In Hong Kong,  microchipping of dogs is mandatory-  to try to help ensure that the small region can stay free of rabies (which is endemic in mainland China), all dogs in Hong Kong legally need to be vaccinated against rabies. To prove its the right dog being vaccinated, they also all legally MUST have a microchip.

Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Italy and Portugal have introduced mandatory microchipping rules. France requires that some breeds either be chipped or tattooed.

In the UK, there is no rabies. But a new issue is forcing the government to consider mandatory microchipping- as an attempt to crack down on dog-related fighting and aggression.

If all dogs are compulsorily microchipped, their owners can be more easily traced.

Home Office Secretary Alan Johnson said there was “no doubt that some people breed and keep dogs for the sole purpose of intimidating others.”

“It is this sort of behavior that we are determined to stop,” he told reporters. Use of microchips would help trace the owners of dogs involved in attacks, while insurance would mean that victims of dog attacks are compensated for their injuries, he said.

Hospital admissions and court cases involving dangerous dogs have been on the rise in Britain, a nation whose canine population numbers 8 million. In London, court cases have climbed, from 35 in 2002-2003 to 719 in 2008-2009, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Dog fighting complaints have also soared tenfold since 2004, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which reported 284 cases in 2008. Some 6,000 postal workers are bitten each year.

Dog attacks that have killed at least five children since 2006 have also kept the issue in the headlines. Last year, a 4-year-old was mauled to death by a pit bull at his grandmother’s house in northern England and a 3-month-old was killed by a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell at his grandmother’s home in South Wales.

What is a Microchip anyway?

a microchip the size of a grain of rice is injected under the skin of the dog between its shoulder blades. The chip contains a unique code number, the dog’s name, age, breed and health as well as the owner’s name, address and phone number. When the chip is “read” by a handheld scanner the code number is revealed and the details can be checked on a national database.

So, what do you think?

as a vet, I think its a good idea, as long as its affordable for people to do. Its not painful for the animal, it helps re-locate lost pets, and it can prove ownership. And if we can stamp out people using dogs as  ”status dogs” and then them being used by some irresponsible owners to intimidate communities or as a weapon by gangs, that would be excellent.

David Hasselhoff appears to be quite a dog lover.

He read an article about a heroic Staffordshire Bull Terrier called “The Hoff” (named after him!) who  saved his owner from a burning house… and blogged that he “wanted to meet him in person.”

Later he blogged that he found the dog and made contact, but hasn’t had time to make it across to the UK yet to say hello in person.

Anyone know any other stories of “heroic pets”?

what is this? from the quiz here

Its a Giardia Parasite.

Giardia are  protozoans (single celled organisms) and are commonly found in the intestines of many animals including dogs. This parasite clings to the surface of the guts, or floats  in the mucous lining the intestines.
A few percent of dogs and cats can carry Giardia organisms and not show any sign of disease.  Diarrhea, bloody or mucousy stool (often accompanied by gas)   is seen most often in affected puppies and kittens.  Giardia can have a big impact on the health status of malnourished and stressed pups and kittens.
Its a zoonosis which means that people can catch it. Symptoms are similar as to pets, and (when I had the misfortune to catch it) there is a lot of belly discomfort due to gas!

Following on from the recent Pop Quiz here this is the Answer!

Okay this dog is exhibiting some of the sign’s of heatstroke.

Be aware that Heatstroke is a life-threatening and indeed often Fatal problem, the dog needs urgent veterinary care Immediately.

Dog’s cool themselves by panting, primarily. So, if its a hot humid day, actually its difficult for them to get cool, as if the weather is humid, their panting is less effective.

If the dog has not been clipped and it lives in a hot country, the insulation from its hair/coat will make it even more hot.

Heatstroke is a dangererous condition and many dogs die from it every year, worldwide.

Here is a good article on “How Dog’s cool themselves”.

The RSPCA in the Uk get 6000 calls a year about heatstroke

Please ask your local vet about it.

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I’ve been using Twitter quite a lot recently as a tool to help listen to the pet owning, and veterinary communities, and hear what they are all talking about.

One  interesting tool is Twitter Search http://search.twitter.com , this tells you in real time, what people are talking about.

I often run a search using the word  ”vet” (as this is my job title!) and apart from references to “veterans” in the US, I get to listen to an interesting stream of peoples comments (i.e. all  those comments that include the word “vet” in the phrase!).

Given that more than a Million people use Twitter, it gives an interesting cross-section of humanity, and what they are saying.

