valeska@turbonet.com
>>A History of Medicine at the
Time of the Millenium <<
Joke
:-)---click here
Degenerative Mylopathy---DM
This link is included for the many dogs, particularly
of large breeds, often undiagnosed, who suffer from degenerative mylopathy,
an immune mediated disease. Dr. Clemmons offers excellent help and
nutritional support for these dogs. DM is not uncommon in borzoi; also
see LP below.
http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/DM_Web/DMofGS.htm
This link is to an article on human diet for
MS, which is thought to be the human version of canine DM by some.
http://personal.palouse.net/valeska/MS-theory-diet.htm
This links to a DM site, created in memory
of
German Shepherd dog Jack Flash, with a lot of information and a support
group.
Jack
Flash Degenerative Mylopathy Information and Support Group
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Laryngeal Paralysis---LP
Degenerative Mylopathy sometimes occurs in
conjunction with other mylopathies such as Laryngeal Paralysis. Below are
links to a Laryngeal Paralysis (LP) support and information list, and other
Laryngeal Paralysis related links.
I would like to introduce here some new information
(May 2005), in addition to that available on the sites below, about surgical
correction for LP. Information collected in a JAVA retrospective
study, and from in-house veterinary teaching hospital data, on the results
of the standard unilateral tie-back procedure performed by board certified
surgeons, shows aspiration pneumonia occuring in 25% to 35% of cases,
with some 75% of those acquiring aspiration pnuemonia dying as a result.
After my beloved Ch Valeska Black-Eyed Susan
suffered this fate, I sought an alternative. After discussing the problem,
my local veterinarian proposed trying a debarking procedure entering through
the throat (not the mouth), from which place he is able to see clearly
how the epiglottis meets with the laryngeal folds. Then, instead of performing
a standard unilateral tie-back blindly without being able to see the exact
positioning of the laryngeal fold, he is able to do a partial tie-back
while watching how the laryngeal fold meets the epiglottis. He ties back
the laryngeal fold only to the extent at which it still meets with the
epiglottis, which allows a more normal throat closure to better protect
against aspiration, while still producing an adequate airway.
So far I have had 3 of my own elderly dogs
treated in this manner, all with excellent success. The first was Suzy's
10 1/2 year old daughter Leica. I will always think that whatever was learned
in that first attempt is Suzy's legacy, born from the desire to do better
than what she suffered through, for those following her. About 1 year later
one of my males was done at 9 1/2 years old. Some years later, another
9 1/2 year old was done.
All three of my dogs were released on the day
of surgery; no stay in intensive care was required; none were heavily drugged
for pain with nausea-inducing narcotics that might put them at increased
risk for aspiration pneumonia; and they walked out and got into my car
easily. A board certified surgeon was not required to do the procedure.
After the initial few days during which I hand-fed them their normal volume
of food in the form of small meatballs, the dogs returned to eating and
drinking easily. I allowed them free access to water from the start.
Within 2 weeks, they were able to eat their regular raw diet of chopped
meats and veggies, and kibble. Within 3 weeks they were able to eat boney
items such as chicken quarters and pork necks. They were able to run and
play with greatly enhanced quality of life, and none of the three contracted
aspiration pneumonia.
Recently I received further information on
the subject of a surgery for LP with less risk of aspiration pnuemonia
than the tie-back. It appears to be similar to what my local vet has been
doing. It was published in Just Labs, May/June 2002 (www.justlabsmagazine.com).
Following are quotes from that issue:
"...we were referred to a veterinary board
certified surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Sadanaga of the Veterinary Referral Center
in Frazier, Pennsylvania.....Whereas most surgeons performed an operation
known
as a tie-back (arytenoid lateralization), in which either one or
both (my own note here, tying back both sides has been found to have diseastrous
results with high aspiration pnuemonia and mortality and isn't being done
anymore, Y.M.) of the arytenoid cartilages is literally stitched back to
open up the airway, our surgeon preferred a
vocal fold resection (removal of the
vocal cords) coupled with a slight repositioning of the larynx (bilateral
arytenoidpexy). While the tie-back surgery results in a more open airway,
the airway cannot close off while the dog is eating, making aspiration
of food and the resulting pnuemonia a likley occurence for many dogs....the
procedure this surgeon offered presented a much better end result."
The following link goes to a good introductory
article about LP.
Laryngeal
Paralysis article by Carroll H. Weiss
The following links to some surgical information.
http://petsurgery.com/laryngealparalysis.htm
Canine Laryngeal Paralysis website--has link
for joining LP Support and Information Group, click below:
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/village/8335/
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Developmental Bone Diseases
and Rapid Growth
This is a super article, required reading
for anyone growing large breed dogs.
Relationship
of Nutrition to Developmental Skeletal Disease in Young Dogs
by Richardson and Toll
Discussion of calcium metabolism, and effects
of too little or too much during growth.
Calcium-Providing
Dogs with the Right Balance during Growth and Reproduction
Synopsis of a study done on Great Dane puppies
using three different calcium levels with the rest of the diet held constant.
Helps correct the false idea, generated by older research, that high protien
levels are the cause of developemental skeletal problems in large breeds.
Dietary
Mineral Levels Affect Bone Development in Great Dane Pups
A collection of articles on symptoms, causes,
treatments.
WOBBLERS
SYNDROME, SPONDYLOLITHESIS---
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Bloodwork Values for Puppies
Bloodwork
Reference Values for Puppies-click here.
Normal puppies have blood work values differing
from adult values.
Blood
serum chemistry values table, from Small Animal Paediatric Medicine and
Surgery--click here.
Hematology
values table, from Small Animal Paediatric Medicine and Surgery--click
here.
Explaination of blood tests, at Washington
State University's Veterinary School website: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/lab.htm
This doesn't pertain particularly to puppies,
but might be of help to those interpreting bloodwork results of dogs fed
a raw or homemade diet.
Raw
Diet Effects on Bloodwork Values---Dr. Jean Dodds
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Vaccinations
American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA)
2006 vaccination information and guidelines
http://www.brnc.org/docs/AAHAVaccine2006.pdf
This links to the Colorado Veterinary Teaching
Hospital's small animal vaccination protocols.
http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/vth/savp2.html
This site has a nice vaccination schedule.
http://critterfixer.com/
This is Jean Dodd's updated limited vaccination
protocol.
Dr.
Jean Dodd's updated vaccination protocol
This article by Dr. Dodds talks about vaccination
as one factor affecting the immune system.
The
Immune System and Disease Resistance---Dr. Jean Dodds
This great site, Wing N Wave Laboradors,
has exceptionally well-informed and well written
articles.
Vaccines, Infectious Diseases and the Canine
Immune System:
The Importance of Weighing the Risk to Benefit
Ratio
http://www.labbies.com/immun.htm
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Alternative Medicine
Alternative Veterinary Medicine Homepage
http://www.altvetmed.com/
The Wellpet list and Home Page:
http://www.listservice.net/wellpet/index.htm
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds, owner Christie
Keith, holistic rearing articles and nifty photos of beautiful dogs--
http://
www.caberfeidh.com.
Magazines
Whole Dog Journal
email---wholedogjl@palmcoastd.com
1-800-424-7887 in US or 203-422-7343
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