Xylitol And The Basset Hound

by Shawn M. Finch, DVM

Matilda is a four year old spayed female Basset Hound. Sometime within an hour before she was brought in, Matilda had taken a package of gum off the counter and eaten or chewed up about half of the package. 

Matilda’s owner did not expect us to say gum could be dangerous for dogs, but she called us (gum wrapper in hand) because she did not know for sure.

What seemed like a pretty innocuous event was indeed a medical emergency! 

She brought Matilda to the hospital as quickly as she safely could.


She had no abnormal physical signs on presentation. A complete blood panel was done.

Matilda's glucose level was down to 60 mg/dL.  (Normal 70-150).  

All other parameters, including liver values, were normal.

Vomiting was induced and anti-emetics given to control the vomiting after treatment.  Activated charcoal was given by mouth to absorb any remaining toxin in her gastrointestinal system.

Matilda was given a meal after treatment, and her blood glucose returned to normal levels.  She returned in the morning for a physical exam and glucose recheck.  No physical abnormalities were noted, and glucose levels were normal.

What could have happened if Matilda wasn't brought in and treated as fast as she was?

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is used as a sugar substitute in many products including gum.  Xylitol is also sometimes used as a sweetener in compounded drugs.  What makes a medication palatable for a child could be deadly for your dog!

Even with rapid assessment by the owner and treatment by the veterinary team, xylitol toxicity cases do not always end as happily as Matilda's case!

Even if they are, often much more intensive therapy is needed than that which was needed to save Matilda.

Xylitol ingestion can be rapidly fatal due to insulin release and the resulting hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).  

It can also cause a more chronic liver failure that can be fatal.  

Life saving treatment often includes intravenous fluid with dextrose (to combat the low blood sugar), supportive care and liver protectants.  If the pet is showing clinical signs, intensive round the clock veterinary monitoring is often needed until the pet is clinically normal and all blood parameters are normal.

Xylitol toxicity seems to be dose dependent, but such a small amount is needed to cause medical problems, including fatalities, that any ingestion is a medical emergency.   

Time is of the essence!  

Matilda ate a few pieces of gum and was treated immediately, and her blood sugar was already dangerously low and probably still dropping!

Good plan:  Seek medical treatment immediately if you even suspect xylitol ingestion!

Better plan:  Keep all xylitol-containing products out of reach of pets.  

Best plan of all:  To be completely safe, keep your home xylitol free!  I would even recommend telling the manufacturers of xylitol-containing products that you are no longer able to keep their products in your home due to the severe danger they pose to dogs. 

Matilda now enjoys a xylitol-free household and has not had any further medical emergencies to date.

***

Dr. Shawn is a veterinarian and mom in Omaha Nebraska. She writes for CareFRESH, Life With Dogs (new!) and Omaha.net.

Dr. Shawn graduated from Iowa State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in 1998 with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. She works part time at Banfield, The Pet Hospital of Papillion, seeing small animals: dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

Her veterinary passions (besides her patients, of course!) are preventative/wellness care, pet owner education, positive reinforcement training and solving pet overpopulation.

You can also connect with Dr. Shawn on Twitter or Facebook

Further reading:
Learn From Kelly Osbourne — Keep Your Dog Away From Chewing Gum!
Safe and healthy sweetener for people - but means more pets will die!
Xylitol Poisoning in Dogs
Common Sugar Substitute Xylitol Can Be Deadly for Pets
Veterinary Q&A: Why is xylitol so dangerous for dogs and cats?

Related articles:
Keep Chewing Gum Away From Your Dog!

Keep Chewing Gum Away From Your Dog!

by Dr. Patrick Mahaney, VMD

As an avid gum chewer (it keeps me from biting my nails), dog owner, and veterinarian, I am alarmed to see the increasing trend of toxicity secondary to dogs inappropriately consuming sugarless gum containing Xylitol.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Poison Control Center (APCC) database indicates 150 cases in 2007, all related to the consumption of Xylitol based sugar-free gum.

