eed bones! who are medivet? - dogsfirst

M ag a Z i n e

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Goa Dogs

Guest PostHow To

Feed Bones!

Do Dogs Go Away To Die?

Everything you need to know about

Hemp and CBD for

dogs...

Who are Medivet?Issue 3

March / April 2018

Nutrition - Welfare - Health - Training

Dr. Conor Brady, Dogs First Ltdwww.dogsfirst.ie

Check us out on FaceBookMob +353858084281

Design: Sara Nylund ([email protected])3

MONTHLY POLL:Would you feed your dogs horse meat?

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GUEST BLOG:Goa Street Dogs Mission

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NUTRITION:Feeding Your Dog Fresh Bones

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ARTICLE:Who are Medivet?

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Article:Everything you absolutely need to know about Hemp and CBD oil for dogs...

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Content

DOGS F IRST INTERVIEWS:Mairead of PetCare Vets!

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Health:Ask the VET!!

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Article:Do Dogs go away to die?

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General Interest:The Book recommendation - Training Alice

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Health:Charcoal Stick

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Article:Odd Things they do?!?

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Hey Guys!

Welcome to another issue of the Dogs First Magazine! We’ve got another great issue for you this month. First off, thanks to everyone who contributed, including guest authors and book reviewers etc, as well as Sara our designer who had to put the whole thing together and it’s really starting to feel like the real deal.

Our main story this month is something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile now. As some of you may have heard, CBD oil is the “new” thing. As with most new things it’s actually a very old thing. Derived from the cannabis plant, CBD is a remarkable substance which is proving very effective at treating a great range of maladies ranging from epilepsy to schizophrenia to anxiety. That’s not just my opinion but supported by the literature and now in a few little trials run by us here at Dogs First, which we introduce you to today. Moreover, study after study show it’s practically harmless (and no, it doesn’t get you stoned!). So why is it suddenly been taken away from us? Well, that’s where the real story is.

Obviously a big penchant of mine, we also have a piece on the growing influence of corporations in our veterinary practices. While it’s thought that up to 20% of veterinary practices are now corporate owned in the U.S., only recently did U.K. and Irish vet councils follow suit, allowing

non-vets to own vet practices this (a move that was rigorously opposed by our own Vet Association, who represent vets in this country). Of particular concern is Mars now sniffing around Medivet in the UK. With the job they’ve done on our veterinary university departments, this cannot be a good idea.

And we’ve got a heap of other stuff including a piece on Goa street dogs from the front line, an interview with a young vet and a new “Ask-the-Vet” section.

If you’re looking to get involved with a piece or simply have a topic we should investigate please let us know at [email protected]

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the issue.

RegardsConor

Dr. Conor BradyDogs First Ltd

www.dogsfirst.ieCheck us out on FaceBook

Mob +353858084281

“Feed dogs fresh food”

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EDITOR’S NOTE

ODD STUFF THEY DO?!?

Our Dogs will steal and eat Briquettes like they were a treat. Has anyone else heard about this? - Sara Nylund

Does your dog(s) eat weird things, have an odd behaviour, just mental in general? Send a pic, video or anecdote, lets share stories!

Intersting Bits

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To understand where we are with CBD, why mothers have to walk the length of Ireland to get permission to use a herbal product that prevented epilepsy in her child suffering 300 back-breaking and life-endangering seizures a month, an entirely natural product that is supported massively by the science as beneficial in the treatment of so many health issues and best of all proven to be absolutely safe and side-effect free, we need to understand what is hemp and why the bad press. So bear with me while we learn about this amazing plant and the corporate crookedness that has stolen it from you.

What if I told you there was a miracle plant available to us today, one that is not only the most versatile but also the most efficient and sustainable in a pound for pound comparison with any other, bar perhaps seaweed? That this plant that can be grown in pretty much any soil, requires no pesticides and takes very little maintenance to grow, but we weren't using it today for no logical reason whatsoever, you might ask me what I'd been smoking.

I think the above paragraph sums up the amazing benefits, the incomprehensible ridiculousness and the general confusion about hemp.

EVERYTHING YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HEMP AND CBD OIL

FOR DOGS...

Article - What to Know about CBD

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WHAT IS HEMP?

Hemp is one of the oldest cultivated plants on earth, stemming back more than 5000 years. There are broadly three groups of Cannabis varieties being cultivated today.

• One is cultivated for its fibre content (this is classic “hemp” or industrial hemp)

• One is grown for its high seed yield (which is used in the oil and food industries)

• Finally one is grown for medicinal or recreational purposes (the one you smoke for a pleasant feeling as it has been cultivated to be high in psychoactivete trahydrocannabinol (THC), and now more commonly called Marajuana, or marjane, skunk, the sticky-icky, the chronic, dope, ganje, the herb).

To the untrained eye, Marajuana and industrial hemp may look practically identical, it's just that one will get you high while the other absolutely will not. That's first and foremost.

HEMP USES

True hemp has been cultivated specifically for it's fibre content. It has been used effectively in practically every industry you can think of, from making hard wearing textiles, ropes, animal food and bedding to paper, plastics and construction materials as well as numerous, effective, side-effect free medicinal products. Hemp can be used to make strong, durable and environmentally friendly plastic


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products including plastics bags and utensils as well light weight but highly durable car panels. It can be used to make concrete (hempcrete - which is three times more resistant to earthquakes than concrete and is fire retardant). Hemp is used to make fibre board, insulation, carpet, furniture and roof tiles. It's used to make better paper and cardboard than pulped trees as well as highly durable clothing and nappies. Best of all, these products are at best compostable and at worst, when dumped, will return quickly to the earth from whence it came.

In terms of efficiency and sustainability, hemp is top of the class. Hemp is 100% efficient which in product-speak means it can be consumed and renewed in large quantities endlessly, without leaving a negative impact on the environment (as opposed to “highly efficient” which are products that are ‘green’ and environmentally kind, yet are not endless, and “low or non-efficient” which are those products that are not sustainable at all, depleting natural resources, and leaving a negative impact on the environment).

In fact, from an agricultural and earth perspective, it is a dream. Hemp is easily grown in huge quantities and does not need pesticides. Like all the plants it cleans the air but it also nourishes the very soil it grows in, adding to the soil, not taking away from it. In fact, hemp as a NEGATIVE carbon foot print. Some stats on growing hemp:

• While many testify that 1 acre of hemp produces as much as 2-4 acres of trees, this is difficult to verify, best estimates are that it is in the very least equal in fibre production. However, paper made of hemp lasts longer, can be recycled more times and requires less chemicals in manufacture.

• Further benefiting tree life and soil erosion as a whole, hemp can be used to produce fiberboard that is stronger and lighter than wood, reducing the need to chop forests. And while trees take years to grow, hemp is ready for harvesting only 120 days after it is planted. thereby reducing topsoil loss and water pollution caused by soil runoff.

• 1 acre of hemp can produce as much fiber as 2 to 3 acres of cotton. Moreover, fibre is stronger and softer than cotton, lasts twice as long and will not mildew. Cotton grows only in warmer climates and requires more water than hemp.

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WHY WAS HEMP BANNED?

Prior to the 1800s, it was very common to see Hemp products as mainly paper and textiles. It was the dominant plant grown in the US, in fact it used to be law that if you owned land you had to grow it. Thomas Jefferson, a founding father of the US, was a hemp farmer. After the invention of the cotton gin in 1973, industrial hemp retreated in favour, largely as cotton was now easier made into textiles. This all changed in the early 1900's when George Schlichten introduced the Hemp Decorticator which


• Hemp is frost tolerant, requires only moderate amounts of water, and grows in cooler climes. In fact, 50% of the world's pesticides/herbicides are used in the production of cotton. Hemp requires no pesticides, no herbicides, only a bit of fertiliser.

