By Scott Weese on 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
By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Other diseases,VaccinationBeing an equine vet in some parts of Australia (namely Queensland) is scary… to the point that people are leaving equine practice or refusing to treat certain cases. That’s because of Hendra virus, a bat-associated virus that infects horses and which can spill over into people. It hasn’t infected many people, but it is most… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Other animals,RabiesToday’s post comes from Rachel Gagnon, Rabies Science Transfer Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), highlighting some of the amazing work being done in Ontario in the ongoing battle against wildlife rabies. Ontario’s rabies control program is a world leader when it comes to controlling and eliminating rabies. The MNRF… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on 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
By Scott Weese on 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
By Maureen Anderson on 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
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,ParasitesIf you’d asked me a few years ago, I wouldn’t have said that’s a question I’d expect to get (daily). However, we’re in a different world tick-wise now, so it’s a common and understandable question, particularly because of our tick tracking efforts. The answer is no/possibly/maybe later. How’s that for a straight answer? We are… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,Reptiles,SalmonellaTaking a break from canine flu and going back to an old favorite… Salmonella and reptiles. CDC has released their final update on a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Agbeni infections associated with contact with pet turtles. Turtles are very well known as high risk animals for transmitting Salmonella. Even healthy turtles often carry Salmonella and… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,SalmonellaI’m giving my brain a short break from canine flu, so here’s an interesting report about a multistate US outbreak of salmonellosis linked to… no, not turtles… no, not baby poultry… but guinea pigs. While guinea pigs have been associated with a few different zoonotic diseases, they’re a pretty benign pet species overall. Yet, our… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,SalmonellaI haven’t written much lately about recalls of raw pet food because of Salmonella contamination. In large part that’s because it’s essentially an expected event. There are very good reasons why we cook food – one is to kill things that can make us sick. We assume that raw meat intended for our consumption is… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in MRSA/MRSP,Other animalsBacteria are smarter than we give them credit for. Or maybe we’re not a bright as we think we are. Antimicrobial stewardship is sometimes (wrongly) assumed to simply be the practice of “using fewer antimicrobials,” but it’s more complex than that, because the issue is complex. At face value, overall reduction in antimicrobial use is… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Dogs,Other diseasesAs if another reason was needed, a recent study from Australia (Martinez-Anton et al. 2018 J Vet Internal Med) found a strong association between dogs that consume raw chicken meat and a serious neurological condition known as acute polyradiculoneuritis (APN). APN is comparable to Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in humans. The main objective of the study… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,SalmonellaWhen we have discussions about the risks of feeding raw meat to dogs and cats, a frequent refrain is “where are the published reports of people getting sick?” While we know some illnesses occur, they tend not to get investigated to the level that they are published, which is problematic when trying to demonstrate the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationThe World Health Organization has issued new rabies vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis recommendations. Here are some of the highlights: Post-exposure prophylaxis People who have not been previously vaccinated against rabies should receive immunoglobulin (antibody) promptly, followed by a series of rabies vaccines. Immunoglobulin can be given after vaccination has started, if logistics require that; however, it… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Other diseasesI was talking to someone today about their new puppy, their puppy’s diarrhea and (take a guess) the fact that they developed diarrhea shortly thereafter. Odds are pretty good that puppy and owner both have campylobacteriosis. While this infection isn’t related to the ongoing US multistate Campylobacter outbreak linked to puppies from Petland stores, it’s… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,RabiesHere are updated versions of the US rabies maps from yesterday’s post, with the addition of some more data. Pennsylvania’s looking more biohazardous now but that’s because we got a lot more data for that state. If we get more data from other areas, the maps will be updated accordingly.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Rabies,VaccinationWe track a few different diseases, both for research and for general education, including rabies. The maps below provide an overview of rabies in dogs, cats and horses in the US in 2017. It’s not a complete representation of cases, since we don’t have access to everyone’s surveillance data. It’s compiled through monitoring various reports… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Reptiles,SalmonellaNot that I needed one more reason to avoid them, but a recent CDC release warns about the risk of Salmonella infection associated with rattlesnake pills. These pills, a literal variation of the old “snake oil” remedies, are apparently marketed as a cure for a variety of ailments, including cancer and HIV. Yet, the best evidence… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Other diseasesMy lab has been spending a lot of time on Lyme disease over the past couple of years. It’s a fascinating (and frustrating) disease to work on, and we need to learn a lot more about it. In this region, we’re seeing clear changes in tick populations and the diseases they carry. With climate change, that’s not… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Animals,Birds,Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animals,Other diseases,Pocket petsThe post below is reproduced from CANresist.blog. It applies equally for veterinary medicine. I think most people buy into the concept of fossil fuels being finite resources. Someday, they’ll run out or logistics and cost of extraction will make them impractical. Accordingly, we’re thinking about ways to reduce and improve use (to delay the end of the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Other diseasesAs I’ve mentioned in a previous post, this seems to have been a bad year for leptospirosis in dogs in various areas. In at least a few location in Ontario, we are seeing a very high rate of disease, well beyond what we’ve seen before. I was giving some talks in Buffalo the other day… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesA dog attacks someone and is shot by police. Unfortunate, but sadly it happens. The sheriff’s investigator notifies the county health department, which says the dog needs to be tested for rabies. Good. That sometimes gets missed. The investigator then tells the owner that he has to remove the dog’s head or he’ll face a charge… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesIf a dog bites a person or another animal, there are two ways to make sure that the bite couldn’t have resulted in transmission of rabies virus: Euthanize the dog and test the brain for rabies. Ensure the dog is still neurologically normal 10 days later (if this is the case, then the dog could not have… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesWhile waiting in line to check-in for a flight in Orlando, a JetBlue passenger was bitten by a dog. This raises lots of issues and questions, and for the bitten individual, she’s dealing with a pretty nasty bite and also the potential need for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis. She was bitten while checking in, so it… Continue Reading
