What are the Health Benefits of CBD for my Pet?

The jury – medical community – is still out on CBD’s effectiveness.

While there’s no conclusive scientific data – it’s ongoing – in using CBD to treat our furry friends, there’s growing anecdotal evidence suggesting it can treat pain, reduce anxiety, as well as helping to control seizures.

CBD is also purported to deliver anti-inflammatory properties, cardiac benefits, anti-nausea effects, appetite stimulation and anti-anxiety impacts, although there’s no conclusive data on these claims.

Risks and Possible Side Effects of CBD in Pets

The safety of CBD products for pets has not yet been adequately researched. Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have not approved CBD for use on animals. Consequently, there are no guidelines on what dosages to administer to your pet, based on species, breed, body weight or any other number of multiple variables. You’re not entirely on your own – always seek guidance with our Cabbagetown veterinary team first to discuss any potential risks associated with its application.

Any medication or supplement has the possibility of a positive or negative response. If a pet owner wants to use CBD on their pet – regardless of its legality – it is prudent to start out with small amounts and then closely monitor the effects.

More importantly, pet owners should be aware that there are no approved, legal CBD products available to consumers in Canada, although plenty of CBD products are being marketed and sold to those who seek it. If a CBD product does not have a drug identification number (DIN) or a notification number (VHP) then its safety and efficacy can’t be demonstrated.

If you DO choose to try the CBD route for your pet, how do you know what dosage to administer?

The short answer is, you don’t. While there’s no scientific data on the side effects of CBD usage for pets, there are potential side effects based on how CBD affects humans.

• Dry mouth: There is research to show that CBD can decrease the production of saliva. For pets, a noticeable increase in thirst may be apparent.
• Lowered blood pressure: High doses of CBD have been known to cause a short-term drop in blood pressure. Even if the drop is insignificant, it could create a momentary feeling of light-headedness.
• Drowsiness: Pet parents – especially dog owners – have been known to use CBD to treat anxiety. The comforting effect of CBD can also cause slight sluggishness.

Again, a discussion with one of our AAHA Accredited Cabbagetown veterinarians can help clarify risks and help mitigate potential side effects.

Is My Dog at Risk of Canine Lyme Disease?

The short answer is a resounding ‘yes’. If you walk your dog in one of Toronto’s many wonderful series of wooded trail systems, you and your dog are susceptible. Canine Lyme Disease is the most common disease spread by ticks in the Toronto area, initiated by the bite of infected, Ixode scapularis, also known as Deer or Blacklegged ticks. While not all variations of ticks carry Lyme disease, populations of Blacklegged, Deer and American Dog ticks continue to expand in the GTA and other parts of Ontario.

Canine Lyme Disease Risk Assessment:

1.   Have you seen or heard of ticks on people or pets in your area?
2.   Is your dog likely to go into areas where ticks are found?
3.   Do you live in an area with ticks and/or where there are cases of Lyme disease in animals or humans?
4.   Are you likely to travel with your dog to areas where Lyme disease is present?
5.   Have you forgotten to give monthly tick medication on time?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, protection against disease-carrying ticks – a small, chewy and tasty treat – for your dog is recommended.

What is Canine Lyme Disease?

The risk for you and your pet – specifically dogs – of contracting Lyme disease is increasingly on the rise across areas of Ontario.

Incidence of Canine Lyme Disease easily keeps pace with the increased incidence of the disease in humans, and probably more. Although likely true that the incidence of Lyme disease is higher in dogs than humans, there is no national or provincial system for capturing the incidence of Canine Lyme Disease.

Lacking a national or provincial system for tracking, reviewing the human data for Lyme disease is important as an indication of the exposure and potential infection in dogs.

1. It is estimated that 50% of dogs are infected with borrelia burgdorferi in endemic disease areas.
2. Nearly 75% of unvaccinated dogs in endemic areas will eventually test positive, and each year some will develop Lyme disease.
3. Dogs are 50 to 100 times more likely than humans to come in contact with infected ticks.
4. More dogs are likely infected with borellia burgdorferi than reported, as dogs will often show no signs of disease.
5. Dogs spend more time roaming in areas infested with ticks – even in their own backyards – thus making threat of Lyme disease undeniably greater in dogs than in humans

* lymeinfo.ca

A Tick’s Life

Ticks don’t fly, jump or blow around with the wind. They are sluggish and lumbering and can be as small as a poppy seed. Bites are usually painless, so you or your pet may not know that there’s been a bite.

Three things make them so effective at what they do: Their small size, extreme patience and their amazing capacity to locate their host/prey.

Their purpose in life is to propagate their species and inadvertently pass diseases to those hosts they feed on. Ticks don’t feed often, but when they do, they can acquire disease agents from one host and pass it to another host at a later feeding.