• Hemp seeds make up almost half the weight of an adult plant. These seeds are an excellent food stuff, for animals and humans. It's seeds can be ground to make an excellent, nutritious, gluten-free flour (in comparison to wheat) and hemp seed oil has the perfect 3:1 ratio of omega fatty acids.

• Hemp seed oil can be used to make a suitable, environmentally friendly bases for paints, varnishes, detergents, lubricating oils and inks.

• It can also be converted into a clean-burning ethanol fuel, like corn, only hemp produces more biomass than any other plant species, including corn, making it the most viable green-fuel option from a biomass perspective.

Practically the only thing hemp does not do is get you high.

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revolutionised the hemp industry, making it much easier to process.

Unfortunately this now made the harmless hemp an immediate threat to a LOT of wealthy, very influential people, all of whom had interests in the textiles field. Put

out by the resurgence of hemp, by the 1930's these guys ganged up and decided to put hemp to bed.

Here are the major players and how it played out:

• The DuPont, according to Forbes magazine (https://www.forbes.com/profile/du-pont/) they are one of the wealthiest families in American. They made their money from chemicals. It

happened that DuPont made the chemicals that were used in processing of paper. They also made lots of the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers,


https://www.forbes.com/profile/du-pont/

https://www.forbes.com/profile/du-pont/

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which cotton depended on. They also made the chemicals for the plastics industry, which was beginning to take off.

• William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper publisher who built the US's largest newspaper chain and media company, owned a lot of land growing trees as well as the US's largest timber mills to produce the necessary paper for his company.

• Hearst's investments were backed by Mellon Bank.

• Unfortunately for the world, the owner of Mellon Bank was also the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury at that time, Andrew Mellon. He was also one of DuPont's backers as well.

• Worse still, Mellon’s niece was married to Harry Anslinger. Harry was the very racist director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Drug Enforcement Administration). He was at a bit of a loss for something for himself and, it turns out, the family, to do after the Alcohol Prohibition ended in 1933 and funding was cut for his department.

• The stage now set, Mellon created a new division of the federal government, called it the Bureau of Narcotics, and made little Harry the new head of the program and leading

advocate of “marijuana prohibition”.

• Anslinger's first move was to stop using the term hemp. Everyone, bar these rich guys above, loved hemp, so he borrowed the term “marijuana” from the Mexicans. Now we were talking about a “different” plant.

Next you need to demonise it. With unfettered access to the world's biggest media platform at the time via Uncle Hearst, he began a very effective campaign of lies and rumors about the inherent but completely unproven dangers of marajuana smoking. A favourite was to highlight how blacks and Mexicans seemed to become violent while smoking it, easing the term narcotic in there.

In 1937 Anslinger testified before Congress stating:

"Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind...most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes."

Harry J. Anslinger


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Copious stories began to emerge from Hearst's papers about ‘evil marijuana’, terrible accounts of rapes and murder while ‘under the influence’ of marijuana. It sold a lot of papers.Next came several propaganda films designed to stoke fear, films like ‘Marijuana: Assassin of Youth’ in 1935, ‘Marijuana: The Devil’s Weed’ in 1936, and easily the most famous “Reefer Madness’ in 1936. Reefer Madness is hilarious, and really has to be seen to be believed. Funded by the booze industry (a rival stimulant), it depicted a man going crazy from smoking marijuana and murdering his family with an axe. It ends with the bold words on the screen TELL YOUR CHILDREN!

On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive Marijuana Tax Law was brought directly to the “House Ways and Means” Committee, the only one could introduce a bill to the House floor without it being debated by other committees. Marijuana prohibition began in September of the same year,


https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUwzQ28Yei73x6gVnaWN-Ggw&v=KJOuh3HZN74



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banning its sale, production and use, and hemp was sucked right down with it, being the same plant species and all.

WHAT IS CBD OIL?

All mammals have an endocannabinoid neurotransmitter system (ECS) running throughout our body. Like most metabolic systems in our body, it is a series of locks (in this case cannabinoid receptors) and keys (cannabinoids). The key goes in the lock and it functions. Cannabinoid receptors are found all throughout your body, largely in and around the central nervous system and brain but also under the skin, all over the digestive tract and even in the reproductive organs.

The ECS seems to be responsible for keeping our whole body “in balance”, for want of a better


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With the removal of hemp from the food chain, our meat is no longer a source and not a whole lot of us are consuming fresh herbs such as echinacea and liverwort (though we're getting a fair amount of chocoloate into us, it is the highly processed, highly tasty but highly useless kind!).

Enter cannabidiol or CBD oil for short. Produced from regular hemp, CBD is one of the most prevalent chemical compounds in the cannabis plant. It is completely non-psychoactive and thus legal to import as long as the THC content is below 0.3%. While it is getting all the focus of late, it is but one of the fancy things going there, we could easily be talking about CBC, CBCA, CBDA, CBG and CBGA, and a whole host of other bits, but for now CBD has the spotlight.

STUDIES PROVING CBD IS EFFECTIVE IN TREATING VARIOUS DISEASES...

Some months back, alarmed after reading 400 Irish kids had been harmed by the epilepsy drug sodium valproate (http://www.thejournal.ie/epilepsy-drug-valproate-3615158-Sep2017/)

I wrote an article on called “Look how many studies I found that support the use of CBD in a range of neurological conditions of humans

term, functioning in mood, memory, immune function, motor control, pain perception, appetite and sleep. You must feed the ECS with cannabinoids or unbalance and disease can emerge. However, cannabinoids are an essential nutrient, meaning you can't make them yourself. They must be consumed either by consuming plants that contain cannabinoids such as the Canabis plant but also various herbs such as echinacea and liverwort as well as chocolate (Theobroma Cacao) and black pepper), or you consume animals that feed upon this material.


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and rats”, with particular focus on it's incredible success in treating epilepsy.

(https://www.dogsfirst.ie/look-many-studies-support-use-cbd-neurological-conditions/).

In it I cited 33 high-level clinical studies and review studies that amply demonstrated CBD was highly effective in the treatment of a great range of neurological and inflammatory issues, including:

• Drug-resistant Epilepsy (6 studies, some were reviews of multiple studies): where almost 50% of children experienced a reduction of seizure frequency

• Cancer (5 studies, all mice): where CBD oil “almost completely reduced the development of metastatic nodules caused by injection of human lung carcinoma cells”, reducing tumour volume by 60%, lead to a significant decrease in colon cancer polyps in mice, reduced cell viability, increased cancer cell death and inhibited metastasis. All with no side effects noted by the researchers.

• Parkinson's (3 studies): where patients showed significant improvement of quality of life (“quality of life” is defined as mobility, activities of daily living (ADL), emotional well-being, stigma,

social support, cognition, communication and bodily discomfort)

• Schizophrenia (4 studies): where CBD was pitted against some of the most effective treatment options for schizophrenia. While both treatments were effective (no significant difference in total score), CBD scored less side effects including less serum prolactin increase (a predictor of sexual dysfunction), fewer extrapyramidal symptoms (these include symptoms such as continuous spasms and muscle contractions, motor restlessness, rigidity and slowness of movement, tremor and irregular, jerky movements) and less weight gain

• Alzheimers (4 studies): where CBD was able to reduce or even fully prevent some symptoms of the disease in humans and mice including the development of a social recognition deficit

• Multiple Sclerosis (3 studies): where CBD oil reduced the severity of spasticity in MS patients

• Anxiety and Stress (3 studies): where CBD oil reduced both behavioral and physiological (e.g., heart rate) measures of stress and anxiety, aided in public speaking and reduced post-traumatic stress disorder


https://www.dogsfirst.ie/look-many-studies-support-use-cbd-neurological-conditions/

https://www.dogsfirst.ie/look-many-studies-support-use-cbd-neurological-conditions/

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OUR CBD OIL TEST RESULTS WERE...50/50

I contacted Neil of www.recoverycbd.ie and asked him to supply me with 5 samples of CBD oil for dogs with a great variety of inflammatory-based health conditions, ranging from terrible arthritis to anxiety. No owner reported any side effects. I summarised the feedback for ease of reading.

