​Hopefully you guys got a chance to see our live video we posted to our Facebook page pertaining to our senior health care visits, but if you didn’t, we are going to break down what was said here.  I do highly recommend watching the video because it will have much more information than what I am able to put in here. We are believers in preventative medicine and its benefits in keeping your pet healthy longer.  There is so much more to preventative medicine than vaccinations.  For starters, a good physical exam is worth its weight in gold! We can tell a good amount about your pet by a physical exam alone, but our hands can only take us so far. We need to know the functionality of your pets’ organs to be able to tell you that your pet is in great health.  In order to determine organ function, bloodwork and an analysis of your pets’ urine is necessary. We can diagnose diseases much earlier and help protect your pets organs much earlier if we know what’s going on on the inside of your pet. Here is what is included in our senior health care visit and what it helps tell us about your pet. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to schedule an appointment for you pet, please call us today!
 
In keeping with our commitment to offer the best health care services to our clients and their pets, we at Scottsville Animal Hospital are pleased to designate November as Senior Pet Health Care month.  The health of your pet can rapidly change as he or she ages, and early intervention can lead to our pets living longer AND living better.
As our pets age, stress upon vital internal organs is likely to become more serious.  Sources of chronic infection, such as tooth and gum disease, can adversely affect internal organs and contribute to failing health.  Aging also increases the risk of arthritis, disc disease, and other skeletal problems.  Many of these problems are readily detectable and can be controlled if diagnosed early and treated properly.
 
Components of Senior Health Care visit will be:

1. Physical examination - The cornerstone of early disease detection.
2. Complete Blood Count – The count of white and red blood cells, and also tests other components of blood.
3. General Health Profile – An internal organ system check.
4. T4 – Checks thyroid gland function.
5. Urinalysis – Detects early signs of diabetes and kidney degeneration.
6. Intestinal Parasite Exam -
7. SDMA – A marker to detect early kidney disease.

It’s time to address the elephant in the room: Canine Influenza. Instead of telling you a bunch of boring information about it – we are going to discuss some myths and facts.

• Myth #1: The canine influenza vaccine is a core vaccine.
  •  Fact: The influenza vaccine is not one that is recommended for every pet.  It is recommended based on risk factors alone.  Risk factors include pets that are boarded frequently, travel to dog shows, attend dog parks regularly, or are generally in a high population of other dogs on a regular basis.

 

• Myth #2: Canine influenza and Canine parainfluenza are the same disease.
  •  Fact: These are two separate diseases that both affect the respiratory system.  Canine parainfluenza is part of the combo, core vaccine (distemper, adenovirus type 2, parainfluenza, and parvovirus). There is not cross-protection from the parainfluenza vaccine for influenza virus.

 

• Myth #3: Canine influenza virus can travel up to 20 feet through respiratory secretions to infect other pets.
  • Fact: This myth is true.  Your pet does not have to come into contact with an infected pet in order to contract influenza.

 

• Myth #4: All dogs infected with canine influenza become very ill and will need hospitalization.
  •  Fact: Many dogs infected with influenza virus can be treated as outpatients. There are many dogs that can carry and shed the virus that don’t show symptoms at all.  With the current infectious strain (H3N2), 80% of dogs that come into contact with the virus will become infected and show symptoms.  20% of the dogs exposed will shed the virus but will not be sick or show any symptoms. Only 5-8% of infected dogs die from secondary pneumonia. 

 

• Myth #5: The canine influenza vaccine will protect my dog from becoming infected with this virus.
  • Fact: This vaccine is not a vaccine of prevention.  This vaccine will not keep your dog from being infected with canine influenza.  The point of this vaccine is to lessen the symptoms and shedding of the virus should your pet be infected.  This vaccine also requires a booster 2-3 weeks after the first one to give proper immunization.  If only 1 vaccine is received, it will not be affective in decreasing the symptoms nor shedding of the virus.  It is important that you keep this in mind when vaccinating your dogs.  Vaccinated dogs should take the same precautions as unvaccinated dogs when it comes to avoiding high-risk areas.

 
At the present time there is an outbreak in Louisville of Canine Influenza H3N2.  Where this outbreak began is unclear but it has affected 2 separate boarding facilities and Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners has treated several cases.  Due to this outbreak, we are recommending vaccinating at-risk animals.  If you are unsure if your pet is at-risk, please contact your veterinarian.  If your pet is exhibiting any of the following symptoms, please contact your veterinarian and take your pet in to be seen:
Persistent coughing
Sneezing
Nasal or Eye discharge
Lethargy
Reduced appetite
Fever
 
For more information please view the following links:
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/CanineInfluenza.aspx
 
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/CanineInfluenza.aspx
 

Meet Narco, our 6 year old German Shepherd Dog who has been serving this county as our drug detection dog for the last 5 years.  He has been an amazing aid for our Sheriff’s department and has helped to keep our town safe.  About a month ago Narco presented to us to remove a growth on his paw.  This growth was fairly small, and at the time he wasn’t bothering it much.  We removed the growth and sent it for analysis.  What came back was not what we were hoping for…the growth was malignant melanoma.  Malignant melanoma is a very aggressive form (especially on paws) of skin cancer.
 
Malignant melanoma is aggressive because of its ability to metastasis (or spread) to other parts of the body.  Metastasis  to the bone of the toe, the long bone of any extremity (femur and humerus), the nearest lymph nodes, and the lungs are the most common places.  Most of the time metastasis is already present when diagnosed.  If no metastasis is present at the time of diagnosis, then we generally see it occur within a year of diagnosis.
 
Narco is one of the lucky ones and does not have any metastasis present at this time.  Because of that we are hopeful that we can extend the time before his disease metastasizes or the best case scenario is that we can put it into remission.  He is set for retirement at the end of this year, but we are going to keep him working as long as he feels up to it during the course of his treatment.  When he retires, his handler is going to adopt him and continue to care for him as he has been doing.  Narco has a loving family to retire to and we would like for him to get to live the life of retirement and enjoy it!
 
Today we started Narco’s first chemotherapy treatment.  The treatment plan lined out for Narco will last a year and a half and the total cost is around $8,000.  We all want the best for Narco, but his treatment is expensive, so we are asking for help.  If you would like to contribute to Narco’s treatment, there are 3 ways to donate: a cash donation here at Scottsville Animal Hospital, South Central Kentucky K-9, Inc., and https://www.gofundme.com/K-9Narco.  Any donation will help Narco tremendously.