SAFARINEWS
I once read a saying somewhere that very much intrigued me. It said: “There are no right and wrong answers, only consequences.”
Clearly, that is not always the case. If you want to continue living and I advise you to jump off a 100 story building, there can only be one consequence, and it won’t be surviving. But in a surprising number of instances this does apply very accurately.
Take vaccines. It has saved the lives of millions upon millions of cattle, horses, dogs, cats and humans. It has a small percentage of side effects, yes even including death in a small number of cases. (So does table salt, sugar, diet soda and hotdogs) But in recent years it has been fashionable for the media to concentrate on the negative side effects. I can just hear the shouting in the peanut gallery already. “But more people die from the vaccine than the actual disease doc!!”
Sure dude! That’s because it’s working. Take smallpox as an example. In rounded numbers- for keeping the argument short: about 30% of people that contract smallpox (in the absence of immunity) will die. (80% of children) Smallpox is estimated to have killed more than 300 million people in the twentieth century. It was responsible for about 30% of all blindness cases in the 18th century- clearly in people that did not die right away.
(If you ever read an anti- technology report on the internet that warns you about this or that medication, always check who is writing it and what they are trying to sell you in exchange. Read it anyway, sometimes I agree with those opinions, but just remember there is no such thing as an unbiased opinion on the internet.)
Approximately one in a million people receiving the vaccination could die. DUH! Do the math. Officially man has been credited with eradicating two diseases from earth, mostly through vaccination programs. Smallpox in humans and Rinderpest in cattle. Now to be precise; modern sanitation, hygiene - like hand washing, improved diet also contributed. But it has lead to the cessation of large scale vaccination programs for these two diseases, because there is no longer a risk.
Ironically the best way to stop vaccination reactions is through eradicating the disease, so that nobody needs the vaccine anymore.
Rinderpest was a devastating cattle disease carried by wildlife like African Buffalo and Wildebeest, which had been around for thousands of years. In the 1890s it killed almost 90% of all the cattle in South Africa. Sir Arnold Theiler was the founder of my veterinary school in South Africa at Onderstepoort and he developed the vaccine that saved the day (maybe the world) Lucky for him, they could use other techniques like aggressive quarantine and culling of suspected carrier cases- measures that I am sure you would find unpalatable in your children or puppy dogs.
So recently, vaccinations have been getting a bad rap- thanks to Ms. Jenny Mc Carthy. A population that no longer has to walk two miles twice a day to bring home drinking water, and plan a two month trip with ox wagons to buy groceries, may have the audacity to sit and complain about important stuff like the new car smell in your new Ford Fusion Hybrid, or the fact that the mailman may not deliver on time. Suck it up honey it’s the price (the consequence) of progress. We now have way too much time to quibble about little things.
Anyway, bowing under pressure from the public, pediatricians have slowed down childhood vaccinations for things like Whooping Cough, especially in places with the loudest voices- like California. And guess what? Whooping cough cases and deaths are expected to be the highest in 55 years in California- thank you Jenny Mc Carthy again. (Oh by the way, the cases of autism has not dropped any.) Look I’m not saying the people are wrong in being suspicious of vaccines, just be aware that declining them will ensure that there pretty much are going to be different consequences, somewhere else someday. By choosing left you lose out on what’s behind the door on the right, and vice versa.
So veterinarians (me included) have pushed less hard.
I am willing to discuss the possibility of doing vaccines in mature pets, (for diseases other than rabies and Bordetella) only every three years.
Like pediatricians, we got tired of hearing complaints from customers about vaccination reactions (Leptospira vaccine caused the most reactions.) So much so that we stopped including Lepto in our protocol last year. Because the public could not see pets dying left right and center of Leptospira, and the media and Jenny Mc Carthy did not help out by publicly exposing positive cases of Lepto, it became a stepchild cause- and guess what? You guessed it -law of unintended consequences- CDC reports a significant increase in cases of Lepto in humans and pets in the last 12 months all over the USA.
(By the way, there is absolutely ZERO evidence that giving vaccinations every three years causes less reactions- it is based purely on hysteria. For example if a drug addict takes a triple dose of heroin every three days will he be better off than taking a smaller dose every day? Maybe, maybe not-nobody knows yet.
