Does my kitten really have a cold?

We see a lot of new cats and kittens in the spring and summer, which means we see a lot of sneezing cats with weepy eyes. Cats and kittens may sneeze for a number of reasons including bacterial or viral infections, irritation to the mucous membranes, allergy and foreign objects within the nose. Discharge from the eyes (or weepy eyes) can also occur for many reasons; bacterial or viral infections, injury, foreign objects within the eye and allergy. By far the most common cause of both eye discharge and sneezing in the young cat is an upper respiratory infection caused by Feline Herpes Virus. Feline Herpes Virus is highly prevalent within the cat population with approximately 80% of cats infected with Herpes virus, although many may not show any signs of infection. Cats at risk of showing signs of infection are those with immature or compromised immune systems, cats from a shelter environment, outdoor cats and those that live with more than 1 or 2 other cats. Many new cats and kittens come from a shelter environment or have an immature immune system which explains the higher incidence of upper respiratory disease in these animals. 

Signs of infection:

In addition to sneezing and discharge from the eyes, infected cats may display discharge from the nose, coughing, corneal ulceration, ulcers within the mouth, lack of appetite and lethargy. The signs shown by any individual cat depend on the severity of infection and whether or not there is concurrent infection with other viruses or bacteria. 

Diagnosis:

In mild cases of Upper Respiratory Infection a tentative diagnosis is made based on history and physical examination. In more severe cases further diagnostics are often required to rule-out other causes of illness. Diagnostics tests may include baseline blood work, FIV/FeLV testing, swabs of nasal or ocular discharge for viral and bacterial testing and possibly radiographs to look at the lungs. 

Treatment:

Most cases of Feline Upper Respiratory Infections will run their course within 7-10 days without treatment. Cases with concurrent bacterial infections may need antibiotics to help speed along recovery. A Lysine supplement can help to speed recovery from Herpes virus infections. In severe cases cats may require hospitalization with intravenous fluids and assisted feeding if they are lethargic and not eating. 

Prevention:

Prevention of upper respiratory infections in cats is three pronged – vaccination, supplementation and avoidance.

Vaccination

The kitten vaccination protocol contains vaccines for common viruses that cause upper respiratory disease in cats. Kittens should receive 3 inoculations beginning at 6-8 weeks of age spaced 3-4 weeks apart. Re-vaccination is every 1-3 years depending on lifestyle and the type of vaccine used.

Supplementation

Cats or kittens known to be infected with the Herpes virus can be given a lysine supplement daily or when signs of infection are noticed. 

Avoidance

Once infected, cats are infected for life; however, episodes of overt disease can be avoided.  Cats that are not infected can be protected by following these same avoidance strategies. 

• Cats should be housed in uncrowded situations with less than 3 cats total per household.
• Stressful situations should be kept to a minimum. 
• Keeping cats inside will lower their risk for upper respiratory infection. 

If you have any questions, if your cat's sneezing cold is lasting more than 10 days or if your cat's behaviour is affected (lethargic, not eating), please don't hesitate to call your veterinarian.

Levi the long-legged wonder

It's been awhile since we've had a feline from the Guelph Humane Society here so we're pleased to introduce Levi to you! It's nice to have a "resident" cat in the clinic again, but we'd really love to find this handsome fellow a permanent home quickly.

Levi is a lovely long-tailed, long-legged green-eyed kitty who likes to be around people and has enjoyed exploring the clinic. He came to the Guelph Humane Society as a stray and has recently been neutered and had his first set of shots. He's a pretty mellow guy, and would likely do well in a house with other pets or children. He's got an easily coaxed purr, and is content to sit and cuddle for awhile!

If you or someone you know are interested in coming by to get to know him, just drop in during our regular business hours.

UPDATE: Levi has been adopted and is enjoying exploring his new home and getting to know his new family!

