Date with your dog: sunrise at the beach

Phil, the ridiculously photogenic dog, with some ridiculously photogenic surfers. Thanks Jamie and Brodie for being such good sports. 

Last weekend we went to the beach to watch the sunrise (the one good thing about the end of summer is that the sun rises later…which means it’s a lot easier to catch).

During our frolic on the sand we met two awesome surfer dudes, Jamie and Brodie, who were kind enough to pose for a photo with the Philpster for our collection Phil meets... 

We’re aiming to catch the sunrise every morning til daylight savings ends.

Phil leads the pack.

Other bits and pieces

In other news, Professor Sarah Whatmore, who writes on environment and public policy at Oxford University, will be tackling the issue of badger culling in the UK.

Her Sydney Ideas Lecture, "THE BADGERS MOVED THE GOALPOSTS": TRIAL CULLS AND ANIMAL POLITICS IN THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE, will be held on Tuesday April 8 in conjunction with the Human Animal Research Network.  

She writes:

The badger (Meles meles) is one of the most iconic creatures in the English popular imaginary. In childhood, Mr badger is introduced as the sage keeper of order in the wild woods in Kenneth Grahame’s familiar tale ‘The Wind in the Willows’ (1908). Yet, as nocturnal creatures whose complex social worlds are lived out for the most part in labyrinthine underground sets, few of the people they live amongst in this densely populated country are ever likely to encounter them first-hand. The history of their relations with people mixes savage persecution, as the subject of a once commonplace country ‘sport’ of baiting, and statutory protection as the subject of an act of parliament - the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.  Today, the badger is caught lethally in the political cross-fire between these contrapuntal energies as farmers and conservationists dispute its role in the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis), a disease that plagues the English dairy cattle industry. It is a dispute that ostensibly looks to science for the answers, culminating in the autumn of 2013 in a trial cull of badgers in two locations. In the process, however, it is badgers themselves that have been seen to expose the poverty of this formulation of the relationship between science and politics.  In this paper I interrogate how it was that badgers came to ‘move the goalposts’ and with what consequences for better understanding the nature and dynamics of knowledge controversies.

For further information and to RSVP visit here. 

Moving with pets to New Zealand

If you are moving your dog or cat to New Zealand, please be vigilant about tick and flea control. The Ministry for Primary Industries in New Zealand is reminding people that there are severe consequences for introducing ticks or fleas: i.e. biosecurity clearance won't be granted so animals need to either a) go into quarantine (costs of around $1000 per animal), b) go back to where they came from or c) be euthanased. Read the full info sheet here.

Volunteer/fundraising opportunity for animal lovers with Vets Beyond Borders

Vets Beyond Borders is hosting a Trek for Vets in 2014. You don't need to be a vet to participate - but you do need to love animals, and available in August - September. The full program is available here.

Three things I learned: treatment of demodex in dogs

This is Jen. No, she doesn't suffer from demodex, but she does like to cool off in her shell pool.

As a companion animal veterinarian I see demodex mange (aka demodicosis) reasonably commonly in practice, so it was nice to hear an update on treatment and drug interactions by dermatologist Rob Hilton during another fantastic webinar this week.

He talked about demodex in dogs and cats but the key things I learned really relate to demodex in dogs.

It is caused by three species: D. canis, D. injai (much harder to diagnose and sometimes can only been seen on biopsy) and D. cornei which is probably a morphological variant of D. canis. 

The first thing I learned is that the juvenile form (localised or generalised) probably has a genetic basis but it is the mites and the bacteria associated with them via secondary infection which produce byproducts that induce immunosuppression. So the immunosuppression is reversed when you treat the bacterial infection and the mites.

Adult onset demodicosis is associated with an acquired immunodeficiency, but it can be difficult to identify an underlying cause in many cases.

The cornerstones of treatment are the macrocyclic lactones and amitraz, but no treatment is 100 per cent successful in clearing mites and no demodicosis can be considered cured unless it has been twelve months without relapse.

Adult cases where there is an uncontrolled, undiagnosed primary cause are very hard to treat.

The second thing I learned is the key reasons for treatment failure.

