Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Older cats - what should you look out for?

For domestic cats in the UK, their three-score-years-and-ten is about 14 years, but many of them now live for a great deal longer. We certainly have many patients at the clinic who are in their late teens and still going strong, and just a few who make it into their early to mid twenties.

So what are the particular health problems these senior citizens might face?

The commonest problems we see are:

- dental problems

- kidney disease

- over-active thyroid glands

- heart disease

- reduced mobility and joint pain

- cancer

Dental disease
Most cats don't brush their teeth regularly and in combination with a soft diet, they often develop a buildup of thick yellow calculus on their teeth. This calculus contains a lot of bacteria which (quite apart from the smell) can cause painful inflammation of the gums and can spread around the body causing infection elsewhere. Keeping the teeth clean is very important: food supplements such as Plaque Off can help soften and loosen the plaque and calculus, and daily applications of oral hygiene products like Logic Oral Hygiene gel can help control bacteria in the mouth. Where the calculus is very thick, tooth cleaning can only be carried out under an anaesthetic.

Kidney disease
The kidneys are vitally important organs that help control the water balance of the body, excrete waste products from the blood, balance the levels of body salts and regulate blood pressure. The kidneys often start to fail in old age, resulting in increased urine output and thirst, reduced appetite, weight loss, nausea and anaemia. Early detection of kidney problems with regular blood and urine tests helps us guide you on the best diet and choose appropriate supplements and medication to keep your cats healthy and comfortable for as long as possible.

Thyroid problems
The thyroid hormones help to regulate the metabolic rate of the body. Many older cats develop over active thyroid glands, resulting in them always feeling hungry whilst losing weight, becoming restless and agitated and developing secondary heart disease. Treatment is available, either as daily medication, surgery to remove
the affected glands or a form of radiation treatment. Successful treatment can massively improve an older cat's quality of life.

Heart disease
The commonest heart problem in older cats is a thickening of the heart wall. This reduces the size of the heart chambers and the heart has to compensate by beating faster all the time to avoid fluid buildup in the lungs. Early detection and management to control the heart rate, blood pressure and to support the damaged heart muscle is vital to slow the progression of this disease.

Mobility issues
We all know that older cats often do less and sleep more, but for many cats that inactivity is simply because their bones and joints ache. If your older cat is less active than before, if he or she is grooming less with obvious matted fur or more dandruff than before, is more grumpy or irritable or hesitate before jumping up onto furniture, it might be due to aches and pains. If you ask your vet to carry out a full mobility assessment, you may find that a great deal can be done to increase their comfort.


Cancer
No one really wants to mention the word, but it's a common problem in older cats. Get used to running your hands over your elderly companion looking for any unusual bumps or swellings, and make sure that your vet carries out a full examination at least twice a year. Many types of cancer can now be treated effectively with minimal distress, so early detection is vital.


We are often asked whether annual booster vaccines are really necessary as cats get older. The issue is not about vaccination: it is about protection from potentially fatal diseases at a time when their natural immunity may be fading a little. We
strongly recommend that older cats have a simple blood test to see how well they are already protected. If they have high antibody levels, no vaccine is needed, if not then we can give a booster in the knowledge that it is really needed.

Are there any particular feeding requirements for older cats?
Cats with these kind of old age problems will often have quite specific dietary needs, so you really should discuss this with your vet, but just remember that older cats, like older people often are not so interested in food and will only take smaller amounts at a time. Make sure that there is always plenty of fresh water easily available for them to drink.


Remember - old age itself is not a disease: there is a great deal that we can do to improve the quality of life of our older companions

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Rare dog breeds - all over Hyde Park

Reading a short piece in that esteemed journal the Veterinary Record tonight and saw that the otterhound is the officially the UK's rarest dog breed, with only 21 puppes being registered so far this year.

Closer to home is the Cardigan Welsh Corgi (we have one at the clinic) with 89 and the Coton de tulear (we have 3, called Magic, Pants and Knickers) at 140, up from just 10 last year.

Pugs, oh dear the pugs, the breed that surely makes their owners laugh more than any other breed, had 5726 registrations this year, a staggering 557% increase on last year. I thought we were seeing more than ever...

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Heart disease in dogs

Heart disease in dogs is most often due to the heart's valves becoming distorted until they can't close properly. When the heart then beats, some of the blood is pumped forwards (which is good) and some leaks back through the valve (not good at all), creating turbulence in the blood flow. With a stethoscope, this makes a sound known as a murmur.

There are various stages of this type of heart disease: the task for us at the Hyde Park Veterinary Centre and for you as the owner of an affected dog (and of course for the dog in question if only they knew it), is to find out which category is your beloved hound in and what we are going to do about it.

This much simplified guide is to try to help you understand where your dog might be on the scale of seriousness, and to guide you through the kind of things we might be discussing or reccommending to you

Grade A:
At risk breeds such as Cavalier King Charles spaniels with no current evidence of heart disease. We will advise that you do nothing at this stage, but we should make sure to check for changes to heart sound, rate and rythmn at all health checks, or at least once a year.

Grade B1:
Dogs with a heart murmur but no symptoms or evidence of any changes to the heart shape. No medication is generally required, but at least once a year the heart size & shape should be checked either by taking an X-ray or an ultrasound scan.
There may be some benefit from nutritional supplements in the form of omega 3 fatty acids, Co-enzyme Q10, L-carnitine, L-taurine and other anti-oxidants.

Grade B2:
Dogs with a heart murmur and Xray or ultrasound evidence of changes to the heart shape but no other heart symptoms. If there is any significant increase in the size of the left atrium chamber of the heart, drugs called ACE-inhibitors help to maintain good circulation by reducing the resistance to blood flow that develops as the heart starts to fail. We will reccommend changes to the diet mainly to reduce sodium (salt) intake, plus nutritional supplementation as above.

Grade C:
Dogs with a heart murmur, heart shape changes and symptoms such as breathlessness, reduced exercise ability, raised heart rate, fluid retention (oedema) in the lungs or abdomen, or changes in heart shape and/or size. A pro-BNP blood test can help to quantify the severity of the heart disease. These dogs need urgent medication with ACE-inhibitors (see above) and diuretics to help clear fluid retention. A drug called pimobendan helps increase the strength of the heart muscle whilst reducing the increased resistance to blood flow that often occurs in heart failure and spironolactone is also commonly used to help slow the rate of deterioration in heart function.

Grade D:
Dogs with all the above symptoms but where home management with medication is not controlling the symptoms. These dogs need urgent medical help in a clinic or hospital.

All sounds a bit alarming? Heart disease is certainly no fun and it will progress over time, together we can do a great deal to keep our patients happy and comfortable for a long as possible.

Going quietly cuckoo

OK, I know I am prone to moments of nerdy obsession, but just check this out. 5 cuckoos from Norfolk being satellite tagged so that their daily movements can be followed as they migrate south.

Started in June, the British Trust for Ornithology is running a regular blog from each of the birds, who are now several thousand miles apart in sub-saharan Africa.

I've just realised there might a particular sense of resonance for me as I too was born in Norfolk and then spent 4 years living and working in Africa. Maybe I am reliving my previous life vicariously through the journeyings of Clement, Martin, Lyster, Kasper and Chris.


Now get back to work