It’s around this time of year that your pup will encounter the most “wee beasties” of all kinds. But pests aren’t the only threat folks…
This time of year, our dogs face a variety of outdoor nasties (ticks, fleas, skunks, bees, etc.) that challenge the well-being of both the animal and human companion. One such adversary is poison oak, and in beautiful Northern California we love our outdoor hikes, but we hate Western Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). Poison oak has a surface oil on its leaves and twigs called urushiol that often causes an allergic reaction.
When an eager and inquisitive dog explores its surroundings and encounters poison oak, the urushiol rubs off onto the dog’s coat or, worse, the dog’s face. While the urushiol on the dog’s coat does not in and of itself cause problems, the urushiol can get onto a human who may the pet the dog’s coat or onto carpet, furniture, or other surfaces that may be touched by a human or another pet.
Urushiol on a dog’s nose, snout, and eyes, however, provides the greatest opportunity for allergic reaction on your pet due to the exposed and sensitive skin. This results in inflammation, itching, and oozing (weeping blisters). It normally takes about a day for the rash to appear; for those with severe reactions it’ll worsen during the next few days. Depending on how it is treated and dealt with, the rash persists typically one to two weeks, sometimes longer – ugh! The resulting dog’s scratching of the affected area often compounds the affliction.
Our mobile pet grooming business recently received a call from one of our clients requesting our services to resolve a poison oak encounter by their two golden retrievers. “We just cleared out a portion of our backyard, including a huge growth of poison oak, and the dogs got into the stuff. Help!” Note: freshly-cut leaves and branches of poison oak expose more urushiol toxin thereby exacerbating any direct contact – yikes, a recipe for disaster! One of the humans had indeed gotten the toxin on her arms and hands by touching the affected coat of one of the dogs.
The primary remedy that we used in treating the dogs was a fabulous product called Tecnu, which removes the harmful oils. The product can be applied before a rash has started (as a preventive measure for when one first becomes aware of the poison oak encounter) or as soon as the rash appears. According to the directions, you saturate a cloth with Tecnu and wipe down the pet’s coat, then follow with a pet shampoo. We followed this procedure on both dogs, thoroughly wiping down each dog’s entire coat with Tecnu, then a thorough shampoo and rinse. Both dogs also had several small oozing sores on their snouts from the poison oak, so we avoided wiping down the affected areas on the snouts (per Tecnu’s instructions). If either dog had a severe rash on the face or snout or a rash in or around the eyes, I would have recommended the owner take the dog to the veterinarian. For severe reactions a prednisone prescription is necessary to stop skin damage, especially if the eyes are involved. Now, since the Tecnu only removes the oil, it won’t immediately resolve the rash or eliminate the acute itching.
The client has reported no more subsequent poison oak problems with these dogs and we have since returned to groom both retrievers and found no lingering evidence of the poison oak affliction. Yay!
In the end, the best a dog owner could do is to recognize the possibility of a poison oak (or poison ivy) encounter early and take preventive measures per the Tecnu regimen to avoid any rash outbreak. Of course, please take early and immediate steps to identify and carefully remove any and all poison oak or poison ivy from your yard or common areas frequented by your dog. Doing your best to reducing exposure to this toxin is good for your dog and good for you.
This information was provided to K9 Cuisine, courtesy of Dave Ely of Aussie Pet Mobile. They provide mobile luxury grooming services to cats & dogs all over Northern California. Their grooming products are ensured to be eco-friendly and biodegradable, lessening your pooch’s carbon footprint as well as your own.
Below is an interview with Adriana Trenev of Natren, Inc., maker of natural probiotics for animals. They help animals who are suffering from intestinal problems, antibiotic side effects, or general illness. Their products are 100% natural and safe and are ALL MADE IN THE USA!
K9 Cuisine: What is your story-how did you get into pet health products?
Adriana: My family (my parents Yordan and Natasha Trenev, and myself, their daughter, Adriana Trenev) have been in the probiotics industry in the United States for the past 30+ years. My parents founded our family-owned and operated company, Natren Probiotics Inc. in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It started with just the two of them, and now we’re a company of 60+ employees! Our company began with human probiotics, but gradually the demand arose for animal probiotics. It was a natural extension of our line that our customers really appreciated!
K9 Cuisine: What is the secret to your success with your organization-how have you gotten to where you are today?
Adriana: The secret of my family’s success is to do something you are passionate about and that you believe in! Of course, you’ll work hard to make sure you succeed when you believe in what you’re doing. We also feel like it’s our mission to help people and animals with our products and that makes it motivating to come into work each day.
K9 Cuisine: What makes you different?
Adriana: Natren probiotic products are different from the rest of the junk on the marketplace because we have set rigorous standards of product quality and excellence that no other probiotic manufacturer can match. We have a potency guarantee of our products through a printed expiration date, and we have an international Drug GMP certification, which means that an independent, third-party agency has come in and inspected our plant. They certify that we have a pharmaceutical grade facility and that all of our label and potency claims are true. Safety for both humans and animals is our #1 priority, as well as making a healthy, natural supplement that produces results. That’s why we have a 90-DAY money-back guarantee for every customer.
K9 Cuisine: What is it about dogs that you love?
Adriana: In my family, we’ve had a dog since I was in second grade! We have always loved animals. Our first dog was our American Eskimo, Prince, who is still alive and doing great today (at the ripe old age of 16)! In fact, when the vet sees him, he always compliments us on how well we have taken care of him and how young he still looks and acts. Of course, he gets our CanineDophilus Product everyday. In addition to Prince, who is our family pet, 2 years ago, I got a four-pound Chihuahua named Chloe, who is just the love of our lives! She is very healthy and active, as well, and she loves fresh-cooked organic chicken breast as her treat. She also receives the dog supplements everyday. In general, though, our family loves the loyal, unconditional love that dogs give-they really have the ability to brighten your whole day in an instant.
