Anaplasma (Ehlichia) in Dogs in Alberta

I recently received notification of 2 dogs which were brought into Alberta from the USA testing positive for "Anaplasma".  Here is my reply to there question on how to deal with it.

Thank you for the update on what is going on with your dogs.
This is the first notification that I have of positive test cases of Anaplasmosis in Alberta, so I immediately went on to do some research to add to my previous experience with this disease in cattle.
Anaplasmosis has been recognized as a disease in dogs, and appears in the literature in North America as far back as 1972.
Active cases can be expected in Eastern Canada where Ixodid ticks are found.
Of course the main areas for Anaplasma and Babesia are in the tick areas of USA.
Anaplasmosis is a disease causing significant signs of illness in dogs which include fever, anemia, thrombocytopenia (so petechiae, epistaxis, and melena), diarrhea, vomiting and lameness.
Besides a grossly abnormal CBC, there is usually significant liver involvement with elevation of liver enzymes and low protein levels (hypoalbuminemia).
There is not a recognized carrier state with Anaplasma.  In other words the dogs will either be actively sick or are recovered, or were exposed and mounted an immune response to the disease.
The 4DX test is only testing for antibodies to anaplasma, therefore, provided the hounds are bright, alert, healthy and active, and show no abnormal blood work (CBC, platelets and liver enzymes), we are purely looking at post exposure or recovered dogs. 
These positive testing dogs can be expected to remain positive for life.
For any cases where the dogs are symptomatic (sick), then blood smears can be examined to demonstrate parasites, and a PCR test can be done at the laboratory to demonstrate an active infection.

Treatment with Doxycycline is effective in curing this disease.

Any time that we do random testing we are going to show up asymptomatic seropositive cases.
We need to interpret these cases in the light of all the other factors associated with these patients.
So, if you are only dealing with a positive anaplasma antibody test, and providing everything else is normal, nothing further needs to, or should be done.
These dogs are not a risk to other dogs, and will not sero-convert (i.e. become ill with Anaplasma).

As far as being used as blood donors, I would look to use another dog wherever possible, just because exposure to ticks could mean that there are other undiagnosed infections present which might have a carrier state (Ehrlichia, Babesia or Lyme's Disease).
It is worthwhile to know that “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever” (Rickettsia rickettsii) does not have a carrier state and so here too, positive healthy cases are only indicative of exposed or recovered dogs.

Should you require any further information on this or any other cases it is always my pleasure to help where I can.

Regards,

Dr Mark

Housetraining Your Puppy

 

1.     Feed your puppy at set times. Do not vary feeding times, even on weekends. The key to making this process successful is to have a routine.

2.     Feed one diet and do not vary it. Different food will affect the puppy in many ways – it may cause thirst, it may cause gastro-intestinal problems.

3.     Use good quality puppy food.

4.     Make sure that Puppy does not have loose stools – if he does, consult your veterinarian.

5.     Ensure that Puppy has been checked for worms.

6.     Take your puppy outside on a regular schedule and stay with him.  He needs to go out to relieve himself when he awakes, after he has eaten or had a drink, after he has played and when you see him sniffing or walking in a circle.

7.      When you take Puppy outside, go directly to the spot you want him to have as his toilet area and stand there. Give Puppy a command to eliminate. Give the pup only a few minutes to relieve himself – this is not playtime, walk time or training time.

8.     When Puppy eliminates, praise him exuberantly and bring him inside.

9.     If Puppy does not eliminate, bring him inside and try again in 5 or 10 minutes. DO NOT REACT IN A WAY THAT SHOWS DISPLEASURE. You need to crate your puppy or keep him in a small, enclosed area until you take him out again, and you do not want the pup to associate the crate with anything negative.

10. If you see your puppy having an accident, say, “STOP”. Pick him up, carry him outside to his toilet area, tell him the command to eliminate, and wait with him until he goes there. Then praise the puppy.

11. DO NOT REPRIMAND PUPPY IF YOU FIND THAT HE PREVIOUSLY HAD AN ACCIDENT. Take him to another area and clean it up. You don’t want Puppy to see you cleaning up because that places you in a subordinate role.

12. Keep a chart of exactly what the puppy does at what time, including accidents. You will have a column for food, water, urine and stool. Note the times and if your pup has had an accident, indicate that with an “A”. If you find excrement after the fact, indicate that with the letter “F”.

13. Clean accidents with a cleaner designed for urine odor or with white vinegar and water. Do not use an ammonia-based cleaner because urine contains ammonia and would therefore attract the pup to use that spot again.

14. Some puppies and some situations have a more difficult time   learning the concept of eliminating outside. Some examples are:        

      - winter puppies;

          - toy breeds;

- puppies who have been taught to use paper and at the same time, are being taught to eliminate outdoors;

15.   Once your puppy starts understanding the concept of going outdoors to eliminate, it would beneficial to teach the dog a  signal indicating that he needs to go outside. Some people teach their dogs to ring a small bell, for example.