Like I said, Lepto is not currently in my vaccination protocol, so talk to me if you want better protection. (By the way, research laboratories have reported an increase in the incidence of Distemper in wildlife and shelter dogs in Florida too.)
Every time a new breakthrough, lifesaving drug is discovered, it will be followed by discovery of unintended consequences later. This is also true by the way for “natural” supplements and herbs. And every time a drug company drops development of a new drug because of low popularity and low profit and high cost of lawsuits, a certain number of patients who could have benefitted, will suffer the disease or die. Veterinary medicine especially has lost the availability of several life saving human drugs occasionally used by us, because the manufacturer stopped producing it. This also happens to humans with rare, so called orphan -diseases. The government says the drug needs more testing, the manufacturer says it’s cheaper to stop producing, a few patients somewhere die.
So my point is, you need to educate yourself about medical choices and discuss the pros and the cons with us. Decisions in medicine are rarely simple and rarely black and white.
Recent pet food recalls: Blue Buffalo dog food - because of EXCESS vitamin D and Hartz Naturals Real Beef treats because of Salmonella. Didn’t we just talk about pet food last time? Like I said, there are no guarantees that manufacturers won’t make mistakes, but it is less likely and we are more likely to find out about it than if you made the food yourself.
Blue Buffalo is not one of the bigger manufacturers but they thought “If you just cook meat and add lots of vitamins, everything will be OK” –wrong, it could be toxic. And if they only fed it to a few of their own dogs, they would never have discovered the problem. It was discovered by a diagnostic veterinary lab that put two and two together. They noticed that an unusual number of dogs came up with similar rare symptoms and lab results, and found out they were eating the same food.
Hartz Mountain is one of the bigger food manufacturers and they target the low end cheaper customer. Consequently their ingredients have to constantly be purchased from cheaper sources, increasing chances of contaminated sources. But to be fair, salmonella can occur in any manufacturer and also if you bought the food ingredients yourself (like the recent salmonella recall for millions of eggs for human consumption proves.)
……
Like to be grossed out? Go to youtube/parasitesundercover to see all the nasty critters, worms and parasites I’m always talking about, in all their natural glory.
Soooo; how do you follow that with something funny?
Mrs. Green was telling me how proud she was of her dog. “Well, he’s not exactly what you would call a pedigreed dog, but no beggar or tramp can come near the house without him letting us know!” Really? does he bark up a storm? I asked.
“No he crawls under the sofa every time!”…… barabing!!
……
Talking about making choices, I’ve been ranting against all this homemade food and stuff. I have to admit to one correction. If you sneak in the occasional little piece of vegetable, it is not the end of the world. Some clients like to use little baby carrots as treats for rewarding their dog’s good behavior. Nutritionally there is nothing wrong with that. Psychologically, I still don’t understand why you want your pet to think there are two levels of food, the designated diet, and then a separate special treat for special occasions. But I know I am not going to be able to change your urge to spoil your pets with treats, so we will have to compromise.
But I have not spoken much about cats. I am all in favor of you having a little patch of lawn grass or ryegrass in a container in the house for them to nibble on. Go for it, live dangerously!
Other news items:
Seeing as we have more time to chat these days, let me take this opportunity to do some training on a specific disease of my choice.
PLEASE SUBMIT SUGGESTIONS OF TOPICS TO DISCUSS IN FUTURE because I suspect what interests me might bore you to death.
Also if you are interested in attending live lectures with slides and handouts on something? Maybe pet massage demonstrations or pet yoga or something.
The Thyroid gland
Known as the ‘master’ gland because it’s hormones control just about everything else.
Hormones are chemical substances released by a gland that will influence the function of many other glands and organs.
So when it produces more thyroid hormone, everything speeds up. Kinda like a natural “speed”
Cats are most prone to this hyperthyroid disease (Anybody ever see the old actor Marty Feldman in Mel Brooks movies? His eyes were bulging out and he was always running around at 100 miles an hour.)