Dog 1. Pain from arthritis. Results overall– very good. CBD performed as effectively as their standard drug Loxicom. “I would not have been able to go without the Loxicom for more than 3-4 days before but since starting the oil they have not had any painkillers at all and it has been 4 weeks. They are in great form. I would say they seem as good (pain-wise) as they were when they were on their painkillers...she even managed to put her two front paws on me when she was looking for treats, leaving her standing on her back legs which she has not done in years”.

Dog 2. Crippling spinal arthritis. Results overall – pretty good. “She seems more stable and robust since starting on the cbd oil.

Dog 3. Arthritis from hip dysplasia. Results overall – not so good.

• Stroke (1 study)

• Graft Transplants (1 study)

• Diabetes (1 study)

• Joint Swelling (1 study)

Incredible eh? And all these benefit were achieved with little to no side effects. In fact, a review of 25 studies on the safety and efficacy of CBD did not identify significant side effects across a wide range of dosages, including acute and chronic dose regimens, using various modes of administration.

Now, at this point, you might be looking for a study in dogs. Unfortunately, I can offer you little. One study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1214021X15000289) found that cannabinoid-containing eyedrops have potential for the treatment of glaucoma in dogs.

What I can tell you is that dogs too have an ECS system (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jm058183t?journalCode=jmcmar). This means they need to ingest cannabinoids to keep this ECS system happy. So we decided to put it to the

test.


http://www.recoverycbd.ie/

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Dog 4. Chronic pain (spondylosis) and bladder issues. Results overall – excellent. “He seems far more coordinated in his hind legs and more willing to move about (he even managed to jump onto the freezer this morning to reach a snuffle mat! Even before his diagnosis, he couldn't do that!)...the medication he's on hasdn't touched the side and I was seriously considering euthanasia as a kinder option but CBD seems to be a miracle”.Dog 5. High stress and anxiety. Results overall

– not great. Overall, not entirely effective though the owner noted the dog

was calmer around other dogs and much more forgiving if they intrude on her personal space.

So, it would be fair to say a mixed bag. This was very similar to the results of a previous trial using another product last year (https://www.dogsfirst.ie/results-canna-pet-trial/), which also had some very interesting feedback:’

“We saw a 70% improvement. His arthritis


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https://www.dogsfirst.ie/results-canna-pet-trial/

https://www.dogsfirst.ie/results-canna-pet-trial/

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boil like spot on his rear inner ankle, it’s been there for about 1 year, two weeks into canna and it’s gone!”

“No improvement in hip dysplasia pain but benign lump on his head which he has had since he was a puppy has reduced in size perhaps 20%”

CBD IN CONCLUSION

There is no such thing as a cure-all but if I had a dog that was in serious distress for any of the inflammatory issues mentioned above I would certainly give CBD a go. It's never cheap, around €50, but it can yield incredible results, to the point

is moving more freely. He’s not as stiff getting up. Re dementia, he was confused and agitated at night time, would be called sundowning in human, that’s stopped. Now settling easier in the evening and sleeping through the night...he’s interested in food again, which has brought his energy levels up. Engaging more in play with other dogs which is lovely to see.”

“In relation to his shoulder arthritis “he has started to play longer now and seems

to move quite a bit better (40% improvement)...also, he had a small


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the people are ringing you in disbelief. However it can also appear to underperform, though this could be dose related, handler related or time-related, we really don't know. Unfortunately a majority of the most recent test subjects above were arthritis patients, something that can be so strongly structurally related that CBD may not be able to shine through. If I could do that test again I would seek out ten dogs with epilepsy (or cancer) where I would expect a much greater and certainly easier to measure effect.

CBD has massive success with epilepsy and it has received a lot of coverage for it in the Irish press of late, most famously with brave Ava (7) and her amazing Mum Vera Twomey (https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/girl-7-granted-licence-for-use-of-medicinal-cannabis-1.3308582). Ava went from a horrendous cocktail of the most potent anti-seizures chemicals, the best doctors could come up with, to 3 seizures a month on CBD but who then had to fight the Irish government to get a particular CBD with slightly more THC in it which was suspected (and later proved) to eradicate her issue. This has since been successfully resolved. More recently Noreen O'Neil who,

after obtaining and administering CBD, now states “the seizures are gone - his

smiles are back' (http://www.thejournal.ie/cbd-oil-seizures-3824301-Jan2018/). In fact, I am yet to meet or read a single study where CBD did not help a human suffering seizures, so I would expect the very same in our dogs.

Sadly, in all their wisdom, the powers that be are now discussing whether they should put all CBD products “behind the counter”, in other words, available by prescription only. CBD sellers, certainly in Ireland, are no longer able to make any claims whatsoever on their sites. They are not permitted to share testimonials and they are not even allowed highlight benefits found in studies if they are selling the product at the same time. Can you believe that?!

You have to ask yourself who is this in the interests of? We know it's entirely natural. We know we can grow it here in Ireland with ease. We know it's entirely harmless and symptom free. And we know it is high effective in a great many cases. So why do we need a foreign pharmaceutical company to process and package and sell it back to us at exorbitant prices?

I'll tell you why, and it's the same reason the poor old Duponts wanted hemp banned

WHAT IS CBD OIL?


https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/girl-7-granted-licence-for-use-of-medicinal-cannabis-1.3308582



http://www.thejournal.ie/cbd-oil-seizures-3824301-Jan2018/

http://www.thejournal.ie/cbd-oil-seizures-3824301-Jan2018/

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America from 1631 until the early 1800s!! (LA Times. Aug. 12, 1981.)

For thousands of years, 90% of all ships’ sails and rope were made from hemp. The word ‘canvas’ comes from the Middle English word “canevas” which comes from the Latin word cannabis. (Webster’s New World Dictionary.)

In 1938, hemp was called ‘Billion Dollar Crop.’ It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars. In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. Plans were in the works to implement such programs. (U.S. Department of Agriculture Archives.)

In 1942 the hemp prohibition was put on hold to allow farmers to grow hemp to provide the needed fibers to aid in the war effort. After the war, when the hemp was no longer needed, the Air Force and Marines were ordered to destroy all remaining hemp crops.

“Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth & protection of the country.” Thomas Jefferson

in the first place. Money. Hemp is a plentiful, natural product that has many benefits with none of the side effects bar one – it dents the profits of a soulless multimillion someplace. After all, a kid going from 300 seizures a month to none thanks to a harmless plant extract is a serious dent in someone's revenues and they have to recoup that somehow.

INTERESTING FACTS ON HEMP

80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc., were made from hemp until the 1820s, with the introduction of the cotton gin. All schoolbooks were made from hemp or flax paper until the 1880s.

Henry Ford’s first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the car itself was constructed from hemp! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, ‘grown from the soil,’ had hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel. (Popular Mechanics, 1941.)

You could be jailed in Virginia for refusing to grow hemp from 1763 to 1769. You

could even pay taxes with hemp in


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THE TOP 15 BEST POSTS FROM DOGS FIRST IN 2017...Hey guys, happy New Year and all that!

