By Dr. Lars Rahmquist [email protected]
Lars Rahmquist studied veterinary surgery at Sydney University, graduating in 1996 with first class honours. He has worked in a number of fields in veterinary practice, including dairy medicine, equine practice, wildlife work in Nepal and small animal clinics in four different countries. Lars is a practising VIP partner in Lagos.
Well, August hasn’t shirked its reputation as the hottest of them all. Hopefully most of you are enjoying the weather around the pool, the beach or up on the river systems.
For me, this is the perfect time to fire up the barbecue. At a social BBQ, the biggest threat to your pet is the overly friendly guest who wants to give their sausages and T-bone leftovers to your dog.
Dogs are very prone to a condition called pancreatitis. This can be brought on by ingesting a fatty meal. Feeding enough whole sausages, off-cuts from the steaks and, of course, the porco will all bring on pancreatitis in a dog.
The pancreas stores digestive enzymes inside it. If it becomes inflamed, these enzymes get released and start to digest the tissues and the fat around the anterior abdomen.
This is not only extremely painful but it can lead onto shock and eventually death.
Bones from the BBQ are also bad for dogs. Cooked bones become brittle and can splinter in your dog’s oesophagus, stomach or intestines.
Make sure to not give cooked bones to your pets OR that the dog-loving guests don’t do it either.
I will restate that raw bones are not brittle and tend to be OK for dogs to eat and they are very good for dog’s teeth and gums as they chew them.
As always in summer, ticks are on the prowl. Every day we see another cat or dog coming in with tick fever infections.
Left untreated, they will die. Please make sure your pet is protected from ticks and do daily tick checks on your pet as an extra precaution.
Contact your vet for further advice about products available for tick control. The same goes for heartworm and Leishmaniasis.
Get out and enjoy the weather, enjoy the water and enjoy the BBQs in the warm afternoons.
From us all at VIP Vets
VIP Veterinary Surgery can be contacted on 282 782 282.
