Interview with Dr. E’Lise Christensen
Eileen Anderson: Is there anything pet owners can do when their dog diagnosed with canine cognitive dysfunction is wandering, restless, or barking a lot at night?
Dr. E’Lise Christensen: You bet. There are so many things that can come in handy for these pups. And the trick is figuring out which one is right for each family and each animal. Each animal responds differently to different interventions. We know we have a lot of different options: supplements, behavior management and modification, and traditional medicines that can, in some cases, help. In fact, this morning I did a reassessment with a patient we saw with this problem. Vocalization, restlessness, and wandering, especially at night, are the most common reasons why patients with cognitive dysfunction come to us as veterinary behaviorists.
Imagination Library Interview with SophyHenn
Q. How did you get started as a children’s author?
A. Well, I suppose having my daughter really started me on the path to becoming a children’s author, as I rediscovered the absolute joy of picture books while really appreciating my daughter’s discovery of them. Picture books are often underrated as there can be few words and spreads. But distilling these often complex ideas, stories and messages, finding the right words that are fun and approachable, and then creating an image that brings it all to life can sometimes (always!) be quite tricky. I realized this wasn’t much different from my old job as an art director in advertising, a few words and a picture that demands to be looked at is the foundation of a lot of advertising. So I went back to school part-time and found that nothing stimulates your ideas more than pitching them to 50 of your peers! During my time in college, I created “Where Bear?”, my first book, and also finally got an agent (I had A LOT of rejections!) and after that it all happened pretty fast.
Incontinence
One of the most common reasons your senior dog may start having accidents on the floor is due to incontinence.
As dogs get older, their bladder muscles can become weak and they can’t hold it as they used to.
Very dangerous items for dogs
String-like objects. Called linear foreign bodies by veterinarians, they include threads that were used to wrap the meat and then discarded. “Strings tend to be more of an issue for cats,” points out Dr. Berg. Cats like to play with string-like objects and will swallow cassette tapes, ribbon, yarn, and the like, while dogs tend to eat large pieces of fabric or toys. “But the rules for species are not hard and fast,” he says. Dogs also end up in trouble. The reason it’s so bad is that one end of the string usually gets caught under the tongue or inside the stomach, and the rest of the string passes into the intestines. Because one end of the rope is anchored in place, the intestine can’t pass through the rope, so the «intestine climbs up the rope» to try to digest it, explains Dr. Berg. “The rope can literally saw through the intestine and cause a perforation.”
Cord is also attached to the fabric. A wad of tissue will get caught in the stomach, but a thread of tissue that unravels at the edge will travel down into the intestine and can also cause cuts in the intestinal wall.