Holiday hazards around the home

We don't want to be a downer at the holidays, but it's true that at this time of year we tend to see more pets needing emergency care due to some common holidays hazards. Families are busy celebrating, and might not always notice what their dog or cat are getting into. Here are a few things to keep in mind during the festive season:

Christmas Tinsel and Christmas tree ornaments

Tinsel, though very pretty, is very attractive to pets, especially cats. Though it is non-toxic if they do ingest it, the long strands can become tangled within their intestines. They will not be able to pass the tinsel themselves, and it can result in a foreign body obstruction.  If you see your pet eating tinsel it is best to seek immediate veterinary care.

Ornaments hung on the tree at pet height can easily be seen as toys. Make sure if you are hanging any decorations on your tree that you place them out of your pets reach. Pets may decide they look like a tasty snack or toy and break them, leading to injury.

Christmas lights and electrical chords

Lighting on the tree or even around the house may be a hazard for curious pets. It is best to hang lights out of reach, and only have them turned on when you are home to supervise.

Pets that like to chew are also at risk of chewing on electrical cords.  Electric shock can occur and lead to damage in your pets mouth. This can be in the form of burnt tissue, or even fractures of the teeth. It is best to check over your entire electric chords daily to look for any signs of chewing.

Gift wrap ribbon

Just like tinsel pets may decide this makes a fun toy or snack. This can lead to choking, or again a foreign body stuck within the intestines. It is best to discard any ribbon or bows into the garbage right away before pets have a chance to chew on them.

It might look really cute to decorate your pet with a Christmas ribbon collar, but make sure to remove these after you are done taking photos, or if you are not able to supervise your pet.

Food Hazards

There are many holiday treats that although they are tasty for us, can be toxic to our four legged friends. Here is a list of foods to keep away from pets this season:

-Depending on the size of your pet, it may only take a small amount of chocolate to cause toxicity. Chocolate contains theobromine, which when ingested can make your pet sick. Theobromine is present in higher amount in products like baking chocolate, then dark chocolate, with milk chocolate containing the least amount. The most common signs of chocolate toxicity are vomiting and tremors at low doses, but at high doses we can see seizure activity and sometimes death. If your pet gets into any Christmas goodies this holiday season, contact us and we can let you know if your pet needs to seek immediate medical attention.

-Fat trimmings and turkey bones are dangerous for pets especially dogs. The fat off the turkey can lead to pancreatitis. Bones can break and splinter in your dog’s mouth, and can even break teeth. If fragments are swallowed the can become obstructive in the intestines, or cause lacerations.

-Keep your pet on her regular diet and caution visitors against giving your pet special treats or table scraps.

Holiday plants

Some decorative plants can be poisonous if ingested by our pets.

-Poinsettias can cause oral irritation to a pets mouth and stomach. They can also induce vomiting.

-Christmas tree pine needles can produce oral irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, trembling and posterior weakness.

-Holly, commonly found during the Christmas season, can cause intense vomiting, diarrhea and depression.

-Mistletoe, another Christmas plant, can cause significant vomiting and diarrhea, difficulty breathing, collapse, erratic behavior, hallucinations and death when ingested.

Stress

The holiday season, though filled with Christmas cheer for us, can be a very stressful time for our four legged friends. Make sure pets have a safe spot to go to hide, or be away from all the noise when they feel the need.

All of us at Guelph Lake Veterinary Hospital want to wish you and your pets a safe and happy holiday season! 

Note: Parts of this blog post were originally posted on our sister hospital's blog at Woodlawn Veterinary Hospital.

Catnip, tug toys, gift cards and more!

With the snow last week and the chill today, it's pretty clear that the holiday season is upon us, and we think that the family pet deserves to have a little something in their stocking on Christmas morning, too!

The staff here at Guelph Lake Vet Hospital have carefully curated a selection of toys, leashes, treats and more to help you and your pets have some fun this holiday. We also have gift cards available in any denomination, which make a great stocking stuffer and will serve you or a friend well into the New Year. 

