By its definition a geriatric patient is one that has lived 80-85% of its life expectancy. Given the average lifespan of a cat is around 16-17 years this means that the average ago of a geriatric cat is 14 years and that of a senior cat is 11 years of age.

This might be a bit surprising to some of you! At Far North Vets we commonly get people in consultation who believe the reason their 6 to 9 year old cat isn’t doing well or is losing weight is due to old age! Something isn’t adding up here.

There is still a population of people out there who see cats as just a pest control service. The old mainstays that a cat has “9 lives” and the ability of a falling cat to always land on their feet means that cats are seen as somewhat indestructible.

Unfortunately this is not the case. Here is a quick list of some of the many problems that cats can suffer from:

Cat Flu – especially a problem where you have a lot of unvaccinated strays and a stressful environment – presents as sneezing, coughing and weepy eyes FIV (Feline Aids) – sounds terrible when we think of it from a human point of view however the disease is not as immediately fatal as the human version. Cats normally get infected from bite and scratch marks from other cats and results in suppressed immune systems. These cats never thrive and get repeat infections Hyperthyroidism – a hormone imbalance leads to an over active metabolism. These are the cats that are most often wrongly judged as being old. The overactive metabolism leads to weight loss despite a great appetite, poor coat condition and constant crying/attention seeking. Heart disease – surprisingly common but difficult to detect, the fast heart rate of a cat make it difficult to hear compared to dogs. One of the earliest forms of detection is actually dental disease. The reason for this is not fully understood. By the time you can hear a heart murmur it is often too late to treat. Dental disease – this can be caused by poor diet, FIV, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, heart disease so it is often worth checking for an underlying cause when you do see it. Kidney disease – this is the most common reason for euthanasia in cats. Most cases are chronic (slowly develops over time) although some happen quickly. Cats are particularly good at masking this so when you do see it is often too late to treat. Arthritis – They may be good at landing on their feet – but a lifetime of wear and tear gets to us all eventually –even cats! This is often undiagnosed for long periods of time as the most common signs of arthritis are sleeping a lot (which cats do anyway) or reluctance to jump up and down off things. Trying to jump up on things and missing – despite making a funny YouTube video is often an early sign of problems. Cancer – everyone is at risk of it and depending on the type and severity it can be found in any body system. Cancers can occur in young animals but are most common in animals over 7 years of age.

There are many more things I could list here, the important thing I hope you will take from this is that yes cats can lose weight as they get older but more often than not weight loss means something is wrong so if in doubt please consider a check up at Far North Vets clinic in Kaitaia to make sure that there isn’t anything else going on.

At Far North Vets and Pets in Kaitaia we recently got a timely reminder on the devastating effect of parvovirus. It was an all too common scene: young family with kids who had all become understandably attached to their new pet, good intentions of getting their puppy vaccinated but hadn’t gotten around to it and a nice well bred puppy on deaths door which unfortunately couldn’t be saved despite every effort made.

If the family concerned thought they knew the risks of parvovirus before – I can guarantee they will never forget now!! So for the record let’s go over what Parvo is and how it presents:

ANY dog of ANY age can contract Parvo Parvovirus as the name suggest is a virus – it affects the gastrointestinal system The Two most common signs are VOMITING and Bloody DIARRHEA They can have one or the other or both at the same time The most commonly affect animals are unvaccinated young dogs, old dogs and immuno-suppressed dogs (Pregnant, animals on Chemo etc) Adult dogs can contract Parvo but will not show signs or will just have a brief diarrhea that they recover from quickly Puppies have no fat reserves and cannot retain fluids like older dogs, because of this they die of ORGAN FAILURE due to DEHYDRATION. THIS CAN HAPPEN WITHIN DAYS OF CONTRACTING THE VIRUS!! The virus is contracted via what is called the faecal-oral route. It can be contracted wherever a dog can come in contact with infected faeces or vomit. Therefore it can be picked up in public areas or even just visiting a family member or friend. The dog it picks up the virus from may not even look sick!!

The current and most common vaccination protocols based on risk of disease is:

Vaccination at 8 weeks of age and 12 weeks of age Vaccination at 6 weeks, 9 weeks and 12 weeks of age New recommendations in high risk areas are for a further vaccination after 16 weeks of age. This is to make sure that there is no chance of interference from antibodies that the puppies get from their mother’s milk.

This is a devastating disease. Beautiful innocent puppies die a horrific and rapid death. The cost of treatment needed to try to save these animals is crippling and owners are left heartbroken so I would like to finish on one last piece of advice:

If you have a puppy that is less than 4 months old and has never been vaccinated that is off its food or doesn’t look as playful as it normally is then please contact Far North Vets. It might not be anything but if there is an issue then the earlier we treat the easier and cheaper it will be in the long run. Not to mention we can prevent a lot of heartache along the way!

