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We are excited to introduce you to our two monarch caterpillars on display, Logan and Pilsen! This fall, Veterinary Behavior at Illinois and Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois are teaming up to promote the conservation of one of our favorite insects—the monarch butterfly.

This captivating insect is not only a beautiful summer guest of Midwestern fields and gardens, it is also an international traveler. Every year several generations of monarchs will reproduce and live their two- to three-month lifespans in the Midwestern U.S. and Canada, and every fall the fifth generation will travel 1,500 miles south to Central Mexico. This migratory generation lives a total of eight to nine months and spends the winter in the pine forests of central Mexico, then travels back to the southern U.S. to reproduce and lay eggs. Their offspring then head further north and the cycle repeats.

While adult monarch butterflies will feed off of various species of flowers, the monarch caterpillar will only eat one type of plant—the milkweed. Unfortunately, habitat loss due to development and agricultural practices in the U.S. has eliminated large tracts of milkweed and resulted in a decline in the monarch butterfly population. Compounding the problem, deforestation has destroyed several of the monarch’s overwintering sites in Mexico, so fewer butterflies make the journey back to the U.S. to reproduce each spring. Our Midwestern population of monarch butterflies is now severely threatened.

Fortunately, there are many ways we can all help the monarch butterflies:

1. Plant the monarch’s host plant, the milkweed. The more milkweed available, the more monarchs will reach adulthood. There are several species of milkweed and attractive options for the home garden are the swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, and whorled milkweed.
2. Plant nectar plants for adult monarch caterpillars. They need plenty of nectar to reproduce and make their long journey south. Favorites of monarchs include Echinacea, Liatris, and Solidago (Goldenrod).
3. Collect and raise monarch caterpillars indoors. While only 1 in 10 eggs will survive to adulthood outdoors due to predation, 9 in 10 eggs raised indoors will survive to adulthood. To successfully raise monarch caterpillars you will need plenty of milkweed, as these caterpillars are hungry! Monarch Watch offers excellent tips to help you get started rearing monarchs.

If you would like to learn more or are interested in visiting our caterpillars, Logan and Pilsen, please stop by our clinic.

Kelly Ballantyne, DVM, DACVB
Veterinary Behavior at Illinois

In recent weeks, there has been an increased surge of coughing dogs coming into our clinic. We had been free of suspected flu cases for a number of months, here, at Medical District Veterinary Clinic, but three weeks ago, we had one confirmed case followed immediately by multiple other subsequent cases that were highly suspicious of the canine flu.

All of these dogs have had a common history of frequenting day care, boarding facilities, or dog parks. We are still continuing to recommend using caution in these areas to help protect your dog. Additionally, we would like to remind our clients that there is an available vaccine against the H3N2 strain of Canine influenza. It requires two initial doses (two to four weeks apart) and then boostered on a yearly basis.

Most cases have started with either mild coughing or sneezing, which eventually has progressed to a loud, honking cough. Some pets have a decreased appetite, depression, and fever. If your pet is showing any of these signs please have your pet examined as soon as possible—time is of the essence to prevent these cases from progressing to life-threatening pneumonia.

Dogs at the highest risk of exposure include those that socialize with other dogs by attending day care, boarding or grooming, dog parks, and those that live in high density enclosed areas such as high rise buildings. Dogs with high risk of exposure should be vaccinated.

We also recommend owners decrease the risks of exposure by trying to avoid these high-risk areas as much as possible. Canine Influenza Virus can survive 48 hours on hard surfaces and 24 hours on clothing, thus it is very important to also be cautious in elevators, hallways, and places where dogs congregate, like dog relief stations or community dog bowls.

Please call the Medical District Veterinary Clinic at (312) 226-2588 with any questions and to schedule a vaccine appointment.

Thank you,

Drew Sullivan, DVM
Medical District Veterinary Clinic

It’s been a year since Chicago got caught up in and defeated by the Canine Influenza Virus Apocalypse of 2015. While the collective veterinary world knocks on wood, we can say that there has not been the return we were dreading. However, we are not free from all concerns, so here is a flu review and information on current recommendations.

Before last year, the canine influenza virus (CIV) vaccine protected dogs from the H3N8 strain, which was the only strain circulating in the United States. The cause of the Chicago outbreak of 2015 was identified as a new strain, H3N2, previously seen only in southern China and South Korean dog populations.

Typically CIV cases are not typed by a diagnostic laboratory, but with last year’s outbreak most of the cases that were sent in were identified as the H3N2 strain. Now we don’t have any way to know if the older strain, H3N8, is truly gone or merely overshadowed by the more vibrant and headline-grabbing H3N2.