Check out this sneak peek of some of our holiday selection and stop by to see more! We take requests, too, and would be happy to be one of Santa's elves to help with your holiday shopping.

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Catnip toys! Treats! Tough as nails Kong knots buddies for those dogs who like to chew and tug. Prices range from $5.00 - $20.00 (+tax)

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These "stuffed" animals by Kong are really un-stuffed... filled instead with a tough rope, knotted to give your dog something to chew and tug on that won't fall apart on the first chomp! 2 sizes available from $9.50-$11.50 (+ tax)

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These cat collars, available in several collars, are priced reasonably at $8.50 and include a nametag, bell and reflectors for your outdoor kitty's safety (and the safety of the birds in your backyard feeder!).

Thanksgiving Day fun in Guelph!

A few of our Guelph Lake Veterinary Hospital team and their family members joined up with friends at our affiliate hospital (Woodlawn Veterinary Hospital, also in Guelph) to run some of the Thanksgiving Day races at Exhibition Park.  An annual event put on by the Guelph Victors running club, the races range from a 100 m dash for the little kids to a qualified-time 10km run.

Our group covered all the bases - little Emily put forth a good effort in the 100m. Dr Gardiner, Sarah and Julia ran the 1.6 km Nicolas Lambden Memorial Mile with Dr. Cirinna. Then Dr. Cirinna, Dr. Waldron and the amazing Gayle (she's almost 70!) ran the 5km... before Dr. Cirinna did the 3km, too, to wrap up her day!

It was a chilly, gloomy wet day, but we all had a great time and left with smiles of pride and a job well done. Perhaps a new tradition has begun.

Meet Shanti and Mowgli - kittens, kittens, kittens!

As I type, I can hear Mowgli and Shanti chasing each other through our treatment area, wrestling over one of their toys. They aren't littermates, but they certainly act like it, playing and tumbling like brothers and sisters do.

Meet Mowgli:

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A 2 month old grey tabby, this guy is speedy and lots of fun! He loves to lay in your arms like a baby and have his belly rubbed. He has an instant purr when he is picked up!

And here's Shanti:

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A 3 month old grey female kitten with pretty amber eyes, she is playful but snuggly. She's a little quieter than Mowgli, but just as feisty when she's wrestling or protecting a toy! She has a perfect rumbly purr.

These kittens could be adopted separately or together. As mentioned, they aren't littermates, but they have been together since they've been with the Guelph Humane Society - first at the same foster home and now with us. They get along well, and are often found sleeping curled up together.

If you or someone you know might be interested in adopting either Shanti or Mowgli (or both, for double the fun and love!), just drop by GLVH during our regular business hours and we'd be happy to introduce you in person. Cats adopted through our partnership with the Guelph Humane Society will receive a $25 gift card to be used at GLVH for future pet care. 

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Gardening for you... and your pets!

Thanks to Dr. Mel Cirinna for sharing her tips for gardening safely with pets, and including them in your landscaping plan!

Growing up my family always had a vegetable garden as well as a number of flower gardens that my mother tended.  I always enjoyed seeing the cats relaxing under the bushes and sharing veggies with the dogs.  There is nothing tastier than a tomato fresh from your own garden!  However, while these are wonderful images from my childhood, I am now learning that there is some planning that goes into enjoying your garden with your pets.  The first time I planted my own tomato plants it became a race to see if I could get to them before our black lab Sadie did.  The same held true of the raspberry bushes. It was not uncommon to see the rear end of Sadie sticking out of a raspberry bush while she delicately removed all the berries with her front teeth.  It wasn’t just the vegetable garden that was at her mercy, Sadie loved to lay in the shaded areas of the flower gardens as well. Any flowers in her way just provided a soft green mattress or she would dig out a cool spot in the dirt below a bushy plant.  Thankfully our gardens were never frequented by the local cats, but this is a problem that many gardeners have as cats see our wonderfully tended gardens as giant litter boxes.  As the years have passed we have made some changes that allow us to enjoy our gardens and the pets to enjoy the backyard.  Hopefully these suggestions will help if you are also struggling to share garden space with furry family members.