Xylitol is a crystalline sugar alcohol used to replace sugar as a sweetener in various food products, including chewing gum and candy.

Xylitol mimics sugar’s effect on the body, causing release of insulin from the pancreas and reduction in blood sugar (hypoglycemia). 

Dogs quickly absorb Xylitol from the digestive tract, causing a sudden and strong release of insulin with secondary hypoglycemia.

A very small amount of Xylitol can potentially cause significant toxicity in dogs. 

A mere 1 to 2 pieces of chewing gum containing Xylitol can be potentially toxic to a dog weighing 20 pounds or less!

Symptoms of Xylitol toxicity include (but are not limited to):

• Lethargy
• Vomiting (Emesis)
• Diarrhea
• Loss of coordination (Ataxia)
• Seizures

If untreated, Xylitol toxicity can also lead to liver failure, blood clotting abnormalities, and death.

As this toxicity is completely preventable, please keep all Xylitol containing products out of your home if you have pets. In my clinical practice, I have seen cases of Xylitol toxicity after a dog consumed sugar-free gum from a purse belonging to his owner’s friend, so be aware that this toxicity can occur even if you keep a Xylitol-free household.

Should you suspect or are aware of your pet having consumed a product with Xylitol, contact the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (AAPCC) at 888-426-4435. 

It is worth the $65 consultation fee to start a case file with a board certified veterinary toxicologist to determine the best treatment.

For the record, Cardiff consumed no chewing gum during the photo shoot for this article.

Please feel free to leave your comments or communicate with me through email or Twitter.

Thank you for reading my article. Make sure to follow my adventures in veterinary medicine by friending Patrick Mahaney: Veterinarian Acupuncture Pain Management for Your Pets on Facebook.

Copyright of this article (2011) is owned by Dr. Patrick Mahaney, Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. Republishing any portion of this article must first be authorized by Dr. Patrick Mahaney. Requests for republishing must be approved by Dr. Patrick Mahaney and received in written format.

***

Dr. Patrick uses acupuncture on his own pet. He completed the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) basic course (2006) and he is now a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist (CVA).

He earned this certification after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (1999) and completed an internship at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C (2000).

Why does he believe so strongly in acupuncture for your pets, especially as a pain management tool? Because combining both Western and Eastern treatments can produce a better outcome for your pets.

Dr. Patrick also works with local Los Angeles rescue organizations to help those pets that have been given a second chance to live healthier lives, and he is currently sharing his pet care knowledge at his Los Angeles Pet Care Examiner column.

Articles by Dr. Patrick
Why Integrative Veterinary Medicine?
Battling IMHA With Integrative Veterinary Medicine (part 1)
Battling IMHA With Integrative Veterinary Medicine (part 2)
Buddha Recovers From Third Degree Burns

Further reading:
Learn From Kelly Osbourne — Keep Your Dog Away From Chewing Gum!
Safe and healthy sweetener for people - but means more pets will die!
Xylitol Poisoning in Dogs
Veterinary Q&A: Why is xylitol so dangerous for dogs and cats? 

Cancer Treatment For Bear

Charlene is a single mom on limited income; her and her daughter are both on Social Security. In the past year, their beloved dog, Bear, had faced multiple health challenges.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, Bear was now diagnosed with cancer.

Charlene is trying to get help from organizations such as AAHA Helping Pets Fund but Bear needs help now! Here is Bear's story.

Bear is 7 years old mixed breed. 

We have had Bear since he was born, we have his mom yet, and her sister. They still treat him like a puppy grooming and cleaning him everyday, he really loves his mom and aunt. Bear loves to play with his many toys and enjoys eating his favorite treat, pup corn.

Even with being as sick as he is, he still tries to play with his toys occasionally. 

Bear is a very loveable dog, everyone who meets him just loves him, and he always has kisses for anyone who asks.

