When Jack and Ann Arnold lost their very special friend, Buddy, they wanted to memorialize his heart and soul. Buddy Arnold, their beautiful chocolate Lab, was 11 years old when he died of complications from malignant fibrosarcoma. This new cancer followed malignant oral melanoma, which had been treated successfully by four surgeries in March 2001.

LABMED and the Labrador-L e-mail list first heard of Buddy in April of 1998, when he was 7 years old. He had had cruciate ligament surgery, which went well, but he developed aspiration pneumonia and fought for his life for 7 intense days before he recovered. Less than three years later, however, he got oral cancer, and just a few short months after that diagnosis, he was gone.

Murphy's Memorial Donation Fund comes from the Pilcher Family, who designated that their gift be used to help "any Lab needing the money at the moment when you might not have the funds for its care." The phenomenal reciprocal love between Murphy and his family is beautifully captured in Geri Pilcher's poem to the late great Murphy:

 

What could be a better birthday present than seeing your guests collectively contribute to the well-being of a Lab in need of help? That's how Liz and Alex King felt when they planned a party to celebrate son Alex's 13th birthday. Guest donations to LABMED totalled $334, which can go a long way toward ensuring a second chance for at least one Lab. From the Kings' description, it sounds like we all would have had a great time.

Dear LABMED: Boy, did we have a party.  Nineteen 12 year olds showed up to cloudy skies and the threat of rain, but it did not stop us from having one heck of a good time. We bobbed for donuts hanging on strings, juggled, danced crazy and had a 'cookie walk.' The kids were so proud of what we did.....$334 raised for LABMED!!!!!! Check out our donation jar with the LABMED logo in the attached photo! Alex was so very very happy......and pleased. We are hoping to sponsor a dog so that he can share this info with all his guests. I will begin that process right away. Thanks for all that you do, Cheers, Liz and Alex King

Common signs of poisoning:

• Muscle tremors.
• Seizures.
• Vomiting or diarrhea, sometimes with blood.
• Excessive salivation - drooling or foaming.
• Redness of skin, ears, eyes.
• Mental depression or excitement.
• Bleeding (as with rat poison ingestion).
• Ulceration or blisters of the mouth or skin.
• Excessive pawing at the mouth and licking.
• Swelling of a limb or the face, as is often seen with insect bites and stings.
• Elevated or depressed body temperature (elevations usually due to increased muscle activity -- tremors, seizures).

If you see these signs:
Call your veterinarian or veterinary emergency clinic immediately. Have the following information ready:

• Exact name of toxin ingested, inhaled, or absorbed.
• About how much of the toxin was ingested.
• How long ago you suspect that your pet may have been poisoned.
• Approximate weight of your pet.
• What signs your pet is showing -- vomiting, tremors, salivation, and general observations -- such as color of the gums (capillary refill time), respiratory rate, heart rate, and if possible, body temperature.
• If the poison is known, take the box or package with you.
• Do NOT induce vomiting without consulting your veterinarian or Poison Control center first. Some toxins are caustic, and vomiting will only increase damage. Some toxins need to be neutralized with activated charcoal, others need to be expelled by vomiting, and still others have antidotes.
• Topical toxins need to be rinsed (skin, eye) with copious amounts of water.

Know these common household poisons:

• Antifreeze (Ethylene glycol).
• Slug/Snail bait.
• Prescription medications.
• Mouse and Rat poison.
• Some plants (indoor and outdoor), shrubs, and trees. Check with your veterinarian for help in finding information on native plants in your area that are toxic to pets.
• Flea and Tick treatments. Using more or not following product recommendations is NOT the way to kill more fleas and ticks!
• Lawn fertilizers, weed killers.
• Household cleaners and chemicals.

