ANIMAL WELLNESS
For a long, healthy life!
WELLNESS
Holiday
Is spaying and neutering
Gift Guide
HARMING our dogs?
PET FRIENDLY
DECORATING
Helping your dog through LOSS OR SEPARATION
CHIROPRACTIC
the gift that CARE –keeps on giving
Bonnie-Jill
LAFLIN
How has pet care changed in the last
25 YEARS?
A sportscaster and TV personality with a soft spot for animals
Homeopathy for cancer
Larry the Dog
Heal t hy TURKEY
TREAT RECIPES
How a famous pit bull with a lovable personality is changing breed stereotyping.
DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 Display until January 18, 2017
$6.95 USA/Canada
VOLUME 18 ISSUE 6
AnimalWellnessMagazine.com
BONUS INSIDE!
Contents nts ts December 2016/January 2017
Features
18 IS SPAYING AND NEUTERING GOOD FOR DOGS?
Recent studies indicate that spaying and neutering can negatively impact canine health. Here’s a look at the latest research -- and the alternatives to de-sexing dogs.
22 CHIROPRACTIC
38
ADJUSTMENTS ARE A GREAT GIFT FOR DOGS
Chiropractic helps the nervous system, which controls the whole body, to function properly. Adjustments have a positive impact on many health problems besides back pain.
26 STEP BY STEP PUP TRAINING
Follow these simple tips to minimize biting and jumping in your new puppy or dog.
28 HIGH DOSE VITAMIN C
This grassroots volunteer effort is bringing desperately-needed veterinary services to a tropical island off the coast of Thailand.
When injected at high doses into a person or pet, vitamin C offers some amazing healing benefits and can even help treat cancer.
58 HOMEOPATHY FOR PET
THERAPY FOR PETS – PART 2
CANCER
80 HOLIDAY TURKEY RECIPES FOR DOGS AND CATS
Share the festive season with your pet by making him these healthy low-fat turkey treats.
89 9 TIPS FOR LITTER BOX TRAINING
32 PET-FRIENDLY HOLIDAY
Homeopathy offers a gentle approach to cancer in dogs and cats. It doesn’t just treat the condition, but the patient as a whole.
Cats and kittens don’t always come litter-trained. It’s up to you to help your new friend understand where her bathroom is, and how to use it. These tips make it easier.
The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a tree, greenery, candles and ornaments. Here’s how to keep your pet safe and healthy while also having a festivelooking home.
61 FIRST AID AND SAFETY QUIZ FOR DOGS
92 INTEGRATIVE CANCER CARE FOR CATS
DECORATING
38 LARRY THE DOG
This sweet, shy pit bull goes against every negative stereotype that surrounds the breed, and his global popularity is helping people change their attitudes about these dogs.
44 HOW PET CARE HAS
CHANGED IN 25 YEARS WELLNESS
From titer testing and better cancer treatment, to pet insurance and the introduction of hemp oil, pet healthcare has improved by leaps and bounds over the last quarter-century.
48 COPING WITH CANINE
SEIZURES
Discover how acupressure and ice can work together to help reduce the severity and duration of seizures in dogs.
4
56 VETERINARY CARE COMES TO KOH MAK
Animal Wellness
Would you know what to do if your dog suffered a health emergency? See if you can answer these five questions correctly.
66 TIBETAN SINGING BOWL
THERAPY SOOTHES PETS
If you’ve never heard Tibetan singing bowl therapy, you’re in for a treat, and so is your dog or cat. This unique modality uses sound therapy to help heal and calm.
68 BONNIE-JILL LAFLIN This model, sportscaster and TV personality is also an active animal advocate and rescuer.
78 HELPING YOUR DOG
ADJUST TO LOSS OR SEPARATION
Whether it’s a death in the family, a child leaving home, or a divorce, your dog will notice one of his “pack” members is missing. Learn to help him deal with his grief.
Drawing on a combination of conventional and alternative treatment options can improve quality of life in cats with cancer, and help them live longer.
94 LITTER BOXES MADE EASY
Automated litter boxes make life simpler for you and your cat by minimizing cleanup.
95 FESTIVE RECIPES FOR FELINES
Give your cat something to celebrate this holiday season (or any time of year!) by cooking up these healthy goodies.
