This week’s edition of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report has a summary of the 2016-2018 campylobacterosis outbreak linked to pet store puppies. Nothing is particularly surprising, but that doesn’t mean it’s not disappointing (or depressing). Click here for the complete article. Here’s a (relatively) brief summary: It all started when sequencing of Campylobacter jejuni… Continue Reading
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A new Staph on the block
Posted in Dogs, Other diseasesIt’s probably not actually a “new” bacterium but rather recognition of a species that we’ve been mixing up with something else, but regardless, a paper in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (yes, that’s an actual journal) describes a new Staphylococcus species, Staphylococcus cornubiensis (Murray et al. 2018). Here’s what we know: The… Continue Reading
Pets as a cause of death in natural disasters
Posted in Cats, DogsNo, it’s not pets freaking out and killing people. It’s people staying in harm’s way during natural disasters because they can’t take their pets with them. I saw some data about this from Hurricane Katrina years ago, and while I can’t remember the exact number, an astounding number of deaths were associated with people who… Continue Reading
Bad headlines
Posted in Dogs, Other animals, RabiesI realize headline writers are trying to attract attention, and sometimes they don’t know much about the content. As a result, some headlines are quite over the top, and that can freak people out. Here are some examples from the past couple of days: 4 year old girl catches life-threatening infection by trying on shoes… Continue Reading
Human rabies death, Delaware, US
Posted in Cats, Dogs, Other animals, Rabies, VaccinationHuman deaths from rabies are common in some developing countries (where tens of thousands die from canine rabies every year) but rare in developed countries. It’s an almost invariably fatal disease, but at the same time it’s almost completely preventable because of the quality of vaccines and post-exposure prophylaxis available. Getting those treatments to the… Continue Reading
Ticks know no borders
Posted in Cats, DogsWhile ticks don’t care about political boundaries, researchers often do (or practical aspects dictate that we must). That doesn’t mean we can’t work together, though. A recent post at our related site petsandticks.com talks about the differences between US and Canadian tick submissions, and how US residents can submit ticks to the Show Us Your… Continue Reading
More Capnocytophaga Q and A
Posted in DogsCapnocytophaga questions keep coming in. I guess that’s good in some ways, because I usually get a lot of blank stares when I mention that bacterium. A recent article about the risks of Capnocytophaga and exposure to dog saliva includes some good information about the topic, but the statements below highlight some issues: It’s important to… Continue Reading
Doxycycline use and resistant Lyme disease
Posted in Dogs“Use it and lose it” is often said when it comes to antibiotic resistance concerns. Every time we use an antibiotic (in a person or animal), there’s some potential for resistance to emerge. The more we use antibiotics, and the worse we use them, the greater the risk, generally speaking. Questions about the (rampant) use… Continue Reading
Update: Tick map July 30, 2018
Posted in Cats, Dogs, HorsesHere are some pictures of the latest tick maps from PetsAndTicks.com. As expected, tick reports are down this time of year, but they’re likely to increase a lot in September as we see the next big wave of ticks come out looking for food.… Continue Reading
Capnocytophaga in the news… again
Posted in Dogs, UncategorizedEvery couple of months there’s a news report about a person with infection caused by the dog-associated bacterium Capnocytophaga canimorsus. Most of these reports don’t get too much attention, but every once in a while they get picked up pretty widely, resulting in another round of questions about this strange bacterium. It’s a bit of… Continue Reading
‘Tis the season for travelling (ticks, that is)
Posted in Cats, Dogs, ParasitesA post from guest blogger Dr. Katie Clow, reproduced from our sister site www.petsandticks.com. It’s summertime, and for most Canadians that means we’re taking some time off work to enjoy a little rest and relaxation. Maybe that’s a week at the cottage, or an adventure in another county. And if it’s a family trip, there’s… Continue Reading
Canine Leishmania map
Posted in DogsOne of the first diseases that really hit home for me in terms of concerns about canine importation and travel was leishmaniasis. This nasty parasitic disease is something I certainly didn’t learn about in vet school, and it wasn’t on my radar at all until I started getting calls for help managing infected dogs. As… Continue Reading
