Comments Off on Pets & Second hand smoke
03 Nov 10

Pets & Second hand smoke ...

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

Did you know that cats that are exposed to 2nd hand smoke have a higher incidence of getting lymphoma, skin cancer and mouth cancer?  According to a Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine study which found a strong connection between environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and oral and skin cancer in cats. Cats living with smokers had higher incidence of these types of cancer and cats living with more than one smoker and exposed to ETS for a period longer than five years have an even higher incidence of these cancers.

Mouth cancer may seem strange for a cat to get due to 2nd hand smoke, but because cats groom themselves daily, a cat living in a smoking housed hold can lick up carcinogens that have landed on their fur.  If a cat is exposed to 2nd hand smoke over a long period of time they can be exposed to carcinogens in dangerous amounts.

With dogs, 2nd hand smoke is associated more with nasal sinus cancer, especially in breeds that have longer noses such as Dobermans, Greyhounds or Collies. According to a study done by Colorado State University found that the risk of nasal cancer was significantly higher for long-nosed dogs exposed to household ETS than for unexposed animals, although there was no evidence of an increase in risk for short-nosed breeds. 

While primary lung cancer is not common in cats and dogs, according to Dr.
Keith Niesenbaum of www.CrawfordDogandCatHospital.com in Garden City Park said, “I have definitely seen pets with chronic airway disease that I believe is caused or exacerbated by poor environmental air quality. This includes stuffy, moldy, stale air and second hand smoke.  We have seen clinical improvements in patients as a result of cleaning up the environment [in which the pet lives in].”

While it can be extremely difficult for humans to quit smoking, but pets don’t have a choice if they are living in a smoking household.  Thursday, November 18, 2010 is the 35th Annual National Smoke Out encouraging smoker’s trying to quit, to not smoke the entire day.  Hopefully pet owners that happen to smoke and want to quit will make a healthier choice for themselves and their pets on the 18th.   

Comments Off on Pet Health Ins. Month
01 Sep 10

Pet Health Ins. Month ...

By Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

National Pet Health Insurance Month

Did you know that September is National Pet Health Insurance Month?
It seems we have a month, day or week for nearly everything these days, but pet health insurance is more important now than ever. Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) was formed and works collaboratively with its members to establish and maintain universal and professional standards for terminology, best practices, quality, and ethics in the pet health industry.

One company, Trupanion who is a member of NAPHIA recently announced a “No Dollar Limit” provision for their policy, which is really breaking the mold when it comes to pet health insurance companies.  Trupanion announced that they will no longer have a dollar limit on policies, per year incidents, year or lifetime.  Thomas Russo, Territory Partner of Long Island and Queens said, “This is an industry first.  I am thrilled to be part of a company that focuses more on the actual pet’s health care, than restrictions and stringent polices.”  This change will make other pet insurance companies wake up and take notice.

Limits are one way that pet insurance companies protect themselves from large benefit payouts and the potential of an expanding cost of claims. Many times, caps in benefit payments are not thoroughly understood and can place a company in an adversarial position with the policyholder. By removing the cap, Trupanion streamlines their policy and can focus more on resources on service.

Trupanion is also an industry leader in more ways than their no limit policy, they also cover 90% of claims, and pet owners can select any deductible from 0 to 1,000 dollars and find the premium that best suits them.  The company also offers a 30-day free trial certificate for new pet owners of pets under a year old.  So if you are looking for a company for your new pet, or old pet’s health insurance, do your research and check out Trupanion (www.trupanion.com).

Contact Thomas Russo: thomas.russo@trupanion.com
NAPHIA: www.naphia.org

Comments Off on National Assistance Dog Week
09 Aug 10

National Assistance Dog Week ...

By Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

This week from Sunday, August 8 through Saturday, August 14, National Assistance Dog Week (NADW), http://www.assistancedogweek.org/, is celebrated across the United States.  In recognition for all the amazing things assistance dogs do for their companions, to help them live their lives to the fullest – NADW was born.  Whether the person is blind, visually impaired, a diabetic, an amputee, has a traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder or owns and works with a therapy dog, we honor all the canines, their handlers and trainers this week.

Here on Long Island we are fortunate to have a two dedicated organizations that train dogs to be assistance dogs. The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc., in Smithtown was started 1946 and has been providing guide dogs free of charge to blind people who seek enhanced mobility and independence. Located in Patchogue, the Northeast Region of Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), provides highly trained assistance dogs, that are also free of charge to children and adults with disabilities in 13 states across the Northeast and opened 1989.  Both of these much needed amazing organizations are non-for-profit and relay on donations to continue their efforts.

While the Guide Dog Foundation continues to provide dogs to assist the blind and visually impaired and they also have a sister organization called America’s VetDogs.  America’s VetDogs was created to consolidate and increase their outreach to veterans. VetDogs provides guide dogs for veterans who are blind or visually impaired; service dogs for those with disabilities other than blindness (amputations, traumatic brain injuries, post traumatic stress disorder, etc.); specialized facilities dogs that provide physical and occupation therapy at VA and military hospitals. Also, unique combat stress control dogs that are deployed with combat stress control teams to work with soldiers in the field dealing with combat stress, issues on the home front, or sleep disorders.


Photo’s courtesy America’s VetDogs and The
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind/William Krol

The Guide Dog Foundation has developed a special balance harness for work with amputees and provide refresher training for guide dog users. Guide dogs are also taught “intelligent disobedience,” which means that they will not proceed if they and their handler are in danger.  For disabled veterans with traumatic brain injuries who may also suffer from some cognitive impairment, a service dog trained with intelligent disobedience stops them from crossing a street if a car is coming.

“With the expansion of both our guide and service dog programs, there many career paths for our dogs. It’s rewarding to us that so many more people can be helped by a dog that’s matched with someone who needs it the most – no matter what its job,” stated William A. Krol, Communications Manager at the Guide Dog Foundation. “Each day is a new adventure as we serve people with disabilities, but we could not accomplish what we do without our donors, volunteers, and staff. We are supported entirely thanks to the generosity of individuals, corporations, foundations, and service groups. We do not receive regular government funding.”

At Canine Companions for Independence which started in 1975 in Santa Rosa, CA, and has regions across the US including our own in Patchogue, the life changing result begins with their CCI breeding program.  They use advanced technology, so with their breeding program they meticulously select and pair dogs for breeding.  Volunteer breeder caretakers provide homes for the breeder dogs and whelp the puppies, returning the puppies to CCI national headquarters in Santa Rosa, California at age eight weeks.

Then the puppies are placed in volunteer puppy raiser homes across the US for socialization and obedience training.  At the ages between fifteen and eighteen months the puppies return to one of five CCI Regional Training Centers across the country for six months of in depth training.

CCI dogs are train four types of assistance dogs and master over 40 specialized commands.  The dogs are trained in one of the following categories: Service Dogs, Skilled Companions, Hearing Dogs and Facility Dogs. Once the dog has completed the training, the dogs are teamed with a graduate during an intensive two week training period, called Team Training.

While these dogs are friendly, they are working dogs.  The general public needs to respect this and always ask their handler if they can say hello prior to petting the dog.  As this goes with any dog, it is especially important for assistance dogs.  We applaud all the hard work the dogs, organizations and volunteers do to continue to make assistance dogs a possibile and vital part of their owner’s lives.

For more information on how you can become involved with either the Guide Dog Foundation or Canine Companions for Independence as a puppy raiser, volunteer or make donations go to their respective websites: http://www.guidedog.org/content.aspx?id=548 or http://www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG/b.3978475/k.BED8/Home.html