Teaching your pets to respect garden boundaries is best done at a young age; however, even older dogs and cats can learn new tricks. For dogs, start by designating a certain area of the yard for elimination. In the beginning you will need to go out with them each time to show them where to go and provide lots of positive reinforcement when they use the appropriate area. With time they should automatically eliminate in the designated area. For cats it can be helpful to provide one sandy area for them to use as a litterbox. The remainder of the garden should be densely planted or mulched. To encourage your cats to use the designated kitty area, plant cat grass and catnip in that area of the yard. Be sure to keep children’s sandboxes covered when not in use! 

Once a designated washroom area has been allocated, the next step is to create visual boundaries to keep pets out of garden beds.  Fences work best, but can be less aesthetically pleasing than decorative garden edging such as stones and bricks.  Keep in mind that even a half foot fence can be enough to visually deter dogs from entering flower beds.  Plants can also be used as visual borders, try varieties such as barberries, roses, euphorbia, Joe pye weed or bamboo.  Coleus Canina (Scaredy-Cat) can be useful in deterring cats, as can lavender.  Also helpful is to create pathways through the garden with mulch, flagstone or pebbles.  By nature, pets will use a groomed path over forging their own way through the garden.

Cats often need more than a visual barrier to be convinced to stay out of gardens.  Try deterrents such as cayenne powder, crushed chili peppers and citrus rinds.  There are also motion activated products on the market that spray water or emit high pitched sound to deter cats. 

Another important thing to consider is the potential toxicity of some plants for our pets.  Many plants will cause gastric upset when ingested, but some can lead to liver and kidney failure.  An extensive list of potentially toxic plants can be found at www.icatcare.org/advice/keeping-your-cat-safe/cats-and-poisonous-plants. 

Taking the time to carefully plan out your garden so that it provides space for you and your pets is well worth it so that everyone can enjoy the space.  Hopefully with our newly fenced in vegetable garden I will be enjoying some tomatoes this year, although I will be sure to save a few for Sadie!  Happy gardening!

Cats vs. Lilies

Spring! It is finally here and despite the snow today there's hope - the days are longer and flowers will soon be making their appearance.  Nothing says spring more than seeing crocuses, tulips and lilies pushing up in the flower beds.  It is nice to get out and smell the flowers or bring a fresh bouquet into the house, but cat owners beware, some of these flowers can cause serious, life-threatening disease for our feline friends.  

While all plants may cause some stomach upset or oral irritation, plants from the Genus Lilium or Hemarocallis are extremely toxic to cats.  These include, but are not limited to, Easter Lilies, Day Lilies, Asiatic Lilies and Tiger Lilies.  Cats that have consumed any part of a lily plant or even ingested some pollen that was on their coat are at risk for life-threatening kidney failure.  If you suspect that your cat has consumed some part of a lily plant it is to be considered a medical emergency requiring immediate veterinary attention.  If your pet has not already vomited, the veterinarian may induce vomiting and administer activated charcoal to help reduce the amount of toxin that is absorbed.  In order to assess the level of kidney damage, bloodwork will be performed.  Treatment for lily poisoning involves hospitalization and intravenous fluid administration to flush out the toxins and support the kidneys.  If treated early there are rarely any long term effects.  However, without treatment, death can occur within 3 days. 

The best way to keep your cats safe is to make sure you do not bring any lily plants into the house.  Pay close attention to the flowers present in bouquets during Easter and Mother’s day, a common time to see cases of lily toxicosis.  Outdoor cats can be a bit more difficult as we cannot be sure where they go when outside.  Keep lilies out of your own garden and watch your cat for any early signs of toxicity.  Seek veterinary attention if your cat displays early signs of poisoning including vomiting, lack of appetite, increased or decreased urination or dehydration.  

