HarmonyVet Acupuncture and Spine Care

HarmonyVet Acupuncture and Spine Care We are dedicated to supporting animal health by integrating veterinary acupuncture, Chinese herbal m
(16)

Please wish our Dr. Lynne a Happy Birthday if you see her today.Here is her Speaker Spotlight for the upcoming AHVMA (Am...
06/06/2024

Please wish our Dr. Lynne a Happy Birthday if you see her today.
Here is her Speaker Spotlight for the upcoming AHVMA (American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association) Conference for 2024!

Dr Lynne Dennis graduated from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993. Since 2003, her practice has focused exclusively on integrative veterinary medicine. She is certified in Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy, Veterinary Massage and Rehabilitation Therapy, Veterinary Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Tui-na and Food Therapy. She became a Fellow of the American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture in 2014.
Dr Dennis is a faculty member for the post-graduate, state approved certification program in Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy at the Healing Oasis Wellness Center and an instructor for the Chi University small animal acupuncture program.
She owns HarmonyVet Acupuncture and Spine Care in Madison, Wisconsin, providing Chinese medicine, Spinal Manipulative Therapy and Rehabilitation to small animals and horses.

Charade carrying her own Chinese herbs.
04/02/2024

Charade carrying her own Chinese herbs.

11/01/2023

You are receiving this because you signed up to the Dog Food Advisor’s recall alerts Greetings, You’re getting this email alert because you signed up…

01/26/2023

By looking at him, you might not know Thabiso had two ruptured cruciate ligaments. “He was a massive dog, 125 pounds,” Allison Smith says about her beloved Labrador Retriever. When Smith got Thabiso in 2010, …

12/07/2022

Complete details of the Purina Pro Plan Vet Diet recall as reported by the editors of The Dog Food Advisor.

The Importance of trimming nails!
09/20/2022

The Importance of trimming nails!

06/20/2022

Complete details of the Freshpet Dog Food recall of June 2022 as reported by the editors of The Dog Food Advisor.

Please Welcome Dr. Marcus Wisniewski!!!Dr. Marcus Wisniewski graduated from the University of Illinois with a doctorate ...
06/10/2022

Please Welcome Dr. Marcus Wisniewski!!!

Dr. Marcus Wisniewski graduated from the University of Illinois with a doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 2016 and completed an internship at Wisconsin Equine Clinic and Hospital. Following his internship Marcus entered mixed animal practice where he did mostly horse and small animal work before transitioning into mostly small animal practice. In 2019 Dr. Marcus completed certification in Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy (VSMT) from the Healing Oasis Veterinary Wellness Center and since then has also received certification in Veterinary Massage and Rehabilitation (VMRT) as well as becoming a faculty member at the Healing Oasis for VSMT.

Current professional interests include spinal manipulation (small animal as well as horses/various other large animal species) and canine sports medicine and rehabilitation.

06/06/2022

Dewclaws! They are IMPORTANT! Many dog breeders routinely, and without much thought, amputate puppies' front dewclaws when the pups are 3-5 days of age. Why? The thought is to prevent potential injuries, such as tears of the digit, later in life. BUT do you realize that the dewclaw is a FUNCTIONAL, IMPORTANT digit? I am thankful that my own dog's breeder did not amputate Dunkin's front dewclaws. Do you also know that with appropriate exercises, the muscles of the dewclaw can be strengthened to help promote and maintain appropriate function and close apposition of the dewclaw to the side of the paw? Below is an article by a friend and colleague, Dr. Chris Zink, that explains the importance, anatomy, and function of the front dewclaw.

"Do the Dew(claws)?
by Chris Zink, DVM PhD DACVSMR

As a veterinary sports medicine specialist, I work extensively with canine athletes, developing rehabilitation programs for injured dogs or dogs that required surgery due to performance-related injuries. I have seen many dogs, especially field trial/hunt test and agility dogs, that have chronic carpal arthritis, frequently so severe that they must be retired or at least carefully managed for the rest of their careers. I noticed that very few of those dogs had dewclaws and began to wonder whether these appendages might, in fact, protect a dog from injuries. What I learned might surprise you.

The Anatomy of Dewclaws
Miller's Guide to the Anatomy of the Dog, a veterinary anatomy text, has an excellent figure depicting the muscular anatomy of the distal forelimb. There are 2 functional muscles, the extensor pollicis longus et indicis proprius and flexor digitorum profundus, which are attached to the front dewclaw by 4 tendons (references in blog). Each of those muscle/tendon units has a different function in movement. That means that if you cut off the dew claws, you are preventing the muscles that were attached to the dewclaws from functioning.

In contrast, rear limb dewclaws do not have muscle/tendon attachments, so their removal might be appropriate, except in the breeds such as Briards and Beauceron in which they should be retained.

Dewclaws Do Have Functions
If there are muscles and tendons attached to the dewclaws, then they most likely have a function. Broadly speaking, dewclaws have at least two different functions:
1. Grasp the ground when the dog is turning to prevent torque on the forelimb. Each time the front foot lands on the ground, particularly when the dog is cantering or galloping (see Figure 2), the dewclaw is in touch with the ground. If the dog then needs to turn, the dewclaw actively digs into the ground to stabilize the lower leg and prevent torque. In Figure 3 you can clearly see the dewclaw of a Corgi herding a sheep extended, ready to grip the ground. And in the image at the top of this article, you can see the dewclaws of a dog extended, ready to grip the water!

Do the Dew(claws)?

If a dog doesn't have dewclaws, the leg will twist on its axis, creating increased pressure on the carpal bones, as well as the elbow, shoulder and toes. A lifetime of this kind of torque and the result can be carpal arthritis or injuries to and subsequent arthritis in other joints of the forelimb, such as the elbow, shoulder, and toes. Remember, the dog is participating in the activity regardless, so there will be concussive pressures on the leg, and if the dewclaw does not help to stabilize the leg, those pressures will be transmitted to other areas of the leg, especially the joints.

2. Grip objects. We have all seen dogs using their dewclaws to grip an object such as a ball or bone (Figure 4). I've even seen many photos of agility dogs gripping the teeter for stability (Figure 5). But did you know that the dewclaws' gripping ability can, in fact, save your dog's life? Check out the video "Dewclaws Do Have a Purpose" for "gripping" views of dogs attempting to get out of water onto ice without the help of those ice picks on the inside of their legs. The video also shows dogs using their dewclaws to grip the ice and escape from a potentially fatal situation. I have known several dogs that drowned after falling through ice in the winter. None of them had dewclaws. If they had, perhaps they would have survived and spared their owners the incredible heartache of watching their dogs die unnecessarily.

Arguments for Removing Dewclaws
1. The dewclaws will get injured. This is the most common reason I hear for removing dewclaws. A friend of mine had such a severe dewclaw injury in one of her dogs that she swore she would remove them on all the dogs she bred subsequently.

But the data indicate that dewclaws are not injured very often. A study published in 2018 showed that the dewclaw was the LEAST likely toe to be injured in agility dogs, in which landing and turning from jumps and other obstacles put the toes at risk for injuries. Thus, it makes no sense to remove the dewclaws because of risk of injury. And, of course, no one would consider removing the 5th digits in the front feet, which are by far the most commonly injured toe.

2. Owners forget to trim the dewclaws. Surely this is a matter of education. Do we really want to remove a functioning digit in all dogs, just because some owners need to be reminded that they must remember to trim the dewclaws?

3. Dewclaws make the forelimb look less straight when viewed from the front in conformation. The AKC states: "The breed standard describes the characteristics of the ideal
dog to perform the function for which it was bred." While we could have long discussions about the veracity of this statement, it is interesting to note that there are VERY few breed standards that require dewclaw removal. I know of only one - the Vizsla breed standard.

A Plea
So, here's a plea to retain dogs' dewclaws. They are a functioning digit. They are the toe least likely to be injured. Isn't this enough to convince us not to do the dewclaws?"

05/26/2022
05/10/2022
04/09/2022

STUDY FINDS HERBICIDES IN THE URINE OF PETS AFTER HOME LAWN CHEMICAL TREATMENT.

“Considerable interest has been generated by a recently published study by PCOP scientists and key collaborators at Purdue University and the University of North Carolina.

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which lawn chemicals are taken into the body of dogs and eliminated in the urine.

This study was in follow-up to an earlier study that showed a significant association between lawn chemical exposure and increased bladder cancer risk in dogs.

Some of the important findings and conclusions are summarized below:

• Lawn chemical exposure was widespread in dogs. At least 1 of the 3 chemicals measured in the study was present in the urine of dogs in the majority of the 25 households after lawn chemicals were applied to the grass.

• 'Untreated' grass also contained lawn chemicals, presumably from drift from nearby treated areas. At least 1 of the 3 chemicals was detected on the grass in 7 of 8 control households, as well as in many of the “treated” households BEFORE the chemicals were applied.

• Half of the dogs living in 'untreated' control households had lawn chemicals in their urine.

• The condition of the grass affected how long the chemicals persisted on the surface of the grass where they would be taken up by dogs. Chemicals persist longer on dry brown grass. Chemicals were detected on the grass at 48 hours after treatment in the household study." - Purdue University

WHAT’S EVEN WORSE:

“Once contaminated, dogs can pass the chemicals on to their owners and to others in the household. The study only looked at dogs, but the researchers suspect that cats and other pets could also be affected.

‘Dogs can pick up the chemicals on their paws and their fur,’ Deborah Knapp, lead author of Purdue University's Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, explains. ‘They can then track the chemicals inside the house, leaving chemicals on the floor or furniture. In addition, if the dog has chemicals on its fur, the pet owner could come in contact with the chemicals when they pet or hold the dog.’

John Reif, a professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, told Discovery News, ‘The paper presents important information since exposure to 2,-4-D, a widely used broad leaf herbicide, has been associated with increased risk of cancer in pet dogs and humans.’" – Discovery News

This means that we, the humans, are unknowingly exposing our pets to cancer and they, our pets, are unknowingly returning the favor as they bring the toxins back into our households.

The bottom line is pets can absorb lawn chemicals from exposure to their treated lawn, exposure to their untreated but contaminated lawn, and from other treated areas such as parks.

Researchers suggest that if owners still must use herbicides, they should follow manufacturer guidelines, allow gardens and lawns to dry before allowing pets out, wash their dog's feet each time the dog comes inside, and consider treating the back yard one week before the front (or vice versa) so that pets will have an area of less potential chemical exposure available to them.

For more info and lawn maintenance ideas, click here - http://ow.ly/4n2prU

Rodney Habib - Pet Nutrition Blogger

"An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!"

03/06/2022

Sibling rivalry to get their nails filed🤩

Some good advice on how to keep our loved ones healthy.
03/06/2022

Some good advice on how to keep our loved ones healthy.

Every pet is exposed to toxins because these chemicals are ubiquitous in homes, yards, the general environment, and even the veterinary office.

01/17/2022
10/04/2021

Complete details of the October 2021 Fromm Dog Food recall as reported by the editors of the Dog Food Advisor.

Say Happy Birthday to Charade who just turned 9 years young!
07/02/2021

Say Happy Birthday to Charade who just turned 9 years young!

Address

4502 Monona Drive
Madison, WI
53716

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 4pm

Telephone

+16088868930

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when HarmonyVet Acupuncture and Spine Care posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to HarmonyVet Acupuncture and Spine Care:

Videos

Share

Category