Canine and feline antiparasitics
Posted in Cats, Dogs, ParasitesNegotiating the world of antiparasitics for dogs and cats can be daunting. With the wide range of products, similarly named products with different ingredients and differently named products with the same ingredients, it’s hard to keep up. The Ontario Animal Health Network as put together some useful tables that outline antiparasitic products available in Canada… Continue Reading
Melioidosis in a dog
Posted in DogsMelioidosis is a disease that wouldn’t come to mind with a sick dog here in Canada. However, it is present in various parts of the world and is also a serious disease in people. Recognizing a case in North America is rare (and it’s easy to miss since most veterinarians haven’t even heard of it,… Continue Reading
International animal disease mapping
Posted in DogsWe’ve tried a number of different infectious diseases initiatives in the past, aimed at increasing infectious disease education and awareness of both veterinarians and pet owners. Some have worked very well (like this blog), others less so. However, there’s still a lot that can be done. Here’s our latest initiative – whether it flies or… Continue Reading
Freeze dried vs fresh vs frozen raw pet foods
Posted in Cats, Dogs, Parasites, Salmonella, ToxoplasmosisI think I’ve covered this before (probably a few times), but the question keeps coming up so it can’t hurt to talk about it again: “Is freeze-dried raw pet food any different than fresh or frozen raw diets, from a microbiological standpoint?” We don’t have much pet food-specific research, but there’s little reason to believe… Continue Reading
Companion animal parasite forecasts: US
Posted in DogsI’m a little late writing about this (since I’m talking about 2018 forecasts midway through 2018), but the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC)‘s parasite forecasts are worth a look. They don’t include Canada, but they show some interesting predicted patterns in the US. The maps are below, but check out the CAPC website to get… Continue Reading
Tick tracker maps: June 2018
Posted in Cats, DogsHere are the latest maps from our Pet Tick Tracker. More details (and submission information) are posted at PetsAndTicks.com. Keep the reports (and ticks) coming!… Continue Reading
Updated Lyme disease risk map and infographic
Posted in Dogs, Other diseasesPublic Health Ontario has once again posted their updated Lyme Disease Risk Areas map for 2018. For comparison, you can still also access the 2017 map too, and you can see that once again (not surprisingly) the risk areas have expanded somewhat, including more of Eastern Ontario, as well as a few notable spots in… Continue Reading
Canine lifetime Lyme study
Posted in DogsAt the 2018 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) forum, Dr. Michelle Evason gave an update on the Canadian canine lifetime Lyme study, which she also wrote about briefly last year on this blog when the study was launched. It’s a longterm (lifetime, hopefully) study following a large group of dogs, looking at Lyme… Continue Reading
Canine importation infosheets
Posted in DogsA new canine importation checklist infographic for veterinarians has been released by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. English and French versions are below. To download the pdf files, use the links at the bottom of the post. While intended for veterinarians, the checklist would also be useful for rescues and other organizations (or even individuals)… Continue Reading
Tick, tick, tick…Check!
Posted in Cats, DogsBy Dr. Michelle Evason, University of Prince Edward Island We’re all worried about ticks. Ticks on dogs, ticks on cats, ticks on horses and ticks on us. The reason for this concern is twofold: no-one wants to get sick (or have a loved one get sick), and ticks are quite simply “gross.” In dogs and… Continue Reading
Tick maps, May 2018
Posted in DogsOur first set of tick maps are available at PetsAndTicks.com. I don’t think there are any great surprises so far, but it’s interesting to see where black legged ticks are being reported. The Ontario map is copied below but the website has maps from submissions from across Canada. To answer a recent question…yes, we accept… Continue Reading
Puppy mills “rescuing” their own dogs: Creative loophole use
Posted in DogsChicago has a city bylaw banning pet stores from sourcing dogs from puppy mills (i.e. selling commercially-bred pets). So, what’s an enterprise puppy mill owner to do? Apparently they start a rescue as a way to get their dogs sold instead. No, they didn’t see the light and decide to get out of the puppy… Continue Reading