Canine Leptospirosis

This is something we offer commonly as “another vaccination” hopefully when we offer this to you we explain it in a way you can understand in the 10-15 minutes we allow during a vaccination consult in the clinic but just in case you’re unsure on what it is hopefully this will help:

Leptospires are a group of bacteria that affect a whole group of species including: HUMANS, Dogs, Dairy and Beef Cows, Pigs and Rats In the Far North the most common methods for transmitting Lepto are bites from rats and wild pigs and contact with the urine of dairy cows, rats and wild pigs. Lepto can also live in soil and water for several days In 2012 in New Zealand it is estimated that 2.5 of every 100,000 people contracted Leptospirosis of which 80% were occupational (dairy workers, pig hunters etc) In humans Leptospirosis presents most commonly as eye infections or just a mild lingering illness In dogs clinical disease presents as lethargy and vomiting that quickly presents to recumbancy and death. The most common reason for death is acute renal failure as the bacteria cause damage to the liver and kidneys of affected dogs. Treatment of affected dogs involves aggressive intravenous fluid therapy and a minimum 14 days of suitable antibiotic which is expensive.

Like all vaccinations 100% prevention is impossible what we hope for with any vaccination is to prevent how often disease occurs and how severe that disease is. For more information please feel free to contact us at the Far North Vets and Pets clinic in Kaitaia.

Heart disease in cats and dogs is more common than we think. New Zealand now has a cat population of around 1.41 million and 700,000 dogs. We are seeing more money being spent on our animals than ever before and with that we are diagnosing more and more problems like heart disease than we ever have been able to in the past.

Heart disease more often than not takes time to develop so quite often gets passed over as the animal ages. The specific signs associated with heart disease depends on the side of the heart it occurs on.

Left sided heart disease affects the lungs of the animal. Blood gets passed from the right side of the heart to the left side of the heart through the lungs where it picks up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. The heart works by using valves to stop fluid flowing back the direction it came. When the valve in the left aorta stops working blood floods back into the lungs. The lung responds to this extra fluid by forcing the body to cough it up.

So left sided heart disease presents itself as a cough. The cough is noticed after the dog has been asleep so early in the morning or after a snooze is when the cough is heard. If left to develop you will also get exercise intolerance and muscle wastage.

Right sided heart disease affects the abdomen of the dog. The oxygenated blood previously mentioned gets pumped from the left ventricle full of oxygen all over the body supplying all the muscles and organs with oxygen then gets filtered through the liver and pumped into the right aorta depleted of oxygen and needing to get rid of CO2. When there is a problem with the right side of the heart, blood floods back into the liver and with nowhere to go it escapes into the abdomen.

So right sided heart disease will present with a dog with a bloated tummy and depending on how much fluid is in the abdomen can also affect the intestines causing diarrhea/constipation. Arthritic dogs with abdomens full of fluid will struggle to get up and eventually the fluid will press on the diaphragm making breathing difficult. Again as above exercise levels will decrease and muscle wastage occurs which leaves the classic appearance of a skinny dog with a bloated tummy.

In other cases you will get both sides of the heart affected leading to a mixture of signs.

Diagnosis is a lot easier in dogs than cats as murmurs are more easily heard in dogs than cats. Diagnosis can also be made with xrays that show enlargement of the heart. The best method for diagnosing leaky valves is with ultrasound. Where you have suspicions of heart disease and especially for cats a blood test for NT-ProBNP DNA can help make early diagnosis. There is even a simple test of counting the number of breaths the animal takes when it is asleep that an owner can use to gauge if heart disease is getting worse or if medication is working.

Treatment of heart disease is not too dissimilar to in human medicine and involves removing excess fluids with diuretics and trying to increase the ability of the heart muscle to contract. If diagnosis is made early then animals can live normal happy lives. Where diagnosis is delayed even in severe cases medication can vastly improve quality of life for the remainder of the pets’ life.

If you have any concerns over your pet's health please contact us at Far North Vets and Pets.

A popular cartoon from the Simpsons and also a very common sight in pet owners homes in the Far North at this time of year!

Seasonal allergies are a massive problem for dogs and cats in the Far North. Quite often these episodes of itching and scratching are blamed on fleas. This is true for some cases but not all. From my experience Contact allergies are the most common form of allergic skin problems I see in clinic.

Causes of skin allergies include but are not limited to:

* Kikuyu grass

* Other grass pollens

* Plant seeds and pollens

* Dust mites

* Weeding & agricultural chemicals

* Fertilizers

* House cleaning chemicals etc.

