Of parvo and pit bulls, puppy mills and dog shows, and more

Since the "new parvo scare" fire is still raging on the lists, blogs, and forums, I wanted to link to the post I made about it yesterday, explaining why everyone needs to take a deep breath and stop freaking out because this "new" strain of parvo is 8 years old, the current vaccines cover it, and oh yeah, the sky is not falling. Please check it out and help spread the word.



In other news, Gina asked me to do the weekly roundup today, because she's busy making “Bad Girlz Club” badges for her dogs working on her books.



Now, I, too, have a life. Well, no, I don't. I have deadlines, which is not the same thing at all. But we'll pretend that's remotely like a life, and that this was thus a huge sacrifice on my part, and that therefore Gina owes me something, and so I'm going to steal a bit of Pet Connection bandwidth to remind everyone to come chat with author Karen Delise tonight, Sunday, February 10 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on DogHobbyist.com.



Karen Delise is the author of "The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression" and "Fatal Dog Attacks: The Stories Behind the Statistics, as well as the founder and lead researcher for the National Canine Research Council.



In her words:

"The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression" explores and reveals how our views and beliefs about canine aggression have changed over the last 150 years and how our perceptions about the nature and behavior of dogs has been influenced and shaped by persons and organizations who often times disseminate information about dog attacks which is tailored to further an agenda unrelated to the improvement of the human/dog bond.



We have come to be in the midst of a social hysteria about Pit bulls because we have abandoned centuries-old common sense and reasoning and have been duped by inaccurate reporting from a media that thrives on sensationalism and by politicians who traffic in rumors, myths and pseudoscience in their efforts to pass legislation that demonizes dogs while exonerating criminal and abusive owners.



Despite the intense media, political and public interest in dog attacks, there is a disturbing scarcity of accurate information and investigation done on the real causes and reasons for these incidents.



If we truly believe that the extremely rare cases of fatal dog attacks merit extreme measures in the management of dogs — if our concern and shock is genuine — then we must be equally genuine and sincere in seeking out and addressing the real causes for these incidents.



Whether our goal is community safety, understanding canine behavior, furtherance of humane treatment towards dogs, or the advancement of the human-dog bond, it is critical that we examine all the details available about dog attacks.

I hope some of you will drop by!



And not about pit bulls specifically, but from the "save the pit bull, save the world" blog, a few words on Prozac for pups:

I’ve come across a number of people on the internet who think that the use of Prozac (including the doggy version Reconcile) is an absolute Laff Riot. They see it as another symptom of our excessively medicated society. And maybe they’re right, but here’s the thing– it’s not so funny when you’ve seen dogs tear up their feet and break off teeth trying to escape a crate during a thunderstorm. It’s not much fun when you have a dog come in all broken and bleeding because she’s jumped out of a second story window when the low battery warning for the smoke detector started beeping. It’s no fun to have your dog hurt himself, destroy your house, and be a complete disaster because he’s got fears that are out of control and neither he nor you know how to handle them.



I know there are cases where psychiatric medications are prescribed inappropriately. But that’s true of many medications, from steroids to antibiotics to Prozac. That doesn’t make the medication bad or ridiculous. And there are many cases where psych meds could be extremely helpful, but the owners are unwilling. They scoff about it “just being a dog” or laugh about it being Prozac, and allow their dogs to suffer just the same.



Phobias like this are very real medical issues. Thunderstorm and sound phobias can claim lives. And yet, there’s help available. Karen Overall, a well-respected veterinary behaviorist, wrote an excellent article about thunderstorm phobia for DVM magazine, in which she talks about the benefit– the importance– of medication, specifically with alprazolam (Xanax), and the absolute necessity of treating these dogs.



[....]



To me, sound phobia is just another medical issue, and one that there is help available for. Watching him suffer and stress through storms, through fireworks, was heartwrenching, and knowing that by doing anything to comfort him, I’d be making him worse, was incredibly hard for me. So being able to pop him some pills and make him not need that comfort was just wonderful for me. Call me lazy if you will. Call me just another brainwashed victim of the drug industry. But if a couple of pills can improve both of our lives so dramatically, sign me up.

I didn't mean this to be a pit bull-theme post, and it's really not... but Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly is scaring the crap out of me with her post about a nasty infection at her local shelter that's killing dogs:

The tawny pit bull mix was clearly dead, lying in a pool of his own blood. In the run next door, a shepherd mix was laying on his side, panting heavily and staring at the wall with a glazed expression on his face. Omigod, is this what it’s always like at these places?



I made my first visit to Miami-Dade Animal Services (our County-funded animal shelter) last Monday night. In an overabundance of guilt I decided to get a little more active in my local VMA (veterinary medical association). Truth be told, it was because the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association (SFVMA) held its first board meeting of the year at this venue that I felt compelled to attend. (Killing two birds with one stone, as it were.)



