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PET GAZETTE
The Fall & Winter season bring many changes into our lives. Shorter days, cooler (hopefully) temperatures and school-bound students. Leaving for college is an exciting time for the departing students, but how will the family pet cope?
Your pet is a social animal and notices the presence or absence of family-pack members. Your Pet's response to the student's absence may run the gamut from a "shrug", if there is not a close relationship, to a long-lasting depression, if the animal has a close relationship with the departing member.
However, neither of these extreme responses is the norm. According to Dr. Nicholas Dodman of Tufts University of Veterinary Medicine, "the animal may mope around for a few days, but most animals will seek out other family members to fill the companionship void". "Explaining" the situation to your pet won't help because the animal can't process the abstract notion that a missing buddy will return in a matter of weeks or months. Even five minutes processes out to your animal as "forever". You can, however, ease the transition if you do some ahead of time conditioning, like having other family members start taking over some of the care-giving responsibilities. If the student normally feeds, grooms or exercises the animal, let someone else start to help doing the task before the student leaves.
The best part of going away is often coming home, especially if you have a much-loved pet waiting for you. Don't be surprised if your pet starts announcing the return of the student before he or she even reaches the door. Their "radar" can pick up the scent and footfall of a loved one before they knock or ring the doorbell.
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PET PEEVES:
(1) Why, with a humane society, animal shelter, dog warden and stray day, do so many people still drop their animals off in the country"? If they don't want to care for puppies or kittens, why don't they spay/neuter their adult animal?
**I'm sorry to say that I don't have a clue. They either don't read the paper, listen to the radio or they just don't care. I am sorry to say that the latter is probably the answer, but we will keep trying.
(2) Why doesn't the humane society help people get their animals fixed?
**The humane society operates on a donation basis. The funds that come in are only enough to help us feed the animals we house, get some emergency attention and buy the disinfectant, cleaning supplies and flea spray needed to keep the animals safe and comfortable. Any help out there?
What You Should Know About Rabies
Rabies is a disease most people have heard about at some point in their lives. It is a fatal disease of animals that can be transmitted to humans. It occurs in nearly all warm-blooded animals.
Skunks and raccoons are considered the primary carriers in the Kentucky area. They are able to pass the virus along to other animals without showing clinical symptoms themselves.
Humans contract the rabies virus through an infected animal's saliva. This can be a bite or the animal can lick an open wound or the mucous membranes.
During the incubation period, the time it takes from exposure to clinical infection, the virus travels along nerve fibers to the brain. Incubation time varies. In dogs it may take anywhere from two weeks to a year for the animal to show signs of the disease.
Signs and symptoms of rabies are caused by swelling of brain tissue. Initially the animal will undergo personality changes. Gentle and docile animals may become irritable and aggressive. Shy animals may become overly affectionate. The animal will then become withdrawn and stare into space. The animal will avoid light, seek seclusion and resist handling. Fever, vomiting and diarrhea may also be seen.
There are two characteristic forms of rabies. They are Furious and Paralytic. In the Furious form the animal exhibits what is called the "mad dog" personality. The animals is aggressive and vicious and will snap and bite at anything.
In the Paralytic form the muscles of the head are paralyzed, causing the mouth to open and the tongue will hang out. The swallowing muscles are paralyzed, causing the animal to drool, cough and paw at the mouth. This animal will eventually lose control of movement and become paralyzed. Once these symptoms develop, the disease is fatal.
Any bit or scratch from a wild carnivore (skunk, raccoon, fox, feral cat, feral dog, etc.) or from a bat is considered to be a rabies exposure. Any bite wound should be quickly cleansed with soap and water to prevent infection to the wound.
If the vaccination status of the animal is unknown and it is wild or a stray, the animal should be killed. DO NOT SHOOT THE ANIMAL IN THE HEAD. The laboratory needs the brain tissue to diagnose rabies. If the animal is owned and the owner refuses to have it euthanized for testing, the animal should be quarantined for a minimum of 10 days.
If no signs of rabies develop, the animal should be vaccinated. Vaccinated animals should be quarantined for 10 days, also.
Should the animal show signs of rabies or tests positive for rabies, post-exposure human rabies vaccinations should begin. These shots are no longer given in the stomach, but are given around the bite wound and in the arm.
Only a necropsy (animal autopsy) can determine if an animal is infected with rabies. Do NOT risk being exposed to blood or saliva.
Although there is no state law in Kentucky requiring the vaccination of cats, it is a good idea to have them vaccinated for rabies. A cat is 9 times more likely to carry rabies than a dog. However, a dog MUST be vaccinated and have a state tag on it's collar at all times after the age of 6 months.
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