Contact skin allergies are frustrating because finding out what the actual cause is can be very expensive requiring skin testing which is often limited to specialist practices.

Management of these cases either involves managing the environment by removing or avoiding access to items causing the problem – this is quite often too hard for most owners to comply with or management of the patient.

Managing the patient involves using corticosteroids to suppress the immune system thereby taking away the swelling and the desire to lick/scratch (most patient stop licking/scratching within 24 hours of the first tablet been given.

Steroids have their disadvantages:

* They suppress the immune system meaning animals could get infections.

* They cause excessive appetite and thirst meaning some patients gain weight and

* They put extra pressure on the liver and kidneys

* Stopping treatment suddenly when on a high dose can cause a life threatening Addisonians episode

This happens when we use HIGH doses of steroids for long periods of time. To counteract this we place animals on a tapering dose (starting high and reducing over a number of days) with the aim of getting on the LOWEST dose that is EFFECTIVE. Our aim in most cases is to have our patients on less

than 0.5mg/kg every second to third day – this dose rate very rarely leads to problems later in the patient’s life.

Given the potentials complications and the potential for humans to abuse the substance animals must by law have a consultation before they can be placed on Prednisone.

For patients who have the same problem year after year I recommend combining an annual health check or the animals vaccinations at the start of the problem time (i.e. early-mid Spring for most Kikuyu grass type cases) so that a yearlong script can be written so that the patient can get as many refills as they need in the 12 months and at the same time can get its shots thereby saving money on multiple costly visits. Annual checkups also allow for any potential complications to be identified and dealt with early.

For any questions about itchy skin flea treatment or allergies in your dog or cat please contact the Far North Vets clinic.

At Far North Vets in Kaitaia a common and sometimes frustrating condition we see relatively often is an ear infection. Ear infections can be complex in nature and difficult to treat.

Some dogs are more prone to ear infections than others:

* Dogs with a lot of hair in the ear canals

* Dogs with long floppy ears

* Dogs that go swimming a lot

* Dogs and cats who suffer from other allergies

* Dogs and cats who fight a lot

* Some breeds of dogs and cats will be born with ear canals that are narrower than normal

Setting up an ear infection requires a few things to happen at the same time:

* The bugs: All ears and skin in general are covered in a layer of normal bacteria and yeast. It is these bacteria that are the source of infection rather than bugs from other sources. The only time this would not be the case is when an animal is bitten

* Moisture and Heat: are essential in allowing bugs to grow. So when you get excess fluid trapped in the ear. The heat of the dogs body will cause a warm moist environment to grow

* The Obstruction: Everyone normally assumes that the culprit of an ear infection is a grass seed or dirt or ear mites which is true of some cases however the number one culprit is HAIR. A dog with hairy ear drums will have a greater chance of capturing and holding moisture in their ear drum. The hair also allows easy access for foreign bodies to track into the ear.

* Swelling: Whether it be from rubbing its head on the ground, shaking its head , the result of a bite wound swelling in the ear drum causes the canals to narrow meaning that there is less chance of drainage for anything that might make its way internally.

The signs of an ear infection include:

* Head shaking

* Rubbing its face on the ground

* Pawing at the face or ears

* Head tilted to one side

* Visible signs of pus in the ear canal

* Hotspots on the face near the ear

* +/- a wet dog smell

Given how much is going on it makes sense that we need to see your dog to determine what is causing the problem.

The general protocol Far North Vets use when treating infected ears is:

* Full clinical examination and examination of the internal ear with a speculum

* If no foreign body is found I start on a suitable first line antibiotic ear drop

* If a foreign body is found we will attempt to remove it but some cases will require sedation

* If the ear is too swollen to pass the speculum I will place the animal on a short course of oral steroid and use a first line antibiotic ear drop.

* This will work for most cases, any cases not showing improvement in 5 days of start of treatment are encouraged to come back for revisit at which time swelling will hopefully be reduced and we can have a better look

* Antibiotic resistance is a major issue when treating ears meaning a lot of the first line treatments may not work. Any case not responding to treatment or animals with repeated cases of ear problems should have a sample collected from the ear to test for what bugs are in the ear and what antibiotic kills that bug.

* Any animal who has been seen more than 3 times for ear problems especially in a short space of time should have a conversation with their vet about surgery. As mentioned earlier some animals are born with narrowed eardrums or their eardrums narrow due to chronic inflammation from allergies etc. These dogs will never cure no matter how many drops you put down. Therefore surgery which opens up the ear canals is the only thing that will make them pain and symptom free. Surgery can be very expensive so this option needs to be carefully considered.

Dr. Brian Fogarty MVB

Far North Vets and Pets Kaitaia