The most obvious and most-often asked question is: How should you protect your dogs?

If your dogs have previously been vaccinated against H3N8, should they continue to be boostered? Should we add H3N2 to their vaccination protocol in addition to or in place of H3N8? Or if the outbreak is over and not really having much effect on the city, is either vaccination needed?

The absolute safest thing to do if you want to confer the most protection against CIV is to vaccinate your dogs against both strains. The first time dogs are vaccinated against one of the strains, they need a one-time booster after two to three weeks, and then subsequent yearly boosters after that to continue to have protection. That being said, the most recent outbreak seemed to be attributable to the H3N2 strain. Though we can never say that the H3N8 strain is gone, we can say with some certainty that it is much less prevalent. Therefore, your dog is much less at risk for this virus. Many owners are choosing, reasonably, to vaccinate their pets only against the new H3N2 strain.

Other factors that must be considered include your dog’s relative risk of contracting CIV and potential negative side effects of the vaccine. The vaccine is safe, but, as with all vaccines, they should not be administered to animals that are currently sick or immunocompromised in any way. The CIV vaccine is an optional vaccine (sometimes called a “lifestyle vaccine”). If your dog is social and goes to dog parks, the groomer, or doggy daycare, or if your dog has contact with other socially active dogs because you live in an apartment complex with a swinging doggy social scene, these are reasons to choose the vaccination(s).

There are still lots of things we don’t know. Did the anticipated outbreak of 2016 fail to happen because of increased awareness? Herd vaccinations of the Chicago dog population? Unknown natural reasons? Will the virus mutate, as it often does in human flu strains? Will the new H3N2 vaccine be effective, and for how long?

Having your dogs vaccinated doesn’t guarantee that they will be free from sickness, but we can guarantee to help you weigh your dog’s options and needs and support the decision you make.

For more background information about CIV, please refer to the American Veterinary Medical Association FAQ. And please do not hesitate to call us with questions about this or other issues.

Thank you,

Brett Grossman, DVM
Drew Sullivan, DVM
Medical District Veterinary Clinic

The temperature is slowly creeping up to Chicago springtime levels, though all Midwesterners knew to brace for that inevitable April snowstorm.

Regardless of your gritty Chicago expectations, we hope you are starting or continuing all your flea and tick medications as well as your heartworm control. You can reference the previous post about this, but remember these are two separate medications that need monthly administration. If you have questions, call or bring in your animal. Also with the season changes come allergens. If your dog or cat is susceptible to allergies, watch carefully, and make sure they are not getting uncomfortable.

This month’s topic—your pet’s diet—is one of utmost importance and one that is too often influenced by non-doctors. Your dog’s and cat’s diet is a huge part of their continual care and health, so it is important to know your options.

This column can’t address every aspect of diet, but it can help you figure out if the diet you are using is right for your pets, specifically.

1. Don’t Go by Price

The cost of a diet does not indicate how effective or healthy it is. There are great diets available from your local grocery store. There are not-so-great diets available from your specialty organic pet store. You cannot let cost be what determines what you feed your pet.

2. Special Diets

The sex, age, and specific metabolic status of your animal are integral factors for determining what it should be eating. If you have three cats and two dogs in your house, there’s a chance that they may all benefit from different types of food. That being said, it is not always possible to feed every animal something different, so you need to make sure that you’re not feeding anything that has negative impacts. Puppy food would not be great for an older dog with kidney disease, and geriatric food for an elderly husky that needs to lose weight would not be healthy for a spry little one-year-old mutt. The same goes for cats.

Special diets have been formulated to address specific health conditions in dogs and cats, including:

• Urinary disease
• Stress
• Skin Allergies
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Heart disease
• General aging
• Weight gain
• Joint inflammation and disease
• Recovery from illness
• Diabetes
• Hyperthyroidism
• Puppies (small) / Puppies (large)
• Hairball control
• Indoor / Neutered

3. Grain-Free Diet / Raw Food Diet 

Because people’s passions about these types of diets can be fierce, veterinarians are sometimes hesitant to speak out about them. All owners, though, should know that both of these options may have benefits, directly or indirectly, but they are not all healthy and optimal for ALL patients. Please consult with us before switching to any diet, especially for the sick, for the immunocompromised, and for all puppies or kittens.

