Now that summer is upon us, I want to discuss heat stroke. Heat stroke is when your dog’s core body temperature rises from a normal 100-102 degrees to 106-109 degrees. Heat stroke is life-threatening, and can cause tissue necrosis, sepsis, and death. It occurs in hot, humid environments, where dogs don’t have water and/or shade. More relevant for agility dogs, it can also occur when working a dog in hot and humid conditions. One especially dangerous place is the car–it gets extremely hot in a car very quickly in the summer. This chart from the AVMA shows how quickly the temperature in a car can reach critical levels.
Any dog is susceptible to heat stroke, because as a rule, dogs stink at cooling themselves. They rely on evaporative cooling via panting, which can be inefficient, especially in humid conditions (like the Gulf Coast). Senior dogs and puppies are not as good at thermoregulating so may be more susceptible. Obese dogs, as well as brachycephalic (short-nosed) breeds, are also predisposed to heat stroke.
Signs of heat stroke include panting, weakness, stumbling or falling over, and collapse. Vomiting or diarrhea may also occur. If you are worried about heat stroke, check your dog’s temperature (if you can do it quickly). Heat stroke is a strong possibility if your dog’s temperature is over 105 degrees. The biggest problem isn’t how high the temperature gets, but how LONG it stays there, so quickly cooling your dog before seeking immediate medical care is crucial.
Heat stroke is an emergency, and time is of the essence. To help your dog survive heat stroke, do the following:
1. Dunk your dog in cool (not freezing/ice) water. Focus on the feet, belly, chest, and perineal areas. Ice packs and ice water are not recommended, as they will cause the peripheral vessels in the skin to constrict, and may inhibit cooling. Using alcohol on the pads is also somewhat controversial–some no longer recommend this practice.
2. Get your dog in the car, crank up the AC to full blast. Do not put a wet towel on their back—that may prevent cooling.
3. Drive to the nearest emergency clinic.
Additional cooling will be performed at the Emergency Clinic. Your dog may receive IV fluids to help correct dehydration, and bloodwork to determine if he’s having any organ damage or clotting problems. Whether your dog will need additional therapies will depend on the severity of the incident.
To prevent heat stroke:
- Exercise your dog in the morning or evening, not in the middle of the day.
- Make sure your dog has access to water and give him breaks for a drink.
- Keep your sessions short.
- Hose off your dog’s belly and chest to help promote cooling.
- Look into using cool pads and coats.
- Listen to your dog–if he’s slowing down, laying down, or heading for shade, it’s time for a break.
Take a dip to cool off when playing (photo by Martine Kopka)
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Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Now that hurricane season is upon us here along the Gulf Coast, I’ve been thinking about my evacuation and disaster plan. With an event like a hurricane, you have the luxury of forewarning, typically for a couple of days, so admittedly it feels a little less urgent. But your evacuation and disaster preparedness isn’t just for hurricanes–it’s important for tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, severe flooding, etc. Probably much MORE so for those things like tornadoes which provide no real warning. So, with all that said, here are some key things to think about when evacuating with your pet.
1. Bring your pet with you! I realize this may seem like a “duh” kind of thing, but not taking an evacuation seriously and thinking it will be just a day or so is one thing that contributed to so many deaths when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. Since you will be taking your pets with you, WHERE you are going needs to accept them. Not all emergency shelters will accept pets, so you need to plan accordingly. And as dog people know, not all hotels accept pets either, so don’t assume it will just be ok when you get there. Have a plan, and KNOW ahead of time where you are going to go.
2. Have a copy of your pet’s vaccination records and important medical history. This is something you should keep in your records at home, so you can have it at a moment’s notice. The day before a hurricane hits land is NOT the day to stroll into your vet clinic to get a copy of records–your vet staff will be busy trying to make arrangements for boarders to evacuate, filling emergency medications, etc. You also never know when you may have to evacuate to a different city and board your pets for a short time–having copies of their records will prevent unnecessary vaccinations since you have proof they’re protected.
