01.28.10
Posted in Clinic news at 7:10 pm by Clinic Blogger
Koda is an interesting and fairly typical medical case that we get in the shelter. He came to us with a long-standing and very complex skin disease. He was head to foot to tail one large cheesy greasy scab. Yeah, gross, right? You should have smelled him!
For a young dog with this degree of disease, many possibilities exist: allergies, auto-immune diseases, parasites, bacteria, and yeast, to name a few.
Because of the extent of the disease, it can be difficult to isolate the underlying cause. Oftentimes, with skin issues, one problem causes the dog to be more susceptible to another problem. For example, allergic skin disease can make a dog susceptible to bacterial or yeast infections. If you treat these secondary diseases without dealing with the primary problems, the condition is likely to recur.
In Koda’s case he had a generalized bacterial skin infection (pyoderma) but also an underlying disease called Demodecosis or Demodectic Mange.
Demodecosis is caused by a parasite called Demodex canis. Demodex is a mite that all dogs have but in small numbers and they usually don’t cause obvious symptoms or disease. Sometimes, animals with a less than robust immune system may not be able to keep theses mites in check and they multiply to such numbers that the animal loses hair, the skin may be flaky or greasy, or even have open sores. In severe cases you get a dog like Koda. Some veterinarians debate the merit in treating a dog with such an extensive disease process. The time required for treatment and also the possibility that the immune system is crippled enough to allow such disease might suggest future health problems.
We diagnosesd his primary condition with a skin scraping where we sample the superficial layers of the skin and examine them under the microscope. We saw loads of fat happy demodex mites.
To treat him we started him on systemic antibiotics to deal with the secondary pyoderma, twice weekly baths to degrease him and help with the cheesiness, and weekly injections of a medication for the mites. These conditions usually require treatment for two to eight months.
The pictures attached show his progression. I’m happy to report he was cured and adopted by one of the staff here who could just not let him go.
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As always, I’d like to thank our donors who give us the means to take on long-term cases. Some shelters cannot treat these dogs due to financial constraints and the long term care required to return them to health. We are lucky to have people like you.
Dr. Erika Anseeuw
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01.21.10
Posted in Clinic news at 9:00 pm by Clinic Blogger
This blog will likely get me some nasty feedback from angry defenders of the virtues of the purebred dog, but right now, I don’t care. I’m mad. I’m disgusted. I just spent an hour and the first of two surgeries to help a poor, sweet Pug named Tiger to breathe. It’s time to speak out on the matter of the genetic and anatomic deformations of the dog to suit our fancy. I’m talking about the selective breeding of individual dogs that have deformities that we find cute and appealing and perpetuating these defects to create and maintain so-called Breed Standards.
For example: the Pug. A dog that has been bred and selected to have a shorter and shorter face because people thought it looked attractive. As a result of this flattened face, the eyes bulge and frequently pop out of the socket, often resulting in blindness and the need to surgically remove them. Also, these dogs suffer from Brachycephalic Syndrome, a disease named after the dogs bred with the smushed face (the Latin translation means short head). It affects all the breeds with these genetic disadvantages: the Pug, Boston terrier, Pekingese, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Chinese Shar-Pei, English and French bulldogs, Lhasa apso, and Shih Tzu to name the most popular. These dogs, with their compressed noses, all have some degree of increased effort and difficulty in breathing from the time they’re born. Their nasal anatomy has been shortened; their soft palate, however, remained elongated relative to the length of their nose. As a result, the back of their throat is clogged with the tissue that forms the top and back of the oral cavity and the floor of the back of the nasal cavity. In addition, they tend to have a narrowed trachea (windpipe) so each breath is difficult and, for some individuals, exercise is impossible due to a severely decreased ability to breathe.
On the lighter end of their disability, these dogs may breathe noisily, snort and gag, and have trouble keeping cool or exercising. On the more dramatic end of the scale, they may suffer from collapse, sleep disorders, heart disease, and pneumonia. Shortening of the face also results in deep skin wrinkles that often are susceptible to skin infections, especially since the eyes often weep. All of this because we like the look of the squishy face. Many of these dogs require surgery to correct the Breed Standard characteristics that affect their health. To me it’s cruelty.
