Don't Ignore the Lump!

The huge majority of growths in the skin (cutaneous) or under the skin (subcutaneous) are benign. The problem is that you can rarely tell the difference from just looking at them. The most common malignant cutaneous skin tumor in the dog is the mastocytoma, also called mast cell tumor. It makes up 16 to 20 percent of all skin tumors in dogs. They can vary greatly vary in appearance. While most malignant cutaneous masses are firm and often nodular, the one in the photo on a dog's abdomen had the appearance of a fleshy benign patch of skin on a mammary gland. A "needle biopsy" revealed mast cells and subsequent surgical biopsy comfirmed that it was a mast cell tumor.

Fleas, Fleas, Fleas

Here's a quick flea quiz: In which of these months do we see the highest numbers of animals coming into the clinic with fleas? February, May, August, or November? In ideal weather conditions fleas can double their numbers every 2 weeks. This doubling causes a geometric progression in flea numbers (like 2x2=4, 2x4=8, 2x8=16 and so on) so in just 8 weeks a single male and female flea hiding under your sofa can produce 1024 offspring! It doesn't take too many more doublings until the numbers are off the chart. Flea numbers don't begin to slack off until we get several killing frosts. Also, when it cools down in the fall fleas will stay on the animal to keep warm and jump off to lay their eggs in a warm environment like your living room where they will continue to reproduce (although at a lower rate) indefinately. So, when would you expect to see the highest numbers of fleas? Just before a killing frost in the fall like early November. The point of all this: don't slack off flea control in the late fall. Continue with monthly control at least through December. So far this year we're seeing excellent control with Vectra (monthly spot-on), Comfortis (monthly oral tablet), Sentinel (oral tablet that prevents eggs from hatching into larva), Revolution (monthly spot-onthat also prevents heartworm) , and good to very good control with Frontline. Remember that Sentinel and Comfortis do not kill ticks.

Microcystin Toxin Alert

The Iowa Department of Public Health has issued a microcystin toxin alert for Lake of Three Fires near Bedford in Taylor County. These toxins from blue-green algae are a serious health risk to both humans and dogs. See previous blog post for Sept. 15, 2009.

Public Health Warning

The American Veterinary Medical Association has issued a public health warning regarding rodenticides that contain phosphides, usually in the form of aluminum phosiphide or zinc phosphide. Common brand names include Gopha-Rid, Arrex, Phosvin, and Ratol. Human exposure has occurred when an animal who has ingested the rat poison vomits either from exposure to the poison or when vomiting is induced to rid the animal's stomach of the poison. The chemical produces phosphine gas in the stomach which is released into the air after vomiting. The dry form and the gas are extremely poisonous to humans and pets. If a pet ingests phosphide rodenticide and vomits in a indoor setting all humans and pets should vacate the building and call your local fire department for further instructions from Haz-Mat personel.
For more information go to www.avma.org/public_health/phosphine_gas/default.asp.

Arthritis Studies

Two recent studies on the effects of omega -3 fatty acids and arthritis in dogs were published in the January 1 and March 1 issues of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The studies involved 274 dogs with osteoarthritis. In each study one group was fed a diet supplemented with 3.5% omega-3 fatty acids (Hill's Prescription Diet JD). The other group (control group) was fed the same diet without the added omega-3 fatty acids. Each study lasted about 3 months. The first study looked for improvement of arthritis symptoms with the use of force-plate analysis, a computer assisted machine that measures how much weight the dog is placing on each limb, as well as subjective evaluations of the researchers. The study showed that 82% of the omega-3 fed group were improved versus 38% of the control group.

In the second study both groups of dogs (omega-3 group and a control group) received carprofen (Rimadyl (c) Pfizer) a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NASAID). The study showed that by supplementing omega-3 fatty acids the dosage of carprofen could be reduced. This is significant because of the relatively high cost of prescription NASAID drugs.

(The photo shows severe osteoarthritis in the knee of a 13 year old dog)

Rabies Post Script

Just after I posted the Iowa rabies cases I picked up an article in the journal Veterinary Medicine (Jan 2010) regarding world wide pet overpopulation and its effect on humans. In India 20,000 people die of rabies every year mostly from bites from the country's estimated 30 million stray/unwanted dogs. Many of the deaths are children. In contrast in the United States only 27 people have died of rabies since 1990. Just another reason to be thankful for where we live.

2009 Rabies Cases in Iowa

The state veterinarian's office has released the 2009 rabies case numbers. There were 35 total for the year. Usually the majority of cases in the northern part of the state. In 2009 there were 24 cases in the counties north of Polk County and 11 south of Polk County. There were no cases in Polk County which is kind of unusual. There were 5 cases in the 8 counties that surround Polk. The species distribution for the state was: 13 skunks, 11 bats, 5 cows, 3 cats, 2 dogs, and 1 squirrel. Squirrel rabies is very uncommon. The remainder of the species distribution was not surprising.