Animal Care Clinic San Luis Obispo Veterinary Hospital

Animal Care Tips – Exercise

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:42:25 +0000

Have you started your New Year’s resolution to exercise and get fit yet? Some of you started and have already quit! During December I wrote about obesity in pets and looked at several feeding strategies to help curb this problem. If you watch the “Biggest Loser” you know that a good fitness program requires exercise. This is true for our pets. Indoor cats are generally far heavier than outdoor cats in the same household, simply due to decreased exercise. As Americans become less active, so do our pets. We owe it to ourselves and our animals to get up and move. Dogs need to get outdoors and run. A leash walk is better than no exercise, but hiking up hills or running to chase a Frisbee is far better. Cats need to be encouraged to move, too. If you have a couch potato cat at home, move the litter box and food bowl as far away from the favorite sleeping place as possible. If you feed your cat meals, you can actually make a sedentary cat have to chase his food or lay it out in a long trail so he has to walk to eat. I have seen cats get so fat that just turning their heads from side to side is increased exercise!

Animal Care Tips – Merry Christmas

admin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:39:51 +0000

I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and are looking forward to an exciting 2010. This year has been difficult for many people and I know many of you are discouraged. We have seen many pet owners struggling to be able to properly care for their beloved pets. I hope that you can reflect on the true meaning of this Christmas season and find hope in the celebration of the birth of Christ. One of my favorite Bible verses is found in the book of Job. Job had lost everything and was miserable, yet he said to his friends “Ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air and they will show you….in His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” I urge you to look at your pets today and this week. That loving, forgiving, accepting animal that dances with joy every time you come home is a reflection of our loving, forgiving, accepting God who wants to be with us so much that He came to earth and then died for us.

Whether the holidays make you happy or sad, I hope you have some furry friends to snuggle with. Give them all an extra hug for me and then see if you don’t find God reflected in their love for you. Merry Christmas.

Animal Care Tips – Snacks

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:32:42 +0000

We have been looking at obesity in pets this month. Last week we talked about limiting food intake by feeding meals. Excess snacks can be a big problem for many of our pets, especially dogs. It is natural to want to give your pets treats when they do good things. I find myself wanting to give treats just for being so darn cute! Part of our bond with our pets involves feeding and giving goodies. I cannot ask you to stop giving snacks to your pets, but I do want to ask you to consider the calories in each snack. Dogs and cats know when they should get a treat – it is part of their routine. They also know how many cookies they get each time. If you give Fluffy 3 dog bones at the end of every walk, Fluffy will always expect 3 goodies at the end of her walks. But you can make each snack smaller and use lower calorie snacks. Break your dog bones into small pieces (1/4 piece or smaller), use raw veggies or give a calorie-controlled cookie like a Charlee Bear or Lean Treat.

While it is always tempting to let our pets eat the leftovers or lick the bowl, this can be a huge source of calories to a small pet. Remember that you are probably 15 times bigger than your cat. That means your food is 15x more fattening to your cat and small dog! Stop the ice cream and gravy snacks!

Animal Care Tips – Feeding Meals

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:26:25 +0000

You are probably eating more this month than usual. Do you find yourself grazing through Christmas goodies in the employee lunchroom or at parties? When food is easily available, we will eat even if we are not hungry. The same is true for our pets. There are a few animals who manage their calorie intake well when given food free-choice (a bull is always full.) Unfortunately, most American pets do not do well with free choice feeding. Most common pet foods taste real good. Most house pets have far less stimulating lives than those of animals who have to hunt for food. The combination of a little boredom and an enticing bowl of gourmet pet food usually leads to over-eating and thus an overweight pet. We find that feeding dogs and cats separate meals, with one bowl per pet, is often all we have to do to help them lose weight. If you start feeding puppies and kittens in meals, never leaving a full bowl out during the day, they will adapt very well as adult. Switching an adult dog or cat from free choice feeding to meal feeding can be much more tricky!

Animal Care Tips – Obesity

admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:19:07 +0000

December is a month of indulgence. It is hard to stay fit when there are cookies, candies and cups of eggnog at every gathering. This seems like a good time to address obesity in pets. Over 80% of dogs and cats seen in US veterinary hospitals are overweight! That makes obesity the most common ailment seen in our hospitals! Pets that are overweight have an increased incidence of heart disease, orthopedic problems, liver disease and diabetes. Obesity in people is known to increase the risk for cancer – the number one killer of dogs and cats in the US. A recent study showed that Labradors fed to an ideal body weight lived an average of 2 years longer than those that were allowed to get overweight. That equates to a 17% longer life! Obesity also causes pain. Not only is it hard to carry around all those extra pounds, but fat also produces inflammatory chemicals that worsen all inflammatory processes – that includes arthritis and itchy skin conditions!

I will be addressing ways to control your pets weight throughout this month. Come by and have one of our staff members evaluate your pet’s body weight – we can assign a “body condition score” and help you with weight loss ideas at no charge.

Animal Care Tips – Paws for the Cause

admin — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 06:39:42 +0000

I’ve been thinking about exercise and diet a lot lately (see why in the next paragraph.) This Monday I saw 5 dogs in a row that were physically fit, and I found myself truly amazed. At least 70-80% of the pets we see each day are overweight. Those that are not carrying extra pounds are rarely getting enough exercise to be truly fit – in fact, our patients that are not overweight are often sick! This is thought to be a reflection of our society. American is the most overweight country in the world. We love our pets dearly, and part of spoiling them seems to include over-indulgence – to their detriment.

