A fox attacks a dog in Whitehall, a bat in the house bites a child, a barn cat is staggering and tries to attack the veterinary staff and a kitten found on the side of the road bites a good Samaritan.
What do all of these animals have in common? They all tested positive for rabies in the past year after causing injury to a person or a pet. These were just a few of the animals that have tested positive for rabies recently putting pets, their families and veterinary staff at risk of catching this deadly disease.
In 2012, there were 385 cases of rabies documented in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with many more that go unreported because the animals die in the wild and are never tested.
In the past 4 years, we have seen 3 cats with rabies at Valley Central Emergency. In addition, we have tested 2 bats and skunks that were positive for the rabies virus. The 2 bats that tested positive were exposed to the family dog and one may have bitten a child in the household.
What is Rabies?
There is a lot of confusion about rabies. So what is it?
Rabies is a virus that is transmitted from the saliva of an infected animal into the body of another mammal. From there, the virus spreads through the nervous system to the brain causing neurological symptoms and death.
Once the virus has begun to cause illness, there is no effective treatment. The best prevention is vaccination of your pets and avoiding direct contact with wild animals and stray cats/dogs.
One of the most common situations where a person is potentially exposed to rabies is by picking up injured cats. It is common for stray cats to bite people when handled and although only a small percentage of these carry rabies, testing is required to determine if there is a risk or not.
Below is information about what is required if a dog or cat has been exposed to a confirmed or suspected rabid animal.
The pet that has been bitten by a confirmed or suspected rabid mammal will either be (1) euthanized, or (2) quarantined for 90 days if current on rabies vaccination, or (3) quarantined for 180 days if unvaccinated for rabies. There are no other options. There are NO ten-day quarantines for animals bitten by a confirmed or suspected rabid animal. PDA Regional staff will make the decision as to the appropriate length of quarantine to apply in each case.
The quarantine reflects the period of time it could take for the bitten (exposed) mammal to develop disease. In mammals, the incubation period for rabies can be as short as two weeks or as long as several months, however there are rare reports of much longer incubation periods. During quarantine, the exposed animal is confined and observed to see if certain behaviors develop. Clinical signs may suggest rabies, but the only definitive diagnosis is made in the laboratory.
The bitten mammal is not infectious unless the rabies virus successfully travels from the bite site to the animal’s brain and salivary glands at which time they may have virus in their saliva. During the time the virus is traveling from the bite site, the animal does not have virus in its saliva and is therefore not able to transmit rabies. Source
Under Pennsylvania law, all cats and dogs are to be vaccinated for rabies. Some people think that because they have an "indoor cat", it doesn't need vaccinations. This is false. Cats occasionally sneak out of the house and can be bitten by other animals and bats come indoors, where cats may catch them.
One of the veterinarian's primary responsibilities is protecting public health. Vaccination against rabies is part of this mission and most veterinarians take it seriously.There is a lot more that can be written about rabies. For additional reading, check out these links and contact your veterinarian to make sure your pets are up to date on their vaccinations.CDCPA Diagnostic Lab
A common cause of significant injury and expense is accidentally dropping a small dog, especially a puppy from a height that might not seem all that high.
When I got a puppy, I was downright paranoid about handling him because I have 3 children and often see puppies dropped or stepped on by children and ending up with a fracture in the radius and ulna in the front leg.
Puppies are notorious for being wiggly and difficult to control when being carried. If can take a fall from an elevation of only about 2-3 feet to lead to a fracture.
The most common scenario is when a new puppy that the owner has only had for a few days or weeks, jumps off the bed or out of the owner's arms and then won't put weight down on one of the front legs.
A lot of times, they will yelp when the injury first occurs but then don't often cry or whine, but won't put weight on the leg. When a dog won't use their leg, there is significant pain, despite the fact there is minimal crying.
Some fractures in puppies can be splinted and will heal over 4 weeks, if the puppy is kept quiet and confined. Other puppies require surgery to properly align the fracture to get it to heal.Ways to prevent injury
- Whenever holding a puppy, remain seated and cradle the puppy or hold her on your lap.
- Keep children on the floor while holding the puppy and limit the amount of running they are allowed to do while the puppy is loose.
- When you can't supervise your kids and the puppy at the same time, consider confining the puppy to a cage so that your the kids don't end up stepping on or falling your puppy
There is something special about the bond between kids and their dog.
When a small breed dog is a puppy, they are often quite fragile so use the tips above to keep your puppy safe and avoid a visit to the ER!
Working in the ER, we see examples everyday how strong dogs can do lots of damage
. "A 5-year-old boy was mauled by a Great Dane in a friend's home Sunday in Whitehall Township, police said.
The boy lost a lot of blood and was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, police Lt. Ribello Bertoni said. It's unclear if he suffered permanent damage, Bertoni added." Original article here
Time after time, we see cases of smaller dogs and cats being severely injured by dogs that have the ability to a lot of damage in a very short period of time due to the strength of their bite.
