Even a Corn Snake Needs a Vet

This week's veterinary adventure involved Snakey, a young corn snake who wouldn't eat. Only 12" long, little Snakey's last meal was over 6 weeks ago. A baby corn snake this size should eat once a week or so. Interestingly, baby corn snakes can be notoriously stubborn about eating and some must be trained how to eat. Yes, I said the snake must be trained. Here's how my assistant Tim and I got Snakey eating again. WARNING: Some of the photos and descriptions that follow are a bit graphic.

Snakey was visibly thin from prolonged anorexia.
If you're wondering how a snake can look thin,
you'd have to see it to believe it,
but Snakey's epaxial (back) muscles
were noticeably atrophied or shrunken. 

Corn snakes are carnivores eating rodents, small amphibians
 or other reptiles in the wild. Most pet corn snakes are bred
 in captivity, and are typically fed fresh or frozen rodents.
My assistant Tim thaws a frozen pinkie in preparation for
feeding Snakey. A pinkie is a tiny, newborn mouse bred for
this purpose.  While the pinkie appeared much too large for
Snakey's tiny mouth, the owner reported Snakey had eaten
 a whole pinkie over 6 weeks earlier.

Our first attempt at enticing Snakey with the plain thawed
pinkie was met with disinterest. In fact, Snakey seemed
a little frightened of the offering, so I proceeded
to "brain" the dead mouse. I cut into the skull to
expose the tasty brain juices. If this didn't interest
Snakey, we planned to cut up the pinkie into small pieces.
Our last ditch effort at meeting Snakey's nutritional needs
would be "gavage" or force feeding through a stomach tube.

Tim holds the pinkie mouse with a forceps and "teases"
the baby corn to stimulate its reptilian appetite. We watched in
anticipation and amazement as Snakey tasted the brain juice.
Snakey's nose never left the pinkie after that first taste,
and the little snake began to methodically feed.

Snakey's seemingly too small jaw unhinges to allow for ingestion
of the pinkie mouse. We waited with baited breath unsure if the corn
snake might change its mind at any point. We are feeding the snake
outside its enclosure to avoid accidental ingestion of bedding material.

Tim and I quietly cheer as Snakey committed
to eating the pinkie mouse. 

Notice the bulge just behind Snakey's head. Digestion of the pinkie meal
will take 2-3 days. Snakey's owner will need to learn how to "brain"
pinkies until the baby snake willingly and consistently eats these offered meals on its own. 

While baby corn snakes frequently need lessons on how to eat, the problem can be made worse from stress. Husbandry issues and over-handling are common causes of stress. Before acquiring a corn snake or other non-traditional pet (including mammals like Guinea pigs, chinchillas, etc.) thorough research into the housing, veterinary, legal and nutritional needs of your desired pet is essential. A tiny corn snake like Snakey may grow to be 5 feet long and may live more than 20 years! That is a huge commitment to make in the proper care of another living being, but as those with "exotic" pets will attest it can be a rewarding, enjoyable experience.

Help! I turned my back for 3 months and my dog got FAT!

EdGrrr the Athlete, 2007

EdGrrr, my 6-yr-old Labrador retriever, used to have the body of an athlete. No. Not just an athlete. A marathon runner. He was lean and mean. He had a lovely hourglass figure and was he ripped! Some people thought he was too skinny because, unfortunately, the breed standard for Labradors has been a somewhat thick and chunky variety of dog. While I battled baby bulge myself, I was so proud of my young lab's fitness and physique.

Then this summer, while I was building my vet clinic, EdGrrr went and got fat. And not just fat, but I-finally-weighed-him-on-my-clinic-scale twenty pounds fat! I'm not sure how I missed it, but now that he is chubby it has been a true challenge to whittle away the pounds.

EdGrrr the Tub, 2011

Although I have always measured my dogs' food and fed twice daily meals, avoided people food and shied away from regular treats, EdGrrr had plenty of help in the additional calorie department. His chummy personality and eager expression earned him a sandwich (or two) a day from members of the clinic work crews. Of course, I didn't learn this until after the work was done. To be fair, they played more fetch with him in three months than he's had in the previous three years.