For a while now, I’ve been hoping to get a bird’s-eye view of the shelter with a behind-the-scenes tour. Last Monday’s meeting offered a double-bonus: A full-facility tour presented by Miami-Dade’s top dog in Animal Services, Dr. Sara Pizano.



I also got to see the first two cases of a devastating disease now sweeping through the facility: a fulminating respiratory infection that looks like kennel cough but progresses quickly to what looked to me like canine Ebola. Blood everywhere. Within 24 hours of the first symptoms. I can’t imagine anything scarier.

Me either, Dr. Patty! She goes on to describe a scene out of any animal lover's hell, and tells of efforts being made to identify, treat, and prevent the spread of the infection. She goes on:

Dr.Pizano has been at the shelter since its management structure was overhauled by the County three years ago. Instead of law enforcement managers (yes, the police department), the County recruited a vet who had cut her teeth at a neighboring county’s shelter.



It’s clear that Dr. Pizano is a political animal of the take-no-prisoners variety, which I’m hoping will serve her well in our cutthroat county government. Since she arrived at this dilapidated, egregiously mismanaged shelter, she’s doubled adoption rates and can recite chapter and verse of Winograd’s treatise. When I questioned her, she claimed that, “there’s nothing [he advocates ] we’re not doing here.”



To that end, she’s lobbying hard for a private foundation to funnel money into building a new facility where infectious disease can be better managed and the citizens of our County can be better enticed to meet their new loved ones.



But every day brings new disasters. Over a hundred new animals come in every day. Over 30,000 a year. And she’s only one person.



As I left the facility on Monday night I couldn’t help asking the security guard on duty at the gate one last thing: “How many employees work here at night?” It was a trick question. I already knew the answer: “Just me, Miss.”

Read the whole sad, scary thing here.



Other good stuff out there: Our friend the Terrierman has some rants on about the AKC and puppy mills (with which I agree) and dog shows (on which I both do and don't; a lot of what he says about their impact on working dogs is inarguable, but dog shows and the clubs that put them on can do a lot of good, too).



Hope to see you at Karen Delise's chat, and enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

Comments

[2CatMom]

If you had a high blood pressure, you'd take meds to make it better, right? You don't say, well that's the way I am, I'll just live a diminished life because I don't want to change my internal chemistry.



So what's the difference with taking medication for a brain chemical disorder - this goes for animals as well as people. In fact, I think it goes more for animals because they can't go to talk therapy or analyze why they get anxious.



One of my cats has developed a really over-the-top fear of going to the vet. My normally friendly, outgowing cat hides under a chair and shakes and cries in the examining room.



I now give him a small dose of a tranquilizer -he's perfectly alert, but it cuts the anxiety by about 80%. This makes it a whole lot easier for the vet to do a thorough exam, and I believe its a whole let stressful for the cat. He never going to love going to the vet, but I think making it tolerable for him is the least I can do.

[Gina Spadafori]

This is my same point -- much debated here -- about treating animals for pain. (Or people, for that matter.)



I really don't understand the moral issue of taking meds to help with chemical imbalances that cause mental health problems, or to help deal with acute or chronic pain.



Honestly, I have had times in my life where I have used both pain meds and anti-anxiety and/or anti-depressants. They allowed me to remain active and productive.



Why is this a bigger issue than using an antibiotic to fight an infection? I don't get it.

[mikken]

Having a dog who developed sound phobias, I can attest to it being a medical issue. But it was hypothyroidism that caused it, not something that should be addressed by Prozac.



I have not seen the article, but I do hope that the good doctor addresses the possibility that low thyroid levels can also cause fear of fireworks, gunshots, and even low battery warning beeps...



Every dog with sound sensitivities (and any other odd behavior issue) should have *at least* one full six panel thyroid test run FIRST, before the vet reaches for the Prozac.

[mikken]

My concern is that vets will be too free with the anti-anxiety/anti-depressants when there is a medical condition like hypothyroidism that needs to be addressed.

[Susan Fox]

I have a friend who has a terribly sound-phobic yellow lab. I'm going to call her tomorrow about getting Piper's thyroid checked and see if she knows about using Prozac. It breaks her heart to see what he goes through on the 4th of July. And we live in a rural neighborhood where it's not really too bad.



Gina, I'm with you 110% on your last comment. No excuse anymore for an animal to suffer physical or mental pain.



But, Mikken, I do see what you are saying also. It can be too easy to reach for a drug before doing the diagnostic heavy-lifting.



Great, helpful info from you both. Thanks!

[mikken]

Good for you helping out a friend, Susan! Make sure she asks for the full six panel test (it's special order, but better than the little T3/T4 that most vets run). Best place I've found both for price and analysis is HemoPet (http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM). I ship all my thyroid testing there these days.



If it is hypothyroidism, addressing those hormone levels will make for a happier, healthier dog fairly quickly. If it isn't hypothyroidism, then she's got other options she can pursue with her vet. And thanks to you, now she'll know that!