Category: Pets

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Sunshine, Wildlife, and Cane Toads: My First Year in the South

Sunshine, Wildlife, and Cane Toads: My First Year in the SouthA year ago, I moved to southeast Florida from northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. Besides arriving in a new part of the country in the middle of a pandemic, which presents its own set of challenges, I encountered a lot of new and different things to contend with in my adopted state.

Born and raised around Chicago, I moved to the D.C. area after college, got married and raised kids there, and then decided to move to Florida after a divorce and job layoff last year. Why not start fresh in a new place, where I wouldn’t have to deal any longer with snow and ice? The lingering image that had always been in the back of my mind was to someday live in a warm and subtropical place, surrounded by palm trees, and somewhere near the ocean. And so that’s what I ended up doing when the opportunity unexpectedly presented itself. 

I took the settlement checks from both my divorce and my full-time job and put them toward the purchase of a nice “villa” home in Florida. And so in July 2020, I suddenly found myself moving still further south and east from where I had originally started (cold, windy Chicago). My dog Lex, a Pomeranian mix, and I arrived last summer to this sunny and humid part of the country and began to put down roots, and I soon discovered a lot of differences here. 

Sunshine, Wildlife, and Cane Toads: My First Year in the South

I have no regrets, but here are some observations from my first year in Florida:

  • Lizards in the house. I didn’t know that there would be so much wildlife around my new neighborhood. While I appreciate all the birds, geese, ducks, and rabbits lollygagging around my lakeside community, and I’ve gotten to enjoy the various lizards darting around the lawn, I didn’t expect to be sharing my home with the geckos.  These quick creatures like to sneak into the house and creep around the rooms, hang out on the ceiling, and pop out and startle me.
  • Cane toads that could kill my little dog. Of all the animals I’ve encountered in southeast Florida, including alligators at the wetlands reserves, the scariest for me are the ugly toads that secrete powerful toxins that could take out Lex, horribly and painfully, within 30 minutes if I’m not constantly vigilant outside.  
  • Hurricanes! Two weeks after I moved to Florida last July, Hurricane Isaias hurdled in from the Atlantic and joined me here. I got a very quick lesson on preparing for tropical storms and securing my hurricane shutters.  While my windows were tightly covered for a couple tumultuous days, it was dark and depressing in my house. I was so happy when Isaias finished up his visit and rolled away.
  • Gated communities. Yes, I live in a secure, gated community, and as a single woman residing alone, I am relieved to have that protection.  But what I have found in this part of the country is that there are so many gated communities that it’s not easy to just drive through neighborhoods here and explore. When I lived in Virginia, I could run through any neighborhoods I felt like. Here, I can’t do that. I have to keep to my own community or on the busy roads around it.
  • More tattoos than I’ve ever seen before. I didn’t know before my move that Florida was the land of full-body tattoos. While I have had friends and family in my life who have sported one or two small tattoos, I was in for a surprise when I arrived here and saw that they are etched all over people’s faces and limbs, in every corner of the region. 

Like the colorful tattoos, I am getting used to all the differences in southeast Florida. I enjoyed my first warm winter here, although I missed the changing of the seasons in the fall and the spring. But I am glad my winter coat is packed far away in a bin in the closet, and I don’t ever have to shovel out my car again. I’ll take it.

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‘Witness the magic’ – empowering people through equine connection

Tucked away on the north side of Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek is a place that has been empowering all who pass through its gates — both two-legged and four-legged — for almost 40 years. That place is Equine-Assisted Therapies of South Florida (EATSF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing therapeutic riding and equine activities to children and adults with special needs. 

“We’re here to build people up, no matter what their ability is,” emphasizes Molly Murphy, executive director of EATSF.

And that’s exactly what the organization does through its hippotherapy, therapeutic riding, equine-facilitated psychotherapy, and equine-facilitated learning programs.

“None of my peers rode horses,” recalls Murphy, who participated in both EATSF’s therapeutic riding and hippotherapy programs as a child. “This was something I did and was really good at, and I felt really powerful. For kids with disabilities, that is not the case a lot of the time. You don’t feel powerful in a lot of ways because you don’t have power over the way your body moves or your mind works.” 

