Pet of the Month - November 2010 - K8 Rastetter

K8 Rastetter was born on March 14, 2007 in the kitchen of Mark and Donna Rastetter. She was one of 9 puppies that were well loved, even rocked and sang to when they were young. The rest of her siblings were adopted by other families, but K8 worked her way into Mark and Donna’s heart. She loves playing with her tennis ball, and needs her daily walks to use up some of her unending energy. She recently graduated from P.E.T.P.A.L.S. and now is able to provide companionship and therapy to many who need companionship from a pet. P.E.T.P.A.L.S. is a non-profit organization that that has been in operation for 27 years which serves Black Hawk county. They provide volunteer opportunities for animal and human interaction by visiting local nursing homes, hospitals, group homes, schools, and other facilities with approved pets. K8 visited Friendship Village this past month for the first time and loved the attention she received from those she visited. K8 is a special dog who will use her love to impact many lives.

To learn more about P.E.T.P.A.L.S. contact Rachelle Yousefi 277-7418.

Pet of the Month - October 2010 - Rocky Petrucelli

Our first guinea pig pet of the month is Rocky Petrucelli.  He was adopted by Vicki on April 21^st, 2010.  Guinea pigs make amazing pets.  Rocky loves to be held and cuddled.  One of his favorite places to sit is on the shoulder of a trusted person.  He will occasionally get the chance to be out of his cage and run but he would rather spend time being held and played with.  He is able to keep his sleep/awake schedule in sync with Vicki’s, he is usually awake when she is.  Guinea pigs eat many different things, but the staple in their diets is hay.  Rocky also loves green leaf lettuce, kale, parsley and carrots. He will occasionally get some apple for a treat.  One of Vicki’s favorite things about Rocky is all the vocalizations that he makes.  Guinea pigs purr when they are content and happy, can make loud noises when they are hungry or hurt, and other noises when they are scared or nervous.  “Popcorning”, or little jumps in the air, is what Rocky does when he gets excited.  If you haven’t ever had a guinea pig as a pet, give them a chance.  Their personality and love cannot be duplicated. 

MRSA, MRSA, MRSA!



MRSA colonies



There always seems to be one topic that sticks with you and haunts you after attending an informative continuing education meeting. After the fall Iowa Veterinary Medical Association meeting last week in Ames, MRSA was the bug that really had me bugged after the meeting. MRSA stands for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This nasty bacteria has acquired a gene that reduces the ability of our most common antibiotics, penicillins and cephalosporins, to attach to it. This bacteria can roam around and reproduce quite happily and most antibiotics have little or no effect on it! Not only that, but as many as 1 in 3 people are what are referred to as colonized. This means folks with no clinical signs or evidence of disease what-so-ever are carrying this bacteria and can spread it to others. Those people who have active MRSA infections have fever, wounds, high white blood cell counts and a whole host of other severe problems that stem from a bacterial infection gone wild.

Drug resistant bacterial infections seem to come from two main sources or situations.
1.) Bacteria found in the environment, either in a hospital or in the community.
2.) Bacteria that stems from a patient’s own normal flora ( the normal good bacteria that all people and pets have which normally helps to fight off the bad kinds of bacteria) that over populates because of increased and/or inappropriate antibiotic use.
Risk factors for community acquired MRSA, or drug-related resistant infections, are young age, kids participating in contact sports, sharing towels or athletic equipment, having a weakened immune system, living in crowded or unsanitary conditions, and association with healthcare workers. Risk factors for hospital acquired infections are current or recent hospitalization, living in a long term care facility, invasive devices such as catheters, and recent antibiotic use.
What’s the human - animal connection? The most important multi-drug resistant organisms are MRSA as we described earlier, enterococcus species, enterobacter species, and pseudomonas species bacteria. Colonized animals are a concern due to their potential for future development of infection ( especially if they are scheduled for surgery) and the potential for transmission of these drug resistant bacteria to humans. If an animal or human in a household develops illness, it may be very difficult to tell which way the infection was transmitted because it could pass from human to animal or from animal to human. There has been no evidence to show that giving antibiotics to a colonized individual is a good idea. This would just likely make the resistant bacteria smarter and even more resistant to the next antibiotic chosen.
To quote Dr. Jo Ann Morrison, Senior Clinician and Internal Medicine Service Chief at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, broad, non-targeted antibiotic therapy has caused the following:

• Increased pathogen exposure to antibiotics
• Enhanced the resistance mechanisms of bacteria
• Increased levels and rates of resistance in pathogen populations
• Decreased the effectiveness of medications
• Limited future therapy options
• Favored emergence of resistance by eliminating competing normal flora ( the good bacteria that fights off the bad bacteria)



Ruptured MRSA infection



All that being said, what are we to do. Do what your mother always has told you. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Students should never share water bottles or towels in the locker room. Parents need to make their teenagers aware of MRSA and the population of colonized individuals that they are very likely in contact with every day. Disinfecting locker rooms and bathrooms on a regular basis as well as door knobs, locker handles and water fountains is very important. Households should clean bathroom counter and sink surfaces well too. Store toothbrushes upright and away from other toothbrushes and send them through the sanitize cycle in the dishwasher often.

