of U.S. households own a pet, and chances are they spend half their pet costs on vet visits and over-the-counter medicine, the survey said.

"Pets don't live in the back yard anymore," said Dr. Bonnie Beaver, a professor of small-animal medicine at Texas A&M University. "They live in the house. Their role in our lives has changed. Some say they're family members."

This means pet owners are making more sacrifices, especially since veterinary advancements in the past two decades have made health care pricier, Dr. Beaver said.

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"It parallels human medicine," she said.

Today, CAT scans actually include cats, and doggie sonograms are routine.

Katherine Wells, a veterinarian at the Veterinary Referral Center of North Texas, said she's seen clients take out a second mortgage to pay for their pets' surgery.

Her Far North Dallas clinic offers everything from animal ophthalmology to radiology and internal medicine. Surgical procedures can cost more than $3,000.

Still, on a recent weekday morning, dogs and cats filled the small waiting room.

Although pet owners – many of whom are young professionals without children or empty nesters who have replaced their kids with animals – are willing to pay for major procedures, veterinarians worry they will cut down on basic care with the economic downturn.

"They are shying away from preventive things that will cost them more money in the long run," said Bernadine Cruz, a veterinarian and official of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Cruz recommends pet insurance – a health-care option better known in the United Kingdom – along with annual trips to the vet.

Less than 1 percent of pet owners in the U.S. have pet insurance, but the market is expanding. Only a handful of companies existed when Veterinary Pet Insurance, the country's oldest and largest animal health-care provider, started business in the early 1980s, said company spokesman Brian Iannessa. That number has since doubled, and Mr. Iannessa said business is better than ever.

"People are recognizing its value more so these days and holding on to their medical plans as they face economic uncertainty," he said. "They want to make the best medical decision without finances getting in the way."

The company has about 450,000 clients, double what it had six years ago. It charges about $25 a month for dogs and $20 a month for cats.

None of the current 11 pet insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions, a factor that has Fort Worth residents Ben and Carolyn Cason skeptical of such organizations.

"I just don't trust it ... all those disclaimers. You think, 'Gosh, what are they going to do?' " she said.

The retired couple, both 66, has spent more than $50,000 on their Shih Tzus in the past decade.

Sometimes it's been "bread or the dog bill," Mr. Cason said.

This week, they took Sassy, one of their five Shih Tzus, to the Veterinary Referral Center for a swollen lymph gland.

The cost?

Ms. Cason shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't matter. They're just like our children. They're a reason to get up in the morning."

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in dog

CHAMPAIGN – A case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever has turned up in a dog in Champaign County, public health officials said.

The dog's owner reported that it had been in Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve in Mahomet, according to the Champaign County Forest Preserve District.A disease caused by a bacteria carried by ticks, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever has not turned up in any people in Champaign County, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.

Symptoms of the disease in people are fever, nausea and muscle pain about one week following the bite, followed by a prominent rash, usually on the arms or ankles.

Public health officials warn you should check yourself and your pet for ticks after being out in tall grass or a wooded area.

If you find a tick, remove it with tweezers and wash and disinfect the bite area. Public health officials also request that you record the date and location of the bite, place the tick in a leak-proof, hard plastic container with rubbing alcohol and bring it to the public health building at 201 W. Kenyon Road, C, for identification.

Source: http://www.news-gazette.com/

Dog Health Care: Best Pet from Shelters

Every pet lover dreamed of having the best pet for themselves. Most of us go to the petshop to get those, but did you know that some of the best pets came from the shelters?

If you wish to get yourself a pet and at the same time give a home to an unfortunate lonely creature, the animal shelter might be the right place for you. Not only do they have a great selection of adult animals for adoption, but they also have kittens and puppies, even purebred animals. On average, purebreds account for about 25 to 30 percent of a shelter’s dog population.

You can depend on responsible shelters to assess the dogs health and temperament in order to make the best adoption matches possible. Another advantage is that shelter adoption fees are usually much less than prices at a pet store or breeder.