Pet poison-proofing tips

• Rat, slug, snail, mice, and ant baits are made to be attractive and tasty, even to the curious pet. Don't count on how well you hide these baits, either. Make sure that they are safely out of pet's reach (and that the pet isn't able to chew through something to get at them). If using locked bait boxes, keep them in locked cabinets or weight them down!! Pets have been known to pick them up and shake out the poison bait.
• Medications made for humans may have tasty coatings. Ethylene glycol antifreeze is known to be sweet-tasting.
• Unknowingly playing fetch or encouraging your dog to chew on plants or trees that are poisonous could have disastrous effects.
• A spray bottle, can, or other container may look like a toy until the container is punctured and contents leak out!

HIP DYSPLASIA
by Saralyn Sharp

Hip dysplasia is a complicated disease. It has occurred in every breed of dog, but seems to be most prevalent in medium to large breed dogs. It also seems to be more prevalent in Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and German Shepherds, although this may simply be a function of those breeds' popularity and greater numbers than a true higher prevalence.

The mechanics of hip dysplasia are simple; the hip joint is a ball-and-socket type joint meaning that the head of the femur forms a ball shape, which fits into a hollow formed by the pelvic bones. Dysplasia is created when either the "socket" part of the joint, or more usually the "ball" part of the joint, are not shaped properly and therefore don't fit together properly. When this happens, the femur head tends to move abnormally in the joint and create trauma and inflammation in the cartilage that cushions between the bones. This inflammation can lead to arthritis, and eventually to bone spurs. Bone spurs are tiny pieces of bone that grow in response to the chronic inflammation. Although the pieces are tiny, they in turn traumatize the cartilage (like grains of sand in your shoe) leading to more inflammation and pain.

This is a picture of a good hip

This is a picture of a bad hip

Now comes the complicated part. Just what causes these bones to become misshapen? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. Unlike some other canine maladies that are governed by one gene pair, hip dysplasia seems to be affected by several different genes, none of which carry complete dominance over the other, and to complicate matters even further, it does appear that diet and exercise also play a part in hip dysplasia. With the disease being controlled by many genes and containing the diet/exercise component, it has proved to be very difficult for breeders to eliminate from the breeds. In addition to this, an individual dog's response to hip dysplasia can vary widely, and onset of the disease can also vary. Conversely, hips that are the most dysplastic often are not in joint at all (subluxated) and, therefore, are not causing trauma or pain to the joint. Therefore, you can never assume that because your dog does not show pain, its hips are not dysplastic.

What are the signs of hip dysplasia? The first signs an owner may notice is a peculiar gait, often a rolling of the hips or a "wiggle" in the back end. This is often accompanied by the "bunny" hop, a gait where the dog uses both back legs together, at a run. As the disease progresses, lameness may appear, and the dog may exhibit a reluctance to stand from a sitting or prone position and a reluctance to sit. Any dog that exhibits these signs should be evaluated by a veterinarian.

The veterinarian will palpate the joint to evaluate for crepitus (grating of bone on bone) and range of motion (dogs with hip dysplasia often have reduced range of motion and pain on extension of the hips). Radiographs (X-rays) will also be recommended. The palpation may require sedation in dogs for whom it is painful. Sedation at the time of radiographs is always recommended so that the thigh muscles will relax and show the true extent of the dysplasia.

If your dog is deemed dysplastic, there are a number of treatments ranging from medical management to a Total Hip Replacement (THR). Medical management can often be used in cases of mild dysplasia and will often slow the progression of the disease. It usually includes chondro-protectives (nutraceuticals such as glucosamine, chondroitin, and Vitamin C), pain management, weight control, and moderate exercise. For cases of severe dysplasia, or where the dog displays a lot of pain, surgical intervention is usually required. The type of surgery performed often depends on the age of your dog, and your pocketbook. Young dogs, usually under eight months of age, with dysplasia but no arthritis can often be cured by a Triple Pelvic Osteotomy (TPO). TPOs are a surgery where the pelvis is fractured, re-angled to invite a deeper setting of the head of the femur, and plated to allow stability during healing. Frequently this requires two surgeries, one for each side, however, the surgery is often curative. Older dogs, and those with arthritis already in the joint, need to have the joint itself addressed in surgery. The most frequently performed surgeries performed in these cases are a Femoral Head Osteotomy (FHO) and a Total Hip Replacement (THR). In the FHO, the head and neck of the femur of the affected joint are removed, and the dog's muscles form a false joint. This surgery is most effective in lighter weight dogs; since it relieves the pain, however, larger dogs still can benefit from it. The false joint will probably never be as strong as the original joint, therefore this surgery is not recommended for working dogs or those in heavy training. Dogs who have this surgery should, nevertheless, be maintained with moderate exercise. By removing the head of the femur, it eliminates the knocking and grinding of bones and thus eliminates the pain. This surgery is considered curative. THR surgery is currently considered the "gold standard" treatment for hip dysplasia. In this surgery, the head and neck of the femur are removed and replaced with a titanium appliance that is made to fit into the socket. With this surgery, a dog may be expected to return to a normal working schedule. Because the ball of the appliance fits securely into the socket, the joint is made to be normal. Unlike in humans, where artificial hips may have to be replaced in 10 years, the shortened lifespan of a dog means that appliances rarely need to be replaced. Frequently, dogs with bilateral hip dysplasia need only have one hip replaced, for it can take the pressure off of the other hip, and medical management can slow the progression of the disease in the other hip. The THR is the most expensive treatment for hip dysplasia.

Ideally, the easiest way to deal with hip dysplasia is to prevent it. Unfortunately, as discussed earlier, the disease is not simple to eradicate from a breeding program. Breeders thus use many methods to prevent the disease. Currently, veterinary medicine recommends that all breeding stock be radiographed for signs of the disease by either the current Orthopedic Foundation of America (OFA) measures, or through the newer University of Pennsylvania veterinary hospital's PENNhip methods. PENNhip is a promising method of quantifying the laxity of hip and can be done at a younger age than the current OFA method. PENNhip requires that all information on any radiographed dog be submitted and then ranks an individual dog against others of its breed. OFA does not require that all radiographs be submitted; most breeders, therefore, only send radiographs of dogs they believe will pass, making it difficult to track the true percentage of hip dysplasia in the breed. By using only dogs with good hips, the likelihood that their offspring will have good hips should increase.

The second component of hip dysplasia prevention is diet and exercise. Veterinarians noted that they saw an explosion of the disease when people began feeding puppy diets, with their superior nutrition. This was puzzling, because it seemed that the opposite should have happened, that as dogs received superior nutrition, they should be healthier. Research into this has shown that the superior nutrition actually caused the puppies to grow too quickly, and the puppies' joints were unable to keep up with the rapid growth. With this knowledge, many dog food companies created puppy food that was more moderate in protein and nutrients, so that it moderates growth and allows the cartilage and tendons to keep up with bone growth. It does not stunt the dog's growth; it simply means that the dog will take longer to reach full growth. In growing animals, moderate exercise is necessary for normal bone and joint development; excessive exercise, however, can wear on the ligaments and tendons, and is therefore not recommended until the dog has reached full growth. It is also important to breed for moderation in size of dogs, as it is known that excessive size and weight cause excessive wear and tear on the joints.

Hip dysplasia is a devastating and often debilitating disease, but there are treatments for it, and many household pets can be managed on a strict regimen of weight control, moderate exercise, chondro-protectives, and pain medicine. If surgery is required, a dog can often be maintained while the owner saves for the surgery. There are also ways to moderate or prevent the disease through good breeding programs, a large breed puppy diet, and moderate exercise during a puppy's growing years. When obtaining a puppy, make sure the breeder's stock has been checked for the disease for as many generations as possible. If you are obtaining an adult dog through rescue, and thus cannot ascertain its history, start a weight control program immediately (discuss with your veterinarian the weight at which your dog should be maintained), begin a moderate exercise program, and have your veterinarian perform an orthopedic exam to see if chondro-protectives should be added to your dog's diet.