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Ownership of the health profession is every multinational’s dream. To highlight this, let me give you two stories:

Highlighted back in 1997 by Parker-Pope of the Wall Street Journal, in a piece called “Colgate Gives Doctors Treats ForPlugging Its Food Brands”, Colgate-Palmolive (CP) were the first multinational to realise the enormous potential in having a say in our vet universities. Via their recently purchased trojan horse Hill’s Science Diet, CP began their infiltration of our vet universities via cash handouts and numerous other incentives and schemes. You might say this was money very well spent with every vet now recommending their ultra-processed, cereal-based stuffs for your little carnivore.

Feeling a little putout, the candy company Mars was not going to sit idolly by and let its share of the multi-billion industry slip through its grasp. No, no. A few years ago, Mars began its counter-attack.

Mars is now very aggressively pursuing the vet sector…Banfield were the absolute giants of the veterinary laboratory sector in the US. They produced the excellent State of Pet Health Reports, giving us key figures for the growth of various chronic conditions in dogs today, with possible causes and solutions thrown in there. And they are the ones to do it. Banfield has access to over 2 million dogs and half

WHO ARE MEDIVET?

Article - WHO ARE MEDIVET?

THE TOP 15 BEST POSTS FROM DOGS FIRST IN 2017...Hey guys, happy New Year and all that!

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a million cats, a result of them operating more than 800 hospitals in 43 US states, as well as having more than 13,000 associates, including 2,600 licensed veterinarians. Moreover, they are relatively independent and relatively privately owned.

Last year, I wrote a piece called “Trust me I’m a vet” which highlighted the move by the candy company and occasional dog food manufacturer Mars Inc when they bought Banfield out in 2009 for a mere $7.7bil, thereby adding Banfield’s 800 vet hospitals to the 900 it already owns. In a play described by some sources as “the fox guarding the henhouse”, unfortunately, we now lose Banfield as a reliable source of information on the current state of health of pets.

In 2015, Mars bought Blue Pearl, adding another 53 speciality veterinary hospitals in the U.S. to their portfolio. Mars are continuing their aggressive move into the vet sector. January last year, we learned that they bought the animal hospital behemoth VCA Inc. for $93 a share, or about $9.1 billion, including $1.4 billion in debt. With VCA Mars Inc adds 4700 veterinarians and more than 750 animal hospitals to its portfolio.

And these are just the major buyouts. A single buyout of a veterinary hospital is not worth column inches. Who knows how many of them are going on. What we do know is that Mars are now undoubtedly the biggest players in the game, at least in the US.

Why is corporate monopoly not a good idea, asides the very obvious?!Here’s the second story. Anybody here ever heard of a US mega-company called Valeant? The 4th Episode of Dirty Money, called “Drug Short” (now available on Net Flix, a must see), did a fantastic job of how this pharmaceutical colossus operated. In short, a group of investors

went around buying up smaller pharma companies that had unique drugs in their ownership. They’d buy the company and immediately cease all spending on research & development thereby increasing bank reserves to buy more companies. Crucially, however, they would across the board drive


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up the prices of their one-of-a-kind drugs to the consumer. There was examples of people with life-altering conditions going from spending $30 a week on a few pills to $300,000 a year. They knew the insurance companies ultimately would be the ones to foot the bills, one way or the other, which of course is passed on to the consumer via policy hikes. They were so insidious they would buy up pharmacies to keep sending in prescriptions for their drugs. Since 2008 health insurance policies for Americans increased drastically year on year, making it unobtainable to millions. It’s a shocking watch, what people are prepared to do to so many of the most vulnerable people in society, all in the interests of making money for a handful of shareholders someplace. When you own the supply you can do what you want with the prices.

How’s the Banfield buy-out working for everyone?!When Mars owns you, you gotta tow the line. Vet John Robb found this out to his horror. A popular U.S. vet, he had been a Banfield franchisee for some time. Robb knows of the dangers of overvaccinating your pet. He was invloved with the passing of a rabies exemption law in Connecticut. To keep himself within the law, Robb only used half doses of virus vaccines in clients that were already adequately vaccinated, and only every three years, which covered him under Connecticut state law that required that pets be given a shot, just not with a certain amount.

“If you know that you are going to inject a vaccine into a pet that has the potential to kill him and you know the pet doesn’t even need it, then you can’t do it ethically and morally,

no matter what the law is”Robb, 2017

Reported in Dogs Naturally magazine, when Banfield found out, they weren’t happy:

“Banfield sent letters to over 5,000 of his clients, telling them their pets had not been properly vaccinated and that they should be brought back to Banfield for boosters. They then officially took back ownership of Dr Robb’s practice, claiming he was not practicing veterinary medicine up to their standards…When Dr Robb heard of Banfield’s intention

to revaccinate recently vaccinated animals, he showed up at the clinic and urged the pet owners to run a titer before revaccinating. Banfield had him arrested for trespassing and

Dr Robb has now been banned from entering his former clinic”


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So who is Medivet?Medivet is one of the largest chains of vet clinics in the UK, with over 200 vet practices so far, and they are growing rapidly, year on year. And they are a VERY successful company, financially speaking. In 2016, revenue was £52.198m. Gross profit was £24.522mil. During that one year alone they managed to increase their operating profit by a staggering 17.3%.On top of their usual pursuit of independent veterinary practices, Medivet are now buying up veterinary supply companies and laboratories. In 2016 alone they bought out Complete Animal Care Ltd (suppliers of veterinary products) and took a 33% ownership in Lab Service Ltd (a veterinary laboratory).

In 2010, Panorama produced an undercover special on Medivet in 2010 called “It Shouldn’t Happen at a Vets“. They planted a journalist posing as a vet nurse in training in one of their branches. She revealed evidence of questionable bills, animals poorly treated, and an unrepentant vet struck off for dishonesty. They uncovered a lot of shady practices in one clinic including only using half packets of blood but billing for the whole (by the head people of the practice) as well as defrauding insurance companies with grossly inflated costs (unfortunately, BBC player does not work for us outside of the UK, legally…). The RCVS failed to prosecute the vet in question.

At the time of the Panorama show Medivet were turning over £23mil. Unperturbed by a bit of bad press, having just 2/5 stars on TrustPilot with high prices being a common complaint, just eight years later, Medivet managed to more than double their turnover to £52mil in 2016. In 2017 they secured another £20mil to buy more veterinary practices with the chief executive Dr. Arnold Levy proclaiming, “Last year we acquired over 50 new sites and this year we plan to attain even more”.

The Mars buy-out, bottom line…Corporate ownership of veterinary surgeries is a relatively new thing in this part of the world. It used to be that vet practices had to be owned by a vet. A few years ago the UK changed this ruling to allow corporations to buy and run clinics. Ireland allowed them in in 2017.

While Medivet, and many vet groups were quick to state this was just one practice examined and not reflective of the whole set up, which is a very fair comment, I think it’s very worrying that Panorama investigated ONLY ONE Medivet practice and found all this going on! That said, my vet friends run brilliant, fair establishments. They’re independents but even if these guys were to join a corporate system, I can’t see why this would change. If anything they might even operate at an even higher level. As was pointed out to me recently by a great vet (Mairead, Petcare Vets, Greystones, Wicklow, offers titres instead of annual boosters and is more than happy to support fresh-fed dogs) there’s not a thing wrong with private


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hospitals. In fact, truth be told, in many instances of malady, if you’re in Ireland or the UK you’d rather be going to a private hospital than a public one. You pay for what you get.

Like an antidepressant behemoth trying to own the psychology sector, or a fast-food clown owning the nutritional information your doctor is to receive, the problem is when you hear from an insider that Mars Inc. are now sniffing around Medivet.

But I guess, if you can’t trust a multi-billion candy and pet food manufacturer with the health and well being of millions of pets, who can you trust?!

