The Vets Corner

How long can pets wear the Surgi Snuggly?

Hi,
Im just wondering how long can my puppy wear the Surgi Snuggly? Is it a temporary thing or is it like clothes or what exactly?
Thanks,
Maggie

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How old should my puppy be when spaying?

My puppy is 7 months old, how old should she be to get spayed?
Thanks,
Tess

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Saw this on yahoo today

" How long should i leave the plastic thing around my dog's neck after a sterilization?
I operated on him yesterday, he's a 2 year old husky. The vet said i should keep it on for two weeks, but the first night he couldn't sleep with this thing, he was waking up every 10 minutes to change place."

THIS IS WHY I CREATED THE SURGI SNUGGLY!!!

That cone is so uncomfy that the puppies can't eat, sleep or snuggle! You need to protect your pets wound site/stitches for a least a week to 10 days. My friend has his puppy neutered recently, we put him in the Surgi Snuggly for about 10 days. His puppy licked the snuggly a lot but he never tore through the suit nor did he get to the stitches. The Surgi Snuggly is really comfortable for pets too! My dog loves her Surgi Snuggly!

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Miniature Yorkshire Terrier - 8 months old

Hi, I was just wondering your surgi snuggly is exactly the thing I have been looking for my miniature yorkshire terrier who is due to be neutured soon.  I am just unsure as to whether your small size would be too big for her.  Think your surgi snuggly is wonderful and am amazed other companies don't do anything similar as why should we put our treasured pets through the trauma of a cone ?  Would appreciate your opinion on this .  Thanks.  Helen.

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Surgi Snuggly Educational video clips on You Tube!

I've added a few video clips to our official Surgi Snuggly You Tube video channel, please click the You Tube logo at the bottom of the page to check them out!

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What is a hot spot?

What Is A Hot Spot?

Hot spots are a common skin problem and can happen at any time of the year.

A hot spot is a localized area of skin inflammation and infection. The infection can be superficial or deep. Other common names for this condition include: moist dermatitis, pyotraumatic dermatitis, and acute moist dermatitis. 

Redness, oozing, pain, and itchiness are hallmark signs of hot spots. Hair loss is commonly present and there may be a bad odor associated with the hot spot.

These common skin lesions are usually caused and made worse by biting, licking, or scratching.  Hot spots can become quite painful.

There is usually an inciting factor to initiate the licking and scratching behavior so
look for fleas, mites, or other external parasites as well as a possible insect sting or bite.

The important thing for successful long term treatment of a hot spot is to find the underlying cause to break the cycle of continued skin trauma and resulting inflammation.

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Help my itchy dog

We have found the Surgi Snuggly be tremendously helpful in assisting dogs with itchy skin!

The most obvious way is by keeping the dogs nails from having direct contact with and tearing the skin. The Snuggly also keeps external allergens out of direct contact with the skin and hair. I think that the compression of the garment and the anti anxiety properties of this garment help to relieve the stress and anxiety for the animal resulting in the animals over all comfort. We have seen time after time the Surgi Snuggly change an animals scratching reactions to itchy skin! Pets go from scratching and tearing their skin to not scratching and not tearing their skin!

Will this work for all itchy dogs, probably not but this does work quite well on the ones that we have seen, tested and been told about!

If you have itchy dogs, give the Snuggly a try it may just work for them!

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TOP TEN REASONS TO NEUTER YOUR MALE PET!

1. Prevent unwanted litters: Nearly 4 million pets are euthanized in the United States each year.  Often, owners of male dogs fail to realize their pet’s contribution to the litters of puppies being born daily.  Remember…it takes 2 to tango!

2. Eliminate the risk of testicular cancer: This seems pretty straightforward…no testicles, no risk of testicular cancer! Don’t forget,if your pet has only 1 testicle that has dropped, your veterinarian will need to find and remove the second testicle, otherwise there is a large risk of testicular cancer.

3. Reduce the risk of prostate enlargement, abscesses, or cancer:  Without testosterone’s influence, the possibility of prostatic problems diminishes greatly. In dogs, an enlarged prostate can cause difficulty urinating or even cause constipation.

 4. Reduce the risk of perineal hernias: A hernia is a tear in a body wall. In this case, body fat, or even organs, can migrate through a tear in the muscle wall and end up under the skin, along the side of the anus. This is an uncomfortable condition and can only be corrected with surgery. Intact male dogs are at high risk of developing this condition.

5. Decrease the urge to roam: Intact male dogs and cats love to patrol their “territory”. Whether they are just checking out the neighborhood or looking for girls, the chances of getting into a fight or being hit by a car are much higher for intact dogs.   Neutered dogs are generally content to stay home!

6. Reduces aggressiveness: Neutered pets tend to be better behaved than their intact counterparts. And, a neutered dog is not very likely to mount your boss’ leg when he comes over for dinner!

7. Decrease odors in your home: Almost everyone is offended by male tomcat urine or embarrassing urine stains around furniture.   Neutering your pet can minimize odors and remove “marking” behavior.

8. Decrease fighting behavior:   Besides breeding, male tomcats are known for getting into fights, often resulting in severe lacerations and large abscesses. Male dogs also tend to have scars as a result of battles. Wounds = veterinary care = $$

9. It might be medically necessary: If your dog has a perineal hernia, enlarged prostate or certain types of tumors around the anus, neutering will help resolve the issue and improve his prognosis.