For Tiger, so far, I surgically enlarged his nostrils to assist him to breathe. I also had to remove a number of diseased teeth that didn’t fit into his mouth. The teeth were crowded in his shortened face. He could not bite normally and the teeth were stacked in sideways. As a result, they became encrusted with tartar and that lead to gingivitis and periodontal disease. Once he recovers from this surgery, we’ll perform another surgery to remove the excess soft palate that covers his windpipe with every breath. After this final surgery, he’ll be much more comfortable breathing and will be able to be more active. I can’t do anything about the risk to his eyes of popping nor for his narrowed trachea but I can at least make his everyday life more comfortable.
Breed Standards, or the Kennel Clubs’ requirements for a certain look of a breed set these cruel “ideals” and perpetuate the requirements to breed dogs with expected (and desired) disabilities. Breed Standards also mandate the surgical removal of extra bits of our dogs with toes, ears, and tails, all unwanted and “severely penalized” in some breeds, tolerated in others. Toes and tails are often removed in the breeders’ homes, without the benefit of anaesthetic or pain medication. Other breeds, such as the English Bulldog, has been morphed to such a degree that birth is only possible via a cesarean section. The giant, head desired by the judges and breeders has become too big to fit through the desired and required smaller pelvis.
The adorable wrinkled skin and Breed Standards of the Shar-pei cause these dog grief in many ways. Their droopy faces roll their eyelids onto their eyeballs. Can you imagine the pain of an eyelash in your eye multiplied by a hundred until surgery corrects it? They also suffer for the Breed Standard required for the shape of the ear with consequential narrowed ear canals, prone to infection. The excessive mucin in their skin that creates the wrinkles also causes a condition called cutaneous mucinosis where the skin bubbles and leaks this material or makes the skin prone to infection and parasites.
Purebreds often have other health problems concentrated in the breed such as hip dysplasia, heart disease, or blindness. These may be accidentally concentrated in a breed if they are not detected prior to breeding. Some unscrupulous individuals may continue to breed genetically disadvantaged individuals for commercial purposes. However, these issues in a breed are not usually frequent and, although they are unfortunate, they are not caused by egotistical purposes like the intentional breeding of unhealthy animals for ornamental reasons. The breed organizations strongly urge screening tests prior to breeding so that these genetic defects are not perpetuated. They fail, however, to acknowledge the issues of inherent disabilities related to Breed Standards.
I also do not argue that all purebreds should be abandoned. I feel that the original selection of dogs for specific functions and purposes that created some breeds was a great idea. We have happy, healthy, and anatomically functional dogs that sniff bombs, herd sheep, are a manageable size for apartment life, and have activity levels and interests that make them great companions for their people. Since there is a benefit to society and personal health when people own dogs, I’ll even go so far as to agree that there is benefit in a personal preference for a particular “look” of a purebred if that makes people more likely to own them. After-all, even cross-breeds are adopted for cuteness.
The purebred culture is a complicated and political one. Breeders and judges are not easily swayed to deviate from what they desire in the perfect example of a breed. Prospective dog owners are often unaware of the health problems with certain purebred dogs. They see a cute little puppy and think that love and veterinary intervention is good enough. Veterinarians are very good at performing these surgeries and they’re not going to deny an individual dog needed medical and surgical help to make a point about the perpetuation of the Breed Standard. The problem is there is a market and medical system that perpetuates these disadvantaged breeds.
If you like the look of a certain breed, why not check out your local shelter or breed rescue group? We often have many lovely “pre-owned models”. We frequently see Pugs, Shih Tzus, and American Bull-dogs in the smushy-face varieties. In addition, The Winnipeg Humane Society often adopts many normal-faced purebreds: Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds. Rottweilers, Beagles, Border collies, and Golden Retrievers are very common. However, one great benefit of adopting a mixed breed dog is that you can find a one-of-a-kind furry friend to suit your unique tastes and lifestyle. Adopting from a shelter will help prevent the creation of more deformed dogs and perhaps eventually help sway society away from this selfish practice.
Dr. Erika Anseeuw
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10.29.08
Posted in Clinic news at 1:23 am by Clinic Blogger
These last 5 months we have been fortunate to experience the young, fresh, new minds of several senior veterinary students from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and, my alma matter, The Atlantic Veterinary College. I was a student for many years and every fall still feel the stirrings in my heart to migrate back to the classroom. I scratch that itch with the opportunity to teach our next generation of veterinarians and my soon-to-be peers.
