Getting tablets and capsules into cats can be challenging, but sometimes getting them to pass into the stomach can take even more time than we thought. Did you know this could cause problems? In an abstract published by ACVIM, Auburn University did a study to see if using butter helped tablets to pass from the mouth into the stomach of cats. In the study they used fluoroscopy to monitor a tablet as it passed from the cats mouths to their stomachs. In half of the cats it took over 10 minutes! However, when a small amount of butter was applied to the tablet it was able to pass easily into the stomach in under 1 minute. The same if a small amount of either butter or Nutrical was applied to the cats nose it helped facilitate licking and the tablets also passed in under a minute. What does that mean? To prevent medications from sticking in the esophagus possibly causing esophagitis it is important to encourage cats to swallow. **only use butter or Nutrical if it approved by your veterinarian** What is esophagitis and why should we care about it?
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Nothing gets us out of bed faster than the sound of retching in the middle of the night! But what about those times stuff just flies out of their mouths like in the movie "The Exorcist"? (You know the scene we're talking about: split pea soup!) We know, it's not our favorite thing to talk about but it's important to know the difference between vomiting and regurgitating. That Retching SoundWe're celebrating Responsible Pet Owners Month with each and every one of you. We know being a pet parent means having a sense of responsibility for your pet that not everyone feels the same about. We mean it. Thank you for being the best owner to your fur babies. It's a tough job sometimes, but one we cherish each and every day. Here's What It TakesRemember when we learned in the pancreas introduction post that the pancreas synthesizes and secretes enzymes to digest the food your pet eats? These enzymes include lipase and amylase. They are sent through the pancreatic ducts (then into the common bile duct) into the duodenum where they work on the food that has been ingested. But what happens if these digestive enzymes cannot make their normal journey? Occasionally, the pancreas becomes inflamed and swollen. As the pancreas becomes increasingly inflamed, the ducts that connect the pancreas and duodenum become inflamed as well. As this inflammation progresses, the ducts get squeezed down and unable to carry enzymes from the pancreas to the duodenum.
The Pet Health Journal: A 6 Month Journal For Medications, Exams, & Healthy Living was officially published this week! We're so excited to share this work book with you and hope you get a chance to see it in person. If you live near Ashley or Yvonne, you've probably seen the proof copies because we've been carrying them around everywhere with us the last few weeks!!! If you'd like a journal of your very own, visit Amazon and grab a copy today! We'll be setting up with additional online retailers in the next week or so, so keep a look out for the Pet Health Journal at your favorite retailer. We are also making the Pet Health Journal available for wholesale to veterinary clinics and hospitals, so if you think your veterinarian might want to carry it have them send us an email at contact@internalmedicineforpetparents.com and we'll get them set up. Thank you!We want to give a big thank you to everyone who helped get the Pet Health Journal finished. We hope this journal helps pets and their families live a happier, healthier life together. Sincerely,What is the Pancreas?The pancreas is a small organ that sits just below the stomach, tucked into a bend in the small intestine. It is an accessory organ of the gastrointestinal system and has both endocrine and exocrine properties.
Exocrine means the body uses series of ducts to excrete things outside of the body, like sweat. Endocrine means the body secretes hormones directly into the blood stream, like insulin. Heartworm disease is what is called a vector borne disease. What this means is that a vector, in this case a mosquito, transmits or gives the disease to the animal through a blood meal. When the mosquito is feeding on your dog or cats’ blood, they are simultaneously injecting an immature form of heartworm! It is caused by the nematode (small worm) parasite, Dirofilaria immitus. We abbreviate their name as D. immitus. When these immature heartworms, or larvae enter the body they start to grow and mature. Depending on whether they enter a dog or cat, as to when the problems will start to occur. Dogs are what is called the ‘definitive or natural’ host for heartworms, cats on the other hand are known as ‘aberrant’ hosts. Because of this, the disease behaves very differently in each of these host species. Dogs and Heartworm DiseaseLet’s first look at heartworm disease in dogs, the natural host. All canid species can become infected with heartworm disease, that means not only the neighborhood dogs, but the foxes, coyotes and wolves (yikes!). If you have mosquitos in your yard, you have heartworm disease!
We're so excited to start 2019 with big plans for the year. Thank you for joining us since we launched in August. We hope the information we're providing is helping you and your family live happier, healthier lives. What we accomplished in 20182018 was a learning year for IMFPP. We launched the website in August and since then have been working hard at creating weekly blog posts as well as creating the disease pages. Our weekly blog post has been a place of pride for us. We're working hard to ensure it is released every Thursday morning and has the highest quality information. We've had some amazing contributing authors and plan to keep bringing you the best we can. Currently the pages that have the most information are the urinary, endocrine, liver, hematology, and immunology. These pages are not 100% complete, but most of the basics are there. As we continue to grow, these pages will continue to be fleshed out. We're excited to have grown our newsletter list to over 100 subscribers! Everyone on our list got a copy of our Weekly Treatment Tracker and we've heard great feedback on it. Thank you so much to everyone that's joined us so far. If you'd like to join here's the link: Subscribe Now! In the background we've been working on the nitty-gritty details to set up our business for the growth we have planned in the future. Plans for 2019How do I get my pet to take the medications!
It's one of the most common questions we get. Animal can be tricky to get medications into. Cats are especially talented in spitting them out.
We've got a couple of tricks for you to try out to help get important, possibly even life-saving, medications into your pets. Hiding medicationsThe holidays stress us all out, including our pets
As a pet parent, experiencing the anxiety and helplessness of having a sick pet is scary. Having a diagnosis is a welcome relief. But, when your pet has been diagnosed with Addison’s disease (an endocrine condition where the body is unable, or ineffectively produces vital hormones) you learn it's going to be a lifetime commitment.
Most pets go on to live a long, fulfilling life, dependent on receiving the medicine they need and avoiding stressful situations. Because stress is the biologic trigger for Addison’s disease to reoccur. In healthy animals, stress triggers the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands to help the body respond. In the case of Addison's disease the body doesn't have the ability to adapt to challenges and the demands of the body are unmet. Your veterinarian likely prescribed a medication, or a combination of medications, such as Florinef (fludrocortisone), or Percorten-V (desoxycorticosteronepivalate DOCP) which are long-acting medications given intermittently as an injection. Most commonly, prednisone is prescribed as a daily oral steroid medication for the treatment of Addison’s disease. The dose is typically much lower to meet the biological needs of these pets. Who can get Addison's Disease? |
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Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but Internal Medicine for Pet Parents is also a business. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, where we receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. We only recommend tools, books and services that we use, or people we know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to us. Read the privacy policy here. We hope you find the site useful! Thanks – Yvonne and Ashley Check us out on Facebook!
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