Date with your dog: sleep in

The weekend is here, and Phil is hell bent on sleeping in.

It has been a busy week at SAT HQ...and we're looking forward to a rest. Tomorrow. Meantime if you are lost for something to do this wet Sydney weekend, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is opening today at the Australian Museum. If only they let dogs in...

Meanwhile at the other end of the bed...

What does tetanus look like in companion animals?

This photo features on the cover of this month's Australian Veterinary Practitioner. This little lady has generalised tetanus, characterised by spastic paralysis of her limbs - causing her to maintain this painful, starfish position. With treatment and time she was able to wag her tail and shuffle forwards - and yes, she did make a full recovery.

Sometimes a picture is worth one thousand words and that is particularly true when it comes to tetatnus.

Tetanus is something we think about when we tread on a rusty nail or re-use intravenous needles, but companion animals can get it too. They're not quite as susceptible as we are (according to Craig Greene, editor of Greene's Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat, horses, guinea pigs and humans are most susceptible while mice, rabbits, dogs, cats and chickens are less susceptible) but it can make their lives pretty miserable.

Canine generalised tetanus has been reported frequently, but evidence-based treatment guidelines are lacking. You can read more in the article I co-authored with Dr Peter Irwin (if you're an ASAVA member click here, otherwise check your library for Fawcett A. and Irwin P. (2014) Review of treatment of generalised tetanus in dogs. Australian Veterinary Practitioner 44(1):574-578.)

This cat has localised tetanus - note the extensor rigidity of the right hindlimb only. This is the most common clinical presentation of tetanus in cats.

How to trim your cat's nails, and other gems from the web

Coco gives herself a mani-pedi.

One of the more common duties I am called upon to perform as a companion animal veterinarian is the feline nail clip. A pedicure, you scoff - why bother enlisting a veterinarian for that? Well. Believe it or not cats aren't all impressed when you attempt to trim their nails...they don't always hold still, and until you've trimmed them they have 18 claws (and a few fangs) with which to deter you.

Better the vet incur the wrath of the cat than the owner. 

Truth be told, I actually get a lot of satisfaction from the humble nail clip - the nails are there, then they are gone. There, gone. Problem. Solved. The sound of nails ricocheting around the room is the sound of victory. Shag-pile rugs and woolly jumpers can rest easy for a few weeks.

Much credit goes to the skilled nurses who hold our patients so that the bitey end is directed away from the hands trimming the claws. 

But you can trim your cat's nails at home too. For a detailed guide and a video, visit iCatcare here.

The internet has served up another interesting exhibit, being footage of a Boston terrier riding a robot vacuum cleaner around the house. I am not convinced that the dog voluntarily sat on this machine, but it certainly is one way to make an entrance.

On a much more serious note you may be aware of the increase in "ag-gag" legislation, particularly in the US. But how to these laws - designed to protect producers - impact on transparency and public discourse? How do they impact on animal advocacy?

Award-winning journalist Will Potter will address an audience at Sydney University on Thursay May 1 on this topic. You can register for this talk, part of the 2014 Voiceless Animal Law Lecture Series, by visiting here. 

Finally, this infographic by McCrindle Research, is designed to show what Australia would look like if it were represented by one street. There would be 100 households comprising 260 people, owning 45 dogs, 27 cats - and 252 fish. Interestingly there is no word on how many guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, reptiles, amphibians or other species that Australians share their lives with.

Breeders, vets and companion animal overpopulation: just who is responsible?

A purebred sphynx cat.

UPDATE: The Centre for Veterinary Education recorded this and has made it available online! You can watch the panel discussion here.

Do we breed companion animals ethically? The answer depends substantially on what you mean. It was the subject of the annual Robert Dixon Memorial Symposium yesterday and gee it opened several cans of worms (not literally, that would have been disgusting and raised some welfare concerns in itself).

The panel consisted of Dr Linda Beer (vet and dog breeder), Dr Andrew Cornwell (NSW MP, Chair of the NSW Companion Animal Taskforce), Ms Maryann Dalton (Pet Industry Association of Australia executive officer), Dr Karen Hedberg (vet, breeder, judge and Chair of the Canine Health and Wellbeing Committee), Bidda Jones (RSPCA Australia Chief Scientist), Professor Richard Malik (small animal specialist from the Centre for Veterinary Education) and Professor Claire Wade (geneticist).

I took down around twelve pages of notes during the session but that is far too long for a blog post, so I am going to attempt to summarise the key points here. I should say at the outset that in doing so it is possible that I fail to convey the exact meaning of the speakers so do read this cautiously, but here goes…

Question 1: to what extent are breeders and vets responsible for the health and welfare of companion animals?

Some panellists felt that vets had a role in educating owners, while, as Dr Jones said, “We know an awful lot about some of the problems that exist in companion animal breeding but we’re not doing enough about it.”