Throughout the years, EATSF’s program has demonstrated that fostering a connection between horse and human consistently produces inspiring results for participants on both a physical and an emotional level. 

A 4-year-old, nonverbal participant rode with the program for a full year and out of nowhere in January exclaimed to everyone, “Happy new year!”

Another participant qualified for nationals for the Special Olympics. Others have started out only able to lie across the back of the horse and, over time, developed the muscle strength to sit up with support. 

“It’s moments like that that have shaped and defined me,” says Missy Tussing, certified therapeutic riding instructor and barn manager, who has been involved with EATSF for 25 years. “One of the most important things I’ve seen is the growth of the participants.” 

The sense of empowerment derived from working with horses is not limited to the riders. 

“I’ve seen volunteers come across our threshold with no horse experience develop confidence and leadership skills that have transcended other areas of their lives,” says Murphy.

What is it about horses that makes them such effective therapy animals? 

“They understand emotions. They’re a lot more knowledgeable than we give them credit for,” explains Tussing. “I’ve seen a horse you wouldn’t expect to reach out and catch his rider reach out and catch his rider.” That horse is Goose, an off-the-track thoroughbred that EATSF acquired through its partnership with Florida Thoroughbred Rescue and Adoptive Care.

Goose serves as an example of the positive impact that therapeutic riding can have on the horse as well. “For him, that was the day everything clicked,” says Tussing. “Off-the-track thoroughbreds come with their own set of challenges, and for him as a horse to overcome that and become such a wonderful horse for the program is a testament to him as well.” 

EATSF is open to new participants, volunteers, and horses. To get involved, visit its website at http://equineatsf.org or call the office at (954) 974-2007. 

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Pet Talk: Listen and learn

About a month ago I received an email from my veterinary school that my favorite professor was retiring, and they were looking for funny stories or video tributes about this fantastic veterinarian.

Dr. B was more than interesting. In 30-plus years of teaching, he had left an unbelievable impression on his students. Interestingly, in all the years that he taught, the only year he won lecturer of the year was the year that he taught my graduating class.

He was “must-see TV” before NBC had it. He was from South Africa, and he just had a different way of looking at the world. Dr. B taught embryology and toxicology to the veterinary students, and every disease or interesting case had a story that he had experienced. I truly didn’t have to study from the textbook because his stories are what I remembered, and it made the cases real for me.

He used to tell us repeatedly that if you practice as long as he did, you should experience every condition that he taught us. It was up to us to remember it and appreciate it.

One day years ago a black Labrador was brought in for seizing. It was different from other seizure cases that I have worked on. Typically, the owner videotapes or describes the seizure, and it is up to me to determine the cause.

Well, this Labrador came in actively seizing and it was getting worse. I knew that there was no evidence of Bufo toad toxicity, so I started to ask the owner about the dog. He was not the owner, but the owner’s father. The owner was deployed overseas. The father told me that the Labrador was fine two weeks ago when he got the dog from his son, other than some loose stool. “The dog started to act drunk [ataxic], have muscle spasms, and his eyes got weird yesterday,” said the father.

On physical exam, the Labrador had nystagmus, which is an involuntary eye movement, when we moved him. He also had extreme muscle spasms of the legs, and his head kept turning behind him. The father was worried, my technician was crying, and the front staff were standing in the doorway because they loved that dog and his owner. I was writing down all the clinical signs and listening to the father explain to me that nothing can happen to this dog while his son was away, when the literal lightbulb moment of clarity happened. I remembered when Dr. B talked about metronidazole toxicity in dogs, and how a dog’s head turned backward like in the “Exorcist” movie.

I asked the father whether he had given the dog metronidazole as instructed. It is used to treat diarrhea and other intestinal problems. He told me that he finished the medications that I prescribed for the dog before his son’s deployment, and he had more at home from his other dog’s drug stash and has been giving the medication for weeks. He thought that it was safe for everyday use. I told him that metronidazole can be toxic if taken for prolonged times or at high doses.

