Pet Corner

Continued from last week Last week, we made some general comments on the treatment of poisonings. 

Continued from last week Treatment In those instances when you have actually witnessed the dog ingesting a poisonous substance (rat bait, say), you can at least try to institute immediate supportive remedial action, according to what the poison was, even before you begin your trip to your vet.

Continued from last weekLast week, we dealt with poisonings that occurred because of stings and bites by poisonous insects and other life forms. 

Continued from last week Stings The ‘stings’ of insects introduce a toxic substance (a poison) into the bitten (stung) animal.

Continued Poisons I suppose that if I were to carry out a statistical analysis of all the reasons why animals are most often presented at the clinic, and what the greatest cause of death is, the result would be poisoning.

General considerations Mostly, these columns serve to advise on what owners/ caregivers of companion animals should/could do before carrying the pet to the veterinarian.

Continued from last week Antibiotics In the practice of human medicine, the misuse, abuse and incorrect use of drugs and all forms of medication must be high on doctors’ lists of frustrating activities carried out by their patients.

Continued from last week Tranquillizers Tranquillizers are drugs used to relieve anxiety, treat motion sickness, and sedate a dog for ease of  handling and treatment.

It is quite amazing how we humans like to ‘cure’ ourselves and our loved ones.

Well, we have spent quite a few weeks discussing the care of the elderly dog – trying to lengthen his life span.

Continued Let’s continue our discussion on the dietary requirement of the older dog.

Continued What should the diet of an old dog be? Firstly, we must understand that older dogs – being less active – would need less energy-giving foods (less calories).

Continued Organ failures As can be expected, as the dog gets older, some of the vital internal organs tend to deteriorate.

Continued Teeth and the oral cavity As dogs get older, even with the best oral hygiene, they tend to lose their teeth and exhibit gum diseases.

Continued I found the following in a text written by Drs Carlson and Giffin.

Continued Last week, we mentioned those important factors which influence the well-being of the older dog.

Now what is an ‘old dog’? I don’t want to get philosophical and equate the question with the one usually directed to humans (How old is old?)

No, the topic is not about ‘stray dogs’ that roam our cities and rural roadways.

Over the past two weeks, we removed our discussions from animal health matters and concentrated on topics that could be of other interest to pet owners, if for no reason that the issues often impact directly on the well being of ourselves and wards.

Last week, we took a break from the current topic of Liver Diseases and discussed the brutality associated with the so-called training of dogs by people who themselves need training.