Don’t be discouraged if, when you first visit the shelter, there are no animals of the breed or type you want. Youth League of Animal Protection (227-1698, www.dogicat.org ) is non-profit animal rescue organization located in Kyiv that provides sanctuary for animals and specializes in caring for stray cats and dogs. The shelter receives new animals every day. The rescued animals are evaluated by a veterinarian, given the necessary medical treatment, and nursed back to health.

All of them are spayed or neutered. Before choosing your pet, you can even speak with an adoption counselor about whether your choice of a particular type or breed is the best for you. On their website www.dogicat.org they display the animals they have available for adoption. You can read about the responsibilities of pet care and adoption forms on the website.

Source: http://www.kyivpost.com/guide/general/29054/

Dog Health Care: Dog Body language - What does it meanL

NEW PORT RICHEY — Marilyn Wolf grew up on 3 acres in Indiana farm country. Her parents loved animals and took in a menagerie of strays and injured pets that needed tending.

As a little girl, she cared for wild rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, a pig, a groundhog, skunks, horses "and whatever showed up looking for love."

She learned to read their "body language" long before anyone knew what "body language" meant.

When she spoke to animals with a soft tone and gentle hands, they listened. When animals spoke to her, she listened, too.

What did she hear?

Well, things that the rest of us might not even notice.

Let her tell you.

"When a dog freezes with his weight forward and his ears going up, you know something's up — he might bite," explains Wolf, 57, a tall, exceedingly calm woman with a patient demeanor who works as pet trainer and animal behavior consultant.

Focus on behaviors

Her business, Korrect Kritters (www.korrectkritters.com), takes her throughout Pasco, Pinellas and northern Hillsborough counties. She likes to work in people's homes because seeing a dog in its everyday environment can tell her a lot.

"I like to see how people in the home interact with the dog," she explains. "How is the dog fed? Is it a shy dog that's being fed in the middle of the kitchen? Maybe that's not the right thing."

She's tuned in to behaviors like barking at the front door, nipping, chasing bicycles and kitchen counter grazing.

Wolf believes there are no bad dogs in the world: "Yes, there are aggressive dogs; yes, there are dogs that bite," she says, "but there are no bad dogs. Just behaviors that aren't desirable."

Wolf spends Thursday mornings as a volunteer at the Suncoast SPCA in New Port Richey, where she sometimes works with dog health issues.

A lot of times, dogs are dropped off at the shelter because they have behavior problems their owners can't handle.

Lately, the shelter has been taking in dogs whose owners have been forced from their homes by foreclosure.

"It's a sad, sad situation," says executive director Martha Murray. "So often in this business we see dogs that have been neglected. In these cases the animals have been loved, adored and held. They've been given up with such reluctance, it would break your heart."

One of the dogs Wolf was working with may well have been a foreclosure victim: Murray found Lily, a young shepherd-boxer mix, leashed to the mailbox of the veterinarian's office across the street.

"She had actually pulled the mailbox out of the ground," recalls Murray, who named her Lily because she found her right around Easter. She suspects that families facing foreclosure sometimes don't want to actually bring their dog into the shelter and tell their story because they are embarrassed.

For her part, Lily was full of happiness and love, so much so that she just wanted to jump up and down.

"She's just young and hasn't had any training," explained Wolf, who after five minutes had captured Lily's undivided attention. The brindle-colored dog had stopped jumping and was gazing at Wolf attentively.

"If I can't get her attention, I don't have anything at all," said Wolf , who charges $65 an hour for her expertise. Typically, training can be addressed in about five sessions, she says, but if there's a specific behavior that needs to be worked on, she can often help in just one session.

Wolf, who lives in the Timber Greens development in New Port Richey with her husband, Burt Weitzman, a retired IBM executive, wasn't always a dog trainer.

Thanks to Tommy

She's worked for the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Wolf and Weitzman moved to Pasco County in 2000 because it fit criteria they developed for retirement. Proximity to a large city, airports, hospitals, the water — as well as a solid local Jewish community — were high on their list.