In the past year, Bear has gone through heartworm treatment, surgery to remove a rectal polyp and dental surgery, where he had to have twelve of his teeth removed. He also was suffering from kidney problems, we were told that it could be the start of kidney failure. He had to have medicine and special food for two months; his kidneys are finally back to normal now.

He was just recovering from his surgeries, when he started to develop swelling in his face. 

The swelling went from the size of a marble, to the size of a small egg in under two weeks. They thought at first it was an abscess, so he was on antibiotics for quite a while, almost a month.

But the swelling got worse. Examination revealed that the area was very hard, and was not an abscess after all. The vet took x-rays and consulted a couple of other veterinarians who said it might be cancer, and that he would need to get a biopsy done.

We got the results about a week later, confirming it was cancer.

The kind of cancer he has is called Chondroblastic Osteogenic Sarcoma. We were referred to an oncologist, so we can see if it's treatable, or if it's too far progressed.

Bear is seeing an oncologist tomorrow to see if anything can be done to save him.

Being on Social Security, saving money is awful hard and Bear's treatments already tapped out all our resources. Please, if you can, help out. We have started a fund for Bear's treatment at Give Forward: Help for Bear.

The page contains more detailed information about Bear's struggles and pictures of Bear. You can also connect with Charlene on Twitter or Facebook.

Update on Bear

June 14, 2011

We took Bear to see the oncologist today. She gave us a few options to think about.

There's surgery, which would consist of taking out the tumor. 

They would have to remove the whole upper jaw, eye socket and eye. After the surgery, he would need to go through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. With this treatment, they said he could be around for another 12 months.

The next option is radiation and chemotherapy. 

He would have to get several rounds of each and would have to be put under with anesthesia each time he had the radiation treatment. With this treatment, the chemo would prevent the cancer from spreading, and the radiation would slow down or stop the growth that is already there. Also, they said it would help to make him a bit more comfortable for the time being.

We are not sure how much time this would give us with him, but it would give us more time than if we did nothing and it will help him be more comfortable.

The last option is just radiation, which could be done in 4 high dose rounds, or several smaller dose rounds. 

This would slow down or stop the growth that is already there, just like the chemo + radiation treatment would, but with this option, the cancer could still spread.

The surgery would be a minimum of $4000 not including radiation and chemotherapy. We are leaning toward the radiation and chemotherapy option, if we can get the funds.

What we decide to do depends on how much money we have, because as it is right now, we don't have enough money to do any of the treatments. 

We want to keep him as long as we can, and keep him as comfortable as we can, so we need help now more than ever to do one of these treatments.

With chemotherapy and radiation he would need a CT scan which is $700 alone. Each dose of radiation is over $600 and I'm not sure on the chemo.

Unfortunately time is not on our side, and he needs this treatment as soon as possible, so please help if you can. 

Thank you everyone for your constant thoughts and prayers, it means alot to us.

Update on Bear

June 14, 2011

Bear has an appointment with the oncologist in Madison this Thursday (6-23) to get a CT scan done. We received a small credit, from care credit. It will be enough to get the CT scan. We are no where near being able to start the treatments however, we just don't have enough yet. We will update more after we see the oncologist.

Update on Bear

June 23, 2011

Just got back from getting the CT scan done. The tumor has grown alot, and the oncologist said Bear is in alot of pain. So she increased his meds and also put him on tylenol with codeine.

She said we need to start the radiation treatment next week, but we still do not have enough to do this.

She said without it he will have only a few weeks, maybe a month left.

Update on Bear

June 27, 2011

Bear starts radiation this Wednesday! Huge thanks to all who helped!

Update on Bear

June 14, 2011

Bear had his first radiation treatment today. He also had to have another CT scan. There was a little trouble with the anesthesia, they had trouble keeping him under, so they had to increase the dose.

They had to do blood work today and found out that his kidney enzymes were elevated, as well as a liver marker. 

Due to the kidney problems, they have taken him off one medicine and replaced it with another. The medicine they took him off can increase kidney and liver damage. They are a bit worried about the amount of anesthesia they have to use, as it lowered his blood pressure, and they said that can cause more kidney damage.

