Pure Dog Talk

Lori Cesario DVM DACVIM (Oncology), Owner, Canine Cancer Academy joins host Laura Reeves in a conversation about Cancer in dogs. Cesario breaks down what we know and what we don’t know about cancers, genetic basis, environmental triggers and more.

“I would say that we don't know more than we know, unfortunately,” Cesario said. “I always feel like I leave people wanting a lot more when I have clients ask me why their dog developed cancer. Hopefully that will change. A lot of smart people are working really hard to find more information.

"The big picture is typically no one thing is going to 100% cause cancer in any one dog or person. So we're looking for risk factors. So does your dog being a certain breed increase risk for developing a certain type of cancer? Or does a certain environmental component increase his or her risk for developing a certain cancer. In people we have some information about certain diets or components of diet increasing certain types of cancers. We're really lacking a lot of that information in veterinary medicine.”

Cesario notes an important and wide-ranging study of Golden Retrievers that is seeking to answer some of these questions.

“The Morris Animal Foundation is running this study … they have 3,044 Golden retrievers participating and the goal is really to follow these thousands of Golden retrievers over their entire lifetime and get really an exhaustive amount of information. From what is going on in their environment, with their diet, with their genetics, to really determine what nutritional genetic, and environmental factors contribute to cancer and other diseases.

“Not only are they doing routine physical exams, not only are they collecting blood and hair and toenail samples on a regular basis, but they are asking the family questions like does your dog live with a smoker? Do you have carpet or hardwood floors? What does your dog eat? Does it eat vegetables? What type of vegetables? OK bell Peppers, what color Bell Peppers? How many Peppers? Does your dog swim in the pool? In a pond? At the beach? In the ocean?

“So, they're getting as much information as possible and then they’re banking all of this data and other researchers can use the data. Then over time, they're finding out which of these dogs develop certain diseases which don't. We know that up to 65% of goldens will die of cancer, unfortunately, so they decided to run a parallel study called the Golden Oldies study. They are currently recruiting dogs. So basically, they're looking for Golden Retrievers, purebred ideally, AKC registered better, 12 years old or older that don't have cancer currently that have never had cancer.”

https://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/golden-oldies-contact-form

Neonates: 6 Danger Signs to Watch for in Your New Litter

Doctor Marty Greer joins Host Laura Reeves to talk about a topic that is near and dear to both of them. Troubleshooting guidelines for neonates and baby puppies.

“About the time you think you know it all is when somebody puts their thumb on you and says ha just kidding,” Greer said.

Greer's four “Hs” for newborn puppies are:

Hydration

Hypoxia

Hypothermia

Hypoglycemia

“We need to start with making sure that the puppies get delivered quickly enough that they can get out of the birth canal, out of the sack, out of the C-section, whatever direction they come out, get the sac off the face, airway cleared and oxygen delivered as quickly as possible. That's really critical to good health, good brain development and the whole rest of the cascade starts with that,” Greer said.

“Hydration goes along with food,” Greer observed. “With a puppy, if they're not nursing, they're going to dehydrate and if they're gonna not nurse, they're going to have low blood sugar. These all intertwine.

“It's really important that we keep the puppies nursing. If they're not adequately nursing then the way to assess that is going to be if they're not gaining weight and if their urine color isn't a pale, pale yellow. Puppies should not have a dark colored urine after the first time that they urinate. So it should be pale yellow. The puppy should be gaining weight. You can't really assess hydration on a puppy the way you do an adult dog or cat where you pinch the skin on the back of their neck and see if it seems tacky or sticky because puppies don't have enough body fat to have that work the way it does another ages of animal. So we really have to look at urine color and weight gain.

Danger Signs

“You'll see a puppy that seems weak, seems lethargic, seems listless. It may be really quiet or it may be crying. It just depends on the puppy and what stage in which they are.

“I see a puppy off by itself, it may not be that the bitch pushed the puppy away. It may simply be that that puppy needs to be warmed, needs to be hydrated, need some oxygen. You do those three things -- you feed it, you hydrate it, you warm it up, you get oxygen. And boom. All of a sudden, that puppy regains its strength and it starts to compete and be back with the rest of the group very quickly.

Listen to today’s episode for more tips from Dr. Greer.

For more information in previous episodes, check out some of these links.

https://puredogtalk.com/podcast/127canine-herpes-and-puppy-fatalitiesdr-jean-doddspure-dog-talk-2/

https://puredogtalk.com/podcast/14-dr-gayle-watkins-2-breeders-guide-to-neonatal-puppies-2/

 

Legal Beagles Bring Support to Dog Breeders

The legal beagles at Good Dog join host Laura Reeves to talk about their brand-new legal Resource Center. Ivy League-educated, top Manhattan legal firm attorneys are putting together an entire package of legal services for dog people.

“Dog breeders can and should be empowered with the law,” said Cat Matloub, Good Dog’s Head of Partnerships & Legal Affairs.

“When we started out at Good Dog, we very quickly realized the need for legal support for dog breeders in a few different areas. We identified five key areas where we can provide real valuable legal support and protection to breeders and help them protect their rights, their dogs, their programs and all of that. The five key areas are number one, how to protect breeders’ legal rights and that's anything from support if there are ever any issues with animal control or breeders being unfairly targeted or their dogs being targeted.

“We do a lot of assisting with stolen photos and content that’s stolen from breeders. That is an enormous area where the public is continually misled and scammed. It's contributing to the sort of horrible state of affairs that it is out there for a lot of puppy buyers. So we actually are able to get that content taken down on our breeders’ behalf. We have direct lines to the hosting companies of all these websites now and so breeders can come to us anytime.

Defense from scammers

“We help provide protection to our breeders if they've been scammed. If they're worried about being scammed, we provide secure payment systems so that no breeders can ever be scammed.

“We also create things like ongoing rights to a dog, so if it's breeding rights or rights to not have the dog bred, or co-ownership, how you can protect yourself and make sure that those rights are protected under the law.

Public Education

“With respect to protecting legal rights, we do a lot of educating the public in terms of helping them understand why breeders do things and why they shouldn't get upset or unfairly attacked.

“Another huge area for us is legislation advocacy and overreaching regulation. What we do is we provide materials in our legal Resource Center. Letters, statements of fact, an advocacy sort of explaining why regulations are harmful, template letters that can be sent to folks that are breeders in the area and they can go speak at the council.

Contract assistance

“The other three big categories (include) contract assistance. There are so many contracts in the dog world. So sample contracts, annotated with explanations, different provisions calling out where state law applies, all of that in our legal Resource Center. What provisions to include, health care and deposit agreements, all that.

“Another big area that we provide support in is mediation services and support. Whether it's amongst breeders or club members or breeders and puppy buyers, having an objective third party there has been enormously helpful in those situations. And then a general category of legal support more broadly, with questions around regulation and things like that.”