Where are Ticks in Toronto Located?

Blacklegged ticks are found most often in forests and overgrown areas between wooded areas and open spaces. This makes for perfect breeding grounds in many parts of Toronto. Specifically,

• The Rouge Valley, east of Toronto
• Don Valley trail system

The Public Health Agency of Canada works with provincial authorities to identify where populations of infected blacklegged ticks have been established or are spreading.

This is the latest Ontario Lyme Disease Map from Public Health Ontario:

More information can be found here:

OAHN-Ticks-Lyme-Infographic-2020

In other parts of Ontario, known endemic (common) areas for Lyme disease are:

• Point Pelee National Park
• Rondeau and Turkey Point Provincial Parks
• Long Point Peninsula, including Long Point Provincial Park
• Wainfleet bog near Welland on the Niagara Peninsula
• Prince Edward County
• Thousand Islands National Park

“Expansion” areas of risk in Ontario include:

• Kingston and surrounding areas along Lake Ontario
• Along the St. Lawrence Valley to the border with Quebec and northeast towards Ottawa
• Northwestern Ontario in the Lake of the Woods region
• Pinery Provincial Park on the shores of Lake Huron

For the most up-to-date information, visit canada.ca/LymeDisease

What Should I Do if I Find Ticks on my Dog?

Removing the ticks within 24-36 hours will usually prevent infection. Using tweezers, grasp the head as close to your pets skin as possible and pull straight out. Wash the area with soap and water, disinfectant with alcohol or hand sanitizer.

If possible, save the tick in a Ziploc bag and record the approximate date of the bite. If symptoms develop, contact our team at the Cabbagetown Pet Clinic.

Can I Get Lyme Disease From My Dog?

No. Although pets – particularly dogs – can contract Lyme disease, there is no evidence that they can spread the infection directly to people. However, pets can carry infected ticks into homes and yards increasing your chance of getting bitten.

Here are some ways to protect yourself when venturing into wooded hiking trails with your dog:

• Wear closed-toe shoes, long-sleeved shirts and pants
• Pull your socks over your pant legs to prevent ticks from crawling up your legs
• Wear light-coloured clothes to identify ticks easier
• Use insect repellent containing DEET
• Shower within two hours of being outdoors to wash away loose ticks
• Do daily full-body check for ticks on yourself, your children and your pets

Can You Test My Dog For Lyme Disease?

Absolutely. Diagnosis is made by a combination of history, physical signs, and diagnostics. For dogs, the test we incorporate at our animal hospital for diagnosing Lyme disease is called the 4DX test. It’s a simple blood test that we run at our AAHA Accredited Cabbagetown animal hospital. This helps you get the answers you need in a timely fashion.

As the name implies, 4DX tests for four things: Heartworm, Lyme disease, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma. Biological vectors, such as mosquitoes and ticks, transmit all four of these diseases and may carry pathogens that can multiply within their bodies and be delivered to new hosts, usually by biting.

The test measures antibodies, meaning how your dog responds or reacts to an infection. A positive test result only indicates exposure to the bacteria. The infection could have occurred sometime in the past, and the immune system may have eliminated the bacteria without your dog ever showing symptoms.

If a positive test result is confirmed, our veterinarian may prescribe antibiotics and/or advise further, more specific testing.

What are the Symptoms of Lyme Disease in Dogs?

Lyme disease is, unfortunately, a relatively common canine illness.

The most common symptom is arthritic pain, accompanied by fatigue and fever. If you’re unsure if your pet has been exposed, contact our Cabbagetown veterinary team to discuss appropriate measures to protect or treat your pet.

Left untreated, symptoms can last for years and include recurring arthritis and neurological problems, kidney failure, numbness and paralysis. We are often asked if Lyme disease can be fatal to a dog? Although uncommon, fatalities from Lyme disease have been reported.

Typical symptoms in dogs include:

• fever
• loss of appetite
• reduced energy
• lameness (can be shifting, intermittent, and recurring)
• generalized stiffness, discomfort, or pain
• swelling of joints

What is the Best Way to Prevent Canine Lyme Disease?

• Prevent ticks from transmitting disease with one of our veterinary-approved flea and tick medications.
• Get your dog vaccinated.
• Inspect your dog (and yourself!) for ticks after walks through wooded trails. Check your dog under their collar, under their tail, between their toes, under their legs and elbows.
• Remove ticks immediately. The quicker you find them the less likely your dog will be infected. Invest in a pair of fine tweezers and learn the proper method of tick removal.
• At your next vet visit, ask our veterinarian to conduct a tick check during the exam. We’ll be able to find any you may have missed.
• Keep your grass mowed and refrain from walking into grassy patches in endemic tick areas.

Here’s a staggering statistic:

One in three pets become lost at some point in their lives.