They increased one of his medicines and switched two, to liquid form, to see if he would take them better that way. Because Bear has been pretty finicky when it comes to eating lately, she recommended a few different kinds of dog food, and sent them with us. Bear had a little accident after waking from the anesthesia, he was still groggy, but wanted to try and sit on the chairs in the waiting room anyway.

As the Doctor was waiting with him for us to come pick him up, he was trying out all the chairs and slipped on one and bit the tumor on the inside of his mouth. 

He got it bleeding pretty good, but it didn't seem to bother him much. On the way home he slept most of the way, only waking when we had to stop or a semi scared him. He is now passed out sleeping on my bed, holding on to one of his new toys from his friend. He looks so precious. We will keep everyone updated.

Update on Bear

July 4, 2011

Bear's mom died from liver failure.

Update on Bear

July 17, 2011

Bear had his 3rd round of radiation Wednesday. The Dr. said his tumor has gone down some, and his eye isn't bulging out as much. She said he seems to be doing good and looks happy. He has one more round of radiation to go, and then he will have to come back in 2 weeks for a check up. He will have to get x-rays, when he goes for his check up.

After the check up, he will be starting chemotherapy. 

Bear seems to be adjusting to his mom being gone, he doesn't walk around looking for her anymore. Bear is doing really well, he is still playing with his toys, he grabbed one the other night and wanted to play tug of war. We will keep everyone posted. Thank you so much everyone for your continued support and prayers.

Keeping Your Dog’s Muscles Healthy and Strong

 by Christopher Durin

Some breeds are meant to withstand hard physical activity while others are made for the comfortable life of being a lap dog. Nevertheless, all dogs love to play with their owners. Playing with your dog is an enjoyable way to exercise. However, owners should be careful not overdo these activities as they can lead to muscle injuries.

As owners, you should be wary of these injuries because they can affect your dog’s mobility. Muscle injuries are quite common and can be very hard to detect, but they are very easy to treat.

Common Muscle Injuries

Muscle pain in dogs can be attributed to three types of muscle injuries. The first one is muscle spasm, a condition wherein the muscle involuntarily contracts. This injury can be caused by a variety of neurological or physical disorders.

Another form of muscle problem is a pinched nerve. It happens when pressure coming from an inflamed muscle compresses a nerve.

The last more common form of muscle injury is called muscle knots. 

Although muscles are made up of string-like cells, they cannot be knotted. A muscle knot refers to a painful tight group of muscles that may feel hotter compared to the surrounding areas. Muscle knots can reduce a dog’s mobility and can cause lameness. The injury is often a result of strain or an orthopedic disorder.

Keeping Your Dog’s Muscle Healthy

To address the muscle pain, the cause should be clearly identified. If the pain or injury is a result of neurological or orthopedic disorder, then treatment can be complex and would certainly need the expertise of a vet.

On the other hand, when the muscle pain is only due to strain, then there are many things an owner can to provide pain relief.

Massage is a good way to relax your dog and alleviate some of the pain and inflammation. In addition, using hot or cold therapy makes the massage more effective. Trigger point therapy I have found very helpful and there are numerous professional physical therapy techniques which can help.

Ultimately, prevention is always better than cure. 

Make sure that when you undertake physical activities with your dog, you always start things easy. Also, be conscious of when your dog gets tired - never push your dog over its limits.

Another thing, keep your dog well hydrated and make sure that your dog is receiving the right amounts of protein, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin E as these nutrients are vital for muscle development and repair.

Visit my blog www.dogarthritisblog.info for more information on dog arthritis and lameness.

Christopher Durin

***

Christopher Durin is a veterinarian and has been in practice since 1993, with his skill focus and extra qualifications in surgery. Joint problems are a big part of his day and he has cared for a LOT of arthritic dogs and cats over the years. He has recently been diagnosed with an immune mediated arthritis himself, the pain of which makes him appreciate the bravery of our furry friends all the more.