Carpal Hyper-extension in Puppies

Knuckling over of the wrist joint is a not uncommon problem of large breed puppies which occurs around the age of 6 to 14 weeks. You will note in the photos that I have attached, that the carpus [wrist] is knuckled over the foot, instead of leaning backwards at a normal angle. This is due to a weakness of the sporting tendons of the front limbs. Many conditions can aggravate this condition which include verminosus [worms], coccidiosis, any diseases causing weakness or decreased nutritional absorption such as chronic diarrhea, poor diets, and under or over exercise.

Treatment of this condition would include the correction of all the underlying issues i.e. be sure there are no parasites, resolve any medical issues, feed a high quality diet paying particular attention to increasing the amount of protein, (puppies are often hypo-proteinaemic), vitamin addition to stimulate red blood cell count [these puppies are often anemic], always add extra calcium with vitamin D (to aid the calcium absorption), and give the puppy adequate exercise to strengthen the tendons. The prognosis is generally good for this condition and it should resolve within about two weeks.

"Winterize" your Pets

• Hi Dr Mark,

  Everyone talks about preparing their homes, cars and selves for winter but what about preparing our pets?
  What tips does the clinic have to prepare our pets for the winter season? Or if anyone else reading this has some things that they do please share! :)
  Mommy to 2 indoor cats and an 8month old pup.

• Hi J.......,

  Short haired, immature and miniature dogs are particularly sensitive to the cold. Decreased time of exposure to inclement weather as well as use of "protective clothing" becomes essential for these animals. Fortunately many jackets and sweaters are available for pets of all sizes these days. Also booties are important as the weather becomes colder. Individual animals will be tolerant of greater or lesser low temperatures, but as a general rule sweaters are indicated for temperatures below -5 to -10C, and booties below -20C. Wind and water protection jackets are recommended where wind chill factors or icy rain is present. Even large breed dogs such as Boxers, Dobermans, and Dalmatians will require warmth protection. Dogs can be easily trained to exercise indoors on a treadmill for times of inclement weather, or time constraints on the part of pet owners. Call us and we can recommend a trainer who will assist you with getting your dog to easily and safely use a treadmill in one simple training session.
  Cats should be kept indoors in cold weather as we regularly see frost bitten ears and paws in our kitties.
  Beware of cars leaking anti-freeze, as this is one of the most potent of our household toxic chemicals and even if treated early can often be fatal. If you are a do-it yourself mechanic be very careful to properly dispose of any anti-freeze that you use. It is sweet and both dogs and cats will be attracted to drinking it.
  Thanks for your inquiry and if you have any other concerns I would be happy to offer advice. If you are in need of doggy boots or clothing our staff would be happy to recommend products that we have found to be superior.

Home Prepared & Raw Food Diets

We at Bridlewood Veterinary Clinic support home prepared and raw food diets.

Much controversy and varying opinions can be found regarding the feeding of raw and home made diets. Dr Mark and all of the veterinarians and staff of Bridlewood Vet will be happy to advise you on the best ways to prepare and to feed these diets to your pets.  Dr Mark has been using raw food diets for his own, and his patients pets, for more than 20 years.  It is our firm belief that home diets can provide some of the most nutritious diets that you can feed your dogs (and cats).  When properly balanced this type of feeding will always lead to a small stool volume, shiny luxuriant coats, improved dental health and lots of energy.  Secondary benefits are often seen in improvement of generalized itchy skins, dandruff and shedding, gastro-intestinal issues of intermittent diarrhea and constipation, chronic ear and eye infections.  We use these diets both for weight loss and weight gain.  Also for specific requirements where liver, kidney skin and digestive disease have presented as issues.  We believe that this feeding is not only safe for the above conditions, but often beneficial.  We also believe that well balanced home made diets can be relatively inexpensive and easy to prepare.

Note:   Please remember that different dogs and breeds may require different dietary formulations.  Also that depending on specific medical issues we would tailor diets to the individual animal.  Thus the above is not meant to be a general endorsement for any home made diet or for all situations.  

Heartworm Disease Overview

Heartworm disease [HWD] is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease caused by the parasite Dirofilaria Immitus. Suitable mosquito vectors [transmitters] exist worldwide, as do suitable hosts in the form of domestic and wild canines and felines. Serious endemic problems exist historically and mainly in the regions of the “Pacific Ring of Fire”. However, with the increased mobility of our pets worldwide we now find HWD throughout the USA, Mexico, Australia, the Caribbean, South America, Southern Europe, Asia and Japan. In Canada, HWD has been recorded in all provinces except Saskatchewan, however is most prevalent in the Southeastern and Southwestern and provinces. All cases thus far found to be positive in Alberta have originated from, or been on holiday in, a more highly infected area than our own.

The life cycle of HWD requires the development of microfilaria in the host [dog or cat]. Thereafter, ingestion of blood by a mosquito is required. Then the microfilaria develops to the infective larval 3 stage in the mosquito. This can occur as quickly as 10 to 12 days in hot and humid climates. However, development must occur within 30 days, as that is the life span mosquito. Larval development is unable to occur below environmental temperatures of 15°C.  Thus, those of us in the cooler climates are fortunate in that even though the mosquito and infected dogs might even be present locally, the chances of disease transmission is low.

Signs of HWD are initially very difficult to assess. As the worms become increasingly established in the heart of the infected host, there will be increasing signs of pulmonary and cardiac disease, with decreased exercise tolerance. Untreated HWD can be fatal.

Control and prevention of HWD is fortunately easy. The American Heartworm Society [AHS] recommends annual antigen testing of all dogs for canine heartworm disease. For those of us in Alberta and Saskatchewan we are currently recommending that all dogs be tested about every three years, especially if they travel beyond our provincial borders. We also recommend that all dogs that travel outside of Alberta or Saskatchewan during the mosquito season be placed on HWD preventive medication, following testing for the possible presence of the disease by means of a simple blood test. Medications are administered once a month as a chew tablet or a pour-on product. As the preventive medications eliminate the infective larval 3 and 4 stages in the host, the medications used need to start within 1 -2 months of entering an infected area. We typically would continue to recommend preventive medication for at least one to two months after leaving a HWD endemic area. HWD testing to evaluate whether the dog has been infected is typically recommended at 6 to 9 months after leaving an endemic area.

In the case where pets are infected very good treatment protocols are currently available. These treatments can provide a complete cure, especially where the disease is diagnosed early.

References:

1. Bayer animal health heartworm disease newsletter

2. American Heartworm Society

3. Handbook of Small Animal Practice, 3rd edition, Rhea V. Morgan

GENERIC MEDICATIONS

In an ongoing attempt to try to keep pet ownership as affordable as possible we, at Bridlewood Veterinary Clinic, always try to use generic medications and to select equally effective medications of the cheapest price wherever possible. We source from a variety of different veterinary wholesalers and formulating pharmacies to always bring the best quality, the easiest dosing formulations, and most user-friendly products to our pets and owners. Generic medications undergo the same very stringent controls, regulations and testing as do brand name products, while at the same time offering us significant cost savings. Very often an earlier generation drug of the same group would offer the same benefits and treatment effects as a newer generation of drug, but will save our owners substantial amounts, which can be better put to use in other areas of treatment for their pets. However, it is the policy of our clinic, to never compromise our patients well-being based on costs alone, and we will always recommend the best products both for them and for our owners. If you should ever have any concerns about any of the medications or recommendations that we make for your pets, please never hesitate to contact any member of our team.

Calgary Humane Society

The doctors and staff of Bridlewood Veterinary Clinic continue to enjoy a long and close relationship with the Calgary Humane Society. Dr. Mark has been working with them for over 15 years, Dr. Maya has worked with both the Calgary and the High River Humane Society's, and our technologist Rebecca spent a your working at the Humane Society’s Calgary facility.

Recently Dr. Mark was involved as a surgeon on the team working at the Cardston spayed and neuter clinic. This was a two day clinic were over 160 animals were sterilized or received surgical treatment, were vaccinated, de-wormed and tattooed. On other occasions Dr. Mark has assisted at the CHS on the surgical team when they have been shorthanded. It has always been a source of great reward and satisfaction to be able to help in anyway possible to allow the CHS to provide a better service to the community and to animals in need.

In an ongoing effort to help support adoptions from the CHS, we have always provided post adoption examinations for pets and counseling to new pet owners. We support the wonderful efforts of the CHS as far as their adoptions and training programs are concerned, as well as their many fundraising initiatives. As a further service to our community and our pets we always accept stray animals, and provide emergency treatment and shelter to any stray pets as well as wildlife. We carry collection boxes and current calendars from the CHS and encourage our clientele to support these fundraising opportunities.

Our entire team is very proud to have been able to be involved with the CHS and the public and any animals that have needed us in this manner.

PDA - Patent Ductus Arteriosus in a Puppy

We have just had the pleasure to treat the sweetest little Great Dane puppy who was the runt of the litter. She can’t stop vomiting so we took these X-ray looking for a mega-esoghagus and have diagnosed an esophageal stricture above the heart (PRAA = Persistent Right Aortic Arch or a PDA = Patent Ductus Arteriosus ). The x-rays show clearly how the food dilates the proximal part of the esophagus, but can not get past the heart. This gorgeous and loving 2.5 month old puppy is fortunate to have 2 dedicated owners who are going to bring her to surgery and we all hope for her to have a complete recovery.