Pet Health Tip #14- "Do dogs get dementia?"

As dogs age, they can develop symptoms similar to dementia in humans.  It is termed Canine Cognitive Dysfunction or CCD.  Dogs with CCD can show a variety of symptoms.  These include forgetting how to do simple tasks such as how to climb stairs; or they may forget how to back up and get stuck in a corner.  Another common symptom is becoming fearful.  Because the dog is fearful, their personality can change causing them to growl or bite.  Many dogs will also develop a fear of the dark.  These dogs often pace restlessly at night.

There are medications available that will slow the progression of CCD, but similar to humans, there is no cure.  The best treatment is our understanding of these changes and doing the best we can to accommodate them.  For instance, if the dog has grown fearful, we can try to minimize the amount of stress in their lives.  One example, would be allow them a safe place to go if there are small children in the house.  If they have grown fearful of the dark, give them a nightlight.  Also, they will need patience and understanding for when they grow forgetful.

Geriatric dogs can be a challenge.  Our dogs give us unconditional love and the least we can do is give them our patience and understanding as they age.

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How To Choose a Date to Conceive

It is important to plan pregnancy for the couple begins to take care before the start, in the past only gave importance to the care of women as bearers of pregnancy, but now the weight and role of partners is of vital importance. It is important that both parents bear a healthy, non-toxic, good nutrition and exercise to perform. Women have to start from planning with folic acid supplements for pregnancy to begin to develop in ideal conditions, the man can supplement your diet with omega 3 fatty acids, DHA, to improve sperm quality.

We must take into account a lot more of considerations:

How long is pregnancy?

It is popularly said to be nine months, but actually takes ten lunar months (28 days), ie 280 days or 40 weeks. Not so much as it sounds, because the first two weeks do not count are those which precede ovulation. To calculate the due date, you go back three months from the date of the last period and add a week, for example if the last period was August 1, back three months, until May 1, and adds one week : the due date will be May 8, ie 40 weeks. Pregnancy is a term from week 37 through 42, so this date may be advanced or delayed three weeks fortnight.

What is the most common month to conceive?

This is something that varies from country to country, according to customs and holiday periods. In Spain, the months when most babies are born in March, May, September and October, conceived in July, September, December and January.

What time of day more babies are born?

Although it may seem that most babies are born at dawn, the statistics tell us that actually do during the day

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Calculating The Date of Birth after IVF

The initial correspond to IVF in vitro fertilization. The IVF procedure is a technique of fertility used to help infertile couples become pregnant. During this procedure the woman takes fertility drugs, which are responsible for stimulating the production of eggs. Once mature, the eggs are extracted from the body, fertilized with sperm from her partner and then implanted in the uterus. After implantation, the woman can get pregnant and expecting a child or more. The due date of a woman who becomes pregnant after in vitro fertilization can be calculated easily.

   

Instructions

1.      Make sure you have noted all the correct dates. The most important date you need to know is the recovery. Recovery is the exact day the eggs were extracted from your body or someone who has donated. This date is not the one you started taking the medication. The only matters is the extraction of the eggs. If you are calculating the due date of a pregnancy generated from a frozen embryo, you can subtract three days the eggs were implanted into your uterus.
   

  2.    Subtract 15 days from the date of recovery. Do this even if you've been taking medication for those days. This period is considered the day of your LMP or last menstrual period. Take note of this day in a calendar to count easily.


 3.     Once you have those days, you can calculate your due date. Most pregnancies last between 38 and 42 weeks. Add 40 weeks from the date of your last menstrual period. That is going to be your date of birth.


4.    Just  Calculate your due date. For example, if you have implanted the fertilized eggs on January 1st, your last menstrual period must have been the December 16, or two weeks before implantation. This would make the second trimester of your pregnancy begins March 12. The third quarter beginning on June 23. The estimated due date would be around September 24. All delivery dates are not exact.


5.      Subtract 3 weeks if you are expecting twins. A normal pregnancy lasts about such 37 weeks. If you are expecting triplets, subtract 3 weeks. If more than three children, ask your doctor about your due date. The due date of a multiple pregnancy varies for each person.

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Calculating The Date Of Ovulation In a Woman

Write and note down the first day of your last period. This is the date you start your menstrual cycle.

     Record the average number of days of your menstrual cycle individually. Your menstrual cycle begins on the first day of your period and ends one day before having the next. The number of days in that cycle is known as your menstrual cycle specific. Most women have a 28 to 29 day cycle. Calculate your average following your cycle for several months, this may vary slightly from month to month. Average your cycles for 3 or 4 months to determine your menstrual cycle length.
  
      Know that usually women ovulate 14 days after the onset of the menstrual cycle. This means that if you have a 28 day cycle, probably ovulate on day 14. If you have a 30 day cycle, ovulate around day 16.
  