48 Columns
12 42 52 72 74 83 87 98
22
Yakkity yak Rewind Warm & fuzzy To the rescue Passages Book reviews Tail end Purrfect end
89
Social media Tips, contests and more! AnimalWellnessMagazine News, events, and tips! @ AW_magazine Tips, pet photos, and more! AnimalWellnessMagazine Crafts, laughs, and more! AnimalWellness
Departments 8
Editorial
55
Product picks
64
Animal Wellness resource guide
71
Social media
77
The scoop
84
Marketplace
86
Events calendar
86
ClassiďŹ eds December 2016/January 2017
5
Is spaying and neutering for dogs?
good
Recent studies indicate that spaying and neutering can negatively impact canine health. Here’s a look at the latest research – and the ALTERNATIVES to de-sexing our dogs. By Karen Shaw Becker, DVM
For a long time now, animal health professionals and welfare advocates have been encouraging people to spay and neuter their dogs. On the surface it makes good sense, since the homeless dog problem is a serious one, and preventing more litters helps reduce animal overpopulation and suffering, and reduces strain on shelters and rescues. But more recently, a growing body of evidence indicates that spaying or neutering – particularly as it relates to large breeds de-sexed early in life – significantly increases the risk of serious health problems.
WHAT ARE THE STUDIES SAYING?
1
Ovary removal significantly increases the risk for major fatal disease in female Rottweilers.
A study from the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation found a correlation between the age at which female Rottweilers are spayed and their lifespan. The study compared female Rotties who lived to be 13 or older, with a group who lived the expected lifespan of about nine years. "Female dogs in our study had a distinct survival advantage over males. But taking away ovaries during the first four years of life completely erased the female survival advantage,” noted David J. Waters, lead researcher and professor at Purdue University. “We found that female Rottweilers that kept their ovaries for at least six years were four times more likely to reach exceptional
18
Animal Wellness
longevity compared to females who had the shortest lifetime ovary exposure." Simply put, study results indicate removal of a Rottweiler’s ovaries significantly increases the risk for a major lethal disease such as cancer.
2
In de-sexed golden retrievers, rates of joint disease and cancer are much higher than in intact dogs.
A recent study conducted at the University of California, Davis provides additional evidence that spaying or neutering, and the age at which it is done, may increase a dog's risk of certain cancers and joint diseases. The study looked at the health records of 759 golden retrievers. The dogs ranged in age from one to eight years, and had been seen at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for one or more of the following problems: • Hip dysplasia • Cranial cruciate ligament tear • Lymphosarcoma • Hemangiosarcoma • Mast cell tumor
The researchers focused on joint disorders and cancers because de-sexing removes the testes or ovaries and disrupts the production of hormones that play an important role in body processes like bone growth plate closure. Study results indicated that for all five diseases, the rates were significantly higher in both males and females that were neutered or spayed (before or after one year of age) compared with intact dogs. Results showed a 100% increase in the rate of hip dysplasia in male goldens neutered before 12 months of age; 10% were diagnosed with the condition, double the rate of occurrence in intact males. Past studies have reported a 17% increase among all neutered dogs compared to all intact dogs. The researchers suggest that neutering male golden retrievers well beyond puberty will help prevent an increased risk of hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament injury, and lymphosarcoma. For female goldens, the research team concluded that: â€œâ€Ś the timing of [spaying] is more problematical because early [spaying] significantly increases the incidence rate of CCL from near 0% to almost 8%, and late [spaying] increases the rates of hemangiosarcoma to four times that of the 1.6% rate for intact females.â€?
3
V izsla study suggests a significantly increased risk for cancer and behavioral disorders in spayed or neutered dogs.
A 2014 study of over 2,500 Vizslas revealed that dogs neutered or spayed at any age were at significantly increased risk for developing mast cell cancer, lymphoma, and all other cancers combined, as compared with intact Vizslas. Dogs of both genders neutered or spayed at six months or younger also had significantly increased odds of developing a behavioral disorder, including separation anxiety, noise phobia, timidity, excitability, submissive urination, aggression, hyperactivity, and/or fear biting. All neutered or spayed Vizslas were at greater risk for thunderstorm phobia than intact dogs, regardless of age at neutering. The younger the age at neutering, the earlier the age of diagnosis with mast cell cancer, hemangiosarcoma, lymphoma, all other cancers combined, behavioral disorders or fear of storms. Spayed female Vizslas had a nine times higher incidence of hemangiosarcoma compared to intact females, regardless of when spaying was performed; however, no difference in incidence of this type of cancer was found for neutered versus intact males. Continued on page 20.
December 2016/January 2017
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