1. Not treating for long enough – dogs should be treated for three negative skin scrapes 3-4 weeks apart.
2. Resistance or refractory infestation – where 6 weeks after treatment commences, there are large numbers of mites, nymphs and eggs on skin scrapes/hair plucks
3. Poorly stored medications – especially the macrocyclic lactones, they don’t like being exposed to air or light
4. Not getting the treatment dose right
5. Not treating secondary infections (Dr Hilton recommends cephalexin 25mg/kg BID for a minimum of three weeks or 10-14 days from clinical resolution; or cefovecin fortnightly for two doses SC; as well as use of a chlorehexidine shampoo twice a week followed by a leave in conditioner).
6. Inability to treat the underlying cause
7. Immune system collapse

The third thing I learned is around minimising the risk of toxicity when treating dogs with the macrocyclic lactones.

Dr Hilton discussed the different drug doses he used, but the main point is that he uses a “build up protocol” in ALL animals, not just those with reported susceptibility to toxicity (usually commencing at 50micrograms/kg until the final dose is reached). The main reason for this is that while collies and shelties and select other breeds possess the MDR delta-1 gene defect (involved in the coding for P-glycoprotein), 1-2 per cent of any breed can have it…and some dogs WITHOUT the genetic defect will be susceptible to toxicity.

[P glycoprotein is present in lots of cells, and occurs in intestinal lining and the CNS vascular endothelium. It pumps out noxious agents from cells. Macrocyclic lactones are highly lipid soluble and readily enter the CNS, but P glycoprotein defects mean that these drugs can accumulate in the CNS].

Thus while genetic tests can prove that the drug is UNSAFE in a particular dog, they cannot prove that the drug is SAFE in that dog. He offers genetic tests for the gene in all patients where macrocyclic lactones may be used to treat demodicosis, but insists if there is any chance the animal may be related to a herding breed.

And he puts all animals through a build-up protocol even when the test is negative for the genetic defect.

There are a lot of drugs that should not be used in dogs on these medications and it all depends on whether they compete with P glycoprotein. These include antifungal azoles, some antibiotics and anti-emetics, numerous chemotherapeutic agents, anaesthetics and antihistamines.

Dr Hilton also talked about the use of amitraz in the treatment of demodicosis. Currently this is only available off label in Australia and there are some human safety issues that make its use rather challenging (e.g. potential health risks to diabetic pets and owners, ditto owners with asthma, owners and pets on MOAIs and SSRIs etc.)

Hello Birdy-guy!: Interview with cinematographer and nature documentary maker Leighton de Barros

William McInnes up close and personal with a bird on Hello Birdy. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes of nature documentaries.

I don’t know about you, but a career as an executive producer/director/writer/cinematographer of nature documentaries is one of my fantasies (although being a vet comes close). Leighton De Barros, however, IS an executive producer/director/writer/cinematographer. This man is living the dream.

He has worked in the television industry for over 25 years. In 2004, he produced, directed and shot his first wildlife/adventure doco called “Shark Bay”, and was bitten - not by a shark, but by the documentary-making bug.

In 2007 he established Sea Dog Films with partner Jodie De Barros based in Western Australia and has gone on to produce, direct and shoot several documentaries. These include “Whale Patrol” - about the fight to protect the migrating whale population off the coast of Western Australia, and “The Search for the Ocean’s SuperPredator”.

I suspect the man never sleeps. He has collected a swag of awards and been nominated for 4 Emmy Awards for Cinemataography. His latest project, “Hello Birdy – A Boofhead’s Guide to BirdWatching”,  is exactly that.

He took some time out from scouting exotic locations and travelling thousands of kilometres for one elusive photo of a rare and endangered species to talk to SAT.

Leighton de Barros: executive producer/director/writer/award-winning cinematographer and guy whosejob we are, frankly, super-duper jealous of.

It seems like it’s everyone's fantasy to produce wildlife documentaries. Was it something you always wanted to do and how did you make it in this field?