You can also check out his Facebook page Dog Arthritis Doc.

Risks of Prescription Medicines « Dog Arthritis Plan





Articles by Christopher Durin:
Tell-tale Signs Your Dog May Have Arthritis
Nutrition and Dog Arthritis
Talking to Your Vet: How Safe Are NSAIDs?

Related articles:
Talk To Me About Arthritis
Acupuncture Is Not Voodoo
Don't Forget The Physical Therapy
Underwater Treadmill

Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (Bloat): RIP Barbie

Veterinary Partner calls bloat the Mother of all Emergencies.

According to some sources, bloat is the number two dog killer, right after cancer!

Gastric dilatation is a distention of the stomach from accumulation of gas and fluid. Gastric dilatation can be further complicated by volvulus, in which the distended stomach rotates on itself (gastric torsion), cutting off its blood supply. The gas and fluid become trapped in the closed-off stomach.

Having Rottweilers, bloat is always in the back of my mind, and I try to take all possible precautions to prevent it from happening to our guys.

If there are any monsters in a closet, bloat is certainly one of them!

My friend, and fellow blogger of Dog Training San Diego agreed to share Barbie's story with us.

The Dangers of GDV
by Meagan Karnes

The other night, we lost one of our canine friends. Barbie came to us from Labrador Rescuers, a group that saved her from an unknown fate.

When they broke her out of doggy jail, they realized she suffered from a bad case of separation anxiety so they called The Collared Scholar for help. Barbie joined us for some rehabilitation and confidence boosting.

The other night, Barbie started displaying some abnormal behaviors that led us to believe she was suffering from a condition called bloat.

We rushed her to the emergency clinic where the grim diagnosis was confirmed.

Bloat is a condition where the stomach fills with gas and becomes incredibly painful. In some cases, the stomach can torsion, in essence flipping over.

Bloat and Gastrointestinal Torsion primarily affects deep chested dogs. Predominant breeds are Rottweilers, Great Danes, German Shepherds, Dobermans, Labs, Basset Hounds and Pit Bulls among others.

We have had experience with the disease in the past as our Great Dane suffered a bad case of bloat and torsion several years back. 

When the stomach torsions, surgery is typically the only option. Our dane was saved by the surgeons at the Animal ER in La Mesa, CA.

Very sadly, Barbie couldn't have been saved.

When bloat happens, you must seek veterinarian care immediately as it can be fatal and can progress to life threatening in less than an hour!

Time is of the essence when dealing with bloat!

In dealing with the condition twice now, I’ve noticed the same symptoms pop up consistently.

• Bloated, Hard Abdomen
• Excessive Salivation
• Dog finds it uncomfortable to lay down. If they do lay down, will arch their back and assume the “Sphinx” position
• Several unproductive attempts at vomitting – wretching, gagging

Other symptoms have also been noted including coughing, whining, pacing, licking the air, drinking excessively and shallow breathing.

There are articles abound regarding prevention of bloat in dogs. 

The most common tips at prevention are:

• Feed several small meals
• Limit water intake immediately after feeding
• Restrict exercise, excitement and stress before and after feeding

I can also tell you from experience that in both cases of bloat, we did everything right – followed the prevention guidelines to the letter.

In Barbie’s case, the vet suspects the condition was triggered by the stress of a change in environment coupled with a change in diet. 

This a great reason to provide your pet’s food if you plan to put them in boarding. In Kira, my great dane’s case, the vet had no idea what may have triggered the condition.

After my experiences, my thought on bloat is this – no one really understands why it happens. 

I believe there to be a genetic component to the disease. Sure, there are the dogs who break into a bag of treats and devour the entire thing, leaving a food bolus that torsions the stomach. But in many cases, owners are prepared and follow the rules and GDV still rears its ugly head.