In reality, they often do the teaching. I’ve always found the best way to understand something is to be able to teach it to someone else. So with each new face, I get refresher courses in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and every other –ology we vets draw on every day.
One area that I know that I have more to give than receive is in surgery. There are few opportunities for veterinary students to get hands on training in the art of surgery and we have that in spades (or spays). Even though they are only budding surgeons, this last string of students have had very good hands and were all quick learners and became competent and even good surgeons in short order.
They were all very different women but all great in their own way. So thank you Kellie, Tracy, Jenny, Maura, and Leah for challenging me and for being interested in the unusual but meaningful life of a shelter vet.
We offer externships for senior veterinary students to learn what it’s like to be a shelter veterinarian and we have modest on-site accommodation to students who are not from Winnipeg. If you are veterinary student considering your options for you senior year, contact me and we can discuss your adventure here.
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03.26.08
Posted in Clinic news at 5:34 pm by Clinic Blogger
Working in a shelter, we get a variety of types of dogs, the majority of which are mixed breed. Mixed breed is another term for a mutt, a Heinz 57, or a cross-breed dog. Even though we see mostly mutts at The WHS, we always classify our animals by marking down what breed they look like. One reason we do this is because our computer program that keeps track of all our animals requires us to come up with a breed or breeds to classify it. Someone has to guess what breeds are in the heritage of the newly arrived stray dog to enter them into our system.
My dog is a mixed breed dog. Whenever someone meets her they invariably ask me what kind of dog she is. Their guesses vary widely. Some see Rhodesian Ridgeback (sans ridge) some see Rottwieller (although she is red, not black), some see Pointer based on her lovely floppy ears and short coat. I refuse to label her and I call her a red dog. This usually elicits a puzzled look and they ask again, as if I didn’t understand the question, and want to know what breeds went into making this large red, floppy-eared, long-legged, short-coated creature. I don’t know. Does it matter?
I think as humans we need to label things so that our brains can store the information for later retrieval. I am very much a labeler: what kind of bird is that? I wonder if that tree is a burr oak or a red oak? Really, what does it matter if I know that that fleeting glance of green and yellow was a warbler or not? It makes no difference to the bird or its ecology; yet it makes a huge difference to me. However, I cringe at labeling mixed breed dogs.When we envision a breed, much baggage goes with that breed based on our previous experiences, what we’ve read about it, and dogs of the breed we’ve met previously. Let me illustrate. When I say “Pit Bull”, strong beliefs accompany it. For the average person, stories of bloody maulings, or fighting dogs, or debates over legislation banning them may come to mind. When I say “Golden Retriever”, most people conjure up a slightly overweight, big bum-wagging friendly neighbourhood dog that anyone could go up to and cuddle.
Now, what if we have a mixed breed puppy who we know had one parent as a Pit Bull and one as a Golden Retriever? If I call that puppy a Pit Bull mix or a Golden Retriever mix the imagery and feelings about the dog are completely different for the average person. Fortunately and ironically, the dog will likely look like neither breed and be probably mislabeled a lab-mix.
When we adopt out dogs we try to give advice on their personalities. We work with them prior to going into adoptions and we get to know them. We do behaviour evaluations on the dogs to attempt to identify any problem behaviours and to better match them to families. We advise on preventative training for the adopters to do at home to keep the dog safe in the neighbourhood and enjoyable in the family. However, a lot of times it is their labels, labels like Lab mix, or Shepherd mix, or Corgi-Border collie mix, that people judge. These labels evoke feelings in people almost as strong as the newly forming bond between person and pup.
There are many reasons that we should not judge a shelter dog by their breed labels. Here are three:
Breeds and behaviour. Most breeds were developed hundreds of years ago. At this time, dogs were working animals, not pets, and their abilities to contribute as herders, guarders, and hunters kept them in the family. People simply could not afford to feed a dog that didn’t pay his own way. At that time, behaviour was most important.. Closely related dogs were bred to preserve the desired trait, and eventually, the dogs started to all look like one another. Dogs with these behaviours were valuable and could be sold and being able to recognize a dog with the desired behaviour based on how it looked made easier to sell.