For more information on good disinfecting protocols go to Disinfection protocol.
MRSA Manual I included this just as an example of a management protocol for MRSA because we have used Techni-care at the veterinary hospital for several years with excellent results, but there are many other examples of disinfecting protocol online.
Dr. Elizabeth Bixby

Hermit Crabs

Fall is here and it is back to school time. One of the fun things about going to school is the class pet. Students are enjoying learning about the care and responsibility of all sorts of pets in the classroom. One pet who is becoming a big hit is the land hermit crab. These little crabs are very entertaining for kids and adults alike and are relatively easy to care for with a few instructions.
Hermit crabs need a home, which can be simply an inexpensive ten-gallon aquarium. The aquarium must have a substrate covering the floor. This can be clean sand or coconut fiber or better yet something called Calci-sand which has calcium carbonate to strengthen the exoskeleton. The substrate needs to be deep enough to cover the crab because they enjoy digging and burrowing.  The hermit crab needs a shallow water dish;  if the water is too deep the crab will drown.  It needs to be wide enough to fit the whole crab, as he will drag his whole shell into the dish.  Hermit crabs enjoy their toys.  Put toys for climbing inside the aquarium.  Another item for the aquarium is a large sponge.  The sponge adds humidity to the air and keeps the crabs gills moist.  (Hermit crabs use gills to breath, not lungs like humans do.)

Hermit crabs can be fed a commercial hermit crab food.  If it is in pellet form it must be crushed for them to be able to pick it up.  Crabs also like a large variety of foods for treats such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, raisins, applesauce and peanut butter.  Do not feed hermit crabs dairy products because their systems cannot tolerate dairy at all. 

Hermit crabs need water to drink.  It is important to give crabs non-chlorinated water and keep food and water dishes very clean and remove any uneaten portions daily.  One thing to remember about hermit crabs is that they will molt or shed their exoskeleton as they grow.  They outgrow one skeleton and have to grow a new one.  The crab will need you to provide a new shell about one -third bigger than the old one.  Molting takes about two weeks and during this time you must make an effort to keep the crab extra moist by misting with a squirt bottle and feeding a diet higher in calcium to help make a new skeleton. 

One final note to remember is that hermit crabs do pinch.  When they first come home they may pinch a lot because they are hungry and mishandled.  Children may need to handle them with gloves at first.  Kids should handle the crabs over a soft surface like a bed so that if the child drops the crab, it won't be injured.  Generally it is recommended to pick up the hermit crab by the shell, but use caution because they can still reach around to pinch.  Once the hermit crab is acccustomed to being hand fed and handled the incidence of being pinched does become less and less.  They are interesting to watch and a great way to teach kids about crustaceans.

Elizabeth Bixby, DVM

Pet of the Month - September 2010 - Wrigley Hess

Wrigley Hess (named, of course, because of the Cubs) is a 4 year old German Shorthaired Pointer. His proud parents are Derrick and Lindsay Hess who adopted him when he was a puppy. Wrigley was a bit shy at first, but now he is a dog who loves people and being with his owners. Wrigley can sit, shake hands, lay down, and if you put a treat on his nose, he can flick it off and catch it in his mouth. He is learning how to give high fives as well. Wrigley loves cheese, carrots and any other dog treat. He has found his place to sleep in Derrick and Lindsay's bed and is truly a part of their family. He even tries to join in conversation, when someone talks to him, he will make weird dog noises in response. Wrigley is thrilled that his parents got married in August and has loved "helping" pack the boxes as they move into a new home. He is a very lovable, well-behaved, and smart dog that makes the Hess family complete.

Instructions for Giving your Kitty a Pill (Joke)

From time to time your little feline friend gets sick and the Vet will prescribe some pills, tablets or capsules as a remedy. Use the following directions for administering them:
1)Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cat's cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens it's mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
2)Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
3)Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.
4)Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to the back of the mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
5)Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse in from the garden.
6)Kneel on the floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold cat's head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.
7) Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered antique china cups from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
8) Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force cat's mouth open with pencil and blow pill down drinking straw.
9)Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
10)Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door on neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
11)Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
12)Phone fire department to retrieve cat from tree across the street. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.
13)Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves in shed, force cat's mouth open with tongs. Push pill injto mouth followed by a large piece of hamburger. Hold cat's head verticallyand pour a pint of water down the throat to wash pill down.
14)Get spouse to drive you to the emerency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches finger and forearm and removes pill remnants from your right eye. Stop at furniture shop on the way home to order a new table.
15)Take cat to vet to get more pills.

August 2010 Pet of the Month - Meika Olsen

Jodi Olsen has always loved animals, but has never owned a cat before. Her family have always been "dog people." When she recently bought her first house she decided she was going to jump feet first into cat ownership. On her way home from vacation in Chicago on July 4th, she stopped at a friend's farm near Jesup and picked up Meika. Meika was born on May 1, 2010. Jodi's sister also became a cat owner that day with another kitten named Coco. The other names Jodi's friends wanted to call her were Optimus Prime and Bella but as Jodi was boating one day the name Meika popped into her head. She loves running laps around the house and racing up and down the recliner. She is still very curious and likes to peek into everything. Meika makes friends easily when people come to visit. She will cuddle on your lap or sit next to you on the couch to keep you company. Meika has come in to visit Dr. Smith a few times to make sure she stays healthy and has an active, long life. She has converted Jodi into being a "dog AND cat person!"