Well in cats the most obvious symptom is weight loss with increased appetite. Often owners want to argue with me, because they cannot believe a cat can have such a good appetite, but be sick. They also drink more water and urinate more. But don’t wait until the symptoms are obvious. There might already be permanent damage. They often develop fatal kidney failure and heart enlargement.
Dogs (and humans) are more prone to a thyroid hormone deficiency called Hypothyroidism. Because the hormone that is supposed to speed up metabolism and all other organs in the body, is not working, everything slows down. Pets act old, or sluggish or lazy. If corrected the owners often comment that they are acting like puppies again.
These patients are often overweight and pot bellied. They have a difficult time losing pounds and exercising. Their immune system is also sluggish so they get infections like cystitis and pyoderma easily. (Bladder and skin infection) They often have dry flaky itchy skin and have more of a “doggy odor”. You treat them with antibiotics and a month later the infection is back again, very frustrating.
Those pop psychologists always say that love and hate are not opposites. They are just highly emotional states that are merely a good word or a bad word apart. The opposite of love is more like indifference. Utterly ‘don’t care what the other person says or does’ kind of indifference.
So what’s my point? Well, with Thanksgiving sneaking up again, this is my way of telling you thank you for being loyal and faithful clients. Thank you for being an audience so I don’t have to gather up squirrels and rabbits in the forest to lecture. And for just being wonderful people to be around. It may not seem like it to you, but all that grumpy preaching and b**tchng and constantly getting at you when you step out of line- that’s only because I, and especially Christina on the phone, are so vested in your pet’s wellbeing. You know, I would rather risk the chance of a potential owner being offended by my strict discipline and deciding to go elsewhere, rather than appeasing some bad behavior and keeping the pet in danger. There are certain grey areas that a client might want or might want to decline, that are not life and death important. I understand during tough times, not everybody can afford the frills. But there are a few decisions that I find incompatible with keeping a client. (“A hill worth dying for” as they say in the military). So if you are getting behind on critical basic medical care, call Christina and work something out, let’s make some kind of plan that you can live with! Can you afford $125 now and a check to hold for later? - We don’t want to lose patients, but we have to put our foot down somewhere (out of respect for the rights of the pets too.)
I am sure you will agree with me that we all can be thankful for the privilege of having pets to keep us young and who make us happy. We can be thankful for being alive and healthy and living in a beautiful country. I am thankful for staff that is willing to go the extra mile for my clients. And I am thankful that sometimes, maybe most times, we have some advance in medicine or technology that can make patients enjoy life more.
So that’s why I have the right to be crabby at times OK? You know I spoke to a colleague of mine a few years ago and told him how my staff stay on top of client reminders for heartworm preventatives, spaying and neutering, dental care etc.
The person (yes, somebody right here in town) answered: “Now why would I go to all that trouble of preventing all those things? Do you realize how much future business you are killing?”
At other times I have on occasion had a relief veterinarian comment about how my clients are the most compliant and “nicest” clients they have ever worked with. I agree, but I whispered in his ear, whenever he opens a practice one day, to not be scared to crack the whip occasionally-J
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
And may you and your pets live long healthy lives!
PS
Why have you not signed up for the prepayment plan of $57 per month? Why have a big surprise every six months? It’s a no- brainer. Call (813) 988 8880 now!
SAFARINEWS
Dear Friend,
What exactly is the problem with biscuits?
Ha! Bet I piqued your curiosity with my lumpy mail this month! I have included a piece of CET Dental Hygiene Chews for dogs. It is a rawhide chew that is impregnated with natural enzymes to help clean your pet’s teeth while they chew.
You see the problem with doggy biscuits and Milkbones and those things are that the manufacturer has to make sure that your pet is just going to drool over it when you give it to them. That means they have to SATURATE it with high calories. If you were to follow the instruction on the box, that is feed your dog four to six of those biscuits per day you will end up spending about $500 per year on their brand of biscuits and your pet will be as fat as little Lotta! (Who of you even remember her?)
Also they just crumble when bitten, there’s no chewing involved! Your pet bites and swallows... you might as well feed them pizza for all the health benefit they get, don’t waste your time, save up and buy the CET good kind.
(September Buy one get one free)
World animal news versus vaccines.