Expect to see vets worldwide move back to Royal Canin and other amazing Mars brands in the coming years.

Lucky dogs.

If anyone had any experiences with Medivet they’d like to share please email us: [email protected]


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Beautiful Raw Meals by: Nancy Villeneuve

General infoRmAtioN

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If your dog has gum disease, or even if he doesn’t, you need cut out the dry food, feed a fresh diet and feed your dog bones…

Feeding Your Dog Fresh Bones

Nowadays 9/10 dogs are dry fed, 9/10 dog owners do not feed their dog bones and 9/10 dogs have gum disease by the age of three years. Who really believes this is all a coincidence?! Gum disease in dogs is a serious issue and you definitely want to avoid it. Tartar and gingivitis, in humans, is primarily diet related and it is the same in dogs.

A vet may say that they encounter cracked teeth and intestinal blockages (impaction) from dogs eating bones. This may be true. On the other hand we have been advising dog owners to feed raw meaty bones to their dogs for close to a decade, and have yet to encounter a medical problem.

So, why the disparity in stories….blind luck? No, there is a reason why vets experience problems and educated raw-fed dog owners don’t. Read on to find out what that is:

General infoRmAtioN NUTRITION - Feeding your dogs fresh bones

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Cooked Bones are dangerous!It is vital that the bones are fresh, not cooked (the Sunday roast) or heat dried / desiccated (the ones you buy in pet shops). Cooked bones are leached of collagen fat and minerals. What was once a springy bendy bone in fresh form, becomes a very hard, brittle mass that splinters on breaking. In tests, these shards take longer to digest, so dogs eating them are more likely to pass splinters into their intestines, potentially leading to impaction. This is, invariably, the type of bone that vets see doing damage to dogs – the left-over lamb bone on Sunday, cracking teeth and undigested splinters puncturing guts.

Only feed fresh bones, the meatier the better (assists in lubrication). X-rays show a small meal containing raw meaty bones, when in the acidic carnivorous stomach, is reduced to chyme within 40mins (Londsdale 2001). This is as you would expect for a carnivore that consumes the whole prey, bones and all.

Dry Fed Dogs Have Weaker Stomach Acids Than Raw Fed Dogs

Dry fed dogs have stomach acids around pH2.5, which suits the cereal based meal they are fed each day. Raw fed dogs have stomach acids of a more natural pH1.5, which suits the digestion of raw meat. This is a ten fold difference in acidity. Basically, raw fed dogs have guts filled with battery acid. X-ray tests show that raw fed dogs digest raw meaty bones far quicker than dry fed dogs.

The two points above, cooked bones in dry fed dogs, are the reasons vets might see more teeth breaking, gut puncturing and intestine impacting bone issues in their patients. Pet owners are giving the leftover, cooked lamb bone to their dry fed dog, who devours it, or they are buying cheap, desiccated pig leg bones in pet shops (leg bones are very hard). A vet see’s these dogs and misguidedly brands all bones with the same iron (coupled with the dry food companies telling them raw meat and bones are dangerous, wonder why!).

NUTRITION - Feeding your dogs fresh bones

Cooked Bones are dangerous!

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calculus and tooth loss, with oxtail. Two thirds of the dogs calculus was removed within 24hrs after the first oxtail feeding, this increased to 95% by the end of week 2.

This subject has also been extensively covered by Londsdale (1992, 2001) who cited Dr. Coles, the President of the Australian Veterinary Dentist Society, in 1997 saying “…chewing bones twice a week helps to prevent dental disease…”. Few of us today need convincing of their importance in having healthy teeth, gums and digestive tracts in a carnivore. It should also be noted that a nice bone settles teething pups.

- Fresh Bones are Vital Nutrition to Dogs Feeding bones to dogs also provides some, much needed, roughage in their diet, has a cleansing/scouring effect on the dogs digestive tract, and, encourages healthy faecal motions that stimulate the anal glands. Nutritionally, bones feed bones, cartilage feeds cartilage (chondroitin and vitamin C), muscle feeds muscle (vital proteins) etc. Fresh meaty bones contain vital proteins and minerals for bone

The Benefits of Feeding a dog Fresh, Meaty Bones

- Clean Teeth

The biting, shearing, crushing action of chewing bone and cartilage will clean and massage a dogs teeth and gums, clearing away any food residues that feed the tartar development. This has been known for years. Gray (1923) highlighted how

dental problems, greater in smaller dogs, were a result of “dogs fed soft diets with insufficient dental activity…in cutting and tearing raw flesh, breaking or crunching bones, and using their teeth in ratting and rabbiting etc”.

Brown and Park (1968), periodically replaced the moist kibble ration fed to 30 dogs that were displaying dental


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growth, including lysine and easily assimilated natural calcium ,as well as micro minerals, such as, selenium, copper and magnesium. These are all essential to young pups and brood bitches, as they help build strong teeth, joints and bones.

How To Avoid Potential Issues When Feeding Bones:

- Cracked Teeth Remember, fat dogs should be permitted to eat as much food as is appropriate for their body size, just like their leaner counter parts it’s just that the mix needs to be lower in calories. That’s the secret. The poor thing doesn’t need to go round hungry and scavenging.

- ImpactionLike us, dogs only have a small reservoir of stomach acid waiting for their next, average-sized meal. So, if a lab is given a bucket of chicken wings, they will devour them (labs can distend their stomachs and eat 10% of their body weight), this may dilute the stomach acids to the point that not all the material will be digested properly, increasing the likelihood of undigested bone material passing through to the intestines and causing impaction. This is made worse when the bone meal is cooked. A lab will devour a chicken leg like butter but leave it at that if concerned.

- Choking on BonesChoking is a possibility, we must accept it. We have never seen it, nor has it ever happened to a dog that we know of but it could happen. No

doubt when it does it will be held up as a reason not to feed bones to dogs. But let’s put this in perspective. Thousands of Westerners choke every year, more than road traffic accidents in fact, with the two main culprits being hot dogs, closely followed by chewing gum and raw veg. Should anyone use an example of someone choking on a raw sprout as a reason to ban all veg from the human diet? Of course not. The bottom line is that the nutritional benefits of eating bones far outweigh the risks. Care simply needs to be taken.

Dogs in general have extra wide, hardened oesophagi to enable the eating of bones but vigilance still needs to be exercised – with some types. Young pups and dogs that have been consuming a processed diet for most of their life will have a less worked, less keratinised (softer) oesophagus. Flat-faced breeds with missing teeth are expected to have a harder time breaking bones down too.

Greedy dogs will gulp their bones down like a seagull with a fish, and this can be slightly unnerving. These dogs need that really big beef bone, where only chewing is possible. A good rule to follow is, the bigger the dog, the bigger the bone. If one is worried about their dog choking, then begin with soft chicken frames. Smash them with a mallet, for the first week or two, while the dog gets used to them.


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Training Tip!TEACH THE DOG TO GIVE UP A BONE!

- Start with an old dry bone of little value and offer them a sausage to drop the bone with the words “leave it”.

- Over time, reduce the quality of the treat and increase the quality of the bone, until they get the game. Taking your time is important.

How Much Bone Should I Feed My Dog?Opinions vary about the actual amount of bone necessary in a dog’s diet. The current consensus is approximately 9 to 10% of their diet although this figure varies considerably. To identify when there is too much bone in their diet, pay attention to their stools. Too much bone will result in small, hard stools which are difficult to pass and can cause stress. In this instance, the stool will be yellowy-white from the calcium.

It’s recommended, that even when a dog is eating a raw minced diet with 10% bone, to feed them a raw meaty bone at least once a week to keep their teeth sparkling.