Safety comes first
It is very important that when you have dogs and children, you do the best you can to control the situation and prevent unfortunate accidents. Some dogs can be like having a loaded gun in the house and it only takes an instant for a loving exchange to turn bad.
Those of us that work in the veterinary ER all have dogs and many of us have children. I would never suggest that kids should be deprived of the joy of having a pet. It is a wonderful experience and there are many positive benefits to children receiving the unconditional love that they often receive from pets.
Every weekend, we see anywhere from 2-8 dogs come in that have been in dog fights and often they are big dog-little dog situations. Most of the time, they occur at the dog park or someone is out for a walk and another dog breaks free from the house, fenced in area or is running loose off leash.
Avoid confrontations with your dog or children
It is very common for us to see aggression among dogs within the same household. Many of these cases result in severe injuries and have occurred when there had been no previous incidences of aggression. Watch for subtle signs of escalating aggression and discuss this with your veterinarian. "A Lewiston woman had to be treated for injuries sustained in an attack by a Pit Bull attack which killed her dog.
"The woman that owned it came running down the street about that time and just scooped it up and wrapped it in a shirt," said witness Danny Blewett. "The blood was just all over her and all over the dog and down on the ground."" Original article here
When walking your dog, try to stay in areas that you know and where it is unlikely that stray dogs will be present.
If you are walking a smaller dog and see another dog approaching that is off leash, immediately pick up your dog and walk the other direction to avoid confrontation. We have had numerous cases where the attacking dog pulls the smaller dog right out of the owner's arms.
Teach your children to be cautious with every dog. There is no dog that can be trusted 100%. If pushed the wrong way or injured, it is a natural response to bite.
Be cautious of dog parks. This is probably where we see the most fights.
What to do if your dog gets hurt
Dog bites can create life threatening wounds to any size dog but smaller dogs,cats and children are more vulnerable.
Bring your dog to your veterinarian or the ER as soon as possible. It can take several days in some cases to know the extent of the injuries due to the forces of the dogs mouth and underlying tissue damage that can occur. Xrays and blood tests as well as surgery, pain management and infection control are all very important.
I hope this article helps you avoid heartbreaking trauma with your dog, other pets and children. If you found this helpful please LIKE this post with your friends. Be safe!
Valley Central Emergency Veterinary Hospital is proud to announce that we have
received accreditation following a comprehensive evaluation by the American Animal Hospital Association. The evaluation includes a quality assessment review of the hospital’s facility, medical equipment, practice methods and pet health
Only 15 percent of all small animal veterinary practices in the U.S. have achieved accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association. In order to maintain accredited status, Valley Central Emergency must continue to be evaluated regularly by the association’s consultants.
“Valley Central Emergency belongs to a select group of practices that are committed to meeting the standard of veterinary excellence,” says Gregg Takashima, DVM, AAHA president. “AAHA hospitals pass a stringent evaluation of over 900 standards covering patient care, client service and medical protocols. By
attaining accreditation, Valley Central is demonstrating its dedication to offering the best care to its patients and clients.”
Established in 1933, the American Animal Hospital Association is the only organization that accredits veterinary practices throughout the U.S. and Canada for dedication to high standards of veterinary care.
Approximately 3,200 AAHA-accredited practices pass regular reviews of AAHA’s stringent accreditation standards that cover patient care, client service and medical protocols.
For pet care information or more information regarding AAHA, go to www.healthypet.com
Unfortunately, toxins are a common cause of illness and death in dogs and cats. Most of the time, these incidents are a result of dogs and cats eating things that they shouldn't or their owners giving them or applying medications that are poisonous.
There is a promising new treatment for some toxicities that were formerly very difficult to treat. This is a 20% lipid solution that has been found to sequester fat soluble toxins away from metabolism and quickly alleviate symptoms of toxicity.
This treatment is being used in humans for certain drug overdoses and it is being used now in small animals over the past few years.
It is used to treat toxins such as baclofen, ivermectin, moxidectin, diphenhydramine, marijuana, flea products containing permethrin, and other potential fat soluble toxins.
When a pet comes into the ER with a potential toxin exposure, we recommend calling ASPCA Posion Control to determine if IV lipid emulsion would be helpful.
We are still in prime flea season so please, for the sake of your pet's health, comfort and well being, continue to use a quality flea control product such as Frontline Plus year round. We see so many pets every day that have a significant flea infestation and have seen several cats this year that have died or needed blood transfusions to recover from severe flea bite anemia.Most people don't realize that fleas carry several diseases that are harmful to cats and humans. These are such diseases as tapeworms, cat scratch disease and several blood parasites. Once fleas get in your house, the immature stages can survive or stay dormant for as long as a year. If you only do flea control part of the year or start it when you see fleas. It typically will take 6 months for the flea problem to be under control.For more information about flea control, go here
or discuss with your family veterinarian.
