All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

Lazaruff

A shelter, and a dog, come back from the dead in Louisiana

Rescue,

Last weekend, I joined the American Humane Rescue team at St. Landry Parish Animal Control & Rescue offering a free clinic for hundreds of shelter animals and local pets. With medications supplied by Zoetis Petcare and veterinarians and vet students onsite, we offered critical veterinary services to animals in need.

Like so much of the life-saving work they do, American Humane could not offer this free clinic without the support of animal lovers like you. Please make a donation to help support the clinic and their other efforts to help animals in need of rescue, shelter, and care: http://americanhumane.org/free-clinic

I also want to personally recognize Stacey McKnight, the shelter manager at St. Landry Parish, for the gut-wrenching work she does; the morning of the clinic, she’d had to put a puppy down who was suffering uncontrollable seizures caused by distemper — which since our own QT Pi Becker is a distemper survivor shelter puppy, just broke my hear. She’s been working 12 hour days, 7 days a week, and hasn’t had a vacation day in three years — but she and her team have changed the kill rate from 96 percent when she took over three years ago to 9 percent today. Incredible!

Of course, the American Humane organization in general, and team members on site specifically, deserve hearty recognition and appreciation. They were nothing short of amazing. Dr. Lesa led us with order and discipline like we were on a military deployment where everybody high-fives, back-slaps, encourages, and loves. Mari was capturing magical moments and everybody, everybody,  rolled up their sleeves and got hot, sweaty, and dirty.  I saw countless instances where what American Humane team members provided, beyond necessary resources like the RedStar facility or wormers and vaccines, was love.

So many of these three hundred plus animals were starved for physical contact by a loving human. Yes, they were very well taken care of at this shelter with the basics of food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, but they needed to be held, cuddled, scratched, spoken to about the fact they are precious, loved, and that we were all working hard to move them from a cage to a couch at their forever home.

While I’ve supported American Humane as a board member and financially for many years, I pledge now along with my beloved wife, Teresa, to dig deeper to help this amazing organization. Please join me: http://americanhumane.org/free-clinic

Finally, as I shared on Facebook, Teresa and I fell in love with a precious dog named Relic who was one of the worst neglect and abuse cases I’ve ever seen. Every bone in his body was visible, and I don’t know how he survived. He’s heartworm positive and is emaciated, but if he pulls through, he’ll be joining us at Almost Heaven Ranch. We’re now calling him Lazaruff, because the intake veterinarian believed he was essentially dead when he came in.

Lazaruff is being treated at Bellevue Animal Clinic by Dr. Kevin Fuselier, and I’ll keep you updated on his progress. Please keep him in your prayers until he’s safely home!

Our barn cat, Scrat

Vaccines for outdoor cats

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine, ,

Are vaccines for cats who live outdoors different from cats who live in the house? And what do you do if a trip to the vet is just too stressful for the outdoor kitties? Those were the questions a reader asked me — here’s my reply.

Q: I live on a ranch and have been acquired by a pair of outdoor cats. I know that they were vaccinated a year ago. I’ve never had cats before, and I want to know if they need a yearly booster. One cat is 14 years old and the other is 2 years old, and they don’t like being handled or in a carrier. I want them to feel safe here, so I’m reluctant to stress them by taking them for a long car ride to the veterinarian for shots if it isn’t necessary.

A: Vaccinations are important for good health, but in most instances, annual vaccinations are a thing of the past. When it comes to frequency of vaccination, factors to consider in consultation with your veterinarian are lifestyle and environment, the cats’ age and health, and the prevalence of infectious disease in your area.

Because your cats live outdoors and may come in contact with wild animals that carry the rabies virus, such as skunks or bats, rabies is a concern. A rabies vaccination is good for three years and protects your cats in the event of exposure to a rabid animal.

Other diseases include panleukopenia (feline distemper), feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus-1. The American Association of Feline Practitioners recommends vaccinating for these diseases every three years. The AAFP recommends the feline leukemia vaccine for cats who go outdoors and are thus at risk of encountering infected cats.

You are correct that a car ride for cats who aren’t used to it can be overly stressful. If possible, try to find a Fear Free-certified veterinarian who makes house (or ranch) calls to come and examine your cats and give rabies or feline leukemia vaccines if their records don’t indicate protection from these diseases.

Read more in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.

Wet Cocker Spaniel dog after the bath with a green towel

How to use a self-service dog wash without freaking out your dog

News

While those with small dogs can wash them in a kitchen or laundry room sink, many owners of larger pooches head for the self-service dog wash. That goes double with those with bad backs who find bending over and bathing a dog in the shower or outdoors with a hose is painful.

Unfortunately, many dogs are fearful of the stairs, the noises, the hose, the dryer — pretty much the whole experience — at the dog wash.

So when a Fear Free colleague shared this video with me, I had to share it with you. I think your aching back and your dog’s emotions will thank you for watching!

dog in grass

Heartworm infection is growing, and resistance to preventives is on the rise. What can pet owners do?

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Yes, it’s true: Heartworm is developing resistance to common preventives, and the number of affected dogs and cats is spreading. We tackle this problem – and what to do about it – in this week’s Pet Connection:

Climate change, failure to give preventive, and the beginnings of resistance to preventive products are among the reasons why veterinarians are seeing more cases of heartworm disease in dogs — and cats. When the American Heartworm Society performed its triennial incidence survey last year, it found that while the highest incidence remains in the southern United States, no state is free of the harmful internal parasites, spread by the bite of an infected mosquito or, in the case of states such as Alaska, arriving by way of already-infected dogs brought from out of state.

Read more in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.