I have always spent a lot of the time on the ocean, at the beach, surfing. I love the marine environment and in my spare time whilst working at a regional tv station in WA I made a film on the local population of dolphins. Eventually this led to re-making the film for the ABC and then open doors as I went on to working for the BBC, Discovery, Nat Geo and many other productions primarily making wildlife films. 

Birdwatching is a field usually reserved for very serious people who can differentiate species on the basis of features that many of us would fail to notice (I'd love to say people who can differentiate their tits from their boobies but I suspect that puts me at the boofhead end of the spectrum!). Why did you decide to introduce birdies to boofheads?

Great point. Our brief from the ABC was not to make the series too serious. They wanted to attract a broader audience and even people who had no general interest in birds. Hence they wanted us to use William McInnes [star of Blue Heelers and SeaChange] as a host because he has a great sense of humour and make the series appealing to a wider audience. William is able to ask questions and make observations about the birds from a layman’s point of view, some questions that maybe the audience is a bit embarrassed to ask, but he gets away with it.

William McInnes asks the experts those burning bird questions we were all a bit embarassed to ask...

Filming animals can be challenging as they can be camera shy, and in your case the subjects can fly away. How did you capture the footage of birds for Hello Birdy and which particular species were most challenging?

Definitely agree with this. Birds are a real challenge to film and in my opinion the hardest wildlife subject to film and I really enjoyed the challenge. A couple of years ago we produced a film called On A Wing And A Prayer, on the entire life cycle of the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo for the ABC. This gave me the experience and the confidence to produce Hello Birdy. The most challenging birds to film where the Lyrebird, Great Bowerbird, the Eastern Whipbird and Jesus the Malleefowl.

What sort of lengths did you go to to get footage of your subjects?

Jesus the malleefowl was the greatest challenge. As you know they are extremely shy birds. To get the behaviour of him digging on the mound we filmed him over five months with a motion activated camera. I drove in excess of five thousand kilometres back and forward to his mound in the South of WA to check, download and reset the footage from the camera and also shoot him walking around the bush. Incredibly, on the day William arrived to do the story Jesus popped up on his mound and started scratching away right in front of us – you beauty!

How long did it take to research this series and how involved was this process?

It took about 6 months to research the series and that involved a team of 3 people with wildlife experience. It’s lucky I had some experience working with particular species of birds, whilst others I had never seen in the wild before. Researching is always difficult as you have to go through a mine of information and then whittle it all back to work out what birds are suitable, who’s working with them, how practical it is to film the stories and of course it is all driven by the budget!

William McInnes in another stunning scene from Hello Birdy.

Hello Birdy introduces us to Australia's rich birdlife. What are the biggest threats to our birds and what do you think we can do about it?

The biggest threat to our birdlife is habitat destruction and this was most evident when we filmed On A Wing And A Prayer about the life cycle of the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo. I think education is important. Supporting land rehabilitation and replanting of native tree and plant species projects is all something we can do. Also supporting conservation projects and help lobbying for the protection of our native forests and bush lands.

Do you have any companion animals of your own, or experiences with companion animals, and have these shaped your views about documentaries?

Yes, our family has a wonderful little sausage dog and we all love him to bits. I love animals and nature, the best thing I ever did was work as a wildlife cinematographer because I have been lucky to get close to some incredible animals from a wide variety of species from the most venomous of snakes, through to Great White sharks, Killer whales, Blue whales, bilbies, dolphins, elephants, sloths, jaguars etc and this keeps fuelling my passion for wildlife. More so working with the wild animals has strongly shaped my views on wildlife documentaries. As you know there is a lot of rubbish on tv, even some wildlife programs are beat ups, which is sad, but it really makes you appreciate the good documentaries.

 

What's your favourite moment in this series?

I actually have a lot of favourite moments. I love Jesus the Malleefowl, Joov the Cassowary (incredible to get so close to such an iconic bird – and they are huge!), the lyrebird singing in Sherbrooke Forest was incredible to listen to in the wild. But my absolute favourite was William’s romantic encounters with the emus in Western Australia. It is an incredible program, Dr Irek Malecki is doing some amazing work and it was extremely brave of William to take the sperm sample from Blue the emu, he was pretty big and pretty amorous and William did and fantastic job!