10. Avoiding spreading bad genes:  Preventing unwanted litters was already mentioned, but a secondary effect of neutering is to stop the spread of genes for hip dysplasia, hereditary heart issues, and other genetic problems.

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SPRING & FALL CLEANING AND YOUR PETS

1) Springtime means cleaning time for many people, including pet owners.  As you prepare to organize your garage or basement, make sure you are aware of some potential problems for your pets.

2) Strong acidic or alkaline cleaners pose the biggest risk to people and pets.  These can cause corrosive injury and chemical burns.

3) Examples of these types of cleaners include toilet bowl cleaners, rust or calcium/lime removers, drain cleaners and lye.

4) Most general purpose cleaners are reasonably safe and will only cause mild irritation to the skin or mild vomiting/diarrhea if ingested.

5) Even with the wide margin of safety, it’s best to get into the habit of keeping any cleaner or any bucket with cleaner and water in it, out of reach of your pets.

6) Labels can be instructive.   Words like “danger” and “warning” indicated a product with a higher potential for toxicity or for causing chemical burns.

7) The use of the word “caution” on a label is usually indicative that the product is less toxic than those that use the word “danger”.

8) “Natural” products do not always mean that they are “safe” products.

9) Birds are especially sensitive to cleaning products, especially those that are aerosolized.  Remove birds and any other exotic pets from the room you are cleaning with an aerosolized product.

10) There are many urban myths about Swiffer Wet Jet products and FeBreze causing illness and deaths in pets.  There is no evidence that suggests these myths are true. However, my pet gets irritated paws from Febreze. I love and I use the product, just not on the floors!

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Are Cats Plotting against us? Toxoplasma

Are Cats Plotting Against Us?

The story reads like a science fiction novel…a tiny, microscopic parasite infiltrates your brain, causing delusions and thoughts of suicide.  The evil perpetrator spreading these harmful bugs destined to destroy the human race resides among us and may, this very moment, be sleeping on your lap.  The only problem?  This story is not fiction and comes straight from recent headlines.  Here’s the question…Is there a real concern here?

Some people and societies throughout history have simply not appreciated cats.  Black cats are considered unlucky or linked to evil witches.  Other people look at cats as sneaky or as serial killers of defenseless wildlife.  But, if you read some current headlines, you might think that our feline friends are a real serious threat!

The main threat in these news articles is not our cats, but rather, an extremely small protozoan parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii.  The threat occurs because this particular intestinal bug only reproduces in domestic and wild cats.  So, when the sensational headline reads “Study Links Cat Litter Box to Increased Suicide Risk”, many readers frankly scared and soon began to worry about the risks of owning a cat. 

So here are the real facts you can count on.  The uproar can be traced back to a pair of scientific articles.  As far back as 2000, scientists have understood that this particular parasite has a peculiar effect on some rodents, actually making rats less fearful of their natural predators, the cats.  More recently, a study of 45,000 women in Denmark concluded that infection with Toxoplasma gondii (Toxo, for short) increased the risk of suicide attempts.

So, it appears that this parasite may alter something in brain chemistries or behavior. But, does that mean our cats are to blame?

The emphatic answer: absolutely not. The key here lies in understanding the life cycle of the parasite, the cat’s role in that life cycle and the simple, easy steps to minimize your potential risk.  All cats, domestic and wild, are a natural host for Toxo.  Our feline friends pick up the parasite from hunting rodents and birds or eating raw meat.  Once in the cat’s intestine, the organism starts reproducing, creating millions of oocytes (essentially eggs) that will pass o into the environment.  Interestingly, cats will shed the parasite for about two or three weeks and then rarely ever pass any more after that.  Once outside, these eggs will mature over one to five days and become infective parasites.  It is at this time that any warm blooded animal can become infected by ingesting contaminated soil, water or plant material.  Since most animals aren’t the natural host for Toxo, the parasite localizes in various muscle or nervous tissue and becomes a cyst.  The cycle completes (as most parasite life cycles do) allowing the parasite to once again start to multiply and spread.For most animals, and people, the parasite is not a problem - remember that.  Some people will experience flu like symptoms but then recover without a problem.  However, immunosuppressed individuals can experience much more severe symptoms, including fevers, confusion, headaches, seizures and poor coordination.  Pregnant woman who have no immunity to Toxo can actually pass the infection to the unborn child causing a miscarriage, stillbirth or serious mental disabilities in the newborn.  So it is true, this parasite is not without it dangers.  The CDC estimates show that about 20% of the US population has antibodies to this parasite.  In addition, the CDC’s website shows that Toxoplasma infections occur by eating undercooked, contaminated meats (especially pork and lamb), accidental ingestion of contaminated meats after handling and failure to wash hands, contamination of foods from utensils used to work with other contaminated foods, drinking water tainted with the parasite and, as mentioned above, accidental ingestion of the parasite through contact with cat feces.Keeping yourself safe from Toxo is actually pretty easy.  Fully cook all meats, wash your hands and cooking utensils after contact with raw meat or unwashed fruits and vegetables and wear gloves while gardening.   Cat litter boxes should be scooped daily as the parasite does not become infectious for at least 24 hours.  Pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals should completely avoid changing the litter. Ask your veterinarian about specific recommendations for lowering your risk for toxoplasmosis.  He or she is well schooled in understanding this parasite.

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It is my mission to provide meaningful, useful products for you and your pets ensuring your lives together are the fullest, healthiest and happiest!
Tonua Williams, CEO Surgi Snuggly
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