For anyone avoiding a utility pole, perusing a storefront window or has logged into any social media account, it is not uncommon to see a posting related to someone who has found a lost pet or an owner seeking a lost pet.

The figures from humane societies across North America are sobering and troubling. Millions (!) of pets go missing and are picked up by SPCAs on a daily basis. A significant portion of those lost pets are euthanized because their owners simply cannot be located.

Microchipping isn’t a magic bullet by any means, but it provides a simple, safe and quick means of permanently providing your pet with a distinctive form of identification.

Scroll down for the Top 10 Microchipping FAQ’s

What is a Microchip?

A microchip is a small, electronic chip enclosed in a glass cylinder that is about the same size as a large grain of rice.

The unit is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponder that carries a unique identification number. When scanned by a vet or shelter, it transmits the ID number and is read-only. There’s no battery, no power requirement, and no moving parts. The microchip is injected under the loose skin between your pet’s shoulder blades and can be done in your vet’s office. It’s no more invasive than a standard vaccination.

What it is not.

A microchip does not replace a collar or tag.

If your pet becomes lost, the first person she is likely to encounter will not be an animal shelter or vet clinic employee, but rather your neighbour down the street, or some random citizen who your confused and/or hungry pet took a liking to.

You can save everybody – including your pet – a lot of anxiety by making sure that your pet has a collar with your contact information on it. If the collar comes off, a microchip can serve as a good backup and help your pet find her way home.

Your pet’s microchip is not a GPS.

A microchip is not like a GPS tracker that can be used to find a pet’s location. Microchips don’t transmit information. When a scanner is passed over a microchip, it will show the chip’s code, which is linked to the owner’s contact information. Under no circumstance can the microchip be used to determine a pet’s location.

The microchip is useless if it’s not registered.

Unfortunately, many people believe that if their pet is microchipped, they can never get lost. Any animal shelter or vet will be able to pull up their contact information and call them directly.

Microchips don’t store your personal information – they store a unique code that is linked to that chip. If you don’t register that code and connect it with your contact information, then whoever scans that code will be no closer to finding you than if your pet was microchip-free.

How is a Microchip implanted ?

A needle is used to place a small chip – the size of a large grain of rice – under the animal’s loose skin, usually between the shoulder blades.

It takes seconds. No surgery or anesthesia is required – a microchip can be implanted during a routine veterinary office visit. It takes more time to do the paperwork than implant the microchip.

On the pain scale, it hurts about as much as having blood drawn. It’s a large needle. For that reason, a lot of people have it done when their pets are being spayed or neutered.

This procedure doesn’t need to be done by a veterinarian, although it’s recommended.

Five Benefits of Microchipping Your Pet.

1. Identification collars and tags can break or get lost.
2. Microchips are made to last the life of your pet – up to 25 years.
3. Peace-of-mind. Successful scans result in reuniting you with your pet as soon as possible.
4. Your pet gets lost, it is far less likely to be euthanized or re-homed.
5. You have low-cost and reliable proof of ownership in cases of theft.

Hopefully, your pet will never go missing. But if it happens, you are giving yourself and your cherished pet the best chance of a swift, joyful reunion.

Have you heard of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA)?

Probably not. And why would you?

Maybe you think the AAHA is some backwater acronym for a minor hockey league in Manitoba. Perhaps you’ve read a pet health blog or website that mentioned AAHA Accreditation. Or, maybe you’re familiar with the red-and-white logo you’ve seen at the entrance to the Cabbagetown Pet Clinic.

What do we know – or care – about AAHA Accreditation?

Unlike human hospitals, veterinary hospitals in Canada do NOT require to be accredited by any specific regulatory body. AAHA Accredited animal hospitals are the ONLY facilities that choose to be evaluated on over 900(!) quality standards that go above and beyond basic provincial regulations.

AAHA-Accreditation = Superior Care + Better Value + Healthier Outcomes

What is the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA)?

The Standard of Veterinary Excellence.

Established in 1933, the AAHA has focused on promoting high-quality standards for the constantly progressing segment of small-animal practice through accreditation and other initiatives.

The original directors were convinced that it was necessary to provide better protocols and methods than were generally available for small-animal practices.

That philosophy is still alive today as a guiding principle of the AAHA. It has helped inspire and sustain the growth and development, not only of the AAHA but also of the practice of small-animal medicine throughout Canada and the United States.

AAHA’s MISSION.

“Enhance the abilities of veterinarians to provide quality medical care to companion animals.”

 “Enable veterinarians to successfully conduct their practices and maintain their facilities with high standards of excellence.”

 “Meet the public’s needs as they relate to the delivery of small-animal veterinary medicine.”

The AAHA Standards of Accreditation were developed to push this mission and has established itself as the leader in developing benchmarks of excellence, business practice standards, informative publications, and educational programs – all designed to help veterinary practices thrive.

