The Ending of Go Fetch Fitness for 2010

Today is May 21, 2010, the last day of Go Fetch Fitness for 2010! We had such a tremendous group this year and each week was just packed with fun and learning. Our last two weeks, week five and six, were so exciting! In week five our special guest was Mary McInnis Meyer who has a yoga studio (Field of Yoga) right across the street from the veterinary hospital in downtown Cedar Falls. Mary is a wonderful speaker and she opened her studio up to all of our dogs and us for the first ever DOGA class in Cedar Falls. (That's dogs plus yoga = Doga!) We had a blast and really came away from this experience with a new understanding and appreciation for the health benefits of yoga. You can see pictures from this class at the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier Website.
Week Six, our last week together, brought some glorious weather as we really pushed our way through our last three days together. This week was all about the exercise and we did our stretch out exercises and then immediately hit the trail. Our goal was a solid 45 minutes of walking which we accomplished along the beautiful Cedar Valley Trail system excending from Taylor Veterinary Hospital to Big Woods Lake and back!!

Team 2, the K-9 kids, were our big winners this year losing a total sum of 22.7 pounds! Wow! Congratulations! These determined walkers will be receiving a year supply of FREE dog food from Hill's Science Diet Pet Foods! Our individual with the most outstanding weight loss is no stranger to Go FEtch Fitness. J. Schmitz and his dog Blue have been through the Go Fetch Fitness program three times. J. is extremely committed to the program once he starts and this year he lost 14 pounds. For his tremendous effort, he received a 6-month FREE membership to the Family YMCA of Black Hawk County.

We have had so many opportunities to learn about our health in the past six weeks. We are all truly blessed to live in a community where we have access to such wonderful professionals to help us stay on the road to good health! Tyson Burton at Snap Fitness, the nurses at the Allen HeartAware program, Merriam Lake and her staff at Wheaton Fransciscan Healthcare, Mary McInnis Meyer our local yoga instructor at Field of Yoga and the Family YMCA of Black Hwk County are all right here and offer a huge variety of styles of health and fitness opportunities. It is our hope that you will take advantage of one or several of these means of improving or maintaining your health.

By taking care of yourself, you do take care of your whole family, even the furry four legged members! They depend on you to be healthy so that you can continue to make good choices for them as well!

Elizabeth Bixby, DVM

Heartworms: Is Your Dog Infected?

Heartworms are worms found in the heart and large blood vessels of infected dogs They

Image via Wikipedia

are found in most regions of the United States and may cause life-threatening problems if not detected and treated quickly.
The mosquito plays an integral role in the transmission of heartworms. A female mosquito bites an infected dog and ingests microfilaria (immature heartworms). The microfilaria grow in the mosquito and when the mosquito bites a healthy dog, she transmits the microfilaria. It takes five to seven months for the microfilaria to mature into adult heartworms in the dog. At this time, the adult heartworms start producing microfilaria and the cycle continues.
Most dogs act normally and do not demonstrate any signs of heartworm disease for up to two years after infection. Unfortunately, by that time, irreversible damage has already been done. The worms interfere with the function of the heart leading to heart failure and subsequent damage to other organs. The signs of heartworm disease include a dry cough, weakness, shortness of breath, and exercise intolerance. Some dogs may even die suddenly during exercise or excitement.
A diagnosis of heartworm disease can be made early with the proper tests. Your veterinarian can run a simple blood test to determine if your dog is infected. This should be done on a regular basis to detect heartworms before extensive damage is done. If detected, heartworms can be treated, though treatment is expensive and requires hospitalization. The treatment consists of drugs administered at proper doses and time intervals to kill the adult heartworms and microfilaria. Rest is also a key factor in recovery. The success rate is high and even higher if the disease is caught early. As in many instances, the best solution to heartworm disease is prevention. Prevention is as easy as a pill given every month. With simple and affordable heartworm preventives available, no dog should have to worry about this potentially fatal disease. Talk to your veterinarian today.
Chad Smith, D.V.M