The Labrador ended up recovering beautifully with Valium and supportive care.

So when it came time to send a video for my professor, I sent him a picture of the Labrador. I titled it “one of the thousands of dogs saved due to the teaching stories of Dr. B.”

Dr. B reached out to me and I told him the story. His smile went from ear to ear. Good luck in retirement, Dr. B.

Glenn Kalick, DVM

Brookside Animal Hospital of Coral Springs

www.brooksidevet.com

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Parkland Life- Unconditional love and friendship

Last night we celebrated the first birthday of Michelangelo Booboo Vogel (aka “Mickey”). My regular readers know that he is my COVID puppy, a mini goldendoodle, ours since he was eight weeks old. He is loving, bright, active, and joyful. I have credited him with saving my sanity during the pandemic when he brought love and purpose into my life.

Dog owners know that the first 18 months of puppyhood can be challenging. Between the teething, the frequent bathroom walks, training, and the general need for activity and attention, puppies consume a lot of patience and energy. Mickey was no exception. What makes it all doable is that the puppy is so very cute. Those little balls of fur with a big belly just melt your heart. It is always love at first sight. However, to form a successful human−dog relationship, life after cuteness needs to be defined and built.

Mickey and I were lucky. He was willing to try us out and I certainly wanted him to be happy. So we worked out the pee runs in the middle of the night, the early-morning face lickings, the chewed shoes, and his picky eating. I look back and laugh as we have moved beyond all of those things except for the early-morning wake-up calls. What I have gotten in return is unconditional love and friendship. He cries when I leave, he is waiting at the door with kisses when I return, and when we have a tiff he can’t wait to make up.

Mickey has opened my world to many new experiences. I have met all the local dogs and their owners. During the pandemic, we have congregated outside and provided the caring that we all need to face another day working at home while the kids are on the computer for school. Mickey has also reminded me that people and dogs are made for each other. He is cuddly, protective, and a great walking companion. We walk about seven miles a day together and watch flowers grow, birds fly, and ducks swim. Together we love our beautiful Parkland neighborhood.

I have become a proud mom all over again, showing his picture, introducing him to all my friends and neighbors, and believing he is simply the best dog in the world. In return, I give up the freedom to do what I want, when I want, and instead, I compromise on timing that is better for him. Mickey is a good listener and enjoys talking back, as anyone who knows him will affirm. He has trained me to cook for him and lets me know when he is unhappy with the menu. He swims, and he smiles every time I ask if he wants to go into the pool. He puts up with my need to have him groomed and to comb him daily. He has learned to be patient when I am on the phone or computer. In other words, we accommodate each other mostly with good humor

As Mickey turns one, he looks like a fully grown dog. I am not sure where the time went. He is everything I could hope for in a companion and worth the time, effort, and angst that goes along with any relationship. I have been blessed, and I hope if you have ever contemplated adopting a dog that you do so knowing that the time and effort spent are rewarded many, many times over.

Happy, happy birthday, Mickey. The presents you give me daily far exceed anything I could ever imagine.

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Second opinion: Read the Rx label!

I recently was stopped by a couple riding their bicycles in my neighborhood. My reputation as a veterinarian who gives advice hit a fever pitch in my community during the pandemic.

Mr. and Mrs. Snowbird just came back from their home in upstate New York. They, like so many people, adopted a pet during the pandemic and drove their new dog Rascal, a one-year-old Corgi, down last weekend.

Prior to traveling to Florida, they brought Rascal to their veterinarian because they thought he had allergies. Rascal was shaking his head a lot and vocalized when you touched his ear.

The question that they had for me referenced back to their other dog, Ruby, a 14-year-old Schnauzer who had terrible allergies. She constantly licked her paws, scratched all the time, and rubbed her face. I recommended that they talk to their local veterinarian about Apoquel or Cytopoint allergy treatments.

The schnauzer was a happy dog after starting the medication. They were hopeful that Rascal didn’t have allergies because the medication was expensive, but Rascal seemed very uncomfortable.