Grain-Free: It is rare that animals have grain allergies. It is possible, but rare. The perceived health benefits of a grain free-diet are thought to be tied to the amount of generally lower carbohydrates present. Sometimes the grain filler is replaced with other fillers (some with higher amounts of sugar). There’s never really been any conclusive proof that it helps, though nothing suggests that it hinders anything.

Raw Foods: This is a little more controversial, because raw foods can be dangerous, both to animals and to the humans around them. This is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bulletin on raw food diets. Please consult with a veterinarian AND your family physician before switching to a raw food diet.

Sometimes, we find that staying put on a diet that works is best. There are times when we hear that someone is happy with how their dog or cat is doing, but is made to feel guilty about their pets’ diet because it isn’t proper. Again, let us help, but we don’t like switching foods without a reason.

Enjoy the season change, and let us know if you have any questions.

Brett Grossman, DVM
Drew Sullivan, DVM
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois

Spring is weeks away, and the schizophrenic Chicago weather is starting to settle on the easy months of warmth and sunshine, with occasional rainstorms thrown in for good measure. With the winter relief, though, comes additional burdens on pet owners in the form of allergies.

Often pet owners settle for what they view as unavoidable allergic reactions in the form of skin and ear irritation, respiratory difficulty, lethargy, weakness, gastrointestinal upset, etc. As dogs and cats start to lick, chew, and relieve their itching, we start to see them develop rashes, alopecia, anal sac irritation, and infections. Though April showers decrease the airborne pollen, they also will increase the subsequent pollen produced by plants as well as allow favorable environments for mold and fleas.

Sometimes these initial allergic breakouts can be avoided in anticipation of the season, or at first arrival of clinical signs. Often just simply starting antihistamines and a short course of antibiotics or anti-inflammatories can make a severely uncomfortable animal feel like a spring bunny.

So what can you do? We recommended the following:

1. Make sure your dogs are on anti-flea and tick prevention. If your cats go outside or if you have dog housemates that go outside, they should also be on flea medication. Flea allergy dermatitis is a common cause for initiating allergic reactions, and ticks can not only initiate allergic reactions, but also tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease.
2. Act quickly and let us see your cats and dogs before it gets bad. Quick responses make simpler and cheaper treatments. Often a quick exam can lead to immediate relief.
3. Spring cleaning: Open the windows (keep the screens on) and air out the house, but keep the animals away when you dust and clean. An allergen storm erupting from your winter dust mite carpet cleaning is enough to cause an allergic landslide.
4. Wash off the winter grime from your dog’s coat with an appropriate canine-specific shampoo. There are many types of shampoos to use and we can help you figure out what works best.
5. Food allergies are common, but if your pet’s signs tend to come at specific times, like at the season’s change, or whenever it rains, it probably isn’t due to food. Before you spend money on new and sometimes expensive food, please let us know. There may be cheaper and easier ways to deal with this. There are many dogs and cats with actual food allergies, but it’s not always the first rule-out.
6. I’m sure your dog loves to swim, even when Lake Michigan is still borderline torturously freezing, but post-lake-swimming ear infections are almost too predictable to not mention. Make sure you dry their ears out and potentially clean them after a nice day at the lake. We can show you how before they get infected.

As always, let us know if you have questions. Dental Month has been extended through March, so if you missed out, it’s not too late to take advantage of our discounted dentals.

Brett Grossman, DVM
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois

February is quite a month for potential celebration. Even if you limit yourself to going all out only for all those obligatory National Dog Training Month and National Spay/Neuter Awareness Month parties, then you will probably end up stretching yourself thin for the Barley Month, National Pancake Week, National Pizza Day, and Texas Cowboy Poetry Week hoopla. It can get quite exhausting.

But before you cash it in for the month, remember that it’s also National Pet Dental Health Month, and we are celebrating at the Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois by giving you 10% off of all dental procedures (15% for UIC students and employees). Due to client demand, we are extending the discount throughout March. Call us today at (312) 226-2588 to reserve your appointment!

This is both a great time to take advantage of randomly assigned national holidays and also to review the benefits of good dental health.

