It’s a simple game, really. All we do is spend a few seconds making a fuss over the puppy, breathing in puppy breath, and getting all slobbery before we pass the puppy on to the next teammate. We point out cool collars and neat markings and talk about how cute it is that one ear stands up and the other one folds at the tip or how big the beast’s feet are. And we hand out treats and pats. Lots of treats and pats. Like us, most puppies love this game.

And while Pass the Puppy is fun and seems like a silly distraction, it’s a critical part of helping puppies have a great experience here. They get a chance to meet lots of folks, smell lots of smells, and be handled gently by many hands. And they get treats. It helps them forget that we took their temperature or trimmed their toenails or gave a vaccination. In return, we get puppy therapy and a reminder of just how great our jobs are. And when we play this game well, we get a puppy that can’t wait to see us next time.

Preventing fear of veterinary visits is all about making them less scary. It starts at home, for sure, but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue when you get to the veterinarian’s office. We play this little game with kittens (when their personality permits—some cats would hate it), and small adult dogs, too (Natasha will start a round with your Chihuahua faster than you can say sombrero!). When a pet is too big or nervous to play, we change the rules to suit them because every pet deserves to have as pleasant a visit as possible. Reducing stress is a win-win-win, really: pet owners avoid the stress of putting their pet through a difficult experience, pets that like trips to the vet are more likely to get the care they need, and we get patients that help make our jobs safe and rewarding.

So, what can (or do) we do to make your pets’ visit as pleasant as possible?

1. Safe, effective vaccinations against common contagious diseases. Canine parvovirus wasn’t known to science 30 years ago, and within a couple years this deadly virus spread worldwide. The development of effective vaccines has made parvo a disease of puppies and other unvaccinated dogs. Similarly, vaccinations against feline leukemia have been brought to market during the last few decades. Ongoing research has helped vaccines become more effective and less likely to cause unwanted side effects, and veterinarians have embraced the fact that vaccines’ protection often lasts more than a year—so most pets aren’t being vaccinated as much, either.
2. A focus on wellness has helped veterinarians shift their role from “firefighters” dealing with acute, preventable problems to “consultants” who educate pet owners about optimum health and focus on keeping pets well. We still do our share of “fixing” things, but we spend more time working to prevent problems to begin with. This same sort of shift occurred with human dentists during the last 40 years; instead of waiting until their patients needed their diseased teeth extracted, dentists changed focus to teach us how to care for our teeth better and keep them longer.
3. A wealth of information is now available at pet owners’ fingertips. Some veterinarians love it, and others hate it, but the internet is an unparalleled source of information about pet care and health topics. And while you need to be careful to make sure that the information is coming from a source you can trust, access to knowledge generally makes pet owners better able to work with us as partners in their pets’ care.
4. Pets have made their way from the backyard and barnyard and into our homes. Pets really are part of the family these days. Rare is the dog that is confined to the yard or the cat that lives exclusively in the barn. Living indoors helps protect pets from many dangers, including the weather, predators, cars, parasites, infectious diseases, and exposure to poisons. Indoor life also helps strengthen the bond we share with our pets.
5. Dog breath is more than bad breath. Veterinarians and pet owners are coming to realize that dental care improves and extends our pets’ lives. From brushing and other home care to professional cleanings, preventing and treating gum disease is a growing—and important—part of overall wellness. Veterinarians are finally making the same transition that dentists made: we’re learning to preserve teeth instead of just extracting them, and we’re helping pet owners do the same.
6. Specialty care has never been more available. Most urban areas now boast veterinary specialists in such areas as surgery, internal medicine, radiology, dermatology, dentistry, ophthalmology, oncology, cardiology, neurology, and even emergency and critical care. The days of driving for hours to a veterinary school when a specialist is needed are long gone in many parts of the country. In the Valley of the Sun, pet owners even have a choice among individual specialists in several disciplines.
7. Nutrition has become a focus. Research into pet nutrition continues to improve our knowledge of nutritional requirements, and consumer demand has resulted in unparalleled choice when it comes to pet foods. Pet obesity has become a topic of discussion during annual veterinary visits. And although contamination and recalls have made the news in recent years, they’ve also begun a wave of change in the pet food industry. Companies are now more proactive when there might be a problem with a product and don’t just sit back and wait to see what happens.
8. Behavioral wellness is starting to make its way into progressive veterinary practices. Instead of waiting for a dog to develop separation anxiety and destroy the couch or a cat to begin destructively scratching, some veterinarians have finally begun helping clients and pets by teaching pet owners how to avoid some predictable problems in the first place. Behavioral wellness is a kind of preventative care for the human-animal bond, and it’s an area that we hope to see more of our colleagues start emphasizing in the future.

