According to Dr. Kelly Ballantyne, a veterinarian with a special interest in animal behavior, the reason pets are scared of thunderstorms isn’t always clear. One study found that a traumatic experience linked to noise was the likely origin of noise sensitivity in only about a third of pets with these phobias. Other factors that may contribute to noise sensitivities include chronic stress, genetics, neurochemical imbalances, and a change in hearing.

Practicing at the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Ballantyne offers behavior consultations to help pets with phobias and other behavioral issues.

She says it is perfectly normal for a pet to be scared by the loud noises and flashes the first time the pet experiences a thunderstorm or fireworks. A pet may react defensively to these high-decibel noises because they probably hurt the pet’s ears, they lack a regular pattern, and it’s difficult to figure out where they are coming from.

It isn’t normal, however, if the animal does not get used to storms, and each thunderstorm is as terrifying as the previous one. Unfortunately, thunderstorms are common, and these frequent stressors can reduce a pet’s quality of life. Addressing your pet’s fears is important for the sake of the pet—not to mention the household objects sometimes destroyed by frightened pets.

Dr. Ballantyne suggests several measures that may help noise-sensitive pets feel a little safer and less frightened during a thunderstorm.

“First, try to make a safe place where your pet can go,” she says. “An interior room with no windows is ideal because it is more sheltered from noise and the flashes of light. Avoid crating your pet unless the pet already feels that the crate is a safe place.”

When pets are already hiding, don’t force them out: that can scare and stress them more. Playing music or increasing the white noise in the house can decrease the perceived amount of noise from the storm.

Your behavior around your pet also plays an important role in managing the pet’s anxiety during a storm. You should avoid either comforting or punishing the pet, and you should stay calm to avoid increasing the pet’s anxiety.

If your dog isn’t too scared, you can try to play with him. Interactive toys, such as a Kong filled with food, can help as well if he is willing to eat.

A pheromone spray for dogs called DAP helps reduce anxiety in some dogs. It can be sprayed on a bandana and tied around the pet’s neck during a storm.

Dr. Ballantyne acknowledges that noise sensitivities can be hard for owners to manage. Sometimes you can do everything right and your pet is still scared of the storms.

“Don’t hesitate to ask your veterinarian for help,” advises Dr. Ballantyne. “If nothing else is working, your veterinarian can prescribe anti-anxiety medication to augment the behavior modification plan.”

Don’t forget that a pet that is scared of thunderstorms will likely have a similar reaction to fireworks. These pets should be given a safe place to hide during the celebration and should never be taken to watch fireworks.

If you have questions about pets’ noise sensitivities, please contact your veterinarian or a veterinary behaviorist.

Andrea Lin is an Information Specialist at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Veterinary Medicine.

Lowering the ‘Boom’: Reducing Pets’ Noise Sensitivities The Saturday Evening Post

If you’ve bought or adopted a pet within the last few years, you’ve probably heard of microchipping. It’s a process that has largely become standard procedure in most adoption centers and vet clinics, frequently included with the standard new pet services like vaccinations and spaying or neutering. Despite the high-tech name, we’re not actually talking about turning your puppy into a robot. Microchipping is actually a very simple procedure.

Preparing our robot puppy overlords

Photo by Daniel Lobo.

A microchip implant is a tiny, integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog, cat, or other animal. Using passive RFID technology, it contains an identification number that is linked to a database. Pet owners can register their pet’s microchip through various websites so that if the animal is ever lost or stolen and then found, a shelter or veterinarian can return the animal where it belongs.

The chip itself is just a tiny bit bigger than a grain of rice, and it can be implanted without anesthesia in just a few minutes at a vet’s office. It doesn’t hurt the animal at all, and once it’s in place, neither you nor your pet will even know it’s there.

Standards and information

When pet microchips first became available, every company that made a chip used its own database and its own radio frequency, requiring a proprietary scanner to read. This proved to be a huge issue for shelters and clinics, which needed multiple scanners in order to check the animals that came in.

Thankfully, most manufacturers now follow the International Standards Organization (ISO) guidelines for animal microchips so that any chip created following those guidelines can be read by any scanner. The United States doesn’t require that animals be tagged with an ISO-compliant chip, but several other countries do. In the United States, vets and shelters must rely on scanners that can read the ISO chips and the four major types of proprietary chips available today.

Show me some identification

The chip itself isn’t like a driver’s license, containing a lot of identifying information, nor is it a GPS location device. The only information the chip contains is a unique identification number and sometimes the phone number or website for the registry of the company that produced the chip.

