Because it’s actually very uncommon to find ear mites in dogs.

Ear mites are a small, almost microscopic organism related to spiders and ticks. They cause significant irritation to the ear canal, which leads to an overabundance of dark debris that is a mixture of secretions, mite feces, and dead skin cells. The mites cause intense itching, leading to scratching and shaking the ears. Mites are arguably the most common cause of ear irritation in cats, but not in dogs. I see a case of ear mites in dogs maybe a couple of times per year, whereas I see infections almost daily, especially during warm weather.

In the huge majority of dogs, if there is debris, odor and itching of the ears, an infection is present. There are a number of reasons infections can occur, including underlying allergy disorders (food, pollen, mold, grass, etc.), excessive moisture in the ears, ear structure (heavy, floppy, hairy ears) and so on. If an infection happens two or more times in a 12 month period, it is considered a symptom of a greater problem and the underlying cause needs to be addressed. Several types of bacteria, as well as yeast, can be found as the infectious organism, and proper identification is important in determining the proper medicine used in treatment. There is no way to tell by doing a simple physical exam whether the infection is rods, cocci (different types of bacteria), yeast, or a mixture of these.

It’s also very important to have your pet’s ears cleaned if mites or an infection are present. The debris can make it difficult for the medicine to reach the skin and can even inactivate some of the ingredients. Your vet can do a more thorough job of cleaning the ears (which may require sedation), but it’s necessary to continue cleaning the ears for 1-2 weeks during the treatment at home. Talk to your vet about the proper way to clean ears. You can also find additional information on cleaning in the Banfield pet health library.

So what do you do? How do you tell the difference between an infection and mites?

Go to the vet and have an ear exam and swab performed. Sometimes, we can see mites with even the small magnification on our otoscope, but we need to get a sample of the debris and look under the microscope to be certain. It’s also not uncommon to see an infection secondary to the mites, requiring more than one medication. Proper identification of the mites or microorganisms will allow faster and more effective treatment. It’s also important to follow your vet’s advice for follow-up exams to see if the infection has resolved. While most infections can be treated in about two weeks, some require 4-6 weeks of continual treatment. Improper or incomplete treatment can result in persistent pain and even permanent damage to the ears.

Dr. Carson, Dr. Thompson and the entire West Hills staff were on hand to meet folks from the neighborhood and give tours of the beautiful, full-service hospital. And of course, they treated plenty of pets, too.

The weekend’s activities also included the first ever “Dance Your Tail Off” contest for dogs, judged by Dancing with the Stars celebrities Drew Lachey and Anna Trebunskaya. Using the Cinco de Mayo date to its full advantage, dogs (and their 2-legged partners) tangoed, salsa’ed and cha cha cha’ed for the crowd. Three talented pups were rewarded for their moves with a one-year Optimum Wellness Plan from Banfield.

To commemorate the grand opening and give back to the Portland pet community, 20 percent of our opening weekend revenue was donated to the Washington Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter. If anyone in the Portland area isn’t aware of the tremendous work that this shelter is doing, I highly recommend checking them out.

You can stay up to date on all of our Banfield openings and community events by subscribing to this blog or checking our Facebook page for upcoming events.

“She gave me The Look.” That’s what my aunt always said when I asked her how she knew, when faced with dozens of furry faces at her local shelter, that a little black dog named Gypsy was the one that she wanted to bring home.

I didn’t fully understand the concept of The Look until years later when I was searching for my own dog to adopt. I walked up and down the rows of kennels until I came to a very cute, very orange 1-year-old mixed breed dog. He was barking incessantly. He lifted his leg on a stack of newspapers when they brought him out to see me. The volunteer informed me that he had been previously adopted, but the owners brought him back after one week. Red flags? Sure. But there it was, clear as day– The Look.  A little bit of paperwork and $75 dollars later, he hopped in my car and we headed home.

