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Firework Phobia Over the Phone

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This week on the Cone of Shame…

Dr. Andy Roark talks to Dr. Lisa Radosta about firework phobia and what we can do when clients call right before the bangs start.

HELPFUL LINKS

Blunt Dissection Podcast: www.drdavenicol.com/single-post/202…ch-more-besides 

Dr. Lisa Radosta Website: www.flvetbehavior.com/

Fear Free: fearfreepets.com/

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Dr. Radosta is a board certified veterinary behaviorist and owner of Florida Veterinary Behavior Service since 2006.

She lectures nationally and internationally for veterinarians, their staff and lay people. She has written book chapters for textbooks including Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat; Blackwell’s Five Minute Veterinary Consult and Canine and Feline and Small Animal Pediatrics and is the coauthor of From Fearful to Fear Free.

She has published scientific research articles and written review articles several publications. She podcasts and does webinars for VetGirl and Dog Nerds.

Lisa Radosta DVM, DACVB
Co-author of From Fearful to Fear Free, the Ultimate Guide for Fearful dogs.
Co-founder of Dog Nerds, the best place for online help for troubled pets.

Outdoor Time for Indoor-Only Cats? (HDYTT)

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This week on the Cone of Shame…

Ingrid Johnson is back to talk about outside time for young and active cats. Is it safe? Is it beneficial? How do we coach pet owners to do it? Let’s get into this!

HELPFUL LINKS

Screen porch

Catio

Strollin’!

Finn demonstrates “recall”

Yard fun!

Summertime enrichment

More on catios

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Ingrid Johnson is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (CCBC) through The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). She is employed at Paws Whiskers and Claws, a feline only veterinary hospital and has been working exclusively with cats since 1999.

Ingrid operates Fundamentally Feline, providing in home and phone consultations for clients experiencing behavior challenges with their cat(s). In addition to behavior consultations, Ingrid publishes educational content on her site, but also manages Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, makes her own line of feline foraging toys, scratching posts and vertical space, and litter boxes. She lectures on cat behavior at veterinary conferences such as AAFP, VMX, ACVC and the like.

In the Fall of 2016 a paper she co-authored, Food puzzles for cats: Feeding for physical and emotional well-being, was published in the JFMS and to compliment it she co-developed a website called FoodPuzzlesforCats.com. Ingrid’s home, cats, and environmental enrichment expertise has been featured on Animal Planet’s Cats101 show. She filmed for the website WebMD and has created a series of educational How-To videos of her own, viewable on Fundamentally Feline’s website. She is Co-Director of Paw Project-Georgia, working towards ending the cruel practice of de-clawing cats.

Cat Fancy magazine’s 2008 “Home Issue” showcased her feline friendly accommodations and the aesthetically pleasing ways you can provide for your cats innate basic needs while still having a home the humans can enjoy.

Ingrid shares her home with husband Jake, seven rescue cats, and Sebastian, a rescued Great Pyrenees Dog.

The Lethargic Bearded Dragon (HDYTT Essentials)

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This week on the cone, we’re talking about bearded dragons and the most common health problems we see in the clinic. If you want to get more comfortable with these awesome patients, this is the podcast for you!

We are supported by PSI Vet!
The PSIvet Healthcare Initiative hopes to introduce new ways to ensure all Veterinary Professionals get the healthcare coverage they need. Learn more at www.psihealthcareinitiative.com/

Want to attend our Virtual Veterinary Technician/Nurse Graduation Ceremony on May 24th?? Get registered here: tinyurl.com/2020VetTechGrad

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Originally from New York City, Dr. Laurie Hess is one of approximately 150 board-certified avian specialists worldwide. After graduating from Yale University, she earned her veterinary degree at Tufts University and completed an internship & residency in avian/exotic pet medicine at the world-renowned Animal Medical Center in New York City where she practiced for more than a decade. She is Director of Pet Health & Nutrition for the pet food company ZuPreem and owns a bird and exotic pet specialty hospital – the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics – in Westchester County, New York, where she treats birds, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, reptiles, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, and other non-traditional pets, as well as wildlife. She is the author of Unlikely Companions: The Adventures of an Exotic Animal Doctor – a memoir about her life as an exotic animal veterinarian. Dr. Hess is the Social Media Chairperson for the Association of Avian Veterinarians and an active member of this association, the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians, the Association of Reptile & Amphibian Veterinarians, and the Association of Zoo Animal Veterinarians. She also is a frequent contributor to websites, radio broadcasts, and TV shows about exotic pets, as well as a lecturer on exotic pet care internationally.

Introducing a Dog into a Cat House

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This week on the cone… Dr. Andy Roark talks with Ingrid Johnson about how to introduce a dog into the land of the kitties!

This episode was sponsored by PSIvet. Check out their healthcare initiative HERE.