I asked them about the working diagnosis. They told me that their New York veterinarian thought that Rascal had an ear infection. Two weeks ago, Rascal’s ears were red, inflamed, and painful. The veterinarian took a sample from the ear to look under the microscope and sent it out for culture.

The doctor started Rascal on an ear cleaner and pain medication and told the couple they would start treatment once the culture results came back.

The couple told me the technician at the hospital called and told them that Rascal had a bacterial ear infection and the vet wanted to start him on antibiotics. They also told them to clean his ears once a day and to continue him on the pain medications if he was still uncomfortable.

After two weeks of medication, ear cleaning, and pain medications I told them that Rascal should be feeling and looking better. They said he wasn’t and wanted to know if I could look.

As we walked to their house, Mr. Snowbird said that Rascal is not clinically better. He doesn’t seem to be in as much pain, but the veterinarian said that he would only need the medication for a few days, and he is still on them.

Rascal also hates it when Mr. Snowbird puts the medication in his ear. He mentioned that it seemed kind of cruel to put cold ear medication in an ear but what does he know. I was puzzled because I don’t know any ear medication that needs to be refrigerated, but maybe the medication was compounded specifically for Rascal.

Rascal is a sweet Corgi. He jumped up on me when I entered the house and, true to form, he smelled sour. When I investigated his ear, it was inflamed and sensitive and full of white material.

I was hoping it wasn’t pus. Mrs. Snowbird brought me the medication and it was Clavamox, an amoxicillin product that was meant to be refrigerated and given orally. I asked them if they are giving the medication orally or putting it into the ear.

I have never seen such finger pointing towards each other. Obviously, someone didn’t read the label. Mrs. Snowbird laughed and told me at least I had a funny story to tell people. Little did they know that I write articles.

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Preserving the once nearly extinct Florida panther

Bang! There’s a thud on the front of your car. You’ve hit something. You pull over, stop, and see that you’ve hit and killed a panther crossing the road.

It’s been happening about twice a month lately, enough to worry wildlife biologists because the Florida panther is an endangered animal.

Because we built roads and housing developments in panther habitat, humans and automobiles have become a serious threat to a panther’s life and safety. By mid-August, at least 15 panthers were killed by cars this year. One was hit by a train. In 2019, automobiles took the lives of 24 panthers.

It’s unlikely you’ll encounter a panther on suburban roads in Broward or Palm Beach counties. But drive west on Alligator Alley (Interstate 75) and you’re in panther territory, primarily in Southwest Florida, east of Naples, around Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. Occasionally, Florida panthers have been spotted further north.

Despite the threat from automobiles, the panther population is growing. Back in the 1980s, state wildlife officials estimated there were fewer than 30 Florida panthers alive. Today, from 120 to 230 grown panthers are roaming Southwest Florida.

There were so few panthers many years ago because no one really cared much about protecting them.

Ashlee O’Connor, who speaks at schools and to community groups for the state wildlife conservation commission, says people hunted them without any limit. Then, in 1958, the state began protecting panthers, designating them endangered animals. The federal government followed in 1967.

Still, O’Connor says, we didn’t know much about the Florida panther in the 1980s. Since then, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have been partners in various ways to protect and preserve the Florida panther, which is a subspecies of puma.

A number of extensive steps have been taken to protect panthers.

To prevent the cats from getting hit by cars on I-75, 60 wildlife
crossings and bridges were built under and over the highway where there’s fast-moving traffic. Fences along I-75 help prevent the panthers from crossing elsewhere. A panther wouldn’t have much of a chance if hit by a car traveling 70 mph.

Speed limits were reduced on rural roads in panther habitat. Road shoulders were widened in some places to give drivers a better view, and a chance to see a panther that’s about to cross the road. Rumble strips were installed where panthers often cross and slow the speed of cars considerably. Roadside “panther warning” signs were installed.

These days, wildlife experts are still learning more about panthers’ habits and range by tracking them from the air. Normally, they fly over panther habitat three times a week in airplanes equipped to pick up signals from a radio collar previously put on the cat after it had been captured.