Riley demonstrating "The Look"

Riley and I had our growing pains in the beginning. I’ll save stories of behavioral challenges, learning opportunities, and the coffee table that was my favorite piece of furniture until Riley ate it, for later. He’s a great dog in general, and a perfect dog for me. But basing my decision entirely on the cute factor and his big brown eyes was probably not the best idea. Though it turns out, I’m not alone.

A recent study released by the ASPCA shows that when it comes to selecting a dog, physical appearance is the number one factor that influences people’s decision. Cats on the other hand, are chosen more for their behavioral traits than their looks. These results don’t surprise me– who can resist a puppy face or a mischievous, playful cat? But as everyone who has a pet knows, there is a lot more to them than their looks or endearing behaviors.

This is what makes the study by the ASPCA interesting. The results provide insight to the adoption counselors that work in shelters, and can help them direct people to pets that fit their home and lifestyles. By knowing what motivates people to choose a pet, counselors can guide conversations and help make good matches that will last a lifetime.

Watch the video below to learn more about how people choose pets at shelters.

The ASPCA estimates that 5-7 million companion animals enter shelters each year, and about half of those are brought in and relinquished by owners (as opposed to picked up by animal control). Anything that helps pet passionate families find their perfect pet sounds like good news to me!

I can promise that in about 99% of those cases, I can find some problem with the client’s expectations, application, or other situations that are unrelated to the actual efficacy of the product. Not long ago, a parasitologist from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, Dr. Mike Dryden (sometimes called “Dr. Flea” because of his extensive research on these insects), did a study on apparent failure of flea products. He visited 1,000 homes in the Tampa, Florida area, all of whom said that they were using preventative appropriately. In all of those homes he found no real evidence of flea resistance, and in all but one or two found that the client had the wrong understanding of fleas and how the products work or weren’t using them properly. Anecdotally, I have seen the same situation time and time again. There is little to no evidence of any sort that fleas have developed any resistance to products released in the last few years, and these products are actually very effective.

“But I’m using it!” you might say. ”I still see fleas!  It’s just not working!” Here is a list of common reasons why a product might appear to “fail”, when in actually it’s working just fine.

• Over-bathing: Bathing a pet more often than 1-2 times per month with most shampoos can significantly reduce the natural oil layer in this skin. This oil layer is what carries the topical flea products, so removing it will significantly decrease the effectiveness of anything placed on the skin. Talk to your vet about soap-free shampoos that won’t strip this oil.
• Inconsistent use: Since fleas can live for 100 days without feeding, and a flea egg can take up to six months before becoming an adult, you need to use flea preventions every single month. If you skip months you can allow adults to feed and reproduce, continuing the problem.
• Not treating every pet: Fleas aren’t picky about their choice of meal and will potentially choose any warm-blooded animal. In order to get fleas under control, you need to treat every pet in your household, even if you’re not seeing fleas on them. Otherwise, the fleas will continue to feed and reproduce from the untreated pets. Sometimes this can mean giving prevention to ferrets, guinea pigs, and rabbits. There are products safe to use on these “exotic” pets, so check with your vet for the proper recommendations.
• Not treating the environment: Adult fleas are only 5% of the flea population. If you’re not treating your house and yard, you’re missing the eggs, larvae, and cocoons, which account for the other 95%!
• Many wild animals: If you have a high population of wild animals (raccoons, opossums, deer, etc.), or stray dogs and cats, you may never completely control your yard. In one of the cases that Dr. Dryden examined, he found that the client actually was doing everything they should have, but was still having fleas. Upon further investigation, they found a family of raccoons in the woods just behind the client’s house. These animals were infested with fleas, and were continually bringing flea eggs into areas that the client’s dogs also walked. Without eliminating the raccoons and other wild animals, it may be impossible to completely eradicate some populations of fleas. 
• Not treating for long enough: A single treatment on your pet or in your house will not resolve a problem! Because of the flea life cycle and the delay from egg to adult, you will have a staggered population in the environment. You will need to treat for several months (2-3 minimum) before you can expect to start seeing a significant effect. If you used one dose and are still seeing fleas, I will tell you to keep treating for longer
• Stopping treatment too soon: Remember that fleas can be delayed in their development. Eggs laid in July may not become adults until Thanksgiving! If you think you have the fleas under control after a few months and stop using prevention, there may be some undeveloped stages that will then have an opportunity to grow and start the cycle all over again.
• No “force field”: Most flea products have minimal to no repellency. In fact, they are all dependent on the fleas actually coming in contact with the skin or even biting the pet. With no contact the fleas won’t be killed. Simply seeing fleas doesn’t mean that the product isn’t working, though it does mean that you need to work in all areas for complete control
• Flushing effect: Some flea preventions (such as FirstShield and Vectra) have a “flushing effect”. When the fleas contact the skin and therefore the product, they begin to feel nerve stimulation, which they don’t like. They quickly try to get away from the skin, which “flushes” them to the surface of the coat where they may be more noticeable. If you see a lot of fleas on the top of the coat, but few on the surface of the skin, the product is actually working well!

