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While we all wish our precious pets were perfect little citizens, this is not always the case. There are all types of behavior problems, and the solutions can often be challenging. At Buckeye Veterinary Clinic we are here to help, or help you find someone who can help your pet. Below are examples of types of behavior problems.

Aggression

Aggression can be triggered by a number of things, but an aggressive pet has the potential of putting you and your family and friends at risk.

• Fear Aggression: This is probably one of the most common forms of aggression. We are not able to talk to our pets and make them understand and our pets cannot always communicate what is making them afraid. When a pet is placed in a situation that scares them, sometimes they feel the only way to react is with aggression.
• Inter-Animal Aggression: This is an aggression problem where one pet attacks, or tries to attack, other animals.
• Food/Toy Aggression: This form of aggression occurs because the pet is possessive of their food or favorite toy.

Anxiety

This is another way fear can be demonstrated by your pet. Anxiety can lead to destructive behaviors in the home and poor quality of life for the pet.

• Separation Anxiety: This happens when a pet is left alone or separated from the members of their family. Some of the common signs are: destruction (especially near the door the person/people leave and return by), excessive vocalization when the owners leave, excessive greetings upon the family’s return and inappropriate soiling.
• Thunderstorm/Firework Anxiety: Just like small children, pets can sometimes be terrified of loud noises like thunder or fireworks. This can be seen by the pet hiding, soiling, vocalizing, or even being aggressive during these events.
• Inappropriate Elimination: This is when a normally well housebroken pet suddenly starts urinating or defecating outside the normal places (i.e.- inside the house or outside the litter box). This problem can be medical (i.e.- a urinary tract infection), environmental (i.e.-a poor litter box environment) or behavioral.

These are just a few examples of behavioral problems. The veterinary staff at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic can begin the process of determining and treating, if necessary, if the problem is due to a medical condition or is a psychological or environmental problem. Some behavioral problems cannot be fixed with a shot or a pill, but will require time and effort. We are fortunate in northeast Ohio to have resources with specialized training to help owners help their pets.

Links & Resources

The Behavior Clinic – Dr. Elizabeth Feltes
Keystone Veterinary Clinic – Dr. Eileen Savier, CVA, CVCH
All Dogs Go To Kevin – Kevin, CPDT-KA & Kelly, CTC
Woof Wise Dog Training – Chris Lantzer, CPDT-KA

Here at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic we offer an array of anesthesia protocols for our patients. Anesthesia is administered for medical or surgical purposes and is based on each specific patient. All patients here at Buckeye will undergo a pre-anesthetic assessment by one of our veterinarians so the proper protocol is prepared for each case. All patients will also have a base line screening of blood values, thyroid, urine and/or radiographs based on the procedure and the history of the patient.

All cases are monitored by veterinary technicians that are legally credential by the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board. The parameters that we monitor here at Buckeye are heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, respiration rate and body temperature. Any changes are addressed by the DVM and adjusted as directed by the technician on the case.

We are proud to be an AAHA hospital that holds us to over 40 required standards of care before during and after a patient is involved with anesthesia. This allows us to perform procedures on all animals even the breeds that have certain drug sensitivities.

Here are a few of the standards that AAHA requires of us here at Buckeye:

• The following pieces of equipment are used on every patient that is requiring anesthesia, sedation, procedures and/or radiographs. Respiratory monitor (PM9000), Pulse Ox (PM9000), BP (PM9000 or Doppler), ECG (PM9000), esophageal stethoscope/T probe (PM9000).
• Emergency Drugs are readily located on the anesthetic cart when the cart is in use. The box is labeled ER/CPR DRUGS in large black letters. The box contains drugs, syringes, needles, catheters and reference charts for quick administration of medications and fluids.
• All patients consent forms are signed by the owner(s) and they have been fully advised of the procedures, complications and potential emergency/critical recovery concerns. The owner’s phone number is required to be given prior to patients’ anesthetic administration.
• Pre-anesthetic Patient Assessment is performed by the DVM and documents are filled out in its entirety prior to any medication(s) administration; this form includes: history, Physical Examination, vaccine status, diagnostic testing and risk assessment. The form must be dated and signed prior to start of procedure.

Links & Resources

American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia

A very wise person once said, “The biggest problem with pets is that they don’t live long enough.”

As our pets age, problems are more likely to develop. Good senior care has the goal of minimizing those problems, catching them early, and treating the problems which do develop in order to keep our beloved pets with their family.

Common Senior Care issues include: Kidney disease, heart disease, arthritis, and thyroid disease, amongst others. Some of these can be very subtle in their onset, so the veterinarians and staff at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic will recommend tests to help detect these problems when the history and physical exam indicate a problem may be developing.

A commonly run test is comprehensive blood work, including an evaluation of thyroid hormone levels. This is a simple set of tests, which only require that about a teaspoon of blood be drawn from your pet. This blood will be sent out to a reference laboratory, (commonly IDEXX), and the results are usually back within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. We know how important time is to both you and your pet.

Once a problem is discovered and treatment is started, regular rechecks and tests will be done to monitor the progression of the problem and the effectiveness of the treatment.

In some cases, the veterinarians here at Buckeye will recommend your pet be seen by a specialist to better address your pet’s specific problems. We are fortunate in Northeast Ohio, in that we have multiple board certified specialists in a variety of specialties in close proximity.