I decided I needed to get into better shape this year, and so have coerced several friends to join me in training for a marathon as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As a lymphoma survivor myself, I am excited to be raising thousands of dollars for this group. Animal Care Clinic is holding an Open House, Wine Tasting and Silent Auction TOMORROW from 2-6pm. Please come by and support our marathon efforts. We will have displays on nutrition and weight loss, dentistry, surgery, animal cancer and much more – and you can taste wines from some of the favorite central coast vintners. So take a “paws” in your day to learn a little and support the “cause.” We look forward to meeting you!

by Bonnie Markoff, DVM, ABVP

Animal Care Tips – No Wine for Pets

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:41:06 +0000

As we prepare for our big Open House and wine tasting Gala on April 6, 2008 I am reminded to warn you that grapes have been shown to be toxic to dogs. While this is a relatively recent discovery, we do know that some dogs will develop kidney failure in response to ingestion of any form of grapes. Dogs should not eat table grapes, raisins, grape skins or even a glass of wine! I have known many dogs who ate table grapes regularly without trouble, so apparently not all dogs are susceptible – but to be safe, if your dog consumes grapes (or indulges in a little vino,) you should seek veterinary attention as soon as possible.

For you non-canine readers, we hope you will join us on Sunday April 6, 2008 between 2 and 6pm for a fundraising Open House/Wine Tasting Gala/Silent Auction. A small cover fee will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Association, and will give you full access to wine tasting from Wild Horse, Baileyana, Salisbury, Claiborne and Churchill and Niner Wineries plus savory delights from Nuccis and Old Country Deli. Educational displays will be set up throughout the hospital and you will find an amazing Silent Auction featuring Barrel Tastings, Magnums of local favorite wines, mouth watering delicacies, musical adventures…and even some animal related items! You will not want to miss this chance to help us fight cancer one step at a time!

by Bonnie Markoff, DVM, ABVP

Animal Care Tips – Open House

admin — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:35:09 +0000

Happy Easter weekend and welcome to spring! I have taken on a crazy project and I think it is time to go truly public with it. Several friends from ACC and I, all of whom are not runners, have decided to train with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to run a full marathon in June! We have been working hard and will run 23 miles this week! We are doing this to improve our own health, but more importantly to raise money for this wonderful society. The money we raise will help fund cancer research which will benefit people, AND ANIMALS, with all kinds of cancer. It also goes to patient support programs. As a lymphoma survivor myself, I can tell you I would not be alive today without organizations such as this!

To help us raise money, Animal Care Clinic is having an Open House, Silent Auction and Wine Tasting Gala on Sunday April 6, from 2-6pm. This is your opportunity to get a full tour of our hospital, meet our staff and see displays showing how everything works at ACC. Along the way you will have opportunities to taste wines from Wildhorse, Baileyana, Per Bacco, Niner, Salisbury and other vineyards. Some wonderful items we be available in our silent auction. We are asking for a $25 donation (unless you already have or would like to donate more!) and all proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you cannot make it to the event and want to support us, give us a call for more information. Thank you!!

by Bonnie Markoff, DVM, ABVP

Animal Care Tips – Little Snacks?

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:04:27 +0000

I was filling my cup at the coffee bar in Animal Care Clinic the other when I noticed one of the little Coffeemate creamer cups open on the floor. I laughed and took it to the reception desk to show them how silly our clients can be – offering “milk” to our hospital cat, Snookie! The guilty faces revealed to me that it was our office manager that was treating Snookie! She defended herself by saying that it was just a little bit and he rarely drank the whole thing – she was doing this everyday!

If you have been in to Animal Care Clinic lately, you know we are emphasizing weight loss, and in fact have a display charting Snookie’s weight loss progress (he is not exactly svelte!) We often forget that animals are much smaller than us – what seems like a small snack to me can be a massive meal to a cat. hnookie weighs about 10 pounds and is overweight. Compared to a 150 pound person, he is 15 times smaller or 1/15 of our size. A Coffeemate creamer has only 30 calories in it, but when you multiply that by 15 you get a 450-calorie snack! That is equal to a Starbucks caramel Frapuccino with whip cream, an order of Wendy’s Biggie fries or a Jack-in-the-Box double cheeseburger for you an me! Even a cream filled doughnut has fewer calories for a person than this little creamer has for our pudgy cat!

Please keep this in mind when you feed your pets snacks – make them small and healthy. For more weight loss tips, visit us or give us a call.

by Bonnie Markoff, DVM, ABVP

Animal Care Tips – Bad Behavior

admin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:57:41 +0000

As I write this, I am watching my staff finish up a grooming job on a little dog. He is getting his toenails trimmed and receiving little kisses on his head at the same time. The interesting thing about this, is that this dog used to require sedation for a grooming. He would bite his owners and required a muzzle for us to handle him. Today he is not muzzled, not drugged and is happily allowing us to make him look beautiful! We were able to train this little guy to enjoy grooming. We can do the same with toenail trims, doctor exams and any other non-painful procedure an animal needs to endure. It takes a great deal of time and patience to teach an animal that the procedure can actually be enjoyable. To teach a dog to allow a toenail trim, we would start by just bringing her into the clinic and rewarding her for being calm in the waiting area. After a week of that, we might walk the dog a little deeper into the hospital and reward calm behavior. Eventually we would show the dog the toenail trimmer – and reward her. The next step might involve touching a foot with our hand while she sniffs the toenail trimmer – and gets a reward. Eventually we will work our way into a complete toenail trim. The reward process is an important part of this and your timing in giving the reward is essential.

If you have a dog with a bad attitude about certain activities, do not assume it cannot be fixed. Call a good trainer or set up an appointment with our Dr. Jennifer Evans who has a special interest in behavior modification.

by Bonnie Markoff, DVM, ABVP