Check out these links to find out more information
Heartworms in Dogs: Facts and Myths
Heartworm Disease in Dogs and Cats
Heartworm FAQ

A Message from Melissa, one of our technicians who's serving with the Army Reserve in Haiti:

I thought I'd write a little update. One more week to go! It's been going really well. We have treated over 2000 animals so far. Mainly we've seen goats, equine, and cattle. We (two vets and myself) are doing a lot of deworming. Many animals are very bloated and skinny. There's been a few treatments on wounds that have been infested by flies. Overall they are taking good care of their animals. Understandable considering they use them for many things. They have appreciated the care for both animal and human. They haven't had anyone help with healthcare for 10 years and the last time an animal clinic came through, they charged for vaccinations. We are vaccinating birds against New Castle and swine against a Swine Fever. Then all the goats, cattle, and equine are getting an anthrax vaccine. Not too many cats are seen here. I guess they are a delicacy for Haitians. (and especially for alcoholics according to our interpreter). Interesting story. It's been pretty hot here. In the sun it's measured at 120 degrees. I've been wearing plenty of sunscreen."

May 2010 Pets of the Month

February 25th, 2010 was a big day for Deja Frank. She was 5 ½ years old and about to have her first litter of puppies. After visiting Dr. Smith, it was decided that she needed to have a C-Section in order to deliver safely. Roxy, Bella and Mailia Frank came into the world at Taylor Veterinary Hospital. As Deja was waking up from anesthesia, she had no interest in her new puppies, but by the time they were home an hour later, she was licking them, feeding them and taking care of all their needs. Maison, the father of the puppies who’s 1st birthday was the day before the puppies were born, is a very active dad. If Deja was not in the box with the puppies, he was. He is very playful and loves to be with his pups. This family of Pomeranian is taken care of by Mike and Kimberly Frank. Two of the three puppies have already found new homes with extended family. Bella is sticking close to home for now.

Go Fetch Fitness Week 3

Welcome to another update of Go Fetch Fitness. It is hard to believe that we are already half way though our 2010 program! Our happy pups have really gotten into the swing of coming to Go Fetch to meet up with their new buddies. Our participants give daily accounts of their dogs getting really excited as they approach the clinic. Going to the vet was never something to look forward to before, but now we have so much fun walking and sniffing that these dogs can't wait to come back. It is so fun to watch the transformation from trepidation to anticipation and joy as they scamper in the front door each day.
Monday was weigh-in day. Thanks to our good friends at Novartis, each of our participants received a gift certificate. We had gift cards to Subway, Target, Hy-Vee and Walmart to share with everyone
!
Our speakers were sent to us by Merriam Lake, the Healthy Promotion Facilitator for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare Wellness Services. Kelsey and Zach are seniors at UNI majoring in exercise science. It was great to have these young, enthusiastic students with us to share information about a topic they are so passionate about. Kelsey and Zach spent the week discussing the benefits of strength training and how strength training affects our metabolism. Kelsey and Zach were very prepared with outlines for everyone, exercises to demonstrate some resistance training as well as helping us by leading our pre-walk stretching exercises each day.
Did you know that according to a 1992 study, middle aged people, especially women, who do not strength train, lost 7 lbs of muscle every ten years, which decreased their metabolism by about 350 calories per day? Did you know that strength training leads to decreased arthritis pain, increased bone density, decreased blood pressure and improved glucose levels? Did you know it is impossible to actually turn muscle into fat or fat into muscle?

If you had been here to listen to Kelsey and Zach this week you would have learned all this and much more about strength training and your metabolism. Plus you would have walked for 90 minutes (30 minutes each Monday, Wednesday and Friday) giving you and your dog 90 out of the recommended 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week! Plus you would have had FUN!
Elizabeth Bixby, DVM