As you hopefully can see, complete flea control requires much more than simply giving a prevention once per month. You need to understand the flea life cycle and how the products work in order to have maximum effectiveness and get your problem under control. As always, using prevention before you see fleas is going to be much more effective than waiting until you have them. Talk to your vet today about the best products for your pet!

The most common issue that I have seen with bones has been injury to the mouth or teeth. Bones are very hard and tend to splinter when chewed. When they splinter, they can become very sharp and cause injury to the gums, tongue and cheek. In one case, a bone fragment got stuck in the cheek and was so deep that I ended up having to cut from the outside to remove the fragment. The other main injury that I have seen is broken teeth. The way that some dogs chew on bones causes fractures to the carnassial and or canine teeth. The carnassials are the large teeth near the back of the mouth, and the canines are the large teeth in the front of the mouth. When this occurs, it causes pain and discomfort to the pet. If left untreated, it can lead to infections in the mouth. The only treatment for fractured teeth is either a root canal or extraction. Both of these treatments require general anesthesia and are expensive.

The other big concern is that the dog will ingest the bone. Again, as they chew the bone it tends to splinter and the splinters can be very sharp. These splinters can cause irritation to the intestinal tract if they are swallowed and can even perforate the GI tract, which can be life threatening. In some cases, I’ve seen dogs swallow large pieces of the bone or even swallow some bones whole. When large pieces are swallowed, it can lead to a blockage of the intestinal system. This can also be life threatening. When the pet has a GI blockage or the bone fragments have penetrated the GI tract, the only treatment is emergency surgery.

There are safer alternatives to bones that your pet can chew on. The chew treat that I use for my own pet and highly recommend are Greenies. Greenies are designed to be chewed and swallowed. The main concern with any treat that is designed to be chewed is to make sure that your pet actually does chew it and not swallow it whole.

The toys that I use and recommend are the hard rubber variety such as Kongs. These toys are designed to stand up to the constant chewing and can take a lot of abuse. A stuffed toy lasts about 15 minutes in my house. The hard rubber toys that my dog prefers can last years. With any toy, make sure that it is large enough that your pet cannot swallow it whole. Also, if the toy becomes damaged, make sure to take it away from your pet so that they cannot swallow any pieces of the toy.

A cat reaches sexual maturity at around 7 to 9 months old, though sometimes as early as 6 months. They are considered for the most part to be seasonally reproductive, giving birth in the spring or summer. Female cats are “induced ovulators”, meaning that once they go into heat they don’t immediately release eggs. Instead, they will continue to cycle in and out of heat until they mate. Anyone who has been around a cat in heat can attest to how annoying this can be! Once a cat mates, the female is pregnant for about two months (61-63 days on average) and will give birth to a litter that averages 2-5 kittens (though there can be up to 10 in some litters). In studies, cats average 1.4 litters per year, with some rare cats having as many as three in a year. In stray cats, the kitten survival rate to adulthood can be as low as 50%, or even lower in some situations.