AAHA’s VISION.

“Seeks to lead the profession in the provision of the highest quality of care for companion animals by improving standards of care, championing accreditation, and supporting our member practices in all aspects of this pursuit.”

The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) is the ONLY organization to certify animal veterinary hospitals across Canada and the US. Today, more than 4500 practices (12-15% of all veterinary practices) are AAHA-accredited.

More information about the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) can be found at aaha.org

Why AAHA Accreditation is Important to our Cabbagetown Pet Clinic Clients.

At the Cabbagetown Pet Clinic, we believe becoming an AAHA-accredited veterinary practice wasn’t about prestige or status – it’s about operating at the highest level. It’s a way to force ourselves to be the best we can be – our dedicated staff is constantly looking to make things better.

AAHA Accreditation serves a variety of purposes.

• It recognizes and quantitatively certifies excellent veterinary practices in Canada and the United States.
• It helps good veterinary hospitals become great ones by bringing out the maximum potential of the practice. AAHA provides the framework and support of running a highly professional practice.
• Practices want the best for their patients and pet owners, and AAHA provides resources for our team to deliver the best medicine.
• It serves as an excellent recruitment tool for us – it acts as a beacon to attract the best-of-the-best candidates who are dedicated to operating at the highest standards.

The accreditation process is challenging, rigorous, voluntary, and not guaranteed. When we made the promise to step up to become accredited, we were making a statement that our practice is committed to excellence to our clients in Cabbagetown.

To become AAHA Accredited, we were required to undergo a rigorous evaluation process to ensure we met ALL of the protocols prescribed by the AAHA.

These include these areas:

• Antimicrobials
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Diabetes Management
• Fluid Therapy
• Infection Control, Prevention and Biosecurity
• Mentoring and Continuing Education
• Nutritional Assessment
• Oncology
• Pain Management
• Preventative Healthcare
• Senior and End-of-Life Care
• Weight Management
• Canine and Feline Life Stages
• Anesthesia
• Dental Care
• Medical Records Management
• Emergency/Urgent Care

To maintain accredited status, we undergo a wide-ranging, on-site evaluation every three years to certify that we are compliant with the AAHA’s mandatory standards.

The Case Against AAHA Accreditation ?

We’ve heard the argument that the stringent AAHA requirements are too rigorous and costly to put into practice, and that those costs get passed onto our clients.

Is there a downside?

No. We would say it’s a commitment to a higher standard by the Cabbagetown Pet Clinic and our clients to go the extra mile and ensure their pets receive best-in-class treatment and preventative care. If that’s considered a downside, we’ll accept that. By the way, our pricing structure is reviewed regularly and is always competitive across the entire Toronto market.

Three Reasons Animal Hospitals may NOT seek AAHA Accreditation.

1. The goals are too burdensome and time-consuming for vet clinics that are limited by space concerns, such as those in big-city, high-expense storefronts.

We recognize this difficulty, but this did not impede our cozy and welcoming facility in downtown Toronto in pursuit of accreditation.

2. AAHA Accreditation standards discriminate against older, established clinics where the quality of care is excellent, but the structural changes necessary for pre-1980 practices are cost-prohibitive.

So, it costs too much? If a practice is still operating with policies and procedures instituted 30 years ago, it seems hard to fathom (but is still possible) that your pet is receiving the latest advances in technological and preventative care.

When purchased in 2008, Cabbagetown Pet Clinic made the commitment to invest in the process to ensure the clinic was prepared to meet the challenges of the stringent AAHA procedure. We were accredited in 2012.

3. Some believe the process is impractical, countering that the vast majority of the pet-owning populace has no idea what it means for an animal hospital to have obtained AAHA Accreditation.

This may be true in some cases, but clients do their homework nowadays and capable of doing research that will put them and their pets in the best possible situation. If more hospitals (currently 12-15% are accredited) worked harder to gain certification, then clients would come to recognize what AAHA means when they see the plaque on the door or the logo on the website.

Eventually, there will be a tipping point – likely initiated by an increasingly highly educated client base – where the majority of practices feel it’s in their best interest to welcome the extra pressure to perform and meet this high AAHA bar. Until then, we will proudly continue our ongoing obligation to meeting (and exceeding) the latest AAHA requirements.

As more practices get onboard with AAHA, we feel that professional practice standards in the veterinarian community will rise and pets everywhere will receive better care.

AAHA and the Future.

Since AAHA was founded, everything they represent has been done has been with one goal in mind: to help veterinary professionals provide exceptional care for companion animals.

We share this goal.

At the Cabbagetown Pet Clinic, we are driven to ensure that your pet is happy, healthy, and has access to the latest innovations in veterinary medicine so you and your pet can enjoy a long, wonderful life together.