Today, dogs are selected for breeding mostly on looks. (The exceptions being in the sporting dogs or herding dogs, such as Retrievers and Border Collies who compete based on their abilities to do what the breeds were intended.) In today’s breed competitions, champions are awarded on how they look in a ring for a five-minute trot. Are they standing properly, what colour is their nose, is the tail carried high, is the white stripe down the nose symmetrical? The dog’s behavioural heritage is irrelevant. Some dogs may still possess the behaviours originally selected, but since they are no longer used in these roles, what does it matter? Also, because we selected for looks alone, medical problems such as hip and elbow dysplasia, heart disease, and blood clotting disorders were concentrated in the breeds as well.
Breeds and genetics. With very few exceptions, we do not know what genes are important in determining the behaviour of a dog. We have not identified the gene or suite of genes responsible for making a good herding dog, for example. We also do not know what happens when we mix them. If we mix a herding dog with a guarding dog, do we get a dog with both traits, neither trait, or a confused dog who cannot decide to bring the sheep home or protect the barn from the white wooly invaders.
Also, there are few purebred dogs randomly breeding in the world. Most parents of unwanted pups are mixed breeds. What happens to the genetics of behaviour when we have ¼ or 1/16th of the breed involved?
Opinions. When it comes to guessing dog breeds, the truth is, your guess is as good as mine. My guess is educated; I often see the parents (or at lest one parent) and I see the offspring that resulted, but still, I’m really just guessing when it comes to labeling a stray dog as a “Something-mix”. They often come out looking like neither parent. Put two of us educated guessers together and you still get guessers.
The ONLY real reason to breed-labeling guesses are really important is for the purpose of describing the dog in case it is lost. If someone calls and says they have lost a dog that is a Black Lab-Corgi mix, I can picture in my mind what they are missing, and that really-short-legged black dog with the medium thick coat and floppy ears in our dog holding area is probably theirs. If I adopt out a dog like that, it may be described in our computer and Black Lab-Corgi mix, but I know it is unlikely to be really that mix as there are few sexually intact Corgis looking for Black Labs in Winnipeg, and they would have a lot of trouble actually mating based on physics alone.
The advice I give dogs and their future behaviour is usually based on how it acts now, not what its potential great-great-great grandparents did with sheep in Scotland. The best predictor of future behaviour is previous behaviour. If Shorty tries to chase and eat the cat I’m going to advise about hunting behaviours, not that he may like to swim because he looks like a black lab mix.
More important than genetic heritage is how we raise our puppies to be good Canine Citizens. We need to expose them to good experiences young, reward appropriate behaviour, spay and neuter them, give them attention and exercise, and address problems early on with professional humane help. Even pure-bred Golden Retrievers need this.
The truth is, marketing has played a huge part in our societal interest in labeling dogs. The Labradodle people have done it right. A Labradoodle is a Labrador Retriever mixed with a Poodle. It’s a mixed breed dog but it has a cute name and they can sell them for $1000 or more. They make claims that they have all the best qualities of Standard Poodles and Labrador Retrievers. I don’t know how they can funnel only the “good” genes and leave behind the inherited heart, joint, kidney, adrenal, and eye diseases but they’re so cute, so who cares? It’s marketing. Why would you buy a Lab mix or a Poodle mix when you can have a Labradoodle? Heck, it’s worth the money just to be able to say the word when someone asks you for your dog’s breed.
So as long as we have to label our dogs with breeds, I’ve decided to label my big red dog as a Red River Pointing Rhodeweiller. She is a fine example of the breed; bred by early Manitoba settlers for loyalty, hunting, guarding the children, and pulling heavy loads. They have a determined look, straight smooth topline, intelligent ears, all colours of red are accepted, but must have a darker zig-zag pattern at the base of the long, gently-tapering tail. I bet you think I paid a lot for her; she is such a distinguished sounding breed.
Dr. Erika Anseeuw
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02.15.08
Posted in Clinic news at 7:35 pm by Clinic Blogger
What could be more disgusting? These nasty and aptly named nematode parasites have been an unfortunate recent issue for some of our dogs. The dogs contract a larval form of the parasite by eating raw fish, crayfish, or earthworms (the intermediate hosts). The parasite then finds its way into the dog’s right kidney and grows into a behemoth of a worm, at over 1 metre in length. The nasty worms then proceed to eat away at the kidney, eventually destroying it. Fortunately, dogs have two kidneys and can exist with only one. Sometimes the parasite doesn’t find the kidney and will live in the abdomen, amongst the intestines, which sounds equally gross, but tends to cause less severe disease.