How about we crunch some of that data? Let’s take an average female who goes into heat at 8 months old, has 4 kittens in every litter, and 50% of the litter survives (2 kittens). Since there is an average 50/50 ratio of males to females, in each litter there is one female that survives to have kittens on her own. So in the first year we have two cats (male and female) that becomes four (2 surviving kittens), with one of them being female. In about nine months both females give birth, and assuming the above survival rate we now have eight cats. Fast-forward another nine months and we now have 16 cats, and then the numbers keep creeping up exponentially. According to one study, in seven years two cats can result in a total of anywhere from 98 to 5,000 cats! Since a cat can live an average of 13-16 years (and some longer), the number is even greater over a lifetime!

Obviously these numbers are a very compelling reason to spay and neuter your cats. In many communities there are programs that will spay/neuter and then release stray or feral cats to try to keep the wild population down. But reproduction is not the only reason to have your cats “fixed”. Incident rates of certain kinds of cancer are significantly reduced after spaying. Male cats have a very high likelihood of “spraying” urine to mark their territory, and the odor is strong and difficult to eliminate. You have higher aggression rates with intact cats, and fighting carries risks of abscess and transmission of serious diseases such as feline leukemia and feline AIDS.

Cats are indeed wonderful pets. Talk to your vet about spaying or neutering to help keep them that way.

1. Safety always comes first. Regardless of whether a pet will be joining your family or not, the first thing that kids should be taught is how to interact safely with the animals they encounter. Both the American Kennel Club (AKC) and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) have some wonderful resources, both summarized and detailed, to help teach anyone the basics. Every child should know to always request permission from an owner before approaching a dog. Even the friendliest of mutts can turn into Cujo under the wrong circumstances. Modeling the correct manner in which to approach and speak to a pet, and then practicing these behaviors with a friendly pet, are great ways to ensure the child does everything in its power to avoid a scary situation. Teaching a child how to “read” the body language of pets is also very important and can be particularly helpful when building relationships between kids and pets within the home. Make sure young children are not left unsupervised with any pets, and be careful about gauging your child’s maturity level before you slacken the supervision rule.
2. Choose an appropriate pet. If ownership is what you are looking for, take the time to find out what pet will best fit the family and the particular age of the child or children in the family. Different pets will be best for children at different ages. Don’t expect a dog to be the ubiquitous family pet. Be realistic about your expectations regarding how much involvement the child will have in the pet’s care. Too many pets, particularly cats and dogs, end up in the pound due to a misguided attempt to expand the family with a furry companion. Pocket pets don’t fare too much better when they join a family with children who are too young to understand how fragile they are. Pets have varying needs and these should be high on the list of considerations before adding a new member of the family.

All that being said, caring for a pet is a great way for children to develop skills that are critical for their development and for their success as adults. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is also another great resource for information about child and pet cohabitation. They list a number of reasons why pet ownership is valuable for children, including developing self-esteem and self-confidence, as well as compassion and empathy.

Twinkle was certainly one of my best friends as I grew up. Losing her was one of the hardest lessons of my childhood but dealing with that grief made me much better able to deal with other episodes of loss that are inevitable as one grows up. Pet ownership with kids can be an engaging, educational and adventurous ride. Time spent in the “planning phase”, accompanied by appropriate monitoring once the pet has joined the family, can pay huge dividends for all involved.

I laugh when I read Erma’s tale of parental panic – who would offer such an irrelevant response? But then I think back to the time I had to take my dog, Riley, to the vet because he had devoured a pack of sugarless gum that contained Xylitol, an ingredient toxic to dogs. When the doctor asked me what kind of gum he’d eaten, I’m almost positive I said “winterfresh.”

To make matters worse, not only was my initial answer insufficient, but even additional information, like the brand name or manufacturer of the gum, didn’t immediately provide the details the doctor needed to start treatment. What he really needed was a list of the active ingredients that Riley had ingested. Luckily we were able to find the necessary information quickly, but had I brought the package of gum with me to the hospital it would have sped up the process of determining a course of action.