***

The Dog Training San Diego blog features articles on fitness and health, on creating a balanced lifestyle and just about everything you want to know about a dog’s personality, training, activities, nutrition and how to live a rich life with your dog as your most loyal friend.

Further reading:
Bloat - The Mother of All Emergencies
Bloat (Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus) in Dogs
How to prevent Bloat and GDV in dogs
Canine Bloat: Learning the Hard Way
Off to the Food Races: More on Bloat

Related articles:
Know Your Dog's Enemies: Bloat

The Massacre of the Innocents: Let's Put A Ban On Breed Specific Bans!

gen·o·cide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.
—Dictionary.com

Wait a minute, Jana, this applies to humans only...

Does it now? So it is OK to do it to other species?

Mo matter how you slice it, mankind is a destructive force. Depending on which source you go by, present rate of extinction is a high as 3 species per hour. We destroy other species, we destroy each other, we destroy ourselves.

Not always on purpose; but often so.

Throughout history—starting with Cain—it's been how we tend to solve our problems. But does it really solve them?

Breed-specific legislation is a law or ordinance passed by a legislative body pertaining to a specific breed or breeds of domesticated animals. In practice, it generally refers to laws or ordinances pertaining to a specific dog breed or breeds.
—Wikipedia.org 

Legal jargon is amazing, isn't it? Almost makes it sound like something good.

What Cain didn't realize—Abel was not the source of his problem at all. What we don't seem to realize—the dogs aren't the problem either.

***

A guy is walking up and down the street, staring intently at the ground. Another guy sees him and gets curious:
“Are you looking for something?”
“Yes,” he replies, “I lost my wedding ring. I have to find it or else I can't show up at home.”
“And here is where you lost it?”
“No, it was in the alleyway over there.”
“Well, if you lost it there, why are you looking here then?”
“Because this street is better lit.”

***

Is it really a surprise that a solution that doesn't address the real cause of a problem doesn't work?

What has BSL brought so far? Has the legislation decreased the incidence of dog bites? Or has it only led to slaughter and abuse of innocent dogs?

Let's take a look at Denmark example.

Denmark has one of the most strict dog breed bans in the world. 12 breeds are already banned and 13 more are lined up, making a total of 25 breeds to be banned in the near future. This will make Denmark the country with most breeds banned in the world. There is no indication 25 breeds is the final number.

The currently banned breeds are:

• Pitbull terrier
• Tosa inu
• American Staffordshire Terrier
• Fila Brasileiro
• Dogo Argentino
• American Bulldog
• Boerboel
• Kangal
• Central Asian ovtcharka
• Caucasian ovtcharka
• South Russian ovtcharka
• Tornjak
• Sarplaninac

Breeds under observation, and possibly banned in the near future:

• Anatolian Shepherd Dog 
• Bull Mastiff 
• Cane corso italiano 
• Cao fila de Sao Miguel 
• Dogo canario 
• Ibero mastiff 
• Maremma 
• Mastin espanol 
• Mastino napoletano 
• Polski Owczarek podhalanski 
• Rottweiler 
• Staffordshire Bull Terrier

The list, according to the Justice Department, can later be expanded to more breeds.

And yet, statistics are showing that, one year after the implementation of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in Denmark, the dog bite incidents have increased!

According to the report published by the Danish association Fair Dog, the number of dog bite incidents measured before and after the BSL was implemented, increased by 26%!

More importantly to me, the dog bite incidents involving the now banned breeds were no more than 6.5% of all dog bites to start out with!

What BSL did do is dogs being euthanized, or worse, dropped in the woods and abandoned to die horrible deaths!

Together with the people of Be The Change for Animals (BTC), we started a petition to tell Denmark to stop banning breeds. There is a Danish petition with over 11,000 signatures already. Finally, one in English for the rest of the world to speak up. Please sign the petition, and pass it on to your friends:

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

Tomorrow it could be your dog!

For more information on Danish BSL please visit Kenzo the Hovawart blog.