Thank you Leighton for taking the time out of your schedule. And for readers who are keen to check out those scenes and more, the DVD is out now and available at all ABC shops. We don't usually advertise on SAT but as Leighton waited so long for Jesus to arrive, we felt it was only fair to plug the DVD. So here it is. 

Are cat curfews barking up the wrong tree?

The neighbour's cat visits a friend's backyard. Her visits are welcomed.

Animal control in urban environments is important for the well-being of animals, wildlife and people. Ask any council ranger and they will tell you there is no simple way, and the ways they prefer don't necessary coincide with the preferences of pet owners. What is easy to forget is that animals have NO IDEA of the rules. You can ask your cat politely not to jump the fence, but its unlikely that a fence represents a clear delineation of a property boundary to a cat.

A good vantage point, yes. Something to sit on, maybe. A great way to stay out of reach of the neighbour's dog? You betcha. But a bunch of bricks or wood stuck together hardly says "don't jump over me".

So responsible cat owners have to do their best to confine their cats to their property. There are plenty of good reasons to do so - confined cats don't get hit by cars, attacked by strange dogs, they are less likely to get into fights [unless an intruder jumps into their yard or bolts into the house via their cat door], they're less likely to be implicated in attacks on wildlife and so-forth. Some people who have the resources enclose their entire property, with something like Cat Max.

Well and good. But if your cat just wanders out for a stroll on the footpath in the morning, or pops onto next doors verandah for a wee kip in the sun, is it a big deal? People have very different views about that.

Some councils have introduced cat curfews, and Melbourne's Shire of Yarra Ranges is planning to introduce the mother of all cat curfews: a 24 hour curfew.

Last week, the Shire of Yarra Ranges announced its plans to introduce legislation requiring cats to be confined to their owner's property at all times.

According to The Age, the new law was supported by an online poll of 234 respondents, with almost 60 per cent enforcing the 24-hour-curfew while 39 per cent supported a night curfew.

But is a 24-hour-curfew a good idea? Lort Smith Animal Hospital CEO Dr Liz Walker doesn't believe so.

“The council itself admits that the law will be difficult to enforce,” she said.

Dr Walker said that there were two major issues to consider, both requiring different approaches.

“The first is responsible pet ownership. If people have their cats de-sexed, microchipped, vaccinated and kept indoors from dusk til dawn, the problems raised by supporters of the new law – such as fighting, catching feline AIDS and wandering – are largely ameliorated."

Waving a big stick at people isn't likely to help.

“The way to encourage responsible pet ownership is through being proactive with initiatives such as education campaigns, discounted microchipping and de-sexing programs, and pet ownership support - not through demonising ordinary citizens because they happen to share their lives with a cat."

And happening to share one's life with a cat is not a bad thing. As Dr Walker said, living with animals is associated with positive effects on human mental and physical wellbeing. Studies have shown that pet-owning communities are healthier and more connected than non-pet-owning communities.

The second issue, and one that will not be addressed by the curfew, is the population of stray and semi-owned cats. Dr Walker said this was by far the major contributor to the problem.

“Strays in built up areas will reduce with responsible pet ownership, but feral cats in bushland won’t be affected by the curfew at all," she said.

“We need a separate management strategy, such as Trap, Neuter and Release to control the population growth."

Dr Walker added that this long-term strategy isn't perfect - but that there isn't a perfect solution.

“In urban areas, semi-owned need to be turned into owned cats. Feeding strays without taking the extra step of de-sexing and vaccinating them, is the worst thing that kind-hearted people can do."

That requires people who have a big enough heart to feed stray cats to take the next step, get them desexed, vaccinated, microchipped, treated for fleas and parasites and either find a home or move them in. It takes time, investment and adjustment, but in more cases than not it is doable.

[A couple of years ago the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy ran its "Who's for cats?" campaign, urging feeders not to "feed a bigger problem". You can watch the video here].

“I hope local councils see reason on the issue and realize that money is better invested in proactive education campaigns, rather than unenforceable restrictions,” said Dr Walker.