1. One cannot put a price on eliminating your otherwise beautiful and perfect pet’s malodorous breath. Think of all the family gatherings made even more special by not having to try to find the source of the rotting fish smell.
2. There can be a great deal of pain and irritation associated with inflamed gums, gingivitis, or teeth infections. Relieving your pets of these problems may help them enjoy eating again, and enjoy their life in general.
3. Addressing tooth and gum infections stops the infection from spreading deep into the mouth and even to other internal organs like the heart, kidneys, and liver. Early detection and treatment not only saves your pet from more severe and damaging disease, but also will save you the expense of treating these more serious health problems that could arise if dental health is ignored.
4. After a good cleaning is a good time to introduce regular brushing and dental care to prevent plaque buildup. It is generally more difficult–to borderline-impossible–to start a brushing routine when there is substantial plaque and tartar buildup.
5. Though there is always risk with anesthesia, complications are rare with healthy dogs. Perhaps it is time to have your animals’ teeth cleaned while they are still happy and healthy, rather than waiting for a variable to complicate their anesthesia risks.

We are happy to discuss the specifics of your pets’ needs at any time as well as give you a very specific cost estimate for what is needed. Just let us know. Don’t let all the Groundhog Day and National Pistachio Day enthusiasts steal the February thunder. Discuss dental health instead.

Thanks,

Brett Grossman, DVM
Drew Sullivan, DVM
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois

You probably either know (or are sick of hearing) why you should have your pets spayed and neutered. February is Medical District Veterinary Clinic’s annual Spay and Neuter Month (as well as Dental Month) with significant discounts offered next month to make this process easier for you. Despite that amazingly enthralling introduction, I think it’s time you hear it all again.

Here’s the abbreviated list of what you should know:

1. Neutered/Spayed animals will live significantly longer than intact animals.

2. Neutered/Spayed animals will have significantly fewer health problems during their lifetime. We see things like cancer (mammary gland, testicular, ovarian, uterine, etc.), infections, and inflammatory issues more frequently in intact animals.

3. Intact animals (non-spayed or neutered) can have real live babies. I know this is shocking to some, but if you have two intact animals who can, they will become romantically coupled and have a herd of kittens or puppies, even if you don’t think they will, even if they are related, or even if you swear you are going to keep them apart. Pregnant dogs and cats need extra care and potentially surgical intervention, which can be expensive and dangerous. Kittens and puppies take a lot of time to care for and the shelters of Chicago are already inundated with kittens and puppies from dogs and cats in similar situations.

4. Intact animals try to get out of the house and escape the yard for roaming the neighborhood. They will also participate in mounting and marking behavior.

Here’s what we often hear as reasons why people don’t have their animals spayed or neutered:

1. Perhaps you signed a restrictive contract with your breeder that you wouldn’t have it done or wouldn’t have it done until later. You may want to investigate whether this is legal. Also think about from whom you would ask questions about your own health—your doctor, or someone who is not your doctor?

2. Fido/Trixie is already six years old, so there’s no real reason to do it at this point. This just is not true. Neutering/Spaying is still beneficial because of the aforementioned reasons.

3. We often hear that owners would like to have their animals experience the lovely and natural act of love and having a baby. I would firstly advise all of you who are males to ask a female who has had a baby how wonderful the experience was, and secondly, have you ever seen cats and dogs in heat that are not in a scripted romantic comedy? It is not pretty. It involves discomfort, pain, anxiety, and often lots of unwanted fluid secretion. I would also ask you think about how animals view their experiences and how similar it is to our experiences as human. We all know that animals feel a great deal, but how they feel things like “love” and “family” is much different. We have domesticated our animals and they are not in the wild. Reproduction is not necessary and though I cannot tell you, exactly, it may not even be enjoyable. Please google pictures of a cat penis if you want to imagine the joys of feline reproduction. Also there is much data and research on the health benefits of dogs that are spayed before their first heat cycles in comparison to those that have even one.

4. We also often hear that an owner was told that anesthesia is dangerous and animals can die while under it. At last look, the international statistics regarding anesthesia in pet dogs and cats is 99.85% success. And this also includes emergency anesthesia, anesthesia on known sick or critical patients, and non-monitored anesthesia without the aid of doctors or certified veterinary technicians. We take great care in watching out for our patients with pre-anesthetic blood work and continual monitoring of all monitors. There is ALWAYS a risk with anesthesia, as there is with human medicine, as well. But there is greater likelihood of secondary diseases from keeping your animals intact than from anesthesia. We, of course, can talk to you at length about your specific animal and decide what is best.

Every patient is different and requires medical decisions that are best for them, and that doesn’t ALWAYS include spaying/neutering. We just want to make sure that you are making those decisions for the correct reasons. If you have questions, let us know. If you don’t have questions, you can also let us know. We would love to hear from you.

February is also dental month, so next month we will have a dental manifesto for your entertainment.

Thank you,

Brett Grossman, DVM
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois

The holidays have creepily snuck up on us again. If you happen to be the type who keeps a gift journal and does all of your shopping in August so you never have to scramble, well then…congratulations.