Parvovirus and your dog

Recently there has been media coverage regarding parvovirus infections in Guelph dogs.  There is talk of the potential for an outbreak in the Guelph area given the higher number of unvaccinated animals we are seeing.

What is parvovirus, and why is it important to protect your pets from this easily preventable disease?

Parvovirus affects dogs by causing the destruction of the cells lining the intestine. Dogs infected with Parvovirus will have signs of vomiting, diarrhea (often with blood), lethargy and dehydration. Treatment can be intensive and involves hospitalization on intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Without this treatment the disease is often fatal. Unfortunately, even with treatment, many dogs will succumb to the disease with mortality rates reaching as high as 90%. This is why veterinarians consistently encourage dog owners to vaccinate for Parvovirus. Parvo is a high-risk disease which can be prevented with a readily available and very effective vaccine.

We recommend that puppies be vaccinated against Parvovirus at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age and that adult dogs receive a booster vaccination regularly. Parvovirus in vaccinated animals is rare to non-existent.  Due to the efficacy of the vaccine, those dogs most at risk for Parvo infection are young unvaccinated puppies, unvaccinated adult dogs, immunocompromised dogs or those dogs that have not received all of their vaccines. 

How could your dog contract Parvovirus?

Parvovirus is transmitted from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with infected feces.  We tend to see a surge of Parvovirus cases in the spring as snow is melting, uncovering feces that were never picked up during the winter. The virus is extremely resilient and can survive for over a year in infected soils or feces.

The best way to protect your dog is to make sure they receive protective vaccinations regularly and keep them away from areas littered with dog feces.  Pet owners can do their part by always picking up after their dogs whether out for a leash walk, at the dog park or walking through a wooded trail.

If you have any questions about Parvovirus, please don't hesitate to contact us at (519) 824-9898 or via email.

Have you found a lost pet? Tips for helping them get back home!

At Guelph Lake Vet we always encourage our clients to have some kind of permanent identifier on their pet, whether that be a micro chip or tattoo. Collar tags are also very important for helping a lost pet get home quickly and safely. Regrettably, companion animals are lost every day and they don't always make their way back home when there isn't a way to identify them.

What should you do if you've found what appears to be a lost pet? We recommend that you first try to find the owner - most pets are lost in the neighbourhood where they live, and the pet's people could be looking for them already. 

Step 1 - Be cautious

Remember that the pet may be confused and scared. It could be difficult to get close enough to a dog or cat that is anxious to find it's way home. Be conscious of the pet's behaviour and don't put yourself at risk if they are aggressive or acting strangely.

Step 2 - Get control of the pet

Leash the pet so that you can keep an eye on them, and ensure that they have some water nearby since they may be thirsty after their adventures!

Step 3 - Check for indentification

If the pet has a collar and an ID tag, this should be your first point of contact. It might be a registration number if they have a license with the city/region, or it could be a phone number to call.

There are a few permanent identifiers that people can choose for their pet:

Ear Tattoo - the pet may have a tattoo inside their ear, which can be traced back to a veterinarian who can often locate the owner.

Microchip - unfortunately, there's no way to know if a pet has a microchip (a small electronic chip embedded under the pet's skin) without scanning for one. A veterinarian or an animal shelter can check for a microchip.

If there is no easily visible identification on the pet, more action will be required.

Step 4 - Spread the word

Use the internet! If you are connected to people in your community via Facebook, Twitter or other social networks, post a picture of the pet and the general area where it was found. If word spreads, the owner or someone who knows the pet might be able to connect.

Talk to local veterinary clinics and let them know the description of the pet you've found.

Call your local Humane Society - the owner may have gotten in touch with them in case the pet was turned over to the Humane Society, and the staff may be able to offer suggestions about what to do next.