SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR WEEKLY HOME EXAMS

By Karen Halligan, DVM, excerpted from Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know

When performing your weekly at-home exam, you want to take a systematic approach and do it the same way every time so you don’t miss anything. Be sure to sneak in lots of hugs and kisses so your pet learns to enjoy it; you might even find a special petting spot during the once-over. I discovered that Kinky loves to be scratched under her chin and Nathan adores body rubbing.

FACE

It’s been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. This is true for animals as well—you can tell a lot about their health by looking at their eyes. You’re probably already looking into your pet’s eyes lovingly, but you also want to look for signs of illness or injury.

Dogs and cats get many of the same diseases that we do, including cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, and dry eye, but if caught in the early stages, many of these conditions can be prevented from progressing and your pet’s eyesight could even be saved. Cats and dogs can even develop tumors in the eyes, so look closely with a good light. Both pupils should be the same size and the eyes should be clear, bright, and shiny, not cloudy.

The whites of the eyes, or sclera, should be white, not red. Dogs and cats have what’s called a “third eyelid,” which helps protect the eye as well as lubricate it by producing tears. The third eyelid should not be showing. When a cat or dog is sick or in pain, you will suddenly see this white- colored membrane covering the lower part of the eye. You should not see redness, discharge, or squinting, as these can all be signs of infection, foreign objects in the eye, or pain.

Check to see if there is an increase or a decrease in tear production by noticing how moist your pet’s eyes look and how often they tear up. Certain breeds of dogs such as the cocker spaniel, shih tzu, Lhasa apso, Pekingese, miniature schnauzer, and bulldog are predisposed to developing a very common condition known as dry eye, where tear production is greatly reduced, leading to red, itchy, and painful eyes.

The eyes should not appear sunken or excessively protruding, and your pet should not be rubbing or pawing at its eyes. If your cat or dog has a small amount of normal discharge in the corner of its eyes, go ahead and gently wipe this out with a soft tissue. You can also use eye wash solution, a saline solution available over the counter at drug or pet stores, to remove this.

LIPS

Some dogs that have lip folds, such as spaniels, are especially prone to inflammation and skin infections on their lips. Lip tumors can develop on both dogs and cats. Check your pet’s lips to make sure there are no crusts and there is no scaling, and that the skin isn’t dry and cracked like your lips when they are dry. Be sure to look for redness and hair loss around the mouth as well.

EARS

Since cats and dogs have much longer ear canals than people do, infections usually start way down at the eardrum and work their way upward, so by the time you actually see debris, the infection has most likely been there a while. Dogs and cats are susceptible to ear infections because of their long, L-shaped canals; some dogs have wax-trapping hair lining the canals as well. And dogs that have moisture-sealing earflaps provide the perfect swamplike environment for bugs to thrive.

Look at your pet’s ears. They should have very little odor or discharge, but a small amount of wax is normal. If you see debris, redness, hair loss, or crusting, or your pet seems to be in pain when its ears are touched, it could be a sign of an ear infection. Look for abnormalities on the outside of the ears, a happy home for some parasites. Hair loss, crusting, and redness can indicate mites, allergies, or infection. Ears should be ?at, not swollen. Flies will sometimes bite at the tips of dogs’ ears, so carefully check along the edges. Cats and dogs will paw at their ears or shake their heads when their ears are bothering them. Also, if your pet is prone to ear infections, learn how to properly flush out the ear canals. Have your vet show you how to do this. I’ve also given some tips below.

How often to clean depends on the pet and how many predisposing factors it has. I usually recommend ear cleaning at least every two weeks for dogs, and only if instructed by your vet for cats. Regular ear cleaning can drastically reduce the number of infections your pet develops.

How to clean the ears:

Never use Q-tip-type swabs, since they can easily break off and get lodged in your pet’s ear canal.

Never clean ears with peroxide, soap, water, or oil, as these can irritate the skin lining the canal or set up the perfect environment for an infection.

The bottom line is to learn what your pet’s ears normally look like so you’ll spot a problem early—before a severe infection or illness sets in.

MOUTH Notice if your pet has any trouble opening and closing its mouth. Look for any drooling or difficulty chewing and swallowing. Hopefully you’re brushing your pet’s teeth daily or at least three times a week. Refer to Chapter 5 on dental disasters for instructions. Check your dog or cat’s mouth for tumors, swelling, bleeding gums, tartar, and foreign objects like string (cats) and sticks (dogs). Look at the teeth. Are they white, brown, or green? There should be no broken teeth and no odor.

Look at the color of the gums. They should be nice and pink, not white or red. You can check your pet’s circulation by using your thumb and briefly applying pressure to the gums and releasing. The area that you pressed should turn white and then rapidly return to the normal pink color. This is called the capillary re?ll time. For dogs and cats, one to two seconds is considered normal. If the refill time is less than one second or more than three seconds, it could indicate a serious circulation problem and necessitates an immediate trip to the vet.

Before moving to the skin, feel under your pet’s throat. Dogs and cats have lymph nodes in their bodies, just like humans do. Feeling for lumps, like the doctor does to you, can help detect enlarged lymph nodes, which can be the first sign of cancer or infection in dogs and cats. Dogs that get lymphoma, a common type of cancer, will have enlarged lymph nodes that are easily felt. Other lymph nodes that are readily detectable when enlarged are located at the shoulder, under the forearm, and on the backs of the rear legs.