Photo by Patrick van IJzendoorn.

It’s up to you, the pet owner, to make sure that you register the chip and keep your information up to date. The vet, shelter, or adoption agency where you acquired your pet should provide you with the instructions for setting this up initially. If you move or change phone numbers, make sure you update the chip registry!

Beam me home, Scotty

A study cited by the American Veterinary Medicine Association points out that lost dogs and cats with microchips are successfully returned to their owners 52.2% and 38.5% of the time, respectively, versus just 21.9% and 1.8% for dogs and cats without microchips. Even pets that have traveled thousands of miles have still been reunited with their owners, thanks to microchips.

One piece in the responsible pet owner puzzle

Photo Courtesy of smlp.co.uk

Being a responsible pet owner is an ongoing process. Your furry companion needs regular veterinary care, and it’s a great idea to ask your vet to scan your pet’s microchip whenever Fluffy’s in for a checkup just to make sure it’s still in working order.

While the microchip technology is very well tested, it’s not completely foolproof. Make sure that your dog or cat is wearing a collar and tags at all times, including at least one tag with a phone number where you can be reached. If Fido wanders down the road and is picked up by a good Samaritan, it’s much easier for that person to call the number on his tag than figure out how to get him to a vet to read the microchip.

The heartache and angst of losing a pet can be devastating, but planning and diligence — and a little dose of technology — will give your beloved companion a much greater chance of finding his way home!

Cyberpets: Microchips Help Lost Pets Find Their Way Home The Saturday Evening Post

According to Dr. Mauria O’Brien, a veterinarian board certified in emergency and critical care at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, one such irregular heart sound, a murmur, has different meanings depending on the age and breed of pet.

A heart murmur indicates turbulence in the flow of blood. Normally, blood flows only forward through the heart’s chambers, making a distinct “lub dub.” A murmur may indicate that blood is moving backwards or is being pushed through an opening that is narrower than normal.

If your pet has a heart murmur, your veterinarian will grade the murmur on a scale of 1 to 6, depending on how loud the murmur is.

It can be normal for puppies younger than 16 weeks old to have a “baby” murmur. Your veterinarian will to listen to your puppy’s heart at its routine puppy wellness appointments (at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks) in order to determine whether the murmur is a “baby,” or “innocent,” murmur that will go away as the puppy ages. If a murmur is still heard beyond four months of age, the murmur could be considered a congenital defect, and your veterinarian will likely refer you to a veterinary cardiologist for a complete diagnostic work-up.

Acquired heart murmurs are those arising as your pet ages. In dogs, signs of a heart problem include exercise intolerance and cough, whereas cats often show no early warning signs.

Heart murmurs themselves may indicate a variety of underlying diseases. For example, in cats a murmur may indicate hyperthyroidism or hypertension as well as various heart diseases. The underlying cause of an acquired murmur must be identified in order to determine the correct treatment.

Radiographs (x rays), ECGs, and echocardiograms are among the diagnostic imaging approaches that can help your veterinarian understand what is going on with your pet’s heart. In certain cases, examination by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist will be advisable to reach a diagnosis and effective treatment plan.

The best way to catch a heart murmur in its earliest stages is to have regular examinations for young and adult pets so your veterinarian can listen to what your pet’s heart has to say. If you have further questions about heart murmurs in pets, contact your local veterinarian.

Brittany Way Rose is an Information Specialist at University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.

Heart Murmurs Speak Volumes to Veterinarians The Saturday Evening Post

Finding a nearby vet for your pet

While Google Maps is always a handy way to search for local businesses, there are several excellent websites specifically designed to help you find a local vet. One of our top recommended sites is Veterinarians.com. Here, you can easily search for local vets, read reviews and testimonials, and even request a consultation from various vets in your area.

Two other sites to check out are FindALocalVet and LocalVets. They’re not as full-featured as some sites but still make great resources when shopping around for vets in your area.

Not all vets are right for you

When searching for a veterinarian online, it’s important to keep in mind that not all vets are right for all pets. Most vets can handle the common problems and routine maintenance for your cat or dog, but finding a vet for birds, reptiles, and farm animals can be more of a challenge. It’s always a good idea to call the vet clinic in question and ask if they are comfortable treating your pet.

Just like finding a doctor for yourself, you’ll want to do some research on prospective vets. The easiest way to do this is to go to the VetRatingz website. Just type in the name of the vet clinic to read reviews from other pet owners. Be sure to look up prospective vets on Google Maps for additional comments and ratings.

