Dermoids

A dermoid is a choristoma, wich is a congenital mass of tissue in na abnormal position. Dermoids usually occur at the temporal limbal área, and they generally extend onto the sclera and the cornea. These lesions contain keratinied epithelium, hair, blood vessels, fibrous tissue, fat, nerves, glands, smooth muscle, and even cartilage. Dermoids are presente at birth but may not be recognized clinically until the animal is several weeks old. Dermoids are removed by superficial keratectomy and removal of the adjacente, affected conjunctiva.

Essentials of Veterinary Ophthalmology, Kirk Gellat, 2000

trachemys scripta elegans

German Shepherd

Cats sleep a lot!

Cats are mammals that sleep more per day, spend an average of 16 hours per day sleeping. If you think about it, a cat just seven years of age it was agreed two years of your life!

While they need long periods of rest to restore the energy, sleep is light. Even asleep, your senses alert and stay out of deep sleep at maximum readiness for action in a second, something that other species can not.

Cats that live indoors sleep more because they have fewer incentives and do not need to look for food. Already have outdoor cats fight for survival, have to deal with many natural enemies, so can only be distracted by short periods of time. Age also has cats, elderly tend to take longer naps.

If you think your cat's been sleeping too much, consult your veterinarian, it may be a sign of lethargy and illness. If you think the extra sleep is lazy thinking to buy him more toys and give it more time to exercise.

Squamous cell carcinoma

The squamous cell carcinoma or squamous cell cancer is a malignant skin neoplasia that affects dogs and cats.

The development of this tumor is associated with ultraviolet radiation (prolonged exposure to sunlight), and appears mostly in fair or depigmented skin (white animals or lightly pigmented mucosa).

In dogs the most common location is the face, ears, abdomen, scrotum and limbs. The races are more prone white Boxer, Poodle, Dogo Argentino, Dalmatian, Beagle and Bull Terrier white coat. In cats is more common in the plane nose, lip ears, eyelids and lips.

Early warning signs are the appearance of erythema (vermilion), hair loss in the region and rolled edges of the ear. This is a pre-tumor that can persist for months or years and progress slowly to an injury or mass that does not heal or respond to conservative treatments.

Later appear scaly lesions, granulomas (papillary masses of variable size, looking like a cauliflower), and crusts that bleed easily. Diagnosis is by history and by skin biopsy. Treatment relies on surgical excision and chemotherapy.

Early diagnosis has fundamental effect on prognosis. Prevention is key and owners of light-colored animals should be instructed to limit the maximum exposure to sunlight, restricting it to the early morning or late afternoon, especially in the summer and use high factor sunscreens.

Care before and after the surgical ovariohysterectomy (spaying)

It is a routine surgery, however, implies a general anesthesia inboth the cat and dog, which means it carries risks as any other anesthetic.

It is important that the female is subjected to a thorough clinical examination preferably with early clinical and ECG analysis.

The surgical procedure involves fasting for 12 hours to reduce the risk of vomiting during anesthesia. It implies that the animal is on a drip, which is made pre-medication for pain control and pre-and postoperatively, and the anesthetic protocol is done according to the age of the female, preferably with a volatile anesthetic. The animal must have monitoring respiratory rate and blood pressure and CO2 throughout the surgery. The animal may be discharged a few hours after waking from anesthesia. Some animals take longer to recover and can only return home when they are fully conscious.

It is important that the animal has the vaccines in the day before surgery, since the post-surgical stress can reduce the strength of the immune system to infectious diseases.

Nowadays, most surgeries are quite safe in animals, but the success of treatment and recovery also depend on the quality of care provided by the owners before and after surgery. Please check with your vet.

Myth or Reality: Is it true that all tricolor and tortie cats are female?

Yes, the explanation lies in the genes. The coat color of cats is inherited from the parents of the animal and the genes of colors (black, white and yellow) are present on chromosome X. In reproduction, the female goes to the baby like an X chromosome and the male can send an X, giving rise to a female (XX) or a Y, forming a male (XY). Each cat, therefore, has a pair of genes related to color (one gene from the mother and one from the father) and these genes can be either dominant or recessive.

For a female to have three colors she must possess an X chromosome with the gene and the other yellow X with the dominant white gene.

Males usually have hair unicolor or bicolor. In the latter case, the possible combinations are orange and white or black and white.

A tricolor male is the result of a genetic abnormality, with a probability of occurring less than 1% and it would also have two X chromosomes (one with the yellow gene and the other with white), and the Y chromosome, which makes the male. This results in a chromosomal aberration. When this rarity happens, the tricolor cat (XXY) is sterile.

Helena Rios, DVM

How to clean your pet's ears?

The ear has a rich environment in the growth of fungi and bacteria, so it's important to clean the ears regularly for prevention of otitis (inflammation and/or infection of the ear canal).

The most common symptoms of otitis are itching in the ears, shaking his head, lateralization of the head, pain on manipulation of auricular area, bad odor and dark secretions or cerumen in the ears.

The floppy-eared dogs like Cocker Spaniel, Basset Hound and Labrador Retriever have more ear problems because the conduct  is poorly ventilated and have humidity.

Also, long-haired animals are more prone to ear infections because they enter into the ear canal. To avoid this we must drawall the hairs that are in the inner ear.

The cleaning of the ears should be done weekly, with the help of cotton or gauze and otological products that help in the dissolution and removal of cerumen.

After applying the cleaner, you should gently massage the ear for a few seconds for the product to be distributed throughout the ear canal and then wipe with gauze.

Should leave the animal wiggle its ears to remove excess liquid and then wipe again with gauze, inserting a finger and removing as much dirt in order to leave the ear canal completely clean and dry.

For some animals the time of cleaning of the ears is not pleasant, you should always have a biscuit reward.

Check with your veterinarian and remember that cleaning the ears should be a preventive measure.

Helena Rios, DVM

Does your pet needs to brush his teeth?

The periodic oral hygiene of your dog or cat is essential for the prevention of dental and gingival diseases that lead to tooth loss and therefore decreases the life expectancy of your pet.
Most dental problems are irreversible once established and require the attention of the veterinarian and even aggressive treatment of scaling and removal of teeth, so prevention is key.
There are toothpastes specially designed for dogs and cats (enzymatic and veterinary use). You should accustom your pet, from puppy or kitten, to brushing and with calm, patience and time, you will habituate it, even if they never get to like brushing their teeth.
If you're unable to maintain this routine, either for total lack of cooperation of the animal, either by lack of availability of products, there are a variety of bars and cookies that replace the toothbrush and toothpaste.
The oral health is fundamental to the overall health of your pet.

Helena Rios, DVM