Does Feeding Raw Bones Cause Aggression?Some people still ask; “does feeding bones (or raw meat in general) make dogs aggressive?”

The simple answer is “no”. Firstly, dogs are extremely passive creatures, more so than humans, it is possible that a dog will protect a bone, but it is also possible they will protect their food bowl or favourite toy! If a dog is not giving up their bone, they need to be trained to do so.

Chewing bones actually act like a pacifier to dogs, they will lie down to enjoy it, this settles the heart rate, and when they are chewing, the dopamine receptors in their brain will be stimulated, relaxing them further.


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General infoRmAtioN

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General infoRmAtioN General infoRmAtioN

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Goa Street Dogs MissionBy Aideen Jones

I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to visit my daughter Jen in Goa recently. Having heard first hand about the awful n of street dogs in India, we decided to make our trip a mission to help some of these poor neglected animals.

So after just 2 weeks of a ‘Go Fund Me’ campaign on Social media, I travelled to Goa with over €1,200 in contributions. I was blown away by the generosity of people and suddenly felt a huge responsibility to ensure the money was spent in the right way and with the right people!

Our first visit was to a charity called Welfare of Animals in Goa (WAG). They look after all animals in need but focusing mainly on dogs, cats and cows. We were not quite prepared for what we encountered when we visited the medical centre and met the vet for the first time. It was up there as one of the saddest place I’ve ever been. I have never seen dogs with maggot wounds the size of dinner plates before, or emaciated, terrified dogs on deaths door. Or orphaned three-week-old puppies - terrified and skinny, covered in fleas and mange. It was heart breaking, to say the least.

Unfortunately we were about to encounter this on a daily basis. In the streets and on the beaches but also in the care of some absolute Earth Angels that take on the task of helping animals to recuperate.

One of these was a woman called Rani who runs ‘I Love Goa Dogs’. We visited her sanctuary, which is just off the main beach in Arambol. It is nestled among the coconut Side by side. We have a moral obligation to support all creatures

GUEST POST - Goa Street dogs mission

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trees on the river bank in a secluded setting. A canopy between the trees covers the main living area. There are tipis dotted amongst the trees where volunteers come to stay through the Work Away scheme in return for a few hours work each day.

You are welcomed by “The Pack” on arrival! All shapes and sizes, 3-legged dogs, puppies and a mishmash of characters! There’s adorable ‘Patch’ (covered in mange with just a few patches of hair!) there’s ‘Princess Annoying’, (say no more!!), there’s ‘Follow” who is blind and 8 puppies recently rescued from the Mandrem fish market to name a few. ‘Jing Pow’ and ‘Ninja’ are orphaned kittens that are starting to thrive here after a tough start.

It feels like a doggy orphanage where they all look out for each other! The puppies seek comfort from the older ones. It’s heart warming to see a dog groom and snuggle with pups that are not her own. This is where they come to recuperate after surgery or disease. Rani’s aim is to find them homes - not an easy task in India.“Chiquita” A deaf dog greets me at WAG

while I comfort a very fragile puppy

Jen is greeted by “Scooby Doo” & friends Brave “Debbie” gets some TLC from Jen at WAG


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On arrival, I spend time offering Reiki healing to a terrified kitten, which she benefitted from. However, it is frustrating as I can’t possibly make a big difference and can only give what I’ve got.

Rani heads off almost every day collecting dogs and cats in need of medical help or for sterilization and immunization against rabies, distemper and parvovirus, all of which are a big threat to them in India.

There is an Arambol Animal Network group on What’s App that communicates sightings of animals in need and work towards catching and helping them. We experienced the effectiveness of this as sightings of a dog that was injured in a car accident were posted on the group. A pin drop guided us to the location where we found the poor dog with a broken leg. He was immediately taken to the vet and operated on.

We joined Rani on some of these missions and realized that she was in serious need of our help and support. We hired a van for her since her old one had given up the ghost. On our first outing we gathered 4 abandoned puppies in our backpacks, a dog with a broken leg, and a cat! We then collected a piglet from the vet that had a huge maggot wound (sadly died the next day), and Debbie the dog that had received treatment for a wound on her back.

It was then off to Dog Temple which was run by a guy called Michael who, like Rani, is also helping as many dogs as he can from his sanctuary off the Mandrem beach. We spent time with him volunteering ourselves to help collect dogs in need or do a bit of puppy sitting while he constructs a more secure fence to keep them safe!

Money is scarce for these guys. First and foremost, feeding all these dogs is a huge task. Rani makes a big pot of rice dal and vegetables for the dogs and cats. But I was happy to see that there were plenty of raw chickens heads and feet given to the dogs daily, which they loved!

Spy. A beautiful natured dog at WAG recovering from a tick infestation and mange. We have sponsored Spy’s treatment


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It was an emotional rollercoaster of a trip. Major intervention is needed here to sterilize and immunise the animals. Our aim is to continue to support the great work being done by Rani and her volunteers. Even though it’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what needs to happen, every life that is saved or every dog who’s suffering is eased is worth it. It was an honor to be part of it. We will continue our Go Fund Me campaign so we can continue supporting the great work being done by Rani and Michael and many others like them.

Aideen Jones is an Animal Communicator and Animal Reiki healer (and an as Aroma-Reiki practitioner for humans).

“Having had a passion to work with animals all my life, I decided to follow that dream and qualify as an Animal Communicator under James French of Trust Technique.This has been an amazing journey, helping animals who struggle with behavioural issues or who have had a tough start in life. I’ve never been happier! Bringing peace and understanding to the lives of animals and their carers gives me such joy”.

https://mindfulcreatures.com, Facebook: Mindful Creatures.com

You can find her Go Fund Me campaign here https://www.gofundme.com/aideenjen-help-street-dogs-of-goa

Trooper after the vet treats his serious maggot wound.

We have sponsored his treatment

Some dogs take shelter from the heat of the day on the beach


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Did you know that horsemeat was the primary, indeed the only, meat ingredient used in canned dog food until the 1940’s?! Horse was so popular in fact that dog food companies owned their own horse meat supplies. Then WWII, with the ensuing shortage of horses and metal, coupled with the advent of dry food, spelt the end for the canned food industry.

Since then, our relationship with horses has altered slightly. It has gone from a “lowly” work and food animal to somewhere in the middle, a beautiful animal to admire, where the most amount of work it has to

do is run around a track. This new status means not only less horse about the place but peoples attitudes towards it change. No longer is it totally acceptable that it is farm intensely and slaughtered for food (like pigs, cows and sheep). Strange how we change, how we think one type of killing is OK and another is not!

With practically every other animal on the menu, and now with horse meat now creeping back on to the shelves in the form of tins in Maxizoo or on some raw feeding sites in the UK (most of it coming from mainland Europe), it got me thinking – would you feed horse meat to your dog?

Take the poll, let’s see where we all are!

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DF: Why did you become a vet?Originally I wanted to be an organic farmer, so that I could take really good care of the animals and the environment, but the more I read about animals, every time the book got to (what I found) the interesting part the text would always say, consult your veterinarian. So I looked up what a veterinarian was and thought, I could do that! My parents were more supportive of this idea than the organic farming one (surprise) so I was able to carry it through with their support luckily. In short, I was a nerd who liked animals - classic.

This Month Dogs First Interviews... Mairead of PetCare Vets!

DOGS F IRST INTERVIEWS - Mairead of PetCare Vets

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DF: How did you find college?I found college both difficult but also like the first place I fit in, there I was with all the other nerds who liked animals after all. Mostly I blame the fact that I was so young starting at 17, it was tough. I wouldn’t recommend starting college so young especially in a professional course. By the fifth year I was ready to leave. Then and now I dislike large hospital environments and much prefer working with a smaller team. In final year we were mostly in the hospital among the many personalities and egos, and one of our classmates took his own life during final year also. It was tough. Mental health is a big issue with vets. Its getting better with more people talking now I think.