"We chose the Tampa Bay area because it met a lot of those needs," Wolf says. After retirement, she began to pursue dog training, thanks to the influence of her late dog, Tommy, a Rhodesian ridgeback mix. Tommy posed a real challenge to the normally animal-savvy Wolf.

"Before he was a year old, he decided his job in life was to be our sheriff. He took his job very seriously," Wolf writes in a section of her Web site devoted to Tommy. "At home with us and with most people he was funny, happy and playful. When people came to the door or in the house, he was vigilant in his duties. He might be friendly, he might not, and I was never able to consistently identify the things that set him off. "

Wolf consulted discussion boards and began to read avidly on the subject of dog health and dog training. She attended seminars, classes and joined professional organizations.

"I wanted to be as good a partner to my dog as I could be," she writes. "I learned different techniques, training, behavior analysis, more body language specific to dogs, and environmental management."

Wolf became a certified pet dog trainer and earned other accolades. She's also a member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She officially launched Korrect Kritters in 2007, but health problems forced her to put things on hold for a few months. She began marketing the business in earnest about a month ago.

Now when she shows up for an appointment, she's driving her tan Honda van with a "Korrect Kritters" sign and wearing a polo shirt emblazoned with the logo. At the SPCA, dogs seemed to mellow in her presence.

She is following her dream, she says. And more.

"One reason I love training dogs is that I get to hug dogs all day," she says. "What a great job!"

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/

Dog Health: Dog Therapy for Injuries

When vets couldn't help Chantal Gray's one-year-old Labrador retriever, Trinity, she knew she had to try something new.

He has dog health problems, he was continually limping, but the vets were baffled because Trinity's X-rays were coming up inconclusive. They couldn't find anything wrong.

That's when Gray did what every Labrador retriever loves to do -- she hit the water.

"Trinity had a soft tissue shoulder injury," says Gray. "And because it's always a good idea for humans to work in water when they have joint injuries, we thought we'd try it with her."

So once a week for the next five months -- Gray hopped in the pool with Trinity at Ottawa's K9 Common Scents, rehabilitation facilitation and aquatics centre for dogs, and worked with Trinity while she strengthened her joints in a relatively painless way.

Five months -- and approximately $700 later -- Trinity had stopped limping.

"It was a good experience," says Gray. "It gave us reassurance that we were doing everything we could to help her recover. Trinity is part of the family -- we hated to see her in pain."

Pet therapy, whether it is hydrotherapy, acupuncture or massage, is a growing trend in the industry. This alternative method is being used to treat anything from joint and back pain and arthritis to anxiety issues.

Working the same way they do for people, these ancient methods of healing are being used on pets as a low-impact method, to aid in mobility and pain management. And more pet owners are adopting this often costly alternative to help their pets get back on their feet.

"It's absolutely a trend," says Kelly Caldwell, editor-in-chief and art director for Dogs in Canada magazine. "It's part of the shift we see in the importance we put on our animals as part of our lives."

Caldwell says opting for alternative therapies for pets can do more than strengthen their mobility and muscles -- it can literally work as a pick-me-up for pets.

"You have to be careful because animals can adopt the same mentality as humans when they are injured," says Caldwell. "When they are sore, they can get depressed because they're just sitting there sedentary. At some point, as the doctor always tells humans after an injury, you have to get up and move around."

Helping your pet recover through alternative therapies is also a great way to get your pet off of costly medications, which is better for their systems -- and our dog health -- in the long run.

And it is also a great way to strengthen the animal-human bond.

"If you view your pet as part of the family, you'll get into that pool," says Caldwell. "You will want to be part of their recovery. There is nothing worse than seeing your pet in pain."

Gray says if Trinity's issue reoccurs, she'll definitely consider hydrotherapy again.

"It is a more natural way to go," says Gray. "The only bad part about it is smelling like wet dog for the rest of the day."

Source: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=526f296a-2364-4bc1-b9f8-2bbb56a0b097