If the worms are in the kidney, they usually have bloody urine full of very telling worm eggs. In the abdomen, sometime they go undiagnosed if there is no obvious outward signs. The worms are not infectious to other animals unless they are in the kidney as there is no escape out of the abdomen to the outside world. They are not contagious between dogs but require the intermediate host to complete their life cycle.
The normal host for these parasites is the mink but other wild canids (wolves, coyotes, and foxes) may also be infected. People are equally susceptible but fortunately have a more discriminating palate than a dog and tend to prefer their fish cooked. Our affected dogs typically come from northern communities where dogs are often fed raw fish but any dog, anywhere in
Manitoba, is at risk if they eat these intermediate hosts. The parasite is found world-wide in freshwaters so question your sushi.
Columbus is a beautiful blue-eyed young male husky mix who had to have the right kidney removed as it was essentially a bag of worms and non-functional. He also had several large worms living free in his abdomen. With the worms removed, he is doing well and has been adopted (yeah!). Brie is a smaller red shepherd-lab mix female who still waits to have her “bag-of-worms” removed. The surgery can be quite long and complicated and it had been difficult fitting her into the surgery schedule, especially given how many of these we have been seeing. We were happy to have done her surgery this week.
Again, none of these dogs would be alive today without the support of our donors. I, and they, thank you.
Dr. Erika Anseeuw
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Posted in Clinic news at 7:24 pm by Clinic Blogger
This week was very busy with a large number of surgeries needing to be performed. In addition to the 125 spays and neuters, some interesting cases made their way into our surgical suite. (Fancy vet-talk in brackets.)
A five month-old terrier-mix pup named Scruff-McGruff, came in with a broken hind leg (mid-diaphyseal, short oblique femur). We repaired the break surgically with a stainless steel rod (called an Intramedulary Pin) and he is feeling much better and on the road to recovery. He had the benefit of an epidural in addition to general anaesthesia to aid in pain control.
Also this week, Ebony, a large (38kg or 84 lbs) older black lab had a broken tooth removed and a scaling and polishing of his teeth. His upper fourth premolar, or carnassial tooth, the largest in the mouth, had a slab fracture. These fractures can cause painful tooth root abscesses and the tooth had to be removed (or have a root canal which is beyond our means). The tooth was quite large, and being three rooted, very difficult to remove. We gave him additional freezing to the tooth (an infraorbital block), to help with pain control after surgery. Our new dental unit with its high speed drill was essential this week.
Also in the clinic are Benny, a husky mix receiving Vitamin K1 treatment for rodenticide poisoning, Steve, a young mix-breed dog who had to have a front leg amputated due to a badly fractured shoulder, and Sarah-Jessica, who is healed from her fractured femur (same as Scruff-McGruff) and is ready to have her pin removed.
Again, I want to thank our donors who make all these special procedures possible.
Dr. Erika Anseeuw
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Posted in Clinic news at 6:54 pm by Clinic Blogger
We are fortunate at the Winnipeg Humane Society to have a full veterinary clinic and staff. Many shelters rely on contracted vets to come periodically to their facility and examine or treat animals. With our veterinary team, we are able to examine animals daily and begin treatment as soon as it is needed. This also allows us to do more for each animal.
We employ three staff veterinarians and also have two contracted vets who help out with surgery. We have three Animal Health Technologists (who are like veterinary nurses) and several assistants and receptionists.
A good part of what we do is spay and neuter surgery. We are working toward spay or neutering every animal prior to approval for adoption. Each year we perform approximately 4500 spays and neuters on dogs, cats, and rabbits. In our new facility this year, we have the capacity to do over 5000.
In addition to spay and neuter, we also perform soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries as the need arises. As well, with our new dental machine, we can better deal with the dental needs of our animals. We have an X-ray machine and sophisticated diagnostic and monitoring equipment to better care for our patients.
What allows us to do so much for lost and unwanted pets is the donations of our thousands of supporters. Even a donation of $5.00 makes a big difference for our animals. That seemingly tiny amount will cover the cost of vaccinating one cat. So thank you for all your support.
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