3. Take a crate for every pet. You don’t know what situation you will be in, so having a crate for each dog provides you with more options. Maybe a hotel that wouldn’t normally allow pets will allow yours if they are kept crated in the room. Maybe your dogs will be allowed in a pet-friendly shelter, but only if you provide crates for them. Wire crates make the most efficient use of space, and provide the most ventilation if your pet is staying outdoors. Make sure your pet is used to being crated, so they have a safe place away from home to alleviate some of the stress they are experiencing.
4. Take a 1-2 week supply of dog food and water. Ever seen a grocery store before or after a hurricane? The shelves are picked clean, and that may include dog food. Don’t count on being able to pick up food wherever you end up. Take a good 1-2 week supply of the food you normally feed. And don’t forget water for your dogs as well–the same precautions people must take after storms before drinking tap water apply to dogs, so bottled water is essential. If you feed canned food, don’t forget a can opener and spoon.
5. Bring a 2 week supply of essential medications. Don’t forget your pet’s medications at home. I always have extra flea medication with me as well, since your dogs may be in closer contact with other pets then normal, who may have brought their own “friends” along for the ride. Don’t forget their heartworm medication!
6. Collar with ID tags. This is critical! Make sure your dog is wearing current ID tags, so if he escapes, you can be notified. Microchips are great and you should have that as well because they can’t fall off, but microchips are not immediately visible like tags.
7. General items — Leashes for everyone, bowls for food and water, potty bags, absorbent bedding, paper towels, and trash bags.
And of course, your Canine First Aid Kit. If you don’t have one, sign up for my newsletter for tips on what to include.
I hope this gets you thinking about evacuation plan so you’re ready if the time comes. For more information, you can download this free PDF file from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
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So, to go along with the Bad Dog Agility podcast, here’s an actual Blog post about cruciate injuries in our dogs. As we discussed on the podcast, I’ve experienced this injury both as a vet diagnosing the problem, as well as an owner who’s dog has been through TPLO surgery and rehab. And unfortunately, Ticket is one of about 50% of dogs who will go on to tear the cruciate ligament on the opposite leg as well, so we will be going through it all again in the very near future. Hopefully this will help you understand the injury and what comes after a little more.
Anatomy:
Unlike people, who have 3 cruciate ligaments (anterior, posterior, and medial), dogs have two, and they are named differently. The one most commonly injured is the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL). The job of the CCL is to stabilize the tibia and prevent it from sliding forward during movement. When the CCL is injured, the stifle (knee) joint becomes unstable, causing inflammation, pain, and swelling of the joint capsule. Here is the basic knee anatomy, courtesy of DVM360:
There are a couple of different ways a dog can injure their cruciate ligament. The most common occurs more in pet dogs, and is the middle-aged, overweight, large-breed dog. This type of injury tends to be a degenerative process over time, until one day, the ligament tears completely. The one we see more often in agility dogs is the case of a severe, abnormal force, on an otherwise normal knee. Your dog steps in a hold, or plants and slips, and the force results in tearing of the CCL. Of course, there’s a whole gradient between these two scenarios–we never REALLY know how normal a knee was prior to injury. There may be other factors playing a role as well–dogs with straight stifles or medial luxating patellas may be predisposed to tearing their CCL.
Diagnosis:
So, when should you be worried about a cruciate injury in your dog? The typical situation is a dog who was running around normally, and then comes up non-weight bearing lame on one of their rear legs. You may see the inciting incident (a slip or fall), or you might see the lameness for the first time when your dog stands up after a nap. Rest and anti-inflammatory pain meds may help in the short term, but what will typically happen is the problem will come back. Many times your dog will look fine, you’ll go practice, and they’ll be lame again.
The “classic” diagnosis of a cruciate tear is made when your vet does a test and elicits “cranial drawer.” This just means that the cranial cruciate ligament is no longer able to do it’s job, and the tibia is now able to slide forward. Dr. Brian Beale, an orthopedic surgeon at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists here in Houston, demonstrates this on this video. Of course, it’s not always that simple. LACK of cranial drawer DOES NOT MEAN that your dog doesn’t have a torn ligament. It is common for dogs to have a partial tear, and in that case, cranial drawer may not be seen since part of the ligament remains and tries to hold the tibia stable. However, the dog will often show pain on extension of the knee. On xrays, swelling of the stifle joint may be seen, and in chronic cases, arthritis may have started to develop.