Ms Dalton suggested that everyone is responsible, breeders need to breed sound animals and vets should pick up health problems as they present, but backyard breeders who don’t bother visiting vets (and don’t register as breeders or get involved with professional organisations) slip through the net.

Dr Beer suggested that some young veterinarians had negative attitudes about breeders, and were happy to say things about them to colleagues without necessarily confronting breeders, or, instead, make harsh demands on breeders. 

“Unfortunately the veterinary profession is pushing [breeders] away and not bringing them in and that is a failing,” she said. Instead, veterinarians should be comfortable working with breeders, making positive suggestions.

Dr Hedberg added that registered breeders would produce less than 20% of the puppies in Australia, and therefore should not be saddled with sole responsibility for companion animal overpopulation.

In her view, owners need to do their homework when purchasing an animal – is it suitable for their back yard? Has it been socialised? Can you meet the parents?

Cute puppies, but have you met their father?

“There is a lot of information that people fail to get when they buy a dog these days,” she said.

Dr Cornwell discussed recent NSW State Government changes currently going through parliament, including $800K funding for school education programs.

Dr Jones suggested that in the same way we need to be ethical consumers of meat, eggs and other foods, we need to be ethical “consumers” of companion animals.

“You need to find out where these animals come from because if you don’t you’re just perpetuating the problem.”

Resources such as the RSPCA’s Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide can be helpful.

Professor Wade made the insightful point that while breeder registration is an excellent idea, a large number of people responsible for companion animal overpopulation would “never consider themselves a breeder so they would never register.”

Question 2. How can the numbers of companion animals bred annually in Australia be justified?

Well, one answer was “they can’t be”. Dr Hedberg cited difficulty in controlling unregistered breeders selling animals to people who don’t do their homework.

“People need to get off their butts, see the parents and see the conditions they are raised in,” she said.

The bad news is that if the conditions are horrible, people “pity buy” – relieving that animal of its awful predicament and giving the breeder more money and more incentive to do it all again [I have been guilty of this previously; once with a guinea pig and once with a cockatiel]. 

Dr Jones said she was constantly amazed that so many people don’t understand that entire animals reproduce. The RSPCA has been actively promoting the early desexing of animals (before they reach sexual maturity) to reduce the likelihood of breeding. Other positive steps include the registration of companion animal breeders, compulsory microchipping and the inclusion of breeder data on the microchip database so an animal can be traced back to the source.

Many of these suggestions will be implemented in New South Wales legislation shortly, Dr Cornwell said – with one warning: “We need to be careful that we don’t demonise pet ownership. If you over-regulate you will reduce pet ownership opportunities. Pet ownership is good for you, it is something that should be encouraged.”

Dr Beer pointed out that it was impossible to justify numbers of animals bred without knowing what these numbers are. But she also raised a controversial point: “In some parts of the world desexing is considered something you do in a bitch with pyo and at no other time.”

Question 3: Is some loss of young companion animals inevitable because we can’t expect them all to fit in behaviourally?

The answer, unfortunately, was almost resoundingly yes. Unrealistic owner expectations were identified as a big part of the problem. Dr Beer said prospective owners would often base their choice of a pet on appearance without factoring in temperament and normal "dog stuff".

You might love the look of this Border collie...but can you give him enough exercise and stimulation?

“There will always be loss when there are incorrect expectations of what the behaviour of a dog is…the do chew on things…they do poo on the carpet.”

Dr Hedberg added that many dogs in pounds had ended up there because they were simply bored to death. Owners would not or could not provide an appropriate environment. “They’re not being occupied, not being kept busy…a lot of these dogs don’t suit small backyards,” she said.

The subject of dog bites was raised and I was heartened to hear that Dr Cornwell’s message that he takes into government is that five things contribute to dog bites:

• Failure of early socialisation
• Genetics
• Failure of later socialisation
• Medication conditions
• Victim behaviour

Anyone can affect the way a dog might behave towards an individual, and can end in an animal being destroyed unnecessarily or avoidably because of something that ultimately we have done.

Question 4: whose job is it to ensure that companion animals are bred fit for purpose?

There was detailed discussion around this point. Dr Beer, a breeder herself, used some examples to demonstrate that breeder and owner intended purposes could be very different.

Dr Cornwell suggested that pet purchase is “buyer beware: you have to make sure you purchase an animal that is fit to your purpose…then ensure you undertake appropriate socialisation of that animal.”

Dr Jones raised the issue of breed standards – a set of arbitrary rules that had nothing to do with aspects that buyers were looking for – i.e. does it bark? Does it shed? How does it fit into their life?

“The standards are mostly about appearance,” she said. “They make it very difficult for people to breed for temperament.”

Of course with all decisions we need to understand the way they are made. And we don't always like to question our own motives.

Professor Malik pointed out that pet ownership is an emotional decision, not a rational decision. “It’s a bit like buying a car,” he said. 

That is, you know you should see a mechanic first, and follow her advice if she tells you that this isn’t the car for you. But in truth, if your heart is set on the car, the sound advice from your mechanic may not alter your decision at all.

