ANIMAL WELLNESS
For a long, healthy life!
WELLNESS
EASY, NATURAL WAYS
TO MAINTAIN HIS DENTAL HEALTH
TIPS FOR CHOOSING
RABIES...
THE RIGHT VET
FINDING A BALANCE BETWEEN DISEASE PROTECTION AND OVER-VACCINATION
IS IT TIME FOR A
DENTAL
“PET FOOD DIVORCE?”
TOYS FOR DOGS
Signs that it’s time for a change
What to look for – and what to avoid
CRATES, CARRIERS & HARNESSES… OH MY!
Ensuring your dog’s safety in the car
ORAL TUMORS
IN PETS – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
How this famous Siberian husky helps her “mom” advocate against puppy mills – when they’re not exploring the wilderness together!
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 Display until March 12, 2018
$6.95 USA/Canada
VOLUME 20 ISSUE 1
AnimalWellnessMagazine.com
BONUS INSIDE!
Contents February/March 2018
Features
18 MAINTAIN HIS
DENTAL HEALTH – NATURALLY!
46
Along with a healthy high quality diet, a number of supplements, herbs and essential oils can help maintain your dog’s dental health.
22 HOW TO SELECT A DOG TRAINING CLASS
Know what to ask and look for when choosing the right training class for you and your dog.
26 RABIES AND YOUR PET
Making sure your dog or cat is protected from rabies is a necessity. As with any vaccine, however, the potential adverse reactions can also be serious. So what’s the answer?
30 FUNCTIONAL
MEDICINE FOR DOGS
This approach to pet healthcare uses integrative medicine to get to the root cause of disease while focusing on the optimal functioning of the body and its organs.
The right treats can help keep your cat’s teeth and gums clean and healthy – but the wrong ones can worsen her dental health. Here’s how to know the difference.
62 IS IT TIME TO SWITCH YOUR PET’S FOOD?
Are essential oils really toxic to cats? It all depends on the quality of the oils, and how they’re used.
If your pet isn’t thriving on his current food, it’s time to file for a “pet food divorce” and switch to something better. Know what signs to look for.
Your dog should not travel loose in the car. A high quality crate, carrier or harness will help keep him safe from harm in the event of an accident.
69 DENTAL TOYS FOR DOGS
42 WHEN YOUR DOG
Many toys are designed to clean your dog’s teeth – but not all of them are safe. Here’s what to look for and what to avoid.
Canines can crack or fracture their teeth just as we can. Know what signs to watch out for, and how to prevent problems.
74 YOUR PUPPY’S FIRST
FRACTURES A TOOTH
46 RIPLEY
This happy, high-energy Siberian husky spends her days exploring the Washington wilderness, starring on social media, and advocating an end to puppy mills.
50 ORAL TUMORS IN DOGS AND CATS
Both benign and malignant tumors can arise in almost any area of your pet’s mouth. What causes them, and how can they be treated? Animal Wellness
90 TREATS FOR YOUR CAT’S TEETH
Whether you’re a first-time dog or cat guardian, or are re-locating and looking for a new veterinarian, learn how to find the best match for you and your animal.
36 SAFE CAR TRAVEL
FOR YOUR DOG
4
54 FINDING THE RIGHT VETERINARIAN
VET VISIT
If you’ve just adopted a puppy, one of your first priorities is to take him to the vet for a checkup. Here are 8 important considerations you need to think about in preparation.
80 DOES YOUR DOG HAVE
MANGE?
Stubborn cases of demodectic and sarcoptic mange in dogs respond to a combination of conventional and complementary therapies.
92 CATS AND ESSENTIAL OILS
94 HOW DO CATS SHOW AFFECTION?
Cats may not be as demonstrative as dogs, but the idea that they’re incapable of love is a myth! Looks for the ways your own kitty shows her devotion to you.
96 BUILD YOUR OWN CAT TREE
Cat trees come in all kinds of designs, shapes and sizes nowadays. If you’re a DIYer, however, you might like to try your hand at making your own.
