Category: Newsletter

West Nile Virus There’s a lot of talk this summer about West Nile Virus in dogs. Fortunately dogs seem to be pretty resistant to the virus. There was 1 confirmed dog case in Illinois last summer in which the dog died of neurologic signs. Heartworm disease is still the number one mosquito borne disease of dogs in our area. I’ve also been asked about mosquito control. Bayer has come out with a new product called K9 Advantix™ (you may have seen the commercials on TV). It kills and controls fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. It is a spot-on product applied to...

Miscellaneous Gastrointestinal Conditions Gastroenteritis “Gastroenteritis” specifically refers to inflammation of the stomach, small intestine and large intestine without diagnosis of the cause. Most often this condition is caused by changes in diet whether intentional or unintentional, bacterial disease, viral disease, parasites, medical diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease or other conditions, toxicities, etc. The most common cause is changes in the diet and is usually seen as colitis which typically has clinical signs such as loose, cow-pie stools, mucous (“slimy stools”), straining to have bowel movements with little or no stool (tenesmus), blood in the stool (hematochezia), having frequent, small...

Holiday Hazards With the holidays upon us with need to think about our pets and the trouble they can get into at this time of the year: Plants — Some of the holiday plants can be toxic to our pets. Holly can cause GI distress and depression, mistletoe can lead to GI problems and various nervous system signs and poinsettia ingestion can result in increased salivation, and vomiting. Parties — Holiday parties can cause problems for pets. Pets should probably not be invited to the parties in your home. Caution guests not to feed your pets — holiday foods are...

Current Information on the Development of DNA Markers for Familial Shar-Pei Fever One of the first research projects funded by the Chinese Shar-Pei Club of America, Inc. and the CSPCA Charitable Trust was began in 1997 by Dr. Gary Johnson at the University of Missouri, Columbia. The main objective of the project was to test the the- ory that FSF is a canine version of Familial Mediterranean Fever in humans. It was felt that a mutation occurring in the canine equivalent of the human FMF gene was responsible for FSF in the Shar-Pei breed. Initially this was to be accomplished...

I have been receiving questions regarding the new injectable heartworm preventative from Fort Dodge called ProHeart6®. This is a formulation ofmoxidectin and one injection provides 6 months of heartworm prevention. It’s a relatively new product and I have not heard much about problems associated with the injection other than occasional pain and/or inflammation at the injection site. The product is also effective for treatment of hookworms. It is used in dogs 6 months of age or older. We are not currently stocking the product at this time and probably won’t for another year or so. One of the major problems...

Plan of Action for Amyloidosis This article by Dr. Vidt presents a plan to monitor Shar-Pei with the goal of uncovering renal amyloidosis as early as possible and then instituting appropriate dietary and medical intervention. It does contain some technical terms which your veterinarian may be able to simplify for you. The author urges you to discuss this article with veterinarian and then both of you can work together in dealing with this troubling disease. Renal amyloidosis has hit the Shar-Pei fancy in recent years and left many of us feeling helpless as we watch young Shar-Pei sicken and die...

I recently returned from the canine cancer conference titled “Genes, Dogs and Cancer: Emerging Concepts in Molecular Diagnosis and Therapy” sponsored by the AKC Canine Health Foundation, the Heska Corporation and hosted by the AMC Cancer Research Center of Denver, CO. The conference was held at the beautiful Keystone Resort in Colorado May 21 and 22. I was especially interested in attending since the Chinese Shar-Pei Club of America Charitable Trust was a contributing sponsor along with the American Boxer Club Charitable Trust, the Flat-Coated Retriever Club of America and the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America. The conference brought...

In this issue of the Shar-Pei News I want to begin a discussion of the history of the Chinese Shar-Pei. Most of the information presented is based on my own research and the conclusions reached are solely my own opinion. I get a lot of questions concerning the background of the breed and I thought this series would provide some interesting details and insight. Further newsletters will contain more on the history of the breed. Remember heartworm season is just around the corner! Call the hospital to schedule your dog’s heartworm test soon. Another article in the newsletter deals with...

Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (STSS) *There is a PowerPoint presentation in the VetsOnly Section that contains more pictures and information for veterinarians. While the vast majority of the episodes of Familial Shar-Pei Fever (FSF) seen in Shar-Pei run a fairly benign course there are occasional exceptions which can have live-threatening consequences.  Over the last few years Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (STSS) has been seen more frequently as a complication of FSF in the Chinese Shar-Pei.  STSS involves infection with a group G streptococcus called Streptococcus canis. In the Shar-Pei cases I’ve seen this streptococcal infection is a rapidly progressing, highly...

This issue of the newsletter deals with cancer in the Shar-Pei. Cancer research in people has discovered the underlying cause of cancer – genetic mutations in the instructions in the instruction book for our cells, the genes. Genes are made up of chromosomes and chromosomes are composed of the basic building blocks of life, DNA. Any mutation in the DNA translates up the line to give bad information to the cells. Cancer can result. Research is being conducted into how we can reverse or correct this process. The question now is how can we prevent cancer? Certainly good diets, a...