January weather has been less than normal but what a great opportunity to travel safely over the holidays. I have been mulling over what my blog topics should be this year. I have covered many different subjects over the last 7 1/2 years. Interesting to note that the “Hacking Cats” blog has had one of the highest hits on the great wide web! Guess we know what gets cat owners frustrated or concerned regularly.

I was looking for topics and discovered there are over 150 different pet holidays in a calendar year. I was curious to see what all those could be. January alone has 8 days designated as a pet holiday along with being labelled “Walk Your Dog month and “National Train Your Dog” month. Each special event has a website you can explore to get involved. The information is designed to help strengthen the bond between your dog and family. I have never heard a client say they regretted training their dog or going for walks with their dog. Both activities help your dogs and yourself stay healthier which improves everyones quality of life.

I will list the celebrations that are coming up in January. It was interesting to see the variety of celebrations that you can participate in this month. I was just curious about some of them so will highlight those here. Feel free to do your own research to learn more about these days in January.

• January  2nd  – National Pet Travel Safety Day
• January  5th   – National Bird Day
• January  8th   – National Labrador Retriever Day
• January 14th  – National Dress Up Your Pet Day
• January 21st  – Squirrel Appreciation Day
• January 22nd – National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day
• January 24th  – Change a Pet’s Life Day
• January 29th  – Seeing-Eye Guide Dog Birthday

Each of these has their own website giving history about the celebration. January 29th commemorates the date “The Seeing Eye” was incorporated in Nashville, TN in 1929. This organization is the oldest existing guide dog school in the world. New Jersey is the location of the current campus that includes not only administration and training centers, but also houses an adult breeding center with puppies that are kept there until 8 weeks of age. These puppies are monitored early for behavioral and physical concerns that could prevent them from being guide dogs for the blind. Not all puppies that begin the program graduate. This is one reason, of many, that it is not recommended that you purchase a puppy and have it trained. One person who did that exact thing stated, “After spending over $20,000 to train a service dog for my son we were left with a very expensive pet.” Be cautious if a trainer indicates they can train your puppy to be a service dog. It is not that easy and failure rates are high even with dogs from an organization like The Seeing Eye.

January 21st – Squirrel Appreciation Day – Never knew there was a day to appreciate squirrels. Many people and dogs get frustrated with squirrels. They are mischievous and crafty – acrobatic and entertaining all at the same time. There are 3 types of squirrels listed on this website worth noting: flying squirrels, tree squirrels, and ground squirrels. Ground squirrels include the chipmunks, groundhogs, marmots, and prairie dogs. Flying squirrels are unique in that they are nocturnal and difficult to see as they glide from tree to tree. Be sure to put out some extra corn to honor these creatures Sunday, January 21st.

National Bird Day is on January 5th. I had difficulty finding much history on this celebration but activities surrounding this day include birdwatching, studying birds, and even adoption. A bird owner must be prepared for screaming, biting, continual clean up, special dietary needs, and social interactions on a daily basis. Some birds can like parrots and Macaws can live 35-50 years. You thought a dog or cat required a long commitment.

During this long month of winter get out and celebrate one or more of these occasions. There are many species of birds that winter here in Madison County. Bundle up and head outside to see and listen for squirrel and bird activity. Dress up your pet on January 14th and post a picture on Facebook for all to see. Let’s enjoy this month as the days are getting longer and we are one day closer to spring.

At Winterset Veterinary Center we have the joy of spending our days with creatures great and small. We lost a special one suddenly today when Furitoe wandered out into harm’s way and was instantly killed. He will be remembered for his extra large feet and fluffy furry hair coat. He was born in April 2020 and came with his brother, Cheetoe, to work in the Customer Relations department at Winterset Veterinary Center. He took his job seriously and made a point of sitting on people’s jackets, purses, papers to get attention. He would chew on zippers and strings forcing a hand to pet him. He found joy in greeting customers and their pets as they entered our building daily.