That is all I can say. With spring comes more outdoor time and lots of people going in and out of the house. At this time of year, Valley Central Emergency sees a lot more traumatic injuries associated with the improvement in our weather. On any given weekend day, it is not unusual to see multiple dogs or cats hit by cars or multiple pets coming to the ER with wounds from fighting. We also see ligament injuries, fractures and other serious injuries from dogs that are playing, running, catching frisbees or running into objects such as trees and walls.
IT is so sad to see preventable injuries, especially when they are severe. A lot of these injuries are treatable but some are fatal.
When an animal comes in with trauma, they may be covered in blood or have obvious injuries to their legs. we are always concerned about these injuries but our first thoughts often go to more serious concerns such as internal bleeding, collapsed lungs or ruptured bladders. We usually address pain as a first response, then treat for shock and look for life threatening injuries to the body and brain. Once we address these issues, we then move on to stabilizing or treating wounds and fractures.
I guess my take home message in this brief post is to always keep your dog or cat on a leash when outside or confined in an area such as a fenced in yard so they can't get in trouble. Also, be wary of public "dog parks" as not all dogs are on a leash and may not be as well behaved as yours. Dog attacks can be fatal and even breeds that you may not expect to attack your dog can severely injure or kill your pet.
When you go to the emergency room or when you bring your pet to the emergency hospital, a common term that is heard or used is "triage"
. This is a very important concept that may help you understand your visit to Valley Central Emergency.
According to Webster's dictionary, triage is
: 1a : the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors
b : the sorting of patients (as in an emergency room) according to the urgency of their need for careThis concept was originally designed for treating the wounded on a battlefield where the wounded need to be categorized based on severity of injury and urgency of the care required.In the emergency veterinary hospital, including Valley Central, we often need to use a similar system. When your pet first arrives, a nurse is usually called to triage your pet. Nurses are trained and have experience with a large variety of illnesses of cats, dogs and other family friends and provide an intitial evaluation to determine if your pet needs to take priority over other patients that may be waiting. If the nurse is concerned that immediate care or evaluation by a doctor is needed right away, they will ask if it is ok to bring your pet to our treatment area. Some of the things a nurse will look for are severe pain, shock, bleeding, seizures, severely elevated or low heart rate, trouble breathing or pale mucous membranes (gums). People sometimes get frustrated when they see another patient taking priority over theirs and being treated first. This only occurs when the arriving pet is in need of immediate care due to its illness or trauma that may have occurred. A classic example of this is if your dog or cat that has vomited a few times but is otherwise bright and alert. You are about to see a doctor when a cat or dog comes in that is having trouble breathing and needs life saving care immediately. Sometimes, these pets are minutes away from dying if they don't receive oxygen and other medications. We have to prioritize the order of patients seen based on urgency of needed care and not just on the time someone has been waiting.
We would love to examine and begin treatment on everyone's pet immediately upon arrival at Valley Central because all of our patients are important. Sometimes many emergencies will arrive within a very short time frame and we have to consider which of these pets is in need of immediate care due to the concept of treating the most serious or life-threatening illnesses first (traige).
I hope this brief overview of triage helps you better understand the system we have for caring for your pet during it's time of need.
The Center For Animal Health and Welfare provides an incredibly valuable service to the Lehigh Valley and Northampton County. No kill shelters sound good in theory but take dedication, hard work, faith and a lot of money to run properly and fulfill their mission. Without the proper financial and monetary support, stories like this cannot happen..."At most animal shelters, that's three strikes and the dog is out — literally. But the Center for Animal Health and Welfare in Williams Township is a no-kill shelter, so Snow has been there for nearly five years waiting for someone to take a chance. ..."Morning Call 3/19/2011
Too often, no-kill shelters or rescues run out of money and then the animals begin to suffer and are neglected. Happily, this does not happen with this great local resource. Help them continue providing a great service.Go here for the great story and to make a donation or adopt a pet, go here
One of the most dreaded emergencies we see is an illness called parvoviral enteritis: "parvo" for short. Unfortunately, we had two young dogs in the hospital this weekend with parvo virus. The most common areas we see parvo puppies from are Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Catasauqua and Northampton.
The reason I dread this disease so much is that it is a preventable disease that mostly affects puppies. It makes them very sick and painful and without intensive treatment, many puppies die. Most of the time, we can make a preliminary diagnosis based on what the client tells us and what the puppy looks and smells like. For pictures of a typical parvo puppy, look here
. The disease is common in the environment, especially in areas where dogs are present in high densities, such as cities. Dogs can walk through contaminated dirt, go home and lick their feet and get infected. Usually within a few days they lose their appetite and can begin having extremely foul smelling diarrhea, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. They often appear very uncomfortable and become dehydrated very quickly. With intensive care, they can often be saved and once recovered are immune to the disease. Today's vaccinations are very effective at preventing parvo as long as boosters are given at appropriate times. This is critical in the young dog. Please see your Lehigh Valley Veterinarian to get your puppy vaccinated for this deadly disease. For more information, and a detailed description of this disease, go to veterinarypartner.com.