Excessive panting or coughing is abnormal, and your pet should not cough when you touch its throat. This can be a sign of a sensitive trachea or a common upper respiratory disease in dogs known as kennel cough. The trachea, or windpipe, is a long, hollow tube that connects the nose, mouth, and throat to the lungs. The normal trachea is tubular and it maintains its shape because of a series of circular rings made of cartilage. Certain breeds of dogs have weak cartilage, which leads to a flattening of the cartilage rings. Tracheal collapse is a common disease of toy breeds of dogs including chihuahuas, Lhasa apsos, Pomeranians, poodles, shih tzus, and Yorkshire terriers.

SKIN AND COAT

The skin is the largest organ of the body and is also the first line of defense against disease. Look closely at your pet’s skin by parting the hair in several spots or blowing gently. It should be clean and dry. Look and feel for areas of swelling, heat, scrapes, pain, hair loss, crusting, or redness. Some pets have pigmentation or freckles on their skin, which is considered normal. Now run your hands all over your pet’s body, including all four legs, and lift up the tail. You’d be amazed at how many animals develop tumors or infections on the underside of the tail. And don’t forget to look at the tummy. (You never know—this could be a favorite spot for petting!) Check for lumps, bumps, and growths of any sort. Look closely under the fur because small bumps can be hard to see. The most common sites for tumors to grow are on the skin, mouth, mammary glands, and lymph nodes. Check under the coat for flakes, ticks, fleas, and flea dirt—small flecks of black debris that look like black pepper. This is actually flea poop, and if you get it wet, it will turn red—pretty disgusting! See Chapter 12 on seasonal disturbances for more information on fleas.

Your cat or dog’s coat should be sleek and glossy, not dull, dry, or greasy. Run your fingers through your pet’s hair. There should be no buildup or odor on your hands. Also check between the toes and look at the pads. Dogs and cats can get burrs, gum, and other foreign objects lodged there. During the summer months, dogs can easily burn their pads. See Chapter 12 on seasonal disturbances for more information.

Proper hydration is very important. A good check to see if your pet is drinking enough water and is adequately hydrated is to gently pull up on the skin over your pet’s shoulder blades, then release the skin. If your pet is hydrated, the skin will snap back quickly into position. If your dog or cat is dehydrated, it will take much longer for the skin to release; sometimes, it will even stay tented up. This can be a serious problem and requires a phone call or a trip to your vet right away.

ANAL GLANDS

The anal glands are two dime-sized sacs located on either side of the rectum, at the four o’clock and eight o’clock positions, and are found in a variety of animals. Their biological function is to impart a distinct odor to the stool that is unique to pets, and consequently they serve very little purpose in domesticated dogs and cats. This odor is very foul and pungent. The secretion from the glands is normally expressed when a pet has a bowel movement or is frightened, due to tightening of the rectal muscles. However, if the stools are too soft or too hard, or the substance in the gland is too thick, the glands will not get expressed and can get very full or become abscessed and impacted, causing pain and discomfort. A small percentage of dogs and cats genetically produce anal gland secretions that are too thick to pass through the small ducts that extend from the sacs to the anus.

When the glands become full or impacted, pets may scoot on the ground, lick their anal area, or exhibit strange behavior such as tail chasing, reluctance to allow you to touch their tail or rear end, reluctance to lift the tail, or circling; sometimes cats will groom themselves excessively beneath the tail. At this point the glands need to be manually emptied, usually by your veterinarian, although many groomers are adept at expressing the anal glands. If the glands are infected, antibiotics may be necessary.

TOENAILS

Keep those toenails short. Dogs and cats with overgrown nails are like women in stiletto heels. Walking is very difficult, and lameness, bone, or joint problems can occur as a result. Also, the nails can grow so long that they curl under the foot, embedding into the pads or skin, which is extremely painful for your pet. Nail trims need to be done regularly, depending on how active your pet is and how fast its nails grow. You should have your cat’s or dog’s nails trimmed on a regular basis, either at a vet hospital or at a groomer’s. If you want to attempt it yourself, have a professional teach you how. Cats and dogs can get quite ornery if it isn’t done properly, and accidentally cutting the nail too short will result in lots of pain and bleeding. It’s best to start trimming your pet’s nails early on, as a puppy or kitten, to get them used to this routine grooming procedure.

WEIGHT

Last but not least, check for weight gain or loss. This can be crucial in determining early signs of disease or illness. I recommend weighing your pet weekly. Using your home scale, just weigh yourself holding your pet and then subtract your weight that day. Even just a few extra pounds can be significant in animals, leading to arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and breathing dif? culties. Chances are if you can pinch an inch, your pet is overweight and should see the vet to get started on a weight-loss program. See Chapter 6 on the battle of the bulge for more details. Some long-haired cats and dogs can appear healthy, when in reality they have lost weight, but because of their luxuriant coat, the loss may not be readily apparent. Catching weight loss or gain in the early stages is far better than waiting until it has progressed to something more serious that’s much harder to treat.

Again, be aware of what’s normal for your pet, so when changes occur, you can address them immediately by calling or visiting the vet to get the problem checked out and treated before it becomes severe.

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Dr. Karen Halligan, DVM, is Director of Veterinary Services at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Los Angeles (spcaLA). She is also in private practice in Venice, California, and appears regularly on Animal Planet, Animal Rescue 911, and other television news shows throughout the country. She is one of the country’s leading veterinarians and authorities on preventive healthcare for pets. She shares her life in Los Angeles with Kinky and Nathan, two very spoiled (and healthy) cats. The above content is excerpted from Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know by Karen Halligan. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission from HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 - www.dochalligan.com