A male panther will typically roam an area about 200 square miles. Female panthers, on the other hand, typically stay within an 80-square-mile area.

To study the health of the panthers, veterinarians need to examine a number of them each year and must capture them to do it. They use a trained dog to track the panther. Eventually, the cat climbs a tree. The team sets up a net and an inflated air cushion under the tree to catch the animal after it’s shot with a tranquilizer dart.

A veterinarian anesthetizes the animal and begins a complete examination. The vet inoculates the panther against diseases, takes a blood sample, de worms the panther if necessary, tattoos an I.D. number in its ear, inserts a microchip under the skin (just as it’s done with your dog or cat), and fits the panther with a radio collar for tracking.

One of the vaccinations is against feline leukemia that can be fatal to panthers and picked up from domestic cats.

In the wild, panthers survive by preying on a  variety of animals, including deer, calves, goats, and smaller animals like raccoons and rabbits.

Adult panthers are at the top of the food chain and have no natural predators. It’s a different story for the kittens, though.

They are prey for other animals and die for a number of reasons.

People sometimes ask if such an extensive effort to preserve a species of animal is worth it.  Ashlee O’Connor points to the panther’s place in the check and balance of the natural environment and considers the preservation of Florida panthers a kind of reparation for taking some of their habitat in the first place.

Whether what’s being done is enough cannot be certain. “Many factors play into the recovery of a species,” O’Connor says. “There’s a breeding population now. I think we’re on our way to a recovered population. We’re making progress, but we’re not there yet.”

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Something about him was familiar

Best Christmas story or nightmare. You choose.

One day I had a new client come in with a 7-year-old Bernese mountain dog. Chewy presented with a lack of appetite, diarrhea, and vomiting. When the clients came in, I immediately recognized their dog. He had an unusual white stripe on the forehead. The puppy I remembered had the same color pattern and white stripe as Chewy. So, I asked my technician to leave the room and look up Bernese mountain dogs that I have seen over the past 7 years.

I asked another technician to come in to help me perform the physical examination on Chewy. Chewy was clinically dehydrated, his abdomen was tense, the fur on his face smelled like vomit, and his rear end had remnants of diarrhea still on the fur. I told the clients that we would need to start with some blood work and x-rays, and my technicians recruited some help to pick up this 135-pound beast onto the x-ray table. I went back into the exam room and started to talk about the other Bernese mountain dog with similar markings.

Looking back, it was about 7 years ago when a young couple bought a puppy from a breeder. It was in December and the young couple went away for Christmas and left the puppy with their friend and my client. They didn’t leave a cage or toys and the young woman who took care of the puppy left him in a spare bedroom where the puppy did tremendous damage.

One day the puppy got out of the bedroom and destroyed their Christmas tree. He knocked it over, ripped open presents, chewed up ornaments, and ate the stockings. I remember informing the young woman when she brought him in that I was going to have to perform surgery to retrieve all the things that he ate. It ended up being a problem because we couldn’t communicate with the owners based on their travel, but the surgery was an emergency. I ended up performing the surgery which went without complications. The friend ended up paying for the surgery and I found out later that the whole ordeal ended their friendship.

My technician who was doing the deep dive into the research came in and told me that my instincts were correct and it was the same dog. His name was John. When the new owners found out that his name was John they asked if the original owner’s name was Hortensia. It was.

Same dog, similar situation. I ended up telling the new owner my history with John. They adopted John about a year ago, hated the name and call him Chewy because he always has something in this mouth.

My technicians came back in with Chewy and we put the radiographs on the examination computer and we could see the problem right away. Chewy had  about 9 pacifiers in his stomach. I asked the owners if they have a child and they did. Each parent thought it was the other one that got rid of the pacifiers, but it was Chewy. I told them that Chewy needed surgery. The fact that there are 9 pacifiers means that they are not passing. I thought it was fortunate for them that when they adopted John the previous owners transferred the insurance to them, and they never canceled it. And I told them that they never will. Best holiday news ever. Love, Chewy.

