PONSONBY PEOPLE + THEIR PETS ASK ALEX
OUCH! CAUSTIC CHEMICALS HURT
Each month Dr Alex Melrose answers readers’ pet related issues. Email yours to: alex@vetcare.net.nz
Chemical burns are typically due to a pet licking or swallowing a caustic or corrosive chemical such as bleach or disinfectants and usually affect the tongue and oesophagus.
Q:
They may not show up straight away and it could be several hours before you notice a problem. If chemical ingestion is witnessed, immediately flush the mouth with large amounts of water. This can help reduce the amount of chemical in the mouth and may minimise the damage. Look out for symptoms like; no interest in food, drooling, swollen tongue, frequent swallowing and pawing at the mouth. To be able to determine the extent of the burn and help decide on treatment, the vet might make use of an endoscope. This is a thin flexible tube with a camera that can be inserted through the mouth and into the oesophagus and stomach. This way the internal surfaces of the oesophagus and stomach can be viewed without the need for surgery. The decision could be made to use medications that coat the injured tissues to help hasten recovery. The pets with severe burns that do not want to eat require a temporary feeding tube and a slurry of food can be given through the tube several times a day to ensure adequate calorie intake, while the healing process takes place. This will generally take one to two weeks. Take home message: keep all chemicals safely stored away from your inquisitive, furry friends! (DR. MARIEKE WIJNEN BVSC) F PN ANIMAL EMERGENCY CENTRE, 97 Carrington Road, Mt Albert, T: 09 849 2121 www.animalemergency.co.nz
I was hoping to get some more information about my cat Dojo, who you recently treated for constipation. I really appreciated the treatment and advice in regards to diet, although I was alarmed that she had sat in several places around our home and had left stains and litter which had been caught in her tail. On Saturday evening I gave her a syringe of water as she did not want to eat. On Sunday she was distressed and had not produced anything apart from some urine so I took her to the emergency vet who re-hydrated her and gave her two more enemas. Today I’m pleased to report she is back to her normal self. Regarding her diet I am feeding her raw food with offal, tongue and heart only, with Lactulose syrup. I have now heard that this is a stool softener rather than a laxative, however it seems from the website it might affect the kidneys if used long term? I’d appreciate your comments. I am not going to feed her anything with the slightest hint of bone and hopefully this will stop the constipation. Should I still give her probiotic powder in the mornings and power mix (freeze dried bovine liver, heart, kidney and bone marrow) in the evenings with her food and will this affect the effectiveness of the syrup? Should I also continue giving her some omega 3 oil? LISA, by email. Dojo’s bum was cleaned at the time but unfortunately enemas can get a bit messy for a while afterwards. Good move getting the weekend after hours clinic to give her more fluids and two enemas again, as she received with us on Saturday, and I’m very glad that finally got things moving. The fluids are really important as the process of becoming constipated always starts to cause dehydration, a big issue in cats, who unlike dogs will often not drink more to compensate.
A:
We do see a small number of cats and dogs who do very poorly when it comes to digesting bones, particularly as they get older, and as in this case of Dojo’s, the bone can conglomerate and block the bowel pretty effectively. Lactulose is used extensively in cats and is considered very safe, a softener being safer than a laxative, however as with any medicine the lower the dose we can use to soften the stool the better. With the manipulation of her diet to exclude bone we may be able to use really small volumes of this liquid fibre product. I would continue with all of those supplements for now, the probiotics will help digestion and maintenance of good gut flora, the power mix provides a tonne of essential vitamins and minerals and the fish oil is an excellent supplement to try for any inflammation and may slightly soften the stool. PN (DR ALEX MELROSE, BVSC, MRCVS) F VETCARE GREY LYNN, 408 Great North Road T: 09 361 3500 www.vetcare.net.nz F PN
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