The majority of us, though, are googling “great gift ideas for 9-year-old step-nieces” late at night as we pay for overnight shipping to get all the gifts in time so no one knows that we are ill-prepared.

So what are you getting for your friends and family? Dog-shaped soap dish? Santa Cat bow tie? These are great options, and we’d be happy to offer more suggestions whenever you wish. The point of this post, however, is what not to get for gifts, and that is: any type of pet.

How tempting it is to give your new girlfriend an adorable little kitten named Rudolph and wrapped in bows! Or to present a little puppy wrapped in an American flag for your elderly next-door neighbor who seems lonely!

But here are the problems with such gifts.

1. Even though you love animals, not everyone else does.

2. And even those who love animals do not always know how to take care of them.

3. And even those who can take care of them cannot always afford to take care of them.

4. And even those who can afford to take care of them may not want to take care of them.

5. Despite how much you think that black cats are the best, your new boyfriend might actually ONLY like tabbies, and he might think that black cats are dumb. (Note: Clearly the boyfriend is not a keeper.)

6. It’s not always the right time to have a new pet. Planning a trip? Having health issues? Bad semester at school? Planning on moving? Any of these things and more could mean the recipient of this living gift won’t be able to invest the time and emotion needed to bond with a new loved one.

The bottom line is that the majority of animals-as-gifts end up being not cared for or being given up at shelters. Everyone who has ever worked a shelter anticipates the onslaught of Christmas kittens and puppies that get dropped off in late January.

Granted, the alternatives to a puppy stuffed in a stocking are not quite as adorable, but there are plenty to consider:

1. Give a gift certificate for an animal that you and Mr. Black Cat Hater can find together at your local shelter.

2. Give an animal-related gift instead (see killer ideas above).

3. Anything else.

So enjoy your holidays, have a happy new year, and be safe!

Dr. Brett Grossman
Dr. Drew Sullivan
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois

Thanksgiving has descended upon a snowy winter Chicago Wonderland. As the festivities begin, and the pumpkin-spiced scent of pastries everywhere begins to overtake ours senses without mercy, it is hard to escape the natural need to look at our homes and our furry friends, and be thankful for their presence in our lives. Turn up the furnace, and let the pileup of the dogs and cats into the bed begin as everyone tries to keep warm and toasty.

But do some of your pets no longer make the trip upstairs to sleep by your bed? Does your 12-year-old Labrador seem to favor the downstairs couch by the door? Does your 15-year-old tabby cat now prefer to sleep by the heating vent instead of the window sill in your room? And come to think of it, does she also not seem as excited when you come home from work? Does he not get excited about his food anymore, barely eating his kibble, despite seemingly being hungry? If you are answering yes, then you are probably getting nervous about dealing with how your beloved furry friends are aging. These things that seem to indicate our pets are getting older generally strike fear and cause anxiety in us all. Sometimes we don’t want to think about it, and sometimes we assume that if our dog seems tired that it’s probably a brain tumor, so “Please Do Not EVER Talk About It!” because your plans involve them living to be 25 years, minimally.

As your pets start to age and even become wise elders, you don’t have to put your head in the sand and hope that nothing’s wrong. You don’t have to assume that slowing down is just an accepted part of aging. There are plenty of precautions you can take to help your cats and dogs age gracefully and comfortably, and sometimes over a long time. We cannot, though, do anything, unless we see your animals, so here is a non-comprehensive list of issues we can address:

Orthopedic Pain/Back Pain
It is so common that owners will state that their pets are slowing down but it’s just because they’re getting old. So often it is the case that dogs and cats that once were running around like puppies and kitties, but now are reluctant, are experiencing some kind of pain. Whether it be arthritis, neck, or back pain, these types of ailments can sometimes be corrected with anti-inflammatories or pain medications. Sometimes we put a five-year-old dog on such medications for a few days, and owners report that he is back to acting like he used to. We would not hesitate in taking medications for our arthritis, so why wouldn’t we want to treat our pets?

Vision and Hearing Loss
Many cats and dogs start to lose their vision or hearing as they age. The majority of owners do not realize that their seemingly slowing-down pet is slowing down because of this. There aren’t many things we can do for animals who are losing hearing or vision, but helping you understand their issue can make all the difference. Maybe a dog is acting aggressive because when the lights are out she doesn’t know what’s going on because she’s deaf and now scared. Maybe making sure that there is always a dim light on by her favorite rug would help. Maybe not moving the cat food to a different part of the hallway would help your blind cat always feel comfortable and secure in knowing where to get her food. Maybe trying to avoid having them run up and down stairs could help them avoid accidents. These are all things we can help you with.