It gives an idea about the different range of emotion that veterinary clinic staff see and feel  from clients each day. From little kittens coming for their first visit ever, to old dogs coming for perhaps  the last time… I’ve included a selection below from the last few hours. (The twitter usernames are hidden).

happiness and excitement

took noodle to the vet. What an adventure- noodle’s in the box, no she’s not, got her back in - then out again, finally in. Uh oh. she’s out

love and care

Just took Rodney to the vet….very worried about my little guy. His heart is not working correctly and his lungs are congested. Prayers.

Sam looks like he is improving! One of the first dogs in history to survive aspergillus. Bless our vet team.

At the vet with Kaimana. Bloody nose. I hope its not anything serious. I love that darn dog!

stress

“Dear dog. Please don’t be sick. We don’t have money to take you to the vet. Use your super powers to feel better. K. Thx.”

Baily dropped off at Vet. now we walk and wait. and worry. and worry. and worry…

When my vet calls, it’s never a good sign…

anger

Just spent a freakin $190 at the vet’s office for my 2 cats. ….that is a lot of NKOTB concerts I am missing. Sucks ass big time.

I just got my dog maxi back and mad about the vet bill

grief

the vet buried our little horse yesterday.:(

I just called my vet to schedule an appointment to put my 14 year old dog down…

Have a good weekend everyone.

Twitter seems a fast growing + very popular way for pet owners to communicate. Its an enjoyable way to chat with others and share information…. are you using it yet?

A couple of interesting success stories  I have recently learnt more about, revolve around pet related businesses and charities.

1) @Paw Luxury which is a pet related online Business, earlier this year won a business award at the Shorty awards, for the most successful business on Twitter.

Some of this success  I imagine comes from clever games they play such as the weekly Barkhunt.

This is an interactive game they play with some of their followers each week.

If you are interested in them, you can read a review of an interview with them here and also another one  here.

Paw Luxury specializes in selling earth friendly products. They say “We offer quality products that are stylish, durable, all natural, organic, holistic, sustainable, biodegradable, fair trade, and Made in the USA.”  Their  motto is “healthy dog, healthy earth, and happier life”.

2) @RomeoTheCat is another success story- they have raised US$ 5000 for pet charities  via twitter- see here for more details- what great work.

Apart from the  success stories above  twitter is a fun way to just talk to other pet owners.  For those who like twitter, here is a link to ‘cats who twitter’ and here is a list of ‘dogs who twitter’!

Please let us at the Pet Doctor Forum know if you hear of any other interesting ‘pets on twitter’ related success stories like these!

Our Directory here lists some veterinary clinics on Twitter. And of course you are welcome to ‘tweet’ questions for the vet to us at @petdoctorforum (although we do prefer you to them put in the Forum instead as its hard to comment in 140 characters).

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In response to the Medical Pop quiz question on the forum…

Dry eye is a disease mainly affecting dogs, it is due to poor tear production, hence the name.

Actually its full proper name is Keratoconjunctivitis sicca.

If your dog keeps getting eye infections, ask your vet to check for this with a quick simple test. If the tear production is low and the eyes are dry, you are then prone to other eye problems  such as conjunctivitis.

Here are some further details on the disease and treatment by a company who makes one of the common commercial treatments for this disease… and there is a lot more information on the web about this disease.

In the US, this month Human medical doctors are “up in arms about websites rating medical care”.

When I first set up  this forum (Feb 09, not long ago) , I had a “rate the clinic” section…(where clients could use that section to make personal recommendations about veterinary clinics they liked and disliked) a few of my Veterinary colleagues told me that “other vets wouldn’t like this”..

…even though it was hardly a new idea, Vet Ratingz having had an online prescence for a while now … so I elected to remove it for the current time.

So what do people think about online rating of medical care? Why are US physicians up in arms about it?

I feel that we have entered the 21st Century, and in this century human and veterinary physicians are not longer simply “experts”, we are also “service providers” and a “service industry”.

For the vets, James Herriot no longer exists, being a vet is still a vocation and not just a career, but we do want weekends and holidays and time off also;

And for clients, clients do wan’t options and second opinions and referrals if necessary, and to have an increased role within the decision making processes and to be as informed as possible.

Online rating is still something more confined to the Human rather than the veterinary profession, and its mainly a US phenomenon… but not exclusively.

Below we can learn from the US human physician experiences.

1) First, online website reviews

Comments like  “Very unhelpful, arrogant, did not listen and cut me off, seemed much too happy to have power (and abuse it!) over suffering people.” have started to appear on sites like  www.ratemds.com

which is one of the online human physician rating web sites.

Dr. Jeffrey Segal, a North Carolina neurosurgeon states that some sites “are little more than tabloid journalism without much interest in constructively improving practices,” and their sniping comments can unfairly ruin a doctor’s reputation.  This latter point  does seem a valid criticism…what do people think?

