People can get pretty fired up when I talk about raw diets for pets. I’ll start off with my personal bias: I’d rather not see pets fed raw meat and raw animal-based products (e.g. pig ears and various bits-o-cow you can find in pet stores). There are clear risks to pets and owners from raw
New Canadian Dog Importation Rules
Hot on the heels of a recent update to dog importation rules in the US, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has announced new rules for importation of commercial dogs into Canada.
The essence of the change is quite straightforward: “As of September 28, 2022, World Rabies Day, commercial dogs from
Giant Kidney Worm in Dogs
Imagine you’re a vet doing an exploratory abdominal surgery in a dog. You’re poking around in the belly and feel something abnormal. You grab it and as you pull it out of the abdomen to have a look, you see it’s a red tubular structure. As you continue to pull (and pull, and pull), it
Preventing Rabies in Imported Dogs
As per yesterday’s post, another rabid imported dog was identified in Ontario, again from Iran. What’s particularly surprising about this case is the very long incubation period. The dog didn’t develop signs of rabies until over 6 months after importation, and it was confirmed that it was infected with canine-variant rabies (consistent with strains
Imported Canine Rabies in Ontario – Again
For the second time in 7 months, rabies has been identified in a dog in Ontario that was imported from Iran through a rescue organization. The first case was detected in July 2021 in an adult dog that started to develop signs of rabies within 10 days of arrival in Canada, and was euthanized 2
2021 US Rabies Recap
Five human deaths due to rabies were reported in the US in 2021, the highest annual case count in the last decade. Obviously, that’s still a very small number overall and pales in comparison to other infectious diseases in the US, and to rabies deaths in other parts of the world like Asia and
Animal-Only Antibiotics: A Solution to the Scourge of Antimicrobial Resistance (Spoiler… Probably Not)
There have been calls to develop antibiotics that are just for use in animals, the idea being to have separate antibiotics for animals and people, so that antimicrobial resistance that develops as a result of antibiotic use in animals won’t impact people.
Makes sense, right?
It does, at least at first glance. However, “makes sense”
Canine Rabies Imported Into Canada From Iran
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has reported the identification of a rabid dog imported into Ontario from Iran. The dog was imported on July 1, 2021 and started showing signs of rabies on July 11. It was euthanized the next day and subsequently diagnosed with rabies caused by a canine rabies virus variant
Big Change in US Dog Importation Restrictions
We’ve seen some increased awareness of the risks associated with dog importation, and countries taking measures to reduce disease and welfare problems, including here in Canada and more recently potential future measures in the UK.
The US just raised the bar a huge amount with new restrictions on importation of dogs from over 100
Dog-to-Person Transmission of Staph pseudintermedius
Here’s a pot pourri of reports of staphylococcal infections in humans linked to dogs. Specifically, they’re infections caused by Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, a common dog-adapted species of Staphylococcus. (If you get freaked out reading these, make sure you read the end of the post so you also get the context.)