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Personality and temperment of a Bichon.

Bichons have an independent spirit, are intelligent, affectionate, bold, lively charming, gentle fluff. They have a self-assured, happy temperament that is easy to live with. These bright little angels are easy to train and love everyone. They need people to be happy. They are naturally sociable and are happiest when they are part of a family that takes them everywhere. This sociable trait also means that they are fine in the company of other pets and are excellent with children.They will alert you to intrutors. Bichons love to perform tricks because they love to entertain you. Bichons are obedient when loved. www.bichonlovers.com

Saturday, April 30, 2011

If you have a dog ... PLEASE read this and send it on. If you don't have a dog, please pass along to friends who do.

Click on the Snopes.com link at the end of this for confirmation and more detailed info.

If you have a dog ... PLEASE read this and send it on. If you don't have a dog, please pass along to friends who do.
Written by: Laurinda Morris, DVM Danville Veterinary Clinic Danville , OHThis week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday.He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1 AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7 AM. I had heard somewhere about raisins AND

grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn't seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me - had heard something about it, but... Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 & 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.

The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the

bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids. At that point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care.

He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting

medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his

blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220 ... He continued to vomit and the owners elected to Euthanize.

This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this very serious risk.

Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.

Onions, chocolate, cocoa, avocadoes and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too.

Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends

who do. This is worth passing on to them.

Confirmation from Snopes about the above .....

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins..asp

web site - http://www.bichonlovers.com/
email - bichonlovers@sympatico.ca
Bichon & Yorkie Lovers where dreams really do come true..

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How Often Should You Vaccinate Your Cat or Dog? Vaccination vs. Immunization

I asked Dr. Schultz to expand on the difference between being vaccinated and being immunized. According to Dr. Schultz, and I certainly agree, we tend to do a lot of vaccinating, but at times we don't do much immunizing – especially when it comes to kittens and puppies.

The maternally-derived antibodies passed to puppies and kittens can actually block vaccines from working. It's one of the reasons we give a series of vaccines to young animals.

In the 1960s and 1970s when we first started using vaccines, vets would create a nomograph for litters to determine when they could be effectively vaccinated. The nomograph was based on the antibody titers of the mothers. Using half-life to predict when the mother's antibodies would wear off in her babies, we could determine exactly when the puppies or kittens should be immunized. Maternally-derived antibodies wear off between about five and a half and nine weeks.

The time period between when the maternal antibodies die off and the baby's immune system is strong enough to protect it provides a window of opportunity in which if the puppies or kittens are exposed to a virus it can kill them.

The purpose of vaccines is to stimulate the immature immune system to make antibodies so if in the event a puppy or kitten is exposed to an infectious disease, it will be able to mount an immune response to fight it off.

The beauty of the nomograph is it provides the information needed to vaccinate a puppy or kitten only once, because it predicts pretty much exactly when the litter will no longer be protected by maternal antibodies. This allows you to give the kitten or puppy the correct vaccines at the appropriate times, and avoids giving unnecessary vaccines.

A drawback to use of the nomograph method is that it takes a fair amount of time to get the results. Another drawback is the maternally derived antibodies for the various viruses die off in the puppy or kitten at different times. For example, a puppy might respond to distemper at 8 weeks, but not to parvo until 12 or 14 weeks.

If you work with a holistic vet that uses single vaccines, this is a perfect way to custom formulate an ideal vaccine schedule, however, the majority of people don't, and that's why the puppy or kitten series of vaccinations became popular – there was no waiting and it was much less expensive as compared to titering.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/31/what-your-vet-didnt-tell-you-about-all-those-puppy-and-kitty-vaccines.aspx

Be an informed pet owner.

Over-vaccination of companion animals, and exploitation of pet owners, is a massive international scandal.

Many dog owners are still not being advised that there is no scientific evidence to support annual OR triennial revaccination with core modified live virus (MLV) vaccines for parvovirus, distemper virus and adenovirus.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s (WSAVA) Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats note that duration of immunity after core MLV vaccination is “many years and may be up to the lifetime of the pet”.[1]

http://over-vaccination.net/questionable-vaccines/pet-vax/