K9Cuisine: What is the neatest part about your work?
Adriana: The neatest park about our work is when we see results in our customers and getting those phone calls where they tell us how much better they or their pets are doing-it inspires us to work harder!
K9 Cuisine: Where do you see the pet health industry going?
Adriana: Pet health is extremely important in a country that spends around 40 billion dollars annually on their animals. They are not just animals anymore; they are a part of the family. Everything we have been hearing suggests that health and safety concerns are really being taken seriously now, as well as high-quality products for pets that were not available even ten years ago.
K9 Cuisine: How do you fit into that-what are your future plans?
Adriana: We have recently expanded our line to include two more animal probiotics-the Avian Vegi-Dophilus and the Gastro Vegi-Dophilus for Animals. We have launched our own animal centric web site- www.natrenanimals.com because we know the power of a high-quality probiotic for animals, and we have seen the customer demand for such a resource.
K9 Cuisine: How can people find out more about you and your organization?
K9 Cuisine: What is your story-how did you get into the veterinarian business?
Hope: While my partner and I are not veterinarians, we got into the pet health and well-being business for three reasons:
First and foremost, we are both huge animal lovers and had always wanted to do something in the pet space, but wasn’t quite sure exactly what that might be.
We observed and tracked the tremendous growth in the pet category and realized this was very fertile business territory.
Most importantly, we identified an unmet need – the fact that pet owners did not have ONE trusted online resource they could go to for credible and timely information about the health and well-being of their pets. For us it was the perfect hat trick.
K9 Cuisine: What is the secret to your success-how have you gotten to where you are today?
Hope: I believe the secret to our success is four-fold:
We are passionate about what we do and quite tenacious – let’s just say “no” and “if” are not words in our vocabulary.
We did our due diligence rather than rushing to market with what we thought was a good idea. Rather we researched the market for almost a year ensuring that when we did go to market, our strategy was dead-on and that the timing was right.
Because we are not veterinarians, we surrounded ourselves with leaders in the veterinarian industry – Pfizer Animal Health, AAHA, the AKC, the CFA, top-tier vet schools, among others. There support and credentials lend an unparalleled level of credibility to everything we do in the marketplace.
We built a site rich in integrity – of design, content (all content is vet-approved one time per year and about 90% of our content is original and written exclusively for WebVet), and the fact we don’t diagnose, treat or editorialize and always direct pet owners back to their vets for care specific to their pets’ needs. We are a complement/supplement to the veterinarian community, not a replacement for it.
K9 Cuisine: What makes you different?
Hope: I think much of what I mentioned above makes us unique but also our backgrounds. While we don’t come from the vet world, we do come from an arena that is quite important when building a brand – brand marketing and media. I built my career in the advertising and brand marketing sector working for some of the largest global agencies including McCann Erickson, Leo Burnett, DDB and Y&R and also spent time on the corporate side working for Coca Cola and NBC. My partner’s expertise lies in the media/entertainment space having worked with iconic brands including HBO, ESPN and E! The value here is that while you can build something magnificent, if you don’t know how to seed and grow that brand over time, it ultimately has little value. And one last thing . . . we have a great brand name in WebVet. A brand name can be a very powerful marketing tool.
K9 Cuisine: What is it about animals that you love?
Hope: Pretty much everything! I grew up in the South and was surrounded with everything from dogs and cats to horses and goats – and I grew up in a big city (Atlanta). I come by my love honestly as my entire family LOVES animals – my mom still has her horses and dogs, my brothers have dogs, cats, rabbits and chickens (pets of course), my sister has dogs, birds and even a pet pig named “Piggy” and I, living in NYC, have a dog named Max and two birds Pi and Piou Piou.
But beyond growing up with tons of animals, what I love most about them is their intuitive nature, compassion and ability to not only love unconditionally, but to forgive. And nothing lowers my blood pressure more effectively than loving on my dog Max.
K9 Cuisine: What is the neatest part about your business?
Hope: Hands down: I get to do something I love every day of my life now! More clearly defined . . . I’ve been given incredible opportunities to explore the veterinary and animal worlds through relationships with teaching hospitals such as the Animal Medical Center in NYC, vet schools like Cornell and Penn and even non-companion-related organizations like the Bronx Zoo and the WCS. I feel incredibly blessed with these opportunities.
K9 Cuisine: Where do you see the vet industry going?
Hope: Not being a veterinarian, I’m not the best qualified person to answer that question, but I can tell you some of things I’ve learned that I’ve found fascinating.
Many believe it’s now harder to get into vet school than it is to get into medical school.
The majority of new vet students and, as a result, vets are women. Approximately 75% of new entrants into vet schools are women. My understanding is this is due in part to the fact that vets don’t get into this business to get rich, they get into because they love animals and also that, somewhat surprisingly, this is a career in which it’s quite acceptable to work part-time so it’s ideal for women who want to both work and raise a family.
As pets are considered and treated more and more like members of the family, we’re seeing more specialty practice areas emerge.
K9 Cuisine: How does your company fit into that-what are your future plans?
Hope's dog "Max"
Hope:I’m not sure it’s all directly related, but we recognize the veterinary community as a growing and VERY important part of our business. I can’t get into specific details at this point in time, but suffice it to say that while our primary focus in currently on the consumer side of the business, we will be rounding out our business model to become increasingly engaged on the B2B side of the business.
K9 Cuisine: How can people find out more about you and your company?
Hope: To learn more about what WebVet has to offer, you can visit the site at www.webvet.com. If you’d like to learn more about me or WebVet as a business, I can be contacted directly at hope@webvet.com or 212-879-3152.
