Most soaps, both laundry and dishwasher, contain chemicals, that when ingested in small amounts will cause pets to respond to the unpleasant taste by drooling, vomiting and/or having diarrhea.  But there is a new danger now with the highly concentrated, prepackaged laundry or dishwasher detergent pods.  Some of the pods look like candy and come in brightly colored packages.  There have been increasing reports from Pet Poison Helplines and Children’s Hospitals of poison cases related to the pod products.  The problem arises when the pet bites into the pod, the product is both highly concentrated and under pressure from the bite, so the detergents are forcefully expelled and then may be inhaled into the lungs or swallowed.

Over the past 2 years, the cases reported to the Pet Poison Helpline, 72% of the pets developed clinical signs (illness related to the pods).  The most common signs were vomiting, cough, lethargy (acting tired) and problems breathing.

When the exposure occurs it is very important for the pet owner to dilute the exposed site as much as possible.  The owner needs to rinse the mouth, skin or eyes with water until the slick “soapy” feeling is gone.  If there is vomiting or trouble breathing, the owner needs to contact their veterinarian right away.

There is no antidote for the soap, so the treatment is mainly supportive — to nurse your pet through this incident.
 
(dvm360, January 2015)

Here are different reminder programs that you can use to help you remember to give your Heartworm Prevention and/or Flea & Tick Prevention. If you have questions about any of these programs please don't hesitate to call us & one of our staff members can walk you through how to set up the program. 

Heargard Plus, Frontline Plus or NexGard Has a mobile App for Apple® Devices

http://www.heartgard.com/pages/pethealthservices.aspx

Activyl Tick Plus

http://www.mypet.com/reminders.aspx

Vectra 3D

http://www.vectrapet.com/dog/reminder/add

Iverhart Max

https://remindme.virbacpets.com/

Remind My Pet  -  Generic --Has a mobile App for Apple® Devices

http://www.remindmypet.com/Default.aspx

Feliway--Has a mobile App for Apple® Devices

http://www.feliway.com/us/reminder/register
 

 

What is the benefit of having your pet examined when they are sick?
Why can’t Dr. Google just tell me what is going on?
 
There are many online sites that will give veterinary advice — are they credible is the question you need to ask?  There are many sites that are designed to be a service unto themselves, i.e. you pay for their services.  You have to know if you are getting advice from an actual veterinarian or is it someone who has no medical education and is giving you advice based on “old wives tales.”  Would you fly on an airplane if the pilot was flying based on advice from an online site or would you rather fly with a pilot actually trained to fly the airplane?
So what is involved in an exam at the Glencoe Veterinary clinic?  We take a complete history from you — many times asking you questions that seem unrelated —but actually give us information to your pet’s overall health.  Next, your pet has 10 body systems we examine:  Skin, Gastrointestinal, Cardiac, Lymphatic, Urinary, Reproductive, Muscles and Skeleton, Respiratory, Nervous and the Immune system.  We look at how each system is working, is there abnormalities and if there are, what are they and how are they affecting the other systems. 
A perfect example of this is a dog that comes to the clinic not wanting to play or eat.  Through the history and physical exam, we gather that the dog has a painful back.  What we picked up by the physical exam that would have been missed without it, includes the following:

• The legs were numb and the dog was not sure where they were (Nervous system)
• The dog is painful to walk, posture to go to the bathroom and also to lower its head to eat (Muscle and Skeleton system)
• The dog is having a hard time pooping or peeing because his back hurts (Urinary and Gastrointestinal systems)
• The dog is panting due to pain (Respiratory system)

 
All of these clinical signs can be gathered on a physical exam done in the clinic.  We would then treat the dog for back pain.
Now how would this be handled by an on line veterinary site, especially if the advice was being given by an individual without a veterinary degree.  The most common thing owners tell us when they bring this type of injured dog in is that the dog is not eating.  So without a physical exam the online site may deduct that there was a gastrointestinal problem.  The bad thing here is that if a back injury is not treated properly — the dog can progress to becoming paralyzed, not able to walk, which may be a permanent
So we always ask when we hear — “well on-line we were told it is this” — we always want to know — what veterinary college did the person telling you the information graduate from and did they make their diagnosis after examining your pet?
 
If your pet is sick — have an actual physical exam done to make sure your pet is treated correctly!