Rare animal illustration

The tropical coral deer Cervus scleractinia

Found near the equator near clear, warm, shallow water.

McNary Dam

A good portion of my electricity come from here. It's only a few miles away from my house as the crow flies, and sometimes I forget what a massive, and relatively rare, structure it is. The Columbia is one of the largest rivers in the world, and there aren't many places where people get most of their electricity from water.

These pictures are from a visit in mid-May of this year, when the river was fuller than usual.

This pipe is (I think) the downstream end of the juvenile salmon bypass system. Basically a tube that (hopefully) carries all the baby salmon around the dam so they don't get chewed up by the turbines. In the spring, they turn on these high powered sprinklers around the mouth of the pipe to deter birds from the tasty, tasty endangered species that are flung out of the mouth of the pipe. I imagine it would be like McDonalds having a pipe that spat chicken nuggets out onto the sidewalk, but then posting a guard holding a fire hose to keep people from eating them. Must be very frustrating to the seagulls.






I watched this pelican fly upstream towards the spillway rapids, then ride the waves downstream, then repeat. She repeated this process three times in the time I was there watching. I don't know if she was surfing the waves for fun, or contemplating braving the fire hose to try to get at some salmon snacks.





There's an Army Corps of Engineers maintained park downstream of the dam called Spillway Park. It has a large area of man-made wetlands and a network of walking trails. It's pretty obvious that they're "fake" wetlands; nothing looks completely natural, but they tried hard to make it appealing to a variety of bird species and it pays off. There are a lot of happy birds in those ponds.

Vaccinating cats and dogs: should you ever use less than the full dose?

Should these two canines receive different doses of vaccine based on size?

Short answer: no.

No, not even for kittens/puppies.

I've done this too, don't feel bad. There's this widespread feeling, especially among dog breeders and animal rescue folks, that splitting vaccines between young/small animals is a good thing. It saves money and seems like it would be safer somehow. The thought process goes: if a one mL dose is good for an 80lb dog, than shouldn't half or less of that amount be fine for a 10 lb dog?

But vaccines aren't drugs. You don't measure dosing by weight.

And everyone who knows what they're talking about says don't do it.

All you need to know is in the following email response from an expert to one of our board members' request for clarification:

You are correct regarding the recommendation AGAINST splitting vaccines.  This is applicable for both dog and cat vaccines.  The idea behind the recommended vaccine dose is that it contains what has been determined to be the minimum amount of antigen needed to adequately stimulate the immune system- regardless of the pet's size.  If you do not administer the vaccine properly (route, dosage), then not only can this result in vaccine failure but it also negates the manufacturer's warranty regarding the efficacy of the vaccine.  

 Regarding references: it is difficult to locate primary references since these concepts were validated in studies done some time ago.  I did find two references that might help you though - one is a recent publication, "2013 update on current vaccination strategies in puppies and kittens" by GM Davis-Wurzler (Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract. 2014 Mar;44(2):235-63.).  Here is the applicable quote from this publication: 

 

"The practitioner is advised to always follow the manufacturer’s directions for dose

and route of administration. Using a topical product parenterally or splitting doses

should never be done. A full dose is required to stimulate the immune system; there

is no medical basis for giving a smaller dose to a toy breed dog, and this practice could

lead to vaccine failure in that animal. If done with a rabies vaccine the practitioner is

not following federal requirements, which carries potential legal implications."

Also, WSAVA (the World Small Animal Veterinary Association) publishes vaccination guidelines for cats and dogs and under its FAQ section it states, 

"26. May I use smaller vaccine doses in small breeds to reduce the risk of adverse reactions?

No. The volume (e.g. 1.0 ml) as recommended by the manufacturer generally represents the minimum immunizing dose, therefore the total amount must be given."

(http://www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/VaccinationGuidelines2010.pdf)

I hope this helps, 

Chumkee 

Chumkee Aziz, DVM 

Resident, Koret Shelter Medicine Program

UC Davis Center for Companion Animal Health

www.sheltermedicine.com

www.facebook.com/sheltermedicine

A Law Restricting Pit Bulls Saves the Day!

...or not.

Same owners, different dogs, repeat bite attacks in Kennewick

Thank goodness Kennewick has restrictions on pit bulls! Oh wait, that does nothing to help since no pit bulls were involved. That's right, an entire neighborhood is in fear from these people's dogs, multiple bites have occurred off the property, children are being chased, even the school bus driver altered their route because of these people... and there's nothing that can be done about it because " "There are no laws on the books that say otherwise. Only a judge can decide whether or not a person is fit to own a pet, even after multiple occurrences just like this situation. Still, there's got to be a lot of evidence to even prove a case before it gets that far."

There's a detailed law about restricting pit bulls, but none about this? Way to prioritize, Kennewick!

This owner, who's dog once barked at someone, faces more repercussions than these scumbags. How is that logical or justified?

I Don't Like The AKC: Borzoi Edition

A brief and totally weird anecdotal thing:

I've handled a lot of dogs (including other sighthounds), and the handful of Borzoi I've laid hands on (all "purebred" AKC versions)  have all felt... funny to me.

They're large dogs that look like they're supposed to be smaller, somehow. They're spindly and narrow, with wispy hair with that weird (and totally unnecessary) humped back and under my hands they feel... too light. Like they  have bones made of balsa wood, or they're actually hollow on the inside. That ridiculously extreme roman nose seems like it's full of air. Certainly, they feel delicate: fine china that would fall apart with too much pressure. Now that I'm writing this out, it occurs to me that all borzoi I've met, no matter the age, feel the way an old or sick dog does under your hands.

My friend and fellow vet tech Joellyn once told me she "prefers a dog she can thump on" (and then gave an affectionate thump on the ribs of her border collie for emphasis). I feel the same way; I don't like tiny shivery dogs.

I don't feel like AKC borzoi are dogs that can be thumped on.

Kind of sad for a breed whose other name is Russian Wolfhound and that supposedly descends from great and tough hunters of the Russian plains.

I wouldn't have thought of this at all, except I saw this recent post about some "real" borzoi (as in: non-AKC dogs in their country of origin, doing the job they were bred for, instead of being overbred to look a certain way for a show ring):

Now there's a dog you can thump on.