In return, some US doctors are fighting back by asking all their patients to sign a standardized waiver agreement. Patients who sign agree not to post online comments about the doctor, “his expertise and/or treatment.”

If they then post anything on an online site, the Doctor can go to the site with the waiver, and insist that the website removes the comments.

2) “Secret Shoppers” for Hospitals

This was planned to be introduced in some US hospitals but was recently pulled.

“Secret shoppers” are commonly used to improve customer service in retail stores and hotels. In the medical field, undercover patients don’t evaluate a doctor’s care, but they do track how hospital staff treat patients, considering measures like making appointments, waiting times and the courteousness of staff. Some bigger UK and US veterinary chains do use these services also.

Pro’s- Dr.  Greene, a member of the A.M.A.’s ethics panel who practices hematology-oncology in Lima, Ohio, told The Tribune “We are running a service business, and we are not as focused on that as we should be.”

Con’s- could get in the way of medical care for real patients. Information gathered by a secret shopper could be used by trial lawyers in lawsuits against physicians!

Summary-

So what do people think?

if these rating services  provide Doctors and Veterinarians  with even the smallest  incentive to make their practice or their own care any better, kinder or more efficient, then all the better for the patients or pets  in their care?

The point of the websites is not to evaluate one’s technical skills as a Doctor but to help other consumers be aware of problems in customer service or overall performance and to choose a professional based on that information.

OR, is it a step too far, and we should not allow these services to exist, and give ‘waivers’ to clients for them to sign?!

What do people think?

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References below,good links:

USA Today Article: Doctors seek gag orders to stop patients online reviews

NYT blog on Secret Shoppers

Chicago Tribune- Secret Shoppers not the cure

The exact details of what happened are not clear, but gradually we are understanding a little more as to what could have caused this dreadful and extremely sad episode of the Polo ponies recent deaths.

People around the world from all streams of life have heard about it, and its chilling and depressing for any horse lover to hear about.

The Washington Post has printed full details on this, on Friday, April 24, 200- see the link at the bottom.

According to an official at the pharmacy in Ocala, Fla., allegedly the pharmacy that prepared a nutritional supplement given to 21 horses who collapsed and died at the polo event on Sunday have admitted making a mistake in the dosage of one of the ingredients.

Jennifer Beckett, the pharmacy’s chief operations officer, said in the statement on Thursday “On an order from a veterinarian, Franck’s Pharmacy prepared medication that was used to treat the 21 horses on the Lechuza Polo team,” . “An internal investigation . . . concluded that the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect.”

Its shocking to hear that these deaths could possibly have be due to a simple accident of calculating dosages.

The supplement made by the pharmacy was allegedly not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States, but it is considered common in international horse circles and not harmful in its standard form. It includes magnesium, selenium, potassium and Vitamin B12.

These are simply supplements, and not ‘drugs’. They do naturally occur in both nature, and within the body.

But getting the doses wrong can be a probllem.

For example, if the blood potassium levels get too high, this is called Hyperkalaemia.

Symptoms are fairly nonspecific and generally include muscle weakness and tremors but can progress to arrhythmias of the heart, and in extreme cases, sudden death.

Selenium overdosage could also have caused the horses deaths.

But the error in the dosage for any of these supplements would most likely have had to have been by a very large factor, to cause this.

here is the link to the washington post article

Our thoughts are with the people who looked after the horses at this time.

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Ive just done a cruciate ligament repair surgery on a small dog today. The cruciate ligament is a ligament within the knee of pets (and people) which helps stabilize it.

But that got me thinking about how tricky the operation can be on big dogs. In fact, this dog below Samson is the biggest dog in the UK, and he ruptured his ligament and required an operation for it also, last year in the UK.

Samson is the big one. Fortunately today I drew the more lucky straw, and did the operation on a dog more similar in size and shape to the one he is standing with!

Its a pretty common operation in people: apparently in the US, among football players (professional and also amateur) alone, some 45,000 knee operations are performed annually!

In the UK, Michael Owen did this one time, in fact most professional footballers have ruptured this ligament at one time or another.

A torn cruciate ligament usually occurs through a twisting force being applied to the knee whilst the foot is firmly planted on the ground or upon landing.

In people who have had this, they say

• There may be an audible pop or crack at the time of injury
• there is feeling of initial instability, may be masked later by extensive swelling.
• A torn ACL is extremely painful, in particular immediately after sustaining the injury!

Anyway, back to the dogs- Samson shown above is a Great Dane-Newfoundland cross stands an incredible 6 ft 6 in (1.98m) on his back legs.

He is a massive 20 stone (127kg) hound with a 59 inch (1.5m) chest and a 29 inch (74cm) neck.

Im just happy I did the operation on a small dog today, its so much easier!

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