Finding emergency care

Coming home to find a sick or injured pet is an owner’s worst nightmare. Even if your primary veterinarian is still open, not all clinics are equipped to handle emergency visits. It’s always a good idea to have an emergency vet clinic or animal hospital in mind well before your pet needs to visit one. Researching local emergency vets now will save you time (and possibly your pet’s life) later; be sure to consult your primary provider for emergency vet recommendations. You’ll want the two providers working hand-in-hand as much as possible.

The VetLocator website has an excellent emergency vet locator tool and lists several emergency animal poison control phone numbers. Google Maps can also be useful when researching and locating emergency vet clinics and hospitals.

Support and help

Vet visits and pet medication can be very expensive. If you find yourself having trouble paying for pet bills, you can often work something out with your vet, especially if you have an established relationship. Another option is to sign up for pet insurance. A simple Google search for pet insurance will give you several options to choose from.

The unfortunate reality of pet ownership is that some day your pet will pass away. There are many websites to help you and your family cope with the loss of a pet. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) offers a number of helpful articles and even a Pet Loss Hotline to help you in your time of need.

How to Find the Right Vet for Your Pet Online The Saturday Evening Post

Dr. G. Robert Weedon is a shelter veterinarian at the Champaign County Humane Society who lectures on shelter medicine as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana. He reminds good Samaritans that what appear to be stray pets often have homes.

“People need to remember that when a stray dog or cat is found, it is very likely that someone is looking for it,” says Dr. Weedon. “While we may be tempted to keep the animal, and provide it a good home, at a minimum we need to make sure it is scanned for a microchip, and a thorough description is given to local humane societies and animal control. A distraught owner may be frantically searching for the lost pet.”

Here is a step-by-step guide to doing all you can to ensure that a “stray” cat has the very best chance to be reunited with its people—or to find a new home. And if you are a cat owner, reading these ideas may prompt you to take steps to ensure that your pet is “findable.”

Step One: Take the cat to your local veterinary clinic.
A veterinarian can help you obtain information about the cat. Ask for the cat to be scanned for the presence of a microchip. Increasingly, responsible owners are having their pets microchipped—a process very similar to getting a shot in which a tiny chip is implanted under the pet’s skin with a needle. The chips are encoded with a number that identifies the animal’s owner. If the cat has been microchipped, the clinic should be able to contact the owner.

If no chip is present, ask the veterinarian whether the cat is male or female and whether it appears to have been spayed or neutered. You may also want to determine whether the cat has been declawed and its approximate age (whether young, senior, etc.).

Step Two: Make a “found” sign.
Like a “lost” sign, this should include information about the cat: its sex, sterilization status, whether it is declawed, and more. It will also be extremely helpful to include a clear photograph of the cat. Be sure to mention the area where and when the cat was found.

Step Three: Distribute the sign.
Take the sign to animal control, the humane society, and any local veterinary clinics and pet stores. When at animal control, check the current lost reports for possible matches among the cats reported missing. Be sure to scan the “lost” fliers for a cat matching the description of the one you found.

Step Four: Place an ad in the local paper.
Most newspapers do not charge for “found” ads. Craigslist is another place to post a found animal; it’s free, and you can upload the cat’s picture.

If, after all these steps have been completed, a week goes by and no one has attempted to re-claim the animal, you may consider taking the cat to the humane society or a local rescue organization or even providing the cat with a permanent home.

Susan Norris is an Information Specialist at University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.

Stray Cats: How Can you Help? The Saturday Evening Post

1. Ringworm is caused by a worm.

This disease got its name because of the way it looks, not because it is caused by worms under the skin. Ringworm is caused by one of several common dermatophytes; fungi that grow on skin. The “ring” look comes when the skin heals in the center as the fungus spreads outwards.

2. You can’t give ringworm to your pet or vice versa.

Actually, ringworm is quite contagious between mammals. Not only can you get it from your pet, you can just as easily give it to your pet, whether that is a cat, a dog, or even a rabbit. In fact, ringworm can affect any mammal.

3. Ringworm is only contagious through direct contact.

If that were true, the situation would be so much easier to resolve. The fungus infects the hairs, which are shed into the environment. These hairs can remain infectious for years. Part of treating a pet for ringworm involves extensive cleaning of the environment, that is, your house. Electrostatic wipes can be especially helpful for collecting all the pet hairs. Dr. Campbell recommends disinfecting all the surfaces you can with a common household cleaner. And don’t forget the air vents!