As a cat vet he said he had come to advocate for adoption of moggies over purebreds. No matter how detailed and sound the advice, potential owners are often refractory “because they love a Burmese”.

The discussion ended there, although it could have easily continued for some hours. Due to time constraints many issues around ethical breeding could not be addressed. 

SAT is interested in hearing your views about the scope of the problem and potential solutions.

Three things I learned: the neurophysiology of canine anxiety

Positive early experiences can help all dogs, but especially anxious dogs, cope better in potentially stressful situations.

Last week we attended a presentation on the Neurophysiology of Anxiety and Its Management – in dogs that is. Dr Andrew O’Shea, head of the University of Sydney's veterinary behaviour service, gave a very detailed talk about the physiological basis of anxiety, and the way this impacts on canine behaviour.

One thing I learned is the scale of difference in the CNS of humans vs dogs. According to Dr O’Shea, the dog brain has less than 1 billion neurones and less than 140 million neurones in cortex (cats, incidentally, have 100-200 million more neurones than dogs)(wondering who counts these and whether they have to start again if someone disturbs them mid-count). The average human has around 86 billion neurones, 23 billion of which are in the cortex. Intelligence is thought to be related to the number of interconnections within the brain. The average dog has less than one trillion. We have around 10,000 trillion (and I'd be pretty devastated if mum walked in and offered me a cuppa mid-count on that one).

Point being that dogs don’t have the structures in their brains to be vindictive or hold grudges.

The second thing I learned is this thing called an aggression ladder (you can download a PDF about it here). At the bottom, we have a relaxed dog.

Then there are other behaviours progressing from subtle to outright aggression. These are:

• Yawning, blinking and nose-licking
• Turning the head away
• Turning the body away, sitting pawing
• Walking away
• Creeping the ears back
• Standing crouched with tail tucked under body
• Lying down with one leg up
• Stiffening up, staring
• Growling
• Snapping
• Biting

According to Dr O’Shea, dogs learn to go from the relaxed stage straight to biting when they realise we don’t read their body language well.

It is not a ladder of aggression: it’s the body language of fear. And it is controlled predominantly below the cortex (the bit of the brain that does the thinking, cognitive work and problem solving). The dog doesn’t have much conscious control of it.

The third thing I learned is that a person skilled in veterinary behaviour spends a lot of time defining and reframing problems to help solve them. And that is necessary because our ideas about anxiety in animals can be completely off the mark.

According to Dr O’Shea, fear is a normal automatic emotional and physical reaction in response to an imminent threat. It leads to an animal fleeing, fighting or freezing – abnormally it may lead to the animal fiddling (e.g. cyclic repetitive behaviours out of context). Fear can be wound up or down.

Anxious behaviour is a normal automatic emotional and physical response due to the apprehensive anticipation of a future threat. It prepares the individual to react faster and possibly better if the threat should become imminent. It should be short-lived.

In a novel situation, a normal animal will try on different behaviours and, if these lead to a good result, repeat them. If they lead to a bad result they will try a different behaviour.

In Dr O’Shea’s words, that normal animal will investigate the novel environment until it has enough information to trigger a memory (it takes 1/20 of a search the memory banks). If no memories are triggered, they try something.

An anxiety disorder involved an abnormal, automatic, emotional and physical response to an apprehensively anticipated future threat whenever the individual does not know how to behave to get a predictable response.

It is probably due to an excessively reactive amygdala and a damaged hypothalamus.

In a novel environment, an animal with an anxiety disorder still gets the same information. If they have a memory that tells them what to do, they do it. But if there is no memory, they apprehensively anticipate “that the world is going to end.”

What we see in these situations is a partially turned on fear response and a very activated amygdala which gets bigger in size and becomes easier to activate. These dogs are hypervigilant because the diffuse modulatory systems in the brain are turned up…to eleven.

If an animal is not socialised properly and has a poor bank of memories in the brain, they have fewer memories to tell what to do in a situation to get a good outcome. They tend to react a lot more.

Prevention involves selection of dogs with a non-anxious phenotype (and avoiding breeding those with anxiety disorders), early best-practice socialisation (stuffing the cortex full of good experiences and good results) and – although Dr O’Shea didn’t say so explicitly, I took it as implied – making a point of trying to be more observant and understanding of our canine companions.

Up to one in five dogs will develop an anxiety disorder, but at the age of eight weeks it can be impossible to tell which ones. Dr O’Shea recommends puppy preschool for everyone, as it is one way to provide positive experiences and memories to help them cope better later on. Its also good for the other end of the leash - these early bonding experiences teach humans to read their canine companions better, and respond more appropriately.

Awesome dogumentary
If you love dogs and haven't yet seen it, The Secret Life of Dogs is worth a look for the cinematography alone. As they say, "They're so familiar to us, we can forget how extraordinary they are". Its not a short clip - it runs about 46 minutes - but absolutely worth every minute. If the video is not showing on your device, click here.