So I am sad to read about the spread of bovine tuberculosis amongst the wild buffalo population in Kruger National Park in South Africa. See they are what’s called a virgin or completely susceptible population. It is a slow disease and the victims don’t necessarily die for a long time. It also is capable of tricking the immune system, so a good natural immunity does not easily develop. When they do eventually die or get captured, unsuspecting lions and other animals of prey get infected, and pass it along to their family and friends. Nature’s rules are pretty cruel. Survive or die, not much room for negotiation.
So for millions of years the buffalo population has been exposed to many thousands of diseases. It kills the susceptible ones and over generations the survivors develop a natural immunity. If it is not a deadly disease it slows them down and weakens them. The one’s that have a good immunity will have an immune response, (God’s little vaccination program) get better and continue to breed. The others are too weak to procreate and they have no offspring. Been working that way for millennia. Notice there is not much space for exposing (vaccinating) the virgin herd before the actual outbreak, and there is no provision for annual boosters. When it hits it hits with devastating results. This vaccination program purposely wants the weaklings to die out. Now I know in another several thousand years the survivors will all be immune to this but again susceptible to another new disease.
Only, if you add the curveball of human population bringing their cattle that are carriers of this tuberculosis into the picture, for a few generations you bring havock amongst the natural buffalo herds. Oh but remember this, the cattle have NEVER been allowed inside Kruger National Park, they were just close by. So don’t cry me a river over your kitty or your poochie never going outside and not being exposed to diseases, you are deluding yourself, you are playing Russian roulette with their health, eventually it will catch up with you.
So you see where this is going? I had to go and get my little nature’s lesson contaminated with science right?
I know, I know, man is responsible for all sorts of badness and evils. But man is also the one most intelligent and able to dissect bad news and come up with a plan to avoid it. Now nature will eventually overcome our little solution and man will just have to think harder next time. Such is life.
Man developed modified live vaccines which are capable of better stimulating the immunity without causing the actual disease. Also we know at what age it is best to start the vaccinations and how often to boost them, to get the least side effects.
I hear you, vaccinations are not without side effects. You are perfectly in your right to question the need and decide which ones and how often. The law says you must do Rabies but regardless of the law, don’t play with fire, just do Rabies once a year in Tampa. The rest we can negotiate. The most important time to get the immunity fired up is in the first 3 or 4 years of life. Thereafter it becomes less and less important. But you never want your pet to revert back to that “virgin susceptible“status.
So for you who think medicine is evil and doctors kill patients and chemicals are causing all the world’s ills… fine all forms of progress including medicine creates new challenges in its wake. You and only you can ask yourself if you want to subscribe to my vaccination program or that other one that nature wrote for the buffalo. And then do the math and calculate the risk of getting sick from the vaccine versus the risk of dying from the real thing, especially if you superimpose pets and people living in crowded cities with viruses and parasites everywhere. Ask any buffalo what they would choose.
So what’s up with arthritis and spinal disc disease doc?
OK, anatomy lesson ala Oprah style: you know all those areas in your body that can bend and articulate? They’re called joints. They are covered with padding called articular cartilage and they have thick viscous lubricant or oil in them called joint fluid to prevent friction. All joint fluid is held in by a joint capsule, natures little ziplock baggies. Even the spine has those, only the spine has EXTRA little built in cushions between the vertebrae called spinal discs.
So when you go running around doing silly things, you wear out these mechanisms. You hear how that front door creaks after a few years? Well you can stretch out the joint support, or you can tear the capsule, or you can dry up the lubricant, or you can damage the cushions and padding.
Now things start creaking. Viola, arthritis. This leads to pain and muscle tension and the exposed bone creates painful pointy spurs sticking into joints. Sometimes the spinal disc even ruptures and can put pressure on the spinal column and it can lead to paralysis.
Now you and I can pat ourselves on the back with how good parents and how good horse-doctors we are. We have made Fifi healthier and living 40% longer than we were able to years ago. Only with this life extension comes degenerative diseases like arthritis and cancer.
Don’t let me catch you falling for that advertising crapola they show you on TV. You know the magic pain pill that will have Rover run to the end of the dock and dive 25 feet into the water the day after you give him his pain pill.
