Exciting news! Veterinary herbal medicine week (12th-18th October) is fast approaching! Please join us here every weekday at 7pm! 

The Veterinary Herbal Medicine Week 2020 is nearly upon us

Every week day at 7pm you can join us for a facebook talk to learn more about how herbs can help you or your companions.

Join us here

 We have arranged our next clinic to be Halloween MORNING from 10am at the Dogs Diner in Moreton Wirral

Give them a ring on 0151 678 2588

Cost £30 per dog

What is Vaccicheck?

We take a small blood sample from you pet and than use this to measure antibodies to Adenovirus, Distemper and Parvovirus in the blood. For this we can tell if he has been vaccinated successfully or had a natural infection to give him antibodies

If the antibody titers are positive then you will not need a vaccine for any of these diseases.

When should it be done. 

Ideally a couple of weeks post vaccination as a puppy if it's worked then he's protected but at any time is fine 

How long does protection last. Probably for life but we recommend a retest every 3 years if a good level of antibodies are found

 Saturday 19th September 2020

Ring the Diner for an appointment 0151 678 2588 

Cost £30.00

Read more about what Vaccicheck Antibody testing is here

 There has long been discussion around the most appropriate age for dogs to be neutered. 

Certain dog breeds have been shown to have an elevated risk of developing cancers and/or joint disorders when neutered at an early age. However, that risk had only been assessed across a very limited number of breeds. A new study published by researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of California, USA, sheds new light on this topic. ‘Assisting Decision-Making on Age of Neutering for 35 Breeds of Dogs: Associated Joint Disorders, Cancers, and Urinary Incontinence’, a 10 year study of 35 dog breeds, has uncovered a large disparity of risk of joint problems and cancer amongst different breeds. 

The joint disorders include hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear or rupture, and elbow dysplasia. The cancers include lymphoma, mast cell tumour, hemangiosarcoma, and osteosarcoma.

The researchers analysed data from thousands of dogs examined at the University of California Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to try to determine whether neutering, the age of neutering, or differences in sex affected certain cancers and joint disorders amongst different breeds of dog.

 We will be re-starting our Vaccicheck clinic very soon at the Dog's Diner on the Wirral

Saturday 29th August from 10am - ring the Dog's Diner for an appointment

Need more information then you could do worse than purchase this webinar by Nick

Nick Thompson BSc.(Hons) Path.Sci., BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS has been a vet for 27 years.

In the mid 90’s it suddenly struck him how ridiculous it was to expect health for life from dogs when feeding uniform processed kibble – remember the old adage about hospital nutrition, and that vaguely resembles real food!

In this Webinar, Nick takes us through why he hates kibble. It’s a long and daunting list, not just a rant at big food corporations. He discusses:

• Why uniform diets are unnatural
• Why AAFCO and FEDIAF guidelines are incomplete and inappropriate to raw food
• Why high carb diets are dangerous
• Why grain free diets are no better
• Why kibble is dangerous
• Why raw food is safer

It’s a fast and furious rollercoaster of facts, figures and food. And nutrition products derived from food. Hang on to your hats. 

This is a recording, there will be no opportunity to ask questions.

Buy Webinar £20.00

Raw Hide Chews - Perhaps the Most Dangerous Chew on the Planet

This diagram shows how they are made - they are really processed leather

How can one of the most popular chew sticks on the planet be so dangerous for your pets, you ask?

I mean, most dogs chew on rawhide for hours on end, and not only does it keep them busy, but they seem to last forever.

Well if you understood what it took to make this toxic “raw” leather stick, you would quickly understand what the problem is.

Aside from the horror stories circulating all over social media these days, of pets needing emergency surgery after consuming rawhide, the majority of pet parents today, especially the newbies, believe that this chew is some sort of dried up meat stick.

Let me debunk that myth right away!

A rawhide stick is not the by-product of the beef industry nor is it made of dehydrated meat. Rather, rawhide is the by-product of the “Leather Industry”, so theoretically it is a leather chew.

How It’s Made

“Producing rawhide begins with the splitting of an animal hide, usually from cattle. The top grain is generally tanned and made into leather products, while the inner portion, in its “raw” state, goes to the dogs.” TheBark.com

So, how does this leather, which is conveniently rolled up into pretty shapes, actually get made into those rawhide chews?

Follow along my friends and I will enlighten you on how this hide travels through a leathery process where it transforms from hide to a not-so beautiful, colorful, chew stick. Here is a paraphrased tutorial that was explained by the whole dog journal several years back:

STEP 1: To The Tannery

Normally, cattle hides are shipped from slaughterhouses to tanneries for processing. These hides are then treated with a chemical bath to help “preserve” the product during transport to help prevent spoilage.

