Pup Genetics Decoded #1 - AcuMed Veterinary Specialty

Pup Genetics Decoded is a series of articles with an aim to create awareness about genetic diseases in dogs. We aim to create a community of well informed Pet Parents !

Beware! Hip Dysplasia, Syringiomyelia and Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome on the Rise!  

 

Most Pet parents may have heard their vets say that, "The XYZ disease is very common in a particular breed of dogs". Well it is true indeed! The number of dogs with Genetic/Congenital/Breed specific diseases is increasing. The reason for this is inbreeding of dogs and breeding without appropriate testing for genetic diseases prior to mating. A huge demand for dogs has resulted in unlawful breeding, leading to parents with genetic diseases like Hip Dysplasia especially in Labradors, German Shepards, Epilepsy in Beagles, Syringiomyelia in small breed dogs and Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome in pugs. All these diseases are painful, uncomfortable and cannot be cured. These pups have to live with this disease for their entire life. The quality of life is extremely poor in these dogs as they grow older and many succumb to the disease prematurely or are abandoned by their owners or need to be euthanized. In some cases these pups are bred, managed and transported in despicable conditions. Inappropriate conditions and breeding of these pups also have a lasting effect in these dogs and can cause permanent damage.  

However the good news is that all these diseases can be prevented by appropriately testing the parents for these genetic diseases and by spreading awareness among owners. It is best to decide the breed of dog that suits your lifestyle and then research the diseases it may suffer. Talk to your veterinarian BEFORE buying the pup. Enquire with breeders if they test dogs for genetic diseases before mating them. Encourage breeders who are proactive about the health of the breed. Be a well resourced, good Pet Parent and a good companion to these lovely souls!

Think about it... If hitting and abusing a dog is cruelty… Then breeding dogs that would suffer all their life and die a traumatic and painful death is far worse. Ethical Breeding and buying pups from a registered breeder is a small step to prevent abuse to these kind souls…

Important Info

Puppy Procedure : Before buying a puppy, it is necessary to get a licence from the respective municipal corporation. BMC charges Rs 100 as fees and Rs 200 for vaccine per year. The seller should be registered with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

Veterinary Acupuncture : Jimmy - The Lioness. AcuMed Veterinary Specialty

Had an encounter with the Queen of the Jungle - Jimmy.

Jimmy is 15+ year old lioness at the Byculla zoo, Mumbai. She suffered an acute onset of paraplegia. She was stabilized by the team of vets at the zoo. She slowly regained her neurological deficits.

Had a look at her a couple of days later and she was still paraparetic with mild ataxia and marked weakness of the pelvic limbs. We were handed over the job to rehabilitate her. Since sedating her was not possible due to her age and condition. Had to manually put my hand in the cage and do some quick acupuncture.

Jimmy was not sedated but just restrained by a rope around her belly. Once I put my hand inside her cage, she did not quite like it initially, but once I started examining her ,she slowly relaxed as if she knew I am there to make her feel better and do her no harm. But had little time before she turns around. So instead of the routine Dry needle acupuncture , used Aqua-puncture . 

She took that well too and she was on her way to recovery. A few weeks later , the zoo vets reported she was back to her usual self, walking and playing around with her favorite ball.

We are thankful to the team of Zoo vets for giving us a chance to help Jimmy recover.

AcuMed Veterinary Specialty - Mengio-encephalitis in Miniature Pinscher.

  Ira, a 3 month old Miniature Pinscher pup suffered from an onset of Parvo viral gastroenteritis. Parvo virus affects the Gastro-intestinal tract causing diarrhoea,  Haematochezia (loss of blood in stools) and vomition.

 Ira was brought in to the clinic for an episode of Parvo viral gastro enteritis. While she was recovering from that she developed a rare complication , she was suspected to suffer from meningio-encephalitis ( inflammation of Brain & Meninges) and with severe cranial nerve deficits. She also started to show vestibular ataxia (disorder of balance system) and signs of increased intracranial pressure – Head-pressing.

Her clinical signs included disorientation which later progressed to uncontrolled circling towards one side and it worsened to head-pressing later. Miniature Pinschers are genetically prone to disorders of pressure in the brain due to their skull anatomy . The possibility of her having an MRI scan was ruled out due to her clinical signs and risk of injectable anaesthetics. We had a tentative diagnosis of Meningio-encephalitis with increased intra-cranial pressure and started treating her for the same with aggressive medical therapy.  

She started to show a gradual recovery and slowly her circling stopped and she started walking in a straight line. She was still disoriented a bit. That too went away in a weeks time. She fully recovered by the end of 3 weeks and all her Brain functions were restored back to normalcy. Posting a video of her pre and post treatment.

AcuMed Veterinary Specialty - World Cancer Day - Cancer in Pets.

On account of World Cancer Day.  Our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/acumedvets co-author Dr.Deepti Deshpande spreads awareness amongst pet parents too.
Sharing her article here for our blog readers.