What you need to know about feeding hay to pocket pets

Orchard grass. Good to hide in and also delicious.

If you own rabbits, guinea pigs or other fibrevores then you probably know that the majority of their diet should consist of a good quality hay. 

But did you know that all hays are not equal? Varying the diet of fibrevores doesn't just mean throwing in some veg and pellets and the odd bit of fruit. It means making careful choices about hay. Because your pets surely do.

It looks the same to us, but rabbits and guinea pigs will look at a bunch of hay, pick out their favourite bits and leave the rest. 

Hay houses are also a good snack.

I was able to interview Dr Marcus Clauss, arguably the world expert on hay feeding of pocket pets and guinea pigs, and he revealed that studies have shown that rabbits can differentiate between hay cut from the same pasture in the morning and the evening, maybe because of the sugar content changes through the day.

In one sense this information isn't all that mind blowing. After all, if we spent all day eating hay we'd probably expect that we'd develop a taste for some cuts or types over others. On the other hand though, as a species we are notoriously rubbish at paying attention to our senses and we may not be in tune with the sensory world or umwelt of companion animals and subsequently overlook factors that are important to them.

In his book How to Connect with Nature, natural navigator Tristan Gooley cites William James: "What is called our experience is almost entirely determined by our habits of attention". Too true.

John Burroughs has a slightly more alarming take on that: "There is nothing people differ in more than in their powers of observation. Some are only half alive."

Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides to shut down their senses and stumble through each day in an oblivious bubble, and yet some people end up having much richer experiences than others. If two people go on an identical walk, one of them might have a profounder, more fascinating experience than the other. One reason will be each person's life experiences to date (p48).

Spending a bit more time thoughfully selecting, touching and sniffing hay is then probably just as good for you as it is for the animals you want to feed it to.

So what does it all mean? It means that we should be a) providing excellent quality hay that has been stored appropriately so that it is free of potentially toxic moulds; b) topping up hay daily so rabbits and guinea pigs can choose the bits they want; c) varying the hay that we purchase, including the source, to provide some variety in the diet.

You can read the full article in the latest issue of Rabbits USA here. The article I wrote is geared towards rabbit owners, but if you fancy something a bit more technical check out this brilliant article by Dr Marcus Clauss.

Keeping older people and pets together and why you should be cautious about kissing your pet

Mr B is daring me to pick up his ball.

Its no secret that at SAT HQ we recognise the importance of the human-animal bond, and keeping older people and their companion animals together is of the utmost importance for both the human and animal sides of the equation.

If you feel strongly about this, and/or live in the ACT or can get down there next week,  the Pets and Aged Care Steering Group is hosting a FREE session on the ways to support low-income, frail or aged pet owners who face temporary or other crises during which their pet may need to be accommodated or rehomed.

The session, to be held at the Hughes Community Centre on Thursday March 27 from 10am-12pm, will provide details about successful in-home pet support programs in communities around Australia, and the potential for similar programs to be implemented in the ACT. 

You may not consider yourself old yet, but with any luck you'll get there and so will we, and when we do we'd like to have our companions by our side. Learn more and have your say now. Pet-friendly accommodation doesn't fall from the sky - its often the result of hard lobbying by groups like this. To register please click here.

Too slow!

The human-animal bond is important, but some people take it a little too far. Over at Associate Professor Scott Weese's Worms and Germs blog (one of my personal faves), he discusses the risks of pashing pets. He also introduces a saying I've not heard before: "Common sense is like deoderant. The people who need it most don't use it."

Reptiles carry Salmonella, which can wreak havoc on one's gastrointestinal tract. Read more here.

If you must kiss your pet, do it with your eyes wide open. One woman learned what happens when you think you're kissing your cat, only to discover that the pile of fur sleeping beside you is a rabid raccoon. It isn't pleasant.

[When I was in the US visiting practices, I attended one practice where the head nurse came in with her cat for treatment. He was at home, inside, minding his own business when a raccoon came through the cat door and BROKE THE CATS FEMUR. Not trying to paint a bad picture of raccoons, but it seems like a very good reason to have a lockable cat door].