(No one wants to purchase a black, spoiled rawhide stick!)

Once at the tannery: the hides are soaked and treated with either an ash-lye solution or a highly toxic recipe of sodium sulphide liming. This process will help strip the hair and fat that maybe attached to the hides themselves.

(No, no one wants to see a hairy hide…)

Next on this glorious journey, these hides are then treated with chemicals that help “puff” the hide, making it easier to split into layers.

The outer layer of the hide is used for goods like car seats, clothing, shoes, purses, etc. But, it’s the inner layer that is needed to make the rawhide. (Oh and other things like gelatin, cosmetics, and glue as well!)

STEP 2: Cleansed In Chemicals

Now that we have the inner layer of the hide, it’s time to go to the post-tannery stage! Hides are washed and whitened using a solution of hydrogen peroxide and/or bleach; this will also help remove the smell of the rotten or putrid leather.

When I was involved in Port Health work in London Ports we would regularly test chews and find Salmonella and reject them, perhaps this is why they treat so throughly

STEP 3: Make It Look Pretty

Now it’s time to make these whitened sheets of this “leathery by-product” look delicious! So, here is where the artistic painting process comes in.

“Basted, smoked, and decoratively tinted products might be any color (or odor) underneath the coating of (often artificial) dyes and flavors. They can even be painted with a coating of titanium oxide to make them appear white and pretty on the pet store shelves.” – whole-dog-journal.com

“…the Material Safety Data Sheet reveals a toxic confection containing the carcinogen FD&C Red 40, along with preservatives like sodium benzoate. But tracking the effects of chemical exposure is nearly impossible when it’s a matter of slow, low-dose poisoning.”– thebark.com

Ok, now that these hides have been painted, it’s time for the final process.

Think this is bad? Check out what’s in your dog’s kibble… Click here!

STEP 4: Getting It To Last Forever!

When tested: Lead, Arsenic, Mercury, Chromium salts, Formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals have been detected in rawhides.

So it’s safe to say that any sort of glues can be used as well!

Finally, it’s time to package and attach all the glorious marketing labels to the product.

Check out the fine print warning that’s attached with some of these rawhides:
Choking or blockages. If your dog swallows large pieces of rawhide, the rawhide can get stuck in the esophagus or other parts of the digestive tract. Sometimes, abdominal surgery is needed to remove them from the stomach or intestines. If it isn’t resolved, a blockage can lead to death.

(Oh, how lovely…)

And there it is! It’s now ready to be shipped to store shelves where it can be purchased for our loving animal companions.

How do proactive veterinarians feel about these chews?

Dr Becker:

“The name ‘rawhide’ is technically incorrect. A more accurate name would be processed-hide, because the skin isn’t raw at all. But the term “rawhide” has stuck.

Rawhide chews start out hard, but as your dog works the chew it becomes softer, and eventually he can unknot the knots on each end and the chew takes on the consistency of a slimy piece of taffy or bubble gum. And by that time your dog cannot stop working it — it becomes almost addictive.

At this point, there’s no longer any dental benefit to the chew because it has turned soft and gooey, and, in fact, it has become a choking and intestinal obstruction hazard.”

P.S. Ready for the jaw dropper?

In the USA an investigation by Humane Society International stated in their report, “In a particularly grisly twist, the skins of brutally slaughtered dogs in Thailand are mixed with other bits of skin to produce rawhide chew toys for pet dogs. Manufacturers told investigators that these chew toys are regularly exported to and sold in the US

DENTASTIX

Let the picture do the talking:

So what is safe, healthier?

the rawpaw.store/store- treats

Have a look at our range of healthier treats.

Many and varied are the arguments presented against Biologically Appropriate Raw Diets for Pets.

It is worth looking behind those arguments for vested interest. The RFVS has produced a brilliant rebuttal of those criticisms which you can find by following the link here.

As a veterinary surgeon I have been advising Raw Feeding for over 15 years, to the benefit of of our patients, and would never go back.

These are reason, researched arguments for feeding BARF diets to our cats and dogs.

More...

Complete Cat and Dog Health

Lise Hansen

Lise is a Danish Veterinary Surgeon with whom I trained in Veterinary Homeopathy many years ago in the Oxford HPTG

She has worked as an holistic vet in the UK and her native country.

This book is highly recommended for those pet guardians who want to learn more about caring for their pets in a natural way

Buy Now from Amazon price £15.99 at time of publishing