Dental Disease
Dental disease is real and prolific. For many animals, painful and inflamed teeth and gums prevent them from eating normally, or sometimes just enjoying life. The fix for dental disease isn’t always expensive and invasive, though sometimes it can be if extractions or x-rays are needed. Sometimes a good cleaning and subsequent brushing can stop the problem. There are tricks to brushing your pets’ teeth, and even some alternatives including choices of food and supplementations. No animal is immune to dental disease.

Diet
Is your pet eating the correct food for his age or for her proper metabolic state? Most brands of pet food make different formulations for different ages. This isn’t a sales shtick. Pets need a proper type of protein depending on how their body uses it, not to mention supplementations that can help with their overall health. There are types of diseases, such as chronic kidney disease, joint disease, and thyroid disease, that can be effectively controlled or helped strictly through nutritional management. We can help you with this based on what we know about your pet. Which is why the next bit of advice is the most important thing to consider.

Overall Wellness
Please have us see your pet, minimally, once a year. For older animals, sometimes we will recommend an appointment every six months. If we can catch problems early, proper management can add years to your pet’s life. We can catch things such as kidney disease, liver disease, hyperthyroidism, early stages of diabetes and other endocrinological diseases, orthopedic pain, gastrointestinal sensitivities, allergies, parasites, and a slew of things that could be there, but we’d never know to treat without looking. The money spent on a basic exam is minimal compared to what you’d spend to treat some of these diseases or ailments that are either preventable, manageable, or can be slowed down.

So don’t be scared of your pet’s aging. We can help you. You can help them. You don’t have to settle for them “slowing down.”

Dr. Brett Grossman
Dr. Drew Sullivan
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois

Are you still clinging to the idea of it being late summer or early fall? Are you still wearing shorts outside because it’s sunny, though it’s 51 degrees, the leaves are falling down from the color-shifting trees while the kids have gone back to school, and the Bears are still trying to score any points? Well, great. Your delusions are sweet, but there are some basic, easily graspable concepts of pet ownership that need to be observed, even if you won’t admit that we are about to free-fall into the cold holiday months.

Dogs should not eat chocolate. Or treats. Or cake. Or really any holiday-themed treat. EVER. As you load up on Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers for Halloween, and you start baking Chocolate Bomb Whipped Cream Cupcakes for all your Halloween parties, you need to make sure that you keep everything [EVERYTHING] out of dog-harm’s way. Tabletops are not safe, the bottom of the stairs is not safe, the backseat of the car is not safe, your small toddler’s barely functional fist filled with candy bars is not safe. Every year we emphasize this, and ever year we still get tons of chocolate toxicity cases that come in while the owners inadvertently allow their animals to digest billions of chocolate calories.

Many clients seem to know friends who give their dogs chocolate and nothing happens, and these are wonderful stories. But dogs can suffer fatal cardiovascular and neurological effects from ingestion of the toxin theobromine in chocolate, as well as the caffeine. The darker the chocolate, generally the worse it is for the dog, but small dogs can be affected by a few bite-size candies. It takes very little cocoa powder or baking chocolate to cause severe and immediate damage. It also sometimes takes up to 12 hours to have a full effect.

If your dogs ingest chocolate, call or bring them in immediately. Even if they do not ingest enough to cause fatalities, they can get sick, start to vomit, get bad diarrhea, and become dehydrated. You may need to bring them in later for supportive care that could have been avoided with a quicker response. Secondarily, dogs can become very sensitive to treats filled with fatty substances like cookie dough, cakes, candy, etc. We can see severe gastrointestinal signs occur quickly, as well as life-threatening, painful, and costly side effects such as pancreatitis.

So let’s just say that after you dress up your 5-year-old into her Queen Elsa costume, you go back downstairs and see that the previously full tray of Snickers is now not so full. You’re not sure if your dog ate them, and your daughter is now screaming to go outside and go trick or treating. It’s really annoying, I know, but your dog should come into the clinic so we can assess, possibly induce vomiting, and start treatment. There just really isn’t an alternative. Queen Elsa will thank you later.

Happy Halloween! Hopefully you will not have any unneeded canine scares in addition to all the witches, ghosts, and demons out and about in the city.

Dr. Brett Grossman
Dr. Drew Sullivan
Medical District Veterinary Clinic at Illinois