So there you have it, eight ways in which veterinary practice has improved—and improved the lives of pets—over the last 25 years. What other reasons can you think of that make it better to be a pet today than 25 years ago?

It’s often said that “the standard of care is a moving target,” and nowhere is that more true than in veterinary medicine. Over the last ten years, the level of care available to pets has skyrocketed. We’ve become more accepting of the need for pain management in pets, realized that we were probably vaccinating more than we need to, and recognized that good oral health is critical for good health in general. Specialists in surgery, cardiology, internal medicine, ophthalmology, dermatology, oncology, radiology and other fields have left the teaching hospitals and begun serving most large cities. There’s never been a time when we could provide such advanced medical care for our pets. But there’s also never been a time when the veterinary standard of care was up for so much debate, either.

Because while the health insurance industry and legal system have a strong hand in determining the standard of care for your two-legged family members, it’s still really up to each veterinarian to determine what theirs will be for the four-legged ones. Many things factor into that decision for each of us. Things like where we went to school and how long ago, how much time and money we invest in keeping up with developments in the field and learning new skills, and our personal beliefs about the importance of pets in general. We also have to consider how many clients want to provide that level of care for their pets, how much financial risk we’ll have to take on to provide it, and, of course, the standard of care for the profession as a whole.

At the moment, the standard of care—at least as it’s legally defined—for veterinary medicine doesn’t set the bar very high. Fortunately, vets like to do a good job, and most I’ve met practice somewhere above the “standard,” but there’s still a lot of variation from one vet to another. The hard part is that the variety isn’t just between different practices—sometimes it’s between individual veterinarians at the same practice! And it’s not unusual to find vets who have exceptionally high standards in one area of practice and at the same time seem to have standards left over from the 1970′s in others.

So, what’s a pet lover to do? How can you tell what your vet’s standard of care is? How do they choose their standard of care? Does it vary from doctor to doctor in their practice? Does their standard match the level of care you want to provide for your pet? If not, are they willing to discuss options that differ from their standard?

Put simply: Ask. They should be happy to answer.

Here are Priority Pet Hospital‘s answers:

• Priority Pet Hospital is one of only three Gilbert veterinarians accredited by AAHA, the American Animal Hospital Association. We have voluntarily agreed to be evaluated against AAHA’s standards, every three years. These standards represent a set of 900 best practices that only about 15% of veterinary facilities in the US meet. Our commitment to the accreditation process lets you know that we’ve set the bar high for ourselves.
• AAHA’s standards are just the beginning. Next we ask: is this all we would do for our pets? If the answer is “no,” we raise the bar notch by notch until we can say “yes,” and AAHA’s standard becomes our minimum standard of care.
• Our team discusses our standards regularly, and we stay up-to-date using seminars, conferences, medical journals, and the Veterinary Information Network, an online community of colleagues. Our doctors have agreed to adhere to a consistent standard of care, so the recommendations you hear won’t change from doctor to doctor. And, finally, our standard of care is re-evaluated and updated from time to time to reflect changes in the science of medicine.
• Priority Pet Hospital is a natural fit for pet owners who want to know that their vet will make recommendations based on high standards. At the same time, we’re always willing to discuss options for care that lie between the minimum standard and the level of care we recommend. Only after pet owners understand the risks and benefits of the different options can they make the best decisions for their pets.

Now we ask: What standards do you use when choosing a veterinarian? Fill us in below!