I asked one of our Banfield veterinarians, Dr. Chris Bern, about the importance of providing very specific information in the case of a poisoning, and he used rat poison as an example to illustrate his point. In the past, common rodenticides prevented blood from clotting, and caused animals to hemorrhage to death. Newer formulas, however, use different ingredients that can cause brain swelling or other symptoms. So without knowing exactly what type of rat poison a pet consumed, your vet has no idea what symptoms to look for or what treatment to administer, and that could result in a delay of treatment, or even death.

So if you find yourself dealing with a toxic emergency, don’t just take your pet to the hospital. Also bring in the packaging for whatever was consumed so your vet can review the ingredient list. It’s also good to have other resources at your fingertips, like Pet Poison Helpline. Their website offers comprehensive information about toxins, as well as safety tips. They also have a 24/7 phone line you can call in the event your pet has ingested something poisonous. There is a fee for service, and you’ll need to have the ingredients handy when you call, but the information they provide could prove critical in an emergency.

Being prepared for an emergency is important, but preventing one altogether is even better. You can review a list of common household toxins on the Banfield website and use this information to provide a safe environment for your pets.

Good breeders will:

1. Interview you and ask questions, such as why you want one of their puppies, what kind of lifestyle you have, what your family is like, and where the puppy will spend most of its day.
2. Welcome all of your questions and answer them to their fullest ability so you can make an informed decision about buying one of their puppies.
3. Know the ancestry of the puppies, starting with the parents, then grandparents and even beyond.
4. Happily and readily show proof of genetic screening for both parents.
5. Allow you to see both parents (assuming the father is also on sight), and both parents will be happy, friendly and outgoing.
6. Give you references from families who have already bought a puppy from them, as well as from the veterinarian that cares for their pets.
7. Provide health documentation for both the parents and the puppies prior to purchase; all puppies will be dewormed and have received their first round of vaccines.
8. Wean their puppies at 7-8 weeks of age (and no sooner).
9. Socialize the puppies with other people and animals.
10. Allow both the adults and puppies to spend time in the house and consider them part of the family. They don’t keep the dogs out in kenneled runs for most of their lives.
11. Require you to sign a written contract that includes a health guarantee, and require you to spay/neuter your puppy (assuming it is going to be a companion pet and not a show dog). They will also require you to contact them if you should ever be in a situation where you can no longer keep the dog.
12. Have an open door throughout the life of your dog and provide all the guidance and support that they can.
13. Have several years of experience breeding the specific breed, and have a waiting list to buy a puppy because they preferably only breed each dog one time per year.
14. Be actively involved in local, state and national clubs for that particular breed; they may also show their dogs.
15. Breed only one specific breed, maybe two – anymore than that should raise concern.

Above all else, constantly ask yourself this question through every stage of the selection and buying process: is the breeder behaving the way you would if you really cared about the puppies and wanted to ensure that they have happy and healthy lives in their new homes? If any red flags are raised for any reason, trust your instincts and continue your search to find and support a reputable breeder.

1) Start by gaining more information about the particular species of exotic pets. The most important information includes the natural history of the species, its native geographic location, the climate of its native geographic location, its diet in the wild and its habits in the wild. Unlike dogs and cats, which have undergone generations of domestication, most species of exotic pets were not bred for the purpose of being a pet. The closer the environment you provide is to their natural environment, the lower the chances of them becoming sick as a result of poor diet and husbandry.

2) Compare different sources of information and highlight differences in recommendations provided by these sources. The source that bases its recommendation on the point above is more likely to be accurate.

3) When in doubt, consult with a veterinarian. Veterinarians have access to sources of information, including exotic pet medicine textbooks and contact with exotic pet medicine specialists, which could be invaluable.

I’ll be writing about specific information on proper care of each broad category of exotic pet species in future posts, so check back soon!