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Dogs have a life expectancy for a reason

I am sitting on a driveway with four other couples socially distancing and wearing a mask. Everyone is sipping wine or drinking beer. To be honest, the mask-wearing to not-mask-wearing ratio is not ideal.

The women are sitting on one side of the circle and the men are on the other. The women are talking politics and Dr. Fauci; while the men are talking football, their college’s record, and whether the SEC is still the best conference.

It was a quiet night until one of the women asked a question directed at me. She wanted to know if I knew that the last six dogs that died on our street all died of cancer and whether I should look into whether there was a cancer cell.

Let’s break down the statistics. The last six dogs that died over the past two years had an average age of 14. There were two Labrador retrievers, two golden retrievers (mine), one poodle who was 17, and a mixed breed.

The street is a fairly new street. Most of us have lived here less than three years. The electrical lines are underground and we have all had recent

Radon testing. If there is one thing about where I live, especially with the vast majority of us having empty nests and a little more disposable income, the dogs in our lives are very well taken care of and I am confident that they all moved to our neighborhood with relatively clean bills of health.

The average life expectancy for small dogs is 15-16 years, medium and large dogs 10-14 years and giant breeds around 7 to 8 years. I have been very lucky and I do EVERYTHING for my dogs and I have not had one live beyond 14. I like big dogs.

In my adult life, I have had five dogs and, other than a Keeshond who was hit by a car when I was a kid, every one of my dogs died of cancer. Let me make myself very clear, my dogs lived long enough to get cancer. They didn’t suffer from heart disease or infectious diseases but lived long enough to get cancer.

So, I answered the question with a question. In the past five years I asked everyone to think about the reasons why you’ve attended funerals. What was the cause of death?

The top three responses were cancer, heart disease, and COVID-19. I told them that those numbers probably reflect the national average. Dogs have a life expectancy for a reason, as do humans.

At some point in our aging process cancer, heart disease, and kidney disease become clinically relevant. The biggest decision, and the most humane decision we make as compassionate pet parents is that we don’t have to make our pets suffer and we advocate for them. I had to put my own golden retriever Kelly to sleep last week. She was 12. All of my dogs have lived to 14, but it was not in Kelly’s cards.

She got the dreaded metastatic Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen that is just devastating to golden retrievers. Kelly never gave me one second of grief.  he was sweet until the end, and my job was to not let her have one second of discomfort.

The woman in the circle just nodded her head agreeing that there was no cancer cell in our neighborhood. My wife sighed because hopefully the discussion was over before it got heated.

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In the blink of an eye

I guess we are all getting older, but occasionally, there is a situation that reinforces the fact that you have become part of the older generation. That situation happened to me this past spring when I was lecturing at Auburn Veterinary School. I was part of a group of speakers talking to the veterinary students about life post-graduation. Speakers from around the country were mentoring young minds, eager to hear about their profession. There is nothing more rewarding.

While I was waiting to speak, I decided to walk around the veterinary school. It was cold outside, so I stayed inside and walked by a man and woman. When I walked by, I could hear them talking about me, and I heard the woman tell the man that she knew me but could not remember where.

I continued to walk around the building when I heard her loudly say down the hall, “she knew it,” and before I knew it, she was walking briskly to catch up to me. She tugged at my jacket and apologized, but she wanted to say hi to me.

She introduced herself as Paulette and said that I might not remember her, but her mother, who recently passed away, was a client, and I would remember Rocko the Rottweiler.

Dr. Glenn Kalick

Rocko the Rottweiler was one of a kind. The owner used to call the dog stupid because I performed four exploratory surgeries to remove foreign bodies from his intestines. A little biology lesson here: Rottweilers have large diameter intestines, so a foreign body would have to be large to obstruct Rocko. Interestingly, each of the four foreign body surgeries was for either the husband’s athletic socks or the knot on the end of a large rawhide dog bone. Rocko was one of a kind. He got into the fishing tackle box and got a fishing hook stuck in his tongue, and the one time he went to the beach, he got stung by a jellyfish. Thank god the owner had pet insurance.

Paulette introduced her husband, who also said he recognized me. He told me I probably would not recognize him, but he spent a day shadowing me for a school project when he was in high school. He told me that he was the kid who fainted when watching me in surgery.