Links & Resources

Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital
The Ohio State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital

Intestinal parasites

A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host (dog, cat, raccoon, bird, squirrel, deer or human) and gets its ability to survive from or at the expense of its host. Parasites from our pets can cause disease in humans; some diseases are easily transmitted and easily treated and some are not, making them cases that require longer treatments and more follow up evaluations. The burden of working to prevent and, if needed, diagnosing these diseases is our duty to the health and wellbeing of pets and the people who own and love them.

Nearly 90% of the time, diagnosing an intestinal parasite comes from a microscopic evaluation of the pet’s stool. Yes, that is why we constantly ask for you to bring us poop! The other 10% is where we may run special tests or even send the sample to a special lab for testing.

When we receive a stool sample we visually evaluate the sample for obvious signs like small segments or actual worms. Each intestinal parasite has its own specific way of living and shedding so not all of our results are as easy as seeing what you’re seeing. Learn more through these up to date, interactive maps on parasites from the CAPC and help learn why we take such detailed steps for stool sample evaluations.

Prevention and control is our main focus here at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic. This begins with educating our owners and the community so you can understand how and why we test. The need for complete follow up from the veterinarian’s recommended treatments is very important and vital to the health and well being of pets and humans alike!

Wellness exams here at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic are specific to each pet that comes to see our team. To begin, every patient will be weighed before their evaluation by a technical staff member and any questions or concerns you may have should be directed to that staff member so they can advise the doctor of your concerns.

Every exam includes a nose to tail check of every body system. We start with eyes, ears, nose and mouth move on to the heart and lung and finish with the abdomen and yup, the rear end. Included in our wellness exam we note items like lumps, bumps, and skin and coat concerns. After the exam we will talk about our findings and then the recommendations for your pet.

We know that pets can have “no touch me” zones and we respect that and approaches to those zones are modified, when we can, to make the visit much less stressful.

Dogs and cats are different and you will find here at Buckeye we use different rooms for examination of dogs and cats. This is so we can have materials and displays readily available to discuss any questions or concerns regarding your dog or cat without the need for leaving the room leading to a more relaxed and comfortable visit.

Wellness exams happen very frequently with puppies and kittens, (usually every 3 to 4 weeks, starting at 6 weeks of age), until the final vaccinations are performed, at about 16 to 20 weeks of age. Adult animals aging from 8 months to 5 years old are generally seen on an annual, (once a year), basis. Again lifestyle and breed predispositions play a part in needing to examine an adult animal more than once a year. As our pets push past the 5 year old mark they may be entering into the senior group and need wellness evaluations every 6 months or more.

Senior Pet Wellness

We have different concerns when it comes to our senior pets. Senior pets can be more prone to diseases, and with how quickly pets age it actually quickens the disease progression. The age at which a pet is considered a senior can vary between dog and cat, and even weight and breed. A cat usually is considered a senior at the age of 8-10, where as a dog would be considered a senior as early as 6 if they are a giant or large breed dog, and a small or medium sized dog would be a senior at the age of 7-9.

We here at Buckeye recommend a wellness visit twice a year for our senior pets. At these appointments we will be on the lookout for behavioral, physical, and social changes in the pet. These changes could be a quick onset or a gradual one. So warning signs to look for would be: Your pet no longer greets you at the door, they shy away from family and being petted, attitude changes (snaps or growls), seems lost and confused (can’t find the door), excessive panting, barking in a situation they never barked in before, shaking or trembling, dull hair coat, changes in skin, excessive weight gain or loss, sleeping more, slow or stiff when getting up, doesn’t want to play and of course other areas of concern with an older pet vomiting / diarrhea or changes in appetite.

Even if you aren’t noticing any signs of being sick or any of the items listed above, we do recommend base line blood work done so that way we can monitor values that cannot be visually noted. The benefit of doing these blood tests is to find a problem early, and when we find a problem early we can treat it early which in turn you will give your pet a healthier, longer life with you. We find that many diseases are silent and only show changes when the disease is more advanced.

Remember here at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic our team focuses on wellness, which also includes assessment of Vaccination History, Nutrition and Lifestyles, Flea & Tick and Heartworm Exposure.

Nothing brings joy to a household like the introduction of a new puppy or kitten. The playful antics of these little guys plant them in our hearts immediately and set the stage for a lifelong love of the new family member.

Always remember that taking care of a new puppy or kitten is vitally important. Just like with babies and toddlers, kittens and puppies are prone to a variety of problems to which adult pets are less susceptible. The veterinarians and staff at Buckeye Veterinary Clinic are here to help guide new pet owners in what is best for the little additions.

Vaccinations

A puppy or kitten does not have the resistance to some diseases an older animal may have, so they need a series of vaccinations to help build up their immune systems.

Parasites

Kittens and puppies are more prone to many intestinal parasites than are older cats and dogs. Testing and treating a new puppy or kitten for these parasites will not only help the new pet thrive, but can also help keep you and your family safe as well. It is also important to begin defending your new family member against fleas and ticks and heartworm disease as early as possible. It takes six months after initial infection for a heartworm infection to be able to be detected, so preventing it from the start is far better than trying to treat it. Don’t forget, cats can get heartworm disease too.

Spaying and Neutering

The veterinarians and staff of Buckeye Veterinary Clinic can also advise you as to when is best to spay or neuter your pet. Did you know spaying your female dog before her first heat cycle can reduce her chance of getting breast cancer to less than 0.1%, but waiting until she is two years increases her chance of getting breast cancer to about 8%.

The veterinarians and staff of Buckeye are also able to advise you as to what diet is best for your new kitten or puppy. We also offer advice on house training, behavior, and a variety of other issues that if addressed early may make for a longer, happier life with the newest family member.