I can't blame the workers entirely for the obesity-fueling excesses. EdGrrr, a farm dog through and through, finds calories in the darnedest places: a little grain from the feedlot steers here, a few compost heap veggies there, and a dead deer for dessert. I'm starting to feel like EdGrrr will foil my best efforts at dieting him no matter what I do.

So in spite of my failure at keeping my own dog at a healthy weight, here are some tips for your pet's diet:

1. Feed your pet distinct meals each day rather than keeping the bowl full. Many pets just can't resist another trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet. (Sound familiar?)
2. Use a true 8-ounce measuring cup to feed a precise amount of food as directed on your pet food bag (or by your veterinarian). The range on the pet food bag is often quite broad (such as "For a 40-60 lb dog feed 3-5 cups per day") so you will have to use your best judgement. Remember the amount is the total daily amount and you will have to divide that by the number of meals you feed a day.
3. If your pet is on a diet, make sure that you are feeding an amount meant for her ideal or goal weight, not her current weight.
4. Make sure chubby is on an adult maintenance diet (see Nutrition 101 for help selecting a pet food). "All life stages" foods are essentially puppy/kitten diets and won't help an obese-prone pet lose weight.
5. Watch the people food. It's really hard to gauge how many extra calories are being consumed by pets that lick the plates clean after dinner or receive tasty tidbits from Mom, Dad or human siblings throughout the day. Some types of people food are outright toxic for pets, so best to avoid it altogether.
6. Go easy on the treats. Of course you can still give treats. But your pet loves receiving a gift from you not the gift itself! So, if you can break that Milkbone biscuit (a doggie "candy bar" incidentally) into smaller pieces do it. Or choose a low calorie treat; the pet stores are full of them! In the really hard cases, you should eliminate treats and just offer a few pieces of your pet's daily allotment of kibble (chances are he won't know or care it's just his regular food).
7. Exercise. Enough said.
8. Once you've made one or more changes to your pet's diet you can weigh her periodically (say, once a month) to monitor progress. If your pet is small enough and you have a bathroom scale at home you can weigh her by holding her and then subtracting your own weight. For bigger animals you may need to schedule a weight check at your veterinary clinic (there probably won't be a charge for this...just ask!)
9. If your pet is not losing weight and you've really -- and I mean, really -- implemented the above tips religiously, please have a chat with your veterinarian. There are several treatable medical conditions that cause unrelenting obesity that can be diagnosed with a thorough examination and blood tests.

As 2012 dawns and I make my own New Year's resolutions to eat better and exercise more, I vow to get EdGrrr to a healthy weight as well. I may not have his full cooperation, but I do know that if I go out jogging he will be my willing companion. Then I can at least cross #7 off the list!

Have a wonderful New Year!

Nutrition 101: Reading Your Pet Food Label

In this season of over-nutrition (I just enjoyed my second Thanksgiving feast in 3 days), it seems appropriate to discuss a popular topic in veterinary medicine: pet nutrition. If I only had a nickel for every time I was asked, "What brand of food should my pet eat?" There is no simple answer, but a brief response is "Whatever your pet does well on that you are comfortable feeding." Now prepare for the long answer...


Actually, there are no answers to this question. I've looked, listened and asked. In veterinary training, professional seminars and published research. And the board certified veterinary nutritionists repeatedly respond with guidelines but never any hard and fast answers. Some rules of thumb for narrowing down your pet food choices are discussed below.


Rule #1: Be skeptical of marketing. I've heard "rumors" that big pet food companies are just out there to make money. Well, duh. A company has to be profitable to continue offering its products and services. I guess the boutique brands that cost twice as much as the traditional brands are in it solely for a love of animals. Right.


Yes, there are times you get what you pay for. And sometimes what you pay for is a pretty package and a guilt-trip. Read on for some tips for sorting through the marketing messages to find a nutritious food...