The staff at Winterset Veterinary Center were constantly entertained by his interest in flushing toliets, dripping water faucets, empty boxes, etc. He would suddenly appear out of a closed cupboard during an appointment to the surprise of everyone in the room. He was a great retiever of toys. Throw a toy and he would bring it back to you as many times as you were willing to throw it. He loved a good belly rub and a warm lap to sit on.

Furitoe and Cheetoe often gave us photo/video opportunities that we shared on Facebook with our friends. Many of these friends only became  friends because of how adorable these two brothers have been. The photos shown here are just a small sample of a day in the life of Furitoe. We are deeply saddened by his passing and he will be missed tremendously by his brother, Cheetoe and all the staff,  clients,  and Facebook friends of Winterset Veterinary Center. 

If you have a special memory you would like to share we would love to hear it. Furitoe lived his life fast and was full of joy each day that he was on this earth. We know we will see him again someday at the Rainbow bridge and look forward to that soft nose, extra large feet, and soft fluffy hair coat that made him so huggable and loveable.

Where has 2023 gone? Long ago I was told that time goes faster as we age. I now understand that concept. Of course, we know that scientifically time is consistent but boy there are times I swear hours turn into minutes. This blog will cover multiple items since lots has happened since the last blog.

FIRST, let’s have a quick note on the mysterious canine respiratory disease. I believe the news has covered this well over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, we do not have an exact cause or cure at this time. The veterinary community is working on cases and diagnostics and treatment for this new condition. What we do know is that dogs in close contact with other dogs can spread this by sharing bowls, coughing, sneezing, licking another dog. Therefore, activities where dogs gather in close proximity to one another can spread the disease. They believe it is not a virus so finding the right antibiotics for treatment is crucial going forward. Dogs cough for lots of reasons. Please do not jump to conclusions that your dog has this disease just because it coughs. The disease does cause lethargy, fever, nasal discharge, cough, and potentially pneumonia. These dogs are sick. The cough is persistent it does not come and go. For instance, there are dogs that cough only when they get excited or only when they have been laying down. This would not correlate with this mystery respiratory disease. If you are concerned about your dog’s cough, please contact your veterinarian to find out how they want to proceed with diagnostics and treatment. Give the veterinary profession time to explore this new disease and we will surely share our findings once we have concrete information about it.

SECOND,  we have had a successful launch of the Librela osteoarthritis injection. The November blog goes into more detail about this new mode of treatment. We have had a few clients that have returned for the 2^nd injection and have been pleased with the positive changes in their aging dogs. Comments such as – my dog is running and playing with the other dogs more, I saw my dog jump onto the couch again, my dog is getting up off the floor easier, etc. Our goal is to help dogs age more gracefully and with less pain. If you have seen changes in your dog’s mobility please consider a course of injections to see if LIbrela can help them. Let’s make life as easy as possible for them in their senior years.

THIRD, please continue flea and tick medication year-round. I realize in the past once the cold weather arrived we stopped. Well, this last summer we had 11 positive lyme disease cases. Compare that to only 1 case in 2022. A significant increase. Why you might ask? Our winters do not have snow on the ground like years ago. If there is no snow, the deer ticks are out and active. Our dogs are out in the woods and tall grasses with them. Let’s stop the spread of these tick borne disease by protecting our dogs all year long. Once a dog gets lyme disease, it’s body does not clear it after that. We see kidney disease in older dogs related to positive lyme cases. Protect your pets and keep them on flea and tick prevention.

FOURTH, with holiday gatherings our pets are at higher risk of poisonings. Finding chocolate goodies or packages with edible items is a common reason for a emergency call during this time of year. We also see higher cases of stomach issues from vomiting and diarrhea because of eating items we normally would not feed our pets. Please refrain from offering different food items to your pets during the holidays. No one wants to spend the holidays in the ER with your dog.