      Use ovulation calculators online to easily see the dates of ovulation previews. Websites such as Ovulation-Calculator and The Parent Imperfected calculate your ovulation date for you. You must enter the first day of your last period and your average length of your menstrual cycle to get the results.
  
      Temperature method attempts to determine ovulation. Note down your temperature every morning, the day after you ovulate, your temperature will be about half a degree Celsius higher than normal. Be sure to take your temperature first thing in the morning before getting out of bed, because movement causes the temperature increase.
  
      Look after your vaginal discharge. As ovulation approaches, vaginal discharge tends to be more watery and clear. During the day of ovulation, the discharge will be denser and moist and, immediately after ovulation, it will be somewhat sticky.
  
      Visit to a fertility specialist to help you determine your time of ovulation. These doctors may do several tests to help you set your ovulation dates provided.

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Pet Health Tip #13 - Canine Hip Dysplasia

What is Hip Dysplasia?

Hip Dysplasia is caused by the abnormal development of the hip joint.  The hip joint is a ball and socket joint.  The head (top) of the femur (long upper leg bone) is the ball and it sits in a socket (acetabulum) of the hip bone (os coxae).  The head of the femur is supposed to sit very snugly in the acetabulum.  It is allowed a rolling motion, but is NOT supposed to have a sliding motion. 

So, in a dog with Hip Dysplasia the ball (head of femur) is usually too small and the socket is too shallow.  This results in a "loose" joint.  In other words, instead of getting that snug fit, the joint has too much motion.  This can allow the joint to subluxate or "pop in and out".  Over time, this extra motion cause "wear and tear" on the joint and results in arthritis.

What Causes Hip Dysplasia?

Hip Dysplasia is primarily the result of genetics.  That is why it is more common in certain breeds of dogs such as Labs and Rottweilers.  As the puppy ages, the joint doesn't develop correctly and results in Hip Dysplasia.

What are the Symptoms of Hip Dysplasia?

It is often hard to diagnose Hip Dysplasia in really young puppies.  All puppies have pretty loose joints.  The question is whether they are going to develop normally or abnormally as the puppy grows.  However, by the time the puppy is about 6 months old, you will often start to see evidence of hip dysplasia.  The puppy may have a "rolling gate" where you can actually see the hip joint slipping when they walk.  This is often missed due to the fact that puppies are pretty resilient and will ignore the inconvenience of a slipping hip joint.

Typically, Hip Dysplasia is diagnosed once the dog has fully matured and the joint starts to break down.  The dog will have trouble rising, may cry out if their hips are pushed on, may have trouble maneuvering up stairs, or jumping into cars or onto the bed.

What Can I Do For My Dog if He Has Hip Dysplasia?

The only "cure" for Hip Dysplasia is hip replacement surgery.  As you can imagine, this is pretty expensive and only a few specialist will even perform the surgery.  The second best thing that you can do is make sure that you keep your dog fit.  The hip joint should NOT have to work overtime.  Obesity will cause the joint to break down much faster causing severe arthritis.  Mild forms of exercise such as swimming and walking will help keep the joint healthy.

There are several good medications for not only pain relief, but also to help keep the cartilage in the joint healthy. 

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Humerous Life Story #7- "My walk into Canada"

My husband and I were married 7 years ago.  For our honeymoon, we took a trip that started in NYC and moved its way up the east coast into Maine.  Our plan was to take a train from NYC to Boston and then rent a car to drive up into Maine.  The night before we were supposed to board the train, a bomb exploded on a train in London.  The news was filled with information about heightened security at the train stations and border crossings.  My husband and I were really concerned about getting on the train the next morning.

We showed up at the train station several hours before departure in anticipation of the heightened security.  However, much to our surprise, when we arrived at the station, there was no real security that we could see.  We just loaded up on the train and off we went.  We didn't have to show any identification or even have our baggage checked.  We got a pretty good laugh about that.

A few days later, we were in Maine and decided that we would go ahead and venture into Canada.  Basically, just to say that we were there.  When we arrived at the border town on the US side, we went into a visitor's center.  The employee told us that we could either drive into Canada or walk across a short bridge that spanned a small river.  He also informed us that we better have at least 2 forms of ID if we wanted to get back into the US once we crossed over.  At that time, no passport was required.

My husband and I decided that we would just walk across the bridge.  We didn't have that much time and really just wanted to take some pictures and look for souvenirs.  So, we headed across the bridge.  As we were approaching the Canadian shore, we saw a sign that instructed all pedestrians to enter the border patrol station in order to check in.  So, when we arrived, that is what we did. 

We walked into a small office and two Canadian Border Patrol officers were sitting behind a counter.  They glanced up and one of them asked, "What are you doing in here?"  He was obviously confused. 

I answered, "The sign on the bridge says that all pedestrians must check in at the border patrol station.  So, here we are."

He seemed even more confused as he asked, "You walked over here?"

