Heartworm Prevention

Question

My veterinarian has recently started promoting monthly heartworm preventive tablets for my dog and cat. I've also heard that the heartworm medicine used long term may be a greater risk to my pet's health. What should I do?

Answer

Heartworm disease is a serious but preventable condition. Whether or not your pet belongs on preventive medication depends a lot on the incidence in your area. We're not presently aware of any literature that notes serious risks or side effects of the preventive medicine. However, your veterinarian will take into account any other problems your pet has before prescribing the drug. Healthy kidneys and normal liver functions are essential in metabolizing most medications. For both dogs and cats, a heartworm blood test must be done before any preventive medications are given.

My dog's internal organs are on the wrong side - why?

Question

My dog keeps getting pneumonia, and we just found out her internal organs are on the wrong side. Help!

Answer

The condition is called Ciliary Dyskinesia or Immotile Cilia Syndrome. There are many forms of the disease and one in which the organs of the chest and abdomen are on the wrong side. In people it is called Kartagener's Syndrome. The disease cannot be directly treated.

Most cases develop multiple bouts of bacterial pneumonia, which are treated with appropriate antibiotics when they develop. The long-term prognosis for pets with this condition is guarded. Some animals have been maintained for more than five years, with intermittent therapy. Most of these dogs are infertile, but breeders should strongly consider not breeding relatives of affected dogs.

Vaccinating Your Pet

Question

I have four cats and two dogs. Until recently, I have had them vaccinated regularly. Please let me know what you would recommend to someone who has cats and dogs and wants to keep them safe but does not want to either endanger them or spend money unnecessarily.

Answer

The veterinary profession has spent the past six to seven years reexamining and discussing vaccine duration of immunity and revising vaccination protocols accordingly to make sure that companion animals get care that is tailored to their lifestyles. The goal is to make sure that an individual’s vaccine protocol is protecting them from risks they face, without vaccinating unnecessarily.

For example, in our practice we ask cat owners to describe whether their cats ever go outdoors or whether they are exclusively indoors and what other animals they might come in contact with. If a cat is exclusively indoors, we design a different vaccine protocol than if it goes out regularly or “escapes” with any frequency. Dogs that go to boarding facilities, grooming parlors or doggie daycares will have different recommendations than dogs that do not. The days of designing a single vaccine protocol for an entire species are over.

Good communication is the best tool in designing protocols that are proper for your pets. I suggest having a discussion with a veterinarian in your area, giving all of the information you know about your pets’ lifestyles. With that information, your veterinarian can explain what vaccinations he or she would recommend, at what frequency and why. At that point you can make an informed decision on a vaccination protocol designed specifically for your pet.

Why does my dog have fainting spells?

Question
My 10-year-old female Labrador Retriever has been healthy her entire life, but she recently starting having fainting spells when she encounters other dogs. She also has an occasional dry cough. I can’t determine if she is blacking out, having a panic attack or seizing, and each “episode” only lasts a few seconds.

Are these signs symptomatic of a particular disease?

Answer
I am very sorry to hear that your Labrador is having difficulties. There are a few diseases that might explain her condition. Among the most likely would be either a heart condition or neurological condition.

The episodes you are describing could be a “syncopal collapse,” which is fainting due to the heart not being able to keep up with the body's needs. This would explain the occasional cough as well as the difficulties that are occurring during times of excitement (such as when your dog encounters other dogs).

A syncopal collapse may be caused by one of two diseases that I would be suspicious of in an older patient such as your Lab:

• Dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle becomes weak and "flabby" over time. This condition makes it harder for the heart to keep up with the rest of the body.
   
• Pericardial effusion, a condition where fluid invades and accumulates in the membrane surrounding the heart.

Your veterinarian can perform a cardiac ultrasound to diagnose these diseases.

The episodes could also be neurological in nature, such as a seizure-like episode brought about by excitement. By nature, neurological diseases are more difficult to diagnose than heart conditions. In an older dog, seizures could be related to infection, immune system malfunction or in some cases cancer. Your veterinarian may wish to perform a MRI or CT scan to help diagnose a neurological condition.

Based on your description of your dog’s seizures and her cough, I suspect that she most likely has a heart condition. There are medications that can certainly help her and although you do not want to put her through a battery of testing, I would encourage you to consider a cardiac ultrasound and chest radiographs. Depending on what your veterinarian finds, treatment may be available to help improve her quality of life as well as extend the length of her life.

Bloat Problems

Question

My 12-year old beloved golden retriever mix has been having bloat problems for about a year. His veterinarian has put him on a new diet of chicken and rice, but he hasn’t had a bowel movement in several days — is something wrong?
Answer

Chronic bloating can be a very critical problem. During one of the bloating incidents, your dog’s stomach can actually twist or rotate. This can become an emergency situation very quickly. If it is "simple" bloat or gastric dilation without the twist, it is problematic, but not always as critical. It may be solved by the new diet that your dog is on.

It can seem very unusual when dogs do not defecate for some time. However, if your dog’s new diet is more digestible, there is less waste and less residue. Therefore, there will be fewer bowel movements.

As for when to worry, as long as there is no straining and as long as your dog continues to eat, there is unlikely to be a problem. However, if your dog is vomiting, has a loss of appetite or straining to defecate then these are signs you would need to be concerned about.