Partial tear of CCL on Ticket
Partial tears can be tricky to diagnose. You can sometimes manage a partial tear and continue to compete with your dog in the short-term–limit training, laser therapy and acupuncture, use of anti-inflammatory pain meds. But virtually all partial tears will progress to a complete tear in *some* period of time. I’ve researched it, and tried it myself, and there’s just nothing out there proven to keep a partial tear from progressing. Plus, your dog will be developing arthritis the entire time. So it’s always better to do the surgery sooner, rather then later.
TPLO Surgery:
If your dog is diagnosed with a cruciate tear, the treatment of choice is surgery. There are several different surgical options, but the one that anecdotally has the best return to performance is a procedure called Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO). The TPLO changes the mechanics of the joint, by sawing the top of the tibia off, changing the angle, and then plating the bone back together. By doing this, the cruciate ligament becomes unnecessary–the new mechanics of the joint prevent the tibia from sliding forward. The joint is also examined, as other injuries can occur besides the cruciate tear (like a tear of the meniscus).
Ticket's knee after TPLO surgery
Rehabilitation:
After surgery, your dog will need to be crated for 8 weeks! This is non-negotiable. Your dog has had their leg BROKEN, and it takes at least 8 weeks for bone to heal. But you don’t just put your dog in the crate and forget about the surgery for 8 weeks. Proper rehabilitation is CRUCIAL for your dog to get back to their pre-surgery level, as quickly as possible. The goals of rehab are to return the joint to as close to a normal range of motion as possible, and regain muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness. The dog must also relearn how to use the joint with these new mechanics–often their proprioception, or ability to place and *know* what the leg is doing, is decreased, so rehab will address this as well.
In the beginning, your rehab will focus on passive range of motion (laying down your dog and carefully moving the stifle through a comfortable range of motion), and ice as needed for inflammation. About two weeks after surgery, other activities can begin. You’ll start with very short leash walks (5 minutes twice daily), slowly increasing over the next 6 weeks. If you have access to a rehab facility, this is the perfect time to start work on the underwater treadmill. The underwater treadmill is GREAT for providing resistance while walking, but also support for your dog’s body. You will do exercises for proprioception as well as range of motion, like cavaletti. And you will do strengthening exercises — incline walking, sit to stand exercises, doggy “squats,” physioball work, etc. Every dog is an individual, and there is no one size fits all rehab program, so it’s important to have a program specific for YOUR dog and the progress they are making. If you push your dog too fast, they may develop further inflammation of the knee, tendonitis, or failure of the hardware in the knee. If you don’t push them fast enough, their return to full function may be delayed.
A note about swimming–I do NOT like swimming in the first 8 weeks after TPLO. If you’ve ever seen a dog’s legs kick when swimming, it is a very forceful and uncontrolled action. It may put a lot of force on that stifle joint, and cause problems. The underwater treadmill is a much safer option–save the swimming for later on, when the bone is healed.
Prevention:
Everyone wants to know how to keep a cruciate injury from happening to their dog. The sad reality is, there’s not a lot you can do–if it’s going to happen, it will, whether you’re doing agility, or playing ball, or just going for a hike. That said, here are a few tips for reducing the risk of cruciate injury.
- Keep your dog thin and fit. You don’t want him to be a weekend warrior–lots of walks, swimming, strengthening exercises, etc.
- Warm up and cool down your dog before and after practice and runs at trials. Ideally this is not hard play (chasing the ball), but walking/trotting for 10 minutes before and after each run.
- Don’t work your dog too hard. Especially in the summer months, where the heat can tire your dog out more quickly, make sure they are having plenty of breaks. A tired dog will not protect himself as well as a fresh one.
- Avoid working your dog on slick or damp surfaces. If the grass is wet, it may be best to wait for it to dry out before training. This isn’t always possible, but it is always a factor present in my mind when training, and I’m not going to work on tight wraps or threadles on a wet surface.