92
30 Columns
42
12 Yakkity yak 38 Rewind
41 Business profile – HempMy Pet
58 Warm and fuzzy 66 Passages 71 Business profile – K9 Honey
78 To the rescue 83 Book reviews 87 Tail end 98 Cat chat
Social media Tips, contests and more! AnimalWellnessMagazine News, events, and tips! @ AW_magazine
Tips, pet photos, and more! AnimalWellnessMagazine Crafts, laughs, and more! AnimalWellness
Departments 8
Editorial
49
Product picks
57
The scoop
72
Animal Wellness resource guide
85
Marketplace
86
Classifieds February/March 2018
5
By W. Jean Dodds, DVM
D gs Cats Rabies is a serious disease, so making sure your dog or cat is protected with vaccination remains a necessity. As with any vaccine, however, the potential adverse reactions can also be serious. So what’s the answer?
R
Rabies is a serious and usually fatal disease. This means that vaccinating our dogs and cats against this disease is a necessity. However, the duration of immunity (DOI) for rabies vaccines is proving to be far longer than the one or three years that current laws demand for re-vaccination. The Rabies Challenge Fund studies (rabieschallengefund.org), which aim to better define the DOI conveyed by rabies vaccine in dogs, and push for changes in the legislation, are now at six and seven years post-vaccination – and the initial results have shown the vaccinated dogs in the study to be still protected from rabies.
ADVERSE EVENTS CAUSED BY VACCINES Countless animals have been vaccinated repeatedly for rabies and the other common serious infectious viral and bacterial diseases, without obvious untoward effects.1-3 But we still need to be aware of the potential for adverse events (AE) and decide what constitutes “acceptable” harm.1-3
26
Animal Wellness
Vaccines typically contain immunologic adjuvants that act to accelerate, prolong or enhance antigen-specific immune responses when used together with specific vaccine antigens.1 Adjuvants are incorporated into vaccines to enhance their immunogenicity, but this increases the risk of autoimmune and inflammatory AE. In killed inactivated vaccines available for human and animal use, potent adjuvants are included to produce a more sustained humoral immune response and thus compete favorably with the longer protection typically afforded by modified-live virus (MLV) products.
KILLED INACTIVATED VACCINES STILL CAUSE REACTIONS Although killed inactivated products make up about 15% of the veterinary biologicals used, they have been associated with 85% of post-vaccination reactions, mainly because of the acute adverse responses induced by the adjuvants.1 Debate continues about the relative merits and safety of killed vaccines that contain adjuvants versus MLV vaccines.
Studies have shown that the simultaneous administration of even two or three adjuvants can overcome genetic resistance to autoimmunity. Because vaccines are viewed as inherently safe and non-toxic, toxicity studies are often excluded from their regulatory safety assessments. Children and young animals are especially at risk, being more vulnerable to toxicity than adults; and they are regularly exposed to more vaccine adjuvants than adults. Adjuvants impact the central nervous system at all levels, and can do so by changing gene expression. Further, it is now known that the neuro-immune axis, heavily targeted by adjuvants, plays a key role in brain development and immune function.1 Documented AE from the adjuvants used in human vaccines, especially those containing aluminum and thimerosal (mercury salt), continue to appear in the literature.1 These metals can inflict both immune and inflammatory responses, defined since 2011 as the “autoimmune syndrome induced by adjuvants” (ASIA syndrome). Reported neurotoxicity in humans affects learning, memory, cognition and speech, increases seizure propensity, and alters behavior by increasing anxiety, insomnia, dementia and confusion.1 Exposure to aluminum and mercury is widespread. These metals are found in many sources of drinking water and as food additives (especially in processed “fast” convenience foods). They’re used in many cosmetics, as well as field, lawn and garden fertilizers and herbicides, and in pharmaceuticals, including vaccines. Therefore, they can accumulate in the bodies of most, if not all, species. Aluminum and mercury are not only neurotoxins, but are also immunotoxic, genotoxic, endocrine and glucose disrupters, as well as pro-oxidant and pro-inflammatory agents. Continued on page 28.
February/March 2018
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