Osteoarthritis Diagnosis and Treatment

Marty and Laura tackle the topic of osteoarthritis in our pets, diagnosis, treatment and the differences between cats and dogs with this disease.

“The only time we’ll see a pet cry in pain is if they have either serious trauma or they slipped a disc in their neck and those dogs vocalize,” Marty said. “But they won’t vocalize because they’ve torn a cruciate. They won’t vocalize because they have hip dysplasia or back problem or elbow dysplasia or 1 of 1000 other causes of osteoarthritis. And so our perception, especially in cats, but in dogs as well, is that they’re not in any pain because they’re not crying.”

“We know the dogs are in pain, even if they’re not crying. If they’re not walking normally, they’re in pain. That’s just the bottom line and something you need to just know and understand and accept.”

Marty walks through the various treatment options. There are multiple options for dogs, although only one for cats. Various commercial diets are formulated to provide support for pets with osteoarthritis.

“(These diets are) based on increasing the fatty acids, increasing the glucosamine, trying to improve joint lubrication and just generally making the pet feel better. Dogs and cats, first and foremost, if they’re overweight, get weight off of them because that is going to be the best thing that you can do for them non drug wise or drug wise. That is the one single thing that you can do to really improve their quality of life is for them to not have to carry that much weight on those sore, achy, tired joints. Every part of their body hurts, so get their weight down.”

Dip in to hear the rest of Marty’s recommendations. Don’t forget to like and follow the show and share with your friends.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Encephalitis, Meningitis and More

Marty and Laura tackle a really tough topic today, talking about encephalitis and meningitis and other assorted brain and spinal cord inflammation.

“These are scary because the dogs get very sick and it’s a very difficult diagnosis to make,” Marty said. “It usually requires some advanced imaging, some advanced testing. It’s not an easy diagnosis to nail down and it’s not an easy treatment to develop.

This category of illness is complicated due to the variety of causes, from bacterial infection to autoimmune mediated, and the vagueness of the symptoms, Marty added.

“Sometimes you have to just say, okay, we’re going to use a pretty hefty antibiotic and we’re

going to do a pretty hefty anti-inflammatory dose,” Marty said. “And you’re going to like pray like mad and hope like hell that you’re making the right decisions. And sometimes you don’t simply because you don’t have the ability to get the information you need at all or quickly enough to make those decisions because you don’t have 10 days. I mean, you literally may not have 10 days to get this figured out.” 

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Managing Grief Over Pet Passing

Marty and Laura are joined by Lindsay Stanton, grief coach and author to discuss managing grief after losing a pet.

“At the end of the day, grief and trauma run down very parallel paths,” Stanton noted. “And depending on the type of grief that you’re experiencing, it can be extremely traumatic. And depending on the way the person or pet passed, it can be extremely traumatic.”

“If you’re really a dog person or really a cat person, you understand the gravity of that loss,” Marty said. “And society oftentimes minimizes it by saying, well, it’s just a dog, it’s just a cat, and it’s really insensitive. And it’s really inappropriate because we need to help people and for children especially, not that this is easy as an adult either, but for children especially, this may be the first loss that they experience before a grandparent or before a parent is lost, it may be a pet.

“And so unfortunately, this can be a learning experience for younger people to learn to navigate through, how grief happens, the stages of grief and how to be kind to yourself. Sometimes you expect more of yourself than you should be able to provide. So I think it’s permission for people to learn how to grieve.”

Stanton walks our hosts and listeners through various coping skills for managing grief, including yoga, meditation and reiki.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Types, Causes and Treatment of Seizures

Marty and Laura take on the tough topic of seizures in our pets. They break down the types of seizures, what may cause them and treatment options based on the cause.

Sparked by a listener request to cover the topic when a client dog had a hypoglycemic seizure in a groom shop, this episode is for everyone who owns a dog. All dogs and cats can experience a seizure whether from low blood sugar, ingestion of toxin, various diseases and what is known as “idiopathic epilepsy” which literally means seizures of unknown origins.

“There’s a lot of different reasons that pets can seize,” Marty noted. “First of all, it’s really upsetting when it happens because it’s scary. So it happens fast and they go from looking normal to not normal, and it can be pretty startling.

“The first thing to do if your pet is seizing is give glucose in some form and then seek veterinary care. Glucose can be ice cream, it can be honey, it can be Maple syrup, it can be Cairo syrup, it can be caramels. But the second thing you need to do is go to the veterinary clinic.

“(Glucose) can be absorbed through their gums, so you don’t have to get them to swallow it. If you just have a liquid Karo syrup, honey, Maple syrup, dark Karo syrup, light cover syrup, I don’t care. Any of those are fine. And they can absorb it right through their gums. Do not pry their mouth open and try and pull out their tongue. I can guarantee you’ll get bitten and it is not worth it because they’re not going to choke on their tongue.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.