My husband answered, "Yes."

The man asked, "Where is your car?"

"Still in the US," I answered.  I was now almost as confused as the border patrol officer seemed.

"What are you doing here?" asked the man.

"We just want to go into the souvenirs shop across the street," I answered.

"Well, okay. Go ahead," said the man.

"Don't you want to see some ID or anything?" asked my husband.

"No, that's okay," answered the man.

My husband and I walked out of the office completely confused by the conversation that we had just had.  Then we walked across the street and entered the souvenirs shop.  When we travel, I like to buy t-shirts and my husband likes to by coffee mugs.  We looked around the store that was filled with mostly tobacco and alcohol products.  I found one t-shirt that wasn't my size and we didn't see any coffee mugs.  So, my husband asked the woman that was sitting at the cash register, "Do you have any more t-shirts or any coffee mugs?"

She answered, "We may have something upstairs if you want to dig around up there."  She gestured toward a darkened staircase that was roped off.

I said quietly to my husband, "Never mind.  I don't want to go dig around up there."
 
The woman said, "Let me get Jim to take you up.  I'm sure we have some more stuff up there."  Before we could stop her, she called out to Jim.

Jim came up to us and my husband shrugged at me and said, "I guess we might as well go up."  And he turned to follow Jim to the base of the staircase.

I reluctantly followed along. I really did not want to go digging around in boxes in the attic of someone's shop just to get a t-shirt that said I had been to Canada.

When we got to the top of the stairs, Jim turned on the light and my husband and I were both shocked at the sight before us.  We were standing in a very large room filled with racks and racks of t-shirts.  There were beautiful curio cabinets filled with an assortment of coffee mugs.  We both glanced at each other in wide-eyed shock and busted out laughing.  We spent the next few minutes picking out our purchases.

When we went back downstairs to check out.   We had purchased one t-shirt and one coffee mug that were placed in a plastic bag.  Jim asked, "Where's your car?"

My husband answered, "In the US."

Jim looked at us in confusion and said, "How am I supposed to load the bag in your car?"

My husband answered, "We walked over here.  We will just carry it back."  Then he reached to take the bag from Jim.

Jim pulled the bag back and said, "I can't let you carry the bag.  I will have to carry it across the street to the US Border Patrol station.

"Seriously," I asked.  Thinking that the situation was getting more bazaar by the second and having a hard time not bursting out laughing.

"Yes," he answered seriously.  Then he added, "Follow me."

He walked out the store with the bag held high over his head.  He walked that way until we had crossed the street.  As we stood outside the border patrol office, he handed me the bag and said, "You have to show them this."  Then he turned and hurried back across the street and disappeared back inside the store.

My husband and I turned and walked into the US Border Patrol Station.  When we entered the station, the officer looked up and said, "What are you doing in here?"

I almost cracked up.  So, with a huge grin on my face, I answered, "Because, the guy from the store over there said we had to show you this." I held up the bag.

"Do you have any alcohol or tobacco in there?" the officer asked.

"No," I answered.

"Okay, you can go," said the officer.

My husband and I were both struggling to keep a straight face as we walked back out the door.  "Well, so much for 2 forms of ID and heightened security," my husband said dryly.

"I know.  They didn't even look in the bag," I answered

We both busted out laughing.

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Pet Health Tip #12- What are "Hot Spots"?

I thought that I would follow up my post on ear infections with some information on "hot spots" as these two issues are often caused by the same underlying problem.

What are "hot spots"?- A "hot spot" is basically a localized skin infection.  Typically the owner will notice an area of matted fur or a lesion that is oozing pus that appeared very suddenly.  The skin will be very red an inflamed. 

What causes "hot spots"?- "Hot spots" are localized bacterial skin infections usually caused by Staphylococcus spp.  Typically what happens is  the skin becomes inflamed and the bacteria that are normally found on the skin invade and cause an infection.

What causes the skin to become inflamed?- There are 3 common causes of the initial inflammation of the skin: 1) Moist skin- this is similar to the cause of ear infections.  The skin becomes moist (bath, swimming, heat).  If the dog has dense fur, then this area doesn't dry properly and the moist skin becomes inflamed allowing the bacterial invasion; 2) Fleas- The skin becomes inflamed from either the flea bites or the dog scratching; 3) Ear infections- Often times a hot spot will develop under the ear due to the either the dog digging at their ear or from the discharge coming out of the ear.

How do you treat "Hot spots"?- The main treatment is to allow the skin to dry.  This is accomplished by shaving the fur from around the lesion.  Once the fur is removed, then the air can circulated over the skin and dry it out.  The next thing is to thoroughly clean the area.  Most of the time the dog will also need oral antibiotics in order to heal the infection. 

"Hot spots" can spread very rapidly.  The are very painful and can cause nasty looking lesions.  It is very important that you get the "hot spot" taken care of as soon as you notice that it is there.

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