While you’re here, help me celebrate the 2020 veterinary school graduates! Register as a guest for our virtual veterinary school graduation (unless you are a 2020 grad, then register as a graduate!). It’s going to be a fun celebration of the students and their families as they leave their formal veterinary training behind and enter our profession. Check it out! bit.ly/3beAW1E

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Ingrid Johnson is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (CCBC) through The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). She is employed at Paws Whiskers and Claws, a feline only veterinary hospital and has been working exclusively with cats since 1999.

Ingrid operates Fundamentally Feline, providing in home and phone consultations for clients experiencing behavior challenges with their cat(s). In addition to behavior consultations, Ingrid publishes educational content on her site, but also manages Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, makes her own line of feline foraging toys, scratching posts and vertical space, and litter boxes. She lectures on cat behavior at veterinary conferences such as AAFP, VMX, ACVC and the like.

In the Fall of 2016 a paper she co-authored, Food puzzles for cats: Feeding for physical and emotional well-being, was published in the JFMS and to compliment it she co-developed a website called FoodPuzzlesforCats.com. Ingrid’s home, cats, and environmental enrichment expertise has been featured on Animal Planet’s Cats101 show. She filmed for the website WebMD and has created a series of educational How-To videos of her own, viewable on Fundamentally Feline’s website. She is Co-Director of Paw Project-Georgia, working towards ending the cruel practice of de-clawing cats.

Cat Fancy magazine’s 2008 “Home Issue” showcased her feline friendly accommodations and the aesthetically pleasing ways you can provide for your cats innate basic needs while still having a home the humans can enjoy.

Ingrid shares her home with husband Jake, seven rescue cats, and Sebastian, a rescued Great Pyrenees Dog.

Helpful links:

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/litter-boxe…-many-kind/

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/litter-boxe…aintenance/

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/litter-boxe…dicapables/

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/diy-best-litter-box/

Links to the boxes themselves:

www.walmart.com/ip/IRIS-132-Qt-Bu…ox-Clear/15823543

www.amazon.com/IRIS-USA-CB-130-B…&s=gateway&sr=8-3

www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90102971/

www.amazon.com/dp/B072C4D3LN/ref…i_i_I3pvCb9PTCH2S

Learning From the Toilet Paper Crisis: Avoid Panic Buying Pet Food

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One of the big questions that veterinary teams have been getting from pet parents during the COVID-19 pandemic is, “How much pet food should I have on hand?” Given the current state of this global pandemic, this is definitely not a question that we should take lightly. We have all seen what happens when people panic buy essential items like toilet paper. Although I’ll admit, the onslaught of memes with cats destroying financial investments (aka toilet paper) did provide a bit of humor during these trying times.  

What drives panic buying? 

Panic buying is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the act of buying large quantities of a particular product due to the sudden fear of a forthcoming shortage (1). The keyword here being fear. I get that people are panic buying because they are scared and I realize there is a lot of uncertainty right now that is driving people’s fear. My goal is to provide some common-sense information to help calm this fear.

Has panic buying of pet food been occurring in the United States? 

The short answer is “yes.” In fact, Dr. Tim Schell, Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Office of Surveillance and Compliance, has urged pet parents not to panic-buy pet food, reminding pet parents that most bags of dry pet food last at least a few weeks (2). This critical story was reported by PetFoodIndustry.com and quotes Dr. Schell as stating, “There are no actual pet food shortages due to the COVID-19 crisis, just current unprecedented demand” (2). 

Second, Pet Food Processing® conducted a survey of pet food manufacturers at the beginning of April and 63% of the manufacturers surveyed had experienced an increase in sales (3). It is unclear how many manufacturers were surveyed and if the survey was conducted across the US or if a smaller geographical area was surveyed; however, there is a least a trend that pet food sales increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Third, Forbes covered a story in early April on Chewy, one of the largest online pet product retailers, stating Chewy expects first-quarter sales to be up 35% over the first quarter of 2019 (4), keeping in mind that Chewy sells much more than just pet food.

How much pet food should you have on hand? 

Pet parents should have a minimum of 14-days of pet food on hand for each one of their pets during this time. The reason for recommending 14-days minimum is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 who have not been able to be tested remain isolated at home (i.e. self-isolation) until at least 7-days have passed since symptoms first appeared AND no fever has been detected for at least 72-hours (i.e. a full 3-days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers) (5). Having 14-days of pet food on hand will provide sufficient buffer if pet parents become ill from COVID-19. 

For more information please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html. 

[Canadian veterinary teams: Please check out Dr. Parr’s video with recommendations for Canadian pet parents based on the Canadian Government’s recommendations.]

Why should pet parents avoid panic buying pet food? 

There are a couple of really good reasons to avoid panic buying large amounts of pet food:

Best-Before-Dates: Pet parents run the risk that pet foods pass the best-before-date prior to having a chance to feed it to their pets. Pet stores and veterinary clinics will not be able to accept returns if the product is past its best-before-date. Additionally, pet foods that have passed the best-before-date are not ideal for donation. The last thing we want during this time is food waste. 