I told him that it happened all the time, and he should not be embarrassed. He said that experience changed his career aspirations from wanting to be a human surgeon to pursuing his love for numbers, and now he is an accountant.

It was great to see Paulette and her husband, but it was strange that it happened at a veterinary school in Alabama.  I asked her if she was here because her pet was sick. She said she didn’t currently have a pet because she was too busy traveling. So, I had to ask her again, why is she there? My daughter is in Vet school at Auburn, and we are taking her out to dinner after the conference.

So, here is the circle of life. I took care of the grandmother’s dog, and I am lecturing to the granddaughter at veterinary school. Where did the time go? I ended up going to dinner with the happy family and hope to continue to mentor the young veterinary student throughout her career.

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Older dogs make great pets

During the month of November, many humane societies and adoption centers worldwide bring attention to adopting senior pets.

Caring for an animal provides a sense of responsibility, purpose, and fulfillment. In more ways than one, pets can improve a person’s well-being. Not only are you saving the animal’s life, but you are enhancing your own. Pets can help reduce anxiety, depression, and stress.

Adopting a senior pet provides plenty of benefits. Older dogs usually require less training. Not only are they calmer, less energetic, and easy to train, many senior pets are house trained and understand basic commands.

Betty Delman, animal lover and creator of the phone application, “Dog, Cats, and Me,” agrees. “I just lost my 15-year-old dog a year ago. I couldn’t handle a lot of energy, chewing, and a not potty-trained dog. It was so much more relaxing having an older dog around. Everyone wants a puppy, but when they grow up, they lose interest. Older dogs are great companions. It is a friendship and easier having an older settled dog.”

Delman’s mobile application caters to kids ages four to ten. Not only does the application practice reading skills, but it helps children to learn more about dogs, cats, and the humane treatment of animals in a fun and engaging way.

Adjusting to a new home environment is easier for senior pets than puppies because they have come from a family life before being placed in a shelter.

When adopting an older animal, personalities and traits continue to develop by the time you bring them home, so you can tell right away if he/she will mesh well with your family.  Besides being calmer, senior animals do not require the constant attention and exercise that comes with puppies. Their mellow nature is an excellent fi t for older individuals and families looking to add companionship to their lives.

Delman believes that if you are unsure about adopting a pet right away, considering fostering fi rst. “If more people foster, then maybe the shelters can get more dogs and train them to be a good dog for their forever home,” Delman said.

Not only are you welcoming a lifetime of love into your home when you adopt a senior pet, but you are also saving a life with many fun years ahead.

If you are looking to add some excitement and companionship to your routine, reach out to Humane Society of Broward County, Abandoned Pet Rescue Inc, Broward County Animal Care and Adoption Center, and Paws South Florida Rescue to find your furry friend.

Interested in giving these two 10-year old beautiful cats (brother and sister) a new forever home?

Please contact publisher@theparklander.com

 

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PETTALK: Tight Quarters

I have always been the Kalick family veterinary consultant, regardless of where my family lives. My family who lives in Ohio will always consult with me via the phone when there is a problem, and typically I will tell them they need to see their local veterinarian. Their veterinarian and I have become friends and she sends me all the records, digital x-rays, and bloodwork as soon as she gets them, it saves her a phone call from my aunt asking to send them to me.

One interesting thing that has changed since the pandemic is that my aunt and uncle have become very adept with Facetime and Zoom.

Today’s issue is with Titus, their cat. Titus is a geriatric tabby cat that my aunt thought was depressed because her kids moved out of the house. I would never contradict my aunt, but I think Titus is happy the kids moved out. Titus took back control of the big house, and because the kids took the dog with them, Titus gets to sit in the large bay window watching the world pass by.

However, today my aunt was concerned that Titus had a urinary tract infection because he was urinating in a closet on my uncle’s shoes.

My aunt sat in the room during the Facetime call, switching my view so I could watch Titus sleeping in the window. She wanted me to see the closet that Titus was using as his new litterbox, so she swung the camera around the room so I could see the hall closet. She told me he never used that closet before and now he never wants to leave the room.