So I found most of college good, hard work but final year especially was very tough. Once qualified I had to say I felt badly let down by the University. Firstly, I felt completely ill prepared for the practicalities of vet life including communications and negotiating contracts and pay etc. and disappointed by their lack of support and interest in us once we left. I did not get much support from home either, I moved out when I was 21 (during college) and supported myself so perhaps I was relying on the college too much for the support I needed. My family didn’t understand the long hours and heavy duty rota I was working and it lead to arguments. My colleagues and friends were a key support, when I could get to see them.

DF: What have you done until now?A very mixed bag of starting off doing farm veterinary on the border area in Dundalk for one year, a brief spell in my dads home town of Granard, Longford doing more farm vetting, one year in Australia doing small animals, and then back to the border are this time Newry for three years mixed practice. I then moved to England and worked as a locum in the North of England for three years as well as part time in a beautiful practice in North Yorkshire, before coming home and setting up PetCare Vets in Greystones, Wicklow.

DF: Is owning your own practice hard / expensive / rewarding / worth it?All of the above.

DF: Are you happy now where you are? I have never been happier since opening up on my own. It is always something I wanted to do and to see it through has been amazing. I can now bring my own brand of pro active veterinary healthcare to the light of day. It is so rewarding and the satisfaction of that effects every part of my life , in and out of work. It is great to spend your time doing something you believe in, in the way you believe it should be done. It has also given me a huge confidence boost to believe that I can now do many more things which before I would have shied away from.

DOGS F IRST INTERVIEWS - Mairead of PetCare Vets DOGS F IRST INTERVIEWS - Mairead of PetCare Vets

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DF: How do you feel about raw feeding, meaty bones and annual vaccinations?I recommend raw feeding, meaty bones regularly in consult. I make people aware of the benefits and risks, as is my style when recommending anything, including any veterinary work and vaccinations. We offer vacci-check to clients which is a test to check for titres. As long as people are making an informed decision , I will support their wishes on vaccination.

DF: Tell us about PetCare and your “PetCare Plan”?

At PetCare Vets we have a motto, “Taking care of pets , Taking care of people”. This recognises the importance of communication with the pet owners. We also have a mission statement which is “To provide and promote pro active veterinary healthcare”. The PetCare model makes this possible in a fantastic way. Saving clients the sometimes prohibitive consult fee from the very first day. When a person signs their pet up to the plan, they can come to see the vet an unlimited number of times over the 12 months. Plans start from €19 for dogs and cats (€11 for rabbits). Vaccinations or vaccicheck is included. It means I can practice a much higher level of medicine at a much lower cost , have a better relationship with the pet owner and have more time with them to educate and encourage on how best to take care of their pet. I love it , the pets love it and their people love it too. It helps me to keep pets healthy, rather

than only seeing them when they have been ill for some time. It means that I can pick up warning signs of disease and head it off, before the disease escalates. It means healthier and happier pets with a higher standard of health and of veterinary care.

Contact: Mairead Kilbride MVB

PetCare VetsUnit 1 The Charlesland Centre,

Charlesland, Greystones, Co. WicklowPhone: 01 287 0321

[email protected]://www.petcarevets.ie/services/

DOGS F IRST INTERVIEWS - Mairead of PetCare Vets

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1. What are your thoughts on Leptospirosis? Have you diagnosed any cases in Greystones? Do people need to vaccinate for it?

I have never had a fatality and have only one mild reaction to the lepto vaccine in 12 years of practice. I have treated 3 cases of leptospirosis and contracted the disease myself once in that time. I do vaccinate my own dogs for lepto, however I understand that as a bacterial vaccine its efficacy is much lower than the viral vaccinations and so should be given on a risk benefit, according to the owners decision with the available data. Unfortunately there is not enough up to date and accurate data to allow for advising on vaccinating/not vaccinating according to region.

2. What are the fatty lumps on my dog's skin and do I need to worry about them?

It depends what you mean by fatty lumps, what do the lumps look like, their size, are they changing, is there hair loss associated. Is your dog itchy? Depending on the age and size of your dog there are benign (non cancerous) lumps called histiocytomas and malignant (cancerous

lumps) called mast cell tumours. These two along with benign lipomas (fatty mobile lumps under the skin) are the three most common lumps in practice. It is easy to differentiate with a simple fine needle aspirate test your vet can do while your dog is awake. I would suggest getting a professional opinion on any lumps you find from your local vets and go from there.

3. My dog is scared of the vets after a bad experience, what can I / you do to make his visit as easy as possible?

I’m so sorry to hear your dog has had a bad experience in the vet clinic. Fear of the vets is quite common for both dog and unfortunately sometimes owner too. We often will ask clients to bring their pet in to us for a chat and will walk them around the inside of the clinic on the lead to encourage bonding and positive experience for the dog and the client with the Petcare team. We would ask a nervous dog to do this once a week if they live nearby so that they are not always associating medical procedures with the building and the people. Secondly, I would try to book your dog in at the quietest possible time to minimise other possibly nervous dogs in the waiting room escalating the issues ask at the time of booking

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Ask the VET!!Veterinarian: Mairead Kilbride MVB

Health - Ask the vet

when these times occur. Finally, as dogs feel and reflect your emotions, you need to get yourself as calm as possible. You need to be happy and comfortable in the vet clinic environment. Let the vet or vet nurse know that you need extra attention. If your vets are uninterested in your nerves and those of your dogs in spite of you asking for this help with this it may be time to seek an alternative practice where you may both be comfortable. Finally..


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Oculus Prime Assists With:

• Reducing the inflammation that leads to weeping eyes

• Soothing irritated eyes

• Eliminating source of conjunctivitis

• Eliminating free radicals

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I was speaking with a Dogs Firster over the weekend whose old german shepard was suddenly deteriorating in health and had started to act funny. Most notably he had gone over to the fence and dug a hole under a bush. She asked had I heard of a dog “going off to die” in this manner, and I absolutely had.

My first dog Prince was born the same week as me. He was my first dog and like all first-dogs to us Dogs-Firsters he left a hell of an impression. There is loads of stories about this dog and me. He used to follow me up to school and wait outside for me to come out. I left him outside more than one shop for hours as I left through a different door. I would come back at night looking for him and he’d be sitting there staring patiently at the door. People would walk by and pat him but he wouldn’t even look at them.

I loved playing chase with him. I would go up and poke him in the ribs and leg it, he would come tearing after me. Just before he got me I would turn around and try and grab him and end up chasing him. It was great craic. One day I was running around the yard of my Dad’s shop. The guy working with him (Norry) thought it would be funny if he hid behind a load of pallets and jumped out at me. He didn’t see Prince. I came sprinting past, Norry jumped out with a roar which scared the absolute life out of me. What he hadn’t factored in was Prince going straight for him like a bullet from the blue. Norry was quick enough to turn his body around in protection but all this did was present Prince with the perfect target – Norry’s bum. Prince, a ginger mutt of around 25kg, latched on. Prince actually did the stereotypical rip-the-seat-of-the-pants bit. If my underpants weren’t a write-off from the shock I got previously, then I’m fairly sure the sight of Norry running around the yard flapping his arms with Prince hanging off his arse and shouting for help finished them right off.

Do Dogs Go Away to Die?

ARTICLE - Do Dogs go away to die

care when kids are involved with the death of their first dog and (possibly) their very best friend. For most of us it is our first experience of death and should be treated with all the care you would afford a human death.

