I 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
If 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.
How’s that for a straight answer?
We are
I’m not sure I wrote about it at the time, but last spring we adopted Rumple (technically Rumpelstiltskin, pictured below… rough life) from the Guelph Humane Society as part of their Barn Cat Adoption program. He quickly migrated from the barn and set up shop as a garage and deck cat (which also lead
Guest Blog by Dr. Michelle Evason DVM DipACVIM, and current PhD student researching Lyme disease in dogs
Recently, an interesting article on pet ownership and human tick risk was published (Jones et al, Zoonoses and Public Health 2017). The study looked at risk factors for “tick encounters” in people living in Lyme disease
Several news articles have been written lately about the recently-described cases of Echinococcus multilocularis infection in four people in Alberta. The cases of alveolar echinococcosis have occurred over the past 4 years, and raise significant concerns.
Echinococcus multilocularis is a small tapeworm but it causes big problems.
Why?
1) Pick up baby raccoons and take them away
Rarely does this end well. It’s illegal in many areas (including Ontario). Raccoons don’t do well long-term in households for various reasons (their curious and destructive nature being a big one). And, they are potential sources of a number of zoonotic diseases (rabies being a big
I think petting zoos can be great. I’ve taken my kids to many and think they’re a great way for people to see and interact with animals they would not normally encounter.
However, there’s always some risk, and petting zoos range from exceptionally well run to horrible. It seems like there’s been steady improvement over
The fox lungworm, Crenosoma vulpis, continues to be identified in dogs in Ontario. The attached map from WormsAndGermsMap shows the cases we know about. There aren’t many, but the issue of “rare vs rarely diagnosed” is important. As a relatively new (or newly identified) problem that requires specific testing, it’s easy for it
The US Geological Service isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think about publishers of zoonotic disease information (but what do I know?).
If you’re looking for some holiday reading, the USGS has published a comprehensive overview of Baylisascaris larva migrans, a serious disease caused by Baylisascaris procyonis, the raccoon
The August edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases has an interesting case report of Baylisascaris procyonis infection in a California man (Langelier et al. 2016). Baylisascaris procyonis, commonly known as the raccoon roundworm, is a parasite that is very commonly found in the intestinal tracts of raccoons. Massive numbers of parasite eggs can