Few problems, pain medications fall in broad categories like narcotics (Ask Amy Whinehouse about the side effects of those) and NSAIDS. Non Steroidals are designed to kill pain by slowing inflammation, but that also slows joint fluid production and cartilage repair. On top of that, rover is now feeling so good that he is out there catting around or playing tennis or jumping off that dock… instead of resting his joint while it heals. The result is he WEARS OUT the joint protection FASTER, until one day there is nothing but bone grinding against bone like sandpaper and by then no medicine on earth will work.
What can we do oh wise one, you ask? Well you can get those extra pounds off NOW. Go ahead and feed additional glucosamine that you buy anywhere. But then come to papa to buy yourself a bottle of specialized anti oxidants and a bottle of green muscle supplements and get Hyaluronic acid injections HERE and only HERE! I get it DIRECT from the manufacturer.
Do NOT let me catch you buying stuff from that 5 million square foot warehouse company where the bottles have been baking in 110 degrees for years and years.
Then let me teach you about the most soothing, most healing most relaxing and REGENERATING treatment available to mankind called LASER THERAPY!
Hear me now, NOTHING BEATS IT. NO DRUGS, NO SIDE EFFECTS, and truly the ONLY therapy that helps the joint REGENERATE NEW CARTILAGE.
Sometimes we have to combine it with drugs for as short a period as possible and then we can wean off the drugs and decrease the number of laser treatments. And then we only need to do LASER boosters every month or two.
Oh I hear you owners of them cranky cats. Over the years I have proven to my own satisfaction that 90% of cranky cats have a reason to be cranky... it is PAIN!!! They hurt somewhere, we just need to find out where.
And I know we may have to sedate Tiger here the first few times to get the therapy done but don’t get your bloomers in a knot over it, it is not even full blown anesthesia, usually only a gas inhalant that reverses itself.
But Doooooc he just stresses soooo much… and we just would rather die a thousand deaths than have him get pain relief over there every month or two… yeah well slap yourself on the wrist for that one right now. He stresses because you make him stress. The only reason he is so phobic of staying at the veterinarian that he needs to be sedated is because YOU did not socialize him enough when he was younger and YOU thought of every excuse over the years not to let him get used to staying at another facility over and over again because of your personal baggage, not his.
Besides you are perfectly happy with him “STRESSING OUT” 24 hours a day 7 days a week from pain, as long as he is painful in your house. See how it is your baggage not his choice. Get over it and bring them in so the pain can get better and you can give them the courtesy of experiencing and building trust in the veterinary office being a place that brings relief. I have seen time and again that so called fractious cats become lovable after three or four treatments. Stop hiding behind your own fears.
Honestly I wish I could go peek in some of your basements and see how many of you decided to go lock your kids up there forever, after the first time they said they were scared of school or the dentist or they grazed their knee… just so you can protect them against evil.
Remember the Buffalos? Ask them to do the math for you and compare hours and hours of pain and a day of relief. Also don’t just let me help one time, and when the initial pain is gone never bring Fifi back again, how cruel is that? Stay up with the maintenance program, they are getting older not younger, they need MORE help, not less.
SAME APPLIES TO YOU WEENIES THAT ARE DELAYING SIGNING YOUR PET UP FOR THE ONCE A MONTH CLUB BECAUSE HEAVEN FORBID THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE AWAY FROM MOMMA FOR A SECOND!
And don’t give me ”but he doesn’t look like he’s hurting doc”. Half the humans you know have bad backs and you can’t tell just by looking at them either.
So what can I do for you this month to twist your arm?
Think you have a pet that could benefit from pain relief?
First 25 patients that make an appointment and buy TWO bottles of Glycoflex for dogs or for cats, get ONE bottle of Anti-Oxidant and ONE laser therapy for free.
ALSO SINCE YOU ARE TWISTING MY ARM:
Give your pet the gift of a “SPA DAY”
For the next four weeks only first come first serve, we have 20 slots available for new staff to learn how to bathe, pedicure, apply moisturizer and massage for only $30 (usually $45)
Or FREE if you make the appointment NOW and you are dropping your pet off for another procedure
988 8880