In How to Handle Aging Parent’s Pets, Carolyn Rosenblatt, a nurse, attorney, and author of The Boomer’s Guide to Aging Parents, offers some realistic advice for children faced with aging parents who own pets. Obviously a pet love, Rosenblatt points out the extra-special bond that older pet owners share with their pets, and most of her suggestions are aimed at keeping seniors togheter with their pets in a way that’s safe, healthy, and fair to all involved. While the article is a good read, skimmers might prefer to view 10 Tips for Aging Parents and Pets, a companion slide show to the article (to change photos, use the next and previous buttons on the upper right of the page).

As a veterinarian, it’s hard not to appreciate how important pets are to senior pet owners. As a veterinarian living in a warm place where folks come to retire, leaving kids and grandkids to shovel snow somewhere else, I see this relationship take on even more importance in the lives of many of our clients. And as a son (my dad reads this blog, so I have to be careful here…) of parents who no longer think twice about asking for senior discounts, I expect that at least a portion of our weekly phone chats to revolve around the pets living in each of our homes. The only “sibling” I have living still at home is a scruffy Cairn terrier mix, after all.

First aid kits make medical supplies portable and easy to grab before you go on a road trip with the entire family. The also help eliminate the panicked search through bathroom closets, cupboards, and medicine cabinets if a pet-related emergency happens at home. While there are a number of pre-made kits that you can purchase, customizing a kit to your pets’ specific needs is usually the most inexpensive way to prepare for an emergency. Most of these items are available at pharmacies; always ask your veterinarian before administering ANY over-the-counter medications to your pet.

The Essentials:

• A durable water-resistant container large enough to hold all your supplies. If you have kids, or your job takes you to trade shows or conferences, chances are you have a handful of small backpacks or similar bags that would work great tucked away in a closet somewhere already. Plastic storage boxes of all shapes and sizes can also be used.
• Phone numbers – start with ours: 480-857-7234. Now add the ASPCA’s National Animal Poison Control Center: 888-426-4435. Finally, use Google Maps or a similar service to find emergency or other veterinary facilities close to your destination and print it for future reference.
• Soft muzzle - to prevent injury to caregivers, muzzles should be used whenever treatment is administered to a pet that might be in pain.
• Leash – a lightweight “slip” style leash takes up minimal space and can be used to control your dog during transport (they’re also easy to stash in your glovebox to control stray pets you might encounter while driving around town). PPH will happily give you a leash or two the next time you stop by, just ask!
• Wash cloth or similar clean towel or bandana – used to apply pressure to wounds quickly and great for clean-up.
• Large towel or blanket – for drying, warming, and (when soaked in water) cooling. A sturdy beach towel also makes a great stretcher in a pinch—tie knots in the corners if you need something more substantial to hold onto.
• Exam gloves – latex or plastic, you gotta have ‘em for messy situations.
• Thermometer – a quick-reading digital thermometer is best. Don’t forget a small tube of water-based lubricating jelly, since pets’ temperatures are taken rectally. What’s a normal temperature for pets? As a general rule of thumb, 99.5 to 101.5 F is normal for most pets.
• Scissors – bandage scissors or rescue shears work well.
• Hemostats or tweezers - for removing splinters, cactus spines, and ticks (just grab them firmly where the head meets the skin and pull gently—don’t worry about “leaving” the head, it’s mostly an old wives tale). If you can’t find medical hemostats, sporting goods stores sometimes sell these narrow “pliers” in the fishing section.
• Large plastic comb – nothing is better for removing cholla balls from dogs and people alike. Simply slip the teeth of the comb between skin and cholla and flip the offending plant into the desert; use your hemostats to remove any spines that are left behind.
• Nail clippers and styptic powder – torn and broken toenails are pretty common. Cornstarch can be used to stop bleeding nails in a pinch, but styptic powder is far superior in our experience.
• Syringe(s) without needles – used to flush wounds and administer medications by mouth.
• Antiseptic wash or wipes – find something that can be used without having to dilute it, because you might not have access to extra water. We prefer products containing chlorhexidine or betadine and avoid using hydrogen peroxide or alcohol on open wounds.
• Antibacterial soap – great for general bathing and safe for use on minor wounds when mixed with water.
• Bandage materials – you only need enough to protect the wound until a vet can provide care, but here are the basics:
  • Telfa pads or similar non-stick wound dressing – to cover open wounds.
  • Gauze sponges – great for cleaning and general bandaging.
  • Roll gauze – used over Telfa or sponges to hold everything in place securely. Can also be used to fashion a quick muzzle.
  • Cohesive bandage – Commonly called “vet wrap,” it’s a somewhat water-resistant elastic bandage that sticks to itself, not the patient’s hair. You’ve got to be careful when applying it, since the elastic can make it easy to apply too tightly. Your best bet is to unroll it first and then apply it under only gentle tension. If your pet’s toes swell, chances are the bandage is on too tight.
  • Medical tape – basic 1-inch adhesive tape for bandaging is easy to tear and won’t stick so firmly that it pulls out hair when removed gently.
• Sterile eye wash – don’t accidentaly buy contact lens solution! Get the biggest bottle you can easily carry, because it can also be used to flush wounds if needed.
• Drying ear cleanser – to clean ears and help dry ears after swimming. If the ears are wet but otherwise healthy, a 50:50 mixture of white vinegar and isopropyl alcohol works well. Ask your vet if you’d like a general-purpose cleanser that doesn’t contain alcohol.
• A small bag or can of food or a high-energy snack – personally, I like small cans of stinky cat food because they’re easy to carry and most pets will eat them. Besides, if you’re cracking out emergency rations, you’re probably not too worried about stomach upset that can be caused by a change in diet.