Further reading:
The face of a breed ban: make your voice heard
Dog bite incidents increase: BSL has no effect
Open letter about BSL was answered ... was it?
Danish breed ban rests on historically thin basis
A week of discussing breed bans without facts
Open letter to Merete Eldrup
How BSL can bring a whole country into madness
BSL up close and personal 
Pitbull massacre needs to be stopped (warning: saddening photos) 

Veterinarians Are People First

I am working on a guest post about choosing a veterinarian. It made me reflect on all the veterinarians we've worked with—and it had been quite a few.

There are some important objective criteria to consider when choosing a veterinarian for your dog.

However, veterinarians are not machines—they are people. Each of them is a unique individual. Michelangelo, Einstein … it was not their education or their affiliations what made them who they were.

Every veterinarian is a person first, then a veterinarian.

What kind of person is your veterinarian?

Their education might be the same, the information out there is available equally to all of them—it is what they do with it what makes the difference.

Do you prefer an experienced old-timer or a young vet who won't have that much experience but is more likely to be up to date with all the new treatments and techniques?

Well, I can tell you that it is not as simple as that.

Jasmine's present vet is an old-timer and he is on top of all the latest research and treatments. I haven't stumped him yet, and, believe me, I ask all kinds of questions.

Jasmine's earlier vet was a young one and couldn't care less. He was the type who believed that since he's made it through the vet school he now knows everything.

Jasmine's first vet was an experienced practitioner, working in a reputable clinic.

He seemed to know his stuff. Yet he failed to recognize Jasmine's food allergies.

We started looking for a new one because we felt that our frequent vet visits were fruitless. More importantly, we felt that it became just business for him; there was no indication that he actually cared about his patients.

The vet we switched to came with great recommendation from our friends.

As we heard all the stories about how wonderful he was, we were very excited to get him as Jasmine's new vet.

He did seem to care about Jasmine and was very nice. And yet he became a source of great disappointment.

Our friends thought he was as amazing as they come.

At the beginning we did too. But he didn't listen to what we were telling him and his effort to keep things price-friendly for the clients led to cutting corners where they shouldn't have been cut.

Priorities are important.

What is your prospective vets' main priority? Is it an academic interest? Is it personal success and image? Is it their ego? Is it looking good in front of the clients? Is it just business? Or is it well-being of their patient? We've met them all.

It all comes down to attitude.

Intellect, education, those are all important things. Experience is great, but it can work both for or against your dog. Attitude, however, is what will make the difference when it really matters.

If your vet really cares about his patients, they will keep up with newest research and treatments. They will listen to what you're saying. They will take your dog's symptoms seriously. They will discuss things with you. They will consider what you came up with during your research. They will seek a second opinion when unsure.

They will have the drive to do everything that needs to be done to make your dog well.

We dealt with vets who lost the motivation to work their way to a diagnosis in a complicated case and were satisfied merely dealing with the symptom(s). We dealt with vets who made up their minds about things before hearing out what we observed in our dog. We dealt with vets who knew it all and nobody, particularly not dumb owners, could tell them anything. We dealt with vets to whom their professional pride meant more than their patient. We dealt with vets who'd jump out of their skin at the notion of looking for a second opinion.

At the end, attitude is what can make it or break it.

We love and cherish Jasmine's present vet. Do we agree on everything? No, we don't. Is he infallible? No, he isn't. But I know he will bend over backward for Jasmine's benefit.

Aptitude is important. But aptitude without attitude is useless.

When looking for a vet for you dog, consider all the objective criteria. But don't forget to look for attitude.

It's your dog's health!
Jana

Related articles:

Emailing With Your Vet And The Miracle Of Web-based Medical Records
A Word On Second Opinions
Finding Dr. Wonderful And Your Mutt's Mayo Clinic: Getting Started
Making Tough Medical Decisions For Your Dog
It's Your Dog's Health
Does Your Vet Listen To You?
Help! My Dog Is Purple!
Veterinary Drive-Thru: Coming Soon To A Veterinary Hospital Near You!