Peaceful Paws Pet Massage

02/12/2024

Did someone say Irish Wolfhound?💗 Grace is six years old. Peaceful Paws Pet Massage works on Grace weekly for arthritis and right hip dysplasia.

02/11/2024

01/27/2024

01/16/2024

These are just a few ways your dog can exhibit pain. Recognizing the signs will let you implement therapies to keep your dog’s pain manageable. Peaceful Paws Pet Massage’s main goal is to keep your dog comfortable while maintaining mobility!!

01/12/2024

Ways to bring comfort to your dog dealing with pain from arthritis.

01/03/2024

Important Information if you feed Purina Dog Food.

1/10/24 update: more brands https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=965255491625961&id=100044245578564

If you believe ANY BRAND of pet food is causing or has caused illness or death:
Stop the food immediately.
Report it to the FDA: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/report-problem/how-report-pet-food-complaint
Contact your veterinarian. Request a copy of your pet's medical records. Report your concerns to the pet food company and ask your vet to do the same.
PLEASE COMPLETE THIS SURVEY https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S8SMQGD

*Update as of 1/4/24 - 213 dogs and cats (155 dogs, and 58 cats) sick eating Purina, 57 of which have died.

Since 12/5/23 in the 'Saving Pets One Pet @ A Time' group on Facebook there have been 48 dogs and 3 cats sick eating Purina, 10 of which have died. It seems to be from all different types of Purina, with Purina Pro Plan being the most common. If you or someone you know is feeding this food, I would stop immediately! Do NOT wait until your pet gets sick or Purina issues a recall.

Join the Facebook group 'Saving Pets One Pet @ A Time' for additional information and resources.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DuncanStrong/?mibextid=CTbP7E

info from Savings Pets One Pet @ a Time:

"Stop the food immediately. Post in the group above what your pets current diet is and medical conditions and we will help you find a more nutritious and safer diet.

Save the pet food. Do NOT release it to Purina in any circumstances.

Contact your vet and request a copy of your pets medical records. Ask the vet to report your concerns to Purina.

Report it to the FDA (https://truthaboutpetfood.com/report-a-suspect-risk-pet.../)

Report it to Purina (https://www.purina.com/contact-us)

Do NOT agree to send them the food. If you feel compelled to do so, only send a small portion. Keep the rest of the food in the freezer.

Do NOT send the medical records to Purina.

Document your conversation with Purina.

Purina may eventually say they will pay your vet bills and reimburse you for your pet food. If you agree to this they will ask you to sign a form which will prohibit you from taking legal action. Eventually, if there is a class action lawsuit you will be unable to join if you do this or if you want to file your own lawsuit.

Consider getting your pet food tested:(https://truthaboutpetfood.com/help-to-check-your-pet-food/) This would be helpful if you want to pursue legal action.

Purina has already been notified by numerous pet owners and they have not done anything to alert unsuspecting pet parents. Initially, there were offering to reimburse the pet owners for their pet food. Currently, they are offering pet parents $10 in coupons (which is what Hills offered me for my dead dog) and having a third party contact the pet parents.

Eventually, we may see Purina pet food become “unavailable” on the store shelves. This is called a silent recall. The pet food manufacturer doesn’t want to admit there is a problem with the product, so they start pulling the products off the shelves quietly. (Hills did this for 60 days before the recall)."

12/05/2023

Meet Carl💗 Carl is a 12 year French Bulldog rescue. He’s blind and deaf but that doesn’t slow him down!!

07/28/2023

Ever wonder if your dog is in pain? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell. Below is an in-home assessment to evaluate your dog.

The In-Home Pain Assessment (also available in Spanish) introduces clients to the idea that pets express pain differently – from humans and from each other. This ready-to-go resource uses evidence-based tools to help clients identify and evaluate pain signals in cats or dogs, including the Feline and Canine Acute Pain Scales developed by Colorado State University.

Get the in-home assessments here: bit.ly/inhome-painassessment

For more resources on pain management, we welcome to you explore the 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats, available at aaha.org/pain-management.

07/27/2023

So important!💗

07/21/2023

Meet MaCree which means my heart💗. MaCree is 13 years old and showing signs of arthritis. MaCree’s mom wants to keep her active and doing the activities she loves. That’s where Peaceful Paws Canine Massage comes into play!!!

07/15/2023

07/07/2023

Meet Grace! A 6 year old Irish Wolfhound. Grace is struggling with mobility issues from hip dysplasia and an iloipsoas injury.

07/06/2023

As your dog retrieves the first...second...third...maybe fifth or sixth ball, his muscles start to tire and soon they reach overload, where they no longer can fully control and support your dog's movements. Now, when your dog does those amazing athletic maneuvers to snag the ball, soft tissues like the cranial cruciate ligament, iliopsoas muscle and tendon, and the muscles and ligaments that support the vertebrae are overstretching. Minor tears are occurring. Now the ball is thrown 10, 12 times or more and ultimately your dog lies down, exhausted.

That period between when your dog's muscles are in overload, and when your dog lies down exhausted, is the injury zone (Figure 1). But remember, with all that adrenaline, your dog doesn't feel the injuries happening, so you have no idea that the tissues are being used beyond their capacity.

When this game is repeated day after day, month after month, the small tissue tears become large ones, and suddenly it becomes evident that your dog is in pain and has an injury. Of course, it hasn't been sudden at all-what seemed sudden is just the final result of repeated stress and strain until the tissues gave way.

Chris Zink DVM
Discovering Your Dog

07/01/2023

There is absolutely no need to repeatedly titer your dog! Once you learn about the key immune system component called the memory cell, you will understand that repeated titering does nothing but waste your money and create confusion in the cases of many older dogs. Read about it here: https://healthydogworkshop.com/the-trouble-with-titers/

06/29/2023

OPTIONS & TIMING FOR SPAYING/NEUTERING

The old school way of thinking, and what most vets are trained to focus on is population control.
This is why they are constantly recommending pet parents to spay/neuter their pets so early in life. BUT, this isn’t the SAFEST time to have the procedure done, nor is it always the better option.

Waiting until the dog is older will allow their hormones to fully develop, which in turn helps regulate the body’s processes. Hormones are fundamental to ALL the systems in the body, not just for reproduction.
Waiting will also allow the growth plates to fully mature, therefore ensuring a strong musculoskeletal system for lifelong health and avoiding early onset of hip/elbow dysplasia, arthritis or anything that would cause limited movement.

Ideally, waiting until your pup is 12-18 months old for small dogs and 18-24 months old for large breeds will give the body the time it needs to develop properly. For females, this means they will likely go through a couple heat cycles.
However, waiting this long comes with the absolute need to be hyper-aware of your dog and it’s surroundings at ALL times in order to prevent any “accidents” from happening. Each pet parent must evaluate the risk versus reward for their own circumstances and pet before making a decision. Never underestimate dogs when there's a female in heat. They are very driven in finding a way to get to each other so you must take every precaution to avoid this and avoid an unplanned litter.

If you do decide on sterilizing your pup, please know there are options and the traditional spay or neuter is not the only choice you have. Also know every dog should be considered individually - there is not a one-size fits all answer for every pet.

The alternatives to the traditional spay/neuter are an O***y-Sparing Spay for female dogs or a Vasectomy for male dogs.

The O***y-Sparing Spay and Vasectomy are options in how we can deal with sterilizing our pups that allow the dog to retain their much-needed hormones. However, the difficult part to choosing the non-traditional option is finding a veterinarian that was trained and is experienced in these procedures, because not all vets are. For instance, in my area I could not find a vet that performed the OSS option for my female, so I went with the traditional spay.

For FEMALES - the difference between a traditional spay vs an o***y sparing spay:
Ovariohysterectomy (Traditional):
💗 Removes ovaries and sometimes some of the uterus/cervix
💗 Hormones are NOT maintained
💗 Does not have a heat cycle
💗 Not fertile

O***y Sparing Spay (Non-traditional):
💗 Removes the uterus/cervix and leaves at least 1 o***y if not both ovaries
💗 Hormones ARE maintained
💗 Has a heat cycle and may have a very small amount of bloody discharge, will be attractive to male dogs
💗 Not fertile

For MALES - the difference between a traditional neuter vs a vasectomy:
Castration (Traditional):
💙 Each testicle is removed and the blood supply and vas deferens (spermatic cord) are tied off
💙 Testicles and sc***um are removed
💙 Hormones are NOT maintained
💙 Not fertile

Vasectomy (Non-traditional):
💙 A portion of the vas deferens (spermatic cord) is removed
💙 The testicles remain in the sc***um
💙 Hormones ARE maintained
💙 Not fertile

The bottom line:
Waiting until the appropriate time (12-18 months old for small dogs and 18-24 months old for large breeds) can bring advantages in letting the dogs hormones fully develop and allowing growth plates to settle can be a great foundation for either option. Then understanding any option come with benefits and risks, however maintaining hormones as best as possible is always a good option for long term health.
The o***y sparing spay and vasectomy options are only appropriate if you are willing and able to manage natural dog behavior.
Be sure to do your research and consult about the risks and benefits for your dog and decide on the best plan for lifelong well-being.