WHAT'S NEW

November 2018

Monthly Newsletter

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HOLIDAY SCHEDULE: NOVEMBER EDITION

WE will be CLOSED Thursday November 22nd in observance of THANKSGIVING DAY. We will be closing earlier at 3 pm (instead of 6 pm) on Wednesday November 21st. Have a Safe and Happy Holiday!

TASTY FOR HUMANS, DANGEROUS TO PETS

We wish all of you a special holiday this Thanksgiving and want you to know how thankful we are for your trust and for your business. In keeping with those thoughts we want to share a list of toxic foods that have to stay away from the pets as all prepare for Thursday's big feast.

• Grapes and Raisins - Cause kidney failure in dogs even in small amounts.
• Chocolate - Fat and sugar are one thing, theobromine and caffeine are another. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous the food.
• Yeasted Dough - Can expand in a pet's stomach and cause obstruction and distress.
• Macadamia Nuts - Cause tremors and hyperthermia in dogs.
• Onions and Garlic - Inactivate platelets and damage red blood cells especially in cats.
• Xylitol-containing candies/gum/foods - Sugar-free gum and candy frequently contains xylitol and recently some peanut butters began to include xylitol sweeteners. These cause liver damage and hypoglycemia in dogs.

There are lots of details to supervise during the holidays and it is easy to leave a snack out where it is accessible to the pets. Please be extra careful so the holiday can be fun for everyone in the family, even those family members with four legs.

IMPORTANT WARNING!!

SNACK BAGS: AN IMPORTANT PET HAZARD
DEATH IN MINUTES

87% of PET OWNERS DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS A RISK UNTIL THEIR PET HAD DIED

With friends and family visiting, snacks abound: chips, pretzels, cheese puffs, and the list goes on. We all love snacks and so do the pets. The problem is the bag. The pet gets his head inside to lick out the tasty goodness only to find that the bag collapses with each inhalation. Suffocation can occur in less than five minutes. The problem is so tragic and sadly so common that a retrospective study was conducted to provide awareness. Here are some of the highlights: 72% of bags involved were from chips or snacks 11% of bags were from pet food or pet treats 6% were cereal box liners 25% of bags were near or in the garbage 22% of bags were on a side table or coffee table 39% of pet owners were home when it happened! 18% of pet owners were out of the room less than 15 minutes!

(Photocredit: Morguefile.com)

SOLUTION: Aside from taking care that pets do not have access to bags of this nature, consider opening both ends of the bag when removing contents, opening the opposite end of the bag before tossing the bag, or even cutting a hole in the bottom of the bag before discarding.

A web site has been posted for more information and tips to avoid this tragic hazard:

https://www.preventivevet.com/pet-suffocation

DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY: OUR NEWEST SERVICE

Staying on the cutting edge is an on-going challenge and this month we are pleased to include dental radiography in our standard dental procedures. Dental radiography equipment is different from regular radiography equipment in that it is smaller and the beam must be more mobile and point specific to create detailed images of each tooth individually. As veterinary dentistry comes to emphasize the parts of the tooth one cannot see (what is below the gum line), proper imaging becomes crucial. We are pleased to offer a more complete oral care service than ever before. Remember, most pets need teeth cleaning annually. Don't wait until there is oral disease; the goal (as always) is prevention.

Dr. Brooks with our new dental radiography equipment. (original graphic by marvistavet.com)

WELCOME TO THE BIRTE FOUNDATION

We are proud to collaborate with a number of local rescue groups as they pull dogs and cats from shelters for adoption to forever homes. This past month we added The Birte Foundation to our list of rescue partners. The Birte Foundation rescues dogs of all ages and is always in need of foster volunteers, donations, and, of course, adopters. For more information visit: https://birtefoundation.org/ To see our list of partner rescue groups, click here.

INTERESTING EXTERNAL LINK:

Senior Citizens and the Benefits of Pet Ownership

Every month we try to find a useful or interesting topic from the internet and present it for your benefit. This month concerns the psychological and general health benefits of pet ownership to elderly people in assisted living facilities. Benefits include:

• Better sleep quality
• Reduced incidence of heart attack
• Improved socialization and exercise

Of course, not every assisted living facility is pet friendly. Here is an information source you may find helpful:

www.caring.com/senior-living/assisted-living/benefits-of-elderly-owning-pets

DID YOU KNOW ...

...THAT YOUR VETERINARIAN MAY NOT LEGALLY DISCUSS

CANNABINOIDS WITH YOU UNTIL JANUARY 1ST??

Here's what we can tell you:

• None of the legislation legalizing cannabinoids have provisions for legal animal use. (In other words, CBD oils and other CBD products are not legal for pet use in any state.)
• These products abound anyway because congress has consistently adopted the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment which allows no funding for the Dept. of Justice to enforce federal anti-cannabis laws against those in compliance with state cannabis laws.
• There is no pressure on the state to enforce the illegal use of cannabinoids in animals. This means that consumers are shown an assortment of products almost all of which are illegal, veterinary medical professionals are not allowed to provide information.
• The FDA does not regulate cannabinoid quality control as the FDA is a federal agency and thus does not recognize cannabinoids as medicines.

What happens January 1st? Assembly Bill 2215 goes into effect.

Summary: This bill prohibits the Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) from disciplining, or denying, revoking, or suspending the license of a licensed veterinarian for discussing the use of cannabis on an animal for medicinal purposes. The bill will also prohibit a licensed veterinarian from dispensing or administering cannabis or cannabis products to an animal patient.

It will require the VMB to develop guidelines for these specified discussions between a veterinarian and his/her client on or before January 1, 2020 and will require the VMB to post those guidelines on its website.

So after January 1st, we still cannot dispense these products but we can at least talk about them and tell you what we know. So we'll have to postpone the rest of this conversation. See you in January.

Extra Information from the Health Dept. can be found here:

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/vet/CannabisAndPets.htm

A Special Thank you to our Referring Clients

We are honored when our clients refer their friends and family to our hospital and as a token of thanks, we credit their account $25 for each new client they bring. This month we wish to thank: Ryan Aronson Jessica Atkinson Kanon Riecks Wendy Segotta To obtain the $25 credit, the referred client cannot have the same address as the referring client. The referred client must have received medical services for their pet in order to generate a credit for the person who referred them (retail or pet food sales or services at vaccination clinic do not count toward referral credit).

Dr. Jenny Johnson's Next Day For Chiropractic Is THURSDAY December 20th. Appointment times are still available. Chiropractic helps with: Posture and Mobility Spinal pain Arthritis pain Conditions mediated by spinal nerves Shockwave therapy is also available for drug-free management of arthritis pain To set up an appointment, call us at 310-391-6741. For more information on Veterinary Chiropractic or Shockwave therapy, click here.

Please allow 24 hours for processing of medication refills. Thank you.

DON'T FORGET TO "LIKE" US ON FACEBOOK SO YOU CAN GET TIPS AND LINKS

TO HELP BRING YOUR PET THE BEST POSSIBLY CARE.

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