4. Only the affected pet needs to be treated.

If one pet in a multi-pet household has ringworm, you need to worry about all the other pets too. If the animals spend time together, it is very possible that they all have ringworm even if they do not have any obvious sores. To address the situation, you can either have all animals tested, or just treat them all. The choice depends on your preference and cost. Testing takes time (days to weeks) and can be expensive. The most common treatment for ringworm is lime-sulfur dips, which are fairly inexpensive. Discuss which course of treatment is best for your situation with your veterinarian.

5. If there are no visible skin problems or hair loss, the animal does not have ringworm.

Some pets infected with ringworm may not show signs, but still carry the fungus, meaning they can still transmit the fungus to other animals or other people. Make sure if you have a pet with ringworm to follow through the whole course of treatment. Never stop treatment just because the animal looks better.

6. A circular area of hair loss on your pet means ringworm.

While ringworm can be missed or misdiagnosed (mistaken for something else), it is also over-diagnosed. A lot of things can cause your pet to itch and lose fur. Mites, fleas, bacterial infections, and even allergies can cause hairless patches that itch. Be sure to talk to your veterinarian. Treating for ringworm will not help if your dog is itchy because of mites.

Now that you are armed with the facts, you can do your best to avoid contracting ringworm or to treat it aggressively if you or any member of your family does get it. If you still have questions about ringworm, your local veterinarian is an excellent source of information, so don’t hesitate to ask.

Andrea Lin is an Information Specialist at University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.

Ringworm Myth-Busters The Saturday Evening Post

Dr. Kelly Ballantyne, a veterinarian at the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Veterinary Medicine, says that chewing for dogs and scratching for cats are behaviors that we should expect from our four-legged friends.

“These behaviors should not be discouraged but directed to appropriate objects,” she says. Starting when your pet is young, you need to supervise your pet so that you can direct him to chew or scratch the appropriate items. For puppies and adult dogs, you can do this by providing them with chewable toys. If you are not able to supervise your dog, Dr. Ballantyne recommends confining him to a crate or pen with chew toys to prevent the destruction of household items. The chew toys should be durable, to prevent your dog from biting pieces off that could be swallowed, leading to potential intestinal issues. Strong, rubber toys with depressions or cavities in which you can place food or treats can also help to encourage your dog to chew on those items specifically.

For kittens and cats, you should provide scratching posts in multiple locations to encourage scratching of those items rather than your furniture. Any given cat may differ on its scratching preferences, so Dr. Ballantyne advises that you try various set-ups to determine what your cat prefers. You can place a post vertically or horizontally and in several locations of the house. The key is that the material of the post be shreddable, because cats use their scratching as a means of visual communication.

“Cardboard scratching posts are inexpensive and typically well-liked,” Dr. Ballantyne recommends. “You can also attach toys to the post, or place catnip around the post, to encourage investigation and scratching.”

Many pet owners have trouble directing these behaviors to the appropriate outlets. Until your pet can be trusted on its own, confinement to a crate or small “pet-proofed” room can save you a lot in the way of destroyed objects. Dr. Ballantyne says that such confinement can prevent reinforcement of the inappropriate behavior, and will likely allow your pet more freedom as an adult.

When pets continue to chew or scratch inappropriate objects, you should consider what you are providing them with as an outlet and how you are presenting it. For example, if you give an old shoe to a dog to chew on, he will learn that chewing on shoes is okay and may also chew on your brand new pair. Only items that are specifically for chewing should be provided.

If your cat continues to scratch a piece of furniture despite access to scratching posts, you can also place the post directly in front of the location where the cat has been scratching. Then the cat will be more likely to scratch the post than the piece of furniture. If your cat seems to have an affinity for a particular material, you can cover a scratching post with a similar material to encourage the scratching in a more appropriate location.

You may also need to take a look at your pet’s personality overall. Some pets may be overly destructive for other reasons. If the destruction takes place primarily when you are away from the home, your pet may have separation anxiety. Puppies and kittens (as well as high-energy adult animals) can also be more likely to chew or scratch destructively if they don’t have appropriate outlets for their energy. Increasing the amount of exercise and mental stimulation your pet gets daily may also help in preventing such destructive behaviors.

In the long run, the effort to train your pet and to provide him with appropriate chewing, scratching, and energy outlets could save you a lot of heartache and money related to destroyed household items and emergency veterinary bills.

For further information on appropriate chewing and scratching, please contact your local veterinarian.

Julia Disney is an Information Specialist at University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.