Extras that can be used for a “custom fit:”

• Medications – obviously, your kit should include a supply of any prescription medicatons that your pet is taking. An extra 3-5 days is a good rule of thumb in case of travel delays. Your vet might be willing to prescribe a small amount of appropriate pain medication to be used for minor injuries; whatever you do, don’t use human pain medications without asking a vet first. Some human pain relievers, like Tylenol, are poisonous and can be deadly. Ask your veterinarian if these over-the-counter medications are appropriate and, if so, what dose to use for your pet:
  • Diphenhydramine (Benadryl Allergy) – an antihistamine that can be used for itching, as a mild sedative, and for mild allergic reactions. OTC products must be chosen carefully because diphenhydramine is often combined with other drugs, some of which are toxic.
  • Loperamide HCl (Immodium AD) – an anti-diarrheal. Must be used with some caution, as it can cause constipation.
  • Famotidine (Pepcid AC) – an antacid that is useful for mild nausea and stomach upset.
  • Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) – for motion sickness.
• Flea and tick prevention – these pesky parasites are less common in the valley than just about anywhere else. Ask your vet if you’re traveling to an area where they should be used.
• Heartworm preventatives – recommended for all dogs in Arizona, but essential for dogs in many other parts of the country. Travel to areas in which heartworm incidence is high can put your dog in serious risk. If your dog isn’t taking a monthly preventative, call your vet to have Fido tested and start preventing this deadly disease (and controlling intestinal parasites as well) today.
• Hot- and cold packs  – for warming cold pets, cooling hot pets, and icing sore joints. Cover the packs with a towel before applying them to your pet’s skin.
• Epsom salts – for soaking minor wounds and scrapes and soothing sore feet after a long hike. Dissolve in warm water following package directions.
• Hydrogen peroxide – can be used to induce vomiting under the direction of your veterinarian or the Animal Poison Control Center, but we’re not big fans of using it to flush wounds since it can damage healthy tissue.
• Splints – probably overkill, but your vet can order molded plastic splints that can be used to immobilize limbs while you get to an emergency facility. In any event, pets with suspected fractures need to be examined by a vet ASAP.

Stuff you can probably leave home:

• Band-Aids or similar – they just don’t work on furry patients.
• Topical ointments – I’m not a big fan of greasy ointments like Neosporin and the like. Wounds that are small enough to just rub some antibiotic ointment on will usually heal uneventfully without it if they’re cleaned with warm water and mild soap and left alone.
• Stitches, skin staplers, and other wound-closing devices – these are often used inappropriately, resulting in wounds that develop nasty abscesses, don’t heal properly, or have other complications. If a cut’s big enough for stitches, it’s big enough to see the vet!