Rule #2: Find the AAFCO statement on the back of the bag. It's got to be there somewhere. If not, pick a different food. AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials, a voluntary membership association of local, state and federal agencies charged by law to regulate the sale and distribution of animal feeds and animal drug remedies. Pet food companies submit their foods and/or recipes to AAFCO for nutrient analysis (good) or feeding trials (best). Meeting AAFCO standards means that--among other things--your cat is getting adequate taurine (see the postscript on my Cat Carrier post) and your St. Bernard pup has the nutrients necessary to develop a sturdy skeleton.

Rule #3: Make sure the AAFCO statement includes a phrase about being "complete and balanced." Dry kibble has become the mainstay of most of our pets' diets, so it must contain the right amounts of protein, fat, fiber and other necessary nutrients. Checking for "complete and balanced" is especially important if much of your pet's daily nutrition comes from a can. Many canned foods are actually intended to be fed as a supplement or treat and may not be "complete and balanced" for lifelong nutrition!


Rule #4: Choose a food appropriate for your pet's current "life stage." A diet for all life stages is NOT a good thing! The most expensive foods seem to tout this phrase as a selling point, and it drives me crazy! "All life stages" meets nutritional guidelines for growth and development (i.e., puppies and kittens). A chubby spayed senior dog absolutely does not benefit from puppy nutrition. Juveniles need a formula for "growth and development" and adults need a "maintenance" formula. There is no such thing as a "senior" diet...they are typically just modified adult formulas and may be a good choice for certain minor health conditions in younger pets! 


Rule #5: Don't be suckered into thinking "by-products" and "meat meal" are disgusting fillers.  First let's remember that given an opportunity most felines will feast on mice and dogs will gorge on roadkill. Now that is disgusting! But it is "all natural" nutrition. :-)  


"By-products" are the nutritional parts of the animal carcass, which Americans prefer not to eat themselves (e.g., non-skeletal meat including heart, liver, kidneys, etc.) Many by-products such as liver offer superior taste when used in pet foods. (By-products do NOT include hair, horns, teeth and hooves per AAFCO standards.)  


"Meat meal" (e.g., chicken meal) is nutritional meat with the majority of its water content removed. Meal contains the same nutrients as its whole meat source but weighs less because it is dehydrated. (Meal does NOT contain blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents per AAFCO standards.)


Rule #6: Be skeptical of phrases such as "holistic," "gourmet," "human grade" or "organic." These terms have no legal definition in the pet food industry and are primarily marketing terms. On the other hand, a pet food that claims to be “natural” must have no chemically synthesized ingredients (e.g., preservatives or artificial colors), but may contain added vitamins or minerals if stated as such on the label. Please don't ever buy a "preservative-free" pet food. It's just plain rancid. "Natural" preservatives are less potent, so foods preserved this way need to be consumed within 2-3 months of manufacture.


In summary, your average 3-year-old kitty's pet food label will ideally read something like this: "Brand X SuperChow Cat Food has undergone feeding trials to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) cat food nutrient profiles for adult maintenance."

Overwhelmed? You want a quick and dirty way to pick a pet food brand? My professional preference is to choose a brand with an equivalent veterinary prescription diet. In the U.S., this means you will be frequenting the aisles holding Iams/Eukanuba, Hill's Science Diet, Purina, and Royal Canin. (No, I do not get a kickback to promote these brands.) As a scientifically-trained person I put more faith in companies that devote substantial time and money to research and development and have internal quality control for ingredients and accountability. With veterinarians and nutritionists on staff, these companies have formulated diets to dissolve bladder stones, cure diabetes* and help kidney failure patients live longer, healthier lives. If these companies can accomplish the delicate balancing act of providing precise nutrition for ailing pets I'm confident they can handle puppy chow.  


* Most diabetic felines suffer from type-2 diabetes related to obesity and related nutritional excesses. Managing weight and feeding an appropriate diet can reduce the amount of insulin needed to control the cat's diabetes -- and sometimes eliminates the need for insulin altogether!