Educational Articles
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This handout discusses the need for ensuring your pregnant dog is receiving adequate nutrition to make sure both she and her puppies thrive during this time of increased demands on her body. Feeding and diet suggestions are provided.
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Special attention needs to be given to a cat’s nutrition before and during her pregnancy to promote a healthy birth and healthy kittens. It is important to maintain a good body condition throughout pregnancy as her weight increases. A good quality kitten or all life stages diet is recommended during the entire pregnancy; ideally one evaluated using feeding trials. This diet is usually fed throughout the lactation period, but attention to body condition is essential here as well, and the diet may need to be restricted if there is a small number of kittens or the cat starts becoming overweight. Weaning is usually aided by feeding significantly less food for a few days while restricting access to nursing to decrease milk production.
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Special attention needs to be given to a dog’s nutrition during her pregnancy to promote a healthy birth and healthy puppies. It is important to maintain a good body condition throughout pregnancy as her weight increases. A good quality adult maintenance diet is recommended during the first 40 days but after this the energy demand increases greatly and this is most easily met by feeding puppy food. This diet is usually fed throughout the lactation period, but attention to body condition is essential here as well, and the diet may need to be restricted if there is a small number of puppies or the dog starts becoming overweight. Weaning is usually aided by feeding significantly less food for a few days while restricting access to nursing to decrease milk production.
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Hemophilia A and B are clotting disorders involving a deficiency of a specific clotting factor (A: Factor VIII, B: Factor IX) needed for appropriate homeostasis. They are caused by a sex-linked recessive genetic mutation. Affected dogs will show inappropriate hemorrhage including bruising, lameness induced by bleeding into joints and body cavity hemorrhage. It can be diagnosed with a slow APTT and demonstrating low levels of the factor involved. Hemophilia A is more common than B and is generally, more severe. Because it is sex-linked recessive, males are more likely to be affected than females but females still act as carriers, so genetic screening is important prior to breeding to prevent this disease.
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Infertility in a queen (an intact female cat) is defined as the inability to give birth to live kittens, despite appropriate breeding with a fertile male. This handout provides an outline of common causes of infertility along with how they are diagnosed and, when possible, treated.
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Infertility in a female dog is defined as the inability to conceive and deliver viable puppies, even when mated multiple times with a known fertile male surrounding the time of ovulation. This handout outlines the varying causes of infertility in female dogs and how they may be diagnosed and treated.
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Male infertility refers to the inability of a sexually mature tomcat (intact male cat) to impregnate a fertile female. This handout explains the possible causes of infertility in male cats as well as how they may be diagnosed and, when possible, treated.
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Infertility in a male dog is defined as the inability to produce a successful pregnancy in a fertile female, even with multiple breedings near the time of ovulation. The causes of infertility fall under three broad categories: failure to copulate or ejaculate, poor semen quality, and prostatic disease. This handout explains the possible causes in detail, as well as methods to diagnose and treat them.
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Lysosomal storage diseases are a rare collection of conditions that are inherited. Many of them are more prevalent in certain breeds and are seen in the first few months of life. Clinical signs vary depending on the type of disease, but commonly include failure to thrive, incoordination, vision loss, and seizure. Prognosis is usually poor for long-term survival.
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Mastitis is a term used to describe inflammation of a mammary gland (breast), most frequently seen in the postpartum period after a cat gives birth. In most cases, mastitis is caused by a bacterial infection. Trauma to the nipple or teat canal can allow bacteria to enter, traveling up into the mammary gland and creating a bacterial infection. Most cats with mastitis can be treated on an outpatient basis with oral antibiotics and pain medications, though severe cases may require hospitalization or surgery.