The internet is rife with stories of dogs going away to die (though not all do) with just as many explanations to support the behaviour. In one instance the dog chewed through a fence it lived behind for 13 years to get out. Some believe it is just another example of the dog’s noble nature whereby he doesn’t want his family members to “see him dying”. That must be rubbish though. While they surely know they’re not well I think it’s a bit anthropomorphic to assume they actually realise their time has come!

Others believe it is so others in their pack won’t take advantage. I don’t really buy this either as dogs are fiercely protective and supportive of their sick and elderly, bringing them food and the likes. It is one of the advantages of being in a pack. They are not aggressive creatures and to my knowledge they do not round on a weaker individual as a rule. They certainly would not round on a newly sick family member.

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The two of us were very close. The night before Prince died he came down to my bedroom and curled up at the end of my bed. This was extremely unusual as he never came into the bedrooms. It was so strange that I got up and sat with him for a few mins, talking with him. I thought no more about it and went to sleep. The next day there was no sign of Prince. He was always there in the morning to follow me up to the top of the gate. Dad said he’d go looking for him but I said I wanted to help. I found him down the back of my Grandad’s long garden, under a hedge in a small hollow. He was shaking and I carried him back to the house and went off to school. When I got home he was gone.

I was extremely bitter for a long time afterwards as they didn’t come get me in school to say good bye. Years later I learned that Dad was in absolute bits about it and since there was 5 of us in school so it wouldn’t have been easy. With this in mind I strongly recommend taking great

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The eminent Richard Dawkins gives us the science behind another viewpoint, that dog’s may leave a pack to reduce the possible incidence of disease in the pack. Dawkins is obsessed with the “selfish gene” view on evolution, which was developed (but not invented) by him. He believes that most behaviours in nature result from the need to protect a genetic line. This means that the more two individuals are

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genetically related, the more sense (at the level of the genes) it makes for them to behave selflessly with each other. This makes the concept especially good at explaining many forms of altruism (essentially being unselfish), which has long been a animal behaviour hot potato.

On dogs going away to die he concluded that it’s better for for one individual to perish with one or two copies of certain beneficial alleles than to put the whole population, and all copies of all genes, at risk.

One I liked (as it’s simple) is that dogs inherently go off someplace hidden and safe to try and hide from predators and recuperate. Dogs do not eat when they are very sick so they can be without their pack for awhile. Also their family would find them no problem (massive noses) and be able to bring him some food or his charger or whatever else he needed. At this point should they get better they would rejoin the pack. If they don’t they may die in that hole which we see as “going off

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to die”. While I think I’m right and Dawkins is wrong (though I wouldn’t like to debate him on it!). It’s actually more likely that the two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

At any rate, it’s interesting that others animals too appear to reflect on their fate. Elephants were rumoured to leave the herd and go to specific places to die, known as elephant grave yards, though this seems to exactly that, a bit of a rumour, made famous by the movies. Support in the literature of such a place is certainly lacking, except that created by poachers. One thing is for sure they do know the difference between bones of elephants and bones of other animals. If they come across the skeleton of a fellow elephant, they can spend hours softy touching the bones with their trunks, picking them up, smelling them, or simply standing alone among them. Nobody has given a satisfactory reason why they might do this as it is of no potential to a solitary animal when nobody is looking.

Monkey and apes too get extremely animated and emotional on the death of family members which goes far beyond the shock of whatever incident brought that death on. They gingerly cradle and nuzzle fallen friends and children, trying to shake them back alive, appearing visibly depressed for days.

Dogs are such experts at getting inside our heads and hearts that when we try and discuss them we often don’t know if it’s our head or our

heart talking. One thing is for sure regarding their death, it’s a wrenching experience. You share a special bond. They protect and adore you. You protect and adore them. The concept of bringing them up to the vet to end this relationship goes against every fibre of your being.

I often think that when we finally make the decision to do the fairest thing, how smart is it that we actually bring them up to the vets ourselves? I mean, do they need our stress and tears making their last few moments full of concern for you? I remember bringing Meg up last year. I’m not sure I’ll do it again. I was a complete mess and she was worried about me. My being upset and afraid was certainly her last sight, smell and thought.

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“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. ” – Mark Twain

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” – Will Rogers

“If there is a heaven, it’s certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them.” – Pam Brown

It’s like when you fall over and bounce your head off the ground. You stand up thinking you might of got away with it until you look your friend, her mouth is slack open and she is staring in horror at the split and growing lump on your forehead. So you panic.

Whatever the reason a dog may wander off when near it’s end, it’s ironic that we worry our dog might be afraid in these final moments without us. We humans are too aware of our own mortality. It scares lots of us. Our end is a such a taboo subject that we invent stories of invisible men and paradises “on the other side” to try take the edge off. Unlike us dogs are not burdened with such thoughts. They blissfully have zero concept of what is about to happen. Perhaps our being there “in support” while terribly upset and afraid could give them the hint they did not need.


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The Book recommendation:Educating Alice: The Essential 4 step Guide to

Training the Perfect Puppy

Educating Alice is a fantastic book for anybody thinking that a puppy would be a good idea. The book goes through how to decide what kind of dog, how to identify the right puppy for your household and then covers all those early stages - introducing to the children, toilet training, introducing to the vet, socialising. The book goes on to cover early training comprehensively - this is no small thing. Writing training plans is a very good idea for anybody trying to teach a dog. It’s a good idea but these are mind numbingly boring to read so to have a book that contains such detailed plans is fantastic.

Following the advice in this book will allow anybody to build a strong, healthy and happy relationship with their puppy that will bring both puppy and human joy for the lifetime of the dog. The author advises using training methods that are kind and respectful toward dogs and encourages taking their needs and wants into account when planning and carrying out any training. That the author follows these methods himself and has phenomenal success in competing with his own dogs speaks volumes.

General Interest

https://www.bookdepository.com/Educating-Alice-J-J-Fitzpatrick/9780995490109?ref=grid-view&qid=1520539615192&sr=1-11

Review written by: Barbara Lawson

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The Book recommendation:Educating Alice: The Essential 4 step Guide to

Training the Perfect Puppy

Health Tip

WANT PURIFED WATER?! USE A CHARCOAL STICK...

Lots of us have filters for our taps. I personally spent €150 putting an osmosis-type filter system that removes any impurities, bugs and chlorine in there (but not flouride, sadly, you do not need to drink the poison, we now have toothpaste with more than enough flouride in it, something that should be used topically at most, not internally). However, not everyone can afford this, and so many filters are made on plastic, which is rapidly falling out of favour as a water retainer (use ceramic, bamboo or glass water bowls for them guys, considering most pet products come from China).

Enter charcoal!!!Charcoal in water in amazing. You need to buy a big stick of it (by online). It has amazing detoxification properties whereby it’s highly porous surface attracts and captures ions and contaminants. It has been shown to remove chlorine, and nasty stuff like lead and cadmium from the pipes the water was delivered in. Moreover, it adds cool stuff to the water including calcium, magnesium and potassium, minerals that, thanks to the influx on nutrient defunct processed ingredients, are missing more and more from the average Westerner’s diet.

Simply pop the stick into your water jug and leave it there. Works for up to four months but you have to take it out each month and boil it up for a few minutes to revive it! Even when it’s used-up it’s still amazing. You can leave it in your fridge or smelly closets a natural deodouriser!!!!

General Interest

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WANT TO GET INVOLVED?Do you have book or toy review you would like to share?

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Why not send us your article ideas, or intrduce your business in about 500 words and some pics.

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Send on your ideas to: [email protected]

Dogs First Magazine

Dr. Conor BradyDogs First Ltd

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General Interest

eed bones! who are medivet? - dogsfirst

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