Then she walked down the hall with her iPhone because she wanted to show me Titus’s litter box. My aunt, God bless her, talked the entire way from the front room to the bathroom, bouncing her phone the whole time. She got into the bathroom and showed me Titus’ litterbox crammed between the bathroom vanity and the toilet. It looked like it hadn’t ever been used. It. left no room for the cat to move in the box if he ever wanted to use it.

The craziest part of the story was that the bathroom door was closed like Titus could open it with his paws if he needed to.

When I mentioned that the bathroom door was closed and no one was using it, my aunt started to talk about changing the brands of kitty litter or playing music in the house. I even mentioned that if someone is using the bathroom or taking a shower, the door will never be open.

She said that she never thought of that.

Titus’ litterbox was always in the room where he slept, easily accessible, and near his food. I told my aunt that the rule of thumb is that you should have one extra box in the house.

This means: one cat equals two boxes and one of the boxes should be in the front room where he sleeps and spends most of his day.

After she thanked me and was about to hang up, I heard my uncle in the background yelling to my aunt, “What does he think of the new kitten?”

New kitten? My aunt winked at the phone and said it was a topic for another day.

 

By Dr. Glenn Kalick

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PETTALK: Doctors make the worst clients

I recently went to a socially distanced neighborhood block party and met a few people I had never met before. Where I currently live in Jupiter, most of my neighbors are snowbirds and based on the spike in COVID-19 cases in Florida, they may not be coming back anytime soon.

At the party, I met a female neighbor who, after finding out I was a veterinarian, dragged her husband unwillingly out of a group of men who were talking about golf and politics to talk to me.

I am going to call him Dr. Skin because he is a dermatologist and his demeanor got under my skin. Mrs. Skin told him to tell me about Annabella, their 9-year-old boxer, who had increased thirst and urination. Mrs. Skin wanted to take Annabella to the veterinarian, but with the pandemic, she was reluctant to allow Annabella to be seen by her veterinarian while she was forced to stay in the car.

This allowed Dr. Skin the opportunity to act as a veterinarian by searching Google. I asked Dr. Skin how he felt about his clients coming in and comparing his diagnosis to Dr. Google and he said he hated it. I told him that he was doing the same to the veterinary profession.

Dr. Skin told me that he had put increased thirst and urination into the search engine and based on his research, diabetes and kidney disease were the most likely diseases followed by Cushing’s disease and a high salt diet. I nodded my head in agreement that they were definitely high on my list, as well.

So, I asked him what he has done, knowing that he has not called or seen his veterinarian. He told me he obviously wouldn’t start insulin therapy without taking Annabella’s blood sugar but was tempted. He didn’t think Annabella had kidney disease because her urine was very yellow in the morning and he would assume that if she had kidney disease her urine would always be clear in color. Then he abruptly left to get the bag of dog food so I could look at the sodium level.

I told Mrs. Skin that Annabella needs to see her veterinarian. Bloodwork and urine need to be analyzed and Annabella needed to be examined.

She agreed.

Dr. Skin not only brought back the bag of dog food for me to look at but Annabella as well. From ten feet away, I could see that Annabella’s lymph nodes on her neck, chest, and rear legs were swollen.

Annabella is a boxer and boxers are the number one canine cancer breed.

As Dr. Skin was showing me the bag of dog food, I interrupted him and asked if a patient came to him with swollen lymph nodes and abnormal clinical signs, would he take the necessary tests for cancer? He said absolutely and wondered why I had asked. I told them Annabella’s lymph nodes were very enlarged, and her clinical signs were classic for hypercalcemia, secondary to neoplasia.

It was a very hot day and Dr. Skin’s face went from red to pale white in one second. He left abruptly with Annabella and Mrs. Skin. I hoped he was going to the veterinarian.

Follow-up: Annabella had lymphoma and is currently being treated with chemotherapy. I later got a fruit basket from Mrs. Skin, and I would be happy to continue calling her husband Dr. Skin.

Dr. Glenn Kalick

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