Your kit is just the first step!

Even the best first aid kit can’t familiarize you with what to do in the event of an emergency. Now that you’ve got all your tools assembled, it’s time to learn how to use them. The Grand Canyon Chapter of the American Red Cross offers pet first aid classes in the Phoenix area. The Red Cross also publishes guides to Dog First Aid and Cat First Aid; both books include DVD’s that show demonstrations of the procedures described in the book.

While this research team claims that the bone is the oldest evidence of domestication—based in part on the spacing and size of teeth—a 37,000 year-old fossil canine skull was unearthed in Belgian caves. The authors of the current study argue that these are wolf skulls, because the remains of many wolves were discovered in the same general area. 

In any case, dogs have been a valuable part of human culture for centuries and they remain important to many of us today. Snuggle up with your pooch and read more about the debate surrounding the age of the world’s oldest dog on Discovery News.

Wally Conran paired a purebred Labrador from the puppy program with his boss’ standard poodle back in 1988, hoping to provide a guide dog that didn’t shed to a bilnd woman in Hawaii whose husband was allergic to dogs.  22 years later, the Labradoodle is recognized as the first of a growing group of “designer” dog breeds that, love ‘em or hate ‘em, are here to stay.

Veterinarians see oodles and oodles of “-oodles” and “-doodles” on a weekly basis. Same goes for “hybrid” small and toy breeds beginning in “malti-,” ending in “-orkie” and everything in between. While most are very nice dogs, it’s still hard not to chuckle when we hear the term “purebred” used in the same sentence, and somewhat frustrating to think that just 10 years ago, veterinary teams and clients used to share a fun few minutes making up cute names to describe the fantastic mixed-breed that a client just adopted from the local shelter.

And that’s what these dogs really are: mixed breeds. Mutts. Mongrels. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But subscribing to the idea that designer dogs have their own set of well-defined “breed” characteristics or are free from the genetic defects that occur in their parent breeds is simply preposterous.

Pet owners who do so choose purebred dogs because they have a “breed standard,” a list of physical and behavioral characteristics that have been selectively bred for over many generations. In selecting a (well-bred) purebred, you are selecting a dog that should—and there are exceptions—reach an adult size and weight within a specified range, have grooming requirements that can be easily anticipated (and budgeted for), and require an expected level of activity and exercise. Anyone who has seen 100 labradoodles can tell you that you really can’t predict what an individual dog might look or act like as an adult; they may be shaggy, curly or short-haired, they may weigh 50 pounds or 100, and they may be a mellow dog that would contentedly sit in a duck blind or a spirited beast that can’t run far or fast enough.

“Hybrid” dogs aren’t necessarily healthier, either. Frequently, the dogs combined in these breedings are less-than-perfect examples of their own breeds; they may have cosmetic and medical defects that can just as easily be passed on to “hybrid” offspring as they can to purebred puppies. Hip dysplasia, allergic skin disease, dental misalignment and other problems common in both Labs and poodles are often seen in Labradoodles, so don’t buy the line that they’re somehow free of genetic defects because they’re a mix of two breeds.

To me, if a pet owner is going to take a gamble on a new dog’s appearance, temperament, and health, why not gamble on a dog that will end up in the landfill if a home can’t be found for it? Shelters in Maricopa County euthanize thousands and thousands of unwanted dogs (and cats) every year. Many of those dogs have the size, shape, and “look” that you might be after. Why not invest $60 and save a life? After all, a best friend is a best friend no matter what you call him.

Finally, the idea of laying down $1000 or more for a dog that’s indistinguishable from many that could be adopted at from a shelter—especially if that means there’s not a penny left in the family budget to provide a good diet, veterinary care, group training classes, and other puppy necessities—just doesn’t make sense to this dog lover. So here’s my plea: spend a weekend “shopping” for the mixed breed that’s right for you at the local shelter or with a rescue group instead of the classifieds or a pet store. You’ll be glad you did. Poinsetter (German shorthaired pointer/English setter) anyone?