Nutrient Losses: Some vitamins that are essential for pets to get from their diet(s) every day degrade overtime. Pet food manufacturers must account for this vitamin loss when they formulate diets to ensure there will still be appropriate levels of vitamins in the diet if the food is fed right at the best-before-date. For example, a study showed more than 20% of the thiamine (Vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), and niacin (Vitamin B3) were lost from dry dog and cat foods after 18-months, which coincides to the standard best-before-date for many dry pet foods (6). Similarly, more than 30% of the riboflavin and niacin from canned cat foods and 18% of the niacin from canned dog foods was lost after 18-months of storage (6). 

Other nutrients start to degrade the longer the bag of food is open and exposed to oxygen. As an example, essential fatty acids (aka polyunsaturated fatty acids) become oxidized when they are exposed to oxygen, which results in these fats becoming rancid (7). This process is slowed down greatly when pet food manufacturers add antioxidants, such as mixed tocopherols (i.e. a mixture of vitamin E in different forms), and oxygen scavengers, like ascorbic acid (i.e. Vitamin C) to pet foods (8). In general, avoid feeding pet food past the best-before-date as amounts of different nutrients in the diet could be lower than needed.

Freshness and Palatability: If you have a cat or a small- or medium-sized dog, these pets do not need huge amounts of food, so stick with the smallest available bags of food for these smaller pets, instead of stockpiling large bags of food. If you buy a bag of food that is intended for a large dog for a Yorkie or Chihuahua, the bag of food will likely become stale before these small dogs finish it. 

Many of us have experienced a pet running to check out a new bag of food when it is first opened. This is because the food is fresh and the aromas are the strongest when the bag is first opened. Aroma (i.e. smell) is one of the most important factors for dogs and cats when it comes to how appealing their food is (9, 10). This is not surprising given that a dog’s sense of smell is extremely sensitive (i.e. a million times more sensitive for some compounds) compared to a human’s sense of smell (9). Likewise, a cat’s sense of smell is much more sensitive than a human’s even if it is not quite as sensitive as a dog’s sense of smell (10). As a rule of thumb, a bag of pet food should last about a month once it has been opened and air should be pushed out of the bag before sealing the bag after each use.

The Most Important Reason: And the most important reason to avoid panic buying pet food is that we are all in this together. As a society, we want to ensure all cats and dogs have access to pet food during this difficult time. This doesn’t just apply to cats and dogs living with families. It also applies to cats and dogs living in shelters or rescues and even working animals (e.g. police dogs). 

Our call to action to all pet parents should be to make sure they have 14-days of pet food on hand for each of their pets and to avoid purchasing excessive amounts of pet food. We all need to support each other during this difficult time.

Sincerely, The Kibble QueenTM

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

My Cats are Fighting and Peeing Outside the Box

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This week on the cone, Ingrid Johnson, CCBC, is back!!! She’s talking litter boxes and fighting between cats. Gang… she dropped knowledge that I honestly did not have. This is a great and wildly useful episode. Check it out!!

Helpful links:
www.fundamentallyfeline.com/litter-boxe…-many-kind/

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/litter-boxe…aintenance/

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/litter-boxe…dicapables/

www.fundamentallyfeline.com/diy-best-litter-box/

Links to the boxes themselves:

www.walmart.com/ip/IRIS-132-Qt-Bu…ox-Clear/15823543

www.amazon.com/IRIS-USA-CB-130-B…&s=gateway&sr=8-3

www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90102971/

www.amazon.com/dp/B072C4D3LN/ref…i_i_I3pvCb9PTCH2S

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

ABOUT OUR GUEST:

Ingrid Johnson is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (CCBC) through The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). She is employed at Paws Whiskers and Claws, a feline only veterinary hospital and has been working exclusively with cats since 1999.

Ingrid operates Fundamentally Feline, providing in home and phone consultations for clients experiencing behavior challenges with their cat(s). In addition to behavior consultations, Ingrid publishes educational content on her site, but also manages Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, makes her own line of feline foraging toys, scratching posts and vertical space, and litter boxes. She lectures on cat behavior at veterinary conferences such as AAFP, VMX, ACVC and the like.

In the Fall of 2016 a paper she co-authored, Food puzzles for cats: Feeding for physical and emotional well-being, was published in the JFMS and to compliment it she co-developed a website called FoodPuzzlesforCats.com. Ingrid’s home, cats, and environmental enrichment expertise has been featured on Animal Planet’s Cats101 show. She filmed for the website WebMD and has created a series of educational How-To videos of her own, viewable on Fundamentally Feline’s website. She is Co-Director of Paw Project-Georgia, working towards ending the cruel practice of de-clawing cats.

Cat Fancy magazine’s 2008 “Home Issue” showcased her feline friendly accommodations and the aesthetically pleasing ways you can provide for your cats innate basic needs while still having a home the humans can enjoy.
Ingrid shares her home with husband Jake, seven rescue cats, and Sebastian, a rescued Great Pyrenees Dog.