Every year the 4th of February is celebrated as World Cancer Day. The focus for 2013 world cancer day is “Dispel damaging myths and misconceptions about cancer.” Since cancer has become a growing concern in the pets world here is an attempt to spread more awareness about it.
Cancer has become a very common “disease” in pets and is one of the most feared by pet parents. It however doesn’t always mean a “bad news”. Cancer is defined as an abnormal growth of cells in the body and is of different types. The kind of cancer depends on the location of the tumour, the tissues/organs involved and the presence or absence of spreads (metastasis) in different body parts. Different types of cancer have different treatments, some of which can even cure your pet. As with human medicine various treatment options such as chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, immunotherapy etc are now available in veterinary medicine. These therapies may be used as a sole therapy or in combination depending on the kind of cancer.
Cancer therapy has always petrified pet parents. One of the most common questions by pet parents is “will my pet suffer during the cancer therapy?” It has been observed that pets tolerate cancer therapy better than humans. These pets certainly get some side effects due to cancer therapy such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, low white blood cell count and thus increased risk of infection. Dogs and cats generally don’t lose hair as human. Cats however may lose their whiskers. Special diets help pets recuperate sooner. An important aspect of reducing suffering in cancer patients is pain management. With all the advances in medicine this is no more a challenge. Alternative therapies including acupuncture can be used extensively for pain management. Side effects of cancer therapy such as nausea, vomiting can be successfully reduced with acupuncture.
Unlike in humans, cancer therapy is less aggressive in animals and the primary goal of veterinary oncology is to provide a good quality of life to pets. We thus try to balance effective treatment and maintain a good quality of life for your pet.
Cancer has always been considered a disease of old age. However this is only partially true. It is common in older pets but can also occur in younger animals. Cancer may have a genetic component and hence it is essential to know the family history of your pet. Knowing the disease predilection towards the breed of your pet makes you vigilant and aids in early detection of the disease. There is no proven way to prevent cancer but reducing exposure to certain carcinogens such as chemicals, radiations, pesticides, herbicides, Ultraviolet rays etc is essential. The treatment success of cancer therapy depends primarily on early detection and treatment. Annual wellness exams, scheduled checkups after detection of cancer and following your vets advice regarding any necessary screening tests is crucial.
Just like any disease, a healthy diet, regular exercise and lot of love and care is the recipe for a healthy life!

AcuMed Veterinary Specialty - Our 1st Anniversary - Yearbook

AcuMed Veterinary Specialty was founded a year ago with the purpose of Integrating the principles of Acupuncture and Conventional Medicine.
We have extracted the principles from both conventional and oriental medicine and thus have been treating our patients with both conventional medicine and acupuncture,depending on what's best for them.
Here's what we did last year.


Brain & Spinal diseases : We've encountered over 50 Brain and 150 Spinal disease cases. We've been diagnosing numerous Brain tumors, Meningioencephalitis, Vestibular dieases,Epilepsy and numerous Spinal cord diseases with the help of MRI and have been able to help many animals.
We've helped numerous Paralyzed dogs & cats walk again.

Pain Management : Our motto has always been managing Pain with all possible modalities. We've developed protocols to manage them in the best possible way. We routinely treat severe osteo-arthritis cases , Hip joint diseases, Spondylosis, Neck pain cases. We also treat old age patients who have severe pain due to degenerative joint changes,but cannot be on long term NSAID's due to their side effects. Acupuncture works best for them.

Lectures & Workshops : We were invited to Parbhani Veterinary College last year and had conducted a lecture for the budding veterinarians, post graduate students and staff. We had a great time interacting with the audience while conducting the workshop.http://drprathmeshdvet.blogspot.in/2012/05/integrating-acupuncture-into-veterinary.html

Interesting Cases : We've had the chance to treat the "White Peacock" at the Mumbai zoo and the "White Tigress" at the Pune zoo.

Media : We were covered in an article in Hindustan times after treating the White Peacock.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=324115694340057&set=a.322895411128752.76872.322679151150378&type=1&theater

We would like to thank all our supporters for encouraging us to do so many things. We wish to do much more this year.
AcuMed Veterinary Specialty

Veterinary Acupuncture - Gypsy the White Tigress ! AcuMed Veterinary Specialty

One of the most memorable,breathtaking experience of my life. Had been called to see the 16 year old White tigress - Gypsy at the Pune zoo a couple of weeks ago.

Gypsy suffered from an acute onset of paraplegia. She could not lift her hindquarters. Then I stepped in along with the Zoo Vet and his treatment crew with Gypsy wide awake without any sedation.
She turned around her head and we acknowledged each other by that brief eye contact. Due to that brief illness she had lost muscle mass and was in her terminal stage. I was then asked, could Acupuncture help, I said, why not. So started with the treatment focusing on giving her pain relief and also try and stimulate the spinal nerves. Pain was immediately taken care of and Gypsy fell asleep after 15 minutes while the treatment was on..
Gypsy however continued to be in a similar state for the next couple of days,but unfortunately she could not come out of it.She passed away.It was found out,she suffered from brain stroke.
A special thanks to Dr.Nighot, the zoo veterinarian, I really appreciate the efforts that he took for Gypsy and treated her like his own pet.
I felt happy for the fact that i could give her some amount of pain relief in her terminal stages.