» kidney disease http://doc4pets.com/blog Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:48:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 KIDNEY DISEASE OF DOGS AND CATS: The weak link in aging http://doc4pets.com/blog/2009/04/20/kidney-disease-the-weak-link-in-aging/ http://doc4pets.com/blog/2009/04/20/kidney-disease-the-weak-link-in-aging/#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:14:54 +0000 John Simon http://doc4pets.com/blog/?p=49 It is hard for any owner that loves their dog or cat to become comfortable with the fact that these pets age so much more rapidly than we do.  This accelerated aging is even more obvious in the larger breeds of dogs that begin to become geriatric as early as 6 years of age.   A pet’s kidneys are often the weakest link in the aging process and all too frequently the cause of old age death.   Things that pet owners can do to support their pet’s ailing kidneys are as follows:

 

Feed a high quality,  low protein diet prescription kidney diet available from all veterinarians– Or — feed a home made kidney diet by following a receipe that we  make available. The diet will decrease the formation of waste protein toxins, discourage obesity and reduce the work load of the kidney.

 Encourage your dog or cat to drink more by providing lots of fresh water throughout the day or by adding more water directly to the pet’s food.   Doing this will encourage better hydration while at the same time flush the kidneys and reduce accumulating protein waste toxins.    Because pets in kidney failure have kidneys that can not concentrate urine they will eventually become dehydrated unless they drink much more water than normal .    If a pet becomes dehydrated he or she will need to be given subcutaneous or intravenous fluids.   These fluids can be given in the veterinary hospital or the owner can be taught to do this at home.

 

 Make sure your dog or cat receives a regular dental prophylaxis to reduce oral bacteria  which are injurious to the animal’s kidneys, liver, and heart.  Home dental care is probably more important for dogs and cats than  for their caregivers because pets build tartar much faster and receive much less professional dental care.    Supplement your dog’s or cat’s diet with  veterinary recommended anti-oxidant enzymes, vitamins, minerals,  and glandulars to reduce tissue injury from free radicals and to stimulate natural immunity.  Omega 3 fatty acids are also important supplements that promotes kidney health.    Coenzyme Q10, resveratrol, and  lipoic acid are three  other important nutrients that support kidney function

 

 Have your veterinarian perform semi annual blood and urine testing to monitor your dog’s or cat’s kidney function and to provide an early warning system for the development of other degenerative disease.  Recently a new urine test, the ERD micro albuminuria test, has become available.  The ERD test requires only a small amount of urine and can detect kidney disease much earlier than blood tests.  Any dog or cat over the age of 6 years old should be routinely tested with an ERD test because not only does it detect kidney disease but  also is a screen for inflammatory disease of  other organs.   Any dog or cat that is found to be drinking or urinating more than normal should have a blood screen and urinalysis performed              

                                   ****************************************************Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal,  one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine.  Dr.  Simon is the author  of 4 pet care books and he writes a bi monthly holistic pet care column for  ”Natural Awakening ” magazine.

 


Woodside Animal Clinic  sees pets from all over the greater Detroit Michigan area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson,  Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake,  Rochester,  Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica,   Romeo,  Windsor, White lake and Toledo

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]]> http://doc4pets.com/blog/2009/04/20/kidney-disease-the-weak-link-in-aging/feed/ 0 A Dental Hygiene Strategy http://doc4pets.com/blog/2008/04/19/a-dental-hygiene-strategy/ http://doc4pets.com/blog/2008/04/19/a-dental-hygiene-strategy/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:24:11 +0000 John Simon http://doc4pets.com/blog/?p=7 For years I have emphasized to my clients the importance of providing their pets with yearly professional dental cleanings. I continue to tell them that next to superior nutrition dental hygiene is the one most important thing they can do to insure their pets enjoy a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, in spite of the emphasis I have placed on the yearly professional teeth cleaning, many pet owners have chosen not to have this important procedure performed. The most common reason pet owners give for not having their pets teeth cleaned is their fear of the anesthesia. Although anesthesia is a legitimate concern it is quite rare that problems arise when healthy pets have their teeth cleaned, especially if their blood screen, urinalysis, and electrocardiogram are normal. It is very important for pet owners to understand that the much greater danger their pet faces comes from not having his or her teeth cleaned yearly. This is because the tartar that forms on the teeth causes gum recession and breeds bacteria that produce toxins that are absorbed into the blood stream where they can cause liver, kidney and heart damage. This damage takes place slowly, in progressive steps which produce no outward signs at first, but then, as the damage adds up, symptoms become noticeable and organ failure is likely to occur. If a dog or cat finally develops outward signs of kidney disease at the age of 10, the problem may not be the inevitable result of aging but rather caused by a preventable disease that could have been avoided by providing the pet with yearly dental cleanings and home dental care.

In spite of pet owners understanding the serious long term dangers of oral hygiene neglect, the more immediate anesthetic fears appear to take priority and overshadow the more likely to occur dangers that do not have to be faced for years. Because so many pets are deprived the benefits of a yearly teeth cleaning as a result of anesthetic concerns, I have felt compelled to devise an alternative dental strategy to minimize anesthetic fears and encourage more people to have their pets teeth cleaned. This strategy is as follows: For those pet owners that can not bring themselves to have their pets anesthetized I am offering a mini-prophylaxis that will be performed under sedation rather than light anesthetic. Because the pet will be drugged but not totally asleep there are very definite limitations as to how thorough a cleaning can be performed. Pet owners that elect this mini-prophylaxis must understand that although it is definitely a compromise it is far better than no teeth cleaning at all. 

Following this mini-prophylaxis a program called “pulsed antibiotic therapy” must be followed to extend the benefits of the cleaning.  A Pulsed antibiotic therapy program provides the pet with antibiotics one week of every month and thereby reduces the bacterial population that progressively damages the pet’s gums.

                                                               

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal,  one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine.  Dr.  Simon is the author  of 4 pet care books and he writes a monthly pet care column in the Mirror newspaper.

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over the greater Detroit area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson,  Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake,  Rochester,  Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica,   Romeo and Flint..

 
 

 

 

 

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