My cat Kate has gingivitis!

Well, I had a surprise yesterday at Kate’s yearly veterinary exam.

She has the beginning of gingivitis.

I was really surprised as she is only 3 years old (we think). So she is now on an oral antibiotic and will be getting her teeth cleaned in the next two weeks.

I feel badly about this. Being the owner of a company that developed and sells an at-home, early detection health care product for animals, I am certainly aware of the importance of catching things at an early stage. I have never had to deal with gingivitis before and am now in the process of learning about it.

My cats, Chloe and Kate have always resisted me trying to clean their teeth and I had pretty much given up on it. I will be starting that process again though.

Chloe is not going to be happy about this news at all.

2009 Spay Neuter national day

Well, today is officially National Spay/Neuter Day. This is the first campaign in 5 years that I haven’t worked on and I miss it.

We made it a policy to create February is Spay/Neuter month in Fairfield,IA back in 2002 and the campaigns have been very successful. All the area veterinarians give discounts all month to people who bring in their dogs and cats for fixes during the month. Our CCSNAP program offers more financial assistance when needed as well.

Hopefully, this year will be another great success. I am noticing alot of posters around town of people selling dogs that they have bred. Maybe more than ever because of the economy.

The challenge has always been how to reach the people that are breeding or letting their animals breed, but I feel optimistic as alot of great people have their attention on this problem now.

Maybe 2009 will be the breakthrough year for the animals. I know Chloe and Kate who are fast asleep right now are hoping so.

Lily winters on Coronado Island, CA

Two weeks ago, I visited my sister Bobbie and Lily who were spending the winter on Coronado Island, CA. It was such a fun week. And the weather really cooperated….it was close to 80 degrees everyday.

We walked along the harbor, took yoga classes, rode bikes, and did some fun exploring along the coast.

This is probably the most dog-friendly area I have ever been to. People were continually walking or jogging with their dogs, often 2 or 3 at a time. And they always picked up after them too~everything was so clean.

The only downside was that the navy resides on the north side of the island and they create some unexpected loud noises that totally freaked Lily out. It happened a couple of times and she became too fearful to walk along the harbor.

Bobbie and Lily are now headed back to Cape Cod. I think Lily will be happy to be home again.

Cats and clean teeth

Chloe and Kate’s annual vet exams are usually done in the spring, but I am going to bring them in next week. They both seem to have bad breath and I want to get it checked out.

Since both of them are young, (5 and 3), they have never needed dental work, but it may be time for Chloe to get her teeth cleaned. She’s not going to like it!

I know that dental disease is extremely serious and if left untreated the bacteria can cause life-threatening problems, such as kidney, liver, and heart disease which will only get worse as the animal ages.

I regret that I didn’t make more of an effort to clean their teeth when I first adopted them. Chloe especially gets very upset when I try to look in her mouth, or try to get to her back teeth.

My sister brushes Lily’s teeth almost everyday and Lily doesn’t seem to mind much at all.

Hopefully, it isn’t too late to get the cats accustomed to some teeth cleaning at home, but I will have to make sure their nails are trimmed first–another big challenge with Chloe.