All Things Dog Blog

Monday, May 9, 2011

National Pet Week Wraps Up

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

National Pet Week ended its annual awareness week, sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Saturday may have been its official end, but their website will continue to offer an abundance of information for pet owners that visit. For instance:

Fast facts about America's pets
5 Ways to "Vet" Your Veterinarian, as well as other resources, like Find a Vet
The Hero Dog Awards
Information on Veterinary Careers
Teacher resource material
Pet Owner Resources of all sorts from the American Veterinary Medical Association
Tips for pet practitioners on celebrating National Pet Week

In honor of the festivities we announced a special grab bag giveaway just for our Facebook visitors. Did you miss it? If you don't want to miss the next surprise event, you may want to go hit that "Like" button on our page as soon as you're done reading this.

It's time now to announce the winners of the two grab bags. Tanner and Oliver certainly were interested in watching me select. I could almost hear them saying, "Wait, not that one!" Each grab bag includes a bag of treats and an assortment of other goodies for dogs and dog owners. We'll call this a special thank you for watching the Facebook page. Shall we try it on Twitter next? Leave me a comment if you're active on Twitter. I'd like to know. You can find us there at http://Twitter.com/AllThingsDog.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I'll be doing it again, so keep up the good work. Today's winners are Nikki Smithinsky and Vicky Thrasher. If you ladies will send your addresses here shortly, we'll get your surprise packages out on Friday. Happy tails!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

ASK THE VET, with Dr. Pat: Dogs and Salmonella Infection

by Pat Bradley, DVM

(c) Joanne B., reader copyright on file

Snapple and Jack: Healthy Dogs

Live an Active, Busy Lifestyle

Dear Dr Pat:

Can dogs get sick from eating foods contaminated with Salmonella?

From Carrie

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Dear Carrie:

Yes. Some dogs get really, really sick, and Salmonella is cultured from their stools. But that’s not the whole story. Years ago I read a study in which the researchers cultured the stools of lots of normal dogs and found 30% were shedding Salmonella. Normal dogs! No diarrhea!

Wolves and wild dogs eat raw meat -- their systems are made to eat raw meat. Zoos feed their extremely valuable animals raw meat…because it’s the best thing to feed, not because they can’t afford kibble.

But maybe I’m just jaded. I live in Arkansas where I’ve watched dogs eat been-out-in-the-sun-in-100-degree-weather-for-3-days roadkill for dessert. Often. With no sign of GI distress. (Well, I get GI distress when the dog gets upwind from me after she’s rolled on it for perfume.)

The hydrochloric acid in a stomach is extremely dangerous to any living organism that ventures down a throat. So I consider the average healthy dog well able to deal with Salmonella or any other bacteria that gets swallowed. When an animal gets sick, I consider it an immune system red flag, the same as I would a person whose skin got infected every time she got a scratch.

Salmonella is a human health risk, and because of that risk, pet foods have gotten a lot of media coverage recently. Salmonella bacteria have been found in dry and canned pet foods, raw and cooked vegetables, and raw meat and eggs.

Here’s a link that gives tips for minimizing risk of infection with Salmonella organisms:

American Veterinary Medical Association's Health Information on Salmonella

My conclusion after reading the article? Feeding our pets is too dangerous, and we should stop!!! Oh wait….am I forgetting something?

Dr. Pat

Write to LetsAdoptaDogPark@gmail.com with your question for Dr. Pat.

For a personal consultation about your pet's needs, visit Holistic Veterinary Services.

Dr. Pat's opinion or advice does not replace an actual exam with a veterinarian
Don't miss Patches, the All Things Dog Blog's family cat, as she stumbles over Dr. Pat's comments.
Finally, thanks to Joanne B. for providing the photo of our cover dogs, Snapple and Jack. Their mom